Fiora Laurent was the first to act.
Although Lux had developed early and quite well, Fiora Laurent was still a head taller than her.
Therefore, Fiora Laurent chose to strike first, using the advantage of a larger attack range to directly seize the rhythm of the battle.
Fiora Laurent used a rapier, which was different from the conventional one-handed longsword in Lux's hand; because of its slender blade, it moved with a light and agile grace, and its sword moves were incredibly fast—in the blink of an eye, a cold gleam shot straight towards Lux.
The target of this sword strike was the gap in the armor at Lux's elbow; attacking here could easily break the armor and directly incapacitate Lux without causing severe injury or death.
Although Fiora Laurent was unwilling to accept marrying an idiot, she also didn't want to needlessly take Lux's life.
After accepting the challenge, she had been repeatedly warned by her father that the current situation was already bad enough; if they incurred the bitter enmity of the Crownguard, the Laurent Family would likely be completely ruined!
And in Fiora Laurent's view, Lux stepping Unbreakable was merely to defend her family's honor, and she probably didn't have much skill herself—she had heard that Garen's talent was good, but she had never heard that Lux had received guidance from a famous master or undergone rigorous training.
However, to Fiora Laurent's considerable surprise, Lux responded with incredible composure to her sword strike, which could easily instantly kill ninety-nine percent of The Capital's noble young ladies.
Not only did she react, but she also seized the opportunity of Fiora Laurent's underestimation, swinging her arm and dodging the swift attack while sweeping her sword horizontally!
Although Lux's longsword was significantly shorter than Fiora Laurent's rapier, due to Fiora Laurent's forward-leaning center of gravity when she initiated her attack, Lux's counter-attack was extremely effective.
In a hurry, Fiora Laurent had no choice but to take a rather awkward step sideways, avoiding Lux's sword move.
Between one attack and one defense, it seemed like neither gained anything, but Lux successfully achieved her tactical objective, disrupting Fiora Laurent's dueling rhythm!
In the Laurent Family's Heart-Eye Swordsmanship, footwork is a very important part.
Although this sword art has almost degenerated into a dance in the hands of generations of unworthy descendants, it was once renowned, and even in this severely degenerated state, it still contains a wealth of valuable experience.
And the footwork of Heart-Eye Swordsmanship is precisely its essence!
This special footwork, known as "Advancing Fountain," has its essence in being able to move faster and faster in a series of small steps while maintaining one's balance, just like a fountain.
It appears to be only a thin stream, but it can converge into a clear pool, completely submerging the opponent!
At its peak, the entire person will stay right beside the opponent, truly achieving a step-by-step, shadow-like adherence!
And now, because of Lux's sudden counterattack, Fiora Laurent's footwork was disrupted!
Without giving Fiora Laurent any time to adjust, Lux shifted from defense to offense, closing in—given her disadvantage in height and arm span, close-quarters combat would yield the best results.
Although Lux, having undergone extensive simulated training, never learned any extremely profound sword arts, she was very adept at a basic Shurima sword style.
Even if she couldn't use magic here to give her longsword a light saber extension, her extensive combat experience still allowed her to handle close-quarters combat with relative ease.
In this entangled state, it was Fiora Laurent's Heart-Eye Swordsmanship that was not as easy to employ!
At this moment, Fiora Laurent had realized her mistake, but with the combat rhythm so far behind, how could it be so simple to shift from defense to offense again?
...
Seeing the duel between the two sides rapidly escalating towards a fierce climax from the very beginning, the surrounding nobles were stunned.
They never expected that Lux, hailed as the Exemplary Noble of the new generation of Demacia, would possess such astonishing sword skills!
And among the crowd, a few individuals with genuine sword mastery were increasingly astonished, for they had never dreamed that Lux's sword moves, though unadorned, were executed with the exquisite precision of a seasoned veteran.
Each move was not flashy, but each was perfectly executed.
Shurima's basic swordsmanship was originally the earliest sword style in Runeterra, and it was inherently very simple.
Furthermore, this ancient sword art is now almost completely lost, so even Xin Zhao could only discern that "Lux's fundamentals are extremely solid, and her combat intuition is incredibly sharp."
Compared to Lux's talent of "being able to use basic swordsmanship very proficiently without actual combat experience," Xin Zhao felt a sense of disdain for his disciple Garen for the first time.
Both are members of the Crownguard!
Look at your sister!
She has no advantage in physical strength, and she never pursues intricate moves, yet merely by excelling at the most fundamental things, she is enough to be called a genius!
Xin Zhao came from a gladiator background.
Although he learned some methods of using a trident when he was in Ionia, his current skills were mostly honed through the struggles in the gladiatorial arena.
Therefore, from Xin Zhao's perspective, Lux's style was almost completely identical to his own: no flashy tricks, just simple and unadorned use of the most basic techniques, yet enough to sweep through armies!
Well, in a sense, Xin Zhao's view was indeed correct.
He emerged from the gladiatorial arena, and Lux trained through simulated combat.
Gladiators in the arena fought to the death, and Lux's simulated training also lasted until death.
The only regrettable thing was that, due to her age, Lux's strength was truly not an advantage, and because her training was insufficient, many movements had not formed muscle memory, making them somewhat unpolished.
As a result, even though close-quarters grappling was more advantageous for her, whenever she initiated a lethal rhythm, Lux was always unable to expand her advantage due to insufficient strength...
While Xin Zhao was secretly lamenting, Fiora Laurent, who was fighting Lux, no longer had any intention of "going easy."
After several exchanges with Lux, Lux's image in her mind had changed from "noble young lady" to "a worthy opponent."
Facing such an opponent, Fiora Laurent had no room to hold back, and absolutely would not!
As the sword moves of the two became faster and faster in close combat, Fiora Laurent felt as if every pore on her body had stretched open!
At this moment, eighteen-year-old Fiora Laurent finally experienced the ultimate joy of combat for the first time.
She fought with increasing excitement and fervor, and even some moves she usually wasn't proficient in came to her effortlessly, as if she were well-versed in them!
Fiora Laurent was pleasantly surprised to discover that she seemed to be born for battle!
Faster, even faster!
Just like this!
Step forward, slash left and right!
With every step, Fiora Laurent moved to her own rhythm!
With every thrust of her rapier, Fiora Laurent danced her own waltz!
One sword after another!
One step after another!
The stagnant Advancing Fountain finally flowed freely, and the proficient Heart-Eye Swordsmanship reached Mount Targon.
As her body became lighter, she entered an unprecedented state of fluidity.
Now!
To the bewildered gazes of all the watching nobles, Fiora Laurent executed an incredibly graceful turn, deftly avoiding a rather fatal sword strike from Lux—then, she gently bent down, simultaneously avoiding Lux's subsequent attack and twirling her rapier in a flourish, as if extending an invitation for a duet.
The next moment, before Lux could respond, Fiora Laurent stepped forward.
As the sword light flared, her slender figure disappeared into a brilliant radiance, and the nobles who had been seated in the audience almost simultaneously rose to their feet.
In the dueling hall, they witnessed the long-lost sword art of the Laurent Family.
The legendary... Blade Waltz!
Blade Waltz, five strikes per second;
Challenging the world, four breaks per second.
Fiora Laurent is always a champion I can't quite figure out.