Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 368: The Tournament Begins

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Just as Mature finished speaking, a violent gust of wind howled ahead of her.

In the next second, a figure appeared out of thin air, carried by the wind—abrupt and eerie.

He was wearing a priest's robe, his short hair neatly combed.

Holding a Bible to his chest with his left hand, the man wore a gentle smile. His right hand hung naturally by his side—clutching a severed head.

He casually tossed aside the blood-dripping, wide-eyed head. Dressed immaculately, without a single drop of blood on him, the elegant and refined Goenitz, the Gale of Breath, gave a slight nod to Mature with a smile.

"Long time no see, Mature."

Hearing his voice, Mature tensed up, instantly standing straight and placing her hand over her chest in salute.

"Lord Goenitz! What brings you here? Did you just arrive?"

"No, to be precise, I've been here all along. Even earlier than you. While you were busy fighting that man, I took care of those stealing our Heavenly God Clan's power."

Goenitz turned to glance at the corpse on the ground, his face still serene, and gently shook his head.

"I don't oppose the strong stealing the power of the Heavenly God Clan. I don't even oppose them joining us. But that only applies to the strong. Trash like this? They're unworthy of Orochi's power. So they must die."

Qin Ming isn't the only one capable of using the Eight Hakkesshu's powers.

And it wasn't just Mature and Vice who noticed someone wielding Heavenly God Clan strength.

With his frighteningly sharp perception, Goenitz had already locked onto everyone in the city who had used Hakkesshu powers. He had been paying each of them a personal visit. Qin Ming was on that list—Vice just happened to reach him first.

He found twelve people. Killed nine. Recruited three. That was Goenitz's harvest today.

Just as he said—he's not against people stealing divine power. On the contrary, he's passionate about spreading it and growing the number of believers.

But you have to be worthy. If you're not, he'll take that power back—with your life included.

Bible in hand, Goenitz glanced with a smile at the still unconscious Vice, then at the visibly nervous Mature.

Then he tilted his head and grinned.

"That man is very strong."

"My lord..."

"You seem to know him."

"I—!"

"No need to be nervous. Knowing him is good. You and Vice should recruit him. The plan to revive our god is about to begin—we need strength. And he is excellent strength."

At this point, Goenitz sighed.

"That fool Rugal... He could've been useful. A real shame he died like that. Brainless idiot, completely wasted my expectations."

Rugal—the final boss of King of Fighters '95, nicknamed the "Freight King," and the man who made the Heavenly Glide famous. Also, the undefeated champion of the KOF figure collection contest.

He was incredibly strong, perhaps even beyond most Hakkesshu members. A martial arts prodigy, it was said that any technique he saw, he could instantly learn.

And then, in the prime of his life, he crossed paths with the newly awakened Goenitz—who, in under three moves, ripped out one of Rugal's eyes as punishment for disrespecting the gods.

It was Rugal's first defeat. He had wanted to turn Goenitz into a bronze statue as a trophy—but instead, he nearly got boxed himself.

To test his theory—and to try and win Rugal over—Goenitz gifted him a drop of pure Orochi blood.

It boosted Rugal's power immensely. Though he didn't dare challenge Goenitz again for fear of losing the other eye, he began madly challenging fighters from every corner of the world, even organizing the first King of Fighters tournament.

But in the end, his arrogance killed him. In last year's tournament, he was brutally crushed by Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi working together.

Unwilling to accept defeat, he tried to forcibly activate Orochi's blood—but it went out of control, and his body exploded like a balloon.

Goenitz didn't really care if Rugal lived or died.

But losing such a powerful asset at such a crucial time annoyed him greatly.

Yes, he had recruited many others over the past few days. All of them had unique skills—not necessarily strong, but certainly troublesome.

But still—it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. He lacked top-tier combat power.

There wasn't enough time to awaken the other Heavenly God Clan members. If he missed this rare window to help break the seal on their god, it would be impossible once the seal was reinforced.

With a rare serious expression, Goenitz looked solemnly at Mature.

"Mature. I'm giving you a mission. Recruit your friend. When our god is resurrected, Orochi will reward him."

Mature's face changed drastically—clearly conflicted.

"But he—"

"This isn't a discussion. It's an order. No matter what methods you use—you must bring him in. I'm giving you three days. Remember—just three days."

While speaking, Goenitz slowly stepped backward.

Clutching his Bible, he bowed slightly. Then, accompanied by a sweeping gust of wind, he vanished instantly—without a trace.

All that remained was a pale-faced Mature, standing frozen in place, biting her lip.

Mature feared Goenitz. More precisely, it wasn't just her—Vice feared him too.

Because the two of them had been beaten senseless by Goenitz more than once, simply for disobeying orders—and those weren't just beatings, but brutal one-sided thrashings where they couldn't even fight back.

If they hadn't been useful, they'd likely have died at his hands long ago.

And they had witnessed firsthand how another member of the Hakkesshu, Gaidel, wielder of the Fang Power, was mercilessly killed for refusing to follow orders—because he had a family and wanted out.

The one who killed him wasn't even Goenitz—it was Gaidel's own daughter.

A little girl, just a few years old.

Gaidel, already beaten to a crippled state with no ability to resist, was personally killed—along with his wife—by his daughter, who had been forcibly awakened with Orochi's blood by Goenitz, driving her into madness.

His daughter survived, however. She lived on as his replacement, inheriting his spot as a new member of the Hakkesshu.

That poor girl was Leona! The fierce female warrior—Leona of Team Ikari!

No matter how graceful or gentle Goenitz may seem at times, the moment the resurrection of the god is involved, the moment someone refuses to obey—he becomes unspeakably cruel and sadistic.

He is even more brutal than Vice, who prides herself on being merciless.

He is colder than Mature, who calls herself heartless—a true butcher.

For the sake of resurrecting their god, he'll stop at nothing.

What's worse, as the master of wind, Goenitz can sense and locate other Hakkesshu members through the fluctuations in their bloodline.

If this incident hadn't happened so suddenly—if the seal hadn't broken for such a brief moment—he might've already gathered the entire Hakkesshu by now!

That's why when Goenitz gives an order, Mature and Vice must obey. If they don't, they'll be punished—no chance to escape.

Because no matter where they run, Goenitz can find them, beat them half to death, and drag them back.

Divine will? No. For Mature and Vice, the true reason they are helping to revive Orochi isn't some divine calling—it's the monstrous tyranny and oppression of Goenitz.

Refuse your mission? Then you die. Goenitz will personally reclaim the god's power that was given to you.

Staring at the spot where Goenitz disappeared, Mature was drenched in cold sweat.

She knew he wasn't bluffing. When he said three days, it really meant only three days.

In three days, either they bring Qin Ming to him, or they face the punishment. There is no third option.

Biting her lip hard, Mature yanked Vice by the collar again and dragged her off into the distance...

The next day, just before dawn—the long-awaited King of Fighters tournament finally began.

The first round was a massive elimination event, with multiple matches on various stages happening at once. The contestants varied wildly in strength—some were powerful, others laughably weak.

In this kind of preliminary free-for-all, as long as you had some martial skills and a bit of luck, you could usually make it through.

And with a powerhouse team like Qin Ming's, they didn't even need their full roster to compete.

Kasumi Todoh alone was more than enough to dominate the field—even though she was still injured.

Her Todoh-ryuu ancient martial arts, with its formidable defense and counter-strike techniques, made her a slayer of the weak.

When an occasional tough opponent did appear, Eri Kasamoto would step in.

Eri didn't have much formal martial arts training, and she couldn't exactly whip out grenades, pistols, or machine guns in the ring.

After all, a few nutty adventurers had already tried bringing grenades onto the stage, chasing their opponents around, which forced the tournament organizers to change the rules on the spot—banning all firearms and explosives.

But just because she couldn't use hot weapons didn't mean Eri couldn't fight.

Her terrifying natural physical stats and B-rank military hand-to-hand combat skills gave her solid close-quarters strength.

Not to mention—she had her signature move: Dinosaur Transformation. Every time she morphed, the crowd would erupt in gasps and cheers.

Thanks to her bizarre and striking look after transforming, she quickly became one of the most popular contestants—basically a breakout star.

Before anyone knew it, the entire first day had passed. The preliminary round officially ended.

Tomorrow, the more intense qualifying matches would begin. Those who made it through would enter the finals—and once in the finals, regardless of whether they advanced or not, they'd earn one million U.S. dollars.

That prize alone explained why so many fighters had swarmed to enter the tournament.

Fame and fortune all in one? Who wouldn't want that?

As night fell, Qin Ming, along with the exhausted Kasumi and Eri, went out to enjoy a well-earned meal.

But as the three were eating out together, they all suddenly looked up at the same time.

From up ahead, the sound of footsteps echoed.

Two striking women approached—one in a sharp women's suit, the other in a sleek evening gown. Both walked with the grace of cats.

They were a stark contrast to Qin Ming's crew. Though Kasumi and Eri were also quite attractive, one was loud and carefree, and the other wore a loose martial arts gi that didn't show off her figure at all.

And of course, the massive Qin Ming sat right beside them—intimidating enough to keep anyone from daring to approach.

But these two new women were different.

They exuded mature beauty, dressed like elite secretaries—dripping with temptation.

Their arrival sent a cheer through the entire street-side restaurant.

But just as the cheers were reaching a peak—they abruptly stopped.

Because the two women walked straight into the room, right up to Qin Ming and his group.

And when everyone caught sight of Qin Ming's biceps—thicker than some people's waists—those same onlookers wisely shut their mouths and looked away.

(End of Chapter)