It was like delivering the dent in the knight’s armor turned on a higher gear; the former Saint now came at him with a lively vigor. He moved back, ducking as the jade sword was swung from a range, casting forth rays of emerald light that cut through the ever-changing palace.
With a quick breath, he settled himself into a prepared stance, staring down the incoming lines of green light that came in.
[Anti-Magic Parry] [B-Rank Close-Quarters Combat Skill]
It required utmost precision; the moment the emerald force came within reach, he swung the blade in a perfect arc. The timed parry dispelled the magical force, like dissolving a gas.
Casting off the jade output stoked the dead flame of the knight’s warrior spirit, only accepting the parries as a direct challenge. The fallen Saint performed a solo dance, swinging his treasured sword dozens of times within a singular moment:
’--Ah,’ Noah thought.
Emerald light engulfed his vision; a glow of impending death. By his estimate, the amount of slashes amounted to "too much."
[Tintri] [The Snake’s Eye] [Anti-Magic Parry]
In the vision of heightened perception, he swung both axes with utmost precision, needing perfect timing to counter each of the emerald waves. It felt like his arms might pop right off his body, but he forced them to swing past their limits.
Through sheer persistence, he parried each of the jade slashes–all but one.
"Ngh...!"
"Noah!" Rain shouted out desperately.
It left a gash down from his left shoulder to his abdomen, gushing blood out, though the pain was quickly overwhelmed by the elation of adrenaline. He caught himself while sliding back, stomping his boot down with a thunderous impact.
Y’Sila caressed her lip with a flush to her cheeks, looking upon him with a lustful gaze, "That’s it...A beautiful shade of red; strong men are meant to be roughed up!"
["Close-Quarters Combat" Proficiency Up +20] [150/999]
["Dueling" Proficiency Up +10] [20/100]
["Axe Mastery" Proficiency Up +10] [214/999]
[Skill(s) Acquired: "Quake Stomp" | "Projection"]
The more he became drenched in his own scarlet, standing in a now pooling puddle of it, he felt his focus sharpen. As the silent Saint approached with a single step, closing the distance quieter than a leaf falling but faster than a bolt of lightning, he countered:
He deflected the incoming strike for his abdomen, immediately retaliating with a soul-rending swing granted to the knight. The elusive warrior slipped back, using his treasured blade to dismiss the ethereal force, placing them back in neutral territory.
As a single breath exhaled from his lips, the dance resumed, spectacted by the thrilled and the anxious; watched by the many quiet spirits. Sparks flew in the air as the onyx axe collided with the emerald blade, though never pushed back the other.
[Download] [A-Rank Dueling Skill]
’I can see it now–his movements, his techniques,’ he thought, unblinking as their weapons clashed.
[Fragment of Librarian Phantasm]
[Fragment of Kidnapper Phantasm]
From the emergence of lavender light at his hand, he cast it forth, bringing out the aspects of the two phantasmals captured by his axe. At once, the being made of books and the man-serpentine manifested at his side.
Rain was left in utter shock, confusion, and bewilderment, ’--Those two?! How...How did he summon them?!’ She thought.
"Go," Noah quickly ordered the phantasmals under his control.
Without further instruction, the fragments set forth, with the librarian taking to the air with its ever-shifting body of hardcovers and fluttering pages. It cast a volley of fastly-flying books right towards the former Saint, who sprinted through the meteoric downfall of literature.
No effort was taken by the wordless knight as he leapt through a gap in the downpour of pages, ascending like a bolt of violence. It was merely a blur of visceral speed, leaving pages fluttering as the librarian was cut in half through each and every book that made up its form.
As the knight returned to the marble flooring, the towering kidnapper arrived behind with its fist cocked back, its fiery grin already stretched–
Its head separated from its shoulders, and its torso from its serpentine half in two, perfect cuts.
While the knight watched the fragmented phantasmal fade away, the air behind "hummed."
The former Saint turned around, witnessing an axe flying in larger than his own body. Between the colossal axe, the jade blade was the only thing that separated it from parting through the knight.
"Hhhhm–"
Only an airy exhale pushed from beyond the knight’s helm as even he slid back from the weight of the gigantified axe. It was repelled, yet in the view of the hollow spirit, the man who threw it was nowhere to be found–
Behind the knight, Noah arrived silently, already swinging his other blade with everything he had. As fast as he swung, the former Saint still managed to spin around, though unable to defend the axe that cut across the charred armor.
Blackened blood spilled from the opened gash as the silent figure stumbled back, though didn’t let out a single sound nor falter. In unison, the spectating spirits clapped their hands from the unseen distances of the false palace.
"Oh," Y’Sila remarked in delight. "You’re the first one that’s wounded him in decades. A marvelous showing."
As he bled, the knight seemed to take on a change in demeanor. The slumped shoulders, the one-handed style changed–with both hands grasping the unblemished, silver handle, the sword was drawn back.
Looking upon that stance, it clicked for Rain as her tired eyes widened:
’It’s him...!’ She realized.
["The Evergreen Radiance–a legendary sword crafted by the legendary blacksmith, Hi-Kon, using the purest jade at the summit of the tallest mountain, having soaked in the shine of the Heavens. It’s not a weapon unique to a single swordsman, having been wielded by many Saints of Blades, passing through the hands of hundreds of humans, elves, and even monsters.
However, only one man has drawn its full potential throughout the blade’s eventful history–"]