Martial Arts Worlds

Once the anchor was completely reeled in, Kiernan hopped onto the deck of the flying ship.

It felt very secure and wasn't as shaky as he expected it to be—it was, strangely enough, more stable than a normal ship on a sea.

"Watch out!"

Men—heavy-looking and shirtless—ran past him and grabbed the enormous oars with an iron grip.

"Haa!"

They pulled them through the air with violent strength, sending the boat slicing through the clouds.

Forth and back—the oars sliced through the air like giant knives, and the ship zoomed across the sky, leaving a trail of white mist in its wake.

The sudden burst of speed almost made Kiernan fall down to his buttocks, but he quickly used his Sea Steps and balanced himself.

"Welcome on board, New Rakuya's representative."

At that moment, a heavy-stepped man walked to him with a bushy brown beard and a stern expression on his face.

He wore a brown tricorn hat that had seen better days and had iron brass knuckles screwed into his knuckles.

"My name's Iron Knuckle MacJesus. I have one rule for you on my ship—stay out of my and my crew's way.

"We have been hired to take you to the God Island, but if you cause problems in here, I won't hesitate to throw you off my ship."

He growled, cracking his iron knuckles.

"Got it."

Kiernan said and gazed beyond the railing, where a sea of clouds and a long fall awaited anyone who dared to disobey the captain.

"Others are waiting for you. With you included, there are now five representatives heading over to God Island.

"Only one will make it there.

"I already gave the instructions to the others. Once the last representative has arrived at the ship, which is you, the 'Zero Event' will take place inside the ship.

"Not outside.

"If you take a step outside, you're officially disobeying my rules, and I will throw you overboard.

"Got it?"

Iron Knuckle MacJesus asked.

"Yes… so what is the goal of this Zero Event?"

Kiernan asked.

"Hmph. To be the last one standing, obviously. And I am not talking about just knocking them unconscious.

"You must kill them."

Iron Knuckle MacJesus said with a cold tone.

"…Kill?"

Kiernan repeated, his voice filled with uncertainty, and the memories of the Devil Ritual surfaced back to his mind.

"If that's too much for you, I think we are still in New Rakuya's airspace. We can always drop you off right now.

"No coward shall enter God Island."

Iron Knuckle MacJesus said with a low growl that sounded like it came from some wild animal.

'How would killing make any sense? I know this world is crazed about martial arts, but why would anyone participate in the Junior Martial Arts Championship if most of the participants will die?

'It must be a test of some sort.'

Kiernan looked into the steel, iron-colored eyes of MacJesus and nodded briefly.

"Alright. I'll participate."

"The door is that way. Once you enter, you do not step outside unless you're the last one standing!"

Iron Knuckle MacJesus pointed to the door on the left that led inside the ship's interior. It was heavy and imposing, with intricate carvings of dragons and lions on its surface.

It looked like it led to cabins and such.

Kiernan walked over to the door, opened it with a swing, and was greeted by a blast of freezing air.

The freezing air came from a dark hallway. It had some lights flickering in the ceiling, but it looked eerie, like a horror movie set.

Kiernan stepped inside, and at that moment, MacJesus swung the door shut and locked it tight with a brass key.

"If there is more than one remaining when we arrive at God Island, all of you will be disqualified!"

Iron Knuckle MacJesus' voice came from other side of the walnut wood door.

"…"

Kiernan looked ahead at the dark hallway and used his instincts to see the color of the surroundings, and as he expected—it was all red.

It looked like someone had a little bit too much fun with painting and just splashed walls with red paint that made it look like a bloody hallway.

'It is actually red. It means my life can be in danger, ridiculously.'

Kiernan started walking and kept his hands out of his pocket, as he was ready to defend himself at a moment's notice.

However, after reaching the end of the hallway and stepping through a door in there, he came across a strange scene.

Four people were seated around a table, playing a strange kind of card game, and just chatting with each other.

"Ah… I knew it. As soon as we came to the stop, I knew that the ship was picking up the last representative. It looks like there are five of us now~"

Arin said with a smirk stretching across his sun-kissed flesh.

"Hmm~"

Kairo tossed his cards to the table and looked over to Kiernan with his V-shaped eyes that looked like they were carved from solid ice.

"I was losing anyway."

Ishikawa tossed his cards to the table, leaned his back against the chair's backrest, and let out a lengthy yawn.

He wore a white Qi with five black dots on his forehead with combed-back black hair that made him look like a villain from an old martial arts movie.

"I won~"

Malika put her cards on the table and smiled gently.

'They're acting very casually. It's unnerving. Didn't they get instructions for the Zero Event? No, the captain of the ship said that he gave them instructions.

'Also, my instincts are warning me of this place.'

Kiernan thought to himself, crossed his arms, and asked everyone.

"What are you all doing? Aren't we supposed to be doing that Zero Event thing?"

"Ah, that? Hah, you really think that we are supposed to kill each other? Please, that would be nuts, and no way the governments of our countries would allow that.

"I also have a master that participated in the Junior Martial Arts Championship, and he lost in the Zero Event, but he did not die!"

Arin said with a laugh.

"What if the Junior Martial Arts Championship has changed?"

Kiernan asked.

"Nah, no way, man. It has stayed the same for hundreds of years. Besides, the future of each country will be participating in this tournament.

"No way they would just make us kill each other. That would be insane, haha!"

Arin said.

'What he says is true, but I still have a bad feeling about this.'