I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 415: Clashing Skills

Swoosh!

Without any hesitation, King Zeldrion dashed forward with all his might, summoning a sword out of thin air as he aimed to cut Aurus’s neck. However, even with such a ferocious attack heading his way, Aurus did not move even an inch, causing Zeldrion to be somewhat surprised.

But of course, that did not mean he would give the former any mercy, increasing the speed at which he slashed his sword. With one clean sweep, a large cut that would normally kill a person then and there appeared on Aurus’s neck. However, that was only if his opponent was normal.

Gurgle…gurgle…

Just as Zeldrion thought that he had finished the headache of their kingdom then and there, he soon heard faint gurgling sounds coming from Aurus’s body as the large cut around his neck was being closed up at breakneck speeds. Naturally, such a sight could not help but make Zeldrion ponder over the various skills the opposing side had.

‘[Regeneration]…no. If the wounds are closing up at that level, then that could only be [Supreme Regeneration]. However, only defenders would obtain such a skill like that,’ he thought. He then took another look at Aurus from head to toe before thinking to himself, ‘I guess he’s been alone for a great portion of his life so there’s a great chance he’s become a jack of all trades.’

Seeing as Aurus was about to retaliate after recovering from the injury, Zeldrion decided to take one hit from him and plan his next moves from there. Then again, he did not expect that the first retaliation Aurus would send at him was of a power level greater than what he had just shown.

“[Supreme Deification].”

Whoosh!

In less than an instant, the aura surrounding Aurus had intensified as he allocated a great portion of the energy he regenerated towards [Dark Universal Blade]. With that, Aurus gave King Zeldrion an ominous feeling as he felt like he was looking at a large blade made out of the void. It was as if merely looking at him would turn him into nothingness at the very last second.

“[Void Blade]? No…perhaps [Blade of Nihility]? Or perhaps he has fused multiple skills together to create a skill of his own.” As Zeldrion continued to mutter the possible skills Aurus had in his arsenal, Aurus went ahead and conjured a sword similar to what Zeldrion was wielding before dashing towards him at greater speeds.

“[Spellswords of Ruination: Lost Art].”

“[Penultimate Blade of the Chaotic Tempest].”

“[Fragarach].”

Without even giving Zeldrion a chance to defend against the attack, he imbued the blade with the element of the void before slashing upward in a diagonal manner, seemingly wanting to inflict a large gash on Zeldrion’s chest.

Fortunately, before the entirety of the power behind Aurus’s blade could erupt, Zeldrion hastily wielded his sword in such a way that would deflect most of the force behind it towards the ground, making the area within a few kilometers around him rumble slightly as he could feel the bones in his forearms screaming out in pain.

At this point, this king could not help but be astounded, yet at the same time curious of this man who had seemingly come out of nowhere, having the power of a true Transcendent at his fingertips. “Which place did this man come from? For him to stay hidden all this time is a true testament to his conviction and determination,” he muttered to himself, wanting to ask his opponent as to where he hailed from.

But of course, Aurus wouldn’t even give him the chance to do so as he slashed out once more, wanting to remove the nuisance that was the king of the Seraph Kingdom so he could bolster his strength and reach the peak comprehension level possible for his Epiphany of the Tempest.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

And so, Aurus sent out a barrage of dark green blade lights, all aiming towards the vital points on Zeldrion’s body. With that, the latter responded by imbuing his body with a hint of mana before dodging all of it with relative ease. After all, before he had become the king of such a large kingdom, he had fought against many opponents at a similar or even at a greater level than him. In any case, it wasn’t surprising for him to dodge the attacks of someone like Aurus with the amount of combat experience he had accrued so far.

After dodging all of those attacks without problems, Zeldrion now had a general idea of how scary his opponent was when he wielded the blade, rating him in his mind at a threat level of a Rank 7 class holder. However, that was only in terms of Aurus’s sword techniques. Regarding the sheer force behind each attack, he would even think he was underestimating his opponent by rating him as a Pseudo-Transcendent.

“Hah!” Now with the opposing’s side flurry of attacks over, King Zeldrion went ahead and sent a few attacks of his own, slashing and thrusting his blade from various angles and positions, wanting to catch Aurus off guard. Though, with every consecutive attack, it seemed that the opposing side was becoming more and more proficient in reading the pattern behind his attacks, though they seemed random to any bystander.

Unfortunately, even after knowing that fact, Zeldrion just decided to increase the force and speed behind his attacks, imbuing himself with mana to aid in the process. With that, a breathtaking sight could be seen within the barrier as one side only did the bare minimum to deflect or avoid the attacks that was being sent out at him, while the other side did all he could to send an attack that would severely injure or even debilitate the opponent.

Just as he thought he was gaining an edge over the opponent, Zeldrion decided to take a few steps back before sending in a blow that would surely catch Aurus off guard and inflict a grievous wound on his body. However, before the attack could even land, Aurus conjured a decoy of himself, which soon turned into a copy of the blade he was holding.

At first, Zeldrion was confused as to why Aurus was doing that, knowing very well that the force behind his attack was no joke whatsoever. However, as the two blades overlapped each other, the strength behind the blade had increased, letting Aurus emanate killing intent, which he had never emitted before.

Clang!

With one swift move, Aurus quickly deflected the attack that was heading towards him as he disappeared in front of Zeldrion’s field of vision.

Whoosh!

As Zeldrion wondered where Aurus would appear next, Aurus caught the former off guard as he appeared just a few meters above him, conjuring three more decoys that augmented the power of his blade. With that, he put all of his weight behind the blade he wielded as he shouted, “[Penta-Fragarach]!”

“[Meteor Tempest]!”

Bang!

With the speed behind Aurus’s attack increasing all of a sudden, Zeldrion hastily imbued mana into his body as he gave it his all to dodge the attack that seemed to have reached a level beyond the strongest person he had fought against so far.

Fortunately, with his reaction speed, the blade was only able to cut along the skin of his upper torso, making for a grievous-looking wound, but was something that did not affect his combat ability whatsoever. Nevertheless, it was still a gruesome sight for others as they looked at the fight from beyond the barrier.

Seeing as his attack did not kill his opponent, Aurus went ahead and increased the ferocity behind his attacks, imbuing his blade with the element of wind and void as he sent a barrage of attacks towards the injured Zeldrion. At first, Zeldrion was finding it quite easy to deflect the attacks, recalling how this situation had occurred just some time ago, but now the sides have been switched.

However, as time passed, Zeldrion noticed that the attacks Aurus employed seemed to gradually remind him more and more of a certain person. Once the attacks seemed to have reached their peak, it was only then that he realized…that Aurus’s attacks were emulating his!

“What?!” With great surprise, Zeldrion increased his defenses to the maximum as he finally treated his opponent as something that even the entire world of Erudinia would have to fear. Not knowing what to do next, he hastily sent a strand to a certain person as he asked in his mind, “Dalton, why didn’t you tell me he had the ability to quickly learn from other people?”

“To be honest, even I didn’t know that,” Dalton quickly replied, appearing in less than an instant just a few meters outside the barrier where Zeldrion could see him. “In fact, I haven’t seen him use the skill in our fight at all.”

“Do you know of any skill that allows one to do something like this?” Zeldrion asked, taking note of the fact that Aurus was charging up his final attack, an attack that looked similar to his final attack after the massive barrage. While Zeldrion was putting defenses on top of defenses, Dalton replied, “Even with the massive amount of knowledge in my head, I can only think of my innate skill [Hyperthymesia] that would allow one to do this. But even I would take a day at the very least to learn what you’ve done.”

“What kind of monstrous human did this continent give birth to?” Hearing that even Dalton did not know the answer to the question, this was the only thing Zeldrion could mutter out. Surprisingly, Dalton replied to this question, prompting Zeldrion to look at the former with shock in his eyes.

“Who says you’re fighting against a human?”

“Huh?” Naturally, Zeldrion was caught off guard by that. Coincidentally, it was at this moment that Aurus sent out his attack, crumpling all of Zeldrion’s defenses in one go. With that, Zeldrion used his trusty blade to deflect the attack, albeit with a lot of effort.

Fortunately, after that attack, it seemed that Aurus was gearing up for another hard-hitting attack as he conjured a few more decoys of himself, stacking them on top of his blades. With some leeway to process the information he had obtained and work from there, Zeldrion then asked Dalton, “So, am I fighting against a Pseudo-Animate? Perhaps, one of the various inheritance holders in the continent?”

“Nope,” Dalton quickly replied.

“Then, what…?” Just as Zeldrion was about to ask Dalton yet another question, it was as if everything had clicked at that very moment. The ability to heal from grievous wounds, the ability to learn his fighting style, the ability to fight those beyond his level, and the fact that he wasn’t a Pseudo-Animate only meant one thing to Zeldrion.

“It seems you’ve found the answer to your question,” Dalton could not help but say, to which Zeldrion lightly nodded. “Although he’s a part of that organization, he’s still an Inanimate. I think I now know what to do from here on out.”

“To think I would fight against someone from an organization that spans the entirety of Erudinia,” he could not help but mutter. After that, he sent a strand to another being that only a select number of people in the kingdom know of. Once the connection was completed, the person on the other side asked Zeldrion, “What made you contact me at this hour, child?”

“Grandfathe—” Recalling that he was calling him for official matters, Zeldrion quickly corrected himself as he said, “Sir Wilhelm, the kingdom needs your assistance as we’re facing off an opponent that’s of a similar level to yours.”

“What do you want me to do? Should I eradicate it from the face of this world?” the man named Wilhelm asked in response.

“It would be preferable if you defeated and captured it, sir. With it, we would be able to make something that would benefit the entire kingdom,” Zeldrion replied, prompting the man to ask in a tone with a hint of interest, “Is that so? Well, just tell me when I should take over.”

“As you wish, Sir Wilhelm.” Ending their conversation there, King Zeldrion then looked at Aurus, who seemed to be accumulating energy behind his next attack. In any case, now that he truly knew who he was fighting against, he did not have to hold back anymore, pointing his blade at the air as he shouted, “Ignite!”

“Valtyrisk!”

Swoosh!

In an instant, the blade named Valtyrisk, which Zeldrion wielded, radiated a faint orange light as it gave off the feeling that a dragon was slumbering inside it. After that, Zeldrion swung Valtyrisk downward, instantly cutting off both of Aurus’s arms.

“[Cutthroat Blade Arts].”

“Rend.”