The Amber Sword

Chapter 75 – King of the Underworld (26)

His grandfather took the lead to attack again, with the other three following close behind. It was the same strategy that they used earlier, and Brendel recognized that his stamina was getting low.

The youth decided on his swordsmanship.

He took out another sword from his back and fell into a familiar stance. It was a swordsmanship that his friend in the previous world was gifted in. He had put in considerable effort into it, but the skill ultimately clashed with his class and gave up on using it.

[Two selves. The first self shall perceive his surroundings and make the decisions, and the second self shall handle the body’s power and control.]

A delicate balance was created from a near-meditative state.

“Duel wielding?! Boy! What are you doing? There’s no one who’s capable of executing a new swordsmanship just like that—”

Torbus was the first to attack.

Ebdon was next to be cut down from the beast-like charge and it disappeared into a pile of black smoke.

Torbus had given up on defending the undead knight and merely stood there to wait for Brendel to get ready.

The youth was panting heavily and perspiration was pouring down his face. His muscles were trembling and straining with pain.

The Swordsmanship of Charging Tempest was different from the Sun Knight’s Charge technique. The former relied on pure physical prowess, while the latter was a technique that had a waiting time before it could be used again.

His grandfather nodded to him, as though to signify they were ready to start their final duel. Brendel lowered his sword towards the ground and readied himself to sprint again.

Six consecutive flashes struck Torbus’s defenses in different directions, with each attack from Brendel getting stronger, and the old soldier who survived the November War realized that the youth’s offense had become great enough to distort his defense.

He would eventually be defeated if he just continued to defend. Waiting for the latter’s stamina to run out was not an option anymore.

The seventh exchange would be the last.

Both of them concluded that thought.

Brendel did not hold anything back and used every bit of his stamina for his final attack. His grandfather’s stance was nearly broken from the previous lunge, and he was certain that it would end in the next attack.

The distance closed rapidly between the two.

A sudden impulse struck Brendel.

Nearly a century worth of experience in the game was warning him that he was going to be killed. In his mind, he could see a sudden change in stance where Torbus would sacrifice his arm or his life to get in a strike.

It was all over for the youth.

The Elven woman had sensed the very same thing and concluded it as such, and she instantly regretted allowing Brendel to continue dueling when he insisted on it.

But there was a reason why the gamers were able to surpass the NPCs. Their ingenuity was able to lead the techniques used in the game to greater heights.

The Charging Tempest Swordsmanship was originally developed for swordswomen in the past to use both power and speed. Multiple refinements were made to make sure that the body was allowed to remain balanced when it was used.

But gamers disregarded the notion of having it balanced all the time and instead overloaded it with speed and power.

The reason why Brendel was able to turn so easily despite that the increase in speed was having a pivot point. He had flicked his sword against the ground to control that balance every time it was required. When he saw his grandfather’s change in stance, he immediately drew up his left sword and thrust it into the ground, allowing him to suddenly brake and instead soar into the air.

Torbus swung his sword in a clean line that should have cleaved Brendel into two.

Brendel’s body spun multiple times in the air before he swung his sword in an overhead strike.

His grandfather had changed into an attacking stance and was thus not able to retain his unique defense where he was ready for every attack. He barely managed to meet Brendel’s blade in time, but found that his sword was pushed aside from the youth’s momentum.

Brendel’s blade emerged from the other end of the old man’s chest.

“How artful……” His eyes met Brendel’s gaze as he spoke. “Well done, young man.”

Torbus vanished in a pile of black smoke after his last words.