Chapter 453: Until the moment of your defeat on April 19
"No need to use that against you."
When these words left Reiger’s lips, the atmosphere in the arena became even more perilous and oppressive.
"...You’re more arrogant than I thought."
Revin no longer maintained his composed demeanor. Like a sword drawn from its scabbard, his voice was so cold it seemed capable of piercing one’s heart.
Reiger, however, remained nonchalant.
"I just don’t want you to use the excuse that you lost to magic, rather than to a swordsman who is younger and less experienced than yourself."
These words caused the temperature of Revins’s gaze to drop further.
"I’m curious to see how long you can keep up this attitude."
With that, Revins began to fill his body with power.
A dark aura emerged from him, one that seemed capable of devouring everything around it, even crushing the pebbles at Revins’s feet into dust.
Catching sight of this, streaks of lightning also began to course over Reiger’s body.
The phenomenon of lightning and thunder manifested on Reiger, turning the pattern on the divine blade in his hand a pale blue.
"Until the moment of your defeat."
His forthright words not only reached Revins’s ears, but also those of everyone else around them.
The Sword Saint who commanded lightning and the Sword Saint who wielded darkness ceased to speak, both falling silent. One assumed the stance of drawing his sword while the other raised the great sword in his hands.
"————"
An oppressively dense atmosphere enveloped the entire arena, making onlookers afraid to even breathe too heavily.
Reiger and Revins locked gazes, both motionless, their bodies’ mysterious phenomena growing increasingly formidable.
"Huuuu—"
At a certain moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew into the practice field, kicking up dust and sand.
And in that instant, the two strongest swordsmen of the kingdom confronted each other... and moved!
"Boom!"
At the same time, the exploding sounds rang out as the boy with the sword and the rugged man with the blade both shattered the ground beneath them and charged at each other.
"Clang—!"
The next second, the resounding clash, like a bell being struck, suddenly emerged, revealing the two figures who, unbeknownst to when, had met amidst the dust and clashed their weapons, unleashing a ferocious maelstrom.
"Boom!"
The fearsome momentum that had been building up to that point exploded in that instant, unleashing previously restrained battle will and killing intent.
Reiger, known as the Thunder Light Sword Saint, and Revins, the Border Guardian Sword Saint, suddenly clashed fiercely under the watchful eyes of the crowd.
"Clang—clang—clang—clang—clang—"
Those were the sounds of the divine blade, radiating heat and red light, clashing with the great sword, which was suffused with a mysterious glow.
In the first moments of the fierce battle, both powerful weapons made swift and relentless attacks on their wielders’ foes, sending numerous vivid strikes towards the enemy.
Reiger unleashed red strikes where the pale blue lightning flashing around his body seemed to be absorbed into the divine blade in his hand. It transformed into red lightning and struck out in a blanket of attacks toward Revins.
Revins sent out black strikes; the dark aura flowing from his body seemed to solidify with each swing of his great sword, clinging to its blade, and with tremendous force, aimed at Reiger.
The red and black strikes collided, setting off fierce clashing noises and causing the lightning and darkness to expand, mixing with the fierce winds and sweeping in all directions.
In an instant, the ferocious power affected the entire training field, causing the ground to tremble and crack.
"Thunder Breathing·Second Form·Inatama!"
As Reiger was executing continuous slashes, he suddenly unleashed the Thunder Breathing Second Form, sending five lightning-shaped strikes at Revins. Hidden within swathes of slashes, they unnoticeably swept towards Revins’s neck, abdomen, thigh, chest, and head, as if intending to kill him on the spot.
"Child’s play!"
Seemingly sensing the danger, Revins, without a second thought, lifted his great sword high and swung it fiercely, casting a swath of darkness like a black curtain toward the front.
"Boom!"
The lightning strikes collided with the black curtain, causing a roaring explosion and sending both Reiger and Revins flying backward.
"Thunder Breathing·Five Forms·Hot Realm Thunder!"
While being thrown back, Reiger immediately launched a high-heat lightning-like strike towards Revins, causing the lightning strike to tear through the air and thunder towards his opponent.
"Hmph!"
Revins dug his heels into the dirt, not caring that he was plowing the ground and sending up a cloud of dust and pebbles, swung his great sword, and slashed at the incoming high-heat lightning.
The mysterious glow on the swung great sword flickered repeatedly, illuminating the blade, which struck the incoming high-heat lighting.
"Boom!"
The lightning-like strike was instantly scattered by the glowing great sword, breaking into numerous electrical arcs that flew in all directions.
But in the blink of an eye, a bolt of lightning broke through the air at an astonishing speed and reached right in front of Revins who had just swung his great sword.
"Thunder Breathing·Fourth Form·Distant Thunder!"
Reiger’s body erupted in lightning, he made a lightning-speed assault, approaching Revin and immediately swung his blade, unleashing an incredibly fast slash at the close proximity of Revin.
".....!"
Revin’s pupils shrank, he didn’t even think, and let out a low roar on the spot, causing a dark radiance to surge from his body, colliding with the incoming high-speed slash.
"Boom!"
In the dull thud, the lightning and dark light canceled each other out, and Reiger’s high-speed slash was blocked.
However, Reiger turned into a lightning bolt again and rushed towards Revin.
"Thunder Breath·Third Form·Gathering Mosquitoes into Thunder!"
Reiger, transformed into lightning, circled around Revin, spinning at high speed and slashing wave-like cuts along his path, sending series of lightning cuts towards Revin.
"Clang clang clang clang clang——!"
A series of intense metallic clashes immediately resonated on Revin’s body, making him tremble violently.
The wave-like lightning cuts all landed on Revin, with several striking his exposed head, yet all they did was evoke a sound of clashing metal.
These strikes were deflected, blocked, and aside from shaking Revin’s figure, they seemed to have no other effect.
"Huh?"
Reiger immediately shifted his gaze to the suit of armor Revin was wearing.
The armor was emitting another kind of mysterious glow, hidden under the dark light harnessed by Revin, subtle yet unable to escape Reiger’s now transparent eyes.
"Nice armor, quite sturdy."
Reiger’s voice was calm, seemingly tinged with mockery.
"Hmph!"
Revin’s face turned slightly grim; he snorted coldly, disregarding Reiger’s ridicule, and charged forward, slashing at Reiger one sword strike after another. Each blow was executed with immense force, creating a strong gust even before the sword could reach, whistling against Reiger’s clothing.
"Clang——clang——clang——clang——clang——"
Reiger faced the attacks unflinchingly, his divine blade carrying streaks of lightning as he slashed, parrying Revin’s powerful and heavy blows that made the sound of their clash unceasing. Meanwhile, he eyed the man before him with his shining transparent eyes, looking for any vulnerability on his body.
In such a manner, their battle became increasingly fierce. Not only did it fill the arena with a mixture of sword light and shadow, but also the relentless surges of thunder and dark light. The two figures chased, collided, and weaved through the arena like flowing light, intensifying the fight into an astonishing aftershock, leaving a spectacular scene within the training grounds.
Sword light and blade glow split the earth, leaving behind ravine-like marks.
Thunder and dark light swept across the field, pillaging the land.
The shockwaves turned into a hurricane, carrying dust and sand, becoming a natural disaster, bursting forth in every corner.
The various swordsmen, knights, and people of all sorts watching this terrifying spectacle, became gradually stupefied.
"Gulp..."
Someone, unable to help themselves, swallowed hard, but it went unnoticed by everyone present.
All those present had their attention completely captured by the earth-shattering battle before them, without the capacity to be concerned with anything else.
"Is this, this what a battle between Sword Saints looks like?"
A knight who had never seen such an exaggerated scene trembled.
"Master...!"
Liz couldn’t help but cry out.
"So, this is the true strength of Sir Reiger Brillhaut?"
Nipede saw that Reiger was holding his own against Revin, his eyes brightened, and the perpetual sorrow on his face gradually faded into nothingness.
As for the Kazi brothers, they shifted from their original calm and confident in Revin’s abilities, slowly becoming anxious.
"That Thunder Light Sword Saint, he can actually fight my father to a standstill?"
Diego’s face was filled with disbelief.
"Evenly matched...?"
Axel was also astonished, to the point where his mind started to become muddled.
In their minds, Revin, who had already resorted to using two renowned secret treasures, should’ve been able to easily overpower the newly-risen Sword Saint Reiger, showing him that there are always greater talents under the heavens.
Yet, the intense fight between Reiger and Revin was clearly showing an evenly matched situation, leaving Axel and Diego tremendously shocked.
Kazi watched even more intently and discerningly than his two younger brothers.
He noticed that although Reiger seemed unable to overcome Revin in the Monis Armor, Revin equally couldn’t get the better of Reiger.
Revin’s attacks, both in strength and power, greatly surpassed those of Reiger.
However, Reiger’s speed, burst power, and reflexes seemed to far exceed Revin’s, preventing any of Revin’s attacks from ever hitting Reiger. On the other hand, Reiger’s frequent strikes hit Revin, and if it weren’t for the defensive capabilities of the Monis Armor, Revin might have already been sliced open by those lightning-fast and fearsome cuts.
"Could it be... that my father’s strength is not up to par with Reiger Brillhaut?"
Considering this possibility, Kazi finally trembled.