Arshion lunged forward like a released arrow.
He rushed toward "Laibos."
As he struck, a trail of dazzling golden light tore through the air; his blade was no
longer mere iron, but turned into a channel pulsing with a volatile mixture of holy light and golden lightning.
The arena erupted with a sharp metallic sound that broke the heavy silence.
Arshion struck Laibos with a crushing overhead blow, but Laibos blocked it with a casual flick of his wrist, as if the entire duel was not worth his standing.
Sparks fell across the arena floor like molten gold.
Arshion did not break his rhythm for even a fraction of a second; a cold, sarcastic smile appeared on his lips as he turned into a whirlwind of attacks.
Yet, Laibos remained an unshakeable solid mass, an impenetrable wall, blocking every frantic strike with precision.
In a fleeting moment of openness, Laibos sensed a flaw in Arshion’s flow.
He did not just block; he responded with a lightning-fast, precise sword strike.
Arshion’s instincts screamed in warning, so he twisted his neck, narrowly dodging the steel.
A thin, crimson scratch appeared on his cheek. He wiped the blood, and his smile became sharper and more excited.
He raised his left hand and released a crackling bolt of concentrated raw lightning.
Laibos swatted it away with the back of his hand, but his eyes suddenly widened—a trap had been set.
From the fading light, golden chains manifested, rushing like a snake to bind him.
Arshion lunged forward, like a predator closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Laibos let out a deep, resonant laugh. "Smart," he shouted.
With a sudden, violent contraction of his shoulder, the golden chains shattered into a thousand shimmering shards.
While Arshion was manipulating the debris to attack Laibos with it, Laibos blocked
them with one move and then delivered a brutal strike with the hilt of his sword.
This level of power is enough, Arshion thought to himself, showing more of my true strength is not part of the plan.
Arshion allowed the powerful blow to knock him backward.
While flying, he struck the ground with his palm, releasing a massive wave of lightning that choked the hall with dust.
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Before he collided with the far wall, he released his sword—which was wrapped in crackling electricity—in a spiral path through the dust.
Laibos barely tilted his head, yet the blade touched his cheek, leaving a single red drop of blood.
Laibos stood still, a faint smile of satisfaction appearing on his face.
His sword mastery is terrifyingly polished; in fact, his sword mastery is closer to a veteran warrior who has fought hundreds of battles before and honed his sword in them.
Is this the true potential of the "Sword Saint" talent?
"Dekanis" entered the battle, her crimson hair burning with a supernatural luster.
Enthusiasm burned in her eyes.
She released a giant fireball, but Laibos cut it with a clean, easy horizontal strike.
Suddenly, a fire arrow shot from behind the explosion toward his chest; Laibos leaned back dodging it, only for a dark spear to emerge from his own shadow.
Laibos shattered it with a side step.
Without hesitation, Dekanis released a vortex of dark flame that contains the power of fire and darkness together.
Laibos drew his sword and split the vortex in half.
And then Dekanis released another arrow, Laibos retreated and took a side step, as he sensed an explosion spell hidden in the arrow.
The arrow exploded by the explosion spell just as Laibos sensed.
Dekanis vanished into the shadows, to reappear behind Laibos and bind him with
chains of darkness, her sword integrated with dark flame.
Laibos shattered the chains and blocked her attack and in a quick movement he
made Dekanis lose her sword as he made it fly and stopped his blade centimeters from her throat, his eyes flashing.
Laibos directed his gaze toward "Ray," and his voice was weighted with anticipation: "You are the last."
"Ray" stepped forward, his breathing measured and cold.
He raised his hand, a crescent blade of crimson lightning manifesting and humming with a low-frequency vibration.
Laibos dodged it skillfully, but "Ray" had anticipated this and was already committed to the attack.
By channeling lightning through his veins, "Ray" moved with a speed that made static electricity dance on his skin.
He threw a punch that shattered the air.
Laibos tilted his head, letting the strike pass with a whistle.
At that moment, "Ray" opened his fingers, and a lightning blade shot toward Laibos's face.
Laibos arched backward like a coiled spring.
"Ray" seized the opportunity, mimicking Laibos's footwork in a devastating kick.
"Ray's" mind was working like a processor, mapping the path of every muscle tremor.
He knew that the person he was fighting was an unmoving mountain, but he also knew that Laibos was playing the role of a "whetstone" to sharpen them.
"Ray's" kick whistled in space.
Where Laibos had moved to dodge the strike by a few inches, Laibos said to
himself, "A familiar rhythm," Laibos noticed something strange in Ray's style.
And before Laibos could land a powerful strike on Ray's leg that attacked him with,
"Ray" discharged a massive charge of lightning into the floor, using the recoil to rotate in a defensive dance.
He retreated with his hands moving like a flash, releasing two intersecting blades of lightning.
Laibos caught them on the edge of his blade, and the echo rang like thunder.
"Ray" did not give him room to breathe.
He threw a lightning dagger, its core unstable and glowing.
The master bent, and the dagger exploded in a blinding flash.
But Laibos had already retreated before the dagger exploded, and a smile was on his lips: This sequence... it's the same tactic as Dekanis.
He is linking his colleagues' styles for his own benefit.
A lightning sword rushed toward Laibos, driven by Ray's physical strength and his dwindling mana reserve as his mana was about to run out.
Laibos blocked the attack with a fluid motion.
Suddenly, "Ray" appeared beside him, his fist covered in turbulent crimson lightning.
Ray aimed to end the match as he directed a powerful punch to Laibos.
Laibos retreated, but "Ray's" fingers twitched.
An invisible glowing string tightened—a raw energy artery.
The lightning sword he had thrown earlier came back to life, pulled by the energy bond in Ray's hand.
The blade returned to Ray's hand, and "Ray" swung it in a deadly arc.
He was determined to force Laibos to take the fight seriously and end it, realizing that prolonging the fight would only work against him.