Chapter 212: Senior Sekiro, Vanguard Blacksmith
Cheng Tian's sudden disappearance was not a major issue. After all, he was merely a 'general' of the Knights of the Round Table. Even without him, Arthur, Lancelot, and Percival would still be present, ensuring no problems with legion command.
However, Prince Allen was different. As the legion's leader, his disappearance left only two adjutants in the army.
One was the Halberd Knight 'Scott', a champion-template entity who was the brother of 'Scaun', the Halberd Knight responsible for burning the village that players faced in the first act. The other was a mage hidden within the legion, possessing both a robust physique and spatial transfer abilities.
Nevertheless, with Prince Allen's chief knight, Balford, already deceased, Scaun's status had risen sharply. With him present, the Silver Legion would not collapse for now.
The mage immediately determined that Prince Allen had experienced some kind of spatial transfer phenomenon, rather than being harmed by an ability. Therefore, as long as they could hold out until Prince Allen reappeared, there was still a possibility of victory on their side of the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the two duelists, both now within the Sunfire Altar, unleashed their respective moves.
Cheng Tian first took advantage of not being fully in combat mode to release his Primeval Wyvern, sending it soaring into the sky, eyes closed. Then, he unhesitatingly unleashed the Solar Fist + Light-Shadow Serpentine combination, forcibly reading Prince Allen's stats.
[Prince Allen (Sun God Gem Shard Mutation): Leader Template. Silver Prince, Magic Knight. HP = 2700, MP = 2700. Strength 45, Agility 16, Spirit 45, Charisma 32.]
[Unit Traits — Aerial Crushing Strike, Parry Counter, Piercing Knuckle Dusters, Silver Armament, Sun Crown]
Knowing that his opponent also held a gem shard and was a heavily armored unit, Cheng Tian realized that even if Prince Allen stood still, a direct attack would likely have little effect. So, he decisively used the blinding opportunity to gain Prince Allen's stats and HP bar display.
Sure enough, Prince Allen was indeed blinded by Cheng Tian, but after the orange-red gem on his crown shimmered slightly, he could be seen reopening his eyes and looking towards Cheng Tian —
Sun Crown: A crown embedded with a Sun God Gem Shard, granting the wearer additional resistance to 'Sun', 'Fire', and 'Light' attributes, while also inheriting and gaining a certain degree of sun-related spellcasting abilities.
Immediately after, Prince Allen's massive body, likely weighing tons with his armor, actually took to the air, supported by his magically enhanced warhorse. Then, with both knees together, he used his knee joints, equipped with additional knee spikes, to press down directly, targeting Cheng Tian's head!
Cheng Tian chose not to confront it head-on, instead performing an exceptionally agile sidestep followed by a side somersault, dodging the Silver Prince's descending knee —
Where the Prince's knee pressed into the ground, a fighting energy storm erupted, comparable to what a Twinblade Knight would need to sacrifice HP to unleash, blowing Cheng Tian, who had his twin blades crossed before his chest, several meters away.
Unlike Cheng Tian's previous battle with the Twinblade Knight's remnant flame, the Sunfire Space was constructed based on the current dungeon, and both Cheng Tian and Prince Allen were drawn into it in their original forms. The time progression was synchronized with the dungeon space, so Cheng Tian was still affected by the dungeon modifiers of the Knights of the Round Table dungeon.
This meant that Cheng Tian's war chariots were still unusable.
Additionally, since it was nighttime outside, Cheng Tian's sunfire mask's bonus shifted from Spirit and Charisma to Strength and Agility.
Prince Allen's Strength, Spirit, and Charisma all surpassed Cheng Tian's, and due to his template bonus, his stats were far beyond what Cheng Tian could hope to achieve.
However, it was fortunate for Cheng Tian that the nighttime bonus temporarily gave him 'Agility', an advantage over Prince Allen.
If you can't be hit, it's no big deal! — by Char Aznable
With the steel war chariots completely unusable, the means Cheng Tian could rely on to allow him to solo Prince Allen were actually fewer than imagined.
Aside from the Savage Ox, which was also drawn into the space, Cheng Tian only had the Primeval Wyvern, which he had released just in time, and the War Elephant Mammoth, which he planned to deploy quickly at a specific opportunity.
Cheng Tian's Ten Commandments had already been upgraded to Lv4, but the highest template it could affect was currently only Elite units. It was completely ineffective against units with a Leader template like Prince Allen.
"Dodge!? Let's see how long you can keep dodging!"
Prince Allen, having failed to land a blow, looked increasingly ferocious, a situation that somewhat puzzled Cheng Tian.
As a Prince, and effectively the second in command of the Evil Roman Empire, he shouldn't be someone who easily loses his temper. Or perhaps, he was inherently a tyrannical type of Prince?
Just then, Prince Allen, who had pressed a shallow pit into the ground, made a fist-recoiling, power-gathering motion towards Cheng Tian, who had just landed and hadn't fully shed the force of being blown away. Then, he fiercely launched his fist, adorned with the Piercing Knuckle Dusters!
With the dual power of flesh and magic encased in this silver armor, which resembled a small suit of armor, Prince Allen's agility naturally decreased. However, his instantaneous burst power compensated for this well, and in fact, many of his opponents fell victim to this burst, which was far swifter than it appeared.
The six or seven meters between them were covered almost instantly by Prince Allen's charge-like burst punch!
Clang!
An incredibly clear metallic sound emanated from the collision point of Cheng Tian's twin blades and Prince Allen's knuckle dusters.
"Tsk!"
Prince Allen's click of the tongue already indicated the outcome of this exchange. Cheng Tian, like a thrown sandbag, arced lightly and landed further away, still unharmed.
Just as Cheng Tian and his allies found bosses who knew how to block and parry troublesome, the Prince and his side were equally annoyed by the Knights of the Round Table who excelled at defensive counters.
During their battles as weapon-wielding warriors, the crisp sound of clashing metal was always incessant. Usually, one side's weapon would break first, and only then would the actual hitting begin.
Cheng Tian weighed the hilts of his twin blades, frowning slightly as he saw both swords' durability drop by 3 points.
This was durability lost with a 60% defense consumption reduction. Didn't that mean if there were no reduction, his twin blades would lose about 8 points of durability?
That wouldn't allow for many precise blocks.
Prince Allen looked at Cheng Tian's action of inspecting his twin blades and couldn't help but smile.
In terms of stamina, armor, and weapons, Prince Allen surpassed Cheng Tian in every aspect. Furthermore, regarding the durability consumption of their weapons, his meticulously crafted and robust Prince Allen could never lose to someone who had taken his chief knight's sword!
Just then, a massive rock, like a thrown bomb, descended from the sky, plummeting directly towards Prince Allen.