Chapter 57: Death Match

"Smack!"

The moment Li En stepped back onto the battlefield, gravity's binding still shackled his flesh, invisible chains making every step a struggle.

"Smack!"

One foot, one crater; advancing even a single step was extraordinarily difficult.

But the sword-wielding Holy Knight no longer cared about the current environmental restrictions.

His heart swelled with fury toward the monster before him, and that will became silver light along his blade, became a ward against sorcery.

Among melee classes, extraordinary professions that turned will into power were hardly rare.

But a Holy Knight who could purely use the force of will to tank sorcery head-on was probably the only one.

"Holy Sword. Evil-Slaying." The Hero's blade bloomed with the purest light of will.

The origin of this Heroic Soul inheritance system was wrath against evil and injustice.

Li En lunged forward, stepping into the gravity domain, his head and feet already inverted in his senses.

The instant he stepped into the cavern was the same as leaping down from midair.

He did not resist gravity's pull; instead, he borrowed that momentary inversion of gravity as acceleration to boost his leap!

At the highest point, Li En was gathering strength.

"Ha!" A roar tore from him, and the Wall-Shatterer's might shredded the evil sorcery's restraints.

Li En broke free of gravity's shackles at his intended landing point.

Light gathered on the sword's edge.

Man and sword plunged downward together, carried by momentum.

"Boom!" The light detonated.

This time, it was a complete Burst Sword. Boundary Breaker.

From the blade's edge erupted a violent holy-power tornado, its blast direction extending along the blade.

For the first time, Li En's strike did not wound himself.

But he still had not struck his target.

"Clang!" A black-grey "shield" interposed itself before the blade.

Li En gazed at the ceaselessly writhing "wall" before him and frowned.

It was a woven bone shield, a defensive net woven from at least ten "antlers."

Maria still stood there, but from her body extended one "grey-black tentacle" after another.

That familiar texture and color instantly reminded Li En of the Horn Disciple's horn.

Elserena was one of the Ancient Beasts; the Elders called her the Grey Great Antlered Deer.

Deer are gentle creatures; their sole weapon is their antlers.

Yet those antlers are also the most dangerous, hardest part of their bodies, a pure bone structure.

Their sharp points can be used entirely as weapons—bone arrows, bone spears, and the like.

"My children don't seem to like you. Please stay away from us." The woman was still smiling.

Those antlers, like twisted arthropod limbs, moved slowly, wrapping around her, protecting her—and threatening Li En.

Li En frowned; the thought that these "antlers" likely came from the children's skulls only made him angrier.

"Hum!" The gravity field suddenly shifted again, once more successfully pinning Li En down!

This time, Li En felt a gravitational pressure far stronger than before, nearly forcing him straight to his knees.

"Damn it." Li En clenched his teeth, drove strength into his legs, and stood straight once more.

And Maria was still just smiling at him.

After confirming that "inverting up and down" was useless against Li En, she had shifted all her power to the more effective doubling of gravity.

The ambush had failed, and Maria had not stopped—those antlers were her true killing weapons.

Continuous, rapid strikes became a net of thrusts blanketing the opponent before her.

Perhaps she truly was unaccustomed to combat, but that did not mean a beast's instincts were unaccustomed to hunting and slaughter!

"Evil-Breaker." And Li En answered her with the same blazing Holy Sword.

"Clang!"

Even though every strike was parried by those quick-reacting ten antlers, Li En did not retreat a step.

Even as wounds kept appearing on his body, he did not pause for an instant.

He simply swung the Holy Sword with all his heart, each strike fiercer and faster than the last.

No need for blind roars; the flame of fury kept boiling in his chest.

The Holy Sword named for wrath grew sharper along with its wielder's resolve.

"Clank."

At last, this time the blade was not blocked.

The armor-corroding war sword that broke the ward successfully lopped off one antler—but Li En, who seemed to hold the advantage, showed no joy.

"Clang!" A timely backhand parry with his war sword blocked a sudden strike extended from the severed antler!

In only an instant, the severed antler had regenerated and directly elongated into a thrust.

Had Li En not been on guard, he would likely have been pierced straight through—as a warrior, he had grown far too mature for that.

"Oh dear, didn't you know deer antlers can regenerate?"

Li En of course knew, and had been guarding against it; the memory Hec had left him was too deep, and he would never let his guard down on the battlefield again.

Bony deer antlers are indeed the only large organ among mammals capable of full regeneration, but was this speed of regeneration truly normal?

"Clang!" He parried another volley of thrusts.

"Sigh." At this moment, Li En, having finished gathering intelligence, suddenly let out a breath and shook his head.

"You really aren't a warrior—just a stupid beast."

"What do you mean?" Maria couldn't understand. She clearly held the overall advantage, so why would he say that?

Was this some misleading lie? Or a hallucination before death?

But Li En didn't bother responding; he simply silently raised his sword.

His body ached, the pressure constant and immense.

Those high-speed twisting "antlers"—there were too many of them, and when they burst forth they were faster than the naked eye could follow; his two hands could barely cope.

Wounds kept accumulating, the blood already flowing to the point of near numbness.

"But, so what?"

A memory surfaced once more—facing a boundless legion, facing lofty deities, facing dozens of knights whose strength differed little from his own, facing a destined dead end—what would a true Holy Knight do?

"Evil-Destroying." Will is power; before death arrives, a knight will not yield.

The raging flames in his heart ultimately transformed into a calm, steady sword edge.

I simply swing my sword.

No need to consider the long term, no need to consider victory or defeat, no need even to consider life or death—do everything I should to the utmost, and victory will naturally favor the stronger!

And I am already certain—right now, I am the stronger one!

"Boom!"

Evil deserves to be cut down!

This time, even though several bone horns blocked it, the greatsword still wasn't stopped!

Two of the bones were severed; the blade pierced through the defensive web and slammed straight into Maria's shoulder!

And so, the moment the woman revealed a shocked expression for the first time, blood sprayed violently from her shoulder.

Li En's strike was precise; the "head" on her shoulder had already been smashed to pulp.

Blood sprayed all the way up to the ceiling of the cavern.

The blade sank in deep, but it wasn't over.

Li En immediately drew a deep breath; with another surge of force, the silver blade directly ignited a storm of holy power!

"Collapsing Sword—World Breaker!"

"Boom!"

The chain of explosions brought the lethal burst damage that should have been fatal.

Once Li En entered the state, the transition from "Erosion Sword" to "Collapsing Sword" took only an instant.

"Evil-Destroying." The explosion hadn't ended, and the warrior's next slash had already come.

Li En had no habit of waiting for the smoke to clear to see the result; he casually followed up with another high-speed cleave.

Want to talk? Die first, then we can chat.

Just as that sly old Holy Knight said—against any opponent, just swing the sword.

"Clang."

This time, it was caught between a pair of black claws.

The woman, beginning to beastify, had cheeks streaked with blood and bulging veins; parts of her limbs had already become inhuman.

"Tch, what tremendous strength."

Feeling the brute force, Li En was forced backward.

Yet Li En himself, forced back, began to smile.

He saw that the previous sword strike had worked well—not only had it chopped through one of her "heads" along with half a shoulder.

Having lost one symbiote, the balance and stability of her flesh had already been broken.

The rapidly regenerating flesh piled up into grotesque lumps; she was gradually losing her human form.

"My child, my poor child." The woman was still letting out a wailing cry laced with sobs.

Li En merely chuckled, too lazy to respond—where had she copied this fraudulent line from now?

"You may be strong, but you're still a waste."

A calm tone accompanied the sword swung once more at full force; this time, holy light blazed brilliantly along the blade.

"Boom—!

The twin claws blocked the blade, but the holy-power storm of the Collapsing Sword exploded directly in her face!

Mastering a second sword technique doesn't merely mean having one more card in hand.

For a veteran warrior, one more tactical reserve brings countless additional possibilities in real combat.

"Die." Li En, who had never stopped, simply swung the sword again with violent force.

"Clang!" He stomped out with one foot, planting it straight into a crater in the ground.

This time, the sudden attack came from above.

Maria's gravity suppression erupted again, seemingly pinning him down.

"Evil-Destroying." Even though his body was already tilting, even though his very skeleton was groaning in agony—could that truly stop him from continuing to swing his sword?!

"Ahhhhh!" Maria showed an expression of utter incomprehension; that useless smile had already been smashed apart.

This time, the blade sank straight into flesh and slashed violently!

The blade, cutting at near waist-height, pierced through Maria's defense and completed a horizontal slash, tearing a great gash across her body.

Flames burned upon it! Dragonflame dealt secondary damage!

"Let's die together!" But at the same time, having determined she couldn't block it, the monster sensibly chose to trade wound for wound.

The instant he struck his opponent, Li En was also hit directly by over a dozen sharp bone spurs that suddenly erupted!

"As expected, there are more than five symbiotes." Li En merely silently snapped off the bone spikes on his body.

If I had been unarmored or wearing ordinary armor, I would already be dead.

But this armor on my body is far from ordinary.

As for the exposed flesh without armor? Protecting the head is enough; for a warrior, injuries to other parts mean nothing.

"You have no sense of pain, do you?" When my head was severed earlier, Li En had already suspected this; now it seems confirmed.

"Heh, the weaknesses of mortals cannot exist within me." The monster, with half its face and body already deformed, seemed to finally show some emotion.

Did it feel threatened in its life?

Li En smiled. Having emotions is good; doesn't this help me verify a very useful piece of intelligence?

Pain is a weakness? Heh heh.

Li En took a deep breath and merely raised his dual swords again.

Isn't it just exchanging injuries for injuries? Isn't it just not fearing pain? I've fought like this before.

But combining these two, is it really a good thing for a warrior?!

"Break Evil." The holy sword swung again, this time even more precise and more deadly.

Both sides slaughtered each other at extremely close range, unable to evade or block.

Li En's Dragon Eyes were fully activated, doing his best to minimize his losses.

And Maria, whose body was already twisted and deformed, could not retreat a single step to maintain her gravity ability.

One slash after another; Li En was slashing with exhilarating joy.

Wave after wave of bone spikes; Li En was numb from the pain.

Within just a few short minutes, Li En couldn't remember how many slashes he had landed.

His entire body was covered in countless wounds, and his hard armor had been pierced through by several bone spikes, but his opponent was even more severely injured.

Limbs were constantly severed and flying, flesh constantly mutating; under Li En's slaughter, she naturally became less and less human, even less like a disciple!

Deformed flesh masses were everywhere on her body; the original balance had been completely shattered.

On the limbs that had lost their human form, at least seven or eight heads had appeared.

The current monster had swollen several times over, its volume large enough to reach the cave ceiling.

Her strength was greater, the bone spikes thicker, and that bone whip constantly lashed Li En.

The humanity mixed with bestiality seemed to have been activated as well.

"Why?! Why won't you die!!" She completely failed to understand; weren't those previous targets crushed instantly?!

Fool, of course it's because you're too amateurish, and the wounds aren't deep enough; Li En certainly wouldn't respond with the truth.

You simultaneously control over a dozen strange weapons and still maintain their power and accuracy? Are you a super weapon master? Or a super computer capable of multi-tasking?

Most of those bone spikes were instinctive attacks; only a few were truly controlled with intent and posed a real threat.

Then, use the Dragon Eyes to observe, and simply avoid or block them.

A truly excellent warrior needs only a single strike!

"A waste who squanders abilities, a waste who plays a good hand terribly."

The only response to Maria's doubt about why she couldn't be killed was Li En's holy sword, each strike heavier than the last.

Her gravity-controlling ability was terrifyingly strong, but in the end, she had only developed the ability to cast spells while standing still.

This, didn't it just become a specialized ability suitable only for bullying the weak?

Those inferior to you are instantly crushed by you, but against those who can withstand you, you are equivalent to standing still and fighting to the death!

Abandoning mobility to stand still and output damage while clashing with a professional heavy armor user? That is purely a path to death.

At this moment, Li En even felt a bit sorry for the transcendent beings she had killed before.

They were actually killed by such an amateurish "Talent Beast."

"Idiot." Li En's holy sword, under the control of the Dragon Eyes, consistently maintained efficient damage output.

He steadily and efficiently aimed at her weaknesses, the locations of those "heads."

Resurrection does not come without a price; every time a head was slain, that portion of bone spikes would stagnate before reviving again.

Even if it revived again, the newly grown bone spikes became more sluggish and stupid.

More fatally, the shattered internal balance made it more out of control and inhuman.

Even though Li En was covered in wounds, his blood-stained eyes still glared fiercely at his opponent, while Maria...

"She didn't even notice the four weak armor plates behind my back; all the injuries I've taken are on the front, and even now, having abandoned the sense of pain, she hasn't discovered my trickery."

Li En had already confirmed that the thing before him was an utterly unqualified warrior; how could such a person kill him?

Perhaps her talent is invincible, perhaps her abilities are invincible, but relying too heavily on abilities only makes her appear more stupid; she actually lacks extreme experience in death battles!

"Die!" This time, Li En's holy sword finally shattered the defense and severed her head!

Bestiality does not mean an absence of fear of death; in fact, the beast's instinct is for survival and continuation.

After regenerating once more, she hesitated; she stagnated.

She doubted whether she could truly kill the person before her, whether this silver armor was truly impervious to blades and arrows, and whether those wounds truly couldn't cause her pain.

"It hurts terribly, but so what?!"

Warriors, which one does not bleed? Li En merely swung his sword with an even calmer expression.

For beasts, never show fear!

If you are not afraid, the one who is afraid first is...

"Snap!"

The monster retreated a step first.

And Li En, at this moment, felt his body become light.

"Break Evil!" Thus, Li En's sword, which paid absolutely no heed to defense, came even more ferociously!

Want to escape? Dream on!

Li En did not stop; the moment the bindings vanished, all the accumulated rage transformed into a series of furious slashes.

The Acceleration Boots were activated; the knight, unleashing his full power, caught up with the monster.

One slash after another, Wearing heavy armor and trading wounds for wounds, Li En's sword edge grew ever more ferocious, his countenance ever more grotesque.

"Die."

The beast was afraid.

"No!" Finally, the monster was directly cleaved in two, and one of its parts even began to flee for its life!

It had lost the confidence to kill Li En; the animal instinct for survival was activated.

But by this time, it was already too late.

Li En did not pursue; he simply gazed silently at the sky above.

"Boom!" Heavenly fire descended from the heavens, directly engulfing him.

The long-standing scheme had finally reached the moment of harvest.

Li En did not move closer, nor did he relax; he knew this was not yet the end.

"You forced me to do this."

The flames did not dissipate, but rising from within them was now a completely transformed horned deer monster.

A gray, multi-headed great horned deer stood up, calm and silent.

And Li En merely raised his long sword once more.

"Truly pitiful, Sister Maria; let me grant you release."

(End of this chapter)