Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"I understand, but..."

Alden hesitated for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

The nighttime raid on the municipal official's office ultimately ended in failure.

It's not that the operation failed; they did get in, and they did see the list. Unfortunately, Alden searched through it all but couldn't find the person he was looking for. This meant the intelligence was wrong; from the very beginning, they hadn't headed towards Oak City!

After much deliberation, Alden finally shared the news with his superiors.

Upon learning of this, Master Lynx said nothing else but immediately berated Alden. Of course, he knew that such a big matter couldn't be decided by Alden alone. But he also realized that Zhang Renfeng was very capable and an outsider, so he couldn't really criticize him directly; he could only vent his anger by scolding Alden.

They went on this tightrope walking without even consulting their superior. What if they got caught? They'd be completely ruined in this city; they'd have walked a dead end.

However, the deed was done, but it left no trace. A few symbolic curses were uttered, and the matter was dropped. Master Lynx had to start rethinking his plan.

There's really not much to plan. Having come all this way, I can't let it go to waste. There's only one path: win this competition, then ask His Majesty the Emperor to use his connections to help me find the person. It's not much different from before, except the search area has expanded from this city to the entire America, with no upper limit.

Hope has become even more elusive.

Even so, this is theoretically the best opportunity they could achieve.

After all, there were precedents to learn from, and this emperor's abilities certainly matched his grandeur. Some seemingly absurd wishes were indeed fulfilled after his maneuvering. This meant that they couldn't afford to lose any of the upcoming team battles; only by winning every single one would they have any hope of success.

----

In the past, Zhang Renfeng was always the champion of the arena, and he was always the one fighting against others. This was one of the few times he had watched from below.

The Lynx's swordsmanship can be summed up in one word: "steady".

He doesn't use any fancy tricks, always relying on the most basic footwork and moves. No matter what weapon his opponent uses, in a one-on-one situation, he has one trick that he can use to his advantage.

What he relied on was actually the move that Alden used against Zhang Renfeng during the competition that day, which they called the "Master Counterattack." This is a counterattack technique; when someone attacks, you abandon your defensive instincts and instead launch a simultaneous attack with your opponent, only in the opposite direction.

Use your attacks to interrupt your opponent's attacks, and after intercepting them, thrust your sword at them. After a few times, even the most skilled person will not be able to withstand it.

His opponent at this moment was a swordsman wielding a sword and shield.

After a few rounds, Lynx saw through his weakness. With a master counter, he instantly stabbed into the gap in the soft armor, wounding his wrist and causing it to bleed profusely. He immediately sat down on the ground, his face filled with terror. Even ignoring his injured arm, he quickly raised his right hand, extending his thumb and forefinger, and made a gesture towards him.

Master Lynx also showed great martial ethics, stopping his attack and not pressing his advantage.

"Woo——!!!"

A short, powerful horn blast rang out.

When a group of heavily armored soldiers wielding spears rushed out from the east and north gates, he had no chance to press his advantage. They immediately surrounded the defeated swordsman, forming a wall around him.

……

"They arrived really quickly," Zhang Renfeng remarked.

This isn't a real gladiatorial arena, after all. Wishes are important, but for most people, nothing is more important than life. When they no longer want to fight, or are no longer able to fight, simply making this gesture is considered an admission of defeat.

……

Amid the cheers of the audience, Zhang Renfeng caught a glimpse of a figure quickly walking up to the first tier of the audience seats from the side.

It was Midnight, whom I met at the bathhouse that day.

The tall swordsman lowered himself when he stood next to Istova and listened attentively to what he was saying.

Chapter 790: The Referees Are All My People

"when---!!"

After exchanging over a dozen blows, Master Lynx once again unleashed his signature move, using the cross-shaped guard on the hilt of his longsword to block the opponent's thrust, following the direction of the short spear. Metal against metal...

Sparks flew everywhere.

Lynx took a step back, gripping the middle of the longsword with his gloved left hand, turning it completely horizontally. The blade and guard formed a noose, locking the opponent's weapon. Before the opponent could react, Lynx yanked hard, pulling the short spear out of his hand, completing an incredible disarmament in the blink of an eye.

Cheers erupted from the audience.

He thrust his sword toward the opponent's throat, startling him so much that he fell to the ground, crawling backward on all fours while making a gesture of surrender.

He merely made a gesture as if to stab, but the guards inside the two doors immediately rushed out as if they had been injected with chicken blood, forming a human wall to firmly protect the loser inside.

The lynx frowned.

Sure enough, it wasn't my imagination... This so-called "defenders" only reacted very quickly and acted exceptionally actively when facing their own match.

Every time, just as I knock someone down and make a move to finish them off, before I even have a chance to do so, they rush over, form a human wall, and rescue the person.

It's important to understand that these garrison troops are directly under the command of the municipal officials. Their attitude subtly reveals Istova's attitude, and further, the emperor's attitude.

They say you can tell a lot from a gong or drum, and from this tiny bit of "timbre," Lynx had already deciphered a rather ominous signal. He certainly hoped that it was all just his imagination, but being in such an unfamiliar place, he really didn't dare to take the gamble.

According to the order, Ardennes will be playing next.

He left the field, and this young man entered. They were going in two different directions, and in just a fleeting moment as they brushed past each other, the Lynx Master and Alden's eyes met.

"……careful."

The lynx said those words to him, but they were drowned out by thunderous applause, cheers, and whistles.

----

When Middlenight stepped onto the stage, the cheers from the crowd reached a new level.

After all, he was a top contender invested in by the mayor, and the sheer hype alone already garnered him considerable popularity. Add to that his tall stature and dashing appearance—he was practically a born gladiator—and a simple wave to the audience was enough to elicit cheers from the crowd.

Seeing the two long swords hanging on either side of his waist from afar, Zhang Renfeng's expression turned somewhat solemn.

Two swords.

These aren't the kind of short swords that come with a round shield; they're two proper long swords.

Of course, with Zhang Renfeng's strength, this thing was nothing; it was just two iron leaves.

But for ordinary people, the weight of a longsword is already considerable. Even if an untrained person could swing it, they would be exhausted after only a few swings. Swordsmen like Alden and Lynx wield longswords with both hands, combining offense and defense to execute spectacular maneuvers.

However, Midnight wielded two longswords.

This shows that his basic strength is not even on the same level as that of an ordinary person like Alden. Fighting an enemy like this is extremely dangerous!

If you defend against someone's heavy slash or horizontal strike using ordinary methods, you simply can't withstand it. If you're not careful, you'll be killed with a single blow.

……

At the edge of the arena, Master Lynx arrived at the spectator area, his expression ashen, his ten fingers clenched tightly together.

He no longer sought victory, but only hoped that Arden would return safely.

……

"Hoo..." On the field, Alden also felt the pressure, took a deep breath, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his glove.

"Aren't you going to pray?" Midnight slowly drew his twin swords, a process he performed with unusual deliberation, part of his strategy to exert pressure on his opponent—intentionally showing off his superior grip and wrist strength.

“I don’t need God’s help.” Alden bit his lip, drew his longsword, and said resolutely, “I will defeat you fair and square with my hard-earned skills!”

“You’re too young,” Midnight said in an icy voice. “You’ll soon realize that most of what a person achieves in life is luck.”

……

"ah-----!!!"

He started with the familiar battle cry, perhaps sensing that a prolonged battle would be disadvantageous for him, Alden wanted to decide the outcome with the first strike. After the cry, he leaped forward, intending to deliver a "rage strike," using his longsword to proactively cleave the opponent's thrust before thrusting in to seal the throat.

"when!!"

Midnight seemed to exert no effort at all, lightly flicking his sword in a circle with his left hand, effortlessly deflecting the furious attack.

"?!"

Alden's pupils contracted slightly. He had anticipated the difference in strength, but he hadn't expected it to be so vast, and his heart skipped a beat. He himself was puzzled as to how his mind could still have the capacity to think about other things at such a life-or-death moment.

luck.

Could it be that... I've come this far simply because I've been too lucky?

The next moment, the opponent's sword strike was like a dense, impenetrable net spread out in mid-air, stabbing towards Alden's shoulder, neck, armpit, and back of the knee!

The clanging and clashing of weapons on the battlefield had never been so frequent.

Midnight's every move was extremely heavy and powerful, leaving Alden with no strength to retaliate. Even his most effective tactic of using movement to distract the opponent was difficult to execute—to start running meant that some of his attention was diverted, and if he couldn't use 100% of his strength to block, a simple slash or thrust could easily break through his defenses!

This is the most, most, most direct manifestation of the difference in physical talent.

Arden had never faced an opponent wielding a two-handed sword before, and his offensive logic was completely different from that of a one-handed swordsman. This intensity of attacks made him feel as if he were fighting four people simultaneously, and not just any four, but four perfectly coordinated, unified individuals.

Almost instantly, he was driven into a corner and had no choice but to use his ultimate move.

The master strikes back!

"when----!!"

It worked!

Alden was excited. He twisted the opponent's sword with his own and was about to thrust it in when he suddenly froze and stopped moving abruptly.

"when----!!!"

His master countered Midnight's left-hand sword, but at the same time, Midnight used his right-hand longsword to counterattack him! The sword pierced his right leg armor, and after prying open the armor, it made his thigh bleed.

At first, he didn't even feel any pain. Alden was just wondering how the sword, which had been so heavy just moments before, had suddenly become so light and swift!

“You rely too much on the master’s counterattack,” Middlenight said coldly. “Isn’t that right?”

Two swords against one sword naturally have an advantage.

The blood loss was faster than expected; the leg quickly lost sensation, staining the sandy arena red.

In this situation, the armor becomes so heavy that it becomes a complete burden on the body.

Alden had no choice but to raise his hand to signal that he was withdrawing from the race and hand the baton to Zhang Renfeng.

----

……

……

……

There was no sound of horns.

There were no guards; they rushed out from the small gates on the east and north sides.

"..." The lynx sensed something was wrong, and his expression changed drastically.

"laugh--!!"

Midnight swung his longsword and sliced ​​Alden's right arm off at the elbow.

Chapter 791: The Truth

"..."

Fresh blood gushed out like a fountain.

Alden stared blankly at the wound. The hand that had been gripping the sword just moments before was suddenly gone. The mutilated limb gave him a surreal feeling. He could almost still feel his hand, but the cut was clean and precise; below the elbow of his right arm, there was truly nothing left.

The entire circular arena was suspended overhead, like an inverted bowl, spinning rapidly along with the sky.

As he spun around, the tingling sensation in his phantom limb finally subsided, replaced by excruciating pain that he himself could hardly believe.

"—————!!!"

Alden wasn't even aware of whether he had screamed or not. From his perspective, the pain overwhelmed everything; he felt like he was just opening his mouth without making a sound. After that, he felt completely powerless, only to see Midnight slowly walk over, raise his sword, and slowly bring it down towards his throat.

"when--!!"

A long sword suddenly appeared from the side and intercepted him.

"..." Master Lynx's expression was incredibly sorrowful. He raised his head and exchanged a glance with Midnight. He even saw a hint of a smile in Midnight's eyes, further confirming his suspicions. He sighed and asked coldly, "Was it necessary to go this far?"

The smile in Midnight's eyes vanished in an instant. Sheathing his twin swords, he took a step back and said meaningfully, "You're a smart man."

“Smart people should know even more that whether something is necessary or not is not up to me.”

----

"Hey! Hey!"