Martial God Regressed to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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Side Story 17

The Sword King, Ito Ryuhei.

Warrior Rank 1, humanity's strongest warrior.

Although his world ranking was 3rd, he believed himself to be the strongest player among humanity.

The 1st ranked, Barren, only had high stats thanks to his Gift and couldn't control his own power.

'When Barren lost, I thought it was because he was careless after drinking.'

But experiencing it firsthand, he realized that wasn't the case.

Whoosh!

A straight punch.

Sword King would have blocked it with a single slash, or even cut off the hand, but…

'Ugh. My body…!'

From the moment Seong Jihan approached, the Sword King's movements significantly slowed.

It felt as if his body were deeply buried in a sandpit.

His movements met with much more resistance than usual, and he couldn't properly respond to the opponent's attacks.

Thud!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Sword King's eyes widened as the fist connected.

The attack wasn't as painful as he expected.

Seong Jihan could have easily shattered bones and ruptured organs with his fists, yet…

His attacks only inflicted moderate pain on the body.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Sword King's face became swollen and covered in blood, his entire body bruised and on the verge of collapse, but…

Swoosh…

His body, held in mid-air, continued to be struck.

"Wow, it's a one-sided beatdown…"

"Why isn't the Sword King resisting at all?"

"Isn't he caught in his Force? He's floating in the air."

"He pierced through the area so easily when he fought Barren on BattleNet…"

The reporters captured the scene with their cameras, speaking with a sense of disgust.

They expected a fight, even from the Sword King, but…

This was far too one-sided.

After about 10 minutes of continuous beating…

Whoosh…

A blue light enveloped Seong Jihan's fist, and then…

Boom!

The Sword King's body, held in mid-air, crashed to the ground.

The earth shook violently.

'The ground is shaking from just a punch…!'

'Is the Sword King dead?'

'If he dies, it'll become an international issue…'

People were startled by the earthquake-like tremor, worried about the Sword King's life.

If the ground shook this much, the power behind the punch was on a different level than before.

Meanwhile, Seong Jihan…

"Are you back to your senses now?"

He asked, looking down at the Sword King deeply embedded in the ground.

The stat Blue, which corrects distortions.

He believed the hypnosis would be lifted since he had directly struck him with its power.

Of course, he could have used this Blue strike from the first kick, but…

'You need to pay for talking nonsense.'

After seeing him act that way towards Yoon Seah…

He didn't want to bring him back to his senses with just one hit.

This much was needed to ease his anger.

That's what Seong Jihan thought as he looked down at the Sword King, but…

"Ugh. You… cheat…"

The Sword King's eyes still held a venomous glint.

If the hypnosis was lifted by Blue, he should have come to his senses.

"If only… I had used my swords."

Instead of being freed from the hypnosis-like state…

He didn't acknowledge his defeat and claimed things would have been different if he had used his swords.

'Is this why the sub-quest isn't cleared yet?'

The sub-quest to subdue the Sword King.

He thought this would be enough to subdue him, but…

The reason he didn't get the quest clear message seemed to be the Sword King's refusal to accept defeat.

In that case…

"Really? Then go ahead and use them."

Whoosh!

Seong Jihan stepped back and looked towards the players who had come outside.

[Sophia. Heal him.]

[Heal… him?]

[Yes.]

Despite the confused expression on her face at Seong Jihan's words…

Sophia obediently walked over and healed the Sword King.

Then…

The Sword King's swollen face quickly returned to normal.

[It seems to be done. Go back, it's dangerous.]

[Yes… but you're giving orders so naturally?]

[You don't like it?]

[No, it's not that…]

This person, whom she met for the first time today, why was he so casual?

Sophia blinked her eyes and returned to her place.

And as she moved away…

"…You'll regret this."

The Sword King gripped his dual swords tightly and moved them with a fierce momentum.

Swoosh…!

The sword energy surging from Ganjang and Makya.

The intense aura extended as if to wash away the humiliation from earlier, and…

"…"

Seong Jihan silently watched the movement of the dual swords.

The sword strike displayed by the current strongest warrior of humanity seemed extremely threatening to a third party, but…

'The difference in skill is too great.'

To Seong Jihan, who had trained with Jiang Shang, the attack was all too predictable.

At this level, a Blue stat of 2 would have been enough.

'To make him accept defeat, I need to be thorough.'

Swoosh.

Seong Jihan reached out his hand towards the dual swords aimed at him.

Clang…!

Then, one sword blade caught on each of his fingers, and…

"What…!"

As astonishment filled the Sword King's eyes…

Seong Jihan twisted his hand.

Snap!

The blades of Ganjang and Makya broke in the middle and fell to the ground.

"My, my swords…"

Despair filled the Sword King's eyes.

This time, Force clearly wasn't in effect.

How could his swords be broken in half by the opponent's fingers?

Thud…

He collapsed to the ground.

The broken blades lying on the ground came into view.

"…"

His shoulders lost strength, and his body went limp.

Even with his swords, this was a complete defeat.

The Sword King's spirit was utterly broken.

"I… lost."

Then…

[Sub-quest 'Subdue the Sword King, Yoon Sejin' has been cleared.]

[The Blue stat increases by 1.]

The quest clear message appeared before Seong Jihan's eyes.

"His dual swords were broken…"

"The title of humanity's strongest warrior will go to Seong Jihan now."

"But isn't he too strong?"

"Is he even human…?"

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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The reporters, while filming the scene of the Sword King's miserable defeat, thought what they were seeing was too surreal.

Who could have predicted that Ito Ryuhei, the Sword King, whom no one could defeat in close combat…

Would be defeated so miserably?

Especially the scene where his swords were broken by mere fingers, even seeing it with their own eyes, it was hard to believe.

Meanwhile…

"Do not come any closer."

"…"

Akari, whose face had cracked, revealing her true identity, and Lim Gayeong glared at each other, at an impasse.

Behind Lim Gayeong was Yoon Seah.

Akari, who had been eyeing Yoon Seah since the Sword King was thrown outside…

Tried to capture her in the chaos of people going out, but was blocked by Lim Gayeong.

"Yoon Seah-nim, please protect her!"

The staff of the BattleNet Center called out to the national team players who had been summoned by Seong Jihan.

'I didn't expect Seong Jihan to cause such a scene, but…'

'If a hostage situation happens here, it'll be even worse.'

They gathered around Yoon Seah, standing near her to protect her.

Surrounded by Korean players, with no chance to capture Yoon Seah…

Takeda Kazuo appealed to the officials in fluent Korean.

"Didn't the Korean side promise us safety and protection! How can you do this!"

"Ah, well, we can't control that person either…"

"Then at least spare his life! Are you really going to watch someone get killed here? The Sword King is not only Japan's representative but also a valuable asset to the human representative team! If he dies here, can you handle the aftermath?!"

The human representative team, at the bottom of the Space League.

There were many factors, but the weak warrior line was a major one.

The Sword King's presence somewhat compensated for this weakness, but…

If he were to die here, it could escalate into a problem for the entire human representative team.

"B-but he only broke his swords… isn't the situation calming down now?"

"No, breaking the swords is also a problem! The dual swords Ganjang and Makya represent the Sword King. With them broken, the human representative team's strength is as good as weakened!"

Takeda shouted loudly.

Indeed, with the justification of the 'human representative team,' he confidently asserted his claims.

And this reached Seong Jihan's ears, but…

'The human representative team here is none of my concern.'

To him, that story was completely irrelevant to determining the Sword King's fate.

Swoosh…

A blue haze began to rise around Seong Jihan's body, and…

"Ugh… Ack…"

The aura soon enveloped the Sword King's body, starting to control him.

The Blue stat, now increased by 1.

He believed this would be enough to lift the Sword King's hypnosis.

But the status effect showed no signs of dissipating, and…

"…Shizuru. I love you."

He closed his eyes and uttered his love like a final testament.

"Ha. What bullshit."

He's really asking for a beating.

As Seong Jihan lifted his foot…

-Aaaahhhhhh!!!!

-Just get rid of him kill him.

-Jihan please I'm begging you it's not even worth hitting him.

-Kill me.

-Kill me.

-Killkillkillkillkill.

His chat window was flooded with Yoon Sejin's messages.

The real Yoon Sejin, begging to be killed since earlier.

Especially when the final words were uttered, the chat was filled with nothing but pleas to kill him.

-The Sword King is pitiful…

-What the hell?? I didn't expect a 'love you' there. lololol

-But why is the hypnosis so strong? Didn't Seong Jihan-nim break it here?

-Didn't he break it with something like the power of the World Tree back then?

The power of the World Tree that had removed Yoon Sejin's status effect.

In the past, he had indeed brought him to his senses with a dark sword imbued with the aura of life.

'But the Blue stat is far superior to that purification power…'

If the World Tree's power could purify a status effect, then Blue should definitely be able to remove it.

But for it to resist so stubbornly, it was a bit strange.

At this point, it might not be a status effect, but just how he naturally was.

'Should I just kill him to avoid future trouble?'

Of course, if the Sword King died here…

Government officials would be in an uproar, and there would be fierce criticism worldwide, but…

'Since I've already gone off the rails, might as well step on the gas a bit more.'

If the Sword King's status effect couldn't be lifted, was there any need to keep him alive?

Especially when the person himself was begging to be killed in the chat.

Swoosh…

As Seong Jihan clenched his fist in contemplation…

"C-cough…"

The Blue area strongly compressed the Sword King.

His face started to turn bright red.

If he applied just a bit more force, the opponent's body would be crushed.

"Uh. Uh…"

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"I-is he really going to kill him?!"

In the tense moment, people began to stir.

Thud thud thud…!

"M-martial God-nim…!!! Please stop!"

Yoon Seah urgently shouted and ran over.

Perhaps she couldn't bear to watch him be killed.

"I'm sorry. I tried to lift the hypnosis, but it won't budge."

"Hypnosis…"

"Yes. So I was considering whether it's better to kill him. If I let him live, he might be a future threat to you."

At Seong Jihan's words, she bit her lip and then…

"…Could you release him for a moment?"

She requested in a subdued voice.

"Alright."

Seong Jihan opened his clenched fist.

Thud…!

The Sword King fell to the ground.

"Huff. Huff…"

He gasped for breath and struggled to lift his head.

"Ito Ryuhei-nim. This time, I'll make the request."

Yoon Seah looked directly into his eyes and spoke.

"Let's completely sever our ties."

"…Do you really want that? Shizuru has given her permission."

Even in this situation, the Sword King mentioned Shizuru.

Yoon Seah smiled bitterly.

This person really is hopeless.

"I haven't given my permission. So let's not interfere with each other anymore, and I hope you live well across the sea."

"But…"

"Or do you want to die here?"

Swoosh.

As Yoon Seah picked up the blade of Ganjang from the ground…

"Oh no. Oh no…!!! Of course. Of course!"

Takeda rushed over.

"Absolutely! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely! We won't even step foot on this land! So let's end it like this, and live as strangers for the rest of our lives!!!"

"But…"

"Sword King-nim! If you die here, who will protect Shizuru-nim? Please, just this once…!"

"…Alright."

Reluctantly nodding at Takeda's plea, the Sword King said…

"Fine. Like that, blade… our blood ties are completely severed."

"Yes. I understand."

Yoon Seah answered firmly, as if there was no lingering attachment left.

"…"

The Sword King silently stared at her for a moment.

Then, he let out a soft sigh and turned his gaze towards Seong Jihan.

"I heard you being called Martial God earlier… are you Dongbang Sak?"

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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