Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Skadi's desperate attack was easily blocked by Xia Yu, who simply held his broad axe sword in front of him like a shield.

That's it. It's not a particularly ingenious method, but it works just fine.

Skadi's desperate attack won't be limited to just this one move.

With a swift turn, she used the recoil from the collision of her greatsword and axe to spin around once, her feet moving in a zigzag pattern, and in the blink of an eye, she was on Xia Yu's right side. With her greatsword fully charged, she slashed horizontally at Xia Yu.

Not to be outdone, Xia Yu swung her right hand, holding the axe-sword, to the side, where the axe-sword, as tall as herself, once again blocked her way.

clang!

Skadi's offensive was thwarted once again, but she showed no signs of discouragement. She abandoned the greatsword that had been sent flying by the powerful recoil and, while Xia Yu was digesting the force, she moved in close to him.

Bypassing the jagged, vicious blade of the axe sword, he delivered a powerful Lushan Rising Dragon Strike directly to Xia Yu's face!

This is what is commonly known as an uppercut.

Xia Yu's solution was that since she was holding a sword and axe in her right hand, she could only extend her left hand to intercept Skadi's right fist. She didn't even need to use too much force; she just needed to gently deflect the fist. Skadi's fist didn't need to change direction; she just needed to use the force to step back a little to avoid the fist.

At the same time, he released the axe and sword in his right hand, preparing for close-quarters combat.

To be honest, doing this against an opponent of similar skill level is tantamount to suicide. After all, the skill level is about the same, and such fancy moves are too delicate. Often, you'll get punched in the face before you even finish the move.

However, if the skill gap between the two is too large... like a master fighting an apprentice, then these fancy tricks can be used. Not only can they establish a superior image in the eyes of the apprentice, but they can also satisfy their own little desire to show off.

Of course, this is a perfectly normal way of playing for Xia Yu.

After all, there are very few people here who can keep up with his movements. From reaction speed to attack speed, he completely outclasses them.

Most of the time, you don't need any fancy tricks; a simple, straightforward straight punch can solve most problems.

However, since we're just playing along, we can't be so simplistic and brutal. Although Skadi could definitely take one of my straight punches, this would be too much of a bully.

With a simple gesture, Xia Yu used Skadi's strength to push herself back a step, avoiding Skadi's punch.

Seeing this, Skadi's eyes burned even hotter, and she pressed closer, delivering a knee strike to Xia Yu.

Xia Yu gasped upon seeing this; this move was truly deadly.

In every sense.

Although Skadi's thighs were covered in water after the fierce battle on the lake, and shimmered with a tempting white light under the moonlight, Xia Yu still politely declined to approach at this speed.

Thinking of this, he kicked Skadi without any hesitation, using his powerful physique and reaction speed to strike first and send her flying.

Seeing this, Skadi's eyes flashed. Facing Xia Yu's flying kick, she bent her body, pretending to deflect the force, but in reality...

Under the cold moonlight of the two moons, a greatsword, gleaming with a chilling light, hurtled towards Xia Yu with a whoosh!

It's a sword pouch! Skadi used a sword pouch!

The Deepsea Hunter's sword pouch is certainly not an ordinary volcano. In fact, to prevent the weapon from slipping out of his hand, a rope extends from the pouch while it is carried on his back to secure the weapon.

Of course, Skadi doesn't usually use this function, because there are a few creatures on land that can make her sword fly out of her hand.

She only fights like this in the deep sea, facing those enormous sea creatures.

After all, those big guys can cause quite a stir with just a slight movement. Besides, this is just a simple insurance measure.

But now, she has picked up this long-unused habit again, and is using the cover of night to pretend to sell it while actually hiding it.

The same applies to Xia Yu's vital parts, and which man wouldn't be shocked upon seeing this?

Sure enough, he kicked himself back.

Little did they know that this was the real killing move; the greatsword that flew down from behind like a gazelle's horns as they were being knocked back was the true killing move.

Even after her uppercut failed, she subtly hid her hands behind her back and instead used a knee strike to conceal her intentions.

Xia Yu had already abandoned the exaggerated axe-sword in his hand, and now he was unarmed!

Using the force of Xia Yu's knockback, she swung the sturdy rope on the sword pouch over her head, sending the greatsword that had been with her for many years slashing down at Xia Yu's head in a silver arc under the moonlight.

Xia Yu chuckled softly upon seeing this.

I see. That explains why you gave up your weapon.

You should know that without the sword, Skadi would be even less of a match for him in hand-to-hand combat.

So this is where I was waiting.

But... heh.

Who said I don't have weapons?

I myself am the greatest weapon!

He raised his right hand and held it above his head!

A hundred kinds of martial arts! This is how one disarms an opponent with bare hands!

In the blink of an eye, he firmly grasped the greatsword that was accompanied by a whistling sound, preventing it from advancing an inch.

Then he tossed it aside.

“Not enough,” he said to Skadi. “This power is not enough!”

Seeing this, Skadi pursed her lips, silently gripped the rope, sheathed her greatsword, and then launched another attack on Xia Yu with the sword raised.

Seeing this, Xia Yu also became interested. He even stopped using the axe and sword and directly used his fists to fight the sword. With the blessing of magic and essence, his body was no weaker than any divine weapon.

He met the sword blade head-on with his fist, and after a loud impact, Xia Yu's right hand was completely unharmed.

Skadi became even more excited upon seeing this and swung her greatsword down again.

The back-and-forth banter was quite lively.

"..."

Surtr, expressionless, snapped off a sandworm leg with a snap, his hands itching to fight as he listened to the sounds of battle echoing from the lake.

She had long wanted to test just how strong this captain was.

The person who can make Levadin pretend to be dead... must be incredibly strong, right?

But... she really can't get over it!

Surtr was very curious. Judging from the sound, the two were fighting on the water, but... he had already checked during the day, and there was really nothing there, not even a place to land...

That's really strange. How exactly did those two fight?

Do the Agorians possess combat techniques they themselves are unaware of?

Surtr was bored and his thoughts wandered aimlessly.

It's no wonder she thought that way, after all, Skadi is a standard Agorian, and she filled in Agor on the Xia language form.

She naturally assumed the two were of the same race, and this situation only strengthened her conviction.

Who else but Agor, who comes out of the water, can fight on the sea?

At least the people on Terra are not.

"Big sister, what are you looking at?" Ifrit walked over carrying a plate of sandworm legs and asked curiously, "I've seen you looking at this for ages..."

324 Ifrit

"..."

Hearing this, Surtr glanced at the sea and then, quite annoyed, snapped off a sandworm leg with a snap.

She didn't want to answer Ifrit's question.

I don't know why, but I just don't want to.

Seeing that Surtr didn't want to talk to her, Ifrit lowered her head slightly, somewhat disappointed.

After all, she was quite curious about this older sister who exuded a fiery aura.

Seemingly sensing Ifrit's disappointment, Surtr irritably rubbed his long, fiery red hair, feeling utterly helpless.

"Kid, have you ever been abandoned by someone?"

“…No,” Ifrit said with a smile, “Never!”

“Tch,” Surtr turned his head after seeing this, “Let’s just leave it at that.”

"What am I doing here? As you can see, I've been abandoned."

As he spoke, he picked up a skewer from Ifrit's grill and ate it absentmindedly.

Ifrit didn't care about that, and instead moved closer to her with great interest, "And then? And then who abandoned you, big sister?"

"How about we go beat him up together? Don't let my small size fool you, I'm pretty strong!"

Surtr glanced at her, chuckled, and reached out to ruffle her hair. "You violent brat, give up. I'm not taking a kid to fight."

"You're more likely to hold me back than help me!"

Upon hearing this, Ifrit became indignant. She glared at him and said, "Hey, are you looking down on me?"

At the same time, a faint glimmer of fire appeared as he reached out.

Ifrit hates self-righteous adults like this the most. Although she had some inexplicable goodwill towards Surtr before, it all vanished after hearing this sentence!

“No,” Surtr said seriously, “you’re wrong!”