Neither victory nor defeat

In the palace of Sweetness City, Yudhishthira lay sprawled on a soft cushion, his face contorted in pain.

"Ouch... Nakula my god, it hurts so much! Sahadeva, give me some treatment, I can't feel my butt anymore!"

Nakula and Sahadeva, standing beside him, wore expressions of helplessness. Yudhishthira had just paid the price for his gambling, with Bai Mo literally breaking his leg. Fortunately Nakula and Sahadeva were the sons of the God of Medicine and the Rescuer Ashvins; otherwise, with an injury of this severity, Yudhishthira would never be able to stand up again.

"If you ask me, brother, you deserved it. Since you knew the blessing had flaws, you should have stopped while you were ahead. Shakuni even gambled his entire country on it."

The Bhima, eating bananas nearby, also complained about Yudhishthira's gambler's behavior, but Yudhishthira said with a serious face, "I cannot refuse a challenge!"

Just then, a figure appeared in the corridor. The man was shirtless, with disheveled hair, bulging muscles, and veins like the roots of an old tree. He grinned, revealing sharp canines, as if he wanted to devour someone.

Upon seeing this, Yudhishthira asked the snake-man attendant beside him in confusion.

"Why is there such a bloodthirsty and brutal Asura in the royal palace of Sweetness City?"

"That's not Asura, it's the King Drupada."

"Oh, so it's the King Drupada. That makes sense..."

What?!"

The King Drupada let out a low growl, slamming his fists together with a cracking sound.

"So it was you, you bastard, who almost disgraced my daughter? Is this what you call protecting her? Yudhishthira? I heard that when that Dushasana was about to insult Draupadi, you ordered your brothers to kneel and forbade them from doing so, right?"

Upon seeing King Drupada, the three members of the Bhima beside Yudhishthira immediately stood up and ran away without looking back. Yudhishthira, having just recovered from his injuries, was too weak to even stand up.

"Hey, are you going to leave me here?"

"Brother Yudhishthira, didn't you say you wouldn't refuse a challenge? Now the challenge has arrived, and we're so proud of you!"

"I'll probably never forget you, Brother Yudhishthira."

Seeing this scene of brotherly affection, Yudhishthira could only lie there gritting his teeth. When he turned around, the face of the King Drupada was already in front of him. Up close, it was no different from a demon.

"King Drupada, I can explain..."

A cry of pain echoed through the night sky. Almost simultaneously, above the training ground, Bai Mo and Krishna sat on the edge, watching the duel below, the outcome of which had already been decided.

"Won't Karna's broken oath really cause any trouble?"

"Don't worry, I'm the one who brought him in. Karma has its reasons; it'll come after me first. My merits aren't afraid of these things." Krishna brought the small bottle to his lips, drank it down in one gulp, looked up at the sky, and sighed:

"I am actually pleased that he can do such a thing. In this day and age, the old Dharma are no longer applicable, so they must be broken."

When the Dharma is hijacked and exploited by the unlawful, then the Dharma violates its original purpose of benefiting mankind. When the master is cruel and immoral, the slave can kill him. When the king is incompetent and wicked, then the general can dethrone him.

It's a pity that that cry of "Dharma" bound so many people.

He looked at Karna, his gaze deep and thoughtful, while Arjuna stared at the man before him with disbelief. Karna lowered his fist, waved his hand, and said, "Good, it's my victory! Now, I am the strongest archer!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Deploying a smokescreen during a duel and then immediately unleashing a barrage of punches? What kind of archer is that?!"

Arjuna cleared his nose, producing a clump of blood.

Damn it, it looks like he smashed my nose.

"What's wrong? If my fist were an arrow, you'd be dead for sure."

"Apologize to your archery teacher, you scoundrel!" Arjuna, who had always adhered to the rules, shouted angrily. By the time he realized that he shouldn't have spoken to his savior and elder brother like that, the words were already out of his mouth.

"But I think that's a good idea. On the battlefield, in the end, no one can guarantee that the other side will follow the rules, so winning is the most important thing, right?"

"... How could you think that? No, how could you possibly agree with such a thing?" Arjuna stood up, his gaze fixed on Karna. His voice was filled with disbelief and absurdity, yet also carried a glimmer of hope.

"You are the King of Sweetness City, the first person to challenge this oppressive tradition. You have the best master and now hold the highest position. How could you... how could you do such a thing?"

And if you're going to do it, don't let anyone know! How can you just condone such behavior in front of me?"

Arjuna's voice grew increasingly urgent, but Karna shook his head and said, "What's wrong with that? I'm not exactly a paragon of virtue; I just broke my vow."

Arjuna fell silent. Indeed, he knew of Karna's oath. When he saw Vrishali on the road, the girl looked at him as if he were an enemy.

"Moreover, I'm not good at lying, and I'm easily exposed. But I don't oppose these things. Look at my people; they suffered so much before. If I asked them to maintain the same purity as Bhishma, they would have starved to death long ago."

Everyone has their own way of surviving, whether noble or base, but if it allows people to live, then it can be called life.

"You..." Arjuna silent, then Karna added:

"Besides, your disguise was terrible. Even by process of elimination, they would know it was you who did that kind of archery, right? It's just a Duryodhana that Duryodhana isn't very bright, Shakuni wasn't paying attention, otherwise they would have found out sooner Takshaka simply doesn't have that skill."

"... Would you die if you didn't make fun of me? I finally understand why Duryodhana gets inexplicably angry every time. And... it wasn't me who did it, it was..."

"That's not important anymore." Karna shrugged, extending his hand to Arjuna. "No one can remain pure and flawless forever, never making a single mistake. Back then... if I hadn't met my master, I probably would have made immeasurable errors."

Recalling his plan to deceive Rama with the Axe, he still felt a sense of unease and fear.

"Schemes are never the exclusive domain of the wicked. You should know how cunning Krishna, yet he steadfastly defended the Dharma. Arjuna, you merely wielded a weapon other than a bow, just as I wielded a fist. What is there to be ashamed of?"

Life isn't a competition; there's no way to determine a winner or loser.

Upon hearing Karna's words, Arjuna fell silent. He exhaled deeply, and a buzzing sound reached his ears.

Turning around, the dark-skinned servant's figure gradually became ethereal.

Arjuna took Karna's hand, and after being pulled up, he punched him hard.

"You bastard, you hit me really hard... Ouch, that hurts! Why is your nose so hard?"

"Back then, your master was much stronger than you. So now, I'm undoubtedly the number one archer, right?"

Karna looked expectant, Arjuna glanced at their fists.

The so-called top archer was chosen using this kind of method...

"Whatever you want."