Boooooooom!

The collision between the two fists caused a massive explosion that could've destroyed the entire Feast Hall if it wasn't for the gods.

In the last possible millisecond, they placed a very strong barrier around the stage just in time to contain the blast and protect the spectators.

"…"

Kiernan's eyes showed a flash of surprise, and he looked at his right arm that was completely dislocated.

It was dangling next to his body, and he could tell that several bones were broken.

"…Unbelievable."

The Fair One couldn't believe her eyes.

For the entire Battle of the Champions, Kiernan never shed blood. Not even sweat.

Yet, in the first trade of blows with Prisoner, both throwing a punch at each other, Kiernan was actually the one that got hurt somehow!

"Sorry, I used too much power. I don't want to end this fight that soon, so that broken arm shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

Prisoner said.

Coming from someone else's mouth, it could've sounded like he was gloating about his own power.

However, Prisoner wasn't.

He genuinely thought that Kiernan could handle more power, so he used a little bit more of his power than usual.

When the two fists collided, he realized his mistake because Kiernan's punch wasn't actually all that strong.

This was not how he wanted the fight to end. It would be far too disappointing. He'd been trying to find a proper opponent all this time, after all.

While he didn't know it himself, he was actually born in a realm that had long since been completely destroyed.

In that realm, he was the strongest one, and there was no one equal to him in power.

He searched far and wide till he found his way to the Hell Realm, challenged Death, and lost in a dominant fashion.

The realm where he came from was the Martial Arts Realm.

It shouldn't be mistaken for Martial Arts World. They were completely different realms.

However, after the destruction of the Martial Arts Realm, the Martial Arts World was born from nothingness.

It seemed like the universe's way of balancing things out.

And the Prisoner's forgotten name was—Kurogami Ichiro.

"No… This won't be a problem."

Kiernan twisted his right arm, used "Bone Harmony," and his bones clicked back in place like they were never broken.

He moved his right arm, showed it to the Prisoner, and then formed a fist with the right hand.

"See?"

"…Good."

Prisoner smirked.

They walked towards each other and met in the middle of the stage. They looked straight into each other's eyes.

They moved their hands towards each other—the back of their hands touched—they caught their breath.

"Hm!"

In that moment, Prisoner pressed onward, raining blows, and Kiernan met his onslaught with Rendering Edge.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The relentless attack of the Prisoner couldn't break through Kiernan's Rendering Edge defense, but that was only because he wasn't trying his best.

'I won't make the same mistake as last time. I will savor the taste of this battle. If I go all-out from the beginning, the fight will end immediately!'

Prisoner thought to himself.

In that moment, one of the Prisoner's punches came a beat too late—the rhythm of his relentless attack was disturbed—a glaring weakness appeared!

"Iron Smash!"

Kiernan punched through the small weakness, and his fist approached the Prisoner's face, but then…

Prisoner grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder.

THUMP!

Kiernan's back crashed against the ground.

'That small weakness wasn't a trap. It was a genuine weakness. Yet, he was able to recover from his weakness perfectly with a counterattack.

He thought.

"Hammer Fist!"

Prisoner whipped his arm down at the downed Kiernan, but before it landed, he quickly rolled out of the way.

Kiernan then jumped back to his feet, used "Reigning Fallow," and threw countless random-trajectory punches that Prisoner was unable to anticipate.

'Hmm!'

Prisoner looked at the fists heading his way, and then he quickly dodged one of the punches, but the second punch immediately headed his way.

With another sidestep, he dodged the second punch, but at the same time, three more punches were coming his way.

Swoosh!

Prisoner suddenly jumped over the punches and whipped his leg across Kiernan's face with a swift roundhouse kick.

"Ptui!"

Kiernan spat out blood and staggered backwards, and it took all of his willpower to keep standing.

Even though his body was screaming in pain and telling him to stop and sit down on the ground to rest.

"…There is a surprising skill difference between the two of them!"

"…Exactly, it does look like the Prisoner is the more skilled one."

Some of the gods talked among each other.

"That isn't exactly the case. Kiernan is obviously a better martial artist than his opponent, but still, for some reason, none of his attacks land."

Big God suddenly said.

'So… That's how it is.'

Kiernan wiped the blood off his lips and realized the trick behind Prisoner's strength.

In that moment, a black Qi outfit draped over Kiernan's body, and it started influencing Prisoner's mind in unexpected ways.

He started to feel a little bit of… fear?

'This must be the ever-so-famous Martial Ability of the martial artists of the Martial Arts World.'

Prisoner's eyes shone in curiosity.

Crack!

At that moment, the ground under Kiernan cracked, and he then lunged forward with a sudden sprint dash.

He closed in on the Prisoner, and thrust his spearhand forward.

"Iron Lance!"

Prisoner dodged to the side with lightning speed, and then he spun and back-kicked into Kiernan's chest.

"Iron Human!"

Kiernan steeled his body for the impact, and the kick rocked the bones in his skeleton, but he withstood the kick.

"Iron Smash!"

Kiernan's fist headed straight towards the Prisoner's face.

Prisoner blinked his eyes, and for the moment it took him to blink his eyes, the fist was already near his face.

In that moment, he bent his body backwards, and the Iron Smash punch flew right over his head.

From the awkward bent angle, Prisoner kicked his leg upwards towards Kiernan's chin, planning to kick his head off his shoulders.

It was about to land, but Kiernan quickly pulled his head back to dodge the kick, and as if Prisoner expected that, he spun around and delivered a powerful punch to Kiernan's stomach.

"Iron Human!"

The punch smashed into his chest, but both the Black Qi uniform and the Iron Human technique were able to tank the punch.

"Void Step!"

Kiernan disappeared and attacked the Prisoner from behind, but he already anticipated it and dodged the attack.

Yet, Kiernan kept using Void Step and kept attacking Prisoner from every possible angle.

However, every attack failed, as Prisoner either blocked or dodged, and none of his attacks properly landed.

"How is Prisoner capable of dodging them all?!"

"What the hell?"

The Fair One nibbled on her nails as she couldn't understand how Prisoner was able to evade all of Kiernan's attacks.

If anyone else were in Kiernan's shoes, they would already be despairing and questioning their own abilities.

Death watched with his arms crossed.

He didn't like that the Prisoner was playing around with his food, as he could've already ended the match if he wanted to.

However, it wasn't every day that the Prisoner could fight a strong opponent of Kiernan's caliber.

So he wanted to enjoy his "food" a little bit more.

"End it now!"

Death screamed.

"…Tch."

Prisoner clicked his tongue, but hearing Death's tone, it was obvious that he was very angry that he was delaying Kiernan's death.

'I shouldn't make him angry, even though I am having a lot of fun with this Kiernan fellow, but he might go back on his deal if I make him angry.

'Death isn't the most trustworthy person when it comes to respecting these deals, so sadly, it is time to end this.'

Kiernan used Void Step again and attacked from the west side of the Prisoner, but in that moment, the Prisoner turned his head straight at him.

He was… expecting his attack?

In that moment, Prisoner's attack came really fast—his arm, looking like a spear, pierced through Kiernan's stomach instantly.

"COUGH!"

Kiernan coughed out crimson blood, and he looked down and saw Prisoner's arm going through his stomach.

"Nooo!"

The Fair One screamed.

"Gasp~"

The gods and goddesses looked shocked, as they didn't expect the so-called Great Robber to die so… easily.

While Kiernan was obviously strong, he wasn't anywhere close to the Prisoner's strength.

"Sorry, I had to end the match earlier than I would've preferred, but I hope we can have a rematch over in Hell."

Prisoner said.

"…Five seconds."

Kiernan suddenly whispered.

"What was that?"

Prisoner frowned.

"…You can see into the future for exactly five seconds. Am I right?"

Kiernan raised his head to look into his eyes with a smile and saw Prisoner's eyes widen in shock, and he saw something happen in the future.

However, it was too late for him to do anything.

He had fallen into Kiernan's trap.

"Black Trap!"

The Black Qi outfit flew out of Kiernan's body and wrapped tightly around Prisoner's body, trapping him in place.

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