Chapter 205: Dual Sword Knight, Shadow Dies Twice
Balford's Pride and Persistence: Purple Rare / Lv1, One-Handed Sword * 2, Set Combo. Equipment Requirement: Agility 28 & Agility 22, or recognition from Balford's Remnant Soul. Attack Power 34 ~ 46 & 22 ~ 28, Durability 58 / 58 & 42 / 42.
These twin swords were personally forged by Prince Allen of the Silver Fortress and bestowed upon Balford. They are also the foundation and symbol of Balford earning the title of 'Dual Sword Knight'. When holding both swords simultaneously, Balford's powerful physical combat abilities can be reproduced to a certain extent.
Cruel Pride (Longsword) — Passive Effect: Whenever a weapon or armor successfully blocks an attack from the longsword, the durability loss caused by the longsword's next attack to that equipment will double. This can double up to 3 times, or until a non-blocked effective attack is dealt to the target, at which point the effect resets.
Bloodthirsty Persistence (Shortsword) — Passive Effect: Attacks are more likely to cause a bleeding status, losing 5 HP per second for 3 seconds. Repeated attacks can stack the bleeding status and refresh its duration, stacking up to 5 times.
When both swords are equipped simultaneously —
Your Strength and Agility + 5, your Physical Critical Rate + 10%. When you trigger a critical hit, your attack speed increases by 20% for 5 seconds, with no internal cooldown.
You can attempt to precisely block a target's physical attack with both swords. A successful precise block will grant immunity to that damage and inflict a large amount of stagger value on the opponent; your blocking actions will reduce weapon durability and personal stamina consumption by 30%.
The twin swords can only be reinforced and upgraded simultaneously. As the reinforcement level increases, more abilities belonging to the Dual Sword Knight will be unlocked.
Additional comment: Balford requested a rematch.
Balford's Remnant Soul, who died from 'Petrification Decapitation,' still couldn't rest in peace. He believed that your use of summoning demons for a sneak attack, as a Holy Grail Knight, was extremely shameful and defiled the duel that should exist between Knights.
Balford's Remnant Soul has applied to the Space to engage in a sacred Knight's duel with you in a special space set up by the Space, unaffected by any external influences. If you can single-handedly defeat him without using demon units, then 'Balford's Pride and Persistence' will be exempt from its rigid equipment requirements.
Entering the special space will not affect the progression of the main quest. Both of you will duel in 100% perfect condition. You can use all items, equipment, and mounts normally. The outcome of the duel will not affect your current status.
Please decide whether to enter immediately.
Oh, still not giving up?
Then I'll give you a chance for revenge!
Seeing Balford's indignation, Cheng Tian happily accepted the invitation for a sacred Knight's duel from his Remnant Soul.
With a flash of darkness and then light, Cheng Tian saw the Dual Sword Knight Balford, riding his equally Remnant Soul-state warhorse, gazing at him from afar with eyes that seemed ready to erupt like a volcano at any moment.
His retreat from a head-on duel had already been difficult for Balford to accept, but to ultimately die from a combined sneak attack by two Minotaur demons was something Balford could not accept under any circumstances.
If he had been from the world of 'Hunter x Hunter,' he would undoubtedly form a Post-Mortem Nen whose sole purpose would be to relentlessly hunt down Cheng Mouren until death.
...The Space probably didn't tell you, did it?
After a moment of mutual staring, Cheng Tian suddenly spoke first.
Tell me what!?
Because his entire focus was on the accursed Cheng Mouren, Balford immediately questioned Cheng Tian's opening, as if he didn't want to be at a disadvantage even in conversation.
I am indeed a Holy Grail Knight, but at the same time...
Cheng Tian drew out the end of his sentence, then slowly raised his ten fingers, making a gesture.
As Cheng Tian slowly raised his hand, his collection appeared around him, arranged from smallest to largest, as if scanned and transferred from a city of slaughter.
The Batmobile, personal submarine (just for show), Iron Ox Tank, Drill Chariot, Primeval Pterodactyl, War Elephant Mammoth, and the Crimson Tyrannosaurus Rex all appeared, to Balford's monstrous gaze.
I am also a Chariot Master.
Cheng Tian proudly displayed all his chariot mounts to the suddenly uneasy Balford, as if presenting treasures.
Balford's restrictions on Cheng Tian were limited only to not using demon summoning abilities, and this was exchanged for the condition of 'unlocking the twin swords.'
As a fellow Knight, he naturally wouldn't restrict Cheng Tian's mounts, even if the opponent's mount was that terrifying Crimson Tyrannosaurus Rex. He, the Dual Sword Knight, was not afraid, as with preparation, even a large size had its own fighting style.
What he didn't expect, however, was that for Cheng Tian, chariots also counted as Knight mounts. After all, don't those who ride motorcycles also call themselves Knights?
Ghost Rider can also drive an excavator in addition to riding a horse, right?
In the Knights of the Round Table dungeon, Cheng Tian was restricted by dungeon modifiers and couldn't truly use these iron lumps, but in this dueling space, Cheng Tian's most terrifying aspect was truly unleashed.
So... are you ready to face the military-industrial system of fifteen hundred years later?
Cheng Tian said with a smile to Balford, whose eyes suddenly widened... The sacred Knight's duel in the special space did not affect the passage of time in the Knights of the Round Table main quest. Cheng Tian returned with just a blink of an eye.
The purple twin swords in his hand also showed a gray luster indicating 'can be equipped and used'; their agility restrictions in the description had disappeared the moment Cheng Tian opened his eyes.
In truth, Balford, who was brutally riddled with holes by eight Vulcan machine guns, man and horse alike, still couldn't rest in peace. Even though the scene of the Battle Aura Storm blowing away a large number of bullets was truly beautiful... this didn't conflict with his application. Cheng Tian had indeed defeated him once again without using summoned demons, so no matter how displeased he was, he could only obediently remove the equipment requirements for the twin swords.
Cheng Tian also decisively discarded the plain machete he had bought to be used and thrown away, and immediately upgraded to Balford's twin swords, directly attaching his template armament to them.
Cheng Tian's 'Palando Sable Sword and Shield' was also a dual-wielding equipment that occupied both left and right weapon slots. It had effects of 30% reduction in block consumption, 30% increase in block range, and a 50% increase in strength judgment when performing shield bashes or shoves against enemies.
After loading these effects onto the twin swords, they also stacked, with the block reduction directly reaching 60%.
At this point, Cheng Tian even had the thought, 'If the Azure Star loaded in Cadillacs and Dinosaurs used a Charge Blade or Dual Blades, that would be great.'
In other words, only now did Cheng Tian truly possess a certain level of close-combat physical ability for head-on sword fighting.
In contrast to the joyous atmosphere at Cheng Tian's and the Knights of the Round Table camp, the mood at the Silver Fortress was extremely oppressive.
In front of the throne, several corpses of Knights and servants had already appeared, all of whom had been personally crushed to death by Prince Allen on the throne.
Wearing a silver armor that no human could possibly bear, its specifications and weight fully comparable to a 40K-era power armor, Prince Allen on the throne had an unpredictable expression.
Wiping the remaining blood from his hands, the Prince subconsciously touched the center of his silver crown, feeling the burning sensation from his fingertip.
And where a silver gem should have been embedded in the center of his crown, it was now replaced by an orange-red gem...