Chapter 177. Karnak (1)

The elder of Hohen Village did not take the path of refuge and remained in the village to fulfill his duty of protecting the temple to the end.

But then, a young stranger who appeared out of nowhere presented the defense commander's certificate and forcibly invaded the temple.

“Is it alright to just let this be……”

No matter that he had the defense commander's certificate, he fell into deep thought about whether it was right to stand by like this.

The elder looked at the collapsed floor and let out a deep sigh.

It was then.

He saw someone approaching from a distance at an incredible speed.

“Th-that person is!”

The elder hastily threw down his staff and was about to kneel and bow.

However, there was a figure who appeared even faster and supported the elder's knees with his hands.

It was none other than Harashin, one of the Seven Extreme Stars and a prince of the Solaid Kingdom.

“What kind of bow is a man with troubled legs trying to make? More importantly, what in the world is going on here?”

Harashin looked at the large hole in the floor and questioned the elder.

“Why is there a hole like this here?”

“About that……”

The elder briefly explained what had happened earlier.

Hearing the explanation, Harashin scowled and showed his anger.

“What? You mean you let a stranger into the temple, no matter the circumstances?”

“Yes, but with the defense commander’s guarantee……”

“Still!”

Before the elder could even finish his sentence, Harashin was already jumping into the hole.

“My, why does no one listen until the end of a sentence……”

The elder picked up his staff again and hurriedly made his way toward the original entrance of the Karnak temple.

* * *

Harashin, who had fallen into the underground, landed on the ground without any foothold.

—Kung!

With a heavy and powerful landing, Harashin’s sharp gaze turned towards the Karnak temple.

‘Who are they. Daring fools who dare to invade the temple by taking advantage of the chaos!’

Harashin suppressed his anger and walked towards the temple.

At that moment, he caught sight of Anton and Jack loitering around the outer wall of the temple.

“Who are you?”

“Hmm?”

Before Anton could even identify Harashin, Harashin's figure disappeared from his sight.

He had appeared behind Anton in an instant and delivered a kick.

“Keut!”

It was fortunate that he had raised his sword to block it in that split second.

If it had been a direct hit, the shock would have been fatal.

‘Fast and strong. But his strength and speed are not at a level I can't handle.’

Anton, known as the Knight of the Swift Sword, lived up to his title.

He quickly got behind his opponent and thrust his sword towards his back.

‘In terms of speed, I should have the upper hand!’

But there was something Anton had overlooked.

It was the fact that the man named Harashin was someone who stood at the pinnacle of technique, not strength and speed.

—Tak!

Harashin simply parried Anton's sword blade with his bare hand and naturally slipped into his guard.

“Huh……?”

Anton, who had not expected his sword to be blocked so lightly, hurriedly tried to swing his sword again, but Harashin had already moved inside his sword's range.

Soon after, Harashin’s fierce barrage of strikes hammered Anton's body.

—Pabababak!

Anton thought he could withstand a bare-fisted attack since he was wearing armor.

After all, the strength he felt from Harashin was not as overwhelming as a monster like Bakan.

“Keoheok!”

But Harashin’s strikes precisely aimed only for the vital points.

Though it did not look powerful on the outside, the fatal attacks that penetrated his armor and struck his vitals eventually caused Anton to vomit blood and collapse.

“To dare invade the temple with only this much skill.”

Harashin sharpened his hand into a blade and was about to end Anton's life.

At that moment, Jack jumped in and kicked him hard with both feet.

“Don’t touch the knight anymore!”

Harashin swiftly deflected Jack’s feet and grabbed him by the neck.

“The power is decent, but your skill in using your feet is still immature.”

“Euht……!”

Jack was mortified with himself for being unable to do anything while being held by the neck.

He believed he had become strong enough, so why was he being overpowered so helplessly again?

“Euuu……!”

However, their fighting spirit was not broken.

Harashin felt a momentary sense of wonder as he looked at Anton, who clung to his ankle to the very end despite the gut-wrenching pain, and at Jack’s eyes, which had not lost their vitality even while being choked.

‘What is this feeling? This fighting spirit that resists to the end, even knowing the insurmountable gap…….’

And he soon realized the reason for this not-unfamiliar feeling.

It was because another pair of strangers, Evan and Jaina, had appeared from inside the temple.

Among them, Harashin immediately sensed an unusual aura flowing from Evan.

“It’s you. The leader of these people. What were you plotting inside the temple?”

As Harashin tightened his grip on Jack's neck, Evan immediately threw the spear in his hand and rushed at him bare-handed.

‘He’s not particularly fast.’

Harashin threw Jack aside and thrust a sharp hand-blade towards Evan.

However, Evan also thrust out a hand-blade in the same manner and lightly parried Harashin's attack.

“Look at this? Have you also learned Ashurat? It seems you plan to face me bare-handed, how reckless!”

The representative fist technique of Kailam Juan, ‘Kailam’s Spear, Ashurat’.

Realizing his opponent was a martial artist like himself, Harashin’s fighting spirit instantly flared up.

But his fighting spirit did not last long.

The moment he witnessed another fist technique that Evan performed next, he doubted his eyes.

“Sertuan?!”

Surprised, he failed to block the fist Evan threw and was sent flying backward.

—Tuhoong!

After pushing Harashin far away, Evan immediately checked on Jack and Anton’s conditions.

“I’m sorry, Young Master……”

“Don’t be discouraged. The opponent is a powerhouse far beyond your level. There is absolutely no shame in losing to him.”

A bruise was already clearly visible on Evan’s arm.

It was because Harashin had precisely countered even in the brief moment they exchanged attacks.

“Jaina, Jack. Take the knight and go inside the temple. I will handle this place.”

Jaina and Jack immediately supported the fallen Anton and hurried inside the temple.

And Evan stood facing Harashin, who was walking towards him again.

“From your attire, you seem to be a member of the royal family, but seeing as you throw punches first, you must have sold off your manners.”

“You…… how on earth do you use Master Kailam’s martial arts?”

“Well, his martial arts are quite famous, you see.”

“No! I’m talking about Sertuan, which Master Kailam never passed down to anyone!”

“I am the one who carries on his will. This martial art you cry out for is the proof.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Harashin, who had reached the pinnacle of martial artists in the Solaid Kingdom.

His pride was severely wounded by the sight of a stranger using Kailam’s martial art, which even he could not properly execute.

Moreover, for him to claim to be the successor to Kailam's will.

For Harashin, that statement was unacceptable, whether it was true or not.

“We’re not getting anywhere. Is that what’s important right now?”

There was no time to waste on conversation.

Evan immediately moved to subdue the man before him, and at the same time, to awaken the soundly sleeping temple, he unleashed one of Sertuan’s techniques, the Paechun-gyeok(Heaven-Shattering Strike).

“Heut!”

A dazzling series of strikes unleashed gracefully with both hands.

From the outset, its power was not comparable to what Kailam himself could unleash.

However, the current Evan, with his continued growth, and the power he received from the wolf god Fenrir, had surpassed Kailam's physique of that time.

Therefore, it was possible for him to produce at least over fifty percent of its power, and that alone was enough to push back Harashin, whose mind was reeling in confusion.

—Pababak!

On the other hand, Harashin was unilaterally pushed back by Evan’s overwhelming momentum.

Separate from simply losing the tempo, the structure of Sertuan was so elaborate that it was difficult to find any openings.

‘I don’t know how he uses Sertuan, but the power is real. If I allow one more attack, my organs will rupture.’

Moreover, he was in a situation where he recognized that his opponent was a powerful fighter even without Kailam's martial arts.

As such, a single mistake meant death.

‘He knows Master Kailam's secrets and even used Ashurat naturally just a moment ago. That means he is proficient in other martial arts as well. Most things won't work on this guy. Damn it!’

At the same time, he realized.

To deal with the Sertuan that was storming before his eyes, there was only one way.

‘But…… I’ve never used it in a real fight before. No, to be precise, I couldn’t use it. Because it’s still an incomplete technique.’

Nevertheless, the instincts of a martial artist who craved victory led him down that uncertain path.

The enemy before him was that powerful, and this challenge was that worthy.

‘It’s either die or be knocked out!’

Harashin finally resolved to showcase his own martial art, which he had never shown to anyone before.

—Kung!

Planting his feet so firmly that the floor cracked, Harashin parried Evan’s two-handed strike, crossed his own hands in his own way, and pushed forward.

—Tuhoong!

As their fists collided, a shockwave spread, and a powerful storm erupted inside the temple.

Evan, pushed back by the collision, stared blankly at Harashin for a moment and let out a hollow laugh.

‘Could it be that this guy was trying to reach that path in his own way? A different path from Kailam…….’

Because Kailam did not pass down Sertuan, his successors tried to implement Sertuan in their own ways, but no one succeeded.

But the man before him now, Harashin, had walked his own path and finally reached the answer.

He was the present era’s, ‘Fist King,’ Harashin Akarun.

“I’ll ask again. How on earth do you use Master Kailam's Sertuan so perfectly?”

“Truly amazing. Are you by any chance one of the Seven Extreme Stars of the Solaid Kingdom?”

For a person of this skill level, it would be strange if he were not one of the Seven Extreme Stars, so Evan asked, even though he had his suspicions.

Naturally, the opponent admitted the fact.

“That’s right.”

“Is that so? If there is a person of your skill, why hasn't the temple moved until now?”

“……!”

It was a genuine question from Evan, but for some reason, Harashin remained silent as if embarrassed.

“Ah! Have you perhaps just used that for the first time now?”

The key to awakening the soundly sleeping Karnak.

The thought that the man before him might also be capable of something he thought only he could do flashed through his mind.

‘Though he is still a little lacking.’

For that key to function properly, the experience Evan himself possessed was essential.

‘Before that, I’ll need to make him more obedient.’

Evan quickly retreated, picked up the spear he had thrown away earlier, and retreated deep into the temple.

“Stop right there!”

Harashin chased after Evan, not wanting to lose him, and Evan waited quietly in the center of the temple, aiming the spear at him.

“If my opponent is one of the Seven Extreme Stars, then I too must show the appropriate courtesy.”

The pinnacle of the old era, and the rising supernova of the new era.

In this space where these two powerhouses were about to clash, it would be solely up to Karnak to judge which of the two martial arts was superior.