The lights flickered and hissed, stinging Seongji's eyes as the vast smelting plant was suddenly bathed in a clinical white glare. In the hollow silence, the sound of leather shoes snapping against the concrete was sharp and rhythmic.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A man stepped out from the darkness, a playful, mocking smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
First Generation. Jeolla-do. The King of Jeonju, Chilsu Kang.
He stopped a few paces away, scanning Seongji from head to toe. "I've heard the rumors, King of Cheonliang. They say you're a monster that crawled down from the mountains."
As he spoke, three more figures emerged from the flanks, stepping leisurely into the light.
The remaining Kings of Jeolla-do: Changi Seo of Beolgyo, Dongchun Bae of Shinan, and Youngjin Jin of Suncheon.
Dongchun snorted, spitting a glob of phlegm onto the floor. "Monster? Looks more like a little bitch from Cheonliang to me."
Youngjin tilted his head, a faint, teasing smile on his face. "Honestly, Dongchun, you fit the description of a monster better than this pussy."
Dongchun shot him a murderous glare and took a deep breath, deciding to let the comment slide for now.
"Enough bickering," Changi interrupted coldly. "Don't forget why we're here. It doesn't matter if he's a monster or not. We can just stab him and be done with it."
Chilsu pulled out a folding knife, the blade catching the overhead light with a wicked glint. "So? Who's going first?"
Before the words had even settled, Changi was already moving.
"We can't let the Kings of Jeolla be disgraced. Strength or not, I'll gut him myself!"
Changi's speed was explosive. Leveraging the solid concrete floor, he drove a heavy punch forward, the sheer force of it whistling through the air as it aimed for Seongji's solar plexus.
THUD.
The impact was heavy, but Seongji didn't budge. The ground beneath his feet didn't even crack. At the moment of contact, his muscles had bulged like forged iron, absorbing the entire blow.
'Is this the best Jeolla has to offer?'
Seongji looked down at Changi with an expressionless stare.
Changi froze. He had spent years training his lower body in the mudflats of Beolgyo, learning to generate lethal power from unstable ground. On solid concrete, his strikes should have been devastating.
"Is that it?" Seongji asked calmly.
Changi gritted his teeth, his face contorting with rage. He launched into a frantic barrage, fists raining down like a storm, putting every ounce of his weight into every strike.
Dongchun watched from the sidelines, laughing. "You see that? The Kings of Jeolla-do aren't on the same level as those bargain-bin kings you're used to!"
Seongji parried the blows, gauging the weight behind them.
'These guys are definitely stronger than those creatures from earlier. But that's about it.'
A small, mocking smile played on Seongji's lips.
"Tell me," Seongji said. "Have you really never met anyone stronger than yourselves?"
Changi swung a wide haymaker that caught nothing but air. "Stop acting like you're hot shit!"
"I have," Seongji's eyes went cold. "And they were a hell of a lot stronger than you."
In an instant, Seongji's aura shifted. He stopped playing defense and stepped forward, his right hand shooting out like an eagle's talon to clamp onto Changi's shoulder.
Jin Mujin Ssireum.
His fingers dug in like steel hooks, bypassing the muscle to lock directly onto the bone.
"Gah!" Changi let out a strangled cry of pain.
"My turn."
Seongji threw his weight into a violent twist, swinging Changi's massive frame into the air before slamming him toward the ground.
Changi managed to torque his body mid-fall, landing on his feet, and immediately pivoted into his ultimate technique—a strike powered by the jagged, explosive speed of his lower body.
"Die!" Changi roared, throwing everything into a final punch.
Seongji didn't dodge. He took a breath, focusing his speed, strength, and technique into a single point in his right fist.
Destructive Force.
The two fists collided.
CRACK.
The sound of shattering bone echoed through the plant. Seongji's punch tore through Changi's guard, pulverizing his knuckles and forearm before burying itself deep into his ribs.
SPURT—!
Changi was sent flying like a broken ragdoll, a spray of blood trailing behind him as he tumbled across the floor.
Dead silence followed.
The smirks on the faces of Dongchun, Chilsu, and Youngjin froze. Their eyes filled with sudden, sharp dread.
"No way... how is that possible?"
Seongji flicked the blood off his knuckles, his gaze terrifyingly calm.
"Who's next? Or did you want to try coming at me all at once?"
The three remaining kings exchanged a look. The arrogance was gone.
Dongchun, Chilsu, and Youngjin lunged at once.
"Together! Kill this monster!"
Dongchun let out a guttural roar, diving low to snare Seongji's legs. Chilsu's folding knife flashed like a streak of cold lightning, aiming straight for Seongji's throat, while Youngjin leaped into the air, bringing down a heavy, bone-crushing axe kick.
Facing a three-pronged assault, Seongji didn't even blink.
'Too many openings.'
He took a sharp step to the side, narrowly evading Chilsu's blade. In the same motion, he drove a brutal elbow into Chilsu's wrist.
CLANG.
The knife hit the concrete. Without breaking his flow, Seongji grabbed Chilsu by the collar and swung his entire body like a centrifugal weight.
"Get moving!"
Chilsu's one-forty-pound frame was hoisted off the ground and hurled directly into the airborne Youngjin.
"Gah!"
Youngjin was swatted out of the air before he could even land. The two of them crashed into a heap, groaning as they struggled to untangle themselves.
By then, Dongchun had managed to lock his arms around Seongji's waist. A look of triumph crossed his face as he yelled, "Got you! Now go down!"
He strained with every fiber of his being to topple Seongji, only to find the man was like an iron mountain rooted into the earth. He wouldn't budge an inch.
Seongji looked down, his gaze chillingly indifferent.
"Is this all the strength you have?"
'Damn it, what's wrong with this guy's center of gravity?' Dongchun felt a surge of panic.
Seongji's hands clamped onto Dongchun's shoulders like steel pincers, his fingers digging in with a sickening crunch. The raw power of Jin Mujin Ssireum exploded as Dongchun's shoulder blades ground against each other.
"AAAAAUGH!"
Seongji drove a knee upward, burying it deep into Dongchun's chest.
BOOM.
Dongchun skipped across the floor like a ragdoll, smashing through a row of rusted iron barrels before falling unconscious.
In less than a minute, the three Kings of Jeolla-do were broken on the floor.
Seongji stood amidst the wreckage, casually dusting off his hands.
"This is the strength of Jeolla? What a disappointment."
Right then, a slow, deliberate clapping drifted from the depths of the factory.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Sesh... what a disaster. I told them specifically to just stall you."
Seongji turned toward the voice.
A long haired man stepped out of the shadows. He wore a white suit and eyes as deep and stagnant as a dead pool of water.
The King of Jeolla-do, Changsu Oh.
Changsu glanced at the four men scattered on the ground and shook his head in resignation. "They're capable fighters in their own right. But against the Six King, they clearly fall short."
He reached down and picked up two heavy industrial rods, spinning them expertly until they hummed through the air.
"What can I do? My orders were to kill you," Changsu said, a dangerous curve forming on his lips. "And honestly, now I want to kill you. Jeolla's pride can't just be stepped on like this."
Seongji watched the man settle into a combat stance and let out a cold smirk, slowly raising his own guard.
"Pride? We'll see if you're alive long enough to keep it." Seongji's eyes flared with a sudden, violent intensity. "I hope you know exactly why they call me the King of Cheonliang."
'This guy is on a different level from those other four.'
Without another word, Changsu kicked off the ground. He blurred into a shadow, the twin rods whistling as they swung toward Seongji's skull with lethal force.