—As you wish.
After a short silence, the battle between the two exploded once more.
“Clank!!” Sparks erupted from the collision of the fang-shaped longsword and the sharp massive sword.
Despite the language barrier, the black knight managed to understand and comprehend Ji Bai’s request. As it went on the offensive, its every single action was grand in scale.
“Clank!!” The intense sound of metal colliding continuously reverberated throughout the colosseum.
It seemed like everything happening in the surroundings was completely incapable of affecting the unceasing battle between the two armored humanoids in the center of the colosseum.
Even the faded paint and tiles on the walls had been impacted by the aftershocks of their sharp blades.
Lin had no choice but to move somewhere far enough so that she wouldn’t be affected.
‘Such fast speed and strong power… Are those two monsters?’
The black knight no longer held back its attacks, causing the injuries of Ji Bai, who was situated at the eye of the storm, to grow ever more severe. Even still, his movements were not affected in the slightest, as he stretched his reflexes to the limits and used the sword arts he had learnt his whole life in the most opportune moments.
He had already utilized all he had.
Even so, Ji Bai barely managed to block a third of the storm-like barrage of attacks the black knight unleashed onto him.
Even when he found an instance to perform a counterattack, he realized that his fang-shaped longsword was completely incapable of piercing his opponent’s armor no matter what he tried. At this point, dealing any actual damage to it was nothing more than a pipe dream.
The majority of his opponent’s attacks landed on his [Radiant] armor.
Ji Bai could hear it buckling every time its berserk power struck it.
It was very obvious that every single black knight’s attack vastly exceeded the damage threshold of his [Radiant Armor].
In the black knight’s hands, the massive sword, which was equal in size to its stature, seemed like an extension of its body.
‘What sort of existence is that? How is it able to use all sorts of miscellaneous sword techniques with such perfection?’
Ji Bai had always believed that he would never lose to anyone in a pure contest of sword techniques. Yet today, he was beaten to the point that he could not even ward off his opponent’s blows.
Even though that was the case, Ji Bai did not feel any fear looking at the scarlet light radiating from the seam of its helmet.
Its large piercing sword struck him, but it made no difference; He had already gone numb from the damage sent back from his armor.
The strength, speed and understanding of sword technique between the two were not on the same level at all.
Once the energy in his [Radiant Armor] was completely exhausted, the battle would be over.
Even so, the frantic barrage of attacks coming out from the black knight didn’t stop at all.
That was because it did not spot a trace of surrender, disappointment or other negative emotions in Ji Bai’s eyes.
It could only see his excitement of meeting a worthy opponent and a determination to carry out his beliefs.
At some point in time, cuts of varying depths had covered Ji Bai’s [Radiant Armor]. The damage, which was capable of penetrating his armor, caused blood to gush out from the cracks.
“This is bad.” A trace of a frown appeared on Lin’s expressionless face.
While it was practically impossible for her to capture every exchange between the duo, the pool of blood spreading on the ground made her realize he had been in a disadvantageous position all along.
This was understandable as the black and dark-silver sword lusters rendered her incapable of clearly ascertaining their movements. Neither was she aware that they were exchanging some sort of message through their eyes and sword flashes at the same time.
—The best defense is a good offense. It’s useless to defend blindly.
—Is that so? I would quite like to put that theory to the test.
—…How amusing.
The fact that his opponent knew a different language and possibly belonged to a different race had surprisingly not hindered their communication.
Ji Bai did not know who his opponent was, why it had been lying in the sarcophagus and how it maintained a high level of consciousness.
Such tedious and complicated matters were not things he should concern himself with. Right now, there was nothing more euphoric than exchanging blows with a sword master like his opponent.
Even if the price of that exchange was his life.
“Clank!’ Ji Bai had already grown numb to the sound of blades colliding. However, this time was different.
His fang-shaped longsword crafted from profound metal had finally outlived its usefulness and was reduced to mere scrap in the clash.
The massive sword didn’t stop in the slightest after cutting Ji Bai’s blade into two; It incessantly grew larger in his vision like a fierce and deadly wind.
However, the rapidly descending blade stopped just in the nick of time and suspended itself just in front of Ji Bai.
The black knight had slowly pulled back its massive sword after its actions suddenly came to a halt. After shooting a glance at the fang-shaped longsword in Ji Bai’s hands which was missing its upper-half body, it stretched its hand and pulled out the other massive broadsword on its back.
“Clank.” The black knight threw the sword at Ji Bai’s feet. Its intentions behind its action were extremely clear.
To strike a person when they are down is no fair or just victory.
Ji Bai didn’t stand on ceremony either as he picked up the weapon the black knight had thrown at him.
As he took a closer look at the broadsword, its ordinary appearance was revealed. The less-than-refined engravings on its handguard had been eroded to the point of being blurry and unrecognizable. It was evidence of the years it had gone through.
The sword was somewhat gray and black, as if it had been exposed to heavy smoke.
Most importantly, its edges were covered with chinks, as scars and cracks littered the body.
‘Whether this sword can cut through butter is already a problem in itself, right?’
Ji Bai knew he had no space or time to be choosy seeing the black knight readying itself for battle once more.
A shower of attacks descended once more, but they failed to deter Ji Bai, who had managed to improve somewhat during the battle earlier.
However, every time he would gain some sort of understanding about his sword arts, the power of the black knight would increase considerably.
Its true ability resembled a bottomless hole, the end of which Ji Bai was unable to see no matter how hard he tried.
However, the black knight finally held none of its power back in the following exchanges, making it seem no different than a ferocious dragon that had escaped its fetters.
Every move and stance carried out by its massive sword contained countless years of training and were at their pinnacle in this moment; They had become something that could be executed at a snap of their finger.
“Clank!” Its asphyxiating sword techniques made Ji Bai feel, for the first time, how shallow and superficial his understanding of the sword really was.
Sparks incessantly landed on the scar-riddled ‘Radiant’ armor, causing the injuries Ji Bai received to become more and more severe.
But he didn’t give up; Rather, the worsening of his injuries made his gaze grow calmer.
“Clank!” The black sword in his hands blocked a heavy slash of the black knight’s.
Sparks spurted outwards once more.
Surprisingly, the ‘dilapidated’ sword could actually withstand the black knight’s fierce all-out attack with apparent ease. The sensation it gave off in Ji Bai’s hands was extremely comfortable as well.
‘I can sense… that feeling is near.’
“Clank!!…” The sound of colliding metal overpowered the applause that was coming in from all directions.
Lin slightly knitted her brows, her eyes completely fixed on the dark-silvery silhouette in the middle of the colosseum.
The speedily recovery of magic in her body meant that her regeneration ability had kicked in once more.
Her impulses compelled her to go forward and lend a hand, but logic constantly told her to not intervene. To put it more aptly, it was telling her that Ji Bai did not wish for her to do so.
As they clashed and came into a stalemate, she could only silently stare at the incessantly struggling figure.
“Clank!!” At this moment, the tempest of attacks he had been receiving came to an end.
The black knight raised its head slightly, as if somewhat stunned.
Its massive sword had been blocked by the other party’s handguard.
Following which, its opponent shot its sword aside and made use of the moment it was stunned to slash his blade towards its neck.
Surprisingly, the dilapidated black sword had left a crack on the black knight’s indestructible armor…