Infinity, The Arcade Age
Chapter 524: Origin of Killing Intent!

Chapter 524: Chapter 524: Origin of Killing Intent!

Crash!

With a soft sound, the unconscious Akuma was shoved aside by Qin Ming, who then staggered to his feet. At this moment, his entire body was radiating terrifying black energy, making him look like an Asura risen straight from the depths of hell.

Or rather—he was an Asura now!

Killing Intent Wave... No—it should now be called Asura Wave!

Its level: upgraded to SSS-rank!

Feeling the Asura Wave within him wildly absorbing all the killing intent in this world and growing stronger by the second, Qin Ming glanced down at the dense black patterns covering his body. The corner of his mouth twitched before he finally revealed a faint smile.

Did this count as becoming a god? A god born from killing intent? Or rather, from malice itself?

He could now absorb the evil thoughts of the world to grow stronger! At this point, he could even call himself a will-made-manifest, an existence on par with Orochi, the Sun God of the King of Fighters universe!

This sensation... was extraordinary. Unusually intoxicating.

The only slight flaw was that the killing aura in this world was still too thin—the power boost wasn’t enough yet.

Just as Qin Ming was immersed in sensing the power surging within him, the sound of chaotic footsteps suddenly echoed from around him. It turned out the military, which had previously fled in fear, had returned after noticing the area had gone quiet.

Armed with rifles, tanks, even helicopters, swarms of soldiers came rushing in.

They aimed their weapons at the center, at the unmoving Qin Ming and the unconscious Akuma lying beside him. One of the commanding officers roared:

"Drop your weapon! Hands on your head! Now!"

As his shout fell, a uniform click-clack of safeties being released rang out.

Qin Ming, now facing a forest of guns, raised an eyebrow. Then he slowly looked around at the surrounding soldiers.

A second later, the corners of his mouth curled into a radiant smile.

Then...

Taking a deep breath, Qin Ming suddenly raised his arms—and flung them forward with all his might.

Boom!

As both palms slammed together in front of him, a torrent of killing intent erupted from his body. A howling shockwave tore through the air.

The countless soldiers standing alert in front of him were instantly caught by the blast, screaming as they were hurled into the sky like scattered petals.

Even the tanks and helicopters were no match for the violent pressure!

Tanks flipped and skidded away; helicopters spun out of control and crashed in explosions.

With just a single strike, everything in front of Qin Ming was flattened—wiped clean.

Even the buildings that had survived until now began to collapse one after another, reduced to rubble.

Qin Ming exhaled long and slow, grinning brightly as he admired the devastating might of his evolved Asura Wave.

Meanwhile, the few remaining soldiers—those lucky enough to have been outside the blast radius—stared in horror. Watching their comrades get blown away so easily, they turned tail and fled in panic, vanishing in seconds.

If the old Qin Ming might’ve been overwhelmed by sheer numbers...

Then the current him—merged with the origin of killing intent, able to grow infinitely stronger by absorbing negative emotions—could never be taken down by a mob again.

Just as Qin Ming nodded in satisfaction, marveling at the destructive power of his own attack, he suddenly heard a soft noise from behind.

His brow arched. He turned to look.

And saw—Akuma had regained consciousness... slowly staggering to his feet.

With all the killing intent drained from his body, his Oni form had been completely dispelled. At this point, he might not even be able to use Killing Intent Wave anymore.

Battered and bruised, he straightened and looked at Qin Ming. After locking eyes in silence for a couple of seconds, he finally opened his mouth in a low voice.

"What... was that technique?"

Hearing this, Qin Ming grinned broadly, smiling like the sun.

"What? Wanna learn it? I’ll teach you."

...

Qin Ming didn’t choose to kill Akuma.

Even without Killing Intent Wave, Akuma was still, by all standards, a martial arts grandmaster.

But the thing was—Qin Ming had already learned everything from his power system. Akuma had nothing new to offer that was of value to him.

So rather than waste him, why not exchange martial arts insights?

Time flew by.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. At dawn on the final day of that month, Akuma, now fully recovered, kneeled solemnly, gave a deep respectful bow, then turned and walked away without looking back.

Watching him disappear into the distance, Qin Ming’s expression was complicated. He had to admit—Akuma was worthy of being called a martial arts genius. His ability to grasp concepts was truly terrifying.

In a single month, he had completely digested Qin Ming’s understanding of Killing Intent Wave, even drawing analogies and innovating further on top of it.

And in that short time, he had actually re-cultivated a portion of the Killing Intent that had been completely drained from him.

Compared to him, Qin Ming had to admit... his own talent was rather average.

Especially now that Akuma had chosen a new path—no longer pursuing brute strength, but attempting instead to control the killing intent, just as Qin Ming had done.

Placed side by side, Qin Ming’s comprehension really did fall short.

It was a pity, really. Akuma had simply been a step too late. That immense ocean of killing intent amassed over the years had already been absorbed by Qin Ming.

On this path, someone had already reached the end.

But Akuma was only a step behind. After all, Qin Ming would eventually leave this world, and once he did, no one would be absorbing the collective killing intent anymore. All of it would flow to Akuma.

Given time, he too would eventually become the next Will of Killing Intent.

And as for Qin Ming himself? He could reluctantly accept the responsibility of heading to other worlds and absorbing ownerless killing intent from elsewhere.

Thanks to a month of guidance from Akuma, Qin Ming’s understanding of killing intent had become increasingly profound.

If, at the start, he had relied on his special bloodline to forcefully merge with killing intent, now—after receiving Akuma’s decades of cultivation insights—Qin Ming could truly call himself a qualified Killing Intent Wave practitioner.

Watching Akuma disappear from view, Qin Ming smiled and withdrew his gaze, hands clasped behind his back as he muttered under his breath:

"Divine Akuma, huh? If there’s a chance in the future, once you’ve grown strong enough... let’s have a rematch."

Still murmuring to himself, Qin Ming turned to leave, preparing to further solidify his newfound power.

But before he could enter his room, the nearby door was suddenly pushed open—and Mai Shiranui stomped in, fuming.

"Junior Brother! I can’t deal with that stubborn brat outside anymore! You better go handle her!"

Qin Ming blinked, turning his head in confusion.

"Huh? She’s still here?"

"She never left. She’s been kneeling there for days, begging to become your disciple."

"Disciple? Hell, I haven’t even figured everything out myself! What kind of master am I supposed to be? What—am I supposed to teach her how to fuse skill books or something?!"

Learning that the girl outside hadn’t left, Qin Ming looked visibly annoyed.

And that girl who had suddenly shown up begging to become his student?

None other than Sakura Kasugano—the high school girl who, in the original story, admired Ryu for winning the tournament and came running to him begging to be trained!

(End of Chapter)