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Chapter 137

“You know you cannot defeat me,” Brandon spoke with a serious expression on his face. “Why are you wasting the effort of stepping onto the stage.”

Both Sammuel and Brandon were facing each other. Sammuel smirked at his question.

“You never know what might happen.” He answered casually. “I could come out on top.”

“Impossible, everyone knows you’re stuck in your third evolution. In what world could a mere Flawless defeat a Champion?”

His words didn’t come off as pompous, since they were echoed by just about everyone spectating. Despite that, I could feel a confidence coming from Sammuel that made me suspect that this fighting wasn’t going to be as one-sided as Brandon hoped.

“If that’s how you feel.” Sammuel pulled out his flask and took a sip, “Then please educate me.”

Brandon’s eyes flashed, but then he pulled out his sword. “Then, don’t mind if I’m impolite.”

Brandon lunged forth with a direct strike. His movement was swift, but not swift enough. Sammuel dodged the strike, although, like all of his movement, it looked more like he was stumbling. He ended up behind Brandon, launching what looked to be a lazy kick. The kick struck Brandon’s buttocks, but there was no force in and Brandon quickly spun around. His face turned red, and some of the spectators couldn’t help but laugh.

“That was just a lucky strike. He had no strength.” One of the spectators defended.

“Even if he used all of his strength, could he fight through the defenses of someone an evolutionary realm higher?”

Brandon attacked again, his sword striking out like a snake. His attacks did look a bit more reserved, preventing Sammuel from getting around him. Sammuel’s body stumbled back, his feet moving in a haphazard direction as he narrowly missed strike after strike.

“Sister said earlier that he drinks to temper himself. What did she mean?” Destiny asked her father.

“His style of fighting is unique. I’ve never seen such a technique before, but it seems to take inspiration through drunkenness. He likely keeps himself in an inebriated state to perfect the sporadic motions of a drunk and through that, he created a unique style of combat. Deadliness through randomness. It’s quite interesting. Unless someone has trained to personally counter it, they would be at a disadvantage. Brandon may be stronger, but he’s never experienced an enemy who moves like this before. This fight might be more interesting than we originally thought.”

“She said Spirit drinks a lot. Could he also be tempering himself?” Her voice held a bit of hopefulness.

“How could that be the case?” He chuckled. “Creating a unique style of combat, few geniuses can do such a thing.”

“His footwork seems a bit sloppy too…” She pointed out with a stubborn look on her face.

“That is… just inexperience. You’ll recognize more as you grow, but there is a flow to Sammuel’s technique. Meanwhile, Spirit likely only has the training of a farmer. That’s why he must depend on such lowly tricks to succeed.”

Spirit hid his frown after hearing their words. He knew this sentiment was reached by most people. Sammuel drank and he was some savant reinventing what it meant to fight. I drank and I was a useless slob. Well, it wasn’t like I minded all that much.

Their fight grew more and more animated, but Sammuel remained on the defensive side, using his strange movements to avoid every strike from Brandon’s blade. The frustration on his face grew as his attacks grew more ferocious, but Sammuel continued to wear an easy-going expression. He finally pulled back, his face covered in sweat and breathing hard. Sammuel cocked his head, wearing a light smile.

“Hmph, so you’re hard to hit. If I was a few levels higher, I’d have the ability to restrict your space. Then, you wouldn’t be able to avoid my strikes.”

“Why must we speak of what ifs? If I was in the 4th realm, you’d already be defeated.” Sammuel’s words cut into Brandon, causing his expression to sour considerably.

A few of the spectators laughed, but quickly covered their mouths. Sammuel was acting a bit smug, but even he might not be able to avoid the fallout if he insulted his betters too much. If he offended Brandon, Brandon would continue to grow while Sammuel would remain the same. Even if he couldn’t do anything to him now, in a few years, he could make Sammuel’s life miserable if he so wanted.

“Good… good.” Brandon’s expression became a sneer. “In that case, how about we make a deal.”

“You wish to pay me to quit?” Sammuel asked and then laughed. “I’m not interested.”

“No, three strikes!” He held out his fingers. “Defend yourself and let me land three strikes. If you remain standing on the stage, then I will surrender.”

“Brandon is confident.” One spectator whispered.

“Why wouldn’t he be? Sammuel’s only strength is his weird movements. If you take that out for the occasion, Brandon will defeat him in a single strike.”

As such whispers surrounded the stage, Sammuel didn’t spend too long thinking about it before he gave a nod. “Alright, but what happens if I knock you off the stage instead?”

“You think you can?” He snorted. “Prepare yourself.”

This time, Brandon planned to reinforce his ability with mana. It seemed to take time for his mana to build up, so in the rapid attacks he was using before, he couldn’t use much mana and depended on his physical ability. However, since he set up a situation where Sammuel would wait patiently, he had truly created a situation where he was at the advantage.

His boy glowed with golden light which swirled around his legs and arms. “Golden Sagittal Bisection!”

He leaped forward, forward, his blade coming down on Sammuel’s head as if he intended to cut Sammuel into two equal parts lengthwise from his head to his groin. Sammuel pulled out a short sword and then waved it.

“Fermentation Spike!”

His attack was far faster. His body seemed to explode with energy, but it only lasted for a moment. He timed that moment perfectly though so that his peak power met Brandon’s Golden Sagittal Bisection. There was a flash of energy, and a force blew out from the stage. For the first time since the tournament began, the magistrate had to step out. He seemed to be able to use his mana to create some kind of energy shield, blocking the force they released, but even so, people could still get a sense of the power being displayed.

“Is this the power of a Champion?” One of them asked.

“The youth will truly replace us.” An older man sighed.

When the energy cleared, the crowds couldn’t help but gasp. Both sides were still standing. In fact, between the two of them, Sammuel hadn’t taken back a single step, while Brandon had been pushed back nearly to the edge of the stage. His eyes flashed, and he took a step forward.

“You…” He glared at Sammuel, his expression now showing extreme wariness.

“I never said I couldn’t fight,” Sammuel smirked. “Two attacks left.”

Brandon’s expression turned ugly, but he quickly braced himself as he lifted his sword again. “I was holding back as a mercy. Be prepared, this strike won’t hold back.”

“Then, I won’t either,” Sammuel responded, causing Brandon’s eyes to flicker for a moment.

His body once again began to flow with mana. This time, the energy he was collecting seemed to turn into heat, and soon his blade erupted with fire.

“Entropic Cascade!” He lunged forward.

His blade went quickly, striking Sammuel’s short blade. However, he then struck again, this time, his attack was twice as strong. He then struck a third time. And a fourth. Each strike seemed to build power, becoming exponentially stronger. Although it looked like it was multiple attacks, it was one attack wrapped within a progression of moves. Each move became harder to handle, causing backlash from the user. Brandon reached the sixth strike but seemed unable to continue. With a roar, he pushed through, trying to force it to land.

As the strike grew stronger and stronger, Sammuel had no choice but to retreat. However, upon the sixth strike, realization seemed to cross his face, and Sammuel’s grip strengthened. Mana started to surge in his own body as he decided to meet technique with technique.

“Anaerobic Desolation!” He cried out.

His blade struck the sixth and final attack from Brandon. The oxygen on stage was blown away, causing the fire along Brandon’s blade to go out. For a moment, the two were in a vacuum, and no sound could be heard. Then, the air collapsed into the vacuum, the high-pressure moving to the low-pressure vacuum. An eruption of power exploded out between their two blades, and this time the power was so great that the barrier the magistrate created seriously looked like it might break for a moment.

He let out a soft sigh as the energy dissipated. At this point, large swaths of the stage had been damaged, cracks all spreading out from the point at which the two fought. Even I was a bit shocked at the level of power they showed. Their stats alone shouldn’t have been enough to accomplish this. Was that truly the power of adding mana and technique to attacks? In that respect, I was an amateur.

As the dust cleared, both of them were on the ground, covered in wounds. Neither was capable of getting back up. Brandon was unable to finish his third strike, thus, by the rules they set up in advance, it was Sammuel’s victory. A Flawless had defeated a Champion in battle.