Gazef picked up his weapon again and looked toward the opponent who was confidently waiting for him to adjust his state.
There was some fear in his heart—an emotion produced by the instinct of life toward death and the strong. He was not a saint who could be indifferent to death; moreover, he had a mission he had to complete and was unwilling to sacrifice himself before it was done. But—
This was unavoidable.
This was a hurdle he had to face, he convinced himself, and adjusted his breathing.
Since the opponent wanted to see his full power, he would give it. Thinking about so many things now was meaningless, because if he couldn't survive this hurdle, he didn't know if he'd even live. What he had to do was strive to satisfy the opponent, or use the opportunity of the opponent's carelessness to defeat this seemingly invincible foe, making every effort to stay alive!
Tsukasa noticed a subtle change in the man's aura; it seemed he finally intended to get serious. Thus, she entered the Sword Saint State. Although she looked exactly the same as before on the outside, she was actually completely different now. Though Gazef seemed to think he had a certain chance of defeating her, unfortunately, that probability was zero—not a single chance existed.
[Focus Battle Qi]
[Possibility Perception]
[Flow Acceleration]
[Vital Scan]
Gazef's momentum surged instantly.
Watching the fight, Hanta couldn't help but gape. "No way, he can use four Martial Arts simultaneously?!"
Using Martial Arts greatly consumes the user's stamina. Generally, no one uses multiple Martial Arts at the same time; instead, they use different ones consecutively in a combo. However, that is also a very high-difficulty technique. While not as burdensome as using multiple simultaneously, it still heavily drains stamina. If victory isn't guaranteed, one falls into a weakened state after the combo. As for using multiple simultaneously, let alone the exhaustion afterward, the body itself might not be able to handle the effects and could be injured. This was the first time he had seen someone use four Martial Arts at once.
"Is this very impressive?"
Beside him, Alice expressed her lack of understanding, because under her magical perception organs, Gazef's combat power had only increased from 90 to 100.
This kind of increase really couldn't be considered strong.
One had to know that when she used her double, her own combat power would increase by over 100. Yet even when she went all out like that, she couldn't even harm a hair on her Master's body. Her Master's strength was just that immense. She truly couldn't understand why her Master would pay attention to such a weak character; the opponent simply had no value worth her Master's attention.
Hanta: "..."
He really wanted to answer that of course it was impressive.
But seeing the boredom and disdain on Alice's face, and remembering the rumors that she had once defeated Lightning Flash of the Imperial Four Knights, he suddenly didn't dare to speak. Perhaps he really was making a fuss over nothing. In the eyes of these two adults, this Warrior Chief might truly be an insignificant little figure. If his identity weren't the Kingdom's Warrior Chief, the Sword Saint might not even have the interest to spare him a glance.
Gazef heard their conversation.
Their dialogue also gave Gazef a clearer understanding of what kind of person he was sparring with. That maid was not someone ignorant of Martial Arts; he had known this the moment he first saw her. He trusted his intuition. Even the opponent's servant looked down on the power he displayed, showing just how unfathomable the current Sword Saint's strength was.
But now was not the time to marvel at this
matter. He gripped his weapon and put all his effort into launching an attack. His speed was more than double what it was before. Hanta's eyes widened; he knew that if he faced this Warrior Chief, he would absolutely be no match. But in the next moment, he was stunned, because the Sword Saint still had no intention of drawing her sword against the Warrior Chief's full-power attack. She simply extended a single finger, reinforced it with mana, and used that finger to block the Warrior Chief's strike.
In the blink of an eye, Gazef and Tsukasa had already exchanged over a dozen moves. Gazef had gone all out, but the opponent's attitude remained the same as before.
The only place he had improved was perhaps that now, the opponent didn't wait until he had completely swung the sword to act like before. Instead, she found the flaw the moment he swung and used minimal effort to block his attack, giving him no room to fully unleash it. Although the opponent seemed slightly more serious than before—which should have been something to be happy about—Gazef felt no joy in his heart. The opponent had completely seen through his attacks, which meant she could easily defeat him before every strike.
Moreover, it wasn't quite right to say his opponent had become more serious than before; in reality, it felt as though she had simply changed her method of crushing his confidence. Just like when the previous Sword Saint secretly participated in the Grand Tournament, their ultimate goal was merely to strike at the Kingdom's self-confidence; they wanted much more than a simple victory. Had they achieved their goal? Yes, they had. The previous Sword Saint had won the championship in the Grand Tournament, becoming His Majesty's nightmare. And now, the young girl before him was using her absolute, invincible power to tell him that no matter how hard the Kingdom tried, it was useless, because victory for the Kingdom was an absolute impossibility.
He was unwilling to accept this!
Gazef's hands trembled as he gripped his weapon.
Immediately after, the blade emitted a Flash.
Martial Arts!
[Six Light Flurry Slash]—
A fifth Martial Arts! Gazef's strength had undoubtedly stepped into the realm of heroes.
A divine light bloomed in Tsukasa's eyes; she had already finished copying and analyzing every Martial Arts Gazef used.
But unfortunately, this Six Light Flurry Slash, which Gazef treated as his trump card, was simply too weak.
It was far inferior to the Goblin King's Asura's Wrath. The Goblin King's Asura's Wrath could be described as a technique nearing the level of a Spatial Slash. It was a move where slashes were unleashed from different spaces simultaneously, making it an attack that was absolutely impossible to evade. In contrast, the Six Light Flurry Slash was merely a series of attacks stitched together like a combo; it only appeared to be swung simultaneously because of its high speed. In reality, it was a technique where one strike followed another in succession; the difference in power between these two Martial Arts was like night and day.
Against Asura's Wrath, she would need to activate Shadow Step to dodge, but against Gazef's Six Light Flurry Slash, she didn't even need to use a skill.
The light of a Martial Arts radiated from her fingertips. In the next moment, under Gazef's shocked gaze, she unleashed an even faster Six Light Flurry Slash. To show her gratitude for the information Gazef had provided, she decided to give him some pointers on his Martial Arts.
But at that moment, Gazef lost even the confidence to hold his sword. It was as if his body and soul had been crushed; the seed left by the previous Sword Saint was finally detonated by Tsukasa, who inherited the title of Sword Saint.
The Warrior Chief's sword fell to the ground.
Tsukasa deactivated her Sword Saint State. Looking at the Warrior Chief before her, who had lost his will to fight, she ultimately said nothing. She turned around and said to the other two, "Let's go."
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