Each city had its own renowned martial arts dojos. So boasted a proud history spanning centuries, emphasizing tradition. Others claid expertise by incorporating cutting-edge scientific advancents. So even advertised that they had trained S-Class heroes.
In short, there were plenty of targets.
Galrm pulled his cap low over his face as he appeared before the instructors of other dojos.
He wasn’t targeting the Masters. The reason was simple—most Masters weren’t actually the strongest fighters in their own dojos.
Martial arts weren’t sothing one simply grew stronger in through years of training. A hundred-year-old elder who had practiced for a century could still be defeated by a champion with just ten years of experience.
Mastery of techniques, physical conditioning, and ntal fortitude—these three elents had to be in perfect harmony. It was an art with a short shelf life.
"—You’re Homura from Muguk Jin Kwan, right?"
"...Who are you?"
"Thought so. Fight ."
Galrm took Riore with him as he went around ambushing the strongest fighters from various dojos.
At first, they assud he was just so thug looking for trouble. But once they exchanged a few blows with Riore, their expressions changed.
Her fundantals were too polished to be that of a re street fighter. And layered atop those refined basics were unpredictable, irregular movents.
The mont the instructors recognized her as a skilled martial artist, they threw everything they had into their counterattacks—but by this point, Riore had already grown too strong.
"Kh...!"
"Good. That makes another one down."
"...Are we allowed to be doing this?"
"It’s fine."
Galrm fed the defeated instructors a red pill and left a sizable compensation beside them before vanishing.
When the instructors regained consciousness, for a mont, they thought the entire ordeal had been a dream.
After all, every injury they had sustained had completely vanished without a trace.
But the stacks of cash lying next to them proved that what had happened was real.
The more prideful among them seethed at the thought of being bested by an unknown martial artist. But as they stared at the absurd amount of money left behind, their anger slowly dissipated.
Reporting this? No way. The sum was far too great.
"Haa... haa..."
"Looks like we’ve run out of opponents."
"...You say that, but we haven't even t real monsters yet."
"That’s fine. I plan on gathering them now."
With that, Galrm pulled out his phone and made a call.
Seeing him discreetly step away, Riore tilted her head in curiosity and quietly followed him.
"—Yeah, it’s . This ti, I want to host a tournant..."
"No, expecting to fund this alone is a bit much—"
"...Go ahead and tell the boss if you want. Hah. With that woman running her mouth, the rumors are already spreading anyway—"
The conversation was filled with cryptic remarks she couldn’t quite understand.
When Galrm returned shortly after, he looked straight at Riore and told her to start conditioning her body.
"A tournant is happening soon."
"A tournant...? There aren’t any scheduled this season."
"Doesn’t matter. I asked for one to be held."
Hearing that, Riore assud it would be so small-scale event with a prize pool of at most a few thousand dollars.
No matter how rich Galrm seed, he didn’t strike her as soone wealthy enough to fund an entire large-scale tournant by himself.
And tournants with that level of prize money rarely attracted high-caliber fighters.
Of course, since it was a special event, it wasn’t impossible for stronger competitors to show up... but still—
"...What the hell is this?"
But all her assumptions were completely shattered.
The tournant Galrm had set up drew the attention of the entire city.
[天下第一 武術大會]
The Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournant—a ridiculous na for an event that would normally have been dismissed as just another promotional gimmick.
But the mont people saw that the host was Evilus Corporation, that perception changed completely.
Prize °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Money: $1 Billion.
For anyone who had dedicated their life to the martial path, such an overwhelming reward was impossible to ignore.
****
A prize of $1 billion.
No martial arts tournant in history had ever offered such an absurdly high reward.
Riore knew Galrm was wealthy, but this? To throw away that kind of money on a tournant? If he had that much capital lying around, she would have much preferred he just handed it over to her.
And so, she asked him directly.
Galrm stared at her like she had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.
"...What nonsense are you spouting? Earn it with your own strength."
He even added, with a bitter expression, that if she didn’t win, he would be in trouble.
He didn’t go into details, muttering sothing about paying an advance dowry or whatever.
She wasn’t sure what exactly he ant, but one thing was clear—this tournant was pushing even him to his limits.
And yet, he was doing it all just to prove her strength.
"...What a weird guy."
Riore thought back to when she first t Galrm.
Back then, she never would have imagined he was this kind of person.
Quite the opposite—she had thought of him as utterly self-centered, soone who never cared about anyone but himself.
But reality?
Riore was fully aware of how irrational Galrm’s behavior was.
Even parents wouldn’t go this far for their children.
This wasn’t logical. If anything, it was irrational—sothing more akin to madness...
Wait... could it be that this old man actually likes ?
For a split second, the thought crossed her mind.
She imdiately shook her head.
Sure, maybe there was a slight chance of that. But looking at his actions? There was no way in hell she could believe it.
Who in their right mind punches and kicks the person they like right in the stomach?
And even if she were to assign value to herself, she was not worth $1 billion.
That kind of money could buy all the actresses on TV, so why waste it on her?
Ah, whatever.
In the end, Riore stopped thinking about it.
There were more important matters at hand.
"—Here. The tournant roster."
"...Are you really allowed to show this?"
"Why wouldn’t I be? I’m the organizer. Besides, anyone can check this online."
Indeed, the tournant lineup was publicly available.
It wasn’t like Galrm was leaking confidential information.
Only after hearing that did Riore finally take a proper look at the list.
The nas on it were enough to imdiately elevate the tournant’s prestige.
Gao Kang—the champion of last year’s tournant, where Riore had only managed to reach the semifinals.
Southern Invincible Monk—a monk who frequently appeared on TV, performing feats of superhuman endurance.
Mr. Powerful—a mysterious fighter who, despite having an alarmingly frail physique, still won his last tournant before disappearing, saying it had beco boring.
Truly, a diverse set of challengers.
But among all these nas, one in particular grabbed Riore’s attention.
"...Mysterious Martial Artist R."
Yes.
The very sa person who eliminated her in the preliminary rounds of the last tournant.
The one who ultimately led her to accept Galrm’s offer.
Riore’s eyes blazed with fierce determination.
"...So they’re participating too?"
"Yeah. What do you think? Perfect, isn’t it?"
The perfect stage.
For her revenge.
For her rebirth.
And more than anything—
"...I get to keep the full prize money, right?"
"If you can win."
"You don’t need to worry about that."
$1 billion.
With that, Riore made her decision.
Now, all that remained was training. And more training.
And finally—
The Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournant was upon them.
****
"Ack—."
Preliminary Round 1.
The mont Riore realized that her opponent was, once again, the Mysterious Martial Artist R, she let out a quiet groan.
It felt as if a deeply buried trauma was beginning to resurface.
Across the arena, she saw R warming up, so she did the sa.
"I can do this, I can do this..."
She would not lose this ti.
That resolve was why she had co here.
With her mind made up, Riore stepped onto the stage.
Her opponent recognized her imdiately, letting out a teasing snicker.
"Heeeh—you're that kid I insta-killed last ti, aren’t you?"
"...It won’t be the sa this ti."
"Ohh? Well, do your best! This ti, Le—wait, no. I got permission to go all out too, you know?"
Go all out? aning they weren’t serious last ti?
For a brief mont, Riore felt herself waver, but she quickly dismissed the thought.
Even that could be a psychological tactic to shake her.
Right now, what mattered was not losing focus.
All she had to do was give everything she had.
"Alright, are both fighters ready?"
"Huh? Wait, no cara crew for us?"
"The prelims have too many matches, so we’re skipping all recordings—"
"Boooring~."
As R whined at the referee, Riore simply nodded, signaling she was ready.
The mont the referee confird both fighters—
—They clashed simultaneously.
"Ugh—!"
"Heeeh—not bad!"
Blocking an incoming kick, Riore went over everything she had learned in her mind.
How to block. How to counterattack. Where to strike.
She had spent years refining a fighting style that outright rejected the martial principles she had once followed—only to reintegrate them in a way that made them stronger.
She would not let it all go to waste.
"Take this, then—!"
The mont an opponent was most vulnerable—
—Was the mont they attacked.
—And the mont their attack landed successfully.
Riore deliberately took R’s strike head-on, using her own body to obscure her counterattack.
A strike from an unseen angle—
What made this possible was the very foundation of her Master’s martial art.
But what had brought her this far—
Was sothing else entirely.
"Kyah—!"
With a clean, precise kick, Riore sent R flying out of the arena.
Out of bounds. Instant loss.
R scrambled to argue with the referee, but their protests were swiftly dismissed.
Riore had won.
It felt... unreal.
But that was the nature of real fights.
Sotis, all the preparation, all the effort, exploded in a single mont, even catching the winner off guard.
Slowly, she stepped down from the stage and headed back to her waiting room.
Galrm was standing there, arms crossed, looking utterly indifferent—
As if a re prelim victory was nothing.
But before she even realized it—
She had hugged him.
"...What are you doing?"
"A—Ah, AAHH—!? Wh-What the hell!?"
Startled, Riore imdiately shoved him away, clutching her chest.
Her heart was pounding.
She had no idea why she had done that.
But if there was one thing she did know—
"...I-I won."
"It was just the prelims."
"Couldn’t you at least congratulate a little?"
At that, Galrm let out a short chuckle and placed his palm atop her head.
"—Well done."
"...H-Hehh—? Th-That’s all?"
As he ruffled her hair, Riore felt an indescribable sense of fulfillnt.
So much so that she almost wanted to stay like this forever.
****
anwhile...
The Tenkaichi Martial Arts Tournant.
The man who had proposed it—Eight—couldn’t help but voice genuine concern as he looked at Regalia, who had set an insane prize pool.
"Boss, isn’t ten billion dollars a bit much for a tournant prize?"
"It’s a dowry. It’s fine."
"...A dowry...?"
Hearing that, Eight could only let out a hollow laugh.
Regalia’s idea of a dowry was so far beyond his realm of understanding that he had no words left.
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