Chapter 282. My Arrangents Were Not in Vain After All (2)
Antorius' expression grew serious.
Oliver A?
A na he had never heard.
Judging by the na alone, who would have cared about a person who seed like a passing extra in a play?
But compared to that insignificant na and faint presence….
‘He has skill.’
In terms of pure sword skill, he might even be his equal.
Perhaps it was his own arrogance to think he could crush him quickly and call out the Double Dragon.
‘Fine. Then I shall also get serious.’
Having changed his mind, Antorius brought his sword to his chest and exclaid as if in prayer.
“Oh, Yupinel!”
At that, divine power erupted from his body as if exploding.
“Ugh…”
Pushed back by the force, Oliver took a step back to compose himself.
‘So this is divine power.’
It was different from aura.
Just by releasing it, he had to constantly face a force that was difficult to resist.
It was like having to endure waves that continuously crashed against him.
This naturally made it difficult to gain an advantage in speed.
At that mont, Antorius pointed his sword at Oliver and said.
“Now, from this mont on, it will be different. Sir A!”
The mont Antorius said this….
“Don’t call
that!”
Everyone has a line that shouldn't be crossed.
Oliver had a fit and rushed forward.
Kwang! Kwakwang! Kwaang!
The situation of offense and defense had changed.
With Oliver’s speed clearly slowed by the pressure of the divine power, Antorius fiercely pushed him back.
“Haaaaat!”
Kwaaaang!
Oliver blocked the powerful two-handed swing by crossing his twin swords.
But he didn't receive it with brute force; he absorbed the impact by naturally falling back with his center of gravity behind him.
“Keuk…”
Of course, that didn’t an he could completely nullify the shock.
Fundantally, his opponent had the upper hand in sword power, and after he released his divine power, that gap widened even further.
His hands gripping the twin swords throbbed.
The grip felt a little slippery, so his calluses must have torn.
‘But so what?’
Oliver continued to grip his swords, glaring at his opponent with burning fighting spirit.
To such an Oliver, Antorius threw a punch.
“God Hand!”
At that, a massive fist of divine power flew towards Oliver.
He was finally using a miracle, showing his true colors as a Paladin.
Kwaaaang!
“Cough…”
Oliver had tried to nullify the enemy’s attack by imbuing his aura, but he was thrown back by the clear difference in power.
In the process, he coughed up blood due to his internal energy backflowing from being overpowered.
“Keu… keuuu…”
Tumbling across the training ground after being thrown back, Oliver still did not let go of his swords.
And he sohow managed to get up, aid his swords, and showed that he still had strength left.
Antorius said to Oliver.
“You’re needlessly persistent.”
“Eh… cough… ahem.”
One’s environnt is truly important.
Antorius frowned and said.
“Don’t you know you have no chance of winning? As long as I use divine power, you have no chance.”
At Antorius' words, Oliver wiped the blood from his mouth and said.
“So what? You want
to surrender?”
“I’m telling you to make a wise choice.”
“Right. A wise choice…. I should. A person must make wise choices.”
Then Oliver raised his sword and said.
“Let’s continue.”
“How did you reach that conclusion?”
Seeing the dumbfounded Antorius, Oliver sighed heavily and said.
‘You…. What would you know? You….’
[Hooo…. Surrendeeeer? You surrendered? A knight of our great Schneider Duchy gave up without even trying to the end?]
If he surrendered here, he might really die.
He hadn’t even looked back, but he could feel a piercing gaze.
Hmph, Antorius Denar.
You may have the benevolent and great protection of Yupinel behind you, right?
But I have a great demon from hell behind , licking its lips, telling
I’ll die if I lose.
So….
“Who do you think is more desperate? You bastard!”
And again, Oliver let out a rough shout and charged towards Antorius.
***
“That’s it. That’s it. Good job. Good grit!”
Watching Patrick clap and admire, Matthew said from the side.
“Don’t you feel sorry for him?”
“Sorry? For what?”
Patrick had a purely innocent expression that said, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, my friend.’
And Patrick continued….
“Opportunities to fight soone stronger than you to your limit without worrying about dying, in a place that’s not a real battlefield, are rare.”
“Hmm?”
“Of course, I can do it for him when we go back to the fiefdom. Sanson or April could do it too, and Tutan is much stronger than Oliver now. But.”
“……”
“Humans are creatures of adaptation.”
“……”
“Repeatedly losing to the sa person doesn’t beco training. If you’re not careful, it can even define your limits.”
“So you’re saying that by clashing with a new, stronger opponent to his limit, he will gain sothing?”
“That’s right. Why? You don’t think so?”
“Are you really sure? Aren’t you bluffing?”
“Wanna bet? A 100 gold bet?”
“No, I’m good.”
If there was one thing for sure, it was that if a bet involving money ca out of Patrick’s mouth, it was quite serious.
That ant….
‘Did he really think that this would help Sir A? This?’
In Matthew’s eyes, all he could see was Oliver staggering on the training ground, being unilaterally beaten by divine power.
But even while being beaten like that, there was no sign of giving up in Oliver’s eyes.
***
Kwaaang!
“Keuuuk…”
It was a heavy attack, as if struck by a battle hamr, not a sword.
He blocked it by crossing his twin swords, but he couldn't help one knee from buckling.
Then, Antorius' kick flew and slamd into his solar plexus.
“Keoheok…”
With a groan escaping his lips, he was thrown back hard.
But there was no ti to rest even after falling.
Oliver hastily rolled to the side to dodge.
And where he had been….
Kwaaang!
A terrifying blow struck the spot where Oliver had been.
A blow like a giant had slamd its fist down.
If he had been hit, he would have been flattened.
When he looked up at his opponent, he saw the figure of Antorius expressing a heavy anger.
“Truly, you are needlessly persistent.”
The difference in power was evident, but he sohow blocked the fatal blows.
A defensive thod of dispersing force by being pushed back rather than enduring it with strength.
When the distance widened, he tried to finish him off with a God Hand, but he sohow dodged that too.
It must be hard to even move his body under the pressure of divine power, so how could he do that?
“Your grit, at least, is comndable. I’ll acknowledge that.”
“Cough…. With just this much…”
Oliver thought.
About the training he had gone through in the past.
[Is it tough? Are your legs stopping because it’s tough? Don’t worry. I’ll make it comfortable for you. It gets comfortable when you die.]
In front of that watching demon, he had to continuously perform footwork with sandbags all over his body, even within a gravity field created by the mages of the Tower of Truth.
‘Compared to the training I received from the great demon, this is nothing….’
Thanks to that, Oliver was able to keep moving even under the pressure of divine power.
But the problem was….
‘At this rate, there’s no chance of winning.’
Even if he doggedly endured, the cumulative impact was inevitably eating away at his body.
In the end, if this continued, defeat was unavoidable.
In fact, what sha would there be in losing to the genius called the future of the Holy Theocracy? But….
[You lost, but you fought well. So let’s die. Knight A.]
“……”
“Hmm…? Why are you crying?”
At Antorius' question, Oliver gritted his teeth and said.
“You try being in my shoes.”
I have to win.
I must win, no matter what.
Even if it’s impossible, I have to make it possible.
Oliver raised his sword and focused his mind.
“Huuuuuuuu….”
Let’s stop dodging.
If this goes on, I’ll lose. (I’ll die.)
If I want to aim for victory against a stronger opponent, I have no choice but to gamble.
‘Give the bone and take the flesh.’
The aura of Oliver, who had made a desperate resolve, changed.
Antorius, who had been unilaterally pushing him, also seed to sense it and further strengthened his divine power, cautiously taking his stance.
‘Hmm, it seems he’s realized it now.’
And below the training ground, a smile ford on Patrick’s lips as he watched the situation.
Yes. That’s how you bite and tear at soone stronger than you.
To win cleanly and cleverly like a shrew by making the opponent careless with exquisite techniques and wise tactics?
‘A shaless thought.’
That’s impossible in reality.
If that were possible, then at that point, the opponent is no longer strong.
In a real fight, for the weak to take down the strong, they must accept the losses and bet their fate on a desperate attack.
Just like now.
‘Try it. And show .’
Receiving Patrick’s full expectation, Oliver’s body moved forward.
The first move was a thrust.
Thrusting his left hand forward in a large motion, the charging Oliver seed like a single arrow.
However, for that arrow to reach its target, there were too many obstacles to overco.
“Oh, Yupinel!”
Hwaaaaaak!
Antorius' divine power, exploding outwards, slowed Oliver’s thrust.
And not missing the mont Oliver’s body slowed, Antorius' right hand shot forward.
God Hand.
It was Antorius' specialty miracle.
A giant fist of divine power flew to smash Oliver.
Normally, he should have dodged this, but….
Pududuk.
Oliver gritted his teeth and powerfully thrust the sword in his right hand, which he had pulled back.
“Haaaaaap!”
Kwadeuk. Puddeuk.
He slamd the maximum amount of aura a 6-star knight could muster into the God Hand.
But unable to withstand the aftershock, he heard the sound of his right elbow giving way.
‘Is it broken?’
He could intuitively tell his right arm was gone.
But Oliver didn’t stop.
At the cost of sacrificing his right arm, Oliver, who had charged through the forcefully pushed-back God Hand, brought his sword down towards Antorius' head.
But….
“Not a chance!”
Antorius' sword was swung powerfully.
At the sa ti, a sacred white fla erupted from his sword and instantly engulfed Oliver.
Holy Fire.
The divine fla that purifies evil, this too was Antorius' specialty.
‘No.’
Oliver could sense it intuitively.
That his current strike could not withstand that sacred fla.
Am I going to lose after all?
I gave it my all, but am I going to lose in the end?
It can't be helped.
Still, if I tried this hard, the Young Master will understand….
[If you lose, you die.]
‘Damn it!’
As if he would.
The opponent was a great demon whose personality had sprung from the abyss of hell.
Even if he had to die, he had to die a clean death; he couldn't face a grueso end at the hands of that great demon.
Oliver gritted his teeth.
And then….
“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”
He poured all his strength into infusing his sword with aura.
Greater power.
Stronger power.
He needed a power that wouldn't lose to the great demon waiting behind him.
And at that mont….
Wuuuuuung.
The energy in his dantian, resonating with Oliver’s desperation, fiercely surged.
And that overflowing power rose up and reached a new, never-before-opened place.
Another vessel.
The mont the power reached the place called the Middle Dantian, it amplified several tens of tis and spread throughout Oliver’s entire body.
As a result….
Pachiiing!
A distinct Aura Blade ford on Oliver’s sword.
And then….
Chwaaaaaak!
The perfectly ford Aura Blade split Antorius' Holy Fire and flew towards Antorius beyond it.
“Heok?”
Antorius was terrified.
He rembered this scene.
The Arcana semifinals.
When he had gained the upper hand and overwheld the Hegemon King.
It was exactly the sa as then.
That attack, which split his Holy Fire and rushed towards him, was….
“Keuuuk…”
It was too late to dodge.
Oliver’s Aura Blade cut through the holy fla and fell on Antorius' head.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
A terrifying explosion and fragnts of the Aura Blade scattered in all directions.
And what everyone saw was….
“That’s enough.”
When did he intervene?
It was the figure of Patrick, on the training ground, blocking Oliver’s sword.
The sword of Oliver, stopped by Patrick, was precisely at the point just before it reached Antorius' head.
“Young… Master….”
“……”
“I won.”
With those words, Oliver let go of his consciousness.
Patrick supported the collapsing Oliver with one arm.
And with a faint smile on his lips, he said.
“Good work.”
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