Cultivator in a World of Angels, Demons, and Super Heroes

"Hey. Nice fight by the way." Blade Tornado says as he puts his feet on the chair that Fire Colossus' agent was sitting on.

"You did just as well in yours." Fire Colossus chuckles.

The two have started out in the arena at the same time around 9 months ago as bottom fighters. Having shared many waiting rooms together, the two became good acquaintances, even outside the arena.

The two took different paths. Fire Colossus, after four months and no matches lost, managed secure a Seat among Champions' Row. He only lost two times after two attempts in taking over higher-ranking Champions.

Blade Tornado on the other hand, took nine months to rise to the top of the Named Warriors due to his injuries from his 7 losses. He was only blocked from challenging a Seated Champion due to his defeat from Red.

"Anyways. Old Phantom huh…" Blade Tornado chuckles.

"Yeah…" Fire Colossus can only shake his head.

"Do you think he went easy on me?" Blade Tornado asks.

"What brought this on?" Fire Colossus raises his brows in surprise.

"Come on. Drop your polite shit." Blade Tornado scoffs.

"Alright. Fine. You were very… severely outmatched. He could have knocked you out before you even had the chance to pull out your blades." Fire Colossus says.

"Damn…" Blade Tornado is taken aback by the honesty.

"What? Think about it. He-"

"Hey. I know it more than you do." Blade Tornado cuts off Fire Colossus' explanation.

"Heh." Fire Colossus simply smirks.

"How about you? You didn't even have the chance to use your powers fully." Blade Tornado is not willing to lose the banter.

"Heh… True." Fire Colossus simply admits it.

"…" Blade Tornado is taken aback and disappointed that he failed to get a rise out of Fire Colossus.

"Man, you don't even feel bad? Disappointed?" He asks.

"Well. You're right. I'm a bit disappointed. I wish I could have fought longer. But in the end, it's a fair loss." Fire Colossus shrugs.

"Fair loss? Even though I watched through the TV over there, I saw everything. It was a lucky fuckin hit, man." Blade Tornado says.

"You really think so?" Fire Colossus scoffs.

"Well, Old Phantom admitted it himself in his interview after the fight." Blade Tornado shrugs.

"…" Fire Colossus rolls his eyes.

He then unlocks his agent's phone again, where his match's footage is, and passes it to Blade Tornado.

"Watch the replay in slow mo." He says. Blade Tornado simply plays the video, skeptical that he will see something new.

A few moments later, "Well… That was you getting knocked out in slow mo. What's your point?" Blade Tornado shrugs after watching the replay.

"Hey. If it was me, or if it were you, we wouldn't be sure if when we'll knock a healthy opponent, right?" Fire Colossus says.

"Uhuh? That's obvious." Blade Tornado is confused at the switch of topic.

"Say, if we land a knock-out punch while throwing a combo, we'll sure to still be throwing punches before we realize that we landed a knock-out punch, right?" Fire Colossus asks.

"Uhuh? … It'll take a split second to process. Only until I see the opponent go limp and fall down, do I pull back." Blade Tornado nods in confusion, not sure of what Fire Colossus' point is.

"With that in mind, watch the slow mo replay again." Fire Colossus requests.

"Okay?..." Blade Tornado decides to entertain Fire Colossus.

A minute later.

"Whoah…" Blade Tornado is surprised after replaying the footage for a few more times.

"Right?" Fire Colossus nods.

"Yeah." Blade Tornado nods as he replays the video again.

"Two thrusts of his cane and he stopped, without hesitation. It's like he knew exactly he only needed those two strikes to drop you... He even looked like he didn't need to dodge anything you could have thrown back." He observes.

"Yeah. Do you think it's still luck?" Fire Colossus asks.

"Tsss. Not anymore, I don't." Blade Tornado says. "But…damn. Why'd he say he got lucky though?" he is confused however.

"I don't know either." Fire Colossus shrugs.

"Well. He's still lucky. He must have felt lucky that you didn't go all out from the start." Blade Tornado says.

"Huh... must be... Even if that's the case, then it doesn't take anything away from his win. He still adapted very well in any situation. He adapted to your distraction tactic and your blades. He adapted to my attacks. In the end, he found our weaknesses very, very quickly and used it to beat us." Fire Colossus says.

"True… Hey… maybe this is his weakness." Blade Tornado suddenly gets an idea.

"Oh?" Fire Colossus is curious.

"Look. What if his attack wasn't enough to knock you out that quickly? What if you had enough consciousness left to land one more attack? Wouldn't it have been a mutual knockout?" Blade Tornado says.

"Quite possible. But come on. That's…" Fire Colossus finds Blade Tornado's idea ridiculous.

"Come to think of it. Even if he didn't lose a single fight, he had three draws. All mutual knockouts. What if those were the times when his counter-attack strikes didn't work as well as he thought?" Blade Tornado.

"Huh… Well.. That changes things." Fire Colossus is pleased with the information.

"By the way. If you had gone all out on the outset, what do you think would have happened?" Blade Tornado ask.

"I'll find out when I challenge him for my seat back."

…..

"Hey boss."

"Yeah?"

Fumio and Red are now outside the building where the underground arena is located. They are leisurely taking a stroll together at a sidewalk, without a certain destination in mind.

"Can I get a bonus? I mean come on…" Fumio looks around to check for eavesdroppers before, "You have a billion yen in there.", whispering to Red while pointing at the very huge metallic carry-on luggage being dragged along by Red.

"Oh… What billion?" Red says as he stops on his steps and opens the carry-on luggage.

"What are you doin-" Fumio is about to stop Red but, "… oh… Where'd the money go?", his eyes go wide in shock looking at the empty carry-on.

"It's somewhere safe." Red says as he closes the carry-on before leaving it on a random bench they passed by.

"Wh…" Fumio is speechless at Red's actions, also finding it a waste to throw the expensive looking carry-on away.

"By the way boss." He can only talk about something else as they continue to walk. "Boss, do you have a fixer? A courier? Someone to carry your money?" He asks.

"Why would I do something that stupid?" Red shrugs.

"Then where…" Fumio is frustrated and worried for Red's money.

Red simply smirks. The storage seals he carved on his arm have gotten a bit heavier.

Suddenly, "Here." Red as if pulling from the empty air, a centimeter-thick stack of 10,000-yen bills appears on his hand before handing it to Fumio.

"Hm?" Fumio, seeing the familiar looking thing, panics.

"BOSS! What are you doing?"

Fumio whisperingly yelps as he hurriedly pushes the stack back to Red. He cannot however move Red's hand because of the strength disparity between them, so he covers the bills instead.

"No need to act that way, it's not like people can really see what we really are." Red says.

"Oh…" Fumio is reminded of their ever-changing disguises.

"Still. Boss. I didn't expect you'll give me one now, and out in the open like this." Fumio refuses.

"Besides… That's a million yen. It's too much." He adds.

"Hah. Take it. It's hard to launder money these days." Red says, making Fumio pause.

"T-that's right… This is…" Fumio recoils from the bills in realization.

"I thought you wanted a bonus?" Red says with brows raised, still holding the bills out to Fumio.

"W-well… Not a bonus from that, I don't." Fumio turns up his nose before looking away from the money.

"Oho~ Does it feel that dirty?" Red asks, but inside, he is taken aback by Fumio's morality for a mortal.

"Hehe~" Fumio can only hide his honesty by scratching his head.

"Well then." Red shrugs, and stores his money back in his storage seal.

"I hope you don't change your mind."

"…" Fumio is still tempted, but suddenly, the image of the blood he had witnessed in the arena, and the vivid stories of death battles he overheard from the arena regulars, crosses his mind once again.

He then shakes his head, shaking off the memories about the arena, along with his temptation of Red's huge bonus.

"By the way boss… This definitely isn't the first time you're bringing home loads of cash, right?" Fumio asks.

"Uhuh." Red nods.

"So that means… That's why your prices in Muscle Masters are that high? You need to wash the wealth you've accumulated from fighting?" Fumio asks.

Red raises his brows at Fumio's words before, "HAHA! I like the way you think!" suddenly giving Fumio's a slap on the back out of levity.

"OW! Careful boss!" Fumio stumbles forwards from Red's strength.

"Oh.. Sorry, sorry. Well… Should I make use of my shop for that then? That was a nice idea, kid." Red says.

"Don't! Boss! I can't let Arina-chan step in your shop if you defile it with your bloody money!" Fumio says in defiance.

"Hohoho~ If I do, what are you gonna do about it?" Red says, wearing a sinister grin.

Fumio gets intimidated but, "Then I'll stop Arina-chan from entering even if it costs me an arm or a leg!", his defiance persists.

"Just your Arina-chan? What about the other members of her group?" Red asks.

"I'll block their too." Fumio continues to challenge.

"Oho… That is… IF you can even get there tomorrow." Red says as he suddenly gets in Fumio's space.

"W-what do you- what are you gonna do?" Fumio retreats from Red in fear, but, "HEY! Watch it!" he accidentally bumps on a male pedestrian, trips on some flower bed, and falls down on his bottom.

"S-sorry! Sorry!" Fumio apologizes immediately.

"Where'd you come from? Suddenly appearing out of nowhere…" The pedestrian grumbles before continuing on his way.

"Hey. Get up. You're embarrassing yourself." Red says offering Fumio a hand.

Fumio hesitates but seeing the scary grin on Red's face is replaced with a teasing smile, he takes Red's hands and pulls himself up.

"Shit. You scared me there, boss… But still. Are you really planning on using Muscle Masters to launder?" He asks, not giving up on the matter.

"…If you're not already doing it…" He utters in addition.

"Of course not. But that does not mean I won't use my extra cash to grow the shop." Red says.

"Oh… Okay…" This satisfies Fumio.

"Boss. Uhhh. Where on earth are we, by the way?" He asks, looking around what looks like a peaceful and quiet residential neighborhood, a place that does not seem to be sullied by the criminal world.

"Somewhere in Shibuya. Why?" Red asks.

"Whoah… Of course we've traveled that far." Fumio scoffs, no longer surprised after he considers Red's speed.

The next moment, "But… It's already past midnight, so no buses and trains…", he gets anxious however. "W-we wont be returning to Nerima by jumping on building rooftops again, right?" He asks Red.

"How else would be go back at this hour?" Red asks rhetorically.

"*gulp*" Fumio can only prepare his guts.