Chapter 623 (1/2)
Best disciple. Nocturne hesitated for the first time when he heard this, and without missing a beat, the Martial King threw out a series of strikes. Bam! Bam! Bam!
Nocturne came to his senses and tried to shield himself with his arms, but the strikes blew his arms away once more. Fortunately for Nocturne, he could restore his arms through his power, but his face grew twisted, not because of the pain but because he thought that the Martial King was making fun of him.
『That doesn’t make any sense…!』
“Why do you think it makes no sense?” the Martial King said in a biting tone.
『What?』
“Look.”
Nocturne automatically looked down at the spot on his body the Martial King was pointing to, and he stopped hesitating and counterattacked. Their arms collided, and their feet shifted to find a way to close the gap between them. Even during the brief moments when their eyes met, they didn’t stop using the Eight Extreme Fists against each other, as though they were exchanging chess moves.
“You copy me well.” The Martial King said without moving his mouth. “You’re the only one of my disciples who has reached this level.”
Nocturne felt silent. He wanted to tell the Martial king to stop speaking so much nonsense, but he couldn’t get those words to come out.
“It’s been like that from the beginning. From the moment you first opened your eyes and became aware. You instinctively imitated my breathing and my habits. At first, I was dumbfounded that someone could do that.” The Martial King smiled as he recalled that time. Nocturne’s actions were like those of a baby duck newly hatched from its shell and seeing the world for the first time, imprinting on the first being it saw. The duckling would follow its mother and learn survival skills to live in the world. It would learn how to flap its wings, paddle in the water, and snatch prey with its beak. Then, it would become an independent adult. One day, it would find a mate, build a nest, and lay eggs, just like its mother.
For the Martial King, Nocturne was just like a duckling. Since he didn’t have any memories, Nocturne instinctively wanted to learn everything from the Martial King, perhaps as a defensive strategy. At first, the Martial King was bothered by Nocturne’s actions, but over time, the Martial King started looking at Nocturne and his actions differently. As time passed, Nocturne truly started resembling the Martial King, first in simple habits, then martial arts, until the establishment of Nocturne’s understanding and style of martial arts.
The pace of Nocturne’s development was so surprisingly fast that even the Head Elder, who had encountered many talented students throughout his life, could not help marveling. Even if some of that could be chalked up to the basic power of being Allforone’s simulation, it was still mind-boggling how fast Nocturne absorbed what he learned. Martial King couldn’t help developing a fondness for his disciple, the child who accepted him as a master and imitated everything about him. No teacher would dislike a student who devoted himself to becoming like his teacher. The only difference between them was their personalities.
Unlike the Martial King, who was very arrogant and self-assured, Nocturne was calm like Allforone. Still, he was a carbon copy of the Martial King in every other way, as the battle between them proved.
Bang! Bang! As the Martial King and Nocturne’s strikes constantly clashed, an increasingly hot whirlwind started raging. Sss. The Martial King’s right arm shattered like a sandcastle. Particles of light poured into the spot where his arm had been.
[Your transcendence has reached a critical point.]
[Gaia’s Curse has grown out of control.]
[The process of deterioration is accelerating!]
Though his transcendence was moving ahead at full speed, the Martial King did not pay it much mind. It was more important for the Martial King to talk with his disciple and clear up any misunderstandings. “Obviously, I initially brought you with me because of my greed. You were like a lifeline that I needed to overcome my stagnant development. I was crazy about overcoming my limitations.”
The Martial King acknowledged his mistake. When he looked back on that period, the Martial King also felt that he had acted crazily—perhaps even beyond madness. At that time, the Martial King’s reputation as a walking disaster had grown, and he would stomp on anyone who criticized him for fooling around or blow away someone’s house for starting rumors. He did things in the extreme because of his frustration that he wouldn’t be able to overcome his enemy, Allforone, no matter how much he tried.
Around then, Martial King started thinking of other, non-traditional measures. If he could not beat Allforone through normal means, perhaps there was an unconventional method. The Martial King thought of taking out Allforone’s simulation on the twenty-first floor and studying it to find a way to defeat Allforone. It hadn’t been as difficult to pull off as he’d expected.
He took advantage of the Tower system’s blind spots, and he managed to achieve it after controlling his thoughts and using up all the karma he had acquired up to that point.
“I’m not sure if you’ll believe me, but you who saved me from myself.”
Nocturne wanted to shout at the Martial King to stop spewing nonsense. He also wanted to shout that he did not believe what the Martial King was saying. He wanted to shout that everything the Martial King had done for him was based on a lie. However, Nocturne remained silent because the Martial King’s mischievous yet gentle smile and impression he got from the Martial King’s attacks made him realize that every word the Martial King uttered was the truth.
“I thought you were a simple simulation, but you’re an individual who possesses an ego. Furthermore, you followed me around like a little duckling, calling me ‘Master’. Even though I’m crazy about improving, I’m not that crazy to treat a student like a lab rat. That’s why, whenever I saw you trying so hard to remember your past, even though I wanted to tell you, I did nothing. I just could not find the heart to say anything.”
The Martial King’s left foot crumbled, but he continued moving quickly without losing his balance. Nocturne had been so single-minded that he didn’t even realize that the Martial King was deteriorating.
『You can’t just erase your past sins by saying that…!』
“No, I can’t. My intentions were impure, and I hid the facts from you. So… I’m sorry.”
Those words landed heavily in Nocturne’s chest. The Martial King had never uttered anything like that before.
“You need to understand…” The corners of the Martial King’s eyes wrinkled as he smiled. “No matter what anyone says, you are my disciple.”
Boom! Half of the halo that enveloped Nocturne disappeared with the Martial King’s blow. Whoosh! The whirlwind produced by impact blew towards the sky. Nocturne did not even let out a cry of pain. Every word that the Martial King uttered had shaken his heart, and he could finally see things clearly.
Sss. When a gust of wind blew past, the entire right side of the Martial King crumbled into tiny particles like sand, revealing condensed light dispersion inside his body. Nocturne’s eyes flickered for the first time. He knew that the Martial King was deteriorating, and even though he had hoped for the Martial King’s death, now that it was imminent, Nocturne felt a knot tightening in his chest.
However, the Martial King laughed jokingly. “You’re not Allforone. You’re not Vivasvat’s simulation. You may have originated from him, and even if you were originally a simulation created by the Tower’s system, you’ve lived your own life. Isn’t that right?”
Nocturne’s fists trembled. Boom! The Martial King did not miss the opportunity and lunged forward.