The Amber Sword

Chapter 72 – King of the Underworld (23)

Brendel nearly allowed his sword his sword to clatter on the ground when he finally realized who the fourth person was.

Torbus Cadirosso, his grandfather.

The former Brendel did not have fond memories of his grandfather when the latter trained him during his childhood.

A certain fragment floated before Brendel’s eyes.

The taciturn old man forced the boy to measure the distance with every single thrust and was not allowed to make a mistake. If the boy was off with his attack, then his grandfather would parry against his attack and wound him with welts that lasted for days.

Brendel closed his eyes to reflect on his state of mind when he felt certain sections on his skin crawl. When he opened them a second later, the sensation was gone.

[These are people who had defeated me in one way or another. Buga was the last person I fought who used his Element Power and forced my loss. Tirste nearly killed me with his thrust. Ebdon proved to be stronger against me when I fought against at my level. Finally, my grandfather whom the former Brendel had never won. But this is a challenge in skill where all our stats are equal…..]

Tirste had gotten up a few moments ago and rushed to Ebdon’s side to help it, but Brendel flung his sword at him with Power Break in mid-air, and the projectile forced Tirste to guard against it. His advance was stalled and his fingers trembled after deflecting the sword away.

Ebdon’s counterattack had completely left itself open. Buga was on the other side and could no longer tie Brendel down.

Brendel sailed through the air in an elegant arc and thrust Kodan’s sword—

Time seemed to slow down when people realize that Brendel’s attack was going to pierce through his target.

Everyone watched with bated breaths. This battle was different from the past yet again. Unlike the duel against Varian, Brendel’s dazzling skill in the sword was seen for the very first time. Even though it was not as grand as the battle against the Type IV hunter Knights or the dragon, they still felt as though they were intoxicated.

The youths did not really understand the level of skill presented before them, but they could see that Brendel had completely overturned a supposedly impossible situation and gained the upper-hand once again. This was even crazier than the stories in the inns, where the protagonist in front of them would keep on winning against the odds—

But the script did not progress as they thought it would.

Brendel’s eyes saw his grandfather stay rooted in the very same spot since the beginning of the battle. He did not understand why the latter did not move, but there was no possible way that Ebdon could be saved now.

Reality betrayed his convictions.

A terrifying wail broke across the air like a whip and Brendel felt his hair standing up in terror. He could certainly pierce through Ebdon’s throat, but if he did so, the wind blade from his grandfather would cut him into half.

The youth immediately turned his body and launched his own White Raven Sword Arte. An explosive blast of wind immediately hurled him across the stage, and he crashed into the ground, rolling across it several times uncontrollably before stopping himself by digging his sword into the ground. His fingers were numb and throbbed painfully—

[I lost in technique?]

Brendel was shocked.

While it was true that he could not unleash the full potential of the White Raven Sword Arte in his position, he knew that he would lose even if he had his feet planted on the ground.

The youths uttered cries of pity when they saw Brendel knocked away in mid-air, not knowing his plight.

“This is strange, why is Brendel so much weaker than he used to be?” Jana suddenly realized the strange phenomenon.

“Torbus and that brat are far too weak. What’s going on?” Kodan frowned deeply, also nothing the limitations that the Coliseum of Destiny had implemented.

Brendel’s opponents slowly surrounded him again. But this time they were cautious enough to stop and observe for signs of a weakness first. The youth hurriedly arranged his thoughts.

[The Coliseum of Destiny created my opponents based on the skill what they had shown in the past. It’s not unlike that Golden Demonic Tree. Buga and Tirste did not use their full extent of their skill when I encountered them, so they definitely don’t reflect their counterpart in reality. But my grandfather—]

Brendel was momentarily confused.

He could not remember much about him, but the level of his grandfather’s skill exceeded even Kodan, who was the strongest swordsman he had seen so far. Did the Coliseum of Destiny dig into some subconscious memories that he did not know of?

The youth believed he would find out the truth once he crossed swords formally with his grandfather. But he was still disappointed that his efforts were fruitless at the very end of the attack and even lost part of his stamina.