Chapter 48 : Aspirations

In a room, a group of cloaked individuals all talked with each-other.

??? : "Did he take the bait?", one of them asked the surrounding members.

?? : "No. Someone else came and disrupted our plans", the mysterious man stated.

? : "Is that so~", another stated, before his eyes shone dangerously.

?? : "His name is Jin Katsuo, he's strong but isn't a Charyeok user to our knowledge, and he's a participant for the tournament.", one of them proclaimed, providing info about Katsuo.

"Interesting~", one them stated, before he stood up.

CRACK!

The Man began cracking his neck and knuckles, seemingly preparing for a fight.

Fei-Long : "He's mine~", he proclaimed to the others, before his grey hair waved in the air...

<Charyeok : Doppel-Ganger = Perfect Copy X 100>

BOOOF!!!

Suddenly, a group of clones appeared behind him. "The Hunt Begins~. Spread out.", Fei-Long told his clones, before they all vanished..

VOOOSH!!!

<>

In a different place,

Mubong was in-front of all the Judges, telling them important news.

Mubong : " We have a good amount of intel on them. From today on, limiter deactivation is allowed, if you see anyone suspicious, you can use enough force necessary. Begin hunting them immediately.", he stated, before they all disappeared.

Mubong : 'The Holy War Begins now~', he thought with a smile....

<>

It was morning, Katsuo and Mori were walking towards the venue for the tournament because they both had matches today. Katsuo's fight would be fairly easy, whilst Mori had to fight NOX Members in disguise.

Knowing he could protect himself, Katsuo still warned Mori to be careful :

"Hey Mori, be careful and don't underestimate your opponent". Before they parted ways, heading on their own paths.

<>

Whilst Mori was heading towards the arena for his fight, Katsuo was walking around the area for a bit because he was bored.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

With a hood over his head, and his hands in his pockets, he was walking around leisurely, thinking about something.....

'Soon~', he thought, before walking into an alley-way.

Half way through the alley-way, he stopped all of his movement.

TAP!

At the same time, the footsteps of someone behind him stopped as-well.

Turning around he saw a man with grey hair , black eyes. He had both ears pierced, and wore a black suit.

"You must be Jin Katsuo~", Fei-Long stated with a smile, before he adjusted his hair.

GLEAM!

In response, Katsuo just stared at him, showing an unbothered expression. Katsuo had bigger things on his mind and..... unexpectedly kept on walking.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

"Hey~, where do you think you're going~", Fei-Long proclaimed, as 20 clones all appeared in-front of Katsuo.

Shockingly...Katsuo still kept on walking, even passing by Fei-Long's clones, without worrying about anything.

"He-", Fei-Long stated, wondering why Katsuo was so calm.....but when he looked in-front of him....

SWISH!!! SWISH!!!! SWISH!!! SWISH!!!! SWISH!!!!

With lightning speed, Katsuo simply moved his right index finger, in a surgical and precise way functioning like a needle, before he punctured all of the clone's hearts....

<Nabong Needle Ryu : Instant Death X 20>

All of the clones dropped dead to the floor in less than a second....

<>

Fei-Long who was watching, didn't know what to say, he was rooted to the ground, but he quickly reacted when he saw Katsuo was still walking away nonchalantly.

"HEY WHER-!!", He shouted, but when his eyes dimmed and he fell to the floor, he couldn't say anything more.

"Rest in Peace~", Katsuo stated with a small grin on his face, looking at the pale and stunned expression of Fei-Long's dead body, before he walked away with his hands in his pockets.

Whilst he was walking away, a man with aquamarine hair, crimson eyes wearing a blue blazer and red trousers, was smiling sinisterly as he watched the 'massacre' from afar.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

Not wasting any time, he rushed over to Fei-Long's dead body.....before he used his Charyeok.....Greed, to absorb his Charyeok before it was gone.

"hehehe~", he chuckled, before strolling away with a menacing expression.

<Meanwhile>

After deciding to fight first, Mira tried her best against the NOX Member , 'Marin Lee'.

SWISH!! SWISH!!! WHISH!!! CRASH!!!

But sadly....'Marin Lee' suddenly brought out her old sword, which was revealed to actually be a national treasure against her.

'Marin Lee' : "Why couldn't you notice the power behind this sword....it's quite amazing..", he stated, wielding it around, annoying Mira.

BANG!!! BANG!!!

Mira didn't want to hear his comments any longer....as she jumped in the air....before bashing her leg into his stomach, catapulting him backwards....

VOOOSHHH!!!!

Immediately after that strike....she dashed towards him, seemingly not finished with her assault....

When she appeared on his right, she rapidly raised her palm, before swinging it downwards, towards his torso....

SWISHHHH!!!!!

<Swordless Style Style : Bare hand Slice>

As if her palm was a sword itself, she actually cut 'Marin Lee', resulting in a big cut to form on his chest....

But for some reason....the wound was quickly healing.

<Charyeok : Kraken>

"Nice try~", he proclaimed.....before he swung Mira's old sword at her.

CRASH!!!!!!!

The air pressure collided and directed towards Mira....causing half of the ring to explode.....

BOOOOOM!!!

<>

Taking the full force of the strike, Mira was injured, but still kept her guard up...but before she could do anything, 'Marin Lee' appeared on her left.....

Raising his fist in the air, before he swung it in a wide arc, bashing into Mira's stomach....

PTUI!!!! CRACK!!!! VOOOOSHH!!!

The punch catapulted her backwards, causing her to cough out blood and hit her head on the ground a couple of times....

WOBBLE! WOBBLE!

Mira's movements didn't look steady, as she swayed from side to side, seemingly tired.....

But suddenly....two yellow tails appeared on her head.....on her face was a smile, as she looked at 'Marin Lee' with a glare....

"I didn't want to use this.....But I guess I have to~", she proclaimed....

<Charyeok : Lu Bu Fengxian>

ZOOOOM!!!!

Her strength and speed shot up tremendously....as she appeared right in-front of 'Marin Lee', before she bashed her knee into his face....

CRACK!!!!

<>

After watching Katsuo, Mori's and Daewi's fights, she wanted to become stronger, not just relying on a sword....

As she dashed at the stunned 'Marin Lee' with a glare...

GLEAM!

<KATSUO POV>

It was almost time for Katsuo's fight. On-top of a building he was gazing at the stars with anger.

Whenever he thought about that day, he'd always get frustrated at his weakness. He wanted to go back there right now, but knew he wasn't ready, just yet....

After he was done thinking about that....he began to think of the future further than that....

'I've never really thought that far ahead~', he thought....

CHUCKLE! CHUCKLE!

Looking underneath him, he gazed at the family of father and son....

'Mayb~', before he could finish thinking.....

Judge ? : " JIN KATSUO YOU HAVE A MATCH!", A man dressed in a black suit continuously shouted near the entrance of the arena, in efforts to find Katsuo.

Staring at the departing family one last time....Katsuo walked towards the arena with a sigh.

SIGH!!

'Who am I kidding~', he thought, not possibly thinking he could succeed at such a job.

"I'm here.", Katsuo retorted to the Judge, before walking past him and entering the arena...

<5 Minutes Prior>

SWISH!!! BANG!!!

Using everything she had....Mira was slowly growing in her fight, she pondered about all the times she was weak and couldn't bear the thought.

SWING!!! BANG!!

Slashing her palms down, before she struck 'Marin Lee' in the face with a kick....

Mira looked at 'Marin Lee' one last time, before she smirked.....BOOOOOMMM!!!! Spinning her waist, she whipped her leg around and smacked 'Marin Lee' in the face, bashing him into the outer wall....therefore ending the fight...

After a few seconds of silence...

Judge T : "AND THE WINNER IS YU MIRA!!!", Judge T shouted, announcing their win to the audience...

WOOOO!!! WOOOOO!!!

The audience shouted, before Mira walked back slowly with a satisfied smile...

'I won't be left behind', she thought, looking at Mori and Daewi, before she showed a dedicated face.

<>

BANG!!! BOOOOOM!!!! BANG!!!!

After that, Mori quickly finished the other two with ease. He didn't want to extend the fights and dispatched the two quickly....

Judge T : "AND THE WINNER IS THE CAPITAL TEAM!!!", He voiced to the audience and current participants.

CREAK!

Opening the door, Katsuo and 2 clones, followed by a Judge entered the hall.

WOOO!!! WOOO!!!

The crowd was still celebrating the Capital Team's win, and didn't notice Katsuo.

Scanning the room, and looking at an uninjured Mira, Katsuo showed a small smile, 'So she won huh~', he thought, before he looked at Mori.

The two had eye contact before they both smiled. They both nodded to each-other, before Katsuo turned and walked to the ring.

Entering the ring, he waited for his opponent to arrive...

<In a different place>

Judge ? : "Sir, his opponent has gone missing, what shall we do?", a Judge proclaimed, looking at Mubong Park.

Mubong : "Hmm~", he said, before thinking, 'Those two didn't fight yet.....'....

Mubong : "Bring Taek Jegal to fight him.", he stated with a smile.....

After telling the Judge what to do, Mubong was sitting on his chair when.....

"INTRUDERS!!", He heard a Judge shout, immediately getting up he went to the noise.

<KATSUO POV>

Currently standing in the ring, Katsuo was waiting for his opponent after 10 whole minutes....

Judge T : "Since they haven't arrived, the winner is....", he stated, before halting.....

MUFFLE! MUFFLE!

Through his earpiece, someone was talking through it, as they stated Katsuo had a new opponent....

Judge T : "It appears that the Gungnam team has a new opponent!", He stated before a man with long aquamarine hair and sharp red eyes wearing a blue blazer and red pants followed by a woman wearing a yellow jumpsuit followed by another man, appeared into the arena..

Looking at Taek Jegal, Katsuo was still relaxed, his hands were in his pockets and he still had his hoodie over his head.

Both of their eyes made contact, signifying the start of the fight....