The Grand Duelist

A loud explosion occurred from the clashing of their weapons.

The impact sent both Kristian and Joseph flying backwards as they hurriedly stabilized themselves in mid-air.

"Good weapon! After this battle, can you let me borrow that weapon of yours?"

"Not a chance! As if you can even use it in the first place!"

"Ah, that's right! Dang, how could I forgot that players with classes whose tiers are Legendary and above have their own class-specific weapons."

"Oh, really? Does that mean that the weapon you're holding right now is your class-specific weapon? To be honest, it doesn't look different from ordinary swords."

"But of course! How can this look out of the ordinary when the weapon you're holding right there is a class higher than mine!" Kristian lightly chuckled.

"Thanks for the praise." Joseph wasn't humble at all and took his praise to heart.

"Do you still remember the question that I asked you earlier?" Kristian suddenly said.

"Oh? Is it about what element is the sharpest?" 

"Yeah, that question." 

"Come to think of it, you still haven't given me the answer to that question." Joseph's eyes narrowed. He could feel something surging within Kristian's body.

"The sharpest element in the universe is Space. There is nothing sharper than the primordial currents of space that could cut through everything in this world." Kristian had a look of excitement on his face.

"Is that so? How come I haven't seen you utilize that sharpness at all?" Joseph almost immediately replied. As far as he could remember, he saw Kristian using his Space manipulation abilities on restricting his movements.

He may have used an attack back then, but Joseph didn't think that the attack was quite sharp.

"No worries. You'll soon see what I'm talking about." Kristian's eyes narrowed.

He flicked his sleeves towards Joseph's direction and sent a blade made out of distorted Space.

Space itself was invisible, but since manipulating space required a lot of energy. Its movement would inevitably leave traces that others could see so that they could track the movements of space.

As soon as Kristian flicked his sleeves and sent his attack.

Joseph vaguely saw the air in front of him twisting as he hurriedly leaped backward and...

Boom!

A loud explosion occurred on the previous location where his feet stood.

Joseph's pupils constricted when he saw the damage caused by Kristian's attack.

His attack actually managed to put a dent on the floors of the Palace Halls?!

It has to be known that everything within the Palace Halls was incredibly sturdy. Of course, that included the floors of the Palace Halls. Despite fighting against twenty-plus players at once, those players and Joseph never managed to leave even a scratch on the floors of the Palace Halls.

Yet, Kristian actually managed to do something like that? 

Joseph sucked a mouthful of cold air. It seemed like this enemy of his, the Absolute Monarch, despite having only a Legendary Class was far formidable that he previously thought.

This discovery made Joseph rethink most of his plans.

If Kristian's attack could leave a dent on the floors of the Palace Halls. Kristian's offensive power was something that shouldn't even be mentioned.

Although Joseph could feel that there was something strange going on here.

If Kristian was this strong, then why didn't he fought him earlier?

Why did he wait until most of his comrades were annihilated before fighting him?

That didn't make sense.

Joseph's mind madly spun.

But before he could even think any further.

Kristian himself gave the answer to his question.

"Is it that strange? Having the ability to manipulate space; the sharpest element in the world. Being able to leave a simple dent on the floors of this Palace Halls is not something hard..."

"But think about it. If I can leave a dent on the floors here, what would happen if I sent that attack to you instead?" Kristian had a mocking look on his face.

But Joseph frowned.

Didn't this guy wanted to fight me so much that he even employed the Protect the President strategy earlier so he can take the advantage? Why is he trying to intimidate me now? This is really strange.

Joseph inwardly thought.

But on the outside, he maintained a calm and composed expression as he replied: "Well, what you expect may indeed happen. After all, I don't have any high-tiered equipment and armors like you..."

"Look at me, I'm only wearing a simple washed-out tunic. In other words, I can consider myself as garbage."

Joseph's words were self-deprecating, but his eyes radiated intense mocking.

Kristian fell into deep contemplation and he suddenly realized what Joseph meant by his words.

If Joseph considered himself as garbage due to his bad items. What would become of those elite players that he defeated? Wouldn't they be lower than garbage since Joseph defeated them despite having high-tiered items and equipment?

"Bastard!" Kristian growled.

Joseph merely shook his head and chuckled. If Kristian still couldn't understand what he meant even though he already laid out everything in front of him. Joseph could only say that Kristian really lacked some brain cells.

Kristian suddenly rushed at Joseph at this moment.

His sword radiated the distorting light of space and looking at it made Joseph feel as he was staring at the abyss itself.

In an instant, Kristian arrived in front of Joseph and swung his sword downwards.

Joseph raised his Rapier and met Kristian's sword mid-way.

Peng!

The sound of metal clashing against metal fiercely rang out.

Both sides were forced backwards from the impact, but none of them capitalized on that opportunity and retreated.

Instead, they rushed at each other once again.

Peng!

In a blink of an eye, Kristian appeared before Joseph and sent a thrust towards his chest.

Joseph's pupils constricted, "How fast is this bastard?" 

He leaned sidewards and evaded the attack that flew to his heart.

His Rapier shone in a dazzling light and lunged like a snake towards Kristian's chest, but...

Bang!

Kristian's knees struck Joseph's stomach, sending him flying into the air as Kristian followed after him.

[You suffered 5,502 damage!]

Joseph hurriedly stabilized himself in the air, but Kristian was already above him.

"Bite of Justice!"

Nevertheless, he sent an attack towards Kristian's direction but Kristian blocked it with a simple [Guard].

Having taken the higher ground in the air, Kristian had the advantage in this battle.

But that advantage was swiftly taken away when Joseph activated Aerial Evasion and sent a Point at Kristian.

"Point!"

The blinding light of the Rapier forced Kristian's eyes to squint, yet the sly smile on his face never disappeared. 

Instead of dodging Joseph's devastating attack with Point. Kristian pounced forward, this was a suicidal act, yet his sword was also descending towards Joseph's neck.

"This bastard... He's trying to trade blows!"

Joseph hurriedly retreated.

Since he was in the middle of sending an attack. It was impossible for him to cancel Point, so in order to retreat. He had no other choice but to let go of his Rapier and let himself fall on his back first onto the ground.

Upon landing, Joseph immediately rolled backwards and commanded his Rapier to fly back to him.

Swoosh!

Air itself was torn as the Nameless Rapier returned to Joseph's hands in neck-breaking speeds.

Just as Joseph's Rapier landed onto his hands, Kristian appeared in front of him once again.

Joseph was shocked.

He instantly glanced at the Gunners at the distance, but Kristian realized what he was planning on doing as he whispered.

"Spatial Lock!"

[The surrounding space has been sealed and distorted. Instantaneous movements are now impossible.]

"Bastard!" Joseph angrily shouted. He flicked his Rapier like a whip and deflected Kristian's attack.

Afterwards, he leaped backward and whispered.

"The Grand Duelist's Graceful Swordsmanship, Third Form..." 

The divine light of the Grand Duelist enveloped Joseph's body at this moment as his Rapier moved.

Kristian merely lifted a smile. He rushed forwards and met Joseph's Rapier and at that moment, a magnificent rapier dance was unleashed.

"Grace!"

Joseph's movements hastened and he reappeared behind Kristian.

His Rapier slashed at Kristian's neck, yet Kristian managed to block it with his sword. But at the moment when Kristian blocked Joseph's attack. The latter abruptly disappeared before reappearing behind Kristian once again, carrying, yet another attack.

Peng!

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out and Joseph disappeared once again.

"Above!"

Kristian looked upwards and the gleam of Joseph's Rapier met his eyes.

Slash!

Kristian leaped backward to avoid the attack but it was too late. The Rapier carved a bloody line on his chest, dealing devastating amounts of damage but Joseph's dance still wasn't over. The curtain call hadn't arrived, yet.

There was still the final thrust of Grace that Joseph promptly sent directly into Kristian's chest.

Guah!

Kristian coughed a mouthful of blood.

He raised his knee and sent a Knee Strike onto Joseph's stomach, but Joseph had already retreated.

"That... You're really strong... A single skill is enough to take away thirty-percent of my Health..." Kristian wiped the blood on his lips and laughed.

"If you focused and killed me earlier in the fight then you could've won, but right now? It's already too late. You may have taken thirty-percent of my hp, but I still have about seventy-percent of my Health Points remaining. Do you really think that you can still win?" Kristian calmly said.

Joseph lifted a smile, "Winning or losing is my business. Are you just going to stand there and talk to me? Hurry up and come to me already, I'm getting quite tired so I want to end this battle as fast as possible."

Joseph's words and tone of voice made it obvious that he didn't care that much about his Health Points.

Kristian's eyes narrowed.

He could feel that there was something strange going on, but he couldn't see anything strange.

This nagging feeling disturbed Kristian so he took a good look at Joseph, but there was nothing wrong with him.

One of Kristian's unique passives as the Absolute Monarch enabled him to see through the vital stats of his enemies such as their Mana Bars and Health Bars. From what he could see, Joseph only had about ten percent of his Health Bar remaining.

Ten percent was basically nothing in a battle between experts, yet why was he so arrogant? 

Kristian's eyes dangerously narrowed.

He decided that he would use all of his strength to land that single and final decisive blow of this battle!

Even a tiger uses its full strength against a rabbit!

Kristian's experience against fighting Joseph made him conclude that underestimating him was a suicidal act!

"Fine... Let's end it."

"Let's end this all in a single strike."

Kristian took a deep breath and his eyes flashed with killing intent.

"Monarch Manifestation."

Following Kristian's internal chant, his figure became enveloped with a dark light that seemed to be even blacker than darkness itself. The void trembled, space screeched, and the air itself was torn as a power of unimaginable scale burst forth from Kristian's body.

The whites in both of Kristian's eyes disappeared, replaced by two pupils that turned completely blood-red. Contrasting the darkness that covered his body and the undeniable might and dignity that radiated from his being.

A wicked and malicious aura that demanded respect and obedience from all existence emanated from his body, causing everyone who was looking at him at this moment to gasp.

"The Absolute Monarch's Divine Art's Ultimate Style: The Sword Explodes like a Supernova!"

In contrast to the lengthy name of the skill that Kristian uttered.

The single move that he unleashed was incomparably simple.

It was just a downwards slash, but when it descended towards Joseph. 

Time itself seemed to have come to a halt.

Joseph's pupils constricted.

While he was staring at the sword. He was shocked to find that there were no weaknesses or some sort that he could capitalize on to deflect the incoming attack.

Joseph quickly adapted, he took a stance and was about to activate Parry but he was astonished once again when he discovered that...

The sword was blurry!

The sword descending towards moved incredibly slow, so it should be easy for Joseph to time his Parry when it arrived, yet he found out that he couldn't estimate when the sword would arrive at him!

Deflecting required precise timing.

Parry was the same.

Joseph sucked a mouthful of cold air.

The sword was now about a meter before him.

He chose to leap backward in order to dodge the attack but his movements were slow.

He was moving at a snail's pace.

Joseph's gaze wandered and he then discovered that everything within the Palace Halls had slowed down.

He could even see a speck of dust slowly floating back towards the ground.

He then turned his gaze to Kristian.

Determination flashed across his face, and it was at this moment that Kristian's attack finally descended.

BOOM!!!

An explosive rumble rang out and it made one feel as if the sky and earth had collapsed.

The entire Palace Halls trembled with incomparable intensity, and even the pillars that served as the foundation of the Palace Halls had started to sway. It was as if a terrifying natural disaster had suddenly descended.

Within the explosive sound, MartyrNoble and Look At Me who observed the battle from afar with bated breaths immediately lost their ability to hear.

Shattered rocks along with some sand flew haphazardly into the air and for a moment, it blotted out everything within the epicenter of the explosion.

Kristian and Joseph's figure were nowhere to be seen.

But a single system notification informed both MartyrNoble and Look At Me of the aftermath of the explosion.

[Your Party Member, Kristian, has died!]

The eyes of both Gunners almost popped out of their sockets when they saw the system notification floating in front of them. Kristian, the Absolute Monarch, who was on the offensive and attacked using such a powerful skill, was the one who died in the end...

"What the fuck just happened?"

The minds of the two Gunners blanked out, they didn't even know what to think anymore.

The tremoring of the Palace Halls soon stopped and the dust settled down. Both Gunners stared wide-eyed at the epicenter of the explosion and the two collectively gasped when they saw the aftermath.

What appeared before their eyes, was a huge crater of at least a hundred meters in diameter!

In the center of the crater, was the lone and bloodied figure of Joseph.

A relieved and satisfied smile could be seen on his face as he whispered.

"Finally... It's over..."

He slowly raised his trembling hand and used his Rapier to pierce through the skies.

Afterwards, a roar filled with deep joyousness came out of his mouth.

"AAAHHH!!!"