A few seconds after the phone call disconnected, Karma looked at his blinking phone and then let out a weary sigh before pocketing his phone.
He was wearing a skintight shirt with ripped jeans and combat boots. There were weights on his ankles and wrists, but those seemed to barely affect his movements.
A few sweat drops fell off his face and landed on the floor of a gymnasium.
Around him, destroyed pieces of metal and wood lay scattered. They were previously part of the training dummies that he had just demolished with his bare hands.
He then turned his gaze back to the pillar in front of him. One part of the pillar was padded with foam to soften the impact of his strikes so that he wouldn't accidentally punch through the pillar.
While he was far from his former strength, his shelled martial soul had shown cracking ever since his son showed his Iron Style.
Karma formed a fist, then reeled it back before launching it forward at the padded pillar.
The punch sounded like a gunshot!
At the narrow alleyway of Letzer Island.
The navy soldier's fist smashed into Kiernan's forearm. Smack. It was a direct hit, but Kiernan barely flinched.
"Iron Human…" Kiernan softly whispered under his breath.
After reaching the new realm of Martial Champion, the level of his techniques had evolved once more. Thus, Iron Human was better at actually protecting him from damage.
'He tightened his muscles to soften the blow,' the navy soldier clicked his tongue. 'This isn't an ordinary pirate. He had proper training before!'
He reeled back both his arms, then launched them forward as if he were using his arms as battering rams!
Kiernan chopped his hands at the navy soldier's wrists, deflecting his punches away, and even caused some damage to his unblemished skin.
That didn't seem to stop the vengeance-filled navy soldier as he just gritted through the pain and kept punching.
Without holding back, Kiernan shot his hands forward. The chops and deflections smacked against the navy soldier's arms.
Blocked! Blocked! Blocked!
The navy soldier's face turned red in anger. He kept throwing his punches, but they just never reached their intended target.
Missed! Again missed! Missed!
With perfect defense, Kiernan successfully defended against every strike.
In the eyes of the navy soldier, it looked like an enormous black fortress appeared behind Kiernan's back. It had tall walls and towers that reached high into the sky, casting a shadow over the entire alleyway.
'What the fuck is that?' The navy soldier's eyes shook.
The unbreakable fortress!
As the navy soldier was too stunned to speak, Kiernan's spear-looking fingers jabbed into his body at three parts—at the neck, at the chest, and finally at the abdomen.
The blood spewed from the three stab wounds!
At Kiernan's fingers, the "Iron" word vanished—if he had used Iron Lance at his current state, his fingers would've still broken.
Thus, he decided to use Tattoo of Kiernan for this decisive strike!
Kiernan wasn't playing around!
He knew the power level of his opponent, and it was vastly superior compared to his.
Therefore, he was going all out from the get-go without holding back even the slightest bit. If he dared to hold back, he might actually die!
The navy soldier stumbled back and touched one of the stab wounds.
He screamed hoarsely and swung his fist at Kiernan, but he added some rotation into the punch to increase its lethal effectiveness.
While one would think that he had lost his mind and threw a random punch, it was actually quite the opposite. He was very much aware of what he was doing!
Kiernan weaved his body out of the way and let the punch slide over his shoulder.
The navy soldier stopped his punch forcefully and then brought his other fist towards Kiernan's face.
Slickly, Kiernan sidestepped the punch and watched as the navy soldier's punch smashed into the brick wall.
The brick wall actually cracked.
Kiernan stabbed his spear-looking hand into the navy soldier's shoulder. It pierced straight through, and blood sprayed out in a gory display.
The navy soldier laughed in pain and followed with another punch, but Kiernan quickly jumped out of the way.
However, the navy soldier immediately followed with a kick and smashed it straight into Kiernan's block.
The kick sent him sliding down the rock-tiled ground.
Kiernan's arms shook from the impact.
At his fingers, another word disappeared—this time it was Valor—thus, leaving him with only Mortality.
The navy soldier's high kick came flying. Kiernan placed his forearm in the way. The kick pushed him to the side and made him crash into the brick wall.
Before Kiernan could counterattack, the navy soldier punched towards his face but missed and punched at the brick wall again.
Kiernan barely managed to pull his head back before the attack landed. That punch could've ended the fight right there and then.
"I've been taught in the navy academy that aggressiveness is a key in the combat. You need to be able to strike when the opportunity presents itself!"
The navy soldier shouted and started punching with every muscle of his, pushing all his training and strength into each blow.
Kiernan countered with his unbelievable defense.
Blocked! Blocked! Blocked!
"Grr!" The navy soldier's eyes turned red. "You defensive pussy!"
"They should've taught you to control your emotions," Kiernan said in disappointment. "I expected more from Martial Master. The fight is over!"
The navy soldier's eyes shook.
Kiernan allowed one of his punches to go past his defensive wall. The punch missed his face. Kiernan immediately stepped forward and jabbed a couple of his fingers into the soldier's throat.
The throat jabs cut off his air supply.
"Argh!" The navy soldier coughed an airless gasp.
Then, lastly, Kiernan smacked his open hand into the back of the navy soldier's head. The blow rolled his eyes back into his skull, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
And like that, the last word—Mortality—vanished from his third finger.