Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 856: Strongest - Part 3

Flicker~ Flicker~

The lights were threatening to go out, but in the last moment, they flickered back on.

"A door?"

A man said in surprise.

He had hair combed back, and it was held in place with gel. There was a long scar running down the side of his face and an ear that looked like it had been partially torn off.

His name was Judas—a hitman for a mafia—and one of the best ones as well as he had successfully completed over a hundred contracts without ever being caught.

Needed to destroy a rival mafia? Done within a day. Needed to eliminate a corrupt politician? Consider it done.

Nobody could escape the iron sight of his rifle.

At that moment.

Judas came across a strange door.

It had the word "Candyland" etched on top of the door, and the door had strange candy-like patterns all over it.

With his hand on the doorknob, he opened the door.

"What in the world…"

Judas stepped through the door.

He was suddenly in some strange room that was like a small forest, but trees were made of chocolate candy, and the flowers were made of gummy bears.

"What a strange place."

Judas thought out loud.

In that moment, the door behind him slammed shut, and his eyes squinted.

Creak~ Creak~ Creak~

At that moment, he heard the sound of rusting joints, and then he saw a figure approaching—a strange figure.

Hunched back. Arms twisted. Legs contorted. And the face of a robot.

It was, without a doubt, a robot.

"Kill… Kill… Kill…"

The robot said.

It was a very robotic voice, as one would expect from a robot.

"They even added some killer robots in the mix? So not only do we have to worry about other fighters, but we even need to deal with these shit cans?"

Judas scoffed.

At that moment, the robot dropped to all fours—looking like a robot dog now—and its mouth opened.

Then, its head pulled back into its body. Like a coil springing into place. And then it got pushed out again.

BANG!

With that, smoke erupted from its mouth, and a bullet shot out from the mouth—the robot's mouth was the barrel of a gun, after all.

"…" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Judas closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side.

The bullet grazed past his cheek and hit the wall behind him.

"How useless. Those scientists might've as well given you a gun instead of making you into a gun. It would've been far more effective.

"So stupid…"

Judas' hand turned sharp—as if it were the tip of a spear—and he thrust it through the robot's chest.

"Hitman Shot."

He felt something inside the robot's chest—something round—and he then pulled it out with a strong yank.

"What is this now?"

It was a round iron ball with wires protruding from it. Most likely the robot's heart.

Beep~ Beep~ Beep~

At that moment.

While the robot fell to the ground, the iron heart started beeping with a dangerous rhythm. It was a countdown to self-destruction.

"Haha!"

Judas threw the iron heart away and quickly lifted the robot corpse—he was using it as an iron shield.

Booom~

At that moment, the iron heart exploded and enveloped the nearby candy forest in smoke and fire.

The robot's corpse was charred black.

Thump!

Judas let the robot drop to the ground and saw that his shoulder was on fire, so he just casually stomped on it to put out the flames.

"What a nasty trap."

Judas turned around, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind him.

"Yo, Judas, where the hell did you run off to? We heard an explosion!"

In that moment, three men were running towards him, and they were part of Judas' alliance group that he formed in Sanctuary.

Despite his strength, even he realized that he couldn't survive through the tournament just by himself.

"Yes, explosion indeed… I'd suggest avoiding going into any of those rooms. They're traps."

Judas said casually.

They smelled smoke coming from Judas and saw that his face had become slightly dirty.

'It looks like he had an eventful time in there.'

One of them thought.

…

[33:44…]

[33:43…]

"There is still a little bit over half an hour left."

James said while looking at the clock on the wall, and so far, they had just been sightseeing around the place.

His two companions, Vikram and Zephyr, nodded.

When they saw that there was some fighting happening around at the start in the weapon crates, they just ran off.

They wanted to take this tournament slowly and save their strength until the later stages.

These three young men weren't weak either!

James was the youngest champion ever in MFC—Martial Fighting Championships—which was the biggest fighting tournament in the world.

He participated in the lightweight division, and when he was only 19 years old, he had already won a championship.

Vikram was India's Wisdom King—a title given to the best martial artist in the country.

It was title that had been passed down for generations, and in this day and age, it was his title.

There had been many challengers, but no one could stand toe-to-toe with Vikram's martial arts—Buddha's Thousand Scroll Style.

It was a style with a thousand different techniques, and it was one of the most taught martial arts in the world.

Martial arts would be lucky to be able to fully learn even ten of the techniques, but Vikram had already learned it all!

Thus.

People of India truly believe that Vikram is the reincarnation of Buddha himself!

Zephyr, on the other hand, was not as well-known as two of his companions, as he was a true underground warrior.

Born and raised in the shadows.

He learned to fight in the streets. Learned to survive. Learned to thrive in the darkness.

Thus.

Zephyr had become the world's strongest street fighter, and it's not only his fists that were dangerous, but also his quick thinking and strategic mind.

Tap~ Tap~ Tap~

In that moment.

They heard footsteps.

There was a staircase right in front of him—footsteps were echoing up the stairs—and they soon saw people walking.

Another group of three.

When they saw James, Vikram, and Zephyr, they immediately looked hostile, as if they were ready to fight.

"Who do we have here?"

With a smile on his face, Remi walked down the steps of stairs with two of his companions and stared down at the three.

They noticed something about Remi.

He had a weapon—a baseball bat.

'Where did he get that? I don't think I saw him fighting for the weapons, and I don't really think there was a baseball bat in the crates.

'There are other ways of getting weapons?'

James thought with a frown.

Wei and Liang—Remi's companions—were already cracking their knuckles, which had some blood on them.

It looked like they had already fought someone and survived!

"You are James~ I recognize you. You're the guy who made me lose my fucking money. I bet on your opponent in that championship match of yours, as I didn't think that wet-eared brat like you could become champion at such a young age.

"Aish… I am pretty angry at you~"

Remi laughed.

"You shouldn't gamble. It is stupid. And I guess you're bad at picking winners."

James smirked.

"Bah, you fucking cheated. You poked your opponent's eyes at least four times. It's illegal, you know, in MFC. And somehow that blind referee missed it all!"

Remi screamed.

When he thought about that atrocity, his blood boiled.

"However, seeing you here, it looks like you have some connections to the underworld. I am curious, was that match rigged in your favor?

"The referee seemed like he was intentionally favoring you!"

Remi asked.

"I won because I am stronger. No eye pokes? How ridiculous. In a true fight, there shouldn't be any rules, which is why I came here.

"MFC can't fulfill my thirst for true battle!"

James shouted.

"I recognize these three."

Vikram then said.

"Who are they?"

James asked.

"The guy with the baseball bat is Remi. The Most Hated Man of France. He is the one that destroyed the City of Lyon."

Vikram said with a serious look.

"Ah right, you're that lunatic who blew up Lyon."

James said.

It was a huge piece of news about a decade ago, and the French government knew who was responsible for it, but they never managed to catch the culprit.

"And those two are Wei and Liang. They're 'demon hunters,' but I think they are just crazy. They think they can see demons and spirits that no one else can see.

"Which is the reason why they were thrown into an insane asylum. They broke out immediately after and have been around the underworld for a while now."

Vikram said.

"We don't see demons. We see the 'evil' in people, and thus, we think the humans are true demons."

Wei said.

"So, three lunatics, got it."

James said with a laugh.

"I will wipe that smirk off your face. It won't be as funny when your teeth are stuck at the back of your throat."

Remi pointed the baseball bat at him.

Tap~ Tap~ Tap~

At that moment, they heard another footsteps coming, and this time around it was behind James and the rest.

They turned around, but to their surprise, it was just one guy.

"…"

Kiernan slowly walked towards them—a cold look in his eyes—and slowly, his hands clenched into fists.