Han Sen looked at Martial Master Lei with death in his eyes as he unhurriedly extended his hand to the right. He slowly grabbed at what seemed like thin air but instead was met with the cold feel of a sword's hilt. He slowly pulled the hilt towards himself, revealing more and more of the sword with each passing second. By the time he was done, a pitch-black meter-long, rundown Chinese saber could be seen in his grasp. The blade of the saber was roughly two and a half fingers wide; its edge was dull and chipped in some places making it unfit for battle, much less one that was of the "to the death!" nature.
The only eye-catching thing about it was its pitch-black color, aside from that it seemed like a normal saber; mundane in every way. Martial Master Lei observing the sword couldn't help but frown at its normalcy, 'I don't sense any power emanating from that saber... Surely he didn't bring out a normal weapon to fight against me, that would be suicide! Then again he did just revive...'
Han Sen who had finished his preparations stepped forward as he uttered, Moon Light Dance, which enhanced his speed by a great deal. His body seemed to be bathed in the ethereal glow of the moon as he instantly appeared in front of Master Lei, striking down with his saber.
'Fast! But not fast enough!'
Martial Master Lei thought as he raised his spear in defense.
*CLANGE*
The sound of metals colliding with each other could be heard as the saber and the spear connected. The ground beneath Martial Master Lei's feet cracked and buckled as his knees slowly bent, both not being strong enough to handle the force exerted by that attack.
'He's gotten much stronger!'
With a slightly strained expression appearing on his face, he managed to push off Han Sen. Immediately after, he kicked off the ground stabbing at Han Sen and prompting him to block. Parrying that attack to the side, Han Sen executed a saber technique causing his saber to leave behind three shadowy afterimages in its wake.
'Two can play at that game!' Martial Master Lei spun his spear around, allowing it to pick up momentum and causing a steamy white aura to surge from the tip of the blade; once he did that he slashed at the incoming saber. As soon as the two met, the shadowy afterimages left by the saber immediately surged back into the blade making the strike that much more deadly.
*BOOM*
Everything happened so fast! The crimson spear wielded by Martial Master Lei vibrated heavily due to the collision, so much so that he had to squeeze it tight afraid it might free itself from his grip. Han Sen on the other hand had a bloody, diagonal wound that went from his shoulder to his waist. Clenching his jaws and swallowing the pain he caused two large veins to pulsate on his forehead.
Not giving the other guy time to recuperate, the two were at it again! Han Sen strategically executed the saber technique he had used earlier, Surge, to push back Martial Master Lei and causing his spear to fidget. While Martial Master Lei used a combination of normal attacks combined with the spear technique from before, Phantom Spear.
It was apparent that the two were quite proficient in martial arts as their fight seemed like something straight out of a Wuxia novel. With one big clash, both were pushed back digging two trenches into the ground as they tried to stop themselves. Around two hundred blows were exchanged before the two backed off each other. Finally managing to stop, Han Sen fell on one knee, supported only by his saber as he tried to catch his breath. His face was pale and covered in sweat whilst featuring a pained expression, slowly looking down he could see his body covered in all sorts of wounds. Some were small while others were gushing with blood profusely, staining his white and golden robe completely red!
Looking at his advisory while keeping his head down, he was pleased. Martial Master Lei could be seen with his hands slightly shakey and dripping with blood with a slightly haggard demeanor. He let out slow deep breaths trying to suppress the fact that he was out of breath. He looked at Han Sen with inquisitive eyes trying to predict his future actions. I mean, if there were any at least. Han Sen was in terrible shape and probably wasn't able to last much longer in a fight but despite that Martial Master Lei couldn't shake the feeling that things hadn't ended yet.
Suddenly, the Demonic Lotus appeared behind Han Sen causing black sand-like material to come off his body, healing him completely and restoring him back to peak condition. Slowly standing up he pointed his saber at Martial Master Lei as he said, "I'll admit you're stronger than me but don't think you'll make it out alive! I'll kill you no matter the cost!!"
Martial Master Lei let out a chuckle as he replied, "No matter the cost huh... that doesn't amount to much when the most valuable thing you have is as dispensable as you have shown it to be..."
He was referring to how Han Sen had managed to avoid certain death, twice now, making him question how many lives Han Sen had to spare. But he knew it wasn't Han Sen who was doing it, no, it was all thanks to the Demonic Lotus!
Han Sen scoffed before saying, "Let's cease the chit-chat and get to fighting unless you plan on boring me to death!"
The former Sect Master let out a hearty laugh as he said, "You know, if not for the fact that you stole the Arcane Plate from me forcing me to retaliate, we could have become really good friends."
Hearing this Han Sen's Face went red with anger!
"Stole? STOLE?! I won that fair and square at the auction but you just couldn't let it go! And don't you dare speak of your action as some innocent ploy! YOU MURDERED MY ENTIRE CLAN IN A SPAN OF A SINGLE DAY AND EVEN TRIED TO HAVE ME ASSASSINATED!!!"
Martial Master Lei let out another hearty laugh, this time tears had welled up in his eyes, forcing him to wipe them away with his free hand. Finally, after regaining his composure, he said,
"You know for a smart guy I'm amazed at how you haven't figured it out... Do you really think you won because you "won fair and square"???? No, you're sorely mistaken! I never intended to win to begin with. I merely made it seem like I was at the end of my rope just so it was believable when I sent those assassins to go after you. But who could have imagined that you would be injured and go into seclusion to heal, I was already waiting in your clan having killed all your kin... You see the plan was, you would arrive there and I would kill you like I did all those you once called family, then use the souls of those poor critters to revive the esteemed Demonic Lotus! So you would imagine my disappointment when you failed to show up, and that was precisely why I had to punish your family by nailing them into the wall like silly little trinkets!", his expression shifting from that of arrogance to grandiose, to disappointment as he progressed through his evil monologue.
By the time he was done Han Sen was already burning with rage! His entire body shook as he pointed his saber at the source of all his misfortune before yelling out, "YOU BETTER FIGHT WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT YOU BASTARD, IF NOT I'LL CUT YOU DOWN BEFORE YOU EVEN KNOW IT!!!!"
"Everything I got ay? As you WISH!"
A fire lit inside of Martial Master Lei causing veins to bulge and pulsate all across his body! He bent his knees and got real low before uttering,
Demon's Stride!
In a ten-meter radius, the ground crumbled in a circular fashion as he shot past Han Sen. When he reappeared, he had already taken off Han Sen's head before slicing his body down the middle.
The lifeless Hen Sen collapsed into two while his head fell a few meters away. It seemed like everything was over but Martial Master Lei knew better; seeing a black sand-like substance rise from his body slowly connecting all the severed parts back together, that was when he knew for sure. 'Tsk, what a nuisance...'
Han Sen on the other hand, slowly stood back up; pointing his saber at Martial Master Lei before saying, "Is that all you've got?"