Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 859: Strongest - Part 6

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Swoosh~

The doors of the Sanctuary opened.

Remembering what happened last time, everyone sprinted out of the Sanctuary as quickly as possible.

Behind them, the Sanctuary exploded in a fiery explosion once again, and then the doors slammed shut furiously.

"…!"

Outside the Sanctuary, every group eyed each other, but they didn't start fighting right away.

Instead, they all started heading their own way instead.

With nobody daring to go close to him, Erik started walking alone, but there were two people following closely behind.

They were Adam and Tyrone.

"…"

Erik walked for a while until he was out of the sight of every other group, and he then stopped moving.

"Come out."

He said coldly.

"Oh, we got discovered~"

With a wry smile on his face, Adam stepped out from behind a corner—followed by Tyrone.

"I've been wondering who will be the first ones to seek death."

Erik said coldly.

He was a really huge man. As thick as a castle wall. And his fists were so big that they might as well be swollen, and he had broad shoulders that seemed to stretch on forever.

"We are not here to fight you."

Adam raised his arms in surrender with a chuckle, and he then said.

"I'd like to offer an alliance."

Swoosh~

With no warning beforehand, Erik slashed his feet through the ground in front of him, as if his feet were a sword.

Even the wall and the ceiling got cut.

"If you follow me beyond this line… I will treat it as an act of hostility… And I will strike the two of you down with no mercy."

Erik said coldly, and then he turned around and continued walking away.

"Oh man…"

Adam sighed.

"Why isn't he just attacking us? He is clearly strong enough. What's the point of waiting?"

Tyrone asked with a frown.

"He doesn't think we're worthy. Not yet, at least."

Adam said with a frown.

"…This all is starting to piss me off. I've never been underestimated this much before. Wherever I go, people would run away in fear."

Tyrone gritted his teeth.

…

"…"

Erik remained silent and kept walking.

A few times, some groups happened to encounter him, but they always left quickly whenever they saw him.

They could tell that he was different from every other competitor in the tournament, and thus, they didn't want to mess with him.

Not yet, at least.

There was still a long way to go in the tournament, and anything could go—such as Erik injuring himself.

"Hoh…"

Erik stopped in front of a door.

It was one of the many doors in this underground place, and the sign above the door looked interesting.

[Room for the Brave]

Erik stepped into the room.

The lights flickered on, and he was standing inside what appeared to be a ruined castle—tall archways, crumbling walls, and marble pillars.

DOOM~ DOOM~ DOOM~

At that moment, the light fell over the giant throne—there was a giant sitting on it—holding a massive sword.

"You dare to come here, foolish human?"

The giant's voice rumbled.

"…"

Erik looked unimpressed.

It was common knowledge that such things as giants didn't live on Earth and only in fantasy books.

However.

He acted like seeing a giant was nothing surprising.

"You don't feel alive. A mere robot, hmph."

Erik scoffed with an unimpressed look.

"ARROGANT HUMAN!"

With the giant sword in hand, the giant stood up, and its head grazed the ceiling above—this castle was definitely not made for giants such as himself.

It was a human castle.

It looked like the giant just found his way here, killed the humans occupying the castle, and took it for himself.

And the giant throne was just made of the destroyed remains of the human castle that was barely standing anymore.

"Do your worst."

Erik crossed his arms and strolled across the throne room as if he were having a walk at the park—no sign of distress whatsoever.

"HAAAAAAH!"

The giant brought his sword at him, and it smashed into Erik's body—the blade was thick enough to completely crush this human.

However.

Crack~

The blade cracked and shattered.

"…"

Erik's face was slightly bleeding.

The thick blade struck his head—causing a minor wound—but in the end, it was the blade that got destroyed.

"What…"

The giant looked shocked.

…

Somewhere in the underground facility, in the command room.

"What…"

A man whispered in shock as he was holding a gaming controller, which he used to control the giant.

"…!"

Around him, over a dozen people were watching him fight against Erik, and they were equally shocked.

They created this giant and thought that it was a weapon of pinnacle strength, and if they sent the giant to any battlefield, they would be able to win every war.

Thus.

They made the Room for the Brave as a killing zone—whoever was unlucky enough to go there would die.

"That's Erik Lundman."

The main scientist said with a smirk.

It wasn't easy to get Erik Lundman to join this tournament, but they were thrilled that they were able to.

'He is the most likely candidate to win, and if we put a Chip on him, he'll be the greatest weapon in our possession.

'America. Russia. China… They will all cower in fear before us. Erik will be the ultimate weapon that'll make us the rulers of the entire world!'

"Keep controlling the giant!"

They shouted.

For a second, the man forgot that the fight wasn't over yet, and thus, he took a firm grip of the gaming controller.

"I got this… I got this…"

The man licked his lips.

He was a fighting game champion before he decided to do some tax fraud, which led the cops to his doorstep.

After countless escapes… Thrilling chases… He ended up working for this shady company as the Giant's Operator.

It wasn't exactly a job he imagined doing when he was younger, but it paid extremely well—and he also enjoyed it.

'I don't care even if I am fighting against some European fighting champion. I've never lost a fight in my life!'

The man shouted inside his mind.

It was, of course, only fighting inside the game that he hadn't lost before. He had never been in an actual fight with his real body.

…

"Destruction Fist!"

The giant's massive fist came crashing down, and Erik finally uncrossed his arms, and he stopped the fist with just one hand.

Boooom~

The fist was bigger than Erik's entire body.

"Hmph!"

Erik spun the massive fist around, and the giant got lifted off the ground—he turned the giant around and slammed him into the ground.

The whole castle room shook.

Bzzzt~ Bzzzt~ Bzzzt~

The giant's body started crackling with electricity as if some robotic insides of the giant started to malfunction.

In the end.

The giant barely stood back up, and it moved quickly—too fast for someone of his size—and started banging his fists down at Erik.

It was almost like he was a human that was trying to squash an annoying bug that seemed to refuse to die.

"Heh!"

Erik smirked, crossed his arms, and let the giant's fist pummel at him without fighting back at all.

BANG~ BANG~ BANG~

The fists kept hitting Erik, and the ground under him gave way, and he got slightly buried into the ground.

Erik still kept his arms crossed.

Bzzt~ Bzzt~ Bzzt~

The giant's fists started crackling with electricity as the fake skin around them started to peel away, revealing the mechanical parts underneath.

It was again the giant that started to get hurt!

"Is that all? So disappointing."

Erik climbed out of the hole, and he then slowly walked towards the giant's legs—they weren't moving.

"W-w-w-wait… T-this thing is expensive…"

A timid voice started to come from the giant's mouth.

It was the Giant's Operator speaking and he knew that he would be in a hell of a lot of trouble if he let the giant get destroyed.

It was a priceless machine.

It cost the company tens of millions to build.

"I don't care."

Erik grinned, and he kicked at the giant's leg.

It wasn't a hard kick. It didn't seem like there was a lot of effort behind the kick. Yet, it was still enough.

The giant's leg got sliced off, and it flew off a slight distance before landing on the ground with a thud.

The giant dropped down to its knees.

In that moment.

Erik jumped through the giant's chest—slicing through the mechanical insides—then he exited from the back.

"THIS IS POWER!"

Erik shouted.

Behind him, the giant crackled with electricity, and then it exploded—a fiery cloud of explosion sweeping through the room.

He walked through the explosion, left the room with a cold look on his face, and left behind damage that was worth tens of millions.

…

"Ah…"

The Giant Operator's face was pale.

'There was nothing I could do… The giant isn't strong enough… I thought it was made of the strongest possible material that was also light enough so that the speed isn't sacrificed in favor of durability.

'However, am I crazy, or is that guy's body far more durable than whatever this thing was made of?!'

The Giant Operator was afraid to look into his boss' eyes, but when he looked over, he saw the boss smiling from ear to ear.

It did hurt to lose the giant.

However.

If they got their hands on Erik with the Chip, they would get a weapon that was worth a hundred times more.