Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 862: Strongest - Part 9

The atmosphere was good in the Sanctuary as everyone was enjoying the delicious food presented in front of them.

It was messy, loud, and full of laughter.

"Right, I just now realized that there isn't timer."

One of the men said.

"I guess they're giving us time to eat, and once we are done, they'll again throw us into that meat grinder!"

Another one said.

They all shrugged as they didn't care, as there was delicious beer, wine, and food in front of them, so they just enjoyed themselves.

"Why isn't he eating?"

Samuel asked as he noticed that Kiernan was just sitting elsewhere while not eating.

"I don't know, maybe he is a paranoid type. Probably thinks the food is poisoned or something. How stupid, because why would they kill us now when they could've done that a much easier way?"

Isaac scoffed.

Soon enough, there were only leftovers left on the table, and no one was hungry enough to eat those.

Everyone had a full belly.

Buzz~ Buzz~

In that moment.

The screen flickered on, and one of the scientists appeared on it with a smile on his face.

"I hope you all enjoyed your food, but now it's time to kick off the second phase of the Devil Ritual, and I hope you're prepared for it."

The man said.

Everyone looked at the screen and inwardly thought, 'Bring it on,' without hesitation.

"The food that you have consumed was poison. The poison is in your system, slowly killing you, and it will take three hours for that to happen."

The scientist said with the same calm smile on his face.

"…Eh?"

They all thought that they must've imagined what they heard, and then they looked at the food in front of him.

"Oh, shit!"

"God damn it!"

Some of them started shoving their fingers up their throats to make themselves vomit, but it was no good.

The people knowledgeable about poison knew that there was nothing they could do anymore.

"Why the hell did you do this, bastard?!"

"Why kill us this way? What the hell is the point?!"

Everyone screamed angrily.

Samuel, Isaac, and Michael's expressions went dark.

"Well, well…"

Kiernan took out the apples and tossed them aside with a sigh.

"I guess I'll be with an empty stomach for now."

There were four other people that didn't look fazed, as they were the only ones that didn't eat anything.

"It's not the end, however. The room will fill with antidote in an hour's time. But, there is always a but. It will only be capable of healing ten people…

"I've specifically made it so that the ten people that inhale the gas first will be cured… The rest will be without one.

"You can either leave it to the hands of fate that you'll be one of the lucky ones, or you'll start killing people right now to reduce the numbers.

"Your choice!"

The scientist said and disappeared from the screen.

When the screen went black, everyone slowly distanced themselves from the dining table and joined their groups.

Everyone already knew what they were going to do.

"…We must kill… There are forty of us… What are the chances that we all will be lucky enough? I don't like those odds.

"Let's cut the numbers by half at least!"

Kiernan stretched his arms above his head and stood up and saw the three poisoned young men walk over.

"Shit…"

Isaac clicked his tongue.

"Kiernan, you didn't eat anything, right? That means that you aren't poisoned."

Samuel said.

He felt extremely jealous towards Kiernan right now, but he also wondered whether this counted as cheating.

However.

He thought that the tournament organizers must've thought about some people skipping the dinner—quite a few did.

"We need to reduce the numbers, don't we? For all of us to survive…"

Isaac said.

"Yes, it is a must."

Michael said with a sigh.

'Will you help them? Does it really matter to you that they'll die?'

Bael asked inside his mind.

'I don't know, but I don't think I can get through this without fighting somebody, as it will be hard to tell who is poisoned and who is not.'

Kiernan thought.

"Ahhhhh!"

At that moment, scream sounded, as one of the competitors stabbed another contestant in the back with a long, sharp knife.

They were part of the same group…

"H-He killed someone part of his group…"

Isaac whispered in shock.

It made them realize that the backstabbing had also started as ten people wasn't much, and it was hard for everyone part of the same group to reach the top ten.

'It looks like we're at the closing stages of the tournament. The backstabbing had begun. Might as well stop hiding myself then.'

Kiernan scratched the back of his head and walked past the three young men.

"Where are you heading off to, Kiernan?"

Samuel asked.

"To fight, of course."

Kiernan said.

"…You're not poisoned, so I would understand why you wouldn't want to fight, so why?"

Isaac asked with a frown.

"The tournament is reaching the end. It will be a fight now or never, so I won't waste any time."

Kiernan cracked his knuckles.

He wasn't the only one with the same train of thought, and the secret powerhouses—who had been keeping a low profile—were also making their move.

Erik stood up—his body standing tall against the back wall—and everyone around him felt shaky under his shadow.

"It's time."

Judas said to his group members, and he twirled a butterfly knife in his hand.

"Shall we?"

Adam asked with a smirk.

"Of course!"

Tyrone grinned with some remains of food still stuck between his teeth as he enjoyed himself greatly.

He probably ate the most—whether that would affect the speed of poison killing him was unknown—but he didn't care about it all that much.

He just wanted to kill right now.

"…"

Sitting alone, a graceful-looking woman lifted her head, and her fair-skinned face was the epitome of beauty—she was a Chinese national.

There had been many men that tried approaching her for their group and felt their primal instincts kick in.

They had wanted to have their way with her, but she had killed them all, as she was not a nobody.

She was China's deadliest mercenary.

"…The tension is really high.

"…Yeah, I feel like something is about to happen."

A couple of people spoke to each other, and they felt like the walls were closing in suddenly—everyone was ready to kill.

"Hey, dude."

In that moment, a voice came from behind one of the men, and he turned around to look at him.

"What is it?"

They were part of the same group, but now the one who was speaking had a strange look in his eyes, as if he was possessed by some dark force.

In that moment.

He stabbed the man in the back, and the man coughed blood suddenly, as he didn't expect to have a knife in his back.

"Y-You bastard!"

The rest of the group members looked horrified, and they looked at each other, and all of them started suddenly fighting.

"You fucking traitors!"

"Argh… I got stabbed!"

"You all are morons. We can reach the top 10 together… urgh… Ahhh…"

The number of deceased started growing, and after seeing what was happening over there, the other groups also started fighting among themselves.

"…"

Samuel and Isaac, after seeing that, weren't sure whether they could trust anybody in their group either.

Michael was, for some reason, really quiet.

It looked like he wasn't really paying attention, as if he was thinking about something really hard.

"Hahahahaha!"

Tyrone and Adam enjoyed the bloodshed, and they were attacking some groups that weren't doing anything.

"Why are you attacking us?!"

"We didn't do anything!"

They screamed.

"Haha, fuck you, cowards!"

Tyrone sliced through them with his axe, and Adam cut them into pieces, laughing maniacally the entire time.

They soon killed them off.

"Huff… Huff…"

At that moment, Adam saw a group in the distance, and his gaze locked on Michael—fear creeping into his being.

"That's the guy, huh? Shall we go hunt him down?"

Tyrone asked with a smirk.

"…I don't know."

Adam hesitated.

"Hmph, if you are scared, stay here pissing your pants. I will attack them, so take a backseat, bitch!"

Tyrone ran off and saw Michael completely unaware of him.

'I don't understand why that bitch is so scared of him. This will be an easy kill!'

Tyrone grinned and raised his axe high.

"Michael, watch out!"

Samuel and Isaac screamed as they saw the dark-skinned man charging at them with bloodlust spilling out of him.

The axe came swinging down.

"…Insolence."

Michael coldly grabbed the axe with his bare hand—he squeezed the blade—the blade shattered like glass.

"Ah?!"

Tyrone's eyes bulged in shock.

In that moment, Michael elbowed him in the chest, and Tyrone's ribcage shattered, and all his organs juggled around like loose marbles.

"COUGH!"

Tyrone coughed out blood.

'What kind of… fucking… monster…'

Michael sliced his hand through Tyrone's head—slicing it in half—and his body collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap.

"Haaaah…"

Michael ran his hand across his hair, mixing the blood with the color of his hair, and he looked demonic.

"M-Michael?"

Samuel and Isaac were shocked.

"What?"

Kiernan frowned at the sight of that.

He didn't show this kind of strength before—not even close—and now Michael seemed like a formidable individual.

There were no weak points that he could sense. Almost like he was a completely different person.

'I knew that he seemed different. He also has a demon lurking inside him. Like you have me, he has one as well.'

Bael said in surprise.

'Do you know which one?'

Kiernan asked.

'I have a hunch… It might be Satan.'