Epic Of Caterpillar

Chapter 2811 - 2812: Third Stage Of Martial Arts, Martial Ascension

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”A-Ahhh! W-What are you?! A-Aaaagh!”

Desperately, the Yakuza fought back, his sword glowing even as it cracked, slashing across my chest and shoulders with sharp, jagged wounds.

And yet.

I was already done.

Pushing myself through my limits—and beyond.

I channeled a Form I had never practiced before.

This was the power of the Third Stage of Martial Arts.

Martial Ascension!

”Fifth Form.”

”Hunterʼs Knife.”

A simple technique.

In my mind, Yeon Ji appeared, sharpening his hunting knife—the weapon he used to hunt and defend himself.

It was his greatest weapon, but also the most overlooked.

My sword became a Hunterʼs Knife.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

And I cut.

Cut.

Cut.

Cut.

And cut some more.

Slicing through every means possible.

I cut through spirit energy.

I cut through mana.

And ultimately...

Through life and souls.

”A-AHHH...! AAAAHHHHH! BOSS! HELP MEEEEEEAAAGGHHH!”

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Until the man in front of me was no longer a man—but a pile of minced meat.

BOOOM!

His remains, his soul, and the spirit heart within him all exploded into a deafening blast, shaking the entire spiritual domain.

The battle lasted less than a minute, and yet it felt so long.

I smiled, covered in my own blood and that of my opponent.

”Ahh... that felt amazing.”

So this is what it feels like to truly put oneself into every battle.

Before, I was merely a child wielding toys.

Now, I felt like I was truly becoming something. Someone. Somebody.

To fight with all my soul, my intent...

And my sword.

”Y-You...!”

”H-Heʼs dead...”

”She killed him?!”

”What?!”

The other four Yakuza were shaken, stepping back before they could even fight the rest of my friends. I stood in front of them, smiling.

”Please, donʼt hold back... I can take all four of you at the same time~”

I smiled, obsessed with the sword, with learning more, with mastering every martial art.

I had a new love.

Martial Arts!

”Letʼs fight? Come on... Werenʼt you so confident before? Let me show you my Obsession, my Madness, and my Delusions!”

”C-Crazy...”

”This bitchʼs insane!”

”What the fuck! She butchered a guy alive, sheʼs bleeding all over, and sheʼs smiling?!”

As they panicked, I heard my friends recovering.

I had sent four autonomous Arcane Rune Formations to them. These formations were loaded with a single command: to heal.

They healed using the Healing Sunray Spell, derived from my Khepri Transformation Skill.

It was cost-effective and highly potent, absorbing light from the environment. This domain, full of spirit crystals, had plenty of light.

”Thank you, Kireina, you saved us all...” sighed Matsuo, standing up behind me. ”Without you buying time, we wouldʼve died...”

”This dimension is really bizarre, but whatʼs crazier is you!” Erika said to me. ”W-What sort of insane swordswoman are you, girl?! That was awesome!”

”Indeed... I guess I was wrong about you, Kireina...” Harumi smiled, slightly recovered now. ”Youʼre not bad.”

”Haha, see?” Frank smiled, looking at me and then at our opponents. ”Thanks, Kireina. We all owe you one now... so shall we finish this?”

”Hey Mammon, where are you? He disappeared?” wondered Harumi, looking around.

”Heʼs fine,” I said. ”Heʼs just doing something on his own, donʼt worry about him. He was able to withstand this place just fine.”

”Come to think of it, how did you even withstand it without issues?” asked Erika.

”Iʼve practiced swordsmanship and magic in similar spaces to these. They connect to a parallel plane where Spiritual Power and Spirits originate—the Spiritual Plane,” I explained. ”I possess the bloodline of Fae, so itʼs easier for me to adapt... as for Mammon, Devils have a natural resistance to all energy pollution, I think.”

Mammon was indeed not here. He had suddenly flown off in the middle of my fight against that Yakuza. The reason? I believe he sensed a large concentration of spirit energy and went to destroy it—most likely the core of this Spirit Domain.

Unlike normal Domain Creations, which are aided by the World and merely mirror the real world, this is a modified Domain using the power of a Deity connected to these men. The longer we stay trapped here, the worse it will get.

”Huh, thatʼs great. Iʼm a Dhampir and yet I couldnʼt adapt properly, damn it,” Hiromi muttered, feeling slightly ashamed. ”And weʼre not in the best condition either after fighting that giant mole bear...”

”Iʼm sorry,” Frank apologized. ”Iʼll make up for this...”

He quickly took out his Angelic Spear with Michael inside, while also holding the Mole Bear Claw Sword. His Aura surged, combining various elements and powers together.

The ground beneath him trembled as his Aura expanded. Suddenly, the crystals started floating around him.

”...?!”

The Yakuza leader took off his sunglasses, staring at the scene in disbelief.

”Heʼs manipulating our Domain?! What kind of bullshit is this?!”

”Iʼm not manipulating it. This is simply the power of my Skills and Magic combined.”

Frank roared, swinging his weapons forward with pure, raw power. The entire spiritual domain shook as a slashing beam of holy angelic light and an earthquake split the ground apart.

BOOOM!

The Yakuza leader defended himself by manifesting a giant shield of spirit crystals. It gained a few cracks but rapidly absorbed the damage and suddenly grew even larger.

”This is the Spirit Domain she gifted to us! She promised that with this power, weʼd no longer be underdogs around here! And we plan to show ʼem all what weʼre made of!”

”You saw one of your men die against one of us, and you think itʼll be any different with you?!” Erika roared. Her werewolf claws suddenly grew enormously large—almost the size of her entire torso—overflowing with Ki. She was using her Giant Mole Bear Digging Claws Technique, obtained from a Skill Book.

Frankʼs System wasnʼt shared with his friends, so they couldnʼt level up or obtain skills the normal way. However, his Skill Books, generated by his System, could be shared with others, allowing them to learn the Skill as a Martial Arts-like technique or a Spell.

They werenʼt as strong as Skills that could evolve and level up, but they were still powerful enough. And of course, all of his game-like equipment that granted stats also worked on non-system users, though they gained more vague boosts instead of direct ones like he did.

Nonetheless, the gauntlets I received—which granted bonuses to Strength and Vitality—were working on me. They helped me hit extra hard. But more than that, relying on them would defeat the purpose of training martial arts, where I must hone myself and my sword without external help.

Thus.

”That guy who died against the young lady over there was our weakest,” said the sunglasses-wearing bastard. ”Letʼs see you try against all of us at once! Letʼs go, bastards!”

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