The look on Blumer’s face changed.
Flee!
Drawing his sword back with a powerful pull, Blumer quickly fell backwards, pressing his back nearly against the dueling platform while hurriedly scuttling backwards. Right at this moment, Wharton’s draconic tail smashed towards Blumer.
If Blumer hadn’t pressed his body down to the ground, he definitely would have been struck.
“Whew.” Blumer stood once more at the edge of the dueling platform, panting slightly. That had been too close; he had almost been struck by Wharton’s draconic tail.
Blumer’s head hurt. Wharton’s defense was simply too powerful. His attacks couldn’t break that defense at all.
“Is that technique my only option?” Blumer only had a superficial understanding of the ‘Lightshadow Sword’ technique, but according to what Olivier had taught him, he could still utilize the most powerful attack of the Lightshadow Sword.
Everyone in the Colosseum was holding their breaths. These experts simply fought at too high a speed, making it impossible for most people to see clearly what was going on. They only saw that Blumer seemed to have transformed into sixteen shadows, moving about as though he was teleporting.
But Wharton was like a sturdy castle. No matter how Blumer attacked, he was unable to hurt Wharton.
“If you won’t attack me, then it’s my turn to attack you,” Wharton’s voice rang out in the Colosseum, and then Wharton charged wildly towards Blumer.
Blumer immediately prepared to dodge.
But Wharton’s seemingly light, agile blow from his warblade had reached a bizarre speed, and was chopping directly at Blumer’s skull. Blumer quickly fell backwards while kicking off against the ground.
“Whoosh!” Blumer retreated backwards at high speed.
Although his retreat was very fast, Wharton’s warblade ‘Slaughterer’ was even faster. Just as it was about to reach Blumer’s vital chest area, Blumer immediately split his legs open and rolled backwards.
“Bam!” ‘Slaughterer’ just scraped Blumer on the back, slamming against the ground.
Slaughterer - Single Stroke Execution!
“Boom!” The entire dueling platform began to tremble, and the magical formation on the dueling platform actually split apart as massive cracks appeared on the platform. This caused all of the eighty thousand viewers to feel both shock and fear.
The defense of this dueling platform was incredibly strong, but the magical array had actually been destroyed nonetheless?
Blumer somersaulted in mid-air, then landed at the edges of the dueling platform. The audience near him couldn’t help but begin to cry out in shock and fear.
Blumer roared angrily, a fierce look on his face.
With a fierce kick against the dueling platform, Wharton flew into the air at high speed towards Blumer’s direction as the platform beneath him cracked yet again. Blumer once again dodged.
“Ahhh!” Seeing Wharton charge towards them, all the onlookers up above began to scream in fear.
But despite moving at high speed, Wharton only lightly balanced against the wall, then changed direction, continuing to pursue after Blumer.
Blumer retreated back to the top of the dueling platform, his face now completely red as his body emanated a red light. His face then turned a golden color, although his eyes remained red.
“What is Blumer doing?” Linley frowned.
Wharton, showing no fear, brandished the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ and charged directly at Blumer for close quarters combat.
Right now, many of the viewers began to cheer for Wharton, while others cursed at Blumer. Clearly, Blumer’s repeated dodges had roused the anger of the crowd. Relying on greater speed to run and hide; what was that? Why not just admit defeat?
Blumer stared coldly at the charging Wharton, a hint of madness in his bloodshot eyes.
The golden aura covering Icedream suddenly carried a hint of white light in it. From a distance, Linley could clearly tell that the sword’s aura had grown more powerful.
“Rumble…”
Repeating his old tactic, Blumer’s body once more separated into multiple images. As flashes of golden-white light appeared, so too did more and more shadow-Blumers.
“Blumer, can’t you do anything besides just run?” Wharton stood there. “If you have any ability, come and play.”
Wharton knew that in speed, he was inferior to Blumer.
“As you wish, Wharton!” A gnashing, wrathful voice could be heard as a dazzling golden light flashed, and a longsword appeared in front of Wharton.
Wharton was shocked.
In terms of speed, this time it was even faster than last time.
“Haaargh!” Wharton once more wanted to use his left hand to grab at Icedream and rely on the toughness of the scales around his palm to block the tip, but this time…
“Slash!”
Covered with that golden-white aura, Icedream actually pierced straight through Wharton’s palm and then, with astonishing speed, stabbed into Wharton’s scale-armored chest.
And then, still covered in that bizarre golden-white light, Icedream once more split open Wharton’s scales.
Although it took time to describe it, the actual event happened in the blink of an eye. Icedream pierced through both Wharton’s palm and into his chest, and Wharton had actually reacted very quickly as well.
“Fuck off!” Wharton’s right leg kicked viciously against Blumer.
Blumer, forewarned, had immediately begun to withdraw his sword. Piercing through the opponent was difficult, but pulling the sword out was much easier. Blumer dodged Wharton’s kick, but he wasn’t able to dodge the slap from Wharton’s draconic tail…
Wharton had actually launched consecutive attacks with his leg and tail.
“Whap!” That draconic tail came swinging towards him. Unable to dodge it, Blumer could only use his left arm to block, while at the same time, allowing the momentum of the force to carry him backwards.
“Bam!”
The battle-qi protecting Blumer’s left arm immediately split open, and the tip of the draconic tail actually slammed into Blumer’s chest, knocking Blumer spinning through the air.
Wharton fell to the ground paralyzed, blood pouring from the wound in his chest.
“Big lunk!”
Nina called out in shock.
Wharton’s injury was very severe. This sword blow from Blumer had pierced into his vitals and damaged his internal organs. Even coughing wracked Wharton’s body with immense pain.
Blumer flipped up from his fallen position on the ground.
His left arm was broken, but he was still battle-worthy. But right now, Wharton could no longer move. If he were to try to do so, his severe injury would only grow more severe, to the point where he might even lose his life.
“Haha…”
Blumer laughed coldly. By this point, it could be said that Blumer was the victor, but Blumer actually moved at high speed towards Wharton, the Icedream sword in his hands stabbing mercilessly towards Wharton.
Just as Blumer moved, another human figure suddenly moved as well.
“Fuck off!” An angry roar could be heard. The eighty thousand viewers only saw a sudden hurricane wind appear out of nowhere, and then countless flashes of violet light simultaneously struck against Blumer.
Blumer immediately hurriedly roused the battle-qi in his body to form a protective armor.
He didn’t dare to take the blow head on. Borrowing the momentum force from those blows, he hurriedly retreated, letting himself be blasted backwards. But despite that, he still suffered several dozen sword wounds.
Blood flowed everywhere.
Fortunately, he retreated at high speed. If he had dared to resist the blow for even a second, Linley’s sword would have run him through. The only things he had suffered so far were superficial wounds.
“Wharton, are you okay?” Linley couldn’t be bothered with Blumer as he immediately inspected Wharton’s injury.
“I… am fi
ne.” Wharton shook his head.
Linley’s face changed. The chest was a vital area. A serious blow there could be life threatening. That Blumer could already be considered to have achieved victory, but he still had wanted to kill Wharton.
“This gentleman with the violet sword, please depart. Others cannot interfere in the duel between these two,” a cold voice rang out. The speaker was one of the judges, Mr. Kenyon.
Linley turned to stare at him.
Couldn’t he tell that Wharton had already been defeated?
“I represent my younger brother in admitting defeat,” Linley said coldly. If they lost a duel, then they lost it. To Linley, this wasn’t nearly as important as Wharton’s life.
It was normal for an expert to lose a duel at times. As long as they could learn from their losses, they would be able to slowly improve.
“Impossible,” Kenyon said calmly. “Per the rules of the competition, unless one of the duelists personally admits defeat, the duel must continue to its conclusion. Since Wharton has not yet admitted defeat, the duel has not finished.”
Blumer rose to his feet as well.
Although he looked as though he had been badly injured, Linley’s sword hadn’t injured him at his vital points. He still could do battle.
“You are Wharton’s older brother? Nonetheless, I still ask that you depart. Wharton and I will continue our competition,” Blumer said directly.
Wharton’s chest was deeply injured, and he could only speak in a tiny voice. If he used too much force to speak, his wound would worsen as well. Wharton opened his mouth, forcing himself to say loudly, “I… I…”
Watching beads of sweat form on his little brother’s forehead as he struggled, Linley’s heart clenched in pain. “Wharton, don’t speak. Don’t speak.” Linley stopped his little brother from speaking.
“Sir, please leave the dueling platform,” the judge, Kenyon, spoke again in a loud voice.
“You shut your motherfucking mouth!!!” Linley roared at him loudly, filled with rage.
The entire Colosseum grew silent. Even the judge, Kenyon, was stunned. He… he had just been cursed at?!
He, a stately personal disciple of the War God, a Saint-level expert, had just been cursed!?
In the Colosseum, in front of eighty thousand viewers, he had been cursed!!!
Kenyon immediately erupted with fury.
“Whoosh!” Kenyon immediately flew out of the judge’s stand towards the dueling platform, staring at Linley coldly. “What type of thing are you, that you dare speak to your betters in such a way?”
Kenyon was both a Saint-level expert and the personal disciple of the War God. Who would dare be disrespectful to him?
Even the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, was very polite towards him. But today, in front of all these people, he had actually been cursed out by this person who came from gods-knew-where.
“Barker, take Wharton away first.” Linley glanced coldly at Kenyon.
Barker and his brothers immediately rushed towards the dueling platform.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” Barker and his brothers landed on the platform with those long-handled greataxes on their backs, and the weight of those five-thousand-plus-pound greataxes caused the earth to shudder.
All the onlookers had gone completely silent.
Barker and his brothers very carefully lifted Wharton up, taking him down from the platform. As they did, however, Barker and the others glared viciously at Kenyon.
“Fuck, who the fuck does he think he is?” Gates even cursed at him in a low growl.
Kenyon couldn’t help but stare angrily at Gates… but just at this moment, Linley’s body began to undergo an astonishing transformation. Black draconic scales sprouted forth from his body, and his forehead, back, elbows, and knees all became covered with sharp spikes. A black draconic tail began to wave about behind him.
“Ah!” the on-looking audience members cried out in shock.
“He is a Dragonblood Warrior as well?” Seeing this, Haydson was shocked as well. Linley’s Dragonform was much more ferocious-looking than Wharton’s, in particular that line of spikes running up his spine.
Raising his head, Linley stared at Kenyon with those utterly remorseless dark golden eyes.
Today, Linley’s heart was filled with boundless fury. An expert such as Kenyon should have easily been able to tell the sort of condition his little brother was in. His little brother had already lost, and so Emperor Johann and Haydson hadn’t spoken out or tried to stop Linley. But Kenyon had tried to stop him. Clearly, he was biased in favor of his fellow apprentice, Blumer.
Kenyon began to grow wary.
He discovered…
The person in front of him was a threat.
“Dragonblood Warrior?” Kenyon said in a solemn voice, floating in mid-air.
Linley actually rose into the air as well, rising to the same height as Kenyon as he stared coldly at him. Seeing Linley float in the air, everyone in the Colosseum exploded with excitement.
Good heavens! Yet another Saint-level combatant!
Was this going to be a battle between two Saint-level combatants? This was simply too exciting!
Two Saint-level experts stood in mid-air, staring at each other!
“I already told you that my younger brother admitted defeat. But you… still wanted my younger brother to continue,” Linley’s voice was utterly cold, seeming to come from the underworld.
“My fellow apprentice only wanted your younger brother to personally admit defeat. He didn’t actually want your younger brother to continue. Your younger brother could’ve admitted defeat, but he refused to. Whose fault is that?” Blumer equivocated.
“Roll the fuck away.”
Linley let out an angry shout as he suddenly moved. How could Kenyon watch Linley act without stopping him? He immediately drew a gold-black dual-color staff and he smashed it towards Linley.
“Fuck off!”
Linley’s entire body seemed to have transformed into the sun, as countless violet sword-shadows blasted out in every direction. In the blink of an eye, ten million sword-shadows stabbed towards Kenyon.
Profound Truths of the Wind – Rippling Wind!
Kenyon was completely unable to block. In the blink of an eye, the layer of protective battle-qi over his body exploded with a ‘BAM!’. Facing certain death, Kenyon retreated backwards at high speed in terror, but despite that, he was still stabbed several times by Bloodviolet.
Kenyon landed at the edge of the dueling platform, his long robes completely soaked with blood. He looked absolutely pathetic.
Kenyon stared at Linley in shock and terror.
They were on totally different levels. Linley definitely had the power of a peak-stage Saint-level expert!
A majestic personal disciple of the War God, a Saint-level expert… had been reduced to such dire straits by a single attack.
“Blumer!” When Linley turned to look at Blumer, he saw that Blumer, sensing that things were going terribly wrong, had immediately fled from the platform, heading towards the position of the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.
The only person standing above the platform was Linley, who looked like a vicious demon who had descended from another plane of existence. That devilish Bloodviolet flexible sword was still dripping with blood.
The Colosseum. Eighty thousand viewers. Utter, deathly silence!
8
The Prodigy Sword Saint
With a single stroke, Linley had defeated a Saint-level expert who was the personal disciple of the War God. In addition, Linley’s current transformation was into a terrifying form. This deeply shocked everyone present. None of the eighty thousand viewers actually dared make a single sound.
Deathly silence. Terrifying silence!
Blumer stared terrified at Linley, still hovering in mid-air. At this moment, Linley’s cold, remorseless dark golden eyes were fixed upon him. Blumer felt as though he could die at any moment. This utmost sensation of terro
r caused him to run even closer towards the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.
Silence. No one dared to speak.
“Drip!” A single drop of bright red blood dripped down from the tip of Bloodviolet, landing on the dueling platform and splattering on it. In the silence, that clear sound rang out loudly.
This was the blood of Kenyon.
Kenyon was standing at the edge of the dueling platform, in miserable shape. Controlling his muscles and battle-qi, he sealed his wound and stopped the flow of blood. But he didn’t dare fight against Linley again.
He was a Saint-level, true. But he was ‘only’ a mid-stage Saint-level. In terms of their comparative levels of enlightenment, he was far lower than Linley.
“Master Linley,” Johann finally spoke. His voice echoed in the Colosseum, seeming to come out of nowhere, causing more than half the people to turn to him. His face still covered in smiles, Emperor Johann said, “Although I knew you were a powerful warrior, I had no idea that your talent in this field was not one whit inferior to your talent in stone sculpting.”
Emperor Johann’s words visibly eased the tension.
Just then, Linley’s vicious demeanor had caused those eighty thousand onlookers to not even dare breathe loudly. But as soon as Emperor Johann finished speaking, the entire Colosseum became filled with the sound of countless conversations.
“Master Linley? Ah! Could it be that he is that youngest-ever grandmaster sculptor?”
“Master Linley belongs to the Holy Union. I heard that Count Wharton had originally come from the Holy Union as well. Dragonblood Warriors truly are formidable!”
“Master Linley is so young! When he was sixteen, he created ‘Awakening From the Dream’, and only eleven years have passed since then. A twenty-seven-year-old Saint-level combatant. Doesn’t that make him even more incredible than Lord Olivier?”
Countless conversations regarding Linley could be heard. Linley had appeared out of nowhere. His status as a master sculptor was well known to many aficionados of stone sculptures.
This was an individual who was almost on the same level as Master Proulx.
Baruch Rising_Book 3 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 6