Absolute Regression

Chapter 596: Now, Death Filled the Spectator Seats

‘Terrifying.’

The man with red bandages wrapped around his fists was Jin Dan, the first disciple of the Fist King, Kang Hu.

Ever since he had learned martial arts from his master, this was the first time he had ever felt fear when looking at someone.

It wasn’t just the horrifying appearance that seemed straight out of hell.

Even more terrifying was the unflinching, relentless momentum with which the man strode toward them, clearly sensing the ominous energy seeping from their fists, yet showing no hesitation.

But what terrified him the most… was his master’s reaction.

In the fifteen years since he had studied under Kang Hu, he had never seen anyone speak to his master with such scorn.

Nor had he ever seen his master restrain himself like this.

‘So he really is the Demon Supreme.’

The skill that the One-Slash Sword Supreme had shown earlier was already astonishing.

No—there was no need to go that far. That young woman had cut down all their subordinates alone.

It was only three of them, but the pressure they felt was akin to facing thousands.

‘But the outcome of this fight is already decided.’

The idea that his master could lose to anyone was unimaginable. He believed in his master.

‘What matters is how I fight.’

If the fight with the Fist Demon King came down to a close match, the result would depend on how he fought.

But that thought was a grave misunderstanding.

There was no space for his will or judgment to affect this battle.

The Fist Demon King’s new form flew through the air, slicing through the void.

Kang Hu didn’t dodge. He threw out his fist.

The first strike that signaled the start of the fight.

Kwaang!

As their inner strength-powered fists collided, an explosion erupted.

The Fist Demon King took a step back, his expression instinctively twisting.

It was due to the noxious energy emanating from Kang Hu’s fist.

This strange and turbid force—a mix of fighting spirit and demonic energy—was enough to disorient anyone with weak mental strength or insufficient inner force.

That energy seeped into the battlefield, drifting like the oppressive aura of death.

Kang Hu let out a cold smile, composed.

“Haven’t met anyone yet who made me think I needed to add a weapon to this fist.”

It was a retort to the Fist Demon King’s earlier mockery.

But now, the Fist Demon King answered not with words—but with his fists.

Powerful fists.

Rumble! KWA-KWA-KWANG!

With the roar of thunder, an incredibly powerful fist flew toward Kang Hu’s face.

KWA-A-A-AANG!

Their fists clashed once again.

It was a clash of fists, yet the aftermath was more powerful than any weapon colliding.

Hwaa-a-a-ang.

The shockwave burst outward in all directions, violent winds swirling.

Just fists had collided—yet such forceful shockwaves?

It was truly unbelievable power.

Lee Ahn raised her hand to shield her eyes from the gusting wind. Just as her father had protected her in the previous battle, this time it was the One-Slash Sword Supreme who shielded her, now that her inner force was depleted.

Had it not been for the One-Slash Sword Supreme, she would have been swept away by the storm and flung into the air.

In fact, Yeon Baekin, the Hall Master of Golden Dragon Martial Hall, who had been standing on the other side, rolled across the ground far into the distance.

Paaah!

Trees set up along the far fence bent violently, their leaves swirling into the air.

Swaaaaahhhh—

Amidst the falling leaves that fluttered like a snowfall, the Fist Demon King and the Fist King stood face-to-face.

The punch from just before hadn’t been an ordinary punch.

It was the third of six fists from the Fist Demon King’s secret martial art, Thunderous Asura Fist.

The Third Technique: Heavenly Thunder Asura.

That heavy punch had struck its mark.

Lee Ahn noticed a change in her father’s martial art.

‘Father’s thunder has gotten quieter.’

She had heard that thunder countless times during his midnight training. But now? It was far too faint.

‘Could something be wrong with his body?’

She did not yet know. That the quieter and quieter thunder, when it disappeared entirely, would mark the moment he was ready to collapse the cliff.

That the Fist Demon King’s martial art was driving relentlessly toward that moment.

Kang Hu looked down at his own fist.

From his trembling fist, an even more intense mixture of fighting spirit and demonic energy was pouring out.

That single exchange had caused his fist to react instinctively.

“You want to start right away?”

To Kang Hu’s question, the Fist Demon King quietly responded.

“The stench from your fist is just too much.”

Kang Hu’s expression hardened again.

The Fist Demon King was mocking him without reservation. If it were someone clueless, he would simply make them pay. But this opponent had earned the right.

Kang Hu forced himself to suppress the murderous intent welling up.

That killing intent was his greatest strength.

‘Not yet.’

Kang Hu rubbed his arm and stepped forward.

“It hurts more than the fist I had imagined.”

At that calm remark, the Fist Demon King nodded once.

It wasn’t a nod of recognition toward his opponent.

Why recognize someone you intend to kill?

It was a signal to himself.

A reminder not to grow arrogant, because this opponent was worthy of caution.

He had taken Heavenly Thunder Asura and still walked forward, unscathed.

“Your temper’s just as quick as mine.”

This time, Kang Hu rushed in and threw a punch.

As their fists clashed, it sounded like chunks of steel smashing together.

Jin Dan stepped back and watched the fight unfold.

And to his shock, he saw openings with his own eyes.

‘There! Now!’

Why wasn’t Master counterattacking there?

He clearly saw a gap where he would have struck if it were him. But his master didn’t take the shot.

There were times when the opposite occurred as well.

‘That’s dangerous, Master!’

It was a gap in his master’s defense that he had never once seen before.

Yet the Fist Demon King did not exploit that opening to strike.

Only then did Jin Dan understand.

‘Ah… it wasn’t a gap.’

What looked like an opening wasn’t a weakness—it was a trap.

The moment a punch was thrown into that spot, it would turn into a death trap, bringing a counterattack instead.

Even with the eyes of the Fist King’s first disciple, he had failed to notice it.

The highest-level exchanges of technique were unfolding in the blink of an eye.

At a glance, it may have looked like a brute brawl.

But their fight was anything but simple.

Fist martial artists are those who must confront armed opponents with their bare hands.

That’s why fist martial artists, who exchanged blows so savagely, had to be the smartest of all.

Otherwise, how could one overcome an opponent armed with sharp weapons?

This was a battle between two men who stood closest to the ultimate truth of fist martial arts.

And so, it was a fight Jin Dan could not interfere in.

Moves were being traded where no one could predict their intent or what would come next.

All he could do was wait and not miss the moment when his master would call out to him.

During the exchange of offense and defense, as they probed for opportunities, Kang Hu finally unleashed a hidden move.

Kang Hu’s secret martial art was Ghost-Soul Execution Fist.

And the move he unleashed now was the Second Technique: Soul-Cleaving Strike.

Swaaaaaaaaek—

A small thread of energy flew from his fist, but the moment it reached the opponent, it suddenly expanded into the size of a massive blade.

A massive force of energy that could not be evaded even by leaping away.

Swaaaaaaaaek—

The Fist Demon King struck back with a punch to meet the approaching Soul-Cleaving Strike.

He didn’t take a single step back and simply hurled his fist toward the massive energy force.

First Technique: Black Cloud Asura.

Though it was the first of the six techniques, that didn’t mean it was weak.

One would understand once struck—the Black Cloud Asura became pure energy and tore the air apart.

At the moment when the two waves of force collided—

HuaaaaAAAAANG!

An enormous explosion erupted, sweeping through the surroundings.

Craaaack! Kwaaa-rururung!

Where only leaves had flown before, trees were now ripped from the ground.

The surrounding walls collapsed under the impact.

The building that had earlier only partially collapsed under the One-Slash Sword Supreme’s strike now crumbled completely.

Swept away by the shockwave and flung farther than before, the one who tumbled across the ground and barely rose was Yeon Baekin, Hall Master of Golden Dragon Martial Hall.

Clutching his chest from internal injuries, he sighed inwardly.

‘My martial hall… my martial hall is all collapsing.’

Of course, the hall could be rebuilt.

But after the main building was destroyed by a single sword from the One-Slash Sword Supreme, everything since felt like his destined downfall.

‘If I want to live, I must escape now.’

It was the scream of instinct.

‘This is not a battle I can interfere in.’

A dreadful premonition—whoever won this fight, no one would show him any favor.

But what if that man underground appeared with a peerless martial manual in hand, and Yeon Baekin wasn’t there?

What if that man came looking for him?

He had waited all this time—if he wasn’t present at the final moment?

Even the mere thought of that terrifying regret bound Yeon Baekin’s feet in place.

Sometimes, regret and lingering attachment could be far more terrifying than greed.

And that was another reason why, even while staring off the cliff’s edge, he still ran toward it.

‘I even killed my own brother!’

That fact made it impossible for him to turn back.

Only when he stood at the cliff’s edge did he feel with burning clarity the truth: one must never cross a bridge they can’t return from.

‘He’ll appear. I just have to survive until then.’

He was drifting alone between life and death.

But no one paid him any mind.

The One-Slash Sword Supreme, who was protecting Lee Ahn while observing the fight, also realized something—

The Fist Demon King, just like her, was no longer the same as before.

After his connection with Geom Mugeuk, he too had grown even stronger.

Watching Kang Hu face off against such a Fist Demon King made her understand once more just how formidable the forces behind all this were.

This wasn’t the work of an organization formed in just a year or two.

‘Just when did this group begin preparing?’

Her eyes turned to Kang Hu.

His expression had grown grim.

After fending off Soul-Cleaving Strike on the spot, Kang Hu’s aura had changed.

He was always one to envelop his foes in a haze of death—but now, he felt that same death aura could be directed toward him.

Swaaaaaaaaek!

Now that even the one seated in the spectator’s seat sensed death, the two men’s speed only increased further.

Their forms vanished and reappeared in an instant.

Even the onlookers struggled to follow their movements.

Who said big builds meant slow movements?

The Fist Demon King shattered that prejudice completely.

He was fast.

It was as if the muscles of his massive frame existed not for power—but for speed.

And at the end of that dizzying storm of speed—

Fwhip!

A wind sound unlike any heard until now, born of a different kind of technique.

The wind was light, but the impact sound was heavy.

Puk!

Kang Hu’s head jerked backward.

It was as if he were gazing up toward the heavens.

With vacant eyes, he looked skyward—and in front of his jaw, the Fist Demon King’s fist was still extended.

Puaaaagh!

As he looked to the sky, Kang Hu vomited blood.

The blood sprayed like a fountain, raining in all directions.

The Second Technique: Thunderous Asura Fist had struck him in the face.

Thunderous Asura Fist was a technique that struck faster than the eye could follow. In terms of the Soaring Sword Art, it was akin to the Azure Sky form of the Quick Sword Style—and that was the very strike that hit Kang Hu in the face.

Had he not tilted his head back at the very last moment, his entire face would have been blown off.

It was at that exact moment that Kang Hu suddenly burst into a fit of swearing.

“Fist Demon King, you goddamned bastard! I’m going to smash that filthy mug of yours into mush!”

The foul curse that erupted from his mouth didn’t suit his level of skill at all.

He was now revealing another side of himself—or rather, his true nature.

His killing intent wasn’t the refined kind.

It was raw, base, violent—the kind of brutal intent that crawled up from the darkest depths of a man’s soul.

He was someone who wielded that kind of primal bloodlust.

He was dragging out every last shred of killing intent he possessed.

“I’m going to beat you until there’s nothing left but powder. Not a single bone will remain inside that body. I’ll chew you into mush and swallow every bit.”

It was the killing intent of a man who had never, in his entire life, loved anyone.

A tide of murderous rage born not from strategy or posturing, but from pure hatred.

The Fist Demon King did not underestimate that intent.

He knew better than to be deceived by such vulgarity.

The moment you thought, “Ah, this bastard is showing his lowly true self,” was the moment you’d be killed.

Kang Hu’s killing intent was just that kind of threat.

If it had come from a mere thug, it wouldn’t have mattered—but coming from someone of this level, it was like standing beside the flames of hell while staring up at the heavens.

True human bloodlust, hidden beneath crude words.

And indeed, as he wiped the blood from his face, Kang Hu wore a cold smile.

His gaze gleamed with a killing intent so intense it almost glowed white.

Ssssss…

The letters engraved on both his hands began to glow a spectral blue, like ghost flames.

That light too, was something that didn’t belong to this world.

The Fist Demon King instinctively realized that the opponent was preparing to use his final move.

He sensed that this fight was not going to end easily.

Yes—if this was going to be a fight where both sides had to crawl to rock bottom,

If this was a battle over who would walk out from the Gate of Hell…

Just as Kang Hu had said it had been a long time since someone had made him unravel his bandages—

The Fist Demon King threw off his top.

Revealing a truly perfect, muscular upper body.

He had often gone shirtless in training, but in real combat, it had been a long time since anyone had pushed him to do the same.

The Fist Demon King clenched his fist with force.

His arm muscles swelled to the brink of bursting, and the veins stood out like bold rivers.

The energy flowing through them ran hot as molten lava.

And yet, the Fist Demon King did not lose his composure.

After all, this was a fight taking place in front of his daughter.

“If it gets too much and you can’t take the hits anymore, just say the word. I’ll switch to using my sword.”