Chapter 650

The dot in the center of the forehead.

Skin mixed with blue and violet, upper body bare, lower garment worn almost as if it had merely been draped on.

It was Shiva.

With his characteristic hearty expression, he greeted him.

- Wow, you really have gotten strong while I wasn’t looking. To the point where someone like me would not even dare look up at you anymore.

He still remembered his meeting with Shiva clearly.

How could he forget?

After extracting the Rune of Succession from India’s martial god, Su-ho had his first and last meeting with Shiva through Infinity’s upgrade program.

‘Originally, it would have ended with only the succession ceremony, but he suddenly acted on impulse, saying he wanted to have a bout with me.’

At that time, Su-ho had not known the secrets of Demi-Constellations or Constellations, and had simply called them Transcendents.

But now, his status had changed.

Shiva, one of Earth’s native gods, was, by rank, a Demi-Constellation.

And Su-ho was already a body on the verge of promotion to Constellation.

It was an enormous gap.

Su-ho also smiled and said,

“Yeah. My weight class has grown enough that I don’t tremble at every word you say anymore.”

- I knew you would become like this someday. You are the regressor chosen by the System, are you not?

“Thanks for the praise. Then you must also know why I called you?”

- Well? If you do not tell me, I would not know, would I?

“Weren’t you watching?”

- I came because I felt the will to see me?

“Mm?”

- It is true. You are my successor, but your status has risen higher than mine, and from a certain point onward, both I and my Vacuum Style were pushed completely to the back, so I was not particularly paying attention either?

“Ah.......”

That was true.

In fact, aside from Sword Demon, the reason he had met Spear Sovereign and Shiva was also to learn spear arts and fist arts in order to supplement his lacking swordsmanship, but at some point, because he had grown strong so rapidly, he had stopped thinking about supplementing his swordsmanship.

‘Is this why Sword Demon told me not to learn heretical tricks and miscellaneous skills?’

My foundation is swordsmanship.

And the reason I tried to learn spear arts and fist arts was to strengthen that foundation and root even further.

Feeling as though Sword Demon’s teaching had struck him in the bone all over again, he smiled awkwardly.

“There is an order to everything, isn’t there?”

- Well, let us say that is so. In truth, I was not disappointed for that reason either.

“Really?”

- Of course. I am a god. I am not a body that would hold something so trivial in my heart and sulk over it.

Wow, he was completely different from certain narrow-minded gods.

As expected of a fiery, manly god of destruction.

Thanks to that, the burden lessened, and Su-ho was able to comfortably explain why he had come here.

- ......So, in order to achieve that realm of Unity of Body and Sword, you came to learn how to use your fists from me?

“That’s right.”

- If that is the case, you have found the right person. I am also the god who uses fists best on Earth, am I not?

“You’ll teach me?”

- What is there that I cannot teach you? You are the representative of our Earth. Ah, is it no longer Earth now, but the Human Realm?

As expected of Shiva.

He was not one of the three great gods of Hinduism in Indian mythology for nothing.

- But I have never thought of my body as spears and blades. Will that be all right? As the god of destruction, I merely think that I can destroy everything I touch.

“That doesn’t matter. In any case, the perspective of someone who uses weapons and someone who fights barehanded is bound to be different.”

- If you say so, then it must be so. In learning, there are times when the teacher chooses the student, but there are also times when the student chooses the teacher. Of course, in the latter case, there is the premise that the student must know himself well.

Shiva, who had been smiling with his arms crossed, uncrossed them.

Then, slightly relaxing his smiling eyes, he said,

- But there is a condition.

“What condition?”

- I have no disappointment toward you, and only feelings of support remain, you see? So, what I mean is, if you want my help, I would like you to first learn the things I was going to teach you.

What the god of destruction Shiva had intended to teach Su-ho.

That was Vacuum Style, called the Destruction Fist Art, and Su-ho had currently learned up to the first form, Point.

“You’re talking about Vacuum Style, right?”

- You remember. Since you had not used the first form, Point, for a while, I thought you had completely forgotten.

“I don’t forget something I have seen once. It was only put off for a while because I had many things to use. But...... if I have to learn Vacuum Style, how far are you saying I have to learn?”

The Destruction Fist Art Su-ho knew consisted of four forms in total.

Because in his previous life, he knew that Samar Rishi, India’s martial god, Shiva’s existing successor, and a supervillain among supervillains, had embodied up to the fourth form.

At that question, Shiva spread his fingers wide.

“Five?”

When Su-ho was surprised, Shiva chuckled.

Then he folded two fingers, making three.

- For you especially, learn only three. Though originally, Vacuum Style Destruction Fist Art consists of five forms.

“Thanks for reducing the number. But five forms? Wasn’t it originally four?”

- It is five. You only saw four, so you thought it was four. In that sense, since you have learned the first form, Point, you only need to learn two more now.

“Oh, you’re counting the first form as learned?”

- What is learned is learned. Then shall we move somewhere first? Or we can do it here.

That would not do.

No matter that it was a place of instruction, and no matter that his rank was lower than Su-ho’s, his objective status was still a Demi-Constellation and a god of destruction.

An ordinary person or Player would vomit blood from every hole in their body and die just from hearing his voice.

“Let’s move.”

After a brief moment of thought, Su-ho opened the door leading to the Demon King Palace.

There was only one person inside the Subspace House, but in any case, there was one person inside.

‘I have not gone into the Dragon Lair yet either.’

He did not want to turn the Demon King Castle into a mess.

In any case, that was the place Grid had been using.

In that sense, the Demon King Palace, which was like a training ground, was perfect for the current situation.

When they moved to the Demon King Palace, familiar scenery entered his eyes.

- It is a splendid place. Though it is not as good as where I stay.

“Everyone thinks the place they stay is the best. In that sense, what do I start with? Was the second form of Vacuum Style Line?”

- You know well. That is right, Line.

Among Shiva’s Destruction Fist Art, Vacuum Style, the forms Su-ho knew were four, composed respectively of Point, Line, Plane, and Solid.

These meant point, line, and plane literally, while Solid was taken from three-dimensional solid. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

‘Mark a point, draw a line, connect it into a plane, and then create a sense of three-dimensionality.’

That was the subtle principle of Vacuum Style.

Then what was the fifth form?

He would have to ask when he had the chance.

- Think of it simply. Point is literally marking a point. From the perspective of martial arts, it means concentrating the point of impact. That is why, for martial artists, it is the most basic thing. Thrusting out the fist, driving in with the foot...... Since you, a swordsman, also thrust, Point should be quite useful to you.

“I was already using it that way. Line is literally drawing a line, right? You use it when cutting or moving.”

- Correct. As long as line and line do not come into contact, Line has far more boundless applications than Point. The same goes for Plane. Plane begins from Point, continues into Line, and changes depending on how you utilize the contact between line and line.

“It can become a shield, it can become an obstacle, and it can become an attacking technique.”

- You know well. And up to this point, these are things any martial artist with a fair amount of talent can learn lightly.

A fair amount of talent.

Shiva smiled and spoke as if it were nothing special, but Su-ho knew.

He knew that the hurdle for what Shiva called a fair amount of talent was extremely high.

Only those called geniuses among geniuses among martial artists would barely be able to meet Shiva’s standard.

And Su-ho was the talent Shiva had coveted.

Even while watching his existing successor, Samar Rishi, die to Su-ho, had he not coveted Su-ho instead of grieving Samar’s death, and even wanted to have a bout with him?

That was why Su-ho did not act humble either.

“I’ll learn it quickly.”

- That is right, you will learn it quickly. Then shall we lightly master up to Plane?

Su-ho lightly took a stance.

Then the first thing he started with was a straight punch thrown from where he stood.

Bang!

A punch extending fast and straight.

The stance was an ordinary straight punch, but the speed and impact strangely resembled a boxing jab.

“This is Point.”

No System notification appeared.

But the effect occurred.

Because the Player had made up his mind that he would use Point.

Next, he took one step to the side and quickly swung his fist.

Whoosh!

A fist thrust out while drawing a curve.

At that beautiful curve, Shiva unknowingly smiled.

And he thought.

As expected, you truly are the genius I coveted.

Of course, the System notification did not ring.

Because he had not yet completely mastered it.

After that, Su-ho repeated the same movements several more times.

He thrust out his fist, swung his arm, thrust out his fist, swung his arm.

That series of movements felt as if they were one.

Bang, bang! Whoong, whoong! Bang, bang! Whoong, whoong!

As time passed, he threw straight punches with both hands alternately, then moved again and swung his arms.

It was a repetition of simple actions, but as those simple actions slowly piled up as if being layered and moved little by little, from a certain moment onward, they began to look like a single dance.

It was beautiful.

At least, in the eyes of those who knew martiality, line, and rhythm, it looked that way.

And Shiva knew all of those things.

Because he, too, enjoyed dancing.

But Su-ho’s movements did not end there.

He added turns to the actions of extending and swinging.

When he added his body weight to the centrifugal force of the swung arm, his body rotated once, and Plane was completed.

Bang! Whoong! Spin— Bang! Whoong! Spin—

The rotations varied.

There were times when he spun once, and there were times when he greatly rotated the extended arm up and down.

Variations had emerged.

And even those actions, once layered to a certain degree, looked like a new dance movement.

- Haha.......

Shiva was entranced.

A person who understood and utilized his Vacuum Style that well.

Was this not the true pleasure of succession?

That was why Shiva could not help but acknowledge him.

It was the moment Shiva clapped in ecstasy.

[ Shiva fully acknowledges you. ]

[ The information of Destruction Fist Art changes. ]

[ You have mastered ‘Vacuum Style 2nd Form - Line(S+).’ ]

[ You have mastered ‘Vacuum Style 3rd Form - Plane(S+).’ ]

Su-ho finally stopped the movements he had been making.

And after seeing the notifications, he slowly formed a smile on his lips.

“That worked, right?”