Chapter 25 - Territorial War - 5

A fireball was launched into the air, marking the start of the match.

The arena fell into a hushed silence as the fireball ascended, its fiery glow casting an ominous light on the unfolding spectacle. The tension was palpable, and Adrian's determination cut through the air like a sharpened blade.

The moment the fireball burst into sparks, signaling the commencement of the match, Velar lunged forward with astonishing speed. His sword gleamed menacingly as he aimed a swift strike at Adrian, testing the young fighter's reflexes.

upon witnessing the attack aimed at him, a terrified expression appeared on Adrian's face before he rolled sideways to narrowly evade the strike. He stumbled briefly but quickly regained his balance.

Without giving any time to Adrian, Velar once again charged towards him, but this time with his sword enveloped in aura. In response, an afraid expression appeared on Adrian's face as he started to rotate his sword in circles. He rotated 180 degrees like a child hoping to hit his opponent. A weak aura was enveloping his sword as that of a 2-star.

"Aura Cyclone!" Adrian Yelled as he rotated with an embarrassed expression which was hidden from everyone else's eyes.

"What is he doing? does he really think he'll be able to hit me like that?" Velar pondered before attacking with a horizontal slash supposed to hit Adrian when he shows his back in his circular turn.

"What's going on? Why is Sir Adrian fighting like this? Where is the warrior that killed that troll in one swift attack?" Count Nadino murmured, confused as well as worried. Antinia city was at stake on the outcome of this duel.

Velar pressed on with his attack, sticking to his plan. However, just as his sword was about to connect, Adrian fell by stumbling his legs, ultimately dodging Velar's attack by mistake. His sword's hilt touched the ground which in result made the the tip of the sword pierce Velar's leg. Blood started flowing out of Velar's leg as he swiftly made distance from Adrian in response.

"W-what just happened? What type of dog-shit luck does he have?" Velar blurted out at the unexpected turn of events.

"Thank God! Looks like my prayer worked. That Velar Jon is quite ruthless to attack a child with his aura!" The noble lady who was concerned for Adrian exclaimed.

"Yeah, It was quite a miracle just now. Otherwise, he could've died from that attack" muttered a noble sitting beside the lady.

Everyone present shared similar thoughts on the situation, except for Velar and Count Philip.

"What is that Velar doing, getting injured by a child?" Count Philip murmured, gritting his teeth.

While everyone was busy expressing their reactions, Velar continued with a flurry of attack all aimed at finishing the duel in one hit. However, Adrian clumsily dodged every strike and sometimes accidentally hit Velar.

Now with his leg injured, Velar's agility was degrading and he was unable to land a clear hit. He had an advantage with his 6-star aura but that was also useless as Adrian never let their swords clash. It was like he knew that would be disadvantageous for him.

Adrian continued dodging by a hair's breadth, visibly struggling. It appeared as though a child was fighting against a master but was saved by his tough luck every time. In everyone's eyes, Velar seemed to be toying with the child, allowing him to dodge before ending the battle.

"Why is that Velar playing around when I explicitly told him to finish this quickly? Does he take me for a fool?" Count Philip yelled in anger.

In everyone's mind, a 4-star Knight should not be able to dodge so many attacks from a 6-star unless it was the 6-star knight's intention to let him dodge in the first place. Furthermore, this kid's aura was like a 2-star which would mean that his foundation was unstable and he just rushed to become a 4-star by unnatural means.

"Why can't I hit him? Although I have become slow due to my injured leg, it doesn't mean a 4-star kid can dodge my attacks. It's as if he knows where I will strike and intentionally dodges a second before my attack connects. But that can't be possible at his level," Velar thought.

"It looks like I have to use my final technique to finish him. I doubt he'll be able to dodge that. No one will be able to discern what happened when I'm finished with my attack. Though my leg will be useless for a month or so, that's definitely better than humiliating myself in front of so many people," Velar pondered, a grin appearing on his face.

"Kid, you should be honored to die by this technique! No one has ever survived facing this move!" Velar yelled, informing Adrian about his upcoming attack.

"This is it! The moment I've been waiting for!" Adrian thought with a smile on his handsome face.

Velar crouched, channeling all his mana toward his legs and the soles of his feet. He enveloped his sword with a blue aura that seemed to flow like a razor. It truly felt like he was giving his all at this moment.

He vanished from his spot, reappearing in front of Adrian before vanishing again, but this time appearing at the end of the ring behind Adrian.

Adrian coughed out a mouthful of blood before clutching his chest and falling to his knees. A surprised and terrified look crossed his face, and he seemed to be shivering with fear.

"W-What just happened?" the noble lady questioned, seeking answers from the other spectating nobles.

"I couldn't see it either. Everything happened too fast for my eyes to follow," one of the nobles replied.

Everyone had the same question. All present were below the 5-star level. The only 5-stars present were Count Nadino and the captain of Count Philip's army, but even they had no idea what had occurred.

This was the trump card of a 6-star knight, and it wasn't possible for someone of lower level to follow from a distance. With questions in their minds, everyone collectively turned their attention to Velar Jon, who stood at the end of the fighting ring with a victorious expression.

Everyone assumed that Adrian had lost the duel and would fall at any moment. However, what happened next left their minds reeling.

The triumphant expression on Velar's face vanished abruptly as he clutched his neck. His expression twisted into one of agony just before blood spurted from his neck like a fountain, his head detaching from his body and plummeting onto the arena, life being drained away from him.

"W-What?" everybody shouted in unison, rising from their seats with shocked expressions.