Demon Card

‘Splat—’

The school’s plaque on the inner wall was splashed with broad swaths of crimson blood. Sword Elder’s fatally wounded body fell to the floor, utterly devoid of life.

The hall fell deathly silent. Over a hundred swordsmanship disciples stood with their mouths agape, grief, fury, hatred, shock, and fear all tangled across their faces.

Kyle remained expressionless. His clenched left fist slowly withdrew, while the fingers of his right hand, clad in a Vibranium Bracer, still pinched the tip of the katana.

All techniques were inferior; only mutation reigned supreme.

That was just how unbeatable the evolutionary path in this world was!

When strength, speed, neural reflexes, physical resilience, and everything else utterly surpassed and crushed the opponent, no matter how peerless one’s swordsmanship was, without involving strange energy, one still had an ordinary human body. How could he withstand Kyle’s full-powered punch after genetic mutation enhancement?

Only the hidden magic of the world, the innate gifts of Alien Races, and Black Technology products from the future after the twenty-first century might possibly surpass the progress of his current mutation evolution!

Yet the Ancient One’s mage organization existed to protect Earth, Black Panther’s kingdom kept to itself in seclusion, the time for alien races and gods to invade had not yet come, and the twenty-first century was still more than fifty years away…

When the mountain had no tiger, the monkey called itself king!

In this World War II era, Kyle dared to swagger about with complete arrogance. If anyone disagreed, they could come fight him!

Inside the dojo hall, the woman in the kimono stared blankly at Sword Elder’s gruesome corpse. Her beautiful eyes brimmed with hatred and resentment. She suddenly snatched the sword from a nearby disciple and charged at Kyle like a madwoman, all decorum forgotten.

Kyle turned around coldly. With a flick of his right wrist, he hurled the katana in his hand. It shot out with a sharp whoosh, pierced straight through the woman’s chest, and dragged her body backward by the hilt until she was nailed dead against the hall entrance.

"Sword Elder! Senior Sister!!" The remaining hundred-plus swordsmanship disciples’ eyes went bloodshot. Unable to restrain their grief and fury any longer, they raised their swords, roared, and swarmed toward Kyle at the center of the hall.

"Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d all attacked together from the start?" Kyle shrugged boredly. Liquid black strands from the Venom Suit formed a protective hood over his neck, its mask-like surface flashing with scarlet, chilling eyes, while dark Dark Claws extended from each of his tightly clenched fists.

Venom full-coverage state! Claw mode!

Kyle crouched low, gathered a little strength, then launched himself forward. His Iron Body crashed through the crowd like a battering ram. In a single exchange, he violently scattered the encirclement of more than a hundred sword-wielding youths. Several at the front were sent flying out the door, vomiting blood.

His legs exploded forward in powerful bursts of speed, while the claws on his hands never stopped slashing, cutting, and tearing. Every strike sent blood spraying, and several youths fell to the ground wailing and screaming.

The swordsmanship disciples charged forward fearlessly, attacking without regard for death. Most of their strikes landed on Kyle, yet failed to break through the tough protective layer of the Venom Suit. Even when a powerful sword blow barely cut through the Venom Suit and left a thin bloody mark on the skin beneath, the tiny wound healed completely before blood could even spill out.

It looked less like more than a hundred people were besieging one man, and more like a lion or tiger had stormed into a flock of sheep. Kyle became a war machine named slaughter, continuously harvesting frail lives.

By the time the dojo hall once again sank into prolonged silence, Kyle was breathing heavily from the considerable exertion. Leaving bloody footprints behind him, he strode out through the courtyard. The brilliant sunlight fell upon his demon-like crimson-black form, yet somehow became cold and grim.

Venom swiftly disguised itself as ordinary Japanese clothing, returning him to the appearance of a "passerby." He casually left the sword school dojo, reeking of blood and fuel.

Three minutes later, the main dojo of the Shindo Munen-ryu Sword School suddenly caught fire. The blaze became severe and uncontrollably spread to more than a dozen sword school buildings.

The raging flames devoured everything within the sword school dojo, along with the centuries-old legacy of the Shindo Munen-ryu Sword School.

Tokyo, the Emperor’s residence.

The Emperor, dressed in magnificent and noble robes, stood upon a shrine platform within the residence, delivering a speech and declaration to the nearly thousand civilians gathered in the courtyard before the gate.

His face was imposing, and his robes made him seem serene as he gazed down upon the civilians with the nobility of a god.

"That Demon of the USA took advantage of the air force base’s weakness to commit monstrous crimes. However, he will soon be punished by the military warriors protected by the gods. Everyone, believe in us. We have the ability and confidence…"

Seeing the civilians below place unwavering faith in him, their "god," the Emperor maintained a faint smile. Just as he was about to finish the rest of his speech, a subordinate suddenly stepped onto the shrine platform from the side, forcing his words to halt.

The Emperor frowned in displeasure. But when the subordinate came close and hurriedly whispered several words into his ear, his face changed dramatically in horror.

"Ah, well, let’s leave it at that for today." The Emperor’s face turned pale. After casually ending his speech with a few perfunctory words, he withdrew from the shrine platform with his subordinate supporting him.

Below the platform, the civilians, who had been listening with great interest and feeling at ease, froze slightly. They looked at each other and began discussing what had happened.

"The Shindo Munen-ryu Sword School’s dojo… was it really all buried in a fire?" Back in an inner room of the Emperor’s residence, the Emperor took a deep breath and asked with difficulty.

"The fire started and spread too quickly. By the time the fire department arrived, more than a dozen dojo buildings had already burned down. At the scene, we found only this…" As he spoke, the subordinate slowly took a card from his pocket. The Black Demon on its face grinned ferociously outward.

Looking at the card, the Emperor could no longer remain composed. He dropped to his knees in terror, accepted the Demon Card from his subordinate, then took out another card from his own person bearing the exact same demon image on its back.

The two Demon Cards had identical formats and patterns. Their material seemed to be iron metal, which was why they had not been destroyed in the fire. The images on the fronts of the Demon Cards were the ace of diamonds and the ace of clubs, respectively.

"Is he declaring war on our nation alone? Does he intend to fill all fifty-four cards?" the Emperor said through gritted teeth.

"Your Majesty…" the subordinate sighed softly.

"Go notify Commander Sasaki. Authorize every armed force stationed in Tokyo, Japan to mobilize! We must retaliate!" The Emperor quietly clenched his fists and said coldly, having made his decision, "Also, have the Ninja Organization protecting the Emperor’s residence take action! My safety is now secondary. Their foremost objective is to kill that man!"

"Your Majesty, absolutely not! Your safety must remain the highest priority!" the subordinate urged.

The Emperor shook his head. "Say no more. By the time he fills all fifty-four cards, Japan will no longer be a country! What use would an Emperor or gods be then?"

"His true purpose, actually…" The subordinate hesitated and did not continue.

"We are a nation of warriors! How can we bow our heads to one man!" The Emperor glared at him, swept his wide sleeve, and declared resolutely.

At this moment, before the main dojo of the Mujushin-ryu Sword School in Tokyo’s Jiangxia District.

Kyle strode forward, his dark battle suit revealing itself once more. Facing the several guards at the entrance, he forced his way inside. "I’m Kyle. I’ve come to challenge you!"