Kaito matched it, his body flowing through the forms of Basic Swordsmanship. Chop. Cut. Slash. Thrust. Strike. Sweep. Parry. Block.
Simple, direct movements. But each one executed with flawless precision. Each one timed to intercept, deflect, or counter. His arms ached, his shoulders burned, his lungs felt like they were on fire but his eyes never wavered.
The duel was a blur. Sparks lit up the chamber with every strike, flashes of steel flickering too fast for the others to follow. To the watching Genesis team, it was like two storms colliding, their blades weaving in endless arcs, each exchange louder than thunder.
Kaito gritted his teeth. His heart pounded, his breaths grew ragged. Every time the Wraith General's blade came down, his arms screamed in pain. Every time he parried, his bones felt like they would snap.
This was still Glory. The realism settings could only dull pain by ten percent. The other ninety tore through him as though he were fighting in flesh and blood. Every cut he blocked sent shockwaves up his arms. Every grazing strike stung like fire on his skin.
But he endured. He had endured worse.
Wind Wheel Step carried him around the monster's body, sliding into gaps. Mana Step flared under his feet, letting him recover from the crushing weight of the General's swings. He chained them together, his body flashing in and out of motion, always sticking close, always staying between the monster and his team.
The Wraith General roared, its strikes growing heavier, its movements more vicious. It chained its own sword skills together, cleaving horizontally before spinning into a thrust, then dragging the blade upward in a brutal upper slash.
Kaito blocked one. Deflected another. Parried the third. His arms screamed, his knees nearly buckled but he did not falter.
"Haah !"
He let out a sharp exhale, the Solstice Blade glowing as he countered with his own strikes. Chop. Slash. Sweep. Strike. Basic forms, but executed with sharp, cutting intent. The ground beneath their feet shattered as their blades clashed. The walls cracked as shockwaves tore through the chamber.
Blood trickled from the corner of Kaito's lips. His health bar dipped dangerously low, every blocked strike cutting into him as if the game itself wanted to crush his will. But he pressed forward.
The others watched in stunned silence. Hiroto's hands clenched his shield. Daichi's fists glowed faintly, but neither dared to intervene. They knew this was a clash between two swordsmen.
Even the Wraith General seemed to understand. It roared again, its body lowering into a stance almost human. Its greatsword spun in its grip, settling into a basic guard. It too had begun to fight with pure swordsmanship.
The duel raged on.
Steel screamed. Sparks rained down. Every step Kaito took, the Wraith General matched. Every slash the Wraith General threw, Kaito parried. Their bodies blurred, their blades weaving through the air like twin storms colliding.
Minutes passed in heartbeats.
Pain wracked Kaito's body. His chest burned. His grip threatened to fail. But his eyes glowed with fierce determination. This was the moment he had waited for the chance to unleash what he had studied so long ago.
Basic swordsmanship. The purest form of combat.
He roared, his Solstice Blade glowing brighter as he pushed back against the Wraith General's strike. The monster staggered for the first time, forced a step back.
It howled, blood-red flames blazing higher. Its sword rose once more, cleaving downward with every ounce of berserk strength.
Kaito met it head-on.
The chamber shook as the two blades collided in a final clash. For a moment, it felt like the world itself cracked apart the ground split beneath their feet, the air rang with the force of impact.
And then both were blasted apart.
Kaito's body was hurled backward, crashing onto the floor, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. He forced himself onto one knee, sweat dripping down his face, blood at the corner of his lips.
The Wraith General staggered back as well. Its massive body dropped to one knee, the blood-red flames in its eyes flickering unsteadily. Cracks spread across its black armor, its chestplate glowing faintly as if its hollow body could no longer contain the burning energy inside.
The chamber fell silent, save for Kaito's ragged breathing and the General's distorted growls.
Both warriors had struck with everything they had. Both had endured.
Kaito planted the tip of the Solstice Blade against the ground, pushing himself upright. His chest heaved, his muscles trembled, but his eyes remained sharp. Across from him, the Wraith General also rose slowly, its blade dragging sparks across the floor as it forced itself back onto its feet.
Two figures. Two blades. Both battered, both exhausted.
...
Kaito's chest heaved, sweat dripping down his forehead as his arms trembled from the clash. The Solstice Blade glowed faintly in his grip, its edge cracked from overuse. Across from him, the Wraith General staggered, its body shaking, its health bar finally dipping into the red.
[HP: 10%]
Kaito's heart hammered. It had taken everything he had every ounce of strength, every perfectly timed strike, every dodge powered by Wind Wheel Steps and Mana Steps to cut the towering knight down this far. His muscles screamed, but his eyes never left the monster.
The Wraith General's aura sputtered, flickering like a dying flame. Its massive form, once swollen with berserk fury, began to shrink slightly. The blood-red flames in its eyes flickered and dimmed. The force that had driven it beyond its limits began to unravel.
Kaito's instincts screamed. This is it. This is the opening.
"Aika!" His voice thundered through the hall. "Purify now!"
Aika raised her staff high, divine light bursting outward in a radiant wave. The holy glow washed over the battlefield, cutting through the shadows and weakening the General's berserk aura even further. The black armor of the knight shimmered, its movements visibly slowing under the sacred light.
Kaito's grip tightened. "Everyone! All out! This is the last push kill it here!"
He roared, Solstice Blade glowing with fierce golden light. "ODIN'S WRATH!"
pillars of lightning exploded downward from above as his blade cleaved through the Wraith General, the colossal strikes shattering the ground. The impact of the last lightning strike even cracked the floor beneath its feet, forcing the knight backward.
Before the monster could even recover, the team surged forward.
"Flame Serpent, Inferno Surge!" Lucian thrust his staff forward depleting his mana, a colossal serpent of flame erupting from the floor, coiling around the Wraith General and exploding in a fiery detonation. The blast seared its black armor, and the flames from the inferno surge eating away at its defenses.
Nina followed immediately, sweat beading down her pale face. "Glacial Spike!" A spear of ice shot through the air, skewering into the General's chest. "Frozen Lance!" Shards of blue light rained down, freezing its limbs in place. She gasped, raising her trembling hands one last time. "Glacial Prison!" Frost engulfed the monster in a dome of ice, locking it for a brief moment before shattering. Nina collapsed to one knee, her mana nearly gone, her breath ragged.
Kaede's eyes sharpened. "Stormfield Burst!"
Lightning exploded across the chamber, arcs of electricity dancing around the General's body. He followed it with another spell, as he roared: "Thunder Spear!" A spear of pure lightning formed in his hand and slammed into the General's torso, tearing through its chest.
His hands blurred again with seals. "Lightning Chain!" Bolts of crackling energy spread like a web, chaining between the General's limbs and locking it in place long enough for the thunder spear to land clean.
On the flanks, Raven Blade and Suzune appeared from the shadows.
"Backstab Stab Eviscerate Combo!" Their blades dug deep into the Wraith General's side, twisting and ripping before both vanished again.
"Shadow Severe!" The two assassins reappeared, their daggers glowing with ominous black light as they carved deep across the monster's back, spraying shadow energy like blood.
Hiroto's roar shook the chamber. "Twinblade Slash!" His blades carved across the knight's torso in a brutal cross. "Shieldbreaker Slash!" He followed immediately with a downward chop, cracking against the General's defense and forcing it to stumble.
Daichi stomped down, his stance firming like a mountain. "Mountain Boot Stance… Iron Fist Howl!" His fist slammed into the Wraith General's side, the sound echoing like a war drum as the monster's armor dented under the raw impact.
The combined onslaught tore through the General's defenses, its health bar dropping rapidly under the rain of skills and techniques.
[HP: 5%]
"Now!" Kaito roared.
Wind Wheel Steps. Mana Steps. His body flashed forward in a blur, closing the distance in an instant. The Solstice Blade split into phantoms sixteen shadows of steel swirling around him like an army of blades.
They rained down upon the Wraith General, every strike carving deep, every phantom blade cutting through its failing defenses. Sparks lit the chamber like stars.
The monster reeled, its health bar flickering desperately.
Kaito drew one last breath, his body screaming from exhaustion. Flames wrapped around his blade, the Solstice Sword glowing brighter than ever.
"Flame Arc Slash!"
His strike tore through the knight, a blazing arc of fire consuming its hollow body.
The Wraith General staggered, its greatsword clattering against the ground as it dropped to one knee. Its blood-red flames dimmed to a faint ember. With its last strength, it embedded its blade into the floor, as if saluting some unseen master deep within the Misty Palace.
The fire in its eyes flickered one last time before vanishing completely.
A hollow sound echoed through the chamber as the knight's body dissolved into light, scattering like ash on the wind.
Glowing loot scattered onto the floor. At the center lay its massive greatsword, half-buried in the cracked stone, gleaming with ominous black light.
The battle was over.