The Indomitable Martial King

That was the moment.

“Hup!”

With a short exclamation, Teslon dodged the knee attack and threw himself under Repenhardt’s legs. Moving with the speed of a snake slithering on the ground, he grabbed Repenhardt’s ankle, pulling him down and twisting his knee joint. The series of movements were so quick that it really looked like a snake coiling around its prey in an instant.

“Ugh?”

With a strange groan, Repenhardt fell forward. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but his sense of balance was disrupted, causing him to topple over. At the same time, a sharp pain radiated from his knee.

“Argh!”

Repenhardt screamed and looked back. Teslon was already clinging to his right leg. Teslon had immobilized Repenhardt’s leg using both of his own and was pinning Repenhardt’s right ankle to his side. Repenhardt’s body wouldn’t budge.

“What, what is this?”

Using all his strength, Teslon triumphantly muttered, “I knew it. You wouldn’t know anything about ground wrestling. Gym Unbreakable never taught you anything but standing joint locks!”

‘What? This is wrestling?’

Repenhardt frowned, recalling his master Gerard’s teachings.

Gerard had said, “There is something called ground wrestling where two burly men roll around on the ground, rubbing their bodies together. It may have intricate techniques if you delve deep enough, but it’s not something we need to concern ourselves with.”

– Why would a perfectly healthy man grovel on the ground, groping another’s body? A real man fights standing up. One should never degrade themselves by rolling on the ground just to survive!

Thus, Gym Unbreakable only taught standing joint locks, purely as auxiliary techniques to subdue a ‘weak’ opponent without causing harm. They were more of suppression techniques rather than offensive ones. Consequently, real grappling techniques like the ones Teslon was demonstrating were never taught.

‘Gerard said if you’re really going to fight, instead of fiddling with someone’s joints, just hit them one more time, right?’

Recalling Gerard’s teachings, Repenhardt clenched his fist. And then he felt a moment of despair.

‘But how am I supposed to hit from this position?’

With both legs pinned to the ground, no matter how much Repenhardt stretched his arms, he couldn’t reach Teslon’s body. He struggled briefly before grimacing.

“Damn it!”

Gerard had taught him one more technique besides just hitting.

The master had said!

If an opponent clings to you, you should grind them down!

“Spiral Guard!”

Golden aura erupted brilliantly from the leg Teslon was holding. Teslon’s eyes gleamed as he drew up his yellowish aura.

“Did you think I wouldn’t see that coming!”

The yellow aura clashed with the golden aura, merging and starting to scatter as particles.

“The aura you’ve learned is child’s play to me! Such a slow Spiral Guard is nothing if I just block the blood flow!”

Life force, aura, is something that manifests from the body of an aura user. Its flow is realized in reality through the meridians that run through the spiritual body. Teslon used his own aura to block the blood flow that activated Repenhardt’s Spiral Guard.

Repenhardt’s eyes widened in shock as his aura activation was thwarted.

“…What? I’ve never learned anything like this.”

“Of course not. This isn’t something you learn; it’s something you realize through diligent training.”

In fact, Teslon was the original creator of the Spiral Guard. Although he could no longer use it due to his changed body, the enlightenment that resided in his soul remained unchanged.

Clicking his tongue, Repenhardt planted one hand on the ground and raised the other. It had been a mistake to pretend to be a martial artist when he was actually a mage.

“In that case….”

Lying on the ground, Repenhardt swiftly formed hand signs and shouted,

“Everything shall slip away! Grease!”

Repenhardt’s trapped leg suddenly slipped free. He had cast Grease, a spell that drastically reduces friction, on his own leg. Normally, this spell wasn’t meant to be used on a person’s body, but as with the previous incident with Sillan, Repenhardt’s current body apparently wasn’t recognized as entirely human.

“Hah, hah!”

Panting, Repenhardt quickly pulled himself free. But Teslon didn’t let him go. He swiftly followed Repenhardt, tackling him again just as Repenhardt tried to fend him off with a chop.

“Hmph!”

Scoffing, Teslon grabbed Repenhardt’s descending right arm and wrapped both legs around it. He immediately entwined his legs around Repenhardt’s wrist joint and extended his waist. Repenhardt, who had just managed to stand up, was now lying flat on his back again. The arm lock, an arm bar, had been executed perfectly.

“Damn! What the hell is this!”

Lying on the ground, Repenhardt trembled with frustration. He clearly had more strength than Teslon. So why couldn’t he move his captured arm?

Repenhardt, who had only learned standing submission techniques for subduing opponents, had no concept of defense against such holds. As a result, he had no idea why he was being overpowered.

While restraining Repenhardt, Teslon smirked inwardly.

‘Who would’ve thought a technique I learned just for fun would come in handy like this.’

The technique he was using was a martial art from the northwest of the continent, called Karjian Jiu-Jitsu.

Unlike Pankration or wrestling, Karjian Jiu-Jitsu focused solely on joint locks. It wasn’t well-known among the current warriors of the continent. The technique’s effectiveness was limited against armed opponents, and its reliance on rolling around on the ground made it appear unsightly, causing it to be shunned by many.

However, in one-on-one combat, it was quite powerful and had a considerable following in the northwestern region of the continent.

Teslon had learned this Karjian Jiu-Jitsu in his previous life, not for any particular reason but simply as part of his pursuit of various martial arts as he aged. In his previous life, Teslon was a martial artist among martial artists, having spent fifty years mastering almost every martial art and weapon technique on the continent.

“Grease!”

Once again, Repenhardt tried to free his arm using the friction-reducing spell, Grease. Teslon grinned widely.

“Barrier of magic, leave my hands! Magic Breaker!”

Teslon blocked Repenhardt’s Grease spell in mid-activation. Teslon applied more pressure and said,

“Now I can use magic too!”

“Ugh!”

Repenhardt gritted his teeth as his trusted magic was blocked. He never imagined he would be overpowered by Teslon in magic! His dignity as a Demon King was at stake. He wanted to unleash the profound wisdom of great magic immediately.

‘But I can’t form the hand signs! Damn it!’

With one arm completely trapped, the magic Repenhardt could use was extremely limited. The only spells he could cast with one hand were low-level ones like Grease. For 3rd-circle and higher magic, he needed both hands.

Of course, Teslon couldn’t form hand signs either, but now he had Repenhardt’s formidable mind. This allowed him to cast the same spells without hand signs. In terms of computational ability, Teslon still had the upper hand.

Lying on the ground, Repenhardt cursed,

“Damn it! Have you forgotten Master’s teachings? Rolling on the ground to survive is disgraceful!”

Teslon, however, seemed completely unfazed.

“In this era, I’m not even a disciple of Gym Unbreakable! For the peace of the continent, what’s a little humiliation?”

“Holding someone’s arm between your thighs and talking about the continent’s peace isn’t convincing!”

Indeed, an arm bar is a technique where the opponent’s arm is used as a lever against the inner thigh. Teslon retorted, stammering slightly,

“T-that’s only because you don’t understand martial arts! This is actually a highly sophisticated technique!”

“It still looks like a dog in heat rubbing its back! Look at Philena’s face!”

At that moment, Philena was watching them.

‘Oh my? What, what are those two doing?’

Teslon’s face flushed slightly. Philena was already blushing, her hands covering her cheeks as she repeatedly exclaimed, “Oh my goodness.” While ground wrestling was undoubtedly an effective technique, it did look rather lewd to the uninitiated.

“This is driving me crazy…”

Despite clicking his tongue, Teslon continued to bend Repenhardt’s arm. Unlike normal wrestlers who apply pressure slowly, Teslon was snapping the joint immediately, applying full force the moment he caught it.

This wasn’t a sparring match but real combat. Against a normal opponent, the joint would have snapped instantly, bones tearing through flesh, resulting in an open fracture.

The problem, however, was that this ‘body’ of his was extraordinarily resilient.

‘Even degraded, my body is disgustingly tough.’

Despite executing the technique correctly, the tendons were so tough and sturdy that even with the snap, they only stretched and swelled instead of tearing.

As they entered a stalemate, both men began grumbling while straining against each other.

“Damn it, why won’t my body move?”

“Damn it, why is this body so tough?”

* * *

‘Ugh, why is Teslon doing that?’

Philena blushed as she watched. While the two men were engaged in fierce combat, to her, someone who knew nothing about martial arts, their actions were bewildering and increasingly embarrassing to witness. The longer it went on, the more bizarre it seemed.

“Aero Bullet! Flame Bolt! Thunder Spear!”

Repenhardt, with his arm pinned, hastily cast Aero Bullet and other attack spells that didn’t require hand signs. However, such spells couldn’t harm Teslon, who was defending his entire body with aura. Every attack spell exploded brilliantly in midair.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Even Christine and Siris, who had been fighting intensely, began to glance over. It was odd enough to see two men grappling and rolling around, but now with colorful explosions as a backdrop, it was downright surreal. Unlike Philena, both women were warriors and understood that the men were fighting earnestly, yet still…

“It’s, it’s a bit…”

“Yes, it is…”

Fortunately, Christine seemed to share a typical feminine sensitivity in this regard.

Regardless of how the spectators felt, Repenhardt, on the receiving end, was going insane.

“Argh!”

Embarrassment or suggestiveness were the last things on his mind. All he could think about was escaping this hold before he died.

“Damn it!”

With magic ineffective, Repenhardt stretched out his free left arm to attempt a ki blast. But…

“I told you, it’s useless!”

Just like with Spiral Guard, Teslon blocked the ki blast by obstructing Repenhardt’s blood flow before it could manifest. While he had no problem using aura to reinforce his body, projecting it externally was impossible.

It was a dire situation. Since their auras were so intertwined, Teslon could interfere with Repenhardt’s aura at will. Conversely, Repenhardt could theoretically do the same to Teslon, but…

‘I never learned how to do that!’

Unfortunately, Repenhardt’s aura training was based on rote memorization, making such advanced techniques impossible for him. Still, his attempt at a ki blast allowed his left arm to reach Teslon’s ankle. Just as Repenhardt was about to apply force to break the ankle with his grip…

“No, you don’t!”

Teslon shifted his position again, moving on top of Repenhardt’s upper body. He trapped Repenhardt’s left arm between his legs while continuing to apply the arm bar to the right arm. Now both of Repenhardt’s arms were completely immobilized. Sweat beaded on Repenhardt’s forehead as he struggled beneath Teslon.

‘Damn it! I have to get out of this position somehow…’

But with both arms pinned and his upper body completely restrained, he had no idea what to do. Then, suddenly, his eyes lit up.

“Uaaaaah!”

Repenhardt shouted while lying on the ground. Using the muscles in his back and hips, he forcefully arched his body and began to rise!