Martial Arts Worlds
Chapter 519: Death Merchant

Chapter 519: Death Merchant

“Hahaha…”

Imperius laughed, and his eyes turned green, glowing with power—the white hair of his started floating—he was ready to fight.

Xerxus pointed his gold-silver revolver at him, cocked the hammer, and put his hooked finger on the trigger.

“Enough, both of you.”

Old King pushed his hand down on the revolver and put his hand in front of Imperius—his voice had a soothing effect.

“I was aware of both of your identities ever since both of you became part of Martial Order—I knew the past you two had—but I knew when a push came to shove, you’d know to ignore the old rivalries and come to work for a common good.”

Old King said.

“For good? I don’t mind helping you, but this pirate scum has never done anything good.”

Xerxus said coldly.

Imperius scoffed with a smirk on his face.

“My name is Pankratios King.”

Old King said.

“Pankratios…”

Imperius frowned, as he could swear that he remembered that name from somewhere, and Xerxus’ eyes widened in recognition.

“Pankratios King… You’re the Fallen Angel of the Abrahamic God—you rebelled against Him, and you were cast out of Heaven…”

Xerxus said in shock.

“Yes… I do not sound like a good person, correct? I rebelled, became the name synonymous with evil, and yet here I am, trying to follow in the footsteps of the great heroes of the world.

“I created Martial Order to do some good. It wasn’t to atone for my sins, but to make the world a better place.”

Pankratios said.

“…I remember reading about you during my navy academy days. Do not become fallen; be good; be truth. The teachers told us to be opposite of you.”

Xerxus sat down on the couch, touched his head, and let out a deep breath.

“Big fan, I truly am.”

Imperius said with a laugh, bowed over to the gold-haired man, and walked over to the window to look into the distance.

“Xerxus. If we do not end the great threat that is about to be unleashed on this world, this city will be destroyed. The blood will run down the streets.”

Pankratios said.

Xerxus stayed silent, traced his finger across the side of the gold-silver revolver, and pushed out the bullet chamber.

There were six bullets inside.

He then closed the chamber and looked up at Pankratios with a steely gaze.

“It’s happening!”

Imperius shouted as he saw the dark clouds appear above the skies of a small area—it was the skies above the stone basement house—and a dark aura swept across in every direction.

“Are you with us?”

Pankratios asked.

“…Very well, but after this, we’ll need to have a proper conversation about who we should allow to enter Martial Order.

“I think we need to gather every Martial Order member, in person, and have a proper meeting with everyone.

“I think it’s time to drop these useless nicknames.”

Xerxus said.

“…Very well.”

Pankratios said, waved his hand, and a staff appeared in his hand—it had an eagle at the top, spiraled down its length, and ended in a sharp point.

“Today, Martial Order will make its official debut to the world.”

…

In the dark stone basement, the blood of the sacrifices pooled around the circle, and the bodies had gone cold.

At that moment, the candles that had turned dead suddenly burst into flames and flooded the room with light.

Black mist appeared above the pool of blood—through the mist, a figure stepped out—his bare feet landed in the blood.

“…”

Death Merchant moved his dark gaze across the room—when his gaze landed at the candle, it decayed into a pile of ashes.

When he turned to the bodies around him, their flesh melted off the bones; the bones decayed into a dust with his gaze.

“Kiernan… Kiernan… Kiernan…”

He repeated.

“Hunter… Hunter… Hunter…”

….

Flying through the air, Shawn and Short made their way towards the area with the dark clouds, with close to twenty guards following behind them.

“What the hell is the cause of this dark energy?!”

Shawn asked with a pale expression.

They could tell that something evil caused the dark clouds, and in the area where the clouds cast shadows, everything had died.

The people… The flowers… The fruits…

They landed at a pointy roof, under the dark clouds, and looked across the street at the modest-looking stone building that appeared to be the source of the darkness.

“Something evil is in that building!”

“I feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up.”

At that moment, someone stepped out of the house—his hair was dark, his eyes were dark, and his flesh was cold and pale.

“Halt right there!”

Short shouted.

“Brother, don’t… Something is wrong with this guy.”

“It doesn’t matter. He is a trespasser, and we’re responsible for the city’s safety. We do not let anyone disturb the citizens of this island!”

Short shouted.

Death Merchant looked up to the roof—his gaze was evil—and he looked straight at Short.

“…Ah?”

Short’s face turned uncomfortable, he touched his chest, and he struggled to breathe—his heart stopped beating.

“Brother?”

Shawn looked at him and saw his face turn blue, and he started wheezing heavily with cold sweat dropping buckets from his forehead.

“A-A-Aargh…”

Short dropped down, he let out a few more breaths, and then went completely still—his eyes were blank and lifeless, his body limp and unresponsive.

“B-Brother? Brother!”

Shawn tried shaking him awake, but he noticed a terrifying truth—his brother was already dead!

The rest of the guards looked with a horrendous gaze and turned back to the Death Merchant—then his evil gaze ran across them.

All the guards immediately dropped dead.

“Shit!”

Shawn jumped off the roof into the back alley and started running away as fast as he could, trying to hide from the gaze.

“W-What the fuck is that thing? He can kill with just a gaze? How the hell is it possible to kill Martial Legends with just a gaze?!”

Bang!

At that moment, he heard a cold sound of death, and a black bullet pierced through the building behind him and pierced through his heart.

Shawn’s eyes shook, then he fell to the pavement, and blood pooled around his lifeless body.

In the street, Death Merchant pointed his pale-looking finger in the direction where he just hurled the black bullet.

“Hunter… Kiernan… Hunter.”

He turned to look to the distance—to the stadium—and started walking in that direction.