NOVEL NEXT Chapter 45: Diamond Yaksha
The pain was momentary.
I felt a strange sensation the moment something boiling inside me completely unleashed.
As if a third eye had opened?
Information I couldn’t perceive just moments before now flowed into my brain through expanded senses and vision.
Was this the ‘unused power’ Fuma-senpai mentioned?
I clenched and unclenched my fists, now glowing orange, as I checked my overall body condition.
Somehow, I felt as if I could do anything at that moment.
Noticing my dramatic change, Ivan, who stood opposite me, murmured as if amused.
“Is this what they call the mystique of the East? That a mere pill can enable an ignorant being to handle this much qi.”
I slowly approached Ivan, who bore scratches here and there from his skirmish with Fuma-senpai.
“Ivan Romanov, I don’t know why you took a liking to me. Frankly, I don’t care to know. But one thing has become clear to me from the way you even laid hands on your own daughter…”
I pointed at his face and declared,
“You are an irredeemable villain.”
Becoming a disciple of such a person wouldn’t lead to anything great.
Especially in a world of shonen manga that emphasized friendship, effort, and victory.
“Hahahaha…”
But hearing my words, Ivan chuckled as if he had heard a funny joke.
“Kahahahahahahahahahahat!”
Then, clutching his belly, he began to laugh loudly, as if air had filled his lungs.
“Is that the serious expression you wear to call me a villain? How cliché! It’s unbearably cliché!”
After saying that, he suddenly became serious and looked at me.
“Boy, such words are just excuses of the weak. The strong can do whatever they please. This world has always operated on the principle of survival of the fittest.”
Ivan growled like a beast as he spoke.
“The weak are destined to lose all rights and freedom to the strong. That’s the natural law of this world. So, if you really want to convince me, there’s only one way.”
Ivan said this, pointing to himself.
“Defeat me right here.”
‘What on earth is happening?’
Fuma Yukika was inwardly flustered by the unexpectedly potent effects of the ghost pill.
She thought, ‘Was this item always such a cheat?’
Originally, the ghost pill was intended to stimulate the true qi latent in the body, momentarily amplifying the total amount of qi one could use.
The cause of her amazement was the enormous surge of Extreme Yang True Qi, equivalent to 17 years’ worth, erupting from him like Mentos in cola.
Upon closer examination through her third eye, it appeared as though all the qi channels in Kim Yu-seong’s body were unblocked, as if he had undergone a forceful stimulation of his vital points.
Despite this, a tremendous amount of unchanneled True Qi continued to rise from Kim Yu-seong’s body, resembling wisps of steam.
‘With his current state, Kim Yu-seong might actually be able to defeat Ivan.’
The effects of the ghost pill would last about five minutes.
While that might seem incredibly short, in the world of martial arts masters, it was ample time to decide a battle.
Fuma Yukika swallowed nervously, her anticipation growing for the epic showdown that was about to unfold before her eyes.
Kim Yu-seong was the first to move.
His movements were now incomparably swifter than before.
His legs, wrapped in an orange halo, looked as if they were on fire.
He propelled himself off the ground and launched a high kick toward Ivan’s solid upper body.
Bang!!!
Ivan countered with a high kick as well, but to everyone’s surprise, it was Ivan’s leg that rebounded in the mid-air clash.
‘What power…!’
Shock widened Ivan’s eyes.
The strength was unfathomable.
Surely, Ivan had the advantage in terms of muscle mass and weight. Until that moment, Kim Yu-seong’s physical capabilities had seemed similar or slightly inferior to his.
But now, the power balance had shifted so drastically that Ivan was being overwhelmingly outpowered.
After having his leg repelled, Ivan quickly regained his footing and adapted to the situation.
‘Lev Imperatora.’
The Lion of the Emperor.
It was the deadliest of the five martial arts forms he had taught himself.
Ivan altered the shape of his hands to resemble hooks.
His intention was to mimic the claws of a lion with his powerful grip.
“Heup!”
He aimed to compensate for his relatively weaker speed, as opposed to his tremendous strength.
With that goal in mind, Ivan propelled himself off the ground and swung both hands at a velocity that Kim Yu-seong couldn’t match.
Snap!
‘What?!’
However, the outcome was not Kim Yu-seong getting injured, but rather Ivan’s fingers.
It was likely a compound fracture.
Kim Yu-seong’s skin, although human, was as hard as a diamond.
It appeared to be an effect of the immense Yang Qi that emanated from his skin like vapor.
Caught in his hesitation and confusion, Kim Yu-seong launched a headbutt straight toward Ivan’s face.
“Keuk!”
The sound of his nose breaking was followed by a spray of blood.
Having misjudged the situation, he attempted to retreat hastily, but Kim Yu-seong wasn’t about to let an enemy within his range get away.
“Clench your teeth.”
Or risk losing them.
“Woooooooah!!”
A volley of punches ensued, punctuated by a roar that seemed to burst from the depths of his chest.
With his fingers fractured and unable to form proper fists, Ivan regretted his impulsiveness as he absorbed the flurry of punches in a defenseless stance.
‘Damn it! If only I had used qi from the start!’
He had let his guard down.
Had he taken the fight seriously from the beginning, he wouldn’t have found himself in such a sorry state.
The thought made him shudder.
‘Losing? Me, Ivan, to a mere high school student, not even to my lifelong rival, Fuma Kotaro?’
The humiliation was unbearable.
Amid the onslaught of punches, Ivan clenched his teeth.
If you can’t use your teeth, use your gums; if you can’t clench your fist, use the edge of your hand.
He summoned blue martial energy into both hands.
‘Griffon Imperatora.’
The Griffin of the Emperor.
A mythical creature that combined the king of the land, the lion, and the king of the sky, the eagle—symbolized the emperor.
He swung his arms with great force.
Crack!
Yet Kim Yu-seong, his senses heightened by the qi emanating from his body, easily blocked Ivan’s critical attack.
As Ivan, bombarded by the relentless punches, glared at him with venom-filled eyes, Kim Yu-seong stated coldly,
“The fight is over now.”
He then tightened his grip, crushing the bones in Ivan’s wrist.
“Keeeuuuk!”
The intense pain from his shattered arm bones forced Ivan to scream in agony and fall to the ground.
“Me! I, Ivan, the world’s strongest, defeated by a mere Japanese high school student!”
Writhing on the ground and shouting in pain, Kim Yu-seong kicked Ivan in the jaw to quiet him and said,
“I’m Korean.”
One of the legendary Seven Powers!
Ivan, the head of the massive Easter Egg Company and the victor of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd GOF, known as the God of Destruction!
His embarrassing defeat sent shockwaves through the underworld!
The fall of a living legend and the emergence of a new star to rival him!
The fact that this new star was only a 17-year-old high school student amplified the sensation!
Those who witnessed the secretly recorded carnage in Ueno Park sought a fitting nickname for the one who dethroned a legend and became one himself!
A body as impenetrable as a diamond!
Strength akin to that of a mythological hero!
A fighting spirit like that of a Yaksha, and the mercy to spare his enemy Ivan’s life!
Those in the know who believed the fight between the two to be a mere coincidence and mistook Kim Yu-seong for Black Yaksha as Ivan had said, bestowed upon him the nickname Diamond Yaksha!
Even if his extraordinary combat abilities were to be a one-time show!
The strong ones of the world, unaware of this fact, began to take notice of the formidable Japanese high school student who defeated Ivan, a titan of the underworld, from his first appearance.
However, Kim Yu-seong, the actual subject of all these rumors, had no way of realizing that all this attention was directed at him.
The reason was that he was just a very ordinary high school student, albeit with a bit more muscle than others.