Kiernan said and saw Zachary huffing and puffing—the hatred in his eyes kept growing, and so did his strength.
The power of his soul was almost at the middle stage already, and it was growing at an astronomical rate.
"If you let him advance, you'll never defeat him with your martial rank."
"Yeah, I got that. I know what I will do."
Kiernan crouched, untied his shoes, and tossed them aside—he rubbed his feet and then stood up.
"What are you doing?"
Kiernan said, pressed his right foot against the ground, and slid his left foot forward—he moved into a classic karate stance.
'Last time I tried the techniques of True Iron Style, my body got destroyed, but I am now a Martial Master, leagues above what I was back then.'
Kiernan looked at his right foot—it felt weird to be afraid of his own techniques—but he had to.
Because he knew the destructive nature of some of his skills—especially that of True Iron Style's.
Zachary ripped apart his shirt. It had become too tight for him. And his chest was growing bigger with every passing second.
Instead of looking like a human, he started to look more like a lump of muscle, and the veins on his arms looked like thick ropes.
"You don't have much time left. He is about to advance."
"Yeah, I am letting him."
Kiernan said coldly, and the sleeves of his trousers, which were covering his right leg, ripped apart like they were made of tissue paper.
Crack—the ground under his right foot cracked.
'He is preparing for a move… I sense danger.'
Imperius thought with a smile on his face, leaned back on the wall, and crossed his arms—simultaneously, his eyes turned green.
"None of you will hear anything."
The eyes of everyone living within a hundred-meter radius turned green—they all stopped moving, frozen in place, and said.
"We will not hear anything."
The purple heart grew a size, and Zachary's body stopped shaking—he hunched over, eyes closed, and murmured something inaudible under his breath.
Then, he opened his eyes, and they were purple.
"I love this new soul of mine. In one moment, I feel anger and hatred, and in the next, I feel overwhelming strength!"
Zachary said with a gigantic grin.
"The former owners of dark soul also loved it. You see how I said former? Yeah, they're all fucking dead."
Imperius said with a chuckle.
'Silent there. I don't know why you act big in my presence when it is just a matter of time before I surpass you.'
Zachary thought to himself, but he didn't even dare to look in Imperius' direction in case he would think that he was thinking about him.
"You're ready to die, bitch?"
He approached Kiernan but then stopped and saw him stand still like a statue—his right foot was tapping nervously.
'What is this feeling? My subconscious is warning me that if I go and fight Kiernan, I will die? No, it can't be.
'It must still be the lingering fear of my memories of him. I am mighty now. I am Middle Stage Martial Grandmaster!'
Zachary thought with a grin and stepped forward, but then the cold feeling of death struck him like a bolt of lightning.
'Go away… away… away… No!'
Zachary screamed and jumped towards Kiernan—he formed a fist and felt like he held the power of a hundred men in his fist.
'This feeling of power… is amazing!'
He thought with a grin.
"Hunter's Sovereignty."
Kiernan whipped his leg forward and sliced his foot through Zachary's chest like a knife through butter—the foot went through the body—and exited from the back.
Zachary dropped to the ground, his legs twitching uncontrollably, and his upper torso slumping forward.
Kiernan grimaced, and his right leg got snapped like a twig—from knee to feet, it was all twisted, and the bone was poking out of the skin.
He fell down on his left knee and held his broken leg in agony, but he made sure that he wouldn't scream.
Imperius walked over, slow clapping, and then crouched next to Zachary's upper half—he was still breathing, blinking his eyes, but not for long.
"Dark Soul owners never live long, you know why? They're prone to misfortune, and they always die because of it.
"Your misfortune was Kiernan."
Zachary said, but a few tears of frustration left his eyes, and then his eyes turned blank the once-known genius of Montclair, now known as the murderer Zachary, had died.
Imperius pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, put it between his lips, lit it, and took a long drag of it.
"This is my first cigarette of the year. This place sure has been taking a lot of my firsts this year, huh?"
He said and looked at Kiernan, who was holding his broken leg.
At that moment, he heard the wheels of a carriage roll down to the sidewalk, and the beeping of a horn alarmed them.
"Your carriage has arrived. The second event will start shortly. You're in a little pickle with that broken leg of yours."
Imperius said and took a puff of the cigarette.
Kiernan stood up, but when he put even a little weight on his right leg, he flinched in pain.
"Your bone is poking out. You'll bleed out if you go . I can fix that for you, but I can't do anything about your broken bones."
Kiernan said, and then Imperius grabbed his leg—with a twist, he squeezed the bones back inside his fleshy body.
Kiernan bit his finger as if he had let out his scream. The carriage driver would've heard it, and if he had come to check it out, he would've discovered Zachary's corpse.
"Your wounds are still bleeding. I can't close them except by putting some bandage around them."
Kiernan looked at his right leg, squeezed his hands around it, and closed the wounds forcefully by tightening the muscles.
Kiernan breathed heavily, wiped the cold sweat off his face, and then limped towards the body, but then he stopped and asked.
"I'll get rid of it. Good luck in the second event~"
Imperius put the cigarette between his lips, smiled, and carried Zachary's corpse towards the teleportation ceremony circle.