Chapter 618
Episode 159: The Battle of the Fighting Kings (5)

“Why don’t you just come out and say you want to kill me? Your eyes already say as much.”

It wasn’t just a feeling—Kaio’s gaze truly was that fierce. Even mocking him like this made Jin’s hands tremble.

Though he smiled on the surface, Jin swallowed hard.

‘I can’t even play the villain properly. Damn, this is terrifying.’

He had come to Laprarosa to cleanse the chaos, regain all his strength, and deepen his enlightenment through the union with the fighting god. Yet, he never imagined Kaio’s sheer presence would weigh down on him so heavily, so oppressively.

Jin had known for some time that Kaio was among the top warriors of the Meiwang clan’s Fighting Kings.

Even during the opening ceremony, when Jin had unleashed the fighting god union, all the Fighting Kings fought with Kaio’s support.

Kaio’s single bow commanded them all, and his arrows were the most troublesome and threatening attacks, even in the fighting god union state.

“Begin the 22nd battle.”

No sooner had Ban finished speaking than a storm of lightning gathered around Kaio’s great bow, the ‘Divine Arrow.’

Sigmund also gathered his energy, but lagged slightly behind.

The difference was subtle—only recognizable to those at least at the Fighting King level. When blade met arrow, the common warriors saw two attacks launched simultaneously.

The weight of it was immense.

It felt nothing like the battles Jin had fought before against Teto, Garmund, Palem, or Dalpir.

In the previous two matches, even in defeat, Jin had thought that if he pushed the Meiwang Sovereign Sword to its limits, the outcome might have been different.

But this time, from the very first strike, he was certain: there was no way to beat Kaio in a ‘normal fight’ right now.

‘If I keep training, maybe there’s a chance.’

At this rate of growth, it wouldn’t take long. The sensation of the fighting god union was rapidly accelerating Jin’s progress.

Chuh-jo-jeong!

Each time Jin deflected the volley of arrows, the dull impact shook his body.

Kaio was pressing Jin with full force from the start, as if no probing was necessary.

Jin barely managed to keep pace with his rhythm. To the common warriors, it looked evenly matched, but the Fighting Kings already judged the tide had turned in Kaio’s favor.

It was only natural.

Even the common warriors, who felt the two were evenly matched, believed the 22nd battle’s outcome was already decided.

‘It’s only a matter of time. At this pace, the Jin brothers will soon be exhausted.’

‘I just hope the Ten Fighting Kings don’t injure the Jin brothers too badly…’

Whether some insisted Jin must face the other Fighting Kings again as the successor, or others accepted him as the confirmed heir, all shared the same worry.

Kaio’s warning that ‘an accident might happen’ wasn’t a voice heard only by Jin.

“You said you’d definitely break me, didn’t you? For someone so confident, you’re disappointing.”

“Instead of talking, why don’t you shoot one more arrow? I can still hold on… ugh!”

Lightning shards from a shattered arrow pierced Jin’s left arm. The fragments dug deep enough to touch bone—not by chance, but by Kaio’s design.

It wasn’t Jin’s arrow breaking; it was Kaio’s ‘Scattered Arrows’ technique.

Unlike the shotgun-like explosive rounds of the magic cannon, Kaio’s scattered arrows were dozens of fragments moving according to his will.

Jin hadn’t faced this attack during the opening ceremony.

Back then, Kaio had focused all his destructive power into a single point to pierce Jin’s fighting god energy, so he hadn’t used the scattered arrows.

Moreover, he hadn’t unleashed it against any of his other brothers during his three wins, so Jin was completely unprepared.

As the fragments were pulled from his arm, blood gushed out. Then, the second volley of scattered arrows struck the same wound again.

‘This is no joke.’

To turn the tide, Jin needed a powerful technique.

But Kaio gave him no time. Jin had fought countless opponents before, but none had pressed him so relentlessly, never letting him catch his breath like Kaio did.

He couldn’t close the distance.

Kaio darted like the wind, firing arrows from all directions. It was as if a dozen archers were raining down fire.

‘Compared to this, Yulian’s Thunder Bow Harmilla seems almost cute.’

If anything, Kaio felt like the archer wielding the power of the Storm God.

Even when Jin barely managed to defend, the scattered arrows exploded at every opening, keeping him nearly rooted in place.

He switched swords.

“Spirit Sword Ultimate? Ah, so the Jin brothers were counting on that. Yeah, that sword is a bit dangerous.”

Kaio said this and immediately intensified his assault.

Jin’s Spirit Sword Ultimate hadn’t even opened the sign that blocked Lingling’s senses.

The spiritual energy barrier meant to dye the main hall was being torn apart by Kaio’s lightning.

It wasn’t completely ineffective. Jin’s vision was obscured, lowering his bow’s accuracy, and he wasted a significant amount of fighting god energy pushing back the spiritual energy.

“Jin brother, you know well that stalling like this is pointless.”

Just when Jin thought Kaio might relent, the power of the Divine Arrow only increased.

Unable to fully unleash his Spirit Sword Ultimate, Jin had to convert the spiritual energy scattered around into a cursed sword technique.

Even that was imperfect. Like a ship caught in a storm, his whole body shook from the impacts, making it impossible to execute any technique properly. He couldn’t even call on the crucial power of Tess.

Still, the Cursed Flame showed remarkable power. It burned the arrows, pushed back the lightning, and even surged forward to strike Kaio.

The formidable opponent that flashed through Jin’s mind at that moment was Hedo, the White Night’s Tower Keeper. The unstable Cursed Flame had the destructive power of the moment Jin had struck Hedo in the Sota Desert.

And Kaio, like Hedo then, displayed a monstrous strength that easily shook off the blue flames and fire.

Had Jin been able to use Tess’s power fully, even Kaio wouldn’t have withstood it so easily.

But in battle, ‘what if’ means nothing.

So Kaio felt no particular thrill from Jin’s Cursed Flame.

Swish!

Amid the blue flames, dark sword energy burst forth. Kaio gracefully dodged the sword energy and began closing the distance with Jin.

It wasn’t because he underestimated Jin enough to give up his advantage in range. Rather, it was a deliberate choice to finish Jin more decisively.

The closer they got, the more destructive the Divine Arrow became. The lightning that engulfed the entire main hall converged toward Kaio the closer they were.

It was like tightening a grip. Even as the area Kaio’s lightning had consumed shrank, Jin couldn’t extend his energy there. A stronger force continued to suppress him.

The spiritual energy barrier Jin had set up just two steps ahead was breaking.

The final line of defense had fallen. Jin now had to endure the lightning of the Divine Arrow penetrating that barrier.

One of the Meiwang Sovereign Sword’s traits was to erode the opponent’s territory with lightning and maintain an absurdly advantageous position. Kaio’s technique resembled that.

Crack! Swoosh!

Amid the frantic defense, another scattered arrow exploded. When the third volley detonated, Jin’s vision briefly darkened.

His eyes.

Two fragments had pierced exactly through both of Jin’s eyes.

Thanks to Multa’s rune and shield, they weren’t truly pierced, but the ringing in his head was enough to make him dizzy.

“You probably won’t be able to block the next one. Are you okay, Jin brother? Maybe it’s better to scream for mercy.”

In the blink of an eye, the distance between Jin and Kaio shrank to ten steps.

As Kaio said, Multa’s rune had been completely torn around Jin’s eyes.

A chill ran down Jin’s spine, cold sweat pouring down. The moment his pupils shattered, no healing power from Boras could ever restore them.

Outside, the lightning and spiritual energy barrier obscured the battle’s progress.

Even if Jin lost his sight, it would be just an ‘accident.’

His heart pounded wildly.

‘If I retreat, I’ll never achieve my goal.’

The Battle of the Fighting Kings—the fight to determine the successor of the fighting god.

In this battle, the Meiwang clan risked everything. Eyes were cheap in comparison.

Especially if it meant becoming the villain to unite his brothers.

“You’re too weak. If it were me, I wouldn’t have warned you—I’d have taken your eyes immediately, Kaio.”

“That’s exactly what I’m about to do.”

Kaio released the bowstring.

Along with the lightning coursing through the bow, every arrow standing like pillars around the hall plunged simultaneously toward Jin.

Even hidden by the lightning and spiritual energy, the movement was so massive that the brothers outside could see it clearly.

The Meiwang clan flinched, letting out gasps.

“In the end, the Ten Fighting Kings…!”

“Damn it, there was no need to go that far! They could have incapacitated him without this!”

“This isn’t right. Fighting god brothers, you have to intervene!”

“It’s already too late… As the Ten Fighting Kings said, Jin brother should have declared surrender before this. We should have stopped him first.”

Craaaak!

Jin screamed hoarsely.

An accident had finally occurred.

After about ten seconds, the massive forces that had shaken the main hall subsided as if they were all a lie.

When the dust cleared, the Meiwang clan saw Jin, arrows embedded all over his body, blood pouring from his face, and Kaio breathing heavily as he looked down at him.

They couldn’t blame Kaio. The Battle of the Fighting Kings was always like this, and he had simply given it his all.

The relentless, all-out duel had become an immense burden even for Kaio. His legs trembled violently, barely holding him up as he aimed his cursed arrow at the fallen Jin one last time.

“Hoo, hoo…”

The shot was set—once the string was released, Jin would surely die.

Ban watched silently for a moment.

“The 22nd Great War…”

But just as Ban was about to declare the end, Jin suddenly sprang to his feet and drove Bradamante straight into Kaio’s chest—still clenched between his teeth.

“Crazy… what the hell is this!?”

“Brother Jin!?”

Despite the arrow still lodged in him, Jin moved with unbelievable speed—fast enough to catch anyone off guard, but not beyond Kaio’s ability to react.

Yet Kaio was powerless against Bradamante piercing through his chest. To avoid being stabbed, he had no choice but to release the bowstring aimed at Jin’s head.

“You… you bastard…!”

Even with the blade buried in his chest, Kaio refused to let go of the string.

Jin, on the other hand, twisted his head fiercely, as if to drive the sword deeper into Kaio’s heart.

“I told you, Kaio… you can never beat me. Never.”

Then, as Bradamante’s energy exploded within Kaio’s chest, the arrow grazed Jin’s cheek, slicing through the sky.

Kaio collapsed, frothing at the mouth, while Jin trembled violently, staring down at him for a few seconds before losing consciousness.