The teleportation ended with a violent splash.
SPLASH!
The surviving World Martial Artist General crashed straight into the middle of a vast ocean.
For several seconds, nothing could be seen except waves.
Then—
WHOOSH!
The General suddenly burst out of the water and landed on the surface, breathing heavily.
He looked around.
Nothing but ocean surrounded him.
He slowly looked down.
"...Oh, shit."
He wiped the water from his face.
"Brother, what kind of battlefield is this?!"
He turned around in disbelief.
"This is completely her advantage!"
The ocean stretched endlessly in every direction.
The General clenched his fists.
"But whatever."
A confident smile appeared on his face.
"If I unlock a new technique here... maybe I can still do something."
He paused.
"Or maybe..."
He looked at his own hands.
"If I finally awaken a Spiritual Beast..."
Silence.
Then he laughed quietly.
"...Yeah, right."
He shook his head.
"That isn't going to happen."
He had lived with that fact his entire life.
Unlike almost every other powerful martial artist, he had never awakened a Spiritual Beast.
Not once.
But that had never stopped him.
His strength had always come from his own body.
His fists.
His martial arts.
His training.
Nothing else.
The General suddenly remembered something.
"Wait... what was her name again?"
He thought for a moment.
"Leo told us..."
His eyes widened slightly.
"Ah, right."
"Mizuna."
He smiled.
"Cute name."
He chuckled.
"Nice. Very cute name."
Then—
BOOOOOM!
Something enormous landed in the ocean.
A gigantic wave rose into the sky.
The General's smile disappeared.
"...What the hell?"
He slowly looked upward.
A colossal figure stood in the middle of the ocean.
The Guardian of the Water Temple.
Mizuna.
She was no longer the shy girl who used to hide her eyes behind her bangs.
Her eyes were now completely visible.
They glowed red.
Her hair had transformed into flowing strands that looked as though they were made entirely from water, tied together in an elegant water-like form.
Her entire outfit was covered in flowing water, constantly moving around her body like a living cloak.
And because of her enormous Guardian form, the ocean reached only around her knees.
The General stared.
"Damn..."
Mizuna slowly looked down at him.
Her voice echoed across the ocean.
"The Northern Seas are my domain."
She smiled.
Then she laughed.
"Ahahahaha!"
The General stared at her.
For a moment, he completely forgot that he was supposed to be fighting.
"...What a beautiful voice."
He blinked.
"She doesn't even sound like a monster."
He looked up at her.
"To me, she looks more like an angel."
He suddenly slapped his own forehead.
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!"
He shook his head violently.
"What am I thinking?!"
"I came here to fight!"
"Not to fall in love!"
Mizuna tilted her head.
"...?"
The General immediately gathered his energy.
A powerful aura erupted around his body.
He rose into the air.
His fists tightened.
"I don't care if you are a Guardian!"
"I don't care if you control the entire ocean!"
"I'll defeat you with my own strength!"
Mizuna's red eyes narrowed.
"Then come."
The General disappeared.
BOOM!
He shot toward her.
His fist was aimed directly at her face.
Mizuna moved her hand.
The ocean suddenly rose.
KRAAAAAASH!
A gigantic wall of water appeared between them.
The General's eyes widened.
"Seriously?!"
He punched through it.
BOOM!
Water exploded around him.
But Mizuna was already moving.
She swung her arm.
The entire ocean moved with her.
A massive wave crashed toward the General.
"Too slow!"
He dodged upward.
Another wave came from the side.
He twisted through it.
Then another.
And another.
Mizuna wasn't simply attacking him.
She was turning the entire battlefield into her weapon.
The General rushed toward her again.
"I'm not giving up!"
He threw a powerful punch.
Mizuna blocked it with a wall of compressed water.
The impact created a massive shockwave.
The General was pushed backward.
He gritted his teeth.
"So this is what it means to fight someone in their own domain..."
Mizuna raised both hands.
The ocean beneath them suddenly began spinning.
A gigantic water vortex formed.
The General's eyes widened.
"Oh, come on!"
The vortex launched him into the sky.
Mizuna followed.
She created several enormous water blades and sent them flying.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
The General dodged the first.
Then the second.
Then the third.
But the fourth caught him.
He was thrown backward.
He managed to regain control in mid-air.
"Still standing!"
He rushed forward again.
Mizuna met him head-on.
BOOM!
Their attacks collided.
The impact shook the surrounding ocean.
The General attacked again.
Mizuna dodged.
He turned.
Another punch.
She blocked.
He kicked.
She moved aside.
He spun and attacked again.
For a moment, the General's pure martial arts actually forced Mizuna backward.
"YES!"
He smiled.
"I can still fight!"
Mizuna's expression remained calm.
Then she raised one hand.
The ocean behind her rose.
The General looked back.
His smile disappeared.
"...That's not good."
An enormous wave towered above him.
Mizuna brought her hand down.
CRAAAAASH!
The wave swallowed the General.
He was thrown across the battlefield.
He landed hard against the surface of the ocean and struggled to stand.
His body was covered in countless battle wounds, and his breathing had become heavy.
But he still raised his fists.
Mizuna stared down at him.
"You should surrender."
The General wiped the blood from his face.
"No."
He smiled.
"I'm a World Martial Artist General."
He raised his fists again.
"I've survived this long without a Spiritual Beast."
"So I'm not going to start depending on one now."
Mizuna's eyes narrowed.
The General charged.
They clashed again.
Punch.
Dodge.
Kick.
Counter.
Water.
Martial arts.
Wave after wave crashed around them.
The General kept moving.
Even when Mizuna overwhelmed him, he continued getting back up.
But eventually, he landed back on the ocean surface, breathing heavily.
Blood dripped from his wounds into the water.
He looked down.
The drops slowly disappeared into the endless sea.
He stared at them.
Then something inside him changed.
His expression became completely serious.
"So that's it..."
Mizuna looked at him.
The General slowly raised his head.
"For my entire life... everyone thought having no Spiritual Beast was my weakness."
He clenched his fist.
"But maybe..."
A strange aura began forming around him.
The blood around his wounds began to rise.
Mizuna's expression changed.
"What...?"
The General looked at his own hand.
A dark-red aura slowly surrounded his body.
His eyes sharpened.
"This is the most underrated power in the history of the World Master."
The aura became stronger.
"The Art of Demon."
He smiled.
"But this power doesn't belong to a demon."
The blood-red aura expanded around him.
"It belongs to those who possess no Spiritual Beast."
Mizuna stared at him.
The General's voice became deeper.
"The power that was sleeping inside my body all this time..."
The blood around him began forming strange shapes.
"Weapons made from blood."
"Blood weapons."
"Blood beams."
"And the ultimate technique..."
The red aura suddenly erupted around him.
His entire body became surrounded by a crimson mist.
The General raised his hand.
A terrifying smile appeared on his face.
"Blood Art."
TO BE CONTINUED...