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Nicolas started frowning his eyebrows the moment he saw the multi-colored Internal Qi surrounding Arthur. He could even feel some threat coming from the latter's body. But even if that was the case, he still didn't feel like losing against anyone with this new power of his.

On the other hand, Arthur didn't immediately make his move after all of his preparations. He just stood on his spot with his battle stance while waiting for his opponent to make his opening move. And when he saw that Nicolas was still walking towards him in a slow manner, he suddenly opened his right hand and provoked his opponent to come at him.

Nicolas immediately became agitated the moment he saw the cheeky attitude Arthur had. Enraged, he quickly kicked the ground beneath his feet and sent himself launching towards Arthur.

Just like earlier, he immediately appeared right in front of Arthur in just an instant. And similarly, he immediately thrusted his right-hand fist towards his opponent.

But at the same time, this punch was somewhat different from earlier. His fist was currently enfolded with a spherical dark energy with a revolving Internal Qi around it.

'Northwood Family Arts: (Mutated) Fist of the Shadows'

Meanwhile, Arthur was also making his move the moment he saw his opponent appeared right in front of him. He immediately clenched his right hand into a fist before gathering a bunch of Internal Qi in it. And when the accumulation of his seven-colored Qi reached its peak, he immediately threw a forward punch with the said fist.

'Advance Military Arts: (Mutated) Meteor Shotgun'

Boom!

A loud explosion was created the moment opposing fists collided against each other. At the same time, a very strong shockwave was sent in every direction and made the leaves around them dance in the air.

Arthur felt that his strength was being sucked by the blockhole on Nicolas' fist. And due to that, he couldn't throw any follow up attack like what he was usually doing.

'What kind of powers is this? Why is it somewhat different from the 'Evil Qi' that I read from the Military records at home? It can even devour the powers of my 'Eternal Flame Internal Qi'!' Arthur was quite surprised that even his high-ranking Internal Qi was seemingly ineffective against his opponent's strange Qi.

Given that, he immediately put more strength on his legs to kick the ground and distance himself away from Nicolas as fast as possible. After all, he didn't want to let his strength get devoured by his opponent.

On the other hand, Nicolas also couldn't make any follow up move after the collision of their fist. It was because he felt an internal explosion inside his right arm. It was as if the tendons on his arm were seemingly ripped apart after the collision of their fist.

Fortunately, the 'Evil Qi' enfolding his body covered his right arm and started to heal his ripped tendons. And when he saw that his right arm came back to normal, Nicolas couldn't help but smiled widely while clenching and unclenching his hand. "What an amazing power."

After that, he raised his head at Arthur before saying mockingly. "What's wrong, Arthur? What happened to your cheeky attitude earlier? Don't tell me that you are getting scared right now?"

Arthur squinted his eyes as he stared at Nicolas solemnly. 'Tsk! What a drag. I really hate doing some troublesome stuff like this. It is fine if I have some audience to admire my awesomeness.'

He then took a helpless sigh before muttering. "But I guess it can't be helped."

After that, he took a quick look at his surroundings before saying. "And since the common Martial-Arts is ineffective against him, then let's try doing something different this time."

Having that in mind, Arthur started taking his battle stance once again. And when Nicolas saw that, he formed another grin with his lips before launching himself at Arthur for another time.

But this time, Arthur didn't wait for his opponent to reach him just like earlier. Instead, he quickly kicked the boulder beside him and sent a bunch of rocks at his incoming opponent.

Those flying rocks were no big deal for Nicolas, he could actually force himself to charge through it. But Arthur's aim was not to attack him using those rocks, but to attract his attention for a moment.

Arthur watched Nicolas' eyes very closely. And when he saw the latter move his eyes to take a quick look at rock pebbles that he had sent, he immediately clasped his hand together while inhaling very deeply. His lungs seemed to expand twofold as he breathed a lot of air in it.

When Nicolas was moving his sight back to him, Arthur immediately released all of the air that he stored and blew it towards his opponent. And as he breathed out the air, a crimson-red ball of fire was released from his mouth and flew straight to his opponent.

'Springfield Secret Arts: Breath of the Fire Dragon'

Swoosh!

The pupils of Nicolas' eyes suddenly contracted the moment he saw the incoming ball of fire. And he was currently in midair, he would be unable to dodge in time.

Given that, he immediately lowered his head and crossed his arms in front of it. At the same time, he gathered a few more 'Evil Qi' on both of his arms to strengthen its defense. And naturally, he didn't forget to cover the other parts of his body with the remaining Qi to protect them from harm.

Boom!

Nicolas was devoured by the ball of fire as he tried to charge through it. Fortunately, he didn't get burned since he was being protected by his 'Evil Qi'

But at the same time, it was quite noticeable that the Qi surrounding his body suddenly became thinner due to the explosion. And due to that, he immediately circulated the Internal Qi inside his body to set up another layer of defense.

But before he could even have executed what he was thinking, he suddenly saw a fist with a golden glow right below his face. And before he could even react, the glowing fist immediately smacked his face and made him fly up in the air.

'Advance Dragon Arts: Fist of the Golden Dragon'

Bang!

After sending his opponent in the air, Arthur immediately lowered his center of gravy by squatting his hips a little. Then he quickly put his right-hand fist beside his waist while putting his other hand on top of it.

At the same time, he guided the Qi inside his body before focusing them on his fist. And when his fist shone with an intense golden light, he immediately jumped in the air and flew towards his opponent with a tyrannical force while also throwing a punch at the same time.

As he was flying towards his opponent, the seven-colored Internal Qi surrounding his body left a trail of multicolored light on his path. And it created an illusion of a majestic dragon that was flying towards the sky.

'True Nine Dragon Arts: Golden Dragon Sours the Sky'

ROAR!

Boom!

Ta-ta!

A huge explosion was created when Arthur's fist collided against his opponent. And right after that, Arthur skillfully landed back on the ground.

Blag!

Then the scorching body of Nicolas fell on the spot not far from him. Arthur wanted to walk towards his opponent to see if he was still alive. But the moment he tried to take a single step forward, suddenly felt a throbbing sensation that ran through his entire body. A moment later, a very intense pain suddenly assaulted him.

"Ugh!"

Due to that, he suddenly kneeled on the ground before coughing out some blood. At the same time, the seven-colored Qi enfolding his body suddenly disappeared.

"D*mn! How come that I am already at my limit? The battle didn't last that long!" muttered Arthur with full of confusion.

While Arthur was still lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard a familiar voice. "Should I tell why?"

Hearing the sudden voice, Arthur's eyes suddenly turned wide as he immediately turned his head in the direction when Nicolas fell. Then he saw the latter slowly stand up from the ground. At the same time, he could also see that the previously burned body of Nicolas was regenerating with a rapid pace with the help of the 'Evil Qi' that resurfaced from his body.

"What!?" Arthur couldn't believe what he was seeing.

A moment later, Nicolas' body was restored back to its original appearance. But right after healing himself, he immediately withdrew the 'Evil Qi' covering his body since he was already feeling its side effects after being used for an extended amount of time.

"You want to know why you are being weakened? How about you take a good look at your surroundings once again?" said Nicolas with a mocking tone.

Arthur frowned his eyebrows when he heard that. Then re-casted his 'Foresight' talent to look at his surroundings once again before seeing a bunch of foreign substances mixed in the air.

"Viruses?" blurted out my Arthur as he saw them. Then he suddenly knitted his brows and thought to himself. 'But how come I can't see them earlier? I am pretty sure that they are not present earlier.'

"It is because I only crushed the capsule containing them when I realized that I couldn't dodge that uppercut of yours anymore," said Nicolas as if answering Arthur's thoughts.

That is the time when Arthur realized he stayed on that spot earlier when he was doing his last move. Then he started smiling bitterly before mumbling. "Such a cheater. So, what if you acquire a new power? You still couldn't beat me in a fair and square battle."

After that, Arthur used the last remaining strength inside his body and forced himself to stand up. And with great difficulty, he resumed to take another battle stance.

Nicolas started smirking the moment he saw Arthur's struggles. "Heh! You still want to fight with that kind of body? This time-…"

Nicolas was still in the middle of talking when he suddenly halted his words. It was because he saw the look at Arthur's eyes. There was no sign of playful attitude in them anymore; there was nothing but seriousness in them anymore.

Seeing that, Nicolas started to have a solemn face. For some reason, he loathed that determined look Arthur's eyes. He was about to take another move, when a mysterious voice suddenly interrupted him. "Playtime is over. You should leave right now."

Nicolas immediately halted his actions before replying to the voice. "Give me a little more time. I'll finish this kid this time."

"If you want to die then you are free to stay in this place. I am leaving. But if you don't then meet me at the rendezvous point," said the voice almost immediately.

Nicolas suddenly clicked his tongue when he felt that owner of the voice left. Then he looked at Arthur and said. "We will meet again."

After that, he immediately started running to get away from this place.

Arthur waited a few more seconds to make sure that Nicolas really left this time. After that, he used his remaining strength to swing his right arm and sent a circular flame that extended in all directions. That flame burned all of the remaining viruses missed in the air.

When he made sure that everything was fine, Arthur finally let his guard down before collapsing on the ground. And that was when a group of people in military suits arrived in the scene.

The leading figure of the group immediately recognized Arthur quickly rushed towards him. "Young Master Arthur!"

After arriving, the guy immediately kneeled on the ground beside Arthur before examining his pulse. On the other hand, the other guys immediately scattered around and started monitoring the surroundings.

After a moment, everyone immediately reported. – "All cleared!" –

The leader who was examining Arthur didn't care about their reports anymore as he discovered that Arthur's pulse was starting to slow down.

And without further ado, he immediately picked Arthur up from the ground before dashing towards the Springfield Household for as fast as he could.

While he was running, he didn't forget to shout some orders to his subordinates. "Expand the area of search! Maybe the culprits are still not far."

"Roger!" The other guys immediately comply and start dashing in different directions.

A moment later, a figure suddenly walked from the shadows when no one was around anymore. He slowly walked towards the spot where Arthur collapsed before kneeling on the ground.

He then took a special capsule from his pocket before pointing it on the bloodstains on the ground. A moment later, the blood suddenly floated and flew towards the container. And when everything was done, the man looked at the blood inside the container before saying. "Target Acquired."

After that, he walked back on the tree shades before disappearing in the shadows of the night.

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