The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

The crowd cheered loudly and many of them chanted Isaac's name. Erik thrived off negativity so he'd continued to deliberately make an enemy out of the audience, causing the majority of people to support Isaac who was already a fan-favourite. However, even after his shock victory, less than half the crowd thought Isaac would win,

"Erik Baldur's already part of the Aalto faction at such a young age, they're surely giving him their full support. After all, it wouldn't look good if the young talent they went out of their way to recruit actually lost to a random person with no background."

"That's right. Despite sustaining injuries to his will yesterday, Erik won't be at a disadvantage. In fact, the faction probably gave him high-class healing to prepare him for this fight."

"Isaac isn't just fighting Erik, he's also fighting against the backing of a major faction. This won't be an easy fight for him."

While the audience discussed, Isaac and Erik had already entered the ring. There was no aggressiveness or trash talk, these old enemies just patiently waited for the new referee's words.

These two had passed the trials together years ago and even had some conflicts with each other. Both had matured since then: Isaac was no longer a scrawny kid, while Erik had become wiser and more astute. The extents of their growth would be measured now...

"On your marks. Begin!"

Both charged forwards aggressively without hesitating one bit! Sword and gauntlet clashed in the middle of the arena, sending sparks flying everywhere.

Isaac had charged in using his Snowshoe Anima so he had a lot of momentum. His strike was powerful and pushed Erik back a couple of steps. Isaac leapt on him like a hungry wolf which smelt blood.

He no longer kept cards hidden and fought with his utmost ability – his blade flashed as it danced dangerously, while he used his left hand to target Erik's vital areas. Erik was on the back foot temporarily. He dodged and defended, but Isaac could sense he wouldn't be suppressed for long. Erik's counterattacks were quickly becoming more frequent and they were also becoming stronger.

Isaac had significant information on Erik since Erik had exposed his strength by fighting in the Ring of Life and Death previously. Erik had fought several fights were his strength increased as the fight went on, so Isaac guessed he possessed the Kilo Fist Anima which increased his punching force by 1kg every time he struck.

Knowing this, Isaac didn't want to drag this out into a long battle. He had to limit the number of punches Erik could throw, then end the battle quickly with a fatal blow.

*Clang*

Blade struck gauntlet once more, but Isaac felt his hand go a little numb from this collision. The tides of battle were already beginning to turn; he had to do something.

Before he could think, Erik's punch was already heading towards his face. Isaac reacted in a snap. Energy surged around his sword and Erik could feel the energy's razor-sharp aura before it was even released. Then the energy burst out.

It was wild and chaotic, branching out in many paths. However, Isaac managed to direct it in the general direction of Erik's fist. Grey light descended upon his gauntlets. The purple gauntlets looked strong and imposing as if nothing could damage them, let alone some dim light, but that impression couldn't be further from the truth – the light shredded the gauntlets to pieces the moment it touched them.

The gauntlets were shredded into nothingness, leaving Erik's bare fists to face Isaac's approaching sword. However, Erik didn't panic.

A smirk covered his face as black plates of armour coated his body. They remaining grey light collided with this armour and there was a loud screeching like a cat dragging its claws across a blackboard, but the armour was not destroyed. It merely had light, barely visible scratches.

Isaac's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly changed his attack to a block. His sword twisted mid-swing so it could parry Erik's punch.

The punch was nowhere near as powerful as when Erik used his gauntlets so Isaac blocked it easily. then he went back on the offensive but Erik hastily dodged his attacks until all the grey light had disappeared. Then the gauntlets reappeared on his fists and he could fight Isaac more evenly.

After struggling through many exchanges, Isaac managed to fashion an opening. Erik's torso was exposed and he slashed towards it. However, the was a tremendous *Clank* when he struck. His sword dented the black armour but then bounced off, sending back a shock which reverberated through his arms.

While Isaac steadied himself, Erik attacked. His strength had steadily grown to the point he could fight evenly with Isaac so the pair became stuck in a deadlock. This was not good for Isaac since Erik's strength keep growing as they traded blows.

"One minute is up. Isaac Dahl has won the first duel!

Thankfully, the referee ended the duel before the tides could turn. Isaac and Erik separated, but Erik suddenly started laughing,

"Hahahaha! Ahahaha... Isaac Dahl, don't underestimate the information network of a great faction! I can see through you like you're glass – you might think you've stayed hidden, but trump cards are as exposed as they'll ever be! It's just a matter of time before you see defeat..."

The audience couldn't hear what Erik said but they all booed him anyway. They all chanted Isaac's name as he walked to the side of the ring and sat down.

Erik's attempt at intimidation wouldn't affect him, but there was some truth to it. The Nihility Intent Anima was the bane of all Qi-based substances. For example, Erik's gauntlets needed a constant supply of Qi to boost their power and maintain their shape. When the grey nihility intent struck them, its sharp aura annihilated all the Qi and destroyed the gauntlets.

In contrast, the nihility intent couldn't damage Erik's black armour. This was because the armour was not sustained by Qi! The armour had no Qi in it and was not a Qi-based substance, thus the Nihility Intent Anima had little effect on it.

After all, there was no such thing as a perfect Anima. The Nihility Intent Anima countered many methods, but there were also other Anima which countered it. For Erik to be so fortunate as to have one of these Anima... Isaac didn't think it was a coincidence – he didn't believe in coincidences. No, he thought the Aalto faction must've given Erik the Anima for this battle.

'Fine. Background is also a form of strength, so I can't complain about him having external support. Although his armour counters my Nihility Intent Anima, it also has its own weaknesses: it's not supplied by Qi so it can't repair itself after getting damaged and it also doesn't seem very strong – just one hit dented it so much. I can still use the Nihility Intent Anima to get rid of his gauntlets and create openings to attack the armour.'

Isaac opened his eyes after creating a strategy. Then he got up to stretch and do light exercises so his body was ready to fight. Soon...

"Three minutes is up. The participants must go back to the ring."

The 2 contestants entered the ring.

"On your marks. Begin!"

Isaac and Erik both sped forwards, neither shied away from battle. They met with a thunderous clash, and Isaac's eyes opened wide in surprise as he was forced back a couple of steps.

'What is this strength?! Even if he kept the Kilo Fist Anima active during the break and didn't let it reset, he should still only match the power of my charge. Wait... he must've continued to hit things during the break and accumulate more power with the Kilo Fist Anima! There's a rule against activating Anima before a duel, but nothing prevents you from keeping your Anima active. What a clever loophole!'

After deducing what Erik had done, Isaac's expression twisted into a scowl. Directly confronting Erik like before wouldn't work, so his brain worked at lightning speed to form a new plan while he dodged and glided around the ring like a slippery eel.

Erik didn't have a movement Anima so he couldn't catch him, but Isaac would still lose the round if he just ran away.

Very quickly, he made up his mind and dashed towards Erik. Erik had expected this, so he responded with a mighty punch.

Isaac saw the punch approaching and knew he couldn't match its strength, but he didn't panic. His sword swung towards the punch anyway and he changed into quite a strange posture, shifting his body to the side.

Just as the gauntlet and sword were about to collide, the sword suddenly disappeared! Isaac deactivated his Spirit Sword Anima, then quickly reactivated the moment he moved past the fist. The shift of Isaac's body meant the punch was going to miss him, but his sword was cutting down on Erik's head unimpeded!