Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 229

231

‘Who could it be? I can’t think of anyone.’

Lamala, who was active in the martial arts world, knew some of the famous fighters in the underground martial arts scene. Since the fan base of the martial arts world and the underground martial arts world overlapped, their skills were often compared. Therefore, the association had often tacitly arranged matches between these two forces for entertainment purposes, and she had fought against famous underground martial arts fighters several times. However, Rapine showed superior strength and technical skills compared to them. This made it clear that she was a highly skilled fighter, close to the strongest in that field.

The problem was that there was no one she could particularly think of. Of course, there was one fighter who came to mind, but she was not a relevant reference. It was Daphne, the strongest in the underground martial arts world, who was arrested by the police a few years ago and reportedly killed during a hostage situation after escaping while being transferred to a new owner.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. I just need to defeat that girl.’

Lamala took a deep breath and prepared to dash forward. Now that she had roughly figured out her opponent’s identity, she just needed to continue the fight accordingly. Having fought underground martial artists several times, she knew how to deal with them in detail.

“Here I come!”

Lamala approached at a rapid speed. Rapine swung her sword, blocking her path. However, Lamala changed her course, ran up the wall, and tackled her neck. Grabbing her shoulder with the centrifugal force created by the long trajectory, Lamala kicked the opposite wall with her right foot, reversing her body’s movement. All she had to do was twist to dislocate her shoulder. She wore a confident smile, but Rapine’s sudden reverse rotation caused her to lose her grip, rendering her technique useless. A short sword strike followed, aimed at Lamala’s abdomen.

Whoosh!

Barely twisting her waist to the left to avoid the tip of the sword, Lamala immediately grabbed her side and slammed her down. Rapine, floating in the air and seeing the ceiling right in front of her, desperately spun her body to land accurately on the floor. However, due to the immense force, she couldn’t help but take a few steps back.

“She’s not ordinary!”

Seeing her opponent staggering, Lamala dashed forward, maximizing her steps. It was a brief moment of disarray, but it was hard to find such an opportunity. She dodged Rapine’s sword trajectory by bending her upper body greatly, then aimed for her legs with a slide. She crossed both legs, binding the back of her knees and the front of her ankles, and then forcefully swung her around.

Thud! Rapine fell forward with a bewildered expression. Her right leg was now caught in a joint lock. She gave strength to her knee and straightened her bent leg.

‘How, how can this be? The joint lock was perfectly applied!’

Rapine’s monstrous strength was perplexing Lamala. The joint lock, applied with her full body weight, was gradually loosening. She had never heard of anyone with such strength, so she couldn’t believe the current situation. However, since it was actually happening, there was no time to hesitate. If the technique was released, she would be the one in danger.

Lamala quickly got up and moved away from Rapine.

“Hmm. As expected of the strongest in the martial arts world. It’s not easy.”

Rapine, straightening her throbbing knee, held the sword that had fallen to the floor at the ready. She intended to use her strengths to aggressively push forward. Her biggest concern was that the characteristic activation time was very short. If she didn’t end the fight quickly, she would lose, so she didn’t have time to relax. Fortunately, the opponent didn’t know her weakness. Perhaps due to her pride as the strongest, Lamala wasn’t thinking of stalling at all and was rushing in recklessly.

‘But that pride will lead to your defeat. Because I am invincible for these 10 minutes.’

Rapine stepped forward, and Lamala tensed up, but she also approached. Judging that her opponent had no intention of avoiding, she predicted her victory. Based on what she felt from the leg technique, she thought she could repel most of Lamala’s techniques with her strength.

“Hyaat!!”

As she rushed in without hesitation, Lamala was startled and quickly moved to the side. Rapine’s strength was terrifying. She didn’t know how such a monstrous elf was born, but it was better to avoid a head-on confrontation.

‘Tch. I might lose if I mess up. I have to be careful.’

What was even more frightening was that Rapine wasn’t just a strong fighter. Her swordsmanship and fighting techniques, though unconventional, were unfamiliar but powerful. As expected of an underground martial artist? Unexpected attacks came one after another, creating several chilling situations that made her spine tingle. Moreover, her fighting techniques were free but systematic. It was clear that she had improved her skills through numerous battles.

The word ‘defeat’ clearly flashed in Lamala’s mind. Since even the joint locks she applied were being undone by force, she had no way to cope. However, her pride as the best would never allow her to back down.

She soon unleashed a flurry of punches with dazzling footwork.

‘The opportunity is coming soon.’

Rapine, who had been steadfastly confronting her and continuing to advance, suddenly smiled. Lamala seemed to have lost her reason, recklessly applying techniques without any strategy.

In a one-on-one battle, even if equally skilled fighters faced each other, victory or defeat could be determined by a minor mistake. This tendency was even more frequent among fighters with poor physical conditions, precisely because their strength, one of the factors to overcome mistakes, was low. Of course, she possessed near-perfect physical abilities as the strongest in the martial arts world, but the situation was different since the opponent had activated her trait.

She continued to parry Lamala’s countless attacks, looking for an opportunity.

“Now!”

When Lamala briefly stopped her movements to breathe, Rapine pounced, as if she had been waiting for it, and grabbed her waist. She flipped her over her head with a throw and immediately pounced on her, who was lying face down on the floor.

“Keuk!”

Lamala, letting out a short groan, rolled her body to avoid it, but her whole body was bound as if captured by Rapine’s approaching hands. She continued to kick her side with all her might, but it was useless. Strikes from such an unstable position could not incapacitate her opponent.

Rapine, crushing Lamala and raising her upper body, pointed the sword in her hand at her neck.

“Heh heh. Unfortunately, I have to end it here. I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again, but goodbye.”

At the same time, Lamala’s body stiffened as the sword was fiercely slashed horizontally, and soon her movements completely stopped. Perhaps because she couldn’t believe that she, the emperor of the martial arts world, had been defeated by an unknown fighter, she was clearly revealing a look close to astonishment through her face shield.

Rapine, without paying any attention, calmly stood up and moved away from the spot. Since the swordsmanship and martial arts worlds had different areas of activity, they would no longer meet each other. She was the victor, so there was no reason to pay attention to Lamala anymore.

Crash. Window. Clang. Thud.

The current battle formation was that a number of villa fighters were blocking the very end room where the elders were, and LHN fighters were pushing to break through. It was a very urgent situation, and Beomseok and Shaila, along with Cassie and Emma, were surrounding them from the stairs, but the situation was not improving. Perhaps because many were hit by the initial surprise attack from the rooftop, the surroundings were filled with villa fighters who had become incapacitated.

“Master. I’m here.”

Beomseok, who was parrying the sword strike of an elf swordswoman, smiled and looked at Rapine. The fact that she had come here to support meant that she had defeated Lamala. He couldn’t help but find her admirable. This proved that she was the strongest martial artist in the world.

“Rapine. Good job. Go over there and rest.”

Shaila, who was next to him, shouted at his relaxed words. Rest when even one more hand was needed? She suspected that he might have given up on this game.

“Beomseok! What are you saying! You know what the situation is!”

He kicked an elf swordswoman rushing at him in the abdomen and spoke in a calm tone.

“What? It seems like the game is over. The LHN swordsmen are almost at the end of the hallway.”

“Still, we have to do our best! Do you want to see our father kneel before Chairman Balbar!”

“Do we really have to kneel if we lose?”

“No, I’m just saying! It means it’s that shameful to lose!”

Beomseok, who lightly slashed his sword and cut the shoulder of an elf swordsman, spoke with a playful tone.

“Seriously, we’re just spending money and having fun with friends, why is there even shame? We just need to put on a show and hope the game ends quickly.”

“Still, since we’re fighting anyway, it’s not good to lose!”

“Well, that’s true, but it’s okay because we won’t lose.”

“What does that mean!”

“I’ve already planned everything so we won’t lose. The moment an LHN fighter opens the door to the end room where the elders are, we win.”

Shaila had a blank look on her face. According to the game rules, the moment that door was opened and an LHN fighter invaded, they would lose.

“Don’t say ridiculous things!”

“Take a look over there. They’ve come to announce our victory.”

Beomseok pointed to the window with his thumb holding the sword hilt. There, the judges and LHN’s flying cars were lined up in the air. She glanced at the window and gritted her teeth.

“It’s them. They’ve come because this battle is likely to be the last!”

At that moment, the sound of a wooden door breaking and the cheers of LHN fighters were heard from afar.

“Sister Prisika has entered the elders’ room. It’s our victory!”

“Everyone stop fighting! The game is over!”

Shaila dropped the tip of her sword weakly to the floor. She was dumbfounded that the game she thought she had almost won was lost due to a moment’s carelessness.

Beomseok, patting her shoulder as if to comfort her, said as he put the sword he was wearing back into his belt.

“Let’s go. Now that the battle is over, people from LHN will be coming soon.”

Shaila sighed and looked at him.

“Even though we lost the battle, are we really winning this game?”

“Hmm. We’re 100% winning.”

“How?”

“You’ll naturally find out if you wait by the elders’ side.”

After saying this, Beomseok leisurely defeated an LHN fighter and walked towards the room where the elders were. Shaila was curious, but she thought she would find out soon and followed him.

After a while, a group of people came up to the villa. It was Aula and other key figures from LHN. She and her party passed through the chaotic fourth-floor hallway and came to the room where Chairman Wilkins and the others were, and greeted them politely.

“Elders, how have you been?”

Wilkins, who was sitting on the reception sofa, pouted as if he was angry at the humiliation of defeat.

“Where did Balbar go and why did you come? Did you come to embarrass these old men?”

“That’s not it, but there’s something important I need to see you about.”

Chairman Chaplin, who was sitting across from Wilkins, looked at her with a calm expression.

“Okay, what do you want to say?”

Aula, making eye contact with Beomseok, smiled brightly and said.

“Actually, I came to tell you that we lost this game.”

Chairman Chaplin raised his left eyebrow.

“What are you talking about? As you can see, we lost the battle?”

“But you won the game. In fact, it was revealed that Julian, who was an LHN participant, not only bribed the judges but also used modern equipment that should not have been used in this game, such as satellites. Well. It didn’t affect the battle much, but cheating is cheating. I hereby declare defeat.”

At that moment, Vincent, who was standing behind, glared at Beomseok. He had noticed that Beomseok’s scheme was heavily involved in this situation. Aula’s words were exactly the same as the information that had flowed from Beomseok’s mouth before.

Vincent approached him and poked his side hard, saying quietly.

“You! What have you done? You clearly said no before?”

“Hey. What else could I do? He said he would come and confess himself, so please be lenient. Honestly, I could have sold this information to Chairman Wilkins for a high price, but I gave up to avoid damaging the relationship between the elders. So, please pretend you don’t know, Director.”

If that’s what he thought, it was truly admirable, but Director Vincent couldn’t help but be upset. The biggest victim of this incident was him. He could have won without fighting, but Beomseok blocked his mouth, so he experienced defeat through this battle.

“By any chance, did you use any tricks in today’s battle too?”

“No. Absolutely not. I was teaching Shaila swordsmanship at that time.”

Shaila said in a passing tone, as if whispering.

“Except for the time I went to the bathroom for a long time due to constipation, that’s roughly it.”

Director Vincent glared at him with angry eyes.

“You. Let’s talk for a while later.”

As the surroundings became quiet after he finished speaking, Chairman Wilkins unraveled the questions he had been holding.

“Aula. But why did that guy Julian do that?”

“Actually, he said that if we won this game, his grandfather would join the economic organization. So, it seems that the child used such a shallow trick even to the point of overdoing it.”

“So, he used that trick to recruit Balbar into the economic organization?”

“Yes. That’s right. So, we immediately kicked Julian out of our camp and sent a letter of protest to the economic organization to strongly question this matter. Because the fight between the elders has been tarnished.”

Chairman Wilkins, shaking his head, took out his wallet from his pocket and took out a coin from it. Then, he put it on the table and said.

“Here. It’s 3 krang [currency] for coffee. It’s so hard to get a cup of coffee. Tsk tsk.”

At that moment, everyone’s eyes turned to Wilkins. This revealed that he was the culprit of everything. In particular, Chaplin and Louis were coughing up empty air with a dazed expression. They had been suspicious because they were quietly silent to the questions, but they couldn’t help but feel resentful when he actually confessed. Because of him, they had to be trapped in this villa for a week.

Aula, smiling, walked over and picked up the 3 krang and put it in her pocket. This allowed her to save face with her grandfather.

“Yes. Thank you. But you have to give me the change too.”

Wilkins slightly pointed to Beomseok with his thumb. Now that it had come to this, he couldn’t die alone. The person who had the greatest influence on the situation reaching this point was him.

“2 krang, you mean? Get it from that guy. I only drank one cup of coffee.”

At those words, Aula twitched her lips and sharpened her nails. She couldn’t tolerate that the lover who had taken her virginity was the mastermind behind this situation.

In response, Beomseok immediately jumped out of the window and attempted to escape. He didn’t have the confidence to handle her right now. The only way to escape from Aula’s nagging was to run away.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Ah, I was a bit late because I was watching soccer. Hahaha. Park Ji-sung scored a goal, so I was out of my mind… Hahaha. Although Manchester United lost, I feel good.

Then have a nice day, and I’ll see you again tomorrow.