Martial Online.

Chapter 35: Karma's Prowess

Prince narrowed his eyes and instinctively weighted his step. He had faced many strong foes before, even taking part in Ember Online's King War, where he also participated in the final battle against King Tyrantion.

However, something about Dark Magician Karma made his skin crawl. He thought it was because the strength difference was simply so vast. He had never before faced someone so strong while he was in such a weak state.

'A good strategy would have archers shoot him from a distance, but there ain't a single archer in my ranks. I am still in the early stages of creating my Saturn Dojo.'

There was great hesitation in the air. The players forgot about their great numerical advantage and just replayed the scene of the player's face getting crushed by the hammer. They felt a real fear of death.

"Tyrannical Smash!"

A sudden shout broke the silence.

"Huh." Karma saw a sudden shadow loom over him. He looked up and saw a large figure falling towards him with an axe in hand.

He quickly placed the large hammer in the way and blocked the axe strike. However, his knees buckled as the ground exploded underneath him. He felt immense strength bearing down on him.

"Whoah..." Karma exclaimed.

'That fool!' Prince's eyebrow twitched, but he then forced a hideous grin and shouted. "Attack!"

"Huh." His friends, Worshipper, WarAnchor, MysticKnight, and Temperance, were shocked at first before nodding and running towards Karma with their weapons unsheathed.

RedDevil, the reason for the crow outbreak, was nowhere to be seen, as he didn't log back in after his death.

The players woke up from their stupor and saw that the fight continued. They looked around themselves and noticed that more and more were starting to run. It didn't take long for everyone to start slowly marching towards Karma.

"Heh." Karma grinned and stepped backward, away from the threat of the axe.

Barbarian gently landed on the ground and chased after Karma with a large grin.

"Like a wild bull." Karma swung the hammer around him nimbly as if it weighted the same as a feather. He then smashed it with a downward swing towards Barbarian's face.

Barbarian didn't hesitate and placed the steel axe in the way.

The two weapons clashed, sending shockwaves across the ground.

Boom—Barbarian was sent flying backwards, and he crashed into a crowd of players. However, he immediately climbed back to his feet and ran back to the fight.

"Beautiful Death!" Prince's eyes glowed with mystifying light as he leaped across the sky with a sword in hand. He swirled around like a ballerina and then, from an awkward stance, slashed the sword down.

Karma grinned and stopped the sword strike with the blunt side of the hammer, but the attack still made his legs shake a little bit. At that moment, he saw ten weapons traveling towards him.

"A Crow Nightmare." He covered half of his body with the dark cloak, and all the feathers on the fabric came to life. The black feathers turned into crows, who soared into the sky and attacked everyone who came near Karma.

The players advancement stopped as if they had run into the wall. They fought against the crows with more ferocity this time. They realized that even if they got scratched, as long as they killed the crow, it would be fine.

"Haaa!" Barbarian rushed like a wild bull and swung the axe powerfully towards Karma. He swung the axe like he was a lumberjack, and if he were one, this strike would knock down a tree instantly.

Karma chuckled and pushed Prince away with the hammer, then he swung it down and interjected the axe. The axe knocked him back one step, but he managed to block the steel blade of the axe.

However, Barbarian wasn't done. He raised the axe with a large grin and started smashing it down at the hammer with ever-burning rage.

BANG, BANG—An axe's pummeling noises reverberated across the city of Amaterasu. It was enough to bring goosebumps to everyone's backs, as they couldn't imagine anyone surviving such an onslaught.

The players who saw the scene were truly frightened of Barbarian. They had no idea that there was such a strong player. It made a dent in their confidence, as most of them believed they were close to the top in terms of strength.

Karma blocked the axe strikes with a calm smile. His hands shook occasionally, but not even once did his smile disappear.

"Haaa!" Barbarian screamed hoarsely and delivered his strongest axe strike. The axe smashed into the wooden hammer, even going half-way through it until it finally stopped. The wooden hammer was almost cut in half!

"This is a pitiful weapon." Karma thought aloud and let go of the wooden hammer with a silly grin. It was like he was disposing of trash.

Barbarian looked at the wooden hammer that was stuck in his axe, then removed it and tossed it away, having no need for it.

"You are unarmed." Barbarian rested the axe against his shoulder and grinned. "Surrender or die."

"Hahahaha!" Karma exploded in a fit of laughter. "I don't need weapons to defeat plebeians like you all!"

"Oh?" Barbarian's grin widened, and he raised his axe again, this time with both hands on the handle. "We will see about that."

"A truly powerful person doesn't need weapons. Weapons are for weaklings!" Karma lowered his stance and put his palm next to his waist. He let out a cold breath and then pushed his palm forward, sending shockwaves across the air.

The shockwave struck Barbarian in the chest, sending him tumbling across the street as if he were a giant bowling ball. The players that were on his way got knocked down and tossed to the side.

"Hmph." Karma grinned, but it was shortlived as a sword approached him from his peripheral vision. He quickly tilted his head to the side and watched as the sword's blade's edge missed his cheek by an inch.

Prince gritted his teeth and swung his sword wildly towards Karma. His strikes were powerful and accurate, but not quick enough.

Karma weaved through the sword slashes and then delivered a decisive palm strike on Prince's face.

Prince coughed blood and crashed into the building's wall, flying through it and landing in the kitchen, where the NPC family was hiding under the table.

They looked shocked and frightened; the children held their tears as they saw a hole in the wall and the scary-looking man.

Karma reached his hand forward and pointed it straight at Prince, who was lying on the floor with blood flowing down from the corner of his mouth.

"Crow..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a sword appeared from his side with incredible speed. Karma immediately focused on dodging the attack, but his smile didn't disappear as the blade barely missed his nose.

He looked straight at his attacker, and this time it was an unfamiliar person.

"Oh, and who might you be?"

"Why is it that bosses have always had such loud mouths." Cauldron moved the sword in front of his body. "You guys should learn to shut your mouth."

"H-hey, isn't that?" A player, who had finished slaying crows, looked at the scene of the boss battle and whispered to his friend.

His friend looked exhausted but had enough energy to look at the person who was fighting the boss. His eyes widened in shock.

"I-It's him..."

"Kingslayer!"

"A Kingslayer? Did I hear that right?" Karma's voice was filled with curiosity. He grinned and looked at Cauldron. "Which king did you slay? A person who wreaks havoc on the Light Continent is a friend of mine."

Cauldron scoffed and moved the sword into a stabbing stance. "Someone unimportant, like you will be once you turn into pixels."

"Basic Slash!" A figure leaped from the direction of dead crows and swung his sword. Karma glanced at the incoming blade and quickly dodged the attack before sending his own palm thrust towards the person who attacked him.

However, the curly brown-haired player ducked the palm and rolled to the side. He climbed back to his feet and pointed his sword at Karma with a grin.

"Another loud mouth?" Ignite asked.

"Yeah." Cauldron sighed deeply.

"As always." Another voice came.

Anthon walked next to Cauldron with a sword in hand.

"..." Karma narrowed his eyes.