Chapter 201: Who Can Last Longer?

Chapter 201: Who Can Last Longer?



As the man approached the streetlight, a middle-aged man with a robust build and clad in high-quality knight plate mail appeared before the crowd.

Beside him stood a shorter, muscular man holding a kite-shaped shield in one hand and a single-edged battle axe about a meter long in the other.

Judging by the paint on the shield and axe handle, the axe and shield seemed to match the color scheme of the middle-aged man's plate mail. This suggested that the short, muscular man was likely carrying the equipment of the robust middle-aged man.

"It's a bit of a shame. I seem to have missed an interesting fight," the robust man said with a playful expression.

"Well, what about my little experiment? Did it give you a little surprise?"

Admiral Parix carefully examined Rain's bright silver Water Film Steel Armor and, upon noticing several faint claw marks, shook his head in disappointment. "It seems your strength isn't as powerful as the rumors suggest. As always, the Empire's nobility loves to flatter each other."

"Who are you?" Rain calmly asked.

Although his level 3 'Danger Sense' was giving him a strong warning, and the intensity was even greater than that of the Near Sea Plesiosaur, the Scaled Dragon, and the advanced Great Knight, Baron Norman.

However, it wasn't an intensity that was completely unguarded against.

Therefore, Rain didn't feel any fear at this moment; instead, he felt a rush of excitement.

It seemed that he could once again fight with his full strength, just like he did against the Nightmare Draconid.

"I don't need any introductions! Otherwise, with so many people around, I'd have to kill them all to keep them quiet."

"Oh, and the corpse of this little experiment is still of use to me. I'll have to retrieve it."

"Also, someone has been wanting me to take care of you. Actually, we weren't supposed to meet this early. My original plan was to wait until you took office in Fishing Harbor Town and then send you on your way."

"But there's been a little change in plans, so I'm afraid you might have to leave a bit earlier than expected."

One of the reasons Parix chose to act tonight was because of Magis.

Magis had already greeted him several times, and considering their future interactions, Parix decided not to delay this matter any further. He would take care of Rain and retrieve the corpse at the same time.

Upon hearing this, the mansion guards and the county town night watchmen who had arrived nearby tensed up. Each of them drew their bows and aimed at the robust middle-aged man in knight armor.

Rain waved his hand and said, "All of you, return to your posts. I'll handle this."

"Oh ho, this is interesting!" The robust man raised his eyebrows, showing appreciation as he glanced at Rain.

"A smart move. This will keep my boots from getting dirty. You know, when you kill too many people, there's always a chance of accidentally dirtying your boots."

"Alright, since you're still looking good, I'll let you leave without pain later."

"No more talking, or else more people will notice us."

After Parix finished speaking, he tapped his toes, and the hard slate beneath his feet suddenly cracked. Before the stones could scatter, his entire body had already shot forward like an arrow.

The people around were surprised to see the heavily armored robust figure move with such speed.

Before the residual image could fade, he had already reached Rain's front.

As a Great Knight who had advanced to a higher level, Parix's body had begun to evolve to a deeper level.

This evolutionary process was continuous, similar to the growth and development of a teenager.

So, there was a qualitative difference between him and Norman, who had just advanced to the Great Knight level.

Not only would strength, agility, and physique continue to improve over time, but extraordinary traits would also be further enhanced and engraved into the bloodline as a talent. It would also influence and improve the knightly talents of future offspring to a certain extent.

Of course, the main thing was the increase in the quantity of the Original Force after advancing to the Great Knight level, which could comprehensively enhance defense and combat.

With these two factors combined, a Great Knight facing a Knight, even if the Knight was a Peak Knight, would be a crushing defeat.

Additionally, there was a huge gap between Great Knights and those who had just advanced to the Great Knight level.

No way!

A newly advanced Great Knight and one who had been at the Great Knight level for over five years were not on the same level.

After Parix saw the claw marks on Rain's Water Film Steel Armor, he felt that Rain's strength was exaggerated. Rumors of him defeating a newly advanced Great Knight like Baron Norman in Bloody Duels were likely false.

In Parix's eyes, Rain was merely a 'genius' from Meyster with a small talent for knighthood.

Therefore, Parix's attitude towards Rain and this battle was more of a playful one.

Due to this mindset, he didn't even bother to take the axe and shield from his subordinate. Instead, he simply swung his arm while running, and the blade on his left forearm snapped out. With a 'crack,' a cold light appeared before Rain's eyes as Parix's forearm blade, enhanced by the Original Force, gleamed faintly.

Parix swung his forearm blade, aiming for Rain's forehead, and stabbed down with force.

If he succeeded in hitting Rain, it might truly send him away without pain, just as he had said.

Rain had been fully focused on observing this unfamiliar Great Knight.

So, when faced with the opponent's high-speed attack, he showed no fear at all. He quickly took out the dark pig-headed hammer from behind and, instead of blocking, unleashed a powerful strike with it!

At this moment, the heavy weapon special effect 'Light as a Feather' played an extremely important role!

In the eyes of the crowd, Rain simply didn't have time to block the opponent's attack, let alone counter with his heavy double-handed war hammer!

But Rain's speed was actually faster than what everyone expected, by a margin!

"Clang!!!"

Facing Rain's extremely swift and powerful strike, a sense of alarm suddenly arose in Parix's mind. He immediately changed his hand movement from a thrust to a block, using his Origin Force arm blade to steadily receive the blow.

"Huh?"

A flash of surprise appeared in Parix's eyes.

Holding a double-handed heavy hammer, he was still this fast?

The young man before him, Rain, seemed to have something going on!

Moreover, in the previous blow, he could vaguely sense a force that seemed to penetrate through his armor and Origin Force defense.

But before he could savor Rain's previous attack, Rain, holding the dark pig-headed hammer, flashed from right to left and struck again!

"Heavy Hammer Sweep!"

Facing Rain's continuous and fierce counterattacks, Parix spun while continuing to raise his arm blade to block.

"Clang!!" Sparks flew!

In an instant, Rain unleashed over ten consecutive hammer strikes, each blow powerful and heavy, carrying multiple shockwaves. Later, Parix had to start consuming a large amount of Origin Force to withstand this continuous shock damage.

"Pretty quick reaction. You've already activated Limit Break and Extraordinary Trait."

"Smart move, but how long can you maintain this state?"

".

Parix seemed to want to provoke Rain verbally to affect his situation, causing Rain to show some kind of flaw or pause.

But Rain's dark hammer, as always, remained steady and powerful.

This left Parix feeling helpless.

"Clang!!!"

Another head-on collision!

This time, Parix, who had been standing his ground, suddenly retreated over ten steps, leveraging the force.

Although he had escaped Rain's hammer attack range and no longer needed to worry about blocking Rain's hammer, at this moment, he put his hands behind his back and trembled slightly!

Hiss!

Damn, that hurt!

This force seemed to be...

"You've mastered the hammer technique at the Master level!" Parix's tiger eyes widened, his face filled with shock as he looked at Rain.

Unlike Norman, who had just entered the Great Knight level, he had now realized that Rain's hammer technique was too powerful, surpassing the boundaries of the Proficient level!

It should be known that among the strong Great Knights, weapon specialization was usually only at the Proficient level or half-step Master level.

Those who had reached the Master level in their weapon specialization were the cream of the crop among the Great Knights.

What left Parix perplexed was how this young Rain had managed to master the hammer technique to the Master level at such a young age.

However, before Rain could answer, Parix quickly calmed his shock, retreated, and went to the side of a burly man dressed as a small team leader. He picked up the thick metal kite-shaped shield and the battle axe.

"You're Rain, right?"

"A talented young man, but unfortunately, the game is over!"

"You must be thinking that was my full strength just now, but now, I'm getting serious!"

Before, when the opponent retreated, Rain didn't pursue but started chanting a spell.

As Parix turned to pick up the axe and shield, a hidden fluctuation passed through Rain's body, and the air seemed to have something different in it.

"Swish!"

Parix unleashed his full Origin Force, his body glowing with a faint light, and rushed towards Rain again!

This time, he had already lost the playful and teasing mindset from the beginning. Instead, a sense of seriousness, excitement, and agitation emerged from within him.

A rare hammer technique training genius of the Dragon Empire was about to die by his hands.

He hadn't felt the thrill of suppressing a genius in a long time!

"Bang! Clang! Clang!"

The two figures moved extremely fast. Although the street lamps and the oil lamps in the mansion garden provided some light, in the dim environment, it was almost impossible to see their figures clearly.

It was as if two blurry shadows were constantly clashing.

Rain didn't choose to use his full strength, instead using about three-tenths of it to almost bridge the power gap between him and Parix.

He didn't use his secret technique because the opponent's speed seemed to be slightly higher than his. Even if he used his secret technique with all his strength now, it was likely that the opponent would easily dodge it, wasting a lot of stamina and prematurely exposing his trump card.

In simple terms, the decisive moment hadn't arrived yet!

Although Parix didn't have the upper hand, he wasn't anxious. After all, his foundation was there—he was a Great Knight, while Rain was a Knight, and his physical qualities were superior.

The reason Rain could withstand or keep up with his offensive rhythm was because of the combination of his full power burst and the Master-level hammer technique.

But how long could a Peak Knight sustain such an all-out burst?

Thirty seconds?

Forty seconds?

Or perhaps a few more seconds?

He estimated that within less than a minute, Rain's stamina would be exhausted, and his speed would slow down. Then, the combat rhythm would no longer match his own.

At that moment, he could quickly take down his opponent.

Although this way of winning had a slight unsportsmanlike taste, it no longer mattered. After all, he was here to crush a genius.

However, Parix soon felt that something was amiss.

Why was he feeling hotter and hotter!

Especially the Original Force on his body surface used for defense, its consumption was far greater than usual!

What the hell was going on?

This was so bizarre!

"Bang!"

Hammer and shield clashed, and both men retreated several steps.

Rain, with his dark vision, could clearly see the fine beads of sweat on his opponent's forehead and the obvious heaving of his chest.

Apparently, although Rain's stamina was greatly depleted, under the influence of the Wizardry 'High Temperature Field' and Rain's all-out Tokkar Hammer Technique, the opponent's consumption was no less than his own.

Rain thought for a moment and silently added a point to his agility attribute.

His opponent's speed was slightly faster than his, which put him at a slight disadvantage in combat.

As the remaining attribute points decreased from 5 to 4, his agility also increased from 21 to 22.

Instantly, a warm current surged from Rain's heart and quickly spread to his limbs and bones.

In an instant, all the soreness and fatigue in Rain's muscles vanished.

In contrast, Parix glanced at Rain and also noticed his opponent's significant stamina depletion, his expression brightening.

'He's barely holding on!'

'Let's see who can endure more and who can last longer!'

Without hesitation, Parix charged at Rain again.

The two figures once again moved at high speed in the front yard of the manor, only appearing briefly in the crowd's line of sight when passing under the lights, a fleeting glimpse.

Before the crowd could get a clear view, the two figures disappeared into the darkness again.

Soon, the entire front yard was in disarray, with the beautiful flowers and neatly trimmed greenery all trampled.

After enduring for several more seconds, Parix was feeling the strain.

Even with his Great Knight's stamina, at the current all-out combat situation, he couldn't maintain it for much longer.

It was like asking a well-trained 100-meter sprinter to run a 400-meter race; they might manage the 100-meter distance, but extending it to 400 meters would significantly reduce their speed.

This was evident from the world records: 43.03 seconds for the 400-meter race, compared to 9.58 seconds for the 100-meter race, showed that the 400-meter world record was far from being four times 4 of the 100-meter record.

What left him speechless was that Rain's hammer strikes were still so stable. How was this possible? His own stamina was nearly depleted, and his rhythm was slowing down, yet Rain, merely a Peak Knight, was enduring longer than him?

This was insane!

Could it be that his opponent was not only a rare Hammer Technique talent specialist but also a Stamina talent specialist? That's just too much talent!

Rain, on the other hand, noticed that his opponent's rhythm was slightly slowing down. This subtle difference might go unnoticed or seem insignificant to others, but to Rain, it was like a beacon in the darkness, a certainty.

He had thought that the stranger, a Great Knight, could endure three rounds of attribute increases, and he had prepared for a 'protracted battle.' But to his surprise, after just one round of attribute increases, his opponent was showing signs of fatigue.

After enduring for another ten seconds,

Even the onlookers noticed that their 'Baron Hammer' seemed to be gaining the upper hand, with his hammer attacks increasing in frequency.

As for the stranger, a Great Knight, his shield blocks became more frequent.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of hammer and shield clashing intensified!

However, Rain's expression turned solemn. He remembered a saying—'Even a cornered beast will fight desperately.'

Even beasts knew to fight to the death; how much more so for humans?

Rain's hammer strikes became more steady and controlled.

Parix, on the other hand, became visibly agitated.

He had been waiting for Rain to show signs of fatigue or openings, believing that with his rich combat experience, he could still turn the tide in this passive situation.

But damn it, after several minutes, his opponent was still going all out, hammer technique after hammer technique. It was like watching Usain Bolt running the 1500-meter race at his 100-meter sprint speed.

Despite witnessing the two-handed greatsword strapped to Rain's back, Parix couldn't believe his eyes. There was no way Rain's swordsmanship was also at the level of a master!

At Rain's age, a master of both hammer and sword techniques? That was simply preposterous! Even the most imaginative bard wouldn't concoct such a tale.

After devising a strategy, Parix regained his composure.

"Bang!"

This time, when Rain's heavy hammer struck Parix's shield, which was also made of special ore, the shield visibly dented under the impact.

Parix skillfully retracted a portion of the shield to reduce the force, then released his grip on the battle axe in his other hand and grabbed the handle of Rain's Pig Head Hammer.

The plate gauntlet, emitting a faint glow, snapped onto Rain's hammer. Parix's eyebrows twitched, revealing a hint of delight. Just as he was about to release his left hand from the shield to exert more force and claim Rain's hammer, his expression changed drastically.

Rain's muscles seemed to expand like an inflating balloon, growing two full sizes. If it weren't for the high-quality knight armor he wore, his chest plate would have shattered under the strain.

Parix exerted all his strength, but he helplessly watched as the hammer slowly slipped from his grasp.

What kind of power was this?

What did Rain eat to grow so strong?

Or was it some kind of secret technique?

At this point, even the dull Parix realized something was amiss with Rain.

However, Parix was an experienced fighter. He swiftly pulled and released the hammer handle, then lifted it up and swung it towards Rain's chest.

Rain had no choice but to release the hammer handle, taking a step back.

Parix's face lit up with joy as he finally managed to wrest the hammer away.

But a cold glint flashed towards his head, and Parix, sensing the danger, abandoned his attack and sidestepped.

"Swish!"

Only then did he realize that it was the two-handed greatsword strapped to Rain's back. There was no time to waste.

Rain swung the greatsword towards the unarmed Parix.

Within seconds, Parix's expression turned as if he had seen a ghost.

Damn! This guy's swordsmanship is also at the master level!!

What kind of monster am I dealing with?

Even the bastard son of a goddess wouldn't be this powerful!

In that moment of distraction, several deep scratches appeared on Parix's advanced knight armor.

Facing Rain's master-level swordsmanship, even with his Original Force defense and advanced knight armor, Parix couldn't withstand Rain's attacks.

At this point in the fight, Parix had little desire to continue.

But he couldn't just retreat.

With so many people watching him being dominated, if the Zalar Resistance Army retreated now, it would be a complete disaster.

Moreover, he still had a chance to win!

Parix's face turned ruthless as he faced Rain's downward slash, blocking it with his left forearm covered in Original Force defense.

"Pfft!"

With the master-level sword technique's special effects, 'Slash Steel' and 'Break Armor', Rain's sword cut into Parix's forearm by a third of its depth, reaching the radius bone.

Parix's eyes widened, gritting his teeth against the pain, and threw a punch towards Rain's abdomen.

"Bang!!"

Although Rain tried to retract his abdomen and used the Pendulum Retreat Step from the Kadhar Fist Technique, due to the lower level of the technique, he was still punched away by Parix, flying seven or eight meters, and his greatsword slipped from his hand.

Parix threw the sword stuck in his forearm armor and reached for the single-edged axe stuck in the ground nearby.

Judging by their injuries, Rain had the advantage. Although he took a heavy blow to the abdomen, he had the benefit of the retreat and his armor's protection, as well as the defense of his level 3 Extraordinary Trait, 'Iron Skin'.

So when he saw Parix enduring his sword strike and reaching for the axe, Rain knew it was time for the decisive move.

Without hesitation, he rolled towards the fallen Pig Head Hammer.

Almost simultaneously, both of them grasped their preferred weapons.

Their distance, which was initially two to three meters, now stretched to over ten meters.

In unison, they gathered their strength.

Then, they charged towards each other.

The glow on Parix's single-edged axe condensed, and a white light, solid as a substance, slashed towards Rain.

"Quasi-Ultimate Technique - 'Flash Slash'!"

Rain, on the other hand, activated the 'Tri-State' and smashed the Pig Head Hammer down on Parix from above.

"Secret Technique - 'Earthsplitting Hammer'!"

In an instant, the axe and hammer collided in mid-air.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end