Sword Among Us

“Before you attack, could you take off your mask? Let me see your true face.”

Phoenix Dances suddenly spoke the moment the system announced that the battle started. Her voice, which was as mellow as pearls, refreshed the minds of all the people who heard her. It made it very difficult for them to refuse her requests.

Unfortunately for her, Happy had spent some time with her before and was familiar with her mindset, so his immunity to her was incredibly great. He smiled faintly under the cover of the cloth and refused the beauty’s request.

“Why?”

Phoenix Dances was a prideful person and refused to accept defeat just like that. She continued asking him, not resigned to not seeing Happy’s face.

“I once swore to my clan…” Happy’s deep and mild voice instantly stirred up Phoenix Dances’ curiosity, but the things he said later made her put on an annoyed look. “… that for the rest of my life, only the woman who can defeat me with her own hands will be able to take off my mask. That woman will be the woman I will love my whole life. So please forgive me for not being able to comply with your request.”

When Phoenix Dances heard his words, her originally tense nerves might have relaxed, but she immediately sank into even more frustrated gloom. She scowled.

“Hmph!” How dare he make a fool of her?!

Who would want to be the love of his life?!

He was teasing her! It was blatant teasing!

‘Once I know who you are, you’re gonna get it from me!’ Phoenix Dances cursed him in her heart. She could not calm her anger.

“Let’s fight.”

But she did not expect that Happy would be blunt in his mannerisms. With a whistle, his Noble Sword was drawn. He moved like lightning and appeared to Phoenix Dances’ left. His attack drew close to her, shocking her into quickly lifting her sword to defend. While she did so, she rebuked him in anger. “Are you a man? You don’t act like a gentleman at all!”

Happy ignored her. He still remembered that once Beautiful Robes Faction was formed, Phoenix Dances brandished her Phoenix Wings Trident in an even more domineering fashion than a man. There were few people in the game who could withstand her attacks.

“Are you a man?!” was something she always said at that time while looking down on all people in disdain, making countless men want to die of shame. It absolutely did not sound as feminine as it did right then.

“HAHAHAH!!”

When he thought of this, Happy felt flames of passion burn in his heart. While laughing, he executed the Eight Trigrams Steps and circled around Phoenix Dances. There were traces of ruthlessness as he executed his Nine Palaces Sword in an agile fashion. When he attacked, his strength only increased and never diminished! He wanted to create a strong impression of himself in Phoenix Dances’ heart so that this talented lady who looked down on men would know that he just did not want to bully her in the past.

Phoenix Dances was not Happy’s opponent. After a few exchanges, she found herself surrounded by trouble and revealed many weaknesses. A solemn expression appeared on her face, but she did not say anything. Resolution and persistence were in her eyes.

“Surrender.”

In the end, Happy did not kick Phoenix Dances off the stage like he did with everyone else besides Butt Shaker. He pushed Phoenix Dances away with a palm strike and placed his sword behind him. With a graceful air, he stared at Phoenix Dances, who was already drenched in sweat. “You can’t win against me.”

Even though winning and losing in this sort of tournament was really nothing, Happy was worried that if he kicked her, he would ruin her prestige and destroy her ego. If he made her quit World of Martial Arts, he would commit a huge crime.

“Never!” Phoenix Dances bit her lip while standing across from Happy. She held her longsword and refused to give up.

“Then I’m kicking you off stage.”

“How dare you?!” Phoenix Dances bit on her lip even harder. Faint sparks could be seen in her eyes, and it was through pure determination that she did not cry. Happy’s heart clenched in pain for her.

‘This girl… Her pride is simply too great, and she’s too competitive.’

He sighed and shook his head in resignation. “Fine, then I’ll admit defeat, alright? This is just a competition, is it worth it for you to be so serious?”

Once he finished speaking, he admitted defeat to the system, and under Phoenix Dances’ shocked gaze, he turned into sparks as his figure disappeared.

Phoenix Dances raised her foot and opened her mouth. She wanted to say something, but the system notifying her that she had won had already restored her to her best state and chose her opponent for the second round. The sentence at the tip of her tongue was stuck in her throat, and in the end, she could not say it.

*****

The second segment required the participants to win three rounds out of five. Happy had given up on the first round by his own will, but he still had four chances, so he did not feel disheartened. After all, as long as he won the other rounds, he could still enter the third round.

But what if he ran into Phoenix Dances again in the future segments? What should he do then?

When he thought of this problem, Happy felt like a huge ball of tangled thread had been stuffed into his head, and he was stuck in it, unable to get out.

His second opponent was rather unlucky.

When he saw that his opponent was the Masked Swordsman, he was so nervous that he quivered, and to make matters worse, Happy was not in a good mood. Before the opponent could even finish delivering his first attack, Happy stabbed him in the chest in exchange for a light injury to his shoulder.

Before his death, the opponent stared at the wound on Happy’s shoulder. His eyes were wide, as if he wanted to remember this. His eyes were full of incredulity and excitement…

“What the heck?” Happy pushed his opponent’s corpse away with a palm strike while grumbling under his breath in resignation. “Why are you happy even though you died? You just want me to not be able to vent to my heart’s content, huh?!”

He did not know that only Butt Shaker had been able to injure him throughout the entire tournament. His opponent felt that it was incredibly difficult for him to have been able to injure him and that it was a very glorious moment for him.

Happy had nothing to say about this. His third and fourth opponents were also able to enjoy this unique treatment. With extreme satisfaction and excitement, they lost the fight, but during his fifth round, Happy went up against Puffy God.

Puffy God narrowed his eyes. It was clear that he was incredibly cautious and vigilant. He stood thirty-two feet away, and all sorts of thoughts raced swiftly through his mind.

‘What sort of dirty tricks is he cooking up?’

When he saw his final opponent, Happy smiled happily. Right under Puffy God’s astonished gaze, he quietly put his sword back into his Universe Bag.

Puffy God was instantly stunned. He did not quite understand why Happy did this.

“Come, Puffy.” Happy extended his hands and gestured to Puffy God.

Puffy God instantly felt his vision turn red in anger. ‘This guy used a sword against others, but when he’s up against me, he put his sword away! Is he looking down on me?!’

“Hmph!”

He huffed indignantly. Puffy God brought out his Nine-ringed Broadsword. Its rings jangled when the metal clashed against the blade. Then, like a huge Maitreya Buddha statue, he closed in on Happy.

But he did not know that Happy had put away his Noble Sword because his accomplishments with his fist techniques were higher than with his sword techniques. When he saw the sparkles in Puffy God’s eyes, he knew that this boy had dirty tricks up his sleeve. Hence, he put away his sword beforehand and decided to fight with all his strength right from the start.

Puffy God might be money-hungry, but his abilities were pretty good, and he always fought with his skills specifically countering his opponent’s. If Happy did not make preparations beforehand, he would face the possibility of losing miserably!

Happy cut close to Puffy God and began to move around him like a maggot attached to his bone. He used the high mobility and attack speed of his fist technique to continuously suppress Puffy God’s attacks and all his lures. Happy worked on it with all that he had. In just a few seconds, he displayed an incredibly fierce, proactive, and wild fighting style, forcing Puffy God to a state where he could not execute his skills and could only be beaten.

Puffy God slowly came to a realization.

If Happy was like an assassin when he used his sword—ruthless, direct, and able to hit his opponent’s vitals in one hit—then at that moment, Happy was like a grandmaster in fist techniques who could control the entire situation. He was close to him, but Puffy God could not touch him at all. The thought of being able to stand against Happy could not even rise in his head.

“Argh! I’m not fighting anymore! Darn it all! I give up!”

After being struck an unknown number of times, Puffy God had still not managed to hit Happy. He was so frustrated he wanted to cry, but he had no tears. In great distress, he announced his defeat.