Free Web NovelChapter 30: A duel of swordsmanship
Thomas snorted as he stared at me.
"I know you’re stronger than me, but if it’s a duel of swordsmanship, you’ll never beat me."
Then, the mockery in his eyes vanished, replaced by sharp focus. Sword in hand, he charged at me, unleashing a barrage of deadly thrusts. Each one carried killing intent, moving so fast I could barely keep up.
My eyes were empty, yet every strike from my opponent was reflected within them. My breathing steadied as I combined masterful footwork with precise evasive movements, slipping past each sinister blow.
The sound of steel colliding echoed through the arena with every clash between us.
I swung a downward slash before redirecting it at the last second. My intention was to catch him off guard, but Thomas only grinned, answering with a strike of his own that left a cut across my cheek, blood streaming down.
Indeed, at my current level of [Basic Sword Break], I still couldn’t overcome his swordsmanship.
"See? You’ll never beat me. I knew it. You’re good at close combat, not swordsmanship."
I asked in a neutral voice.
"How do you know?"
Thomas smirked, pointing his sword at me.
"Obviously. To master one aspect, you need years of hard work. In my case, I gave up on training close combat to a high level and focused entirely on the sword. As for you, it’s the opposite. We’re not geniuses like the children of the Round Table Knights, so focusing on a single field is the only sensible path."
I asked him again, my voice still as empty and cold as ever.
"I asked you. How do you know I’m good at close combat?"
Thomas chuckled.
"Social media. You’re more famous than you think.There are even groups of fanatical fangirls on social media obsessed with your cold-blooded persona from the banquet."
My eyes narrowed slightly as I muttered,
"Banquet..."
Thomas snorted and charged at me again.
"Let’s finish this fight. I’m bored of it."
I stared at him indifferently. Right now, I had many questions, but I could be certain of a few things.
Firstly, Thomas was just a pawn. There was a mastermind behind all this, someone who had created a situation where he couldn’t refuse the fight.
Clearly, buying out all the dorm rooms and leaving only a VIP room was the mastermind’s doing.
And to have enough credits to reserve all those rooms, the mastermind had to be a second-year student, perhaps even a well-known one among them.
I wondered what he had done to them, or what old Henry had done to cause all this trouble.
I didn’t care too much.
As time passed, Thomas repeatedly unleashed cruel, deadly strikes at me, leaving countless shallow cuts across my body.
Blood streamed from my wounds, dripping onto the floor.
Thomas seemed to enjoy the sight, so he kept repeating the same attacks just to mock me.
I merely glanced at him lazily, my attention fixed on what I wanted at that moment – improving my technique.
[You have mastered 1% of Tier 1 technique]
Tier 1: Basic Sword Break (Mastery: 4/100%)
My heartbeat began to race as a surge of adrenaline coursed through my veins. The scent of blood in the arena was enough to awaken the monster within me.
I simply grew stronger.
My eyes became sharper, and with them, so did my attacks.
But it wasn’t enough.
I needed more blood.
...
"What the hell? Is this even a fight? It looks more like a public humiliation." A student scratched his head as he watched the duel.
"I was wrong. Henry isn’t as strong as I thought."
Another student responded, rebutting him.
"But his fight against the son of the captain of the Royal Pendragon Knights is real. I think swordsmanship just doesn’t suit him. He already lost the moment he accepted this duel."
"It’s not his specialty."
...
"It’s all you have?... HAHAHAHA! Just remember your words."
Thomas laughed as he attacked me nonstop.
I just stared at him with hollow eyes, waiting for the moment I felt right to strike back. When my mind began to empty thanks to the scent of blood, leaving only one thing – absolute killing intent.
My heart and muscles in my legs exploded like a Formula 1 engine roaring to life as I released my strength at that moment.
I broke into speed and rushed forward as if lightning, piercing through Thomas. In the blink of an eye, I stood behind him.
I swung my sword, leaving a long streak of blood across the floor before putting the sword back into its sheath.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH..."
Thomas roared, his face twisted in pure agony as he clutched his severed arm, trying to stop the blood from spilling onto the floor.
He stared at his severed arm lying on the ground before glaring at me with fury and hatred.
"You bastard!"
The professor let out a long breath, about to declare me the winner. But Thomas suddenly roared like a rabid dog.
"It’s not over yet. I still haven’t used my bloodline skill."
Silence.
A heavy silence suddenly descended over the arena as everyone turned their eyes toward me, ignoring Thomas’s pathetic excuse.
Why?
Thomas coughed up a mouthful of blood, his weak, unfocused eyes trying to look at me. I was already standing beside him, my sword piercing through his heart.
I seized the opportunity the moment he let his guard down and finished him off.
"You... are you crazy?" he groaned in a mix of despair and fury.
I showed no emotion, my eyes completely cold and silent, causing him to tremble in fear.
I drew my sword out of his chest before launching another attack.
I delivered a cruel, precise strike to his mouth, shattering every one of his teeth before slamming him onto the floor, creating a lot of cracks.
His limbs fell to the ground, motionless. Beside him, his glasses lay stained with blood, completely broken in half. Blood ran across the floor like a river breaking its banks, creating a horrifying scene.
He died.
I wiped the blood from my fist against the corpse’s clothes before speaking in a hollow voice to the professor, who was completely frozen in shock by my brutality, ruthlessness, and blatant disregard for the rules.
"Declare the winner."
A/N:
From now on, I’ll upload two Chapters per day. Writing is my full-time job, and it’s my only source of income, so financial support means a lot to me, especially right now.
I always keep a stockpile of Chapters ready. If the novel reaches any of the goals below, I’ll gladly release extra Chapters:
200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
200 Golden Tickets = 3 Extra Chapters
1 Castle Gift = 1 Extra Chapter
