In the letter that Fei received from the [Letter Office], it mentioned that the Holy Church was doing an investigation on him, and it wasn't as detailed as Paris' letter. After all, the [Letter Office] was only established not too long ago, and it couldn't compete with the intelligence network that Paris had. However, except for the moves of the Holy Church, the letter also mentioned the news about other forces at Zenit. It seemed like these two Chambordians had a grasp of both forces on the surface and in the dark in the Capital.
Fei had to admit that both old Zolasc and little Modric were talented information gatherer. Like a seed that just started growing, the [Letter Office] had unlimited potential. Fei was confident in these two people, and he wasn't keen on doing the harvest soon. One day, the [Letter Office] would become an intelligence agency that was on the level of [Heavenly Search] and [Earthly Inquiry]; both these organizations were top-tier intelligence agencies who had networks across the continent.
Fei's calm and relaxed appearance was his smoke-screen for the secret spies of the Holy Church who were monitoring him in the dark.
After all, Fei was only a potential suspect in the Undead Mage case. Once the Holy Church couldn't gather proper evidence for a while, they would pull back the spying.
…..
The second day.
No.1 Sword-Testing Stage.
The final match was about to begin.
Tens of thousands of people circled the stage. Except for the resting areas of the two kingdoms and the VIP area, everywhere else was packed with people. The crowd was so tight that it was hard to stuff a needle through.
In case that their sights were blocked by taller people, some people brought their own chairs to stand on. However, the greedier ones who brought their own ladders got beaten by others who got blocked by them.
In the four-hour time window from the dawn to now, there were numerous cases there fights broke out for better viewing spots. In the extreme cases, even some poor soldiers of the Imperial Patrol got hit and got injured.
All of this showed how popular the final match was.
Instead of the usual 10 royal mages, there were 20 royal mages around the stage today. Except for one mage who was older and had white hairs and white beards, all other 19 royal mages were younger. With red mage robes that were partially gold-gilded on, they stood 20 meters apart and looked very curious. They also couldn't wait for the match to begin.
Influential people and heads of big forces like Dominguez, Tanasha, Paris, and Chrystal all appeared in the VIP area.
Despite the fact that Tanasha and Paris were trying to kill each other on the Peak of East Mountain in Chambord, they looked very intimate in public. They sat very close to each other and smiled at each other. The two beautiful women instantly attracted a lot of men's attention, but only a few could see the "sparks" between them.
At Chambord's resting area, warriors like Lampard all appeared. More than a dozen of them circled around the beautiful future queen Angela to protect her, and this also attracted a lot of attention.
Fei and Shevchenko stood across from each other on the stage.
Although the judge announced the beginning of the match, no one moved. Compared with the loud cheering and excitement in the audience, the atmosphere on the stage was relatively calm.
"I have to first thank you for your potion. Otherwise, I might not even be able to stand up, let alone coming here to compete." With his huge black sword stabbed into the slit between rock tiles, Shevchenko said with the wooden shield on his back; his strong body and firm smile gave Fei a good impression of him.
"I just want to know how strong the person who defeated [One Sword] is." Fei smiled.
Fei knew that the potion he sent to Shevchenko was effective, but most of the healing was done by the doctors and mages who were by Shevchenko's side.
The only question Fei had was that Shevchenko didn't look as frenzied as he did in the Divy Crystal. Both his aura and looks felt very different from the person Robbin recorded.
"Why is there such a difference? Could it be that he still hasn't fully recovered?"
As Fei was wondering, Shevchenko bowed at him politely. This prince then took off the yellow wooden shield and grabbed to the huge black sword with an under-grip.
Whoosh!
Something changed.
An invisible aura appeared, and it felt like invisible flames were burning.
Fei frowned. He sensed an undescribed change as soon as Shevchenko held onto the sword.
It felt like the person in front of him changed.
"Fire Strike!"
The change from the humble to the frenzied only took a second. After that, a loud angry roar that could break the eardrums of people sounded. Red flames suddenly appeared on the black sword as it chopped down at Fei like a meteor.
Tink!
Fei instantly summoned his metal gloves that had back hooks on them and smashed onto the blade of the sword.
The two forces collided with each other, and a loud booming noise sounded with the appearance of bright sparks. The faces of the 20 royal mages around the stage paled as they quickly cast Deafen Spells on themselves. The audience members who sat very close to the stage weren't lucky as blood floated out of their ears.
Fei sensed a numbness in his arm as a fire energy dashed into his arm through the metal gloves, and the repulsive force made him take a step back.
Shevchenko, on the other hand, backed off five steps. He propped his black sword behind his back to help him alleviate some of the force, and that created a series of sparks before he was finally able to stabilize his body.
"Huge force! This prince is gifted with this huge physical strength by the gods!" Fei understood it.
It seemed like Shevchenko changed into another person when the shield and the sword got into his hands. The dominating, suicidal, and tragic aura that was recorded in the Divy Crystal finally came back to him.
"Rotate Drag Chop!!"
As Shevchenko shouted, the huge black sword turned into a tornado. With the help of the momentum of the sword, he dashed into the air. As a cloud of grey energy surrounded him, his blade struck at Fei like a storm.
Tink! Tink! Tink!
A series of loud booming noise sounded. The huge impact energy waves rippled in the air, and the sparks were like the fireworks at the night.
In this brief moment, the fist and the sword had at least collided 100 times.
Afterward, Fei and Shevchenko separated themselves.
Fei backed off three steps.
Shevchenko backed off eight steps.
Although Shevchenko breathed heavily and looked a little unstable, the powerful aura around him got stronger and stronger. Like a crazy beast, he instantly jumped back at Fei at an even faster speed as soon as he stabilized his body.
"Horizontal Chop!"
With craze, the black sword chopped horizontally down and drew a single line in the air. Although it was simple, it contained a lot of energy; it felt like it was going to chop the earth in half.
"Hahaha, good!"
Fei hadn't had an opponent that could take him straight on using pure physical strength. Although he didn't need to unleash all of his power, this upfront, direct, aggressive battle made him feel very energetic. Without dodging, he moved up and directly struck at the blade of the sword using both of his fists.
In the last few days, Fei's strength had been increasing rapidly and steadily. After killing a lot of monsters last night, his Barbarian Character was now level 80; it was equivalent to mid-tier Nine-Star already. Since he was far stronger than Shevchenko, he had no trouble taking on the strike; only his palms felt a little numb afterward.
"Open!!!!!!!!"
Shevchenko who was in a frenzied state continued to shout. His eyes were all red, and the veins on his hand that was holding the sword had bulged up like the roots of a tree; it was clear that he was using all of his strength.
However, he couldn't pull back the sword that was in between Fei's fists.
Fei lightly shook his head.
After he battled with Shevchenko, he felt like [One Sword]'s defeat had more to it. Although Shevchenko was able to threaten that sword genius with his strength, it was almost impossible for him to defeat [One Sword]. Too bad that [One Sword] greatly underperformed in the semi-final and got slowly tilted by Shevchenko.
Why did [One Sword] underperform? That was a mystery!
Right now, Fei discovered another secret about Shevchenko.
When Shevchenko got into battle, he would enter a frenzied state; it was similar to the multiple personality theory in Fei's previous life – a person would instantly take on another personality when he or she encountered some people or some things.
As for Shevchenko, he was a bright and likable guy under normal circumstances, but he would enter the frenzied state when he grabbed onto the wooden shield and the black sword.
In this state, Shevchenko would be as consistent as a robot, and he would get stronger as the battle got longer.
Tink!
Fei shook his fists, and his Nine-Star strength was quickly unleashed then restrained.
Buzz! Buzz!
Under this insane amount of force, the black sword flew out of Shevchenko's hand as if it was hit by lightning, and the thick body of the sword buzzed as it vibrated rapidly in the air.
When it fell back down and smashed onto the stage, the entire stage shook violently as if a mountain fell on it.
All the people in the audience gasped in surprise.
What happened next proved Fei's theory. Without the black sword in his hand, the terrifying red flames in Shevchenko's eyes disappeared, and his expression turned from frenzied to confused to bright. The bright and likable guy returned!