Path of the Berserker

The gong for the match sounded and I immediately sprung backwards, fortifying myself with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Core]. It was not a moment too soon as the coils of the dragon unwound like a tightly-packed spring, slapping me clear across the stadium.

The pain went straight through my bones and into my soul, the hit doubling as a disruptive technique as it shook my Flame. I bounced off the ground twice and ended up on my feet after a quick roll, but the Rhe Su Long was already charging at me with a follow up.

I was right to anticipate her aggression.

Driven by insult and rage, she was now a woman scorned.

Or a little girl scorned, anyway.

I laughed inwardly at that.

Seriously, what the hell man? I thought.

Rhe Su Long was one messed up chick, but I had to push all that aside to get my head into the game. I’d been preparing for a battle with a cultivator, but this was turning into more of a monster fight with that dragon.

And that was just fine with me.

I stowed my Axe and readied my Glaive alone, bolstering my defenses with [Steel Lightning] and [Soul Shield] to protect my Flame this time. I waited for her dragon to lunge in with a strike and then rolled to the side at just the last second.

The dragon’s jaws shot past me, and I countered with a sideward slash of my Glaive. I expected to feel resistance as my blade cut through the body of the beast, but instead I felt nothing.

It was spectral after all, but the monster flew through my Glaive like it was an illusion or something. Just when I was thinking that perhaps it was, Rhe Su Long’s rider form suddenly appeared with a swift jab of her spear as she flew by.

It struck me dead in the chest and I saw stars.

I went flying across the arena again, blood filling my mouth as what felt like my entire rib cage collapsed in on itself. I got back to my feet struggling to breathe.

What the hell?

Did that attack go straight through all my defenses again?

Even my [Soul Shield] technique?

Then I realized what had happened.

Her spiritual attacks were so powerful that they disrupted my Flame even through [Soul Shield] and once disrupted, all my other abilities would drop, leaving me with only my raw body cultivation for defense.

Was she truly that strong?

Stronger than even the effects of a Bloodmoon?

That shifted the [Odds Against Me] to the extreme.

My Flame reignited with the fresh outpouring of Frenzy and I immediately sent it to repairing the damage to my chest and organs. Across the battlefield Rhe Su Long had come to a stop and was now observing me with a smile.

“Not looking like much of a match so far,” she said. “Why did they think to even put you against me? You’re but a fledgling. Prodigy or no prodigy.”

It was true what she’d said.

She outclassed me by nearly an entire a Realm. If she’d been delaying her progression for decades just so her physical body could age, then that meant she was a 9th Tier Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator with only a half step from being a Lesser Deity.

It was no wonder she was overpowering my defenses so easily.

She was nearly a lesser god.

I glanced up at the scoreboard.

The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 5:1 Time - 28:49
Little Princess	Iron Bull
2	0

The goose egg stared at me like a bad omen. And the odds were a shit as they could be.

Still.

This was all part of the plan.

Well… not that I was planning to get my ass handed to me in only two hits.

But if Mak Tung wanted to buy cheap bets on me, now was the time. All I had to do after that was somehow turn this match around and then lose when no one expected.

At the moment, however, that was sounding like a damn pipe dream.

At least for a normal cultivator anyway.

“Don’t underestimate me,” I said with [Struggler’s Resolve]. “I’m just getting started.”

There was no time to mess around.

I needed to pull out all the stops if I wanted to be able to stand toe to toe with her.

“[Mark of the Demon],” I whispered. “[Spectral Body].”

My Frenzy surged as my body morphed both physically and spiritually.

As my horns grew inside my helmet, my inner soul emerged for all to see.

The crowd reacted with a chorus of oo’s and ah’s and Tai Su Long followed right along with them.

“So the beast finally reveals itself after an early thrashing,” he said as if narrating a damn play. “Can our fair Little Princess stand against such a fiend? Come Little Princess, show us your courage!”

The crowd shifted to whistles and cheers at that and Rhe Su Long took the time to give the crowd a salute with her spectral spear. They lapped up the silly pantomime even more, showering her with praises.

I decided to give the crowd a one-fingered salute of my own and they switched to boo’s.

“Such an uncivilized brute!” Tai Su Long said. “Let us pray to the heavens for divine punishment of this abomination in the form of our great Lady Rhe Su Long’s justice!”

They cheered again and I wondered for a moment if Rhe Su Long wasn’t cultivating some form of lemonade of her own from the crowd. One thing was for certain though. I was sure as hell generating some lemonade in her.

“The form of your Sacred Soul pleases me greatly, Iron Bull,” she said with a suggestive leer. “I would welcome that romp in the spectral realm with you.”

“Yeah, in your damn dreams, bitch!” I said, cycling my Frenzy to send a solid chunk to my jing. “[Lightning Drill of Fury]!”

I shot at her like a missile, corkscrewing through the air with [Frenzied Lightning].

The move took her by surprise, and I connected with the attack, spiraling into her armored chest plate. I pushed her back across the arena as I poured on the juice, increasing my spin to try and break through her defenses.

“[River’s Ford]!”

I was knocked out of my technique by a tidal wave of water emanating from Rhe Su Long’s spear as she thrust it into the sky, sending two walls of water cresting from either side of her. The force sent me back across the arena again. I rolled to my feet as the tsunami subsided and to my surprise, I was bone dry.

Shit, I thought. Was that wave made out of Qi?

Rhe Su Long looked none the worse for wear from my attack. She flew back towards me, riding her dragon casually.

“Not bad,” she said. “But you’re nowhere near strong enough to defeat me.”

Her words did nothing but stir the ire percolating in my soul.

“You haven’t seen my true strength yet…”

“And you haven’t seen mine,” she said and with a wave of her spear, her spectral body took on an even greater luminescence. “I have mastered the Legendary River Dragon Rider technique, a style thought impossible to reproduce after the great sage Kai Su Long invented it over 900 years ago. My spectral body is impenetrable and my celestial spear capable of piercing the armor of any god that stands against me. My technique and prowess is invincible.” She then paused to huff out a dismissive scoff. “You fail to understand. I am not just a prodigy, Bull Man, I am the reincarnation of a Legendary Saint. My time on this mortal plane will be a short one. My true destiny lies within the celestial heavens, alongside the Great Soul Emperor and Kai Su Long himself. I seek only the pleasures this world has to offer, before I move on and leave it and all you petty mortals behind.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I was rocked back on my heels by whole-new level of cultivator depravity.

I’d always wondered about the celestial realm and what the draw was for people who sought to ascend to it. But to hear it laid out like that, sounded like the most selfish, evil shit in the world.

“Again,” I said with [Indifference]. “Cool story, sis, but I don’t really give a shit. My destiny lies in defeating the Hell Worlds and then coming back to curb-stomp selfish, arrogant cultivators like you.”

My words tapped into the root of my Twin Dao. If this was the kind of people I was fighting the Hell Worlds to save, then no way could I let the empire stand.

Rhe Su Long was staring at me incomprehensibly. “You… you wish to do what to me? Kur Xom?”

Shit, I thought. Damn English words messing up my ‘I’m gonna kick your ass’ speech, but no matter.

“Forget about it,” I said, cycling my frenzy. “I’ll show you in a language you’ll be sure to understand… pain.”

I flew at her with [Ride the Lightning], preparing to fight her in the air.

She coiled her dragon swiftly, deflecting my strike with her spear. I pulled my Axe back out then. If she wanted a fight, I was going to give her one. I went through my martial forms, in midair, keeping myself aloft with [Lightning Walk].

She responded with violent spins on the Dragon, meeting my lightning charged strikes with swift parries and countering thrusts with her spear. I took care to avoid it now. Although the Berserker in me wanted nothing more than to face-tank it and chop her in half, I had to respect what she’d said. That spear already proved capable of piercing through my [Soul Shield], and I would put it past her to try that move again.

We clashed back and forth, our Sacred Souls flying across the air above the arena like a pair of combating gods. Hell, we were pretty much near that in reality. Lightning and sparks flew as we clashed again and again. Her spear tip grazed me more than once and I could feel the tremendous power behind even her normal strikes.

I wished to hell I could pull out [Mark of the Beast] to equal her speed, but she was observant and that might be taking it a step too far, especially in front of a crowd like this. Still, my [Mark of the Demon] was proving invaluable. Where she was slicing through my defenses before, now with my techniques being supercharged, they were at least holding up.

I risked a glance at the scoreboard.

The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 8:1 Time - 22:38
Little Princess	Iron Bull
17	2

Shit!

That score wasn’t going in the right direction.

Rhe Su Long came at me again, blurring with speed. It took all my wherewithal just to keep track of her, much less parry and counter, all while keeping aloft with [Lightning Walk]. The pain of her strikes was overwhelming, and even the glancing blows were causing internal damage, filling my mouth with the taste of blood.

I cultivated the pain and endured it with [Indifference] as I focused on the root of my Twin Dao. Facing the burning Hell Worlds to protect the entitlement of an arrogant bitch like this?

No freaking way!

I screamed with my techniques, lashing out in every direction.

“[Struggler’s Lightning Cleave of Fury]!”

“[Lightning Two Log Chop]!”

“[Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]!”

But none of it was hitting.

She was just too damn fast.

I looked to the score again.

The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 27:1 Time - 17:42
Little Princess	Iron Bull
35	4

Ah, to hell with it, I thought.

I wasn’t going to win this standing on only one leg.

“[Mark of the Beast]…”

As my limbs and canines elongated, the world suddenly slowed, and I could see Rhe Su Long moving at normal speed again.

Hell yeah!

I tapped into my Frenzy reserves with renewed vigor, going all out with my techniques. She was skilled but she wasn’t anticipating my sudden quantum leap in speed. I deflected one of her spear thrusts with my axe and then struck her with a Glaive swing I had initiated moments before.

The odd timing threw her off and I finally felt the edge of an upper hand.

I initiated another Iron Pot Wong style combo and faked her out with a glancing blow from my axe before opening her up for a powerful overhead strike from my glaive. I backed it up with as much Frenzy as I could muster.

“[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!”

My Glaive struck her armored Spectral body on the shoulder, and it cut through this time, the blade finding her true self hidden within. Rhe Su Long let out a surprised yelp and then retreated a hundred feet or more in a flash.

She touched her face and then looked at her fingers.

“You… you actually made me bleed...”

She said it like it was something impossible, like it was something that went against the laws of the universe itself. For the briefest of moments, I sensed fear come from inside her, and I wondered then if putting on both [Marks] was a good idea.

I looked again to the score.

The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 22:1 Time - 11:29
Little Princess	Iron Bull
78	12

My odds had improved slightly, but my score not nearly enough.

And my time was running out as well.

Shit!

“I was going to go easy on you, seeing as this was nothing personal,” Rhe Su Long said in her creepy tween voice mixed with the venom of a madwoman. “But no one harms me like this. NO ONE!”

As she screamed the words, her Spectral Body transformed, her lower half merging with the body of the dragon to turn the giant armor-plated woman into a kind of mermaid, only with the lower body of a snake instead of a fish.

The crowd was on their feet with excitement as Tai Su Long took back the mic.

“What’s this?” he screamed. “A surprise from the Little Princess, giving us the honor of taking on the highest form of the River Dragon Rider technique. Twin souls combined! The ultimate River God Naga Form! The Iron Bull’s insolence has pushed her to her limits and now he will face the full wrath of the Twin River Clan!”

Rhe Su Long screamed like a harpy and then slithered toward me with the speed of a bullet train. Even with my heightened agility it was all I could do to sidestep her, but she followed up quickly with a swipe of her tail.

It struck me so hard my teeth clacked, and I went flying end over end.

More pain ensued as she flew fast enough across the battlefield to intercept me and then slammed her serpentine body on top of me. It felt as if I’d been hit by a mountain. I realized that through all my defenses, my innards were crushed. I took another blow from her writhing body as I struggled to stand. My Frenzy was being expended just to keep me on my feet as she went into blur mode again. She’d just leveled up herself and now I was outclassed once more.

She came at me blow after blow.

Even with my [Marks] and [Spectral Projection] I was powerless to do anything about it.

The pain was numbing but with it came something more.

The pain of regret.

The fear of loss.

Shit…

…Hein.

I cursed inwardly for ever thinking I could pull something like this off.

And all for what?

A damn book?

I cried out with anguish, tapping into the depths of my soul to turn it all around.

I couldn’t let this all fail!

“[Wrath of a Thousand Slain—]!”

My words were cut short as something hit me right in the chest.

Rhe Su Long’s spear tip pierced straight through all my physical defenses, hitting my Flame.

I blacked out for a moment and then came to, hanging in mid air, the translucent spear impaling me as my limbs flailed weakly.

Even though it wasn’t physically injuring me, the pain was excruciating.

I was unable to breathe.

My weapons had already fallen to the ground. I was dangling helplessly as my sputtering Flame struggled to keep me alive through [Death’s Door].

Rhe Su Long stared up at me through the translucent form of the giant armored woman. “This ended far more violently than I would have liked,” she said. “But you left me no choice. I hope you see now why fighting me was always pointless.”

She then lowered me towards herself and slowly removed my helmet.

Shit!

To my surprise it came straight off, unhindered by my horns.

Rhe Su Long smiled up at me as my mask clattered to the ground.

“Relax,” she said. “You’re not dead, you know? My technique is merely immobilizing your core.”

I winced and wheezed as I struggled to cycle my Frenzy, but indeed her spear tip was acting like some kind of circuit breaker within my system, stopping me from restarting my Flame. Although in a way, it was a god send. It had at least knocked out my [Marks] making me purely human again for when she removed my Bull mask.

“Looks like this is the end!” Tai Su Long shouted. “The Little Princess is toying with her prey before the final strike!”

“It’s not too late for you to reconsider my offer,” she said with a sickeningly-sweet dose of cringy lemonade. “What say you? A spiritual romp? Or even a real one, if you like.”

My stomach lurched again, and I actually vomited this time.

Hot puke and bile gushed out of my mouth and fell right on Rhe Su Long’s face.

The little girl screamed in shock and revulsion.

Her armored Sacred Soul form flickered out of existence, leaving me to fall twenty feet to the ground, landing straight on my face. I lay there stunned for a moment as the entire crowd went silent.

Rhe Su Long’s shrill cries echoed throughout the stadium.

I barely came to myself, finding my Frenzy again.

As I staggered to my feet, Rhe Su Long, the twelve-year-old, was there shaking, covered in my vomit. The smell finally got to her and she gagged. She put a hand to her mouth, letting out a retch and then sprinted out of the arena, heading for the changing rooms.

She got all of halfway before she began vomiting all over herself, leaving a trail of puke in her wake as she stumbled through the crowds, causing a mini stampede as people fled from her.

“What a dastardly technique!” Tai Su Long shouted. “The Iron Bull should be condemned for that dishonorable act! We will need an official ruling on this!”

I was still only half paying attention, my body slowly recovering as I wobbled on my feet. I then looked to the score board.

The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 75:1 Time - 3:12
Little Princess	Iron Bull
198	22

Holy Shit…

What a damn score.

I looked up at the floating dais where the princess was, to see Tai Su Long arguing furiously with a man in imperial robes. After nearly a minute the princess finally stood.

“Enough!” she shouted, her voice echoing across the stadium even without a mic. “I will rule on this matter. This is but an exhibition match, but the rules of tournament competition are clear. If you leave the ring you are disqualified.”

Tai Su Long fell to his knees before her, pleadingly.

“I will not hear of it!” she shouted. “Does a warrior flee from the battlefield if her opponent tosses sand in her face? Or even bile? This entire match was a disgrace. I declare the Iron Bull the winner by default. The competition is over!”

The scoreboard changed a final time.

The Little Princess vs The Iron Bull Odds: 75:1 Time - 3:12
Little Princess	Iron Bull
Disqualified	22
Winner	The Iron Bull

I stared at the screen perplexed.

Oh shit… the deal…!

I wasn’t supposed to win.

* * *

The gravity of the situation began to sink in as I ran to the edge of the arena, heart in my throat. Not only had I not beaten Rhe Su Long fairly, but she had pretty much beaten my ass to a pulp.

Yet still I had won.

And failed.

I looked for where Mak Tung might be.

The bookies!

A wall of hate, insults and curses hit me as I pushed through the crowd. People spat at me like a pariah, yelling obscenities. It was all I could do to shield myself with [Indifference] and [Mask of the Despised].

My mind was reeling as for what I would even do when I found Mak Tung.

Would he be understanding that I lost all his money?

Could I cut another deal?

I entered the makeshift hut where the bookies were.

“Hey,” I said to one of them. “You guys seen a guy with shark teeth and black eyes, full of tattoos? Goes by Mak Tung.”

The man’s eyes widened at me.

“You!” he shouted. “You get your filthy, dishonorable ass out of here! You damn cheat!”

“Look, man, I just need to know if you’ve seen him.”

“Mak Tung took off screaming like banshee the moment the match ended,” another man said from behind the counter. “After the results, I’m pretty sure you can guess why.”

My stomach dropped through the floor as my worst fears were confirmed.

There was only one answer.

My blood ran cold with the stark realization of the truth.

Mak Tung was rushing back to kill Hein.

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