As Otto fought, he realized that this Dissercace was truly formidable.
He sensed that his opponent must be at the Central Quadportal Awakening level—a true master. Once a warrior reached the Awakening level, they underwent a complete transformation, entering a realm that belonged solely to the Central Quadportal.
Otto was no longer as strong as he once was. His old injuries still plagued him, making a prolonged battle unwise.
But if I can't even handle one of Hakan's men, how can I show my face in the future?
With that thought, Otto prepared to unleash a decisive strike.
His Regal Majesty coalesced into a single, desperate killing move—
"Divine Crusher!"
Dissercace had assumed his opponent was of similar strength, that the fight would be evenly matched.
What he didn't know was that this was the Borderland God of War, a man who had long since reached the heights of the Upper Quadportal. Though Otto's current strength appeared comparable, his kung fu, battle qi, experience, and combat instincts far surpassed Dissercace's.
With Divine Crusher, Otto condensed all his true qi into one explosive strike—damage that exceeded his current level!
By the time Dissercace realized the danger, it was too late.
The single blow sent him flying backward. He crashed into a wall, the impact collapsing the structure with a rumble as bricks and rubble buried him. Unconscious, he lay sprawled across the debris.
Otto watched him fall, then suddenly felt a backlash surge through his body—a hot rush of blood rising in his throat. He clenched his teeth, forcing it down.
Spitting blood and not spitting blood were two different levels of injury.
Even if some had already reached his mouth, swallowing it back was worlds apart from losing control and letting it spill. The internal damage was incomparable.
Otto took a deep breath, steadying himself.
Damn bastard… To think he actually forced me to use two techniques. If I ever see you at the border, a single move will make you question your entire existence!
You dare talk to me?
Don't you know I'm the Son of Chi?!
Above, the Copper King watched everything.
Perfect! This is the perfect opportunity!
Facing two masters would have been troublesome, but with only a severely injured Fyren left? Too easy.
Suddenly, Copper King dropped from the sky.
Otto, still recovering, snapped his head up. "Who?!"
"Your father!"
Copper King's palm slammed down from above. Even knowing he couldn't block it, Otto had no choice but to try.
BANG!
The impact ripped the blood from Otto's throat, spraying it across the ground as he collapsed, coughing violently.
"Who… the hell are you?!"
Copper King smirked. "Young Lord Otto's subordinate—Copper King!"
Otto's eyes widened. "FUCK YOU!"
Copper King laughed. "Fyren, you've got terrible luck running into me."
"You idiots—I'm OTTO!"
"Oh?" Copper King laughed. "This guy really is just like the rumors say."
Copper King grabbed Otto's hair, gritting his teeth. "Listen carefully, idiot. I'm not like that fool Iron King who'd fall for your tricks. Meeting us brothers today is your bad luck."
Fatty chimed in, "Big brother, stop wasting time with him. This bastard keeps putting our young lord at a disadvantage - we need to make him pay for young lord's sake!"
With difficulty, Otto said, "I'm Otto...you've been fooled by Fyren."
"Huh?" Copper King kept one hand tangled in Otto's hair while cupping his other hand behind his ear. "What? Speak up! Who's Otto and who's who?"
"Me-"
Slap!
The brutal strike made Otto's face instantly swell. He worked his tongue inside his mouth, tasting blood, feeling loose teeth.
He glared up at Copper King. "You dare hit me?"
Copper King laughed. "Of course I fucking dare hit you! Who do you think you are?"
Otto nearly choked on his rage. That idiot Dissercace had really screwed him over - exhausting his true qi and leaving him injured.
"I'll say it again! You've got it backwards! That guy's Fyren. I'm Otto! Your YOUNG LORD! He tricked you!"
"Is that so?"
"Damn right! Call Tactician - he'll confirm my identity!"
"And fuck Tactician too!"
Slap! Another brutal strike.
"I report directly to YOUNG LORD now. Nobody in this world controls me except young lord himself! Tactician? Tactician's only fit to shine my shoes!"
Copper King yanked Otto's hair back and forth, raining down slaps like they were free.
"You! You! You! My young lord? You?"
"Big talker!"
"Look at you - pig-herding, dog-headed, disgusting, barely-human trash!"
Slap!
"And you dare impersonate our YOUNG LORD?"
Weakly, Otto muttered, "Your lord-"
"Still running your mouth!"
Slap!
Copper King dragged him by the hair toward a dusty, cracked floor mirror.
"Look!" Copper King jabbed at the reflection. "Look at yourself! How can you compare to our young lord? Huh? That fat face of yours - you dare pretend to be our handsome, elegant, robust, dashing young lord? Hmm?"
Slap!
"Open your eyes!"
Smack!
"Look at that face!"
Slap!
"What part of you looks like a Border War God?"
Smack!
"What part screams 'son of luck'?"
Smack!
"With a face that fat, you dare pretend to be YOUNG LORD? Who exactly are you trying to fool?"
Smack! Another brutal slap.
"Is my young lord fat? How come I never heard about that? Huh?"
Slap!
"Talk! Say something! Speak!"
Copper King's relentless strikes finally reduced Otto to tears.
"Stop hitting me! I'm really...my face is only fat because you keep slapping it! It wasn't this fat before, okay?"
Copper King's eyes bulged. "You impersonate our YOUNG LORD and expect me not to beat you? Shouldn't I?"
Slap...
"You tell me! You tell me! Shouldn't you be beaten for impersonating our YOUNG LORD?"
Copper King punctuated each word with another strike.
Otto sobbed on the verge of breaking down. "I'm not impersonating anyone! I really am Otto!"
"Still lying! Still lying! Is our YOUNG LORD's face this fat?"
Smack smack smack smack...
Otto wailed, "You're the one who made my face swell! Can't you understand that?"
Copper King's eyes widened further. "Holy shit, now it's my fault? Shouldn't I beat you for impersonating our young lord? Shouldn't I? Shouldn't I?"
The blows continued raining down.
Otto cried, "I told you I'm not impersonating anyone! Just make a phone call to verify!"
"With a face that fat and you still deny it? No impersonation? No impersonation?"
Otto felt utterly desperate.
He realized Copper King's brain was even more stubborn than Iron King's - completely unreasonable.
If you denied impersonating, he'd say your face was too fat.
If you said your face wasn't originally fat, he'd beat you while saying "If you weren't impersonating, I wouldn't be beating you."
Then if you insisted you weren't impersonating, he'd keep using your swollen face as proof you were lying...
An endless, maddening loop.
Otto could keep arguing, but his face couldn't take any more punishment.
Finally, he surrendered. "Fine! I admit it! I'm Fyren! I was impersonating, okay? Just stop hitting me!"
Copper King stared in shock. "So you really were an impostor?"
Otto thought bitterly: You fucking...are you people even human?
Copper King exploded in rage. "Lied to me! Cheated me! Impersonated! You actually were impersonating! I'll kill you! If I hadn't met young lord, I would've been fooled by this fake! What a close call! I almost ended up a fool like Iron King!"
Otto realized: Admitting was worse than denying!
He quickly backtracked. "No no! I wasn't impersonating!"
"Oh, so you're really our young lord Otto?"
Otto nodded weakly. "I really am."
"Hahaha!"
Copper King started swinging again. "Still lying! Still lying! I told you not to lie to me! I told you not to impersonate! Will you admit it or not? Admit it or not?"
Otto couldn't take it anymore. "I admit it, I admit it, I admit it! I'm an impostor, just stop hitting me!"
Copper King froze, his eyes widening in shock. "Holy shit! You really were an impostor after all?"
Otto's eyes filled with panic.
It's over.
Another dead end!
At this rate, he'll beat me to death!
The situation had gone beyond what he said - this bastard's brain was simply wired wrong. No matter how he responded, it would only lead to more beatings.
Otto roared, "Go ahead and beat me to death if you dare!"
Copper King gave a thumbs up. "Good! What a tough guy!"
Otto grew even more frightened. Why does this sound so familiar?
After a while, the fat and thin men returned with Elton Leng.
"Big brother, let's go. Uh...who's this pig-headed guy?"
Copper King sneered. "Fyren."
"Wow! Big brother, you're amazing! You actually slapped his head from human-size to pig-size? Incredible!"
"What's this? If we had more time, I could've slapped it into a buffalo's head!"
"Big brother is truly big brother. We're in awe. Doesn't your hand hurt?"
"Ai!" Big brother pulled out a steel plate. "It hurt a bit at first, so I've been using this to slap him later."
"Wow, big brother is so smart - using tools and everything."
"Let's go! We need to report back to YOUNG LORD."
"Big brother," Fatty tugged at Copper King's sleeve, smiling. "You see...since you've already polished Fyren from a human head to pig-head meat, and your work is already perfect...maybe we brothers could, hehehe...since it's our first mission, make some contribution too? So we can go back and earn young lord's praise?"
The thin man added with a grin, "Big brother, let us get in a few hits too. It'll make us look better when we report to young lord."
Copper King laughed, pointing at them. "You two sly devils!"
"Hehehe, big brother flatters us."
"Fine! The credit will be shared! Each of you kick one of his legs. When we get back, I'll tell young lord it was a team effort between the three of us."
"Thank you, big brother!"
Otto slumped against the wall, his fading consciousness watching as one fat and one thin figure approached him. His terror reached its peak.