Chapter 1358: Sword Art Duel, A Resounding Victory

Xia Duo certainly could not agree to such a contest, at least not in the name of Elven Magic or Netheril Magic, so he said:

"Perhaps you already consider yourself capable of representing Elven Magic, but I cannot represent Netheril Magic; a duel like this is completely meaningless."

"Are you afraid?" the Gold Elf Mage immediately retorted.

Following this, he wanted to continue shouting, but he seemed to receive some kind of instruction; his body shuddered violently, his lips moved, and he remained silent for a long time.

Seeing this, Xia Duo roughly understood what was happening; Yierlan had truly fallen if they used such trash to challenge him, but at a time like this, he could not easily let the other party off.

With a flip of his hand, a longsword in the Elven style appeared in Xia Duo's hand; he pointed his sword at the Gold Elf Mage opposite him and shouted:

"A Sword Art duel, or crawl back to your seat!"

Xia Duo was still a young man, and since they were at a banquet, he could naturally indulge himself a little; hearing his counter-challenge, the Gold Elf Mage acted as if he had heard celestial music and immediately agreed:

"Fine, a Sword Art duel!"

In the eyes of ordinary humans or Elves, humans are not skilled at Sword Art; the main reason, of course, is that Sword Art focuses more on technique, and because human lifespans are too short, they do not have as much time to train long-term like the Elves.

Especially for a Senior Arcanist whose age is plain for all to see.

But if it is a Sword Art duel, whether winning or losing is good for all parties; after all, the default for Sword Art is Elven Sword Art, and it is not as if everyone would be hostile to him just because a human won—humans using Elven Sword Art should be a cause for joy.

……

Just as Xia Duo proposed the Sword Art duel, he also received a Sending from Iolum: "You really have no need to compete with him in Sword Art; if he wants a Spell Duel, let it be a Spell Duel. In the face of true strength, no amount of idle gossip can harm us in the slightest!"

But since he had already agreed, Iolum did not make Xia Duo abandon the contest, but instead provided Xia Duo with some intelligence obtained from Ilphark regarding this Yierlan Mage in the arena named "Furuisi"—

A Senior Mage, also highly skilled in Sword Art; his sword style is unpredictable and often catches opponents off guard, earning him the reputation of "Sword Art Master" within Yierlan.

Although such a reputation might have some bonus from being a Senior Mage, it could not be underestimated.

Regarding this, Xia Duo held his sword and bowed to the cloud seats of the onlookers above, pausing deliberately for a second in the direction of Iolum to show his special gratitude.

Afterward, he signaled the start of the battle with the sword-holding salute most commonly used in ancient Sword Art duels, but it was a pity that the fellow before him had shallow foundations and could not even recognize the ancient sword-holding salute, let alone return the gesture.

However, the sword-holding salute itself carries the intent to initiate combat; even if Furuisi did not understand the meaning behind it, he knew that Xia Duo was about to launch an attack.

So he hurriedly cast a spell to retrieve the longsword he had previously stuck in front of Xia Duo, which was now quite far away due to the change in the arena, and then took the initiative to launch an attack with his sword.

……

Seemingly hearing the sighs of the onlookers above, Xia Duo also sighed silently, raising his sword to meet the opponent's offensive—a parry, a spin, a stir—and the man and the Elf crossed paths.

Subsequently, Furuisi launched another attack, but Xia Duo neutralized it with ease, as if strolling through a forest; so-called Sword Art, no matter how flashy, ultimately boils down to the practical level: the movement trajectories of the sword tip and the blade.

And the human body, including the Elf's body, has limits, and therefore Sword Art also has limits; although Xia Duo could not fully penetrate those limits, driven by his powerful body after Bloodline Awakening, he could always use speed to overcome slowness and substance to break the void.

As long as he ensured that the movement trajectories of the opponent's sword tip and blade could not touch his own vital points, then no matter how many times the opponent launched an attack, it would be to no avail.

After a few rounds of exchanges, Furuisi's breathing had already become somewhat disordered, while Xia Duo remained composed and relaxed.

If the battle continued, Furuisi's defeat was almost a foregone conclusion; losing a Sword Art duel to a human—Furuisi could almost imagine what kind of criticism he would face upon returning to his country.

Thinking that before the contest the two sides had only agreed on a Sword Art duel but had not specified the details, Furuisi gritted his teeth and decided to take a desperate risk.

Of course, at the beginning of cheating, Furuisi still harbored a trace of testing; as long as the big shots above did not speak up to call a halt, and as long as the other party did not raise an objection, then it could undoubtedly continue.

……

And on the other side, when Xia Duo saw the Magic Aura begin to shimmer at the tip of the opponent's sword, he knew the other party had already lost.

Generally speaking, Sword Art duels between Elves can indeed use spells, but for humans, spellcasting requires maintaining focus, making it almost impossible to cast spells during a sword fight. (Instant spells stored in the Magic Net can be used.)

Furuisi could not possibly be unaware of this; otherwise, he would have used spells from the very beginning.

When normal humans and Elves have a Sword Art duel, they only compare Sword Art; besides demonstrating fairness, there is another important factor: humans who can generally engage in a Sword Art duel with an Elf are usually not Mages.

This allowed Furuisi to find a loophole.

It was a pity that Xia Duo was not an ordinary human; besides having received Sword Singer training in the Projection Plane, he also had a relatively deep grasp of Elven Magic.

This situation was a minor affair to him, but he did not want to let the other party off easily; there was quite a difference between winning with spellcasting and winning without it.

……

As the opponent's sword swings already carried wind blades, Xia Duo knew he had to end the battle quickly; if he really waited for the opponent to even use the Sword Singer's 【Space Jump】, it would be almost impossible for him to take down the opponent without casting spells.

Thinking this, Xia Duo immediately activated the Spell Breaking ability of the 【Blade of Veto】, and a circular domain emerged from thin air at the tip of his sword, like the surface of an umbrella.

While completely dissipating the wind blades brought about by the opponent, it also disrupted the opponent's rhythm; Furuisi probably did not expect that Xia Duo would have a standard-issue longsword of an ancient Elven Sword Singer in his hand, and the moment the Spell Breaking domain appeared, he even stopped breathing for an instant.

If he had known earlier that he was fighting a true Sword Singer Master, he would never have sought this spotlight.

And next, Xia Duo decisively seized the brief moment of Furuisi's distraction, quickly moving to the side of the opponent's sword-wielding right hand, and thrust his sword toward the blind spot of the opponent's defense caused by his physical structure.

By the time Furuisi reacted and wanted to retreat to open up distance, Xia Duo pressed forward, his sword tip never leaving the opponent's defensive blind spot, neither attacking nor withdrawing, like a thorn in the back.

This feeling of being under constant threat was not pleasant; after only a few seconds, Furuisi could no longer endure such a threat and teleported out of the arena.

At this moment, the Evereska Elder who had given the opening speech at the banquet took the opportunity to announce: "The outcome is decided, the banquet continues!"

The dueling arena, where the Cloud Qi had originally dispersed, was instantly covered again by the swarming Cloud Qi; Xia Duo held his sword and bowed to all sides, then returned to his seat, calmly accepting the praise of the crowd.