Martial Online.

Chapter 443 The Zahhak Fight

?Moriarty, Ambrose, Cleo, and Leo took seats in the arcade room.

"You're having a lot of friends, Ambrose~" Cleo said playfully.

"Zahhak is just a cockroach that is following after me." Ambrose said.

"I think I did hear that Zahhak is someone with a name similar to yours." Moriarty said. "So, I guess it was you."

"Yeah." Ambrose nodded. "Cerberus won't be a problem, I assure you."

"You might be underestimating him too much." Moriarty wryly smiled. "Even I've heard about his strength. Have you heard what he's up to lately?"

"Not really." Ambrose shook his head, but perked up his ears curiously.

"He now has his own village." Moriarty said. "Zahhak had also increased in size, which has frightened quite many factions.

"Zahhak is basically a small army now, and apparently it wasn't hard for them to recruit as they have quite a few fanboys."

"Is that so…" Ambrose muttered.

"How did you get on Cerberus' bad side?" Cleo asked curiously. "I know that Zahhak has been very unreasonable and chases players down if they only look at them in the wrong way.

"However, I've never heard Cerberus himself put so much effort into hunting someone down." She giggled. "You must be very special!"

Ambrose sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, a friend of mine was the guild leader of Silver Heart, and she invited me to be part of a raid. I had nothing else to do, so I accepted.

"They joined Zahhak in the raid as she was a friend of theirs. So, I met Cerberus and everyone else there.

"Then, the day of the raid came, and it happened inside some underground facility.

"But what I didn't know was that Cerberus had the intention to kill and humiliate me for one trivial reason…"

"What reason?" Cleo's eyes perked up in excitement as she listened to the story.

"I was a dual-wielder, like him." Ambrose said with a wry smile. "I suppose he took an insult to that and wanted to humiliate me for it.

"Before he could deal a finishing blow to me, I escaped and found an underground mansion there, which had all the treasures that we were trying to find."

"A-and then?" Cleo leaned closer in excitement.

Ambrose's smile slightly faded off. "I stole all the treasures and used Teleportation Pearl to get the fuck out of there."

"Oo!" Cleo laughed. "You stole from them all? Wow, they must've all been so angry. You are a bad boy, Ambrose!"

"I wasn't really thinking about the consequences." Ambrose said and chuckled. "Not that I cared either. I hated them all quite a bit at that moment, so I wanted to fuck them over."

"Do you think Cerberus will try to fuck us over?" Moriarty asked with a frown.

"Oh, yeah, definitely." Ambrose nodded. "He would rather see me fail than see himself win. That's just the kind of person he is."

"That is troublesome." Moriarty scratched his cheek furiously.

"Don't worry," Ambrose said. "He'll wait for the opportunity to humiliate me in front of everyone."

"And that is…" Moriarty widened his eyes in surprise. "In the finals?"

"Yeah." Ambrose nodded. "He is powerful enough to reach the finals; I acknowledge that." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Noᴠelꜰɪre.nᴇt

"He must acknowledge your strength too, then." Moriarty frowned. "But if we reach the finals, how can we stop him?"

"Maybe we can't." Ambrose said with his arms crossed. "However, as long as we reach the finals, I think we have already succeeded in my books.

"It's fine if he humiliates me; you'll be fine at least."

Moriarty clenched his hands into fists. 'I want to win, though.'

…

Cerberus walked down the endlessly long hallway with his hands inside his trousers' pockets.

Redheart walked behind him while rubbing her hurt jaw.

'That fucker.' She cursed inwardly, promising herself to get revenge.

After a short walk later, Cerberus stopped in front of one of the doors, and asked. "Is this the one?"

Redheart quickly checked the message and nodded. "This is the one."

Cerberus knocked on the door, and soon it opened.

"Brother." Shockingly, the door was opened by his little sister, Andromeda.

"June." Cerberus nodded. "Is everyone here?"

"Yes." Andromeda nodded and opened the door wide to allow them inside.

After Cerberus stepped inside, he saw that the room was filled with familiar faces.

"You all made it through, good." Cerberus nodded.

Rainman and Glowstar sat in one corner of the room, staring silently at the group. They were the second Zahhak team.

SweetieHell sat on the bed while browsing through her interface. She was part of the third Zahhak team alongside Andromeda.

Mizuchi and Bluecore sat near the window, and they were the fourth Zahhak team.

AnarchyCat and Arsenal were the fifth Zahhak team, and they were standing near the door.

"Redheart, what happened to you?" SweetieHell looked away from the interface and asked with a snarky remark.

"We met Ambrose," Redheart said hatefully.

After that name was mentioned, a chilly chill filled the room.

Andromeda looked up at her brother with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

"Did you kill him?" Arsenal asked with a rough voice.

"No," Cerberus said.

"Why not?" Arsenal asked with a frown.

"Because it's not the time." Cerberus replied, his eyes narrowing. "We've lost a lot of respect because of him, and we need to humiliate him in front of the whole world."

"Everytime you try to play around with him, it won't end well." Arsenal said in anger. "Let's just ambush him and put a knife on his neck."

"Quiet down!" Cerberus shouted. "We're doing this my way, and it will be a lesson he'll never forget."

"Tch." Arsenal shook his head.

"I find your lack of trust disturbing." Cerberus said, and he grabbed Arsenal by the throat.

"Ngh…" Arsenal gasped for air, and looked at Cerberus with fiery gaze.

"Stop it!" Andromeda called, but everyone ignored her pleas and watched in silence.

"Well, you are a military man, aren't you, Arsenal?" Cerberus let go of his throat and took off his jacket. "Let's see how we'll do in a real fight; what do you say?"

"No offense, boss, but you don't have the training or experience to stand a chance against me." Arsenal said. "I acknowledge your gaming skills, which are miles above mine, but this is my area of expertise."

"Then you wouldn't mind showing me?" Cerberus said with a smirk. "If you defeat me, I'll let you become leader of Zahhak, and you can make all the decisions from now on. What do you say?"

Arsenal stayed quiet and narrowed his eyes, expecting there to be some kind of trick.

"I know you've always wanted to be the leader." Cerberus put his arms wide open, a smile forming on his face. "This is your chance."

"Fine." Arsenal removed his coat, revealing his military body filled with scars and muscles.

"Come on!" Andromeda called out and turned to others. "Are you just letting this be?"

"It's up to your brother." Redheart said with a cold look. "I have lost a slight amount of faith in him, but this is a good chance to show that he still has his edge.

"Cerberus, in Ember Online, was a force of nature.

"However, since meeting with Ambrose, he has become more vulnerable and uncertain. I don't like that. In Ember Online, he was a person I would trust with all my heart.

"I want that Cerberus to make a comeback, and this might be the chance for it."

Andromeda sighed and turned to the fight that was about to begin with a heavy heart.

Cerberus and Arsenal faced each other with their hands clenched tight, ready for the battle that would determine the future of Zahhak.