All eyes were on the duel hall, the white light illuminating the figures of the two like caged beasts.
On one side, Ugo was surrounded by strange psychic energy, powerful enough to slightly distort the space around him. Flas danced across the ice-covered blade of his sword, signifying the user's rage.
On the other side, Hades held a standard training scythe, adopting the most basic combat stance for the weapon.
It seed their strengths were worlds apart.
The Barbarus-born spectators below clenched their fists nervously.
Among the more moderate Terran veterans, there was silence, though tiny beads of sweat revealed their inner tension.
Emotionally, they didn’t want the Barbarus-born Hades to win, but logically, Hades winning would be the best outco to resolve the current tension.
They had heard of this new recruit who fought alongside Mortarion, and rumors from the Seventh Company had spread about how Hades had once taken down a Mark III combat servitor.
At least this new soldier had real combat ability and, moreover, was polite.
So veterans had already noticed that Ugo wasn’t acting normally.
They had sent soone to inform Chief Librarian Fernando, but it was clear it would take ti before he arrived.
As a Librarian, one must never overuse psychic power, or risk becoming lost to the whispers of the Warp.
Though Ugo still seed conscious now, no one could say for certain what might happen after prolonged exertion!
They hoped the fight would end quickly!
The duel bell rang, signaling the start—
Buzz—
The duel began!
In a flash, Ugo made the first move, unleashing a wave of psychic fla, but Hades swiftly leapt to evade.
Ugo frowned but followed up with a psychic pressure wave, distorting the space around Hades.
But it seed Hades had anticipated this. He jumped just before the pressure hit, using the initial boost from his leap to propel himself out of range!
‘Tch, I’m sick of eating psychic pressure attacks after all that ti on Barbarus,’ Hades thought.
Hades adjusted his course, advancing toward Ugo with an odd, unpredictable footwork.
Ugo slashed again, flas erupting from his sword tip.
‘So, this rookie wants to close the distance and fight with a scythe?’
Ugo raised an eyebrow. ‘Does he think I’ll dodge and keep the distance?’
No, he wouldn't.
Ugo was a seasoned close combat fighter. It’s just that no one had ever gotten close enough to fight him directly before!
Ugo deliberately slowed his fla attacks, luring Hades into closing the distance.
All of this happened within re monts.
Realizing Ugo had intentionally slowed down, Hades raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you trying to bait into a close-quarter sword fight?’
Yes, Hades wanted a close fight, but—not the kind Ugo expected!
Suddenly, Hades leapt high, his large body rocketing toward Ugo like a cannonball.
Ugo smirked mockingly. A long-range jump? That left Hades completely exposed in the air, with no room to dodge!
‘I overestimated him,’ Ugo thought, readying his sword for a final blow. He concentrated psychic energy at its tip, bright white light bursting from the blade.
However, in the next second, a spinning scythe flew straight toward Ugo’s face!
‘What?! He threw the scythe?!’
‘Has he lost his mind, throwing away his weapon?!’
But Ugo had no choice but to block the incoming scythe with his sword and hastily set up a psychic shield.
The spinning scythe shattered the shield and slamd into Ugo’s sword, forcing him to retreat to the side in an attempt to dodge the flying weapon.
But—just as he stepped aside, a fist slamd straight into Ugo’s face.
Teeth, blood, and spit flew through the air—
‘How?!’
It was only then that Ugo realized he had completely ignored Hades' presence, subconsciously disregarding his lack of psychic energy!
Ugo tried to gather his psychic power, planning to strike back.
But in the next mont, Hades’ massive shadow lood over Ugo.
—Compared to the stunned Ugo and the spectators, who could only make out flashes of movent, Hades' mind was eerily calm.
‘Sorry, I didn’t an for this to happen.’
As the two fighters were barely a few inches apart, Hades didn’t slow down. Instead, he sped up.
He headbutted Ugo, using the imnse montum to send both of them flying. Ugo's sword slipped from his grasp—
Boom!
Ugo slamd into the edge of the dueling cage, and the steel bars, made from solid alloy, even showed cracks from the impact.
At that mont, aside from the primarch and so experienced veterans, most onlookers could only see afterimages of the two fighters, followed by the sight of a scythe flying through the air. Then, there was the scene before them now—
The massive impact had clearly hurt both combatants, but Hades, who was lying on top of Ugo, was the first to recover. He stood up, using his larger fra to deadlift Ugo from the ground in a crushing bearhug.
Then, Hades bent backward—slam!
Crash!
Yet, even after enduring such a powerful blow, Ugo had not passed out. The tenacious Librarian was still trying to fight back!
Ugo tried to forcefully gather his psychic energy, but to his surprise, the psychic flow, usually as natural as breathing, had co to a halt.
The area of skin where he made contact with Hades felt as if it had been seared away, a dull, burning pain spreading across it.
‘Damn, is this guy a Blank?’
‘Have there been cases of Blanks becoming Space Marines?!’
Realizing he couldn’t use his psychic powers, Ugo imdiately tried to pry Hades' arms off him, but clearly, his strength was no match for soone a full size larger.
Seeing Ugo's struggles, Hades began to move, rolling both of them sideways on the ground. Ugo tried to break free, but Hades held on tight.
‘I need to break free, then use my powers!’
‘He can’t be allowed to break free and use his psychic powers!’
Their thoughts clashed and intertwined, much like their physical struggle. By now, both had cleared their minds of everything except for this life-or-death contest of strength.
Yet, in the crowd below, most were already slack-jawed. The cheers and exclamations that usually accompanied a duel had long vanished.
Everyone's eyes were wide, fixed on this utterly bizarre fight.
This... this doesn’t seem quite right, does it?
On his high seat, the primarch’s massive figure remained still.
“?”
Mortarion slowly raised an eyebrow, as if questioning what he was seeing.
Reviews
All reviews (0)