Mad God - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

Volume 2 Chapter 4 – The Decisive Battle against Liwa

This was the first time I had entered Jisue’s room. It had a light purple theme, giving the room a very elegant look. I sat down in a chair while Jisue sat down next to me. We remained silent for a long period of time.

I finally broke the silence saying: “I apologize for losing my temper yesterday, I know that you were thinking about what was best for me, but I feel that I have not done anything wrong. I was just pursuing victory, how was that wrong?”

Jisue glanced at me, lowered her head and said: “You can do whatever you feel is right”

I looked at her and asked: “Are you still mad at me?”

Jisue shook her head curtly.

I said: “By the way, did you know that your sister also wanted to challenge Liwa?”

Jisue raised her head, looking shocked: “What are you talking about? My sister wanted to challenge Liwa too?”

I was surprised at her reaction and said: “You didn’t know? I thought you told her to do so.”

Jisue’s face turned red with anger, glaring at me angrily: “Why would you doubt me?! How couldn’t I have known that you wanted to challenge Liwa? Everything you have done up to this point, was it not for this challenge? Do you stop trusting people the moment you have an argument?”

I sat there for a moment, lost for words, my mind was completely blank. I only managed to say: “I…”

Jisue interrupted and said: “Say no more, I’ll take you to my sister. Ask her yourself.” Finished speaking, she promptly stood up, dragged me out of my chair and left the room.

I quickly said: “Jisue, don’t be mad, listen to my explanation, I didn’t doubt you, I……”

Jisue wasn’t listening, grabbing my hand and pulling me along a hallway until we reached a nearby room. She turned to face me and said: “Sister’s just inside, go and ask her yourself.” Jisue then knocked on the door. Immediately, we heard Jiyan’s voice.

“Who’s there?”

“Sister, it’s me, I brought Layson with me, he is asking me why you challenged Liwa.”

“Oh, wait for a moment.”

It wasn’t long before the door opened, and Jiyan came out, first glancing at her sister’s pale face and then coldly asked me: “Did you bully my sister? Why is her face so pale?”(气色不好）

Jisue cut me off before I could reply  saying: “Sis, he didn’t bully me; he just wanted to ask why you challenged Liwa”

Jiyan said: “No real reason, Liwa is always bothering me, so I wanted to return the trouble he has caused me.”

Jisue turned to me and said: “You heard that, I didn’t tell her to challenge Liwa,  Are you satisfied?” Tears started rolling down from her large eyes.

I frowned, saying: “Jisue, don’t act like this.”

Jiyan (she couldn’t believe what she saw)stared at me angrily, after seeing me make Jisue cry, she immediately raged at me: “Are you still going to say that you didn’t bully my sister? I’ve heard all about your wickedness from  the stories, but I never guessed that you were cold blooded (cruel and merciless) towards both your opponent and your girlfriend, my sister. I shall never forgive you.” She prepared to strike at me as she spoke.

I hurriedly explained: “That’s not the case, I am not bullying your sister, don’t misunderstand.”

Jisue wiped her tears from her cheeks, and told Jiyan: “Sister, please don’t , the reason I came here with him is to stop you from challenging Liwa.”

Jiyan said: “Why?”

Jisue replied: “That’s because he wants to challenge Liwa, and we can’t have 2 people challenging Liwa at the same time, can we?”

She raised her eyebrow，said:”Know your place, challenging him with your strength would be suicide, you are in way over your head.”

Her words immediately angered me, I said: “Why just can’t I challenge him, it’s not like it matters if I lose, at least I am willing to try. And since you already know Liwa is superior to you in power, what is the meaning of challenging him? At the end of the day, you just give him a chance to show off his power, I am different from you,  it would not be the same If I challenged him, I will prove that he is not the strongest.”

To my surprise, Jiyan had an expression of admiration on her face, and nodded while saying: “Good (well then), you are very courageous, I will let you fight Liwa. I shall see for myself, whether you have what it takes to become the strongest, but if you plan to fight him the same way you fought my father the other day, I’m afraid that you won’t be able to lay a finger on him. Think carefully before making your decision.”

I proudly answered: “I have already thought it through, I don’t need to think any more. It is only natural to challenge the strong, for me, it is something to be enjoyed.

Jiyan looked at Jisue, asked: “Sister, what do you think?”

Jisue looked at Jiyan with tears in her eyes and said: “This is his own decision, he can do whatever he wishes.”

Jiyan comforted her: “Well, part of being a man is that he has to risk his own life for some things. He has courage, you should support him instead of crying, be strong.”

Nobody thought that  Jiyan would speak for me, I found that my opinion of her had changed quite drastically.

Jiyan then promptly said: “You can stop worrying about my sister, just prepare for the fight: don’t break the rules, if I quit, your fight against Liwa will occur in two days. I hope to see a good fight between 2 strong individuals, not a one sided slaughter.

Recalling Liwa’s arrogant look, a strong will to fight gushed into my heart, I replied to Jisue: “Can you see me out?”

Jisue nodded.

I held her small hand until we reached the mansion’s entrance, I gently asked Jisue: “Please don’t blame me, ok? （Dont blame me, please?) I didn’t have the slightest  suspicion of  you, in my heart, you are the most important, at this point, no one can replace you.”

Jisue ran into my arms, and glued her body against mine, and said: “be careful always! I’m sorry, I was too selfish.”

After receiving Jisue’s apology, my heart was immediately set to ease. I hugged her, smelling the fragrance of her hair, and said: “Why did your sister suddenly speak so well of me, that was not the impression she gave me when we first met.

Jisue raised her head, giggled softly, said: “You don’t understand her, my sister likes those who are strong, do you know what she told Liwa when he was chasing after her?”

I let out a glanced at the mansion suspiciously .

Jisue continued: “sister said: Only when Liwa became a dragon knight, would she consider marrying him. My sister’s philosophy is that only the strongest person on this continent can bring her sense of security.

As I thought, she seems crazy(that’s insane/crazy enough), luckily for me, she wasn’t my cup of tea.

I said: “They will be in their seventies and eighties by the time Liwa becomes a dragon knight, will she wait that long for him??”

Jisue lightly pounded me saying: ” That’s not the case, sis says that she will marry the most powerful man in the continent, even if he is not a human. Who knows what could happen if you manage to defeat liwa? she might start to take an interest in you.

For god’s sake, I can’t believe Jiyan worships power even more so than I do, she should have been born as a male. “Don’t be silly, it’s more than enough having you alone.”

Jisue’s face was filled with satisfaction. She smiled happily and said: “Honestly it doesn’t matter, if you earn sister’s heart, I would be happy even if she marries you, I wouldn’t be separated with my sister.”

////  EN: Well now you have it gentlemen; you can now marry beautiful ladies and their sisters!

I gave a bitter smile and said: “Never mind, both you and your sister turn your mood at the slightest whim, just one of you is enough to keep my hands full.”

Jisue questioned: “Why, are you complaining about my temper?”

I quickly replied: “No, how could that be, my Jisue’s the most gentle being there is.” (Is very gentle)

At that time, i heard someone coughing behind us. I let go of Jisue abruptly and turned to looked behind me, damn, the duke has returned. Jisue’s cheeks turned red on-the-spot, she turned and ran back to the mansion.

Duke’s face darkened as he walked to my side, and said “Brat, is this what you called not-overly close to my daughter?” He purposely accented the word “close”.

I was caught red handed, I awkwardly apologize: “I’m sorry, sir duke.”

Duke hmph and said: “Why did you come to find Jisue.”(why the heck did you look for Jisue)

I answered: “it all started when I decided to challenge Liwa, but since Miss Jiyan had the same idea, I came here to request that lady Jiyan forfeit her challenge, and let me face him directly..

My statement piqued the Duke’s interest, he said: “If you are going to challenge Liwa, you must be the first year champion, not bad, you have achieved a great accomplishment. However when it comes to challenging Liwa, I’m afraid you’re still……”

I smiled bitterly and said: “unlikely to win due to our gap in power, is that right? I know that already, but I’m willing to try, I should at least know how big the gap between us is and what I am lacking. Only by setting targets, I will be able to improve.”

Like father like daughter, the duke made a similar expression as Jiyan’s made previously, he said: “Well said, I will await your performance, it seems, agreeing your relationship between Jisue wasn’t a bad idea after all, brat, do your best.” Duke let out a long laughter and without mentioning it again, he turned back to the mansion.

Coming all the way to the duke’s mansion wasn’t a waste of effort at all, not only did I receive praises from the duke and Jiyan, I also retained the right to challenge Liwa, I am looking forward to the battle even more than before.

……

“As a result of third year champion Jiyan forfeiting  her right to challenge fifth year champion Liwa, first year champion Layson is set to challenge fifth year Liwa, battle starts now. Judges please take your seats.”

Due to the fact that the first year champion rarely ever challenged the fifth year champion, this battle has caused an uproar in the school, all the authorities,  principal, vice principal and teachers in charge from each department came to watch the match. We fought on the school’s’ number one training grounds, stage. It was way bigger than the fourth training ground’s stage I usually used. For this match, the school had brought 4 magicians of the middle tier and above, and the entire school’s student body has come to watch. This match is also the final and most exciting match to watch.

What’s most interesting is that the match’s judge is the vice principal himself,  when I walked on the stage I heard the vice principal’s voice in my head: “Good brat, you are really brave, good luck, when things get bad, just use your black magic, I will take all the responsibility.” vice principal’s words built a warm feeling in my heart, I took a quick glance at him gratefully and stood at the corner of the gigantic stage.

About every student below was shouting Liwa’s name , especially the first years who were the loudest among all. There are two reasons, first. because Liwa himself is their idol, and secondly, they wish that Liwa would teach me a lesson, in their stead.

Liwa was wearing a very ordinary suit of armor, and his face was serene, He was not ruffled one bit by the chaos in the audience.

The vice president called us to the center of the arena, and said: “In this tournament, you must follow the rules, especially you Liwa, we all know your prowess, so take care when you strike, the rules are as follows– do not cripple your opponent, and do not kill your opponent, understand?”

We both nodded, and Liwa turned to me  and said: “You aren’t bad at all, you really persisted until the end to challenge me.”

I said coldly: “hmph! what’s the big deal, you  just have a few more years of training.”

Liwa laughed: “I am a figure that you can never surpass. You will never be able to defeat me up until the day I die. Today I shall avenge the countless students from my department you have defeated. However, I still want to thank you for stopping Jiyan from challenging me.” As he spoke, he seemed to be a bit troubled.

I nodded and said: “It’s because you are my opponent”

Liwa said: “If i were to fight her, I could never had brought myself to hurt her, and would have surrendered, I’m not as brave as you.” He is obviously indicating the match between bing bing and I.

The vice principal spoke, saying: “Stop the nonsense, I now announce, the competition begins now.”. Having spoken, in a flash, he left the stage, and the four judges below the stage activated a magical barrier, separating us from the outside completely.

Liwa and I stepped back at the same time, putting a distance of 20 meters between us.

Liwa smiled while saying: “I’ve heard that you don’t use weapons, so I won’t use any either, just so that you can’t say that I bullied you.‘

I said coldly:  “Use whatever you want to, my hands are my greatest weapons.”

Liwa said: “Despite your weakness, you insist on running your mouth. Well come at me, let’s see how tough your hands are.”

Just when I was about to strike, Liwa disappeared from my sight. Everyone in the audiance witnessed Liwa’s lightning like speed when he came to my right, and blasted a punch at my shoulder.

I felt an enormous strength, and my entire big and tall body was sent flying and I crashed into the teachers’ barrier, and fell to the ground .

Both Jiyan and Jisue exclaimed in shock. But while Jisue exclamation was filled with heartache, Jiyan’s exclamation was filled with disappointment. Jiyan said: “What is wrong with Layson, he is totally weak. He is a disgrace.”

Liwa’s blow had impacted me, but my defense was still strong, and I forcefully held in the pain of my shoulder, and stood up again.

Liwa laughed: “Although i wasn’t able to test the toughness of your hands, I concluded that your skin is just as tough.”

I emitted chi to all parts of my body, and casted countless low standard magic skills towards Liwa. Liwa just stood there, taking every hit, no matter what magic was fired towards him, they vanished three feet from his body, what an incredible chi armor.

I punched the ground with all my strength, and shouted: “Hurricane”. Liwa’s lips twitched, he copied me and punched the ground. The two attacks clashed and immediately caused massive earthquake. My attack broke, and chi escaped under my feet. I was once again sent flying into the barrier. I can’t believe that I lost a battle of strength without any competition.

Liwa did not pursue his attack,rather he stood there elegantly, he said to me: “that wasnt bad, but it seemed like you haven’t perfected it, it doesn’t have much power.”

I stood shocked, I couldn’t help but be amazed, a dragon knight’s power is really terrifying, this strength is totally unbelievable.

Liwa surprisingly said: “You’re really tough, you can withstand hits really well, it’s been awhile since I have beaten sandbags, and today’s the right day to practice. He flashed right beside me and with a punch I was sent flying.

I’ve learned my lesson, the moment he hit me, I quickly concentrated Armor of Heaven Thunders and Demonic Arts on the parts i was hit, although i still received a relatively big blow, I wasn’t critically damaged.

Just like this, I have become a true sandbag, every time i was knocked off my feet, I stood up, and when i stood up, I was sent flying again, I did not get any chance to attack, and Liwa did not leave any openings for large scale magic, whereas low ranked magic couldn’t even harm him, not even my demonic arts.

The principle suggested to vice principal: “Let’s end the tournament, this is not much of a fight, it’s obviously one sided.”

Vice president said: “Wait a little longer, you never know when a miracle can occur.”

In the audience, Jisue is crying like a cry baby, she kept shouting that i surrender, but unfortunately the barrier also muted the sounds from outside, so I could not hear anything. Jiyan was only staying because of her sister. She would have walked away ages ago.

Liwa’s lightning speed and enormous strength have allowed me to witness a knight’s capability, no, I can’t lose like this, I….. I could not even keep a clear mind, Liwa’s punches, getting, heavier, heavier, every hit. Streak of blood, from the corner,  my lips, entire body felt,  torn apart. The flow of my chi, disrupted, strangely painful.

EN: paragraph was purposefully made this way. (tell us what you think about it)

Liwa sent me flying again and I crashed against the barrier, and at that moment I saw Jisue’s tears and Li Yan’s disdainful look. My heart broke. And this time, when I fell to the ground, I did not fall, instead i stood at the stage with my head lowered.

Liwa suddenly felt my growing aura he immediately stopped his assault. I abruptly raised my head and roared at the sky furiously, all the blood in my body boiled , and I suddenly felt a smothering heat in my head, my light green hair turned into bloody red. The injuries on my body healed speedily, and my entire body let out a terrifying killing intent.

The principal and vice principal on the stage both exclaimed at the same time: “Berserker!”

The vice principal asked: “Should I stop the tournament right now?”

The principal said excitedly: “There shouldn’t be any problem, after all Liwa’s superiority over his opponent is vast, let’s observe the fight for a while more, how many years has it been since the last berserker appeared? This is great, our school has finally obtained one, and what’s more, he’s a first year newbie, if we can foster him with care, he will definitely have outstanding achievements. If that happens, we will finally become the head of the 4 great academies.

For the second time in my life, i’ve gone berserk, but due to the effect of my Demonic Arts, which has gotten close to completing the third stage. I am barely able to retain my consciousness.

Liwa was completely taken aback, due to his family’s knowledge he also recognized my berserk transformation.

He immediately threw a punch right at me, and strong burst of chi rushed towards my breast. I laughed maniacally, and just a grabbed the chi he released, squeezed it a bit, and his chi completely dispersed.

Jiyan and Jisue are totally astonished, the Li Xiang who was getting beaten badly seconds ago, not only is fighting back, now has the upper hand.

Jiyan told Jisue: “(little) sister, i think you’ve got a treasure, this brat can even go berserk.”

Liwa waved his hands, and a longsword flew to him the from weapon rack, he looked at me intensely. Moving his legs deliberately, he looked for any openings to attack.

After going berserk, I can feel my entire body emitting explosive power, I shouted: “Hurricane”, even though it was the same hurricane from before, it was heaven and earth different from the last attack, Liwa didn’t even dare face it, and dodged. Where he was standing, 10metres of ground were completely blasted away. My chi was going mad, causing countless tornadoes, filled with rubble and shards of rocks, to seal him away from every single angle. This is the true power of the mad god.

Liwa was relatively calm, holding his long sword, he brought out his chi to maintain his position in midair, as he jumped in the sky, the shadows of his sword blocked in front of him, protecting his body. Although he was knocked onto the barrier, the rubble didn’t cause a lot of damage to him.

Step by step, I walked towards him, Liwa’s eye expressed disbelief, he’s noticeably taken aback by the incomprehensible madness of my chi. With a light tip toe of the barrier, he lightning rushed by my side and struck his sword.

//// EN: don’t know what “With a light tip toe of the barrier” is supposed to mean.

After going berserk I literally couldn’t feel any pain, and my defense had increased ten-fold anyway, so I ignored his attack. Allowing him to chop at me, I let out a loud roar, emitting a large amount of chi that made him tremble, I shouted: “Heavenly Berserk mode” The space around my body became twisted, and every strand of crimson hair stood/straighten up, while my muscles bulged even more, tearing off my formal clothes.

//// AN: Luckily the changes were mainly concentrated at the upper part of body, or it’ll embarrassing

//// EN: ^

Liwa was not stupid either, looking at my momentum, he knew that i was not an easy opponent. He quickly fell back, and his whole body started to boil while an intense blaze enveloped his body with flame. He said: “After going berserk you are indeed incredibly strong, you are now a worthy opponent, let’s give all we’ve got, Final Secret Technique—Dragon Cloud Tornado.” His body rapidly spinned, forming dragon tornado like light pillar that rose into the sky.

The principle turned to vice principal and said: “Not good, both Liwa and Layson have released killing intend, hurry, we must stop them, remember, persuading them is our priority, definitely do not harm any of them.”

My Heavenly Berserk mode released right at that moment, and a surge of crimson red chi instantly filled an area 3 metres in diameter in front of me, I roared: “Fight.” the crimson red chi corrugated, and fired like lightning towards Liwa, who was still in the midair.

Liwa twisted into the form of a light dragon and rushed at me.

At this deciding moment, two gray and white shadows cut into the middle of the fight. Each letting out a lump of light which was neither magic nor chi, and guided our attacks into the sky. The barrier in the sky unable to withstand the amount of the power our attacks contained, was reduced to shreds of light/sparkles and vanished into the sky.

I felt a discharged of power, and I didn’t know what happened after that

the beam of light flashed passed, and Liwa fell on the arena with a pale face, supporting himself with the long sword.

The two principals stood in the middle of the arena, the vice principal said with clear voice: “ the competition is over, Liwa is the winner, everyone may leave.”

He’s right, if I had clashed with Liwa’s power, the one who would have failed would definitely be me, after all, what I did was only borrowing the potential of the berserk mode, not my own power, compared to Liwa’s years of hard work and training there is still a huge gap in our power.

The principal said to Liwa: “Liwa, your skills has improved, very good, you put reall effort into that attack just now. You should go back and rest.”

Liwa smiled bitterly: “Improve what, I was almost defeated by that newbie, that is way too embarrassing.”

The principal laughed, said: “Don’t be discouraged, someone with a physique like him who is capable of berserking has not appeared in hundreds of years, there would have been no need to feel bad if you had lost. let alone the fact that you ultimately won.

After that I returned to my normal form and fainted. Just as I was about to fall on the ground, the vice principal caught me and said to the principal: “this kid spent too much energy, I will take him to be healed.”

The principal nodded.

Jisue was panicking below the stage, about to rush up onto the arena, but Jiyan managed to pull and stop Jisue. Jiyan said: “don’t worry, my teacher is taking care of him, he will be completely fine.” Jisue only managed to calm down after hearing this.

……

I woke up confused, it felt like my whole body was soft and weak, I couldn’t exert any strength at all, as I struggled to sit up, a kind voice rang beside my ear, he spoke reproachfully : “lie down properly and don’t move, you need to rest well.”

Now that I can see clearly, I see that the vice principal and principal both are sitting at the sides of my bed.

I said: “Principals, thank you both for treating me.”

Vice principal smiled said: “that wasn’t a big deal, your injuries were not that serious either, its just that you used too much of your power. You can only recover by resting.”

The principal asked: “Layson, in the past, did you know you had the ability to go berserk?”

Damn, is berserk a characteristic of the bi meng tribe? I became alarmed that I could be discovered as a spy and said: “What berserk? I don’t know anything about any berserk.”

The principal said: “during your fight with liwa, you went berserk, berserk mode is a special physique of a being that appears suddenly, causing one’s body potential to be brought out, whether it being attack, defense or recovery, speed, all will increase ten-fold.”

I shook my head: “I don’t know anything about this, I have never heard of it in the past either, during the battle with Liwa, I felt that my brain suddenly became heated, my whole body felt like it was boiling, i don’t know anything after that, I lost, did I not?”

The principal nodded, said: “Athough lost you lost, you lost with dignity. I’ve never seen that Liwa pushed to the extreme by one of our students, if you can wield berserker ability at will… well you will achieve great success. Berserkers are already extremely rare in the land…

hearing what he said I could finally breath again, it turned out that berserking was not unique to the Bi Meng tribe.

I said with a smile: “well I request advices from you teachers in the future’

The principal said: “If you transfer over to the  martial section of the school, it would be better for your future development.”

Before I could reply, Teacher Zuang’s voice was heard: “no, there is definitely no way you can do this. We the magic-martial department finally found someone so outstanding, how can you just take him away from us?”

The principal awkwardly smiled, and told Teacher who came and stood beside the door: “little Zhuang, im also doing this for your sake, you also saw that he can activate berserk mode, if you left him in the magic-martial section,  it will affect his development.”

Teacher Zhuang came inside and sat beside me, she looked dissatisfied as she said: “who said that, Layson also has an amazing aptitude for magic, I will not agree to his transfer to the martial department.” After speaking, she looked alarmed by what she had said to the principal.

The vice principal cut in and said,”you two should stop fighting, let’s hear from the person himself. In any case, our school prioritizes the student’s choice over those of his teachers.

i looked at them, recalling the motherly warmth which Teacher Zuang has brought to me, it was no longer a question. I said with determination: “I have decided to stay at my current class and continue to learn both martial arts and magic; magic is something I liked a lot and i do not wish to give it up.”

The principal look at me with disgust and said: “well then, if you need any help in the future, feel free to acquire any teacher from our academy”

I nodded my head, said: “thank you sir principal”

principal said: “Then I better not interrupt your rest, I will leave. Take care and watch your recovery, you may take a break from school, and come back in April, do not be late. In the meantime, the school will pay for your treatments here.

I saw him leave the room, and Teacher Zhuang suddenly hugged me and kissed my cheek. She said with tears in my eyes: “thank you, Layson. Thank you for being willing to stay in our class.”

I awkwardly touched the kiss mark on my face and said: “Teacher, you don’t have to thank me, you treated me so well, how i can throw all that away and leave?”

Suddenly, I felt a strong gaze coming from the vice principal, and I looked back into the  doorway, and I noticed an extremely pale Jisue, she had her lips closed tightly. I realized that she must have heard our conversation, I saw tears falling down from her eyes and soaking her clothes, and I called: ”Jisue, why have you come?”

////EN: Bad thing to say…

Jisue cried: ”Yeah, I came, did I interrupt your good moment?” she then turned and ran.

Teacher Zhuang also looked confused, she only understood the situation after Jisue had left. She blushed on the spot, and told me: “what are you waiting for, Layson, go and chase after her”

I smiled bitterly, “Chase? How do I chase her, I can’t even move. Doesn’t matter, it’s just a misunderstanding anyway, I will explain to her when I recover.”

The Vice Principal said: “This hospital is one of the academy’s facilities, if you stay in bed and rest for a few days, you should recover. Your performance today really surprised us, train well and you will have a bright future. By the way, I spent a huge amount of effort to heal that whatever mode you used today, your chi shocked me so hard today that it disrupted the flow my chi throughout half the day. If my light element recovery magic’s effect was a little worse, I would have been admitted to the hospital like you already.”

////EN: Yeah, no idea.

Even though I know he is joking, hearing him praise my skills, makes me happy.

I said: “if you didn’t confine me for three months, i wouldn’t have been able to accomplish today’s result.”

The Vice principal said: “Rest well, when you recover, you should quickly find your girlfriend, girls need a little sweet talking, always putting up a stiff front won’t make anything happen, let’s go Xiao Zhuang.”

Teacher Zhuang said: “Come look for me when you go and pack your things from the school.”

I nodded.

-end-