Decisive Battle (3)
Garhan had wondered all this time.
Felard Bean, the young Sword King, had become one of the Top Four.
‘Has he ever completely mastered Baotolt’s unique skill?’
The answer unfolded before his eyes.
Boom!
The condensed Aura exploded and dwelled on the entire body of the Baltara warrior. A blood-colored aura radiated and turned into a huge power.
For a moment, Garhan was relieved.
‘… He hasn’t completed it yet.’
About 90 percent of Han-bin’s Aura was converted into the fighting spirit and enveloped him.
In other words, about 10 percent would still be out of control and could hurt him.
At that moment, Han-bin touched his belt.
“Prana Conversion!”
The red Aura quickly turned into blue energy. It was a unique item, the Four-Power Conversion Belt.
That completely eradicated the explosions that would’ve damaged him.
The remaining destructive Aura, which was beyond control, was converted to Prana and scattered in all directions.
“What is it?”
Ryu Han-bin touched his belt again, glaring at the surprised Garhan.
-Deactivate.
His uncontrolled energy had already dissipated.
The remaining 90 percent Prana, which was hovering around his physique, was turned into Valtara’s Fighting Spirit again.
With a perfectly controlled fighting spirit wrapped around his body, the giant warrior smiled triumphantly.
“What do you think of my strategy?”
* * *
Han-bin got that idea when he took Leslie as his servant.
When converting Aura to Prana, he found that all the pressure he felt disappeared without a trace.
It was a matter of course.
He just dumped Prana all over his vicinity. He didn’t operate it as he did with Aura, so of course, it couldn’t affect him.
When he deactivated his belt, his Aura returned completely serene.
He became excited when he realized that fact.
‘Perhaps Valtara’s Fighting Spirit would show the same phenomenon.’
He went straight into experimentations until he got the result he desired.
“As expected!”
Ryu Han-bin kicked the ground.
Super Magic Arrow? Extensive healing?
Those were all just side tricks.
What greater weapon could there be for him than one that could completely erase the side effects of his fighting spirit?
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
With a festive cheer, Gigant scattered the red attacks.
-Valtara’s Pierce!
Garhan didn’t dare ignore it.
For the first time, he took a proper stance. He executed a powerful attack in return.
Boom!
Both took a step back as their offensives collided.
“I can’t believe he can use that in such a way…”
Changing his posture, Garhan glared at Han-bin’s belt.
“Did you hide it on purpose when you were dealing with Nakterion?”
“Yeah. I knew you’d be watching. You know big guns are more effective when you save them until the end, right?”
“That’s so surprising it’s ridiculous. I didn’t expect Baotolt’s disciple to pull a stunt like this.”
Ryu Han-bin smiled bitterly.
‘I guess so.’
If he were a real Valtara warrior and the true successor of Baotolt, he certainly wouldn’t have thought of that.
But in fact, he was just an ordinary young man who had played online games in Korea.
‘Korean gamers have a bad habit of finding tricks around hardships.’
Of course, there was no reason to reveal his identity, so he acted like a Valtara warrior in front of others.
“I just do my best to win!”
Ryu Han-bin launched a ruthless offensive, drawing out Aura with all his might.
His Valtara’s Pierces and Valtara’s Hacks continued, releasing red flashes.
Garhan’s movements also sped up.
Lightning began to strike in all directions as the area of the Thunder and Lightning technique widened.
Neither refused to back down. Explosive sounds rang constantly.
While fighting, Han-bin’s eyes shone for a moment.
‘Chance!’
-Sword King Swordsmanship, Dog-Beating Style First Form: Random Stab!
Blade Aura rained down upon them like a meteor shower.
Garhan’s expression hardened.
‘It’s…’
His timing was ambiguous to stop and fight back.
He decided to tank the attack head-on, creating a Sword of Lightning and targetting Han-bin’s front.
At that moment, Ryu Han-bin rotated his body, his Gigant stretched out, using the centrifugal force to propel him.
-Sword King Swordsmanship, Dog-Beating Style Second Form: Whirlwind!
The formidable Blade Aura collided head-on with his technique, releasing a catastrophic shockwave.
Boom!
One step back, and Garhan frowned even more.
‘Damn…’
His swordsmanship was neither crude nor sophisticated.
The technique was crude, the foundation was strong, the idea was simple, and the result was explosive.
‘Is he the true disciple of Baotolt?’
He knew Baotolt’s swordsmanship well. Even if he closed his eyes and covered his ears, he could predict it with only his instincts.
It was just that predictions couldn’t be prevented or avoided.
‘He’s different.’
His movements were similar but completely different in small details.
However, it wasn’t like it had nothing to do with Baotolt either. The flow itself was following the Sword King’s style.
That made him even more confused.
Frowning, Garhan asked, “Is this what you’re after?”
He thought his opponent changed his swordsmanship style on purpose to dazzle him.
It wasn’t that difficult to believe, considering Leon Hart was a Spiritist obsessed with martial arts.
Indeed, the young Sword King smiled with remorse.
“Of course!”
… Han-bin didn’t actually know what he was aiming for, but he agreed anyway.
‘There’s nothing to lose in ruining the opponent’s mentality.’
Garhan wasn’t as confident as he was before.
His attacks became weaker, and his flow lost its smoothness.
He was hesitating.
‘I don’t know.’
Due to that, his movements became dull. It was just a fleeting moment, but even that was enough to have a huge impact on fights between beings of their caliber.
‘The requirement to use the Heavenly Sword Diastima is the completed Valtara’s Fighting Spirit. That’s for sure.’
The young Sword King’s fighting spirit was about 90 percent complete. It hadn’t been completed yet.
But the reason why the Diastima needed a mastered fighting spirit was that the impure Aura left in the body interfered with the flow.
Thanks to the Four-Power Conversion Belt, there was no impure Aura left in him!
‘You bastard…’
Puzzled, Garhan glared at the Valtara warrior in front of him.
‘Can you use the Heavenly Sword or not?”
* * *
Genovia calmly clicked her fingers.
“Arise.”
Huge currents sprang up from all over the basin, creating a destructive wall that reached several meters into the air.
Boom!
The pillars of the water stream ground everything they touched and ejected in an affected manner.
Swallowing the blood of the cumbersome monsters, they immediately stormed Leon Hart’s party.
“Smash them.”
The water currents scattered, turning into blood-hued arrows.
Amid the attack, Effir burst into a scream.
“Mr. Artis!”
“I know!”
Fiery barriers and force fields were spread simultaneously in front of Artis.
He used defensive spells through magic and artifacts.
However, they broke in less than a second.
“Argh!”
“Avoid it!”
Leon Hart spread an additional spiritual barrier to prevent additional damages. At that moment, Effir grabbed Artis’s waist and dashed away.
An explosion soon followed.
Boom!
Barely being able to escape, Artis muttered in contemplation.
“How the hell is she so strong? I thought I was powerful until I met her.”
After she regained her calmness, the power of the Archmage became incomprehensible.
A vast array of magic spells was pouring out incessantly. It was just too much for them to hold out against her.
Even if they were lucky enough to find a good opportunity and seize it, they wouldn’t even be able to fight back.
Genovia’s transition from magic to magic was breathtaking, and he couldn’t see a crack in it.
In just a few minutes, all three were covered in blood.
That was the result even though Leon Hart had cast his best healing arts.
“Gasp, gasp…”
Nevertheless, no one gave up.
“Even if I want to give up…”
“If we do, it’s over.”
They had to do their best. The fate of the world depended on them, after all. There was no other choice but to fight.
“You’re forcing me to be brave!”
Effir charged in.
Her double swords danced, both covered in electric currents.
-Magic swordsmanship: Lightning Explosion!
In admiration, Genovia aimed at her with the end of her staff.
“It appears there’s someone else who can use that skill besides Garhan.”
A seven-colored beam tore through the air.
Smashing through Effir’s attack, it flew straight at her!
Paaaah!
Effir somersaulted away. A bright light enveloped her, and soon a giant Wyvern emerged.
“Yay!”
By cleverly maneuvering around the air, the silver-maned Wyvern avoided the attack.
For a moment, surprised, Genovia raised her eyes.
“… Is she the Wyvern?”
It wasn’t strange for her to be puzzled.
“No way. Your level’s lower as a Wyvern?”
Still, she didn’t forget to continue her offensive.
“I’d love to do some research on you. Maximum Chain Lightning.”
The strongest electric-type magic available to her, a level 130 spell, had been released.
She knew well that she couldn’t hit her opponent directly, so she purposely launched magic to lure it instead.
At that very moment…
‘Now’s the time!’
Effir returned to human form and fell sharply down the air.
The silver-haired girl performed a magic swordsmanship technique again. Lightning tore through the skies.
Rumbling!
After invalidating Genovia’s spell, she returned to her original form again and flew up!
“You’ve never seen this trick before, have you?”
For the Archmage, who had extensive combat experience, all of her attacks would have been read.
If Effir wanted to hold her back a little longer, she would have to fight in ways Genovia had never seen before!
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Changing back and forth between her human and Wyvern forms, Effir circled frantically around the Archmage.
Genovia nodded as she watched the scene.
“That’s not bad.”
At first, she criticized them for being insane, but when she thought about it, she realized using the alien monsters was the best method they could choose under the current circumstances.
Things would have changed if only the incarnation’s group, the Thunder King, and Manakiras of the Archmage had gathered here.
They could have left the group to Manakiras while the Garhan and Genovia teamed up against the young Sword King.
‘Of course, Manakiras will die in return.’
But she couldn’t do that now.
The whole place was seething with monsters. If she wanted to help her colleague, Leon Hart’s group had to be pushed out first. Afterward, she would need to move while sweeping away all the cumbersome creatures around them.
The amount of time that would take was too great.
There could be no better trap if the weak wanted to tie the feet of the strong.
“But that also means your tactic’s all about attrition.”
Coldly, she conjured Mana.
“There’s no need to be impatient. This is no different than usual.”
The war itself was something she was familiar with. When she was young, she had once fought for a day in a dungeon alone, surrounded by evil.
She just panicked for a moment due to the unexpected events.
“I know what you are expecting.”
They believed on the farfetched premise that the young Sword King was enough to destroy the Thunder King. That was why they were desperately holding out.
But it was just a vain hope that couldn’t be achieved.
“I’m sorry…”
She shook her head as she watched a giant pushing the strongest Magic Swordsman to the ground.
“He can’t beat him with that.”
* * *
A faint smile hung around Garhan’s lips.
‘I was stupid. I don’t know if he can use the Heavenly Sword or not, but what does it matter? If he can’t, I’ll kill him. If he can, then I’ll just retreat.’
The result wouldn’t be any different either way.
‘I’ll just assume he can use it. Even so, I can crush him with power.’
Boom!
The weapon in Garhan’s hand disappeared, and a huge blade of lightning soared.
‘Oh no.’
Surprised, Ryu Han-bin faltered.
The eyes of the Thunder King shone, emitting blue light.
-Unique Magic Swordsmanship Technique: Descent of The Thunder God!
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