Chapter 9: Linley vs. Olivier
"Linley, come out!"
Olivier's furious shout still echoed through the arena, but at this moment, Linley seemed to pay it no heed. He remained half-kneeling beside his younger brother, speaking with him as if he hadn't heard Olivier's voice at all.
Olivier, hovering midair, furrowed his brow.
"What is Master Linley doing? Didn't he hear that?"
"There's no way he didn't hear it. Is he afraid of Olivier?"
...
Everyone in the arena grew puzzled by Linley's reaction. After Olivier shouted that single line, he fell silent, staring coldly at Linley from above.
Linley, after finishing his conversation with his brother, straightened up and turned to face Olivier in the air. In that instant—
One stood on the ground, the other hovered in the sky, locking eyes!
Their gazes seemed to clash in midair.
"Olivier," Linley said with a faint smile, his tone calm. "Ever since I entered the O'Brien Empire, I've constantly heard people mention your name, the genius Sword Saint. To be honest, stepping into the Saint realm at forty—I don't see where your genius lies."
Olivier's brow furrowed slightly.
Linley's provocative words ignited the excitement of the eighty thousand spectators in the arena. Good heavens, these two geniuses were clearly at odds with each other.
This was a battle of true geniuses.
The fight between Wharton and Blumer was on an entirely different level from the clash between Linley and Olivier. Their elder brother's duel was undoubtedly the pinnacle confrontation between the two greatest geniuses of the entire Yulan Continent.
This great battle was about to begin!
Linley's figure flickered, and he instantly moved from the ground to the battle stage. By the time he reached the stage, the afterimage he left behind on the ground had only just begun to fade.
Terrifying speed.
"Chi chi~~" Black dragon scales rapidly covered Linley's entire body. Vicious spikes emerged from his back, elbows, and forehead, while the black scales on his dragon tail reflected a cold, eerie light.
Linley himself levitated into the air, his dark golden pupils locked onto his opponent.
Seeing such a fearsome transformation for the first time, even the composed Olivier's eyes flickered with a trace of surprise, but he quickly regained his calm.
"A Saint-level Dragonblood Warrior?" Olivier stared at Linley, a fierce battle intent erupting from him. "Without this transformation, you're not a Saint. It seems this state isn't even the Dragonblood Warrior's strongest form. A pity, a pity..."
Olivier truly wished to fight the legendary peak Dragonblood Warrior.
"Olivier, a man must know his limits," Linley's cold voice rang out across the arena. "Do you think you can compare to an ultimate warrior?"
The two Saint-level geniuses faced off in midair above the arena. All spectators held their breath, intently watching this unprecedented battle.
"Linley!"
Olivier reached his right hand behind his back. Strapped to his back were two longswords. One had a hilt that was semi-transparent, like ice, while the other was pitch black.
"Against you, using the Lightshadow Sword is enough." Olivier drew the semi-transparent, ice-like sword from his back. This sword was identical to the one Blumer used—both were Ice Dream Swords.
Linley flipped his hand, and the eerie Purple Blood Soft Sword appeared in his grasp.
"Enough talk. Strength is proven through battle, not words." Linley paid no heed to Olivier's arrogance.
Olivier's eyes held a hint of confidence as he gazed at the Ice Dream Sword in his hand. He murmured, "When I first entered the Saint realm, I defeated Tilion and then traveled through various nations. I encountered eighteen Saint-level experts and won every battle. Unfortunately, none of the Saint experts I faced could match my speed."
A stifled gasp rippled through the eighty thousand spectators.
No one knew that Olivier had fought eighteen more Saint-level experts.
Olivier looked at Linley, his eyes carrying a trace of confidence. "Usually, anyone slower than me is destined to lose." As he spoke, the surface of the Ice Dream Sword began to glow, a bright white light flowing across its blade.
This sight made Linley grow cautious.
Linley remembered clearly that when Blumer used the 'Lightshadow Sword' earlier, only a golden light flowed on the Ice Dream Sword. Later, when Blumer seemed to use some forbidden technique, a hint of white light appeared on the blade.
Though it was just a trace of white light, the Ice Dream Sword's attack power increased dozens of times over.
It couldn't even harm Wharton before, but later it pierced through Wharton's palm and even his chest scales. And Blumer's sword only had that trace of white light.
What about Olivier? Pure white light.
"This power is probably far more terrifying than Blumer's desperate attacks," Linley thought, mentally preparing himself.
"Linley, you genius, you might just fall today," Olivier said softly, his tone indifferent. Then, white light began to flash continuously.
With each flash of white light, another figure of Olivier appeared above the battle stage. The frequency of these flashes was clearly faster than when Blumer used this technique. In almost the blink of an eye, one hundred and eight figures of Olivier filled the air above the stage.
Everyone was stunned.
"Third brother," Yale and Reynolds said, their foreheads sweating with tension. Wharton, Barker and his four brothers, Jenny, Rebecca and her sister—a large group of people watched this scene nervously.
In contrast, the injured Blumer watched with confidence.
"Blumer, your elder brother's Lightshadow Sword has reached the perfect state of a full cycle," said the Rock Sword Saint, Hudderson, from the judges' seat, smiling at Blumer beside him.
Blumer's face also held confidence.
*******
Linley, fierce as a demon, stood in midair, surrounded by one hundred and eight figures of Olivier. Linley had to admit, this speed was truly terrifying.
"Linley, are you ready?" Olivier actually warned Linley at this moment.
Clearly, Olivier was far too confident.
Linley let out a faint laugh.
Suddenly, a white light flashed—so blindingly bright that even Linley had to squint. In that instant, the Ice Dream Sword, wreathed in white light, appeared right in front of Linley's head and stabbed straight through it.
"Ah!"
Everyone gasped. Had the incredibly powerful Linley just died like that?
But the head pierced by the Ice Dream Sword showed no blood. The figure of 'Linley' slowly faded away—it was just an afterimage!
"Your speed is indeed fast, but in front of me, you have no right to be arrogant!" Linley's voice rang out from a hundred meters away in the air.
Olivier looked at Linley's distant figure, his expression turning serious.
"What incredible speed!" The Rock Sword Saint, Hudderson, in the stands, also widened his eyes. Linley's speed was definitely no slower than Olivier's.
A stifled gasp rippled through the entire arena, followed by silence.
All the spectators trembled at the heart-stopping scene they had just witnessed.
"Is that so?" Olivier's face turned cold. He had never encountered anyone faster than him. The only one who matched his speed was the Rock Sword Saint. He refused to believe that this young man, Linley, could catch up to him.
After all, his speed had already surpassed the limits of the human body.
This was a swordsmanship and movement technique Olivier had created from his understanding of the 'Law of Light Element.' In theory, he could reach the speed of light. But due to limitations of his body and battle qi, he could only achieve this level.
"You don't believe me?" Linley let out a scornful laugh.
Another flash of white light appeared, and Linley himself moved. Both of their speeds instantly skyrocketed to a terrifying level.
Afterimages!
One afterimage after another appeared. The eighty thousand spectators were completely dumbfounded; they couldn't even make out the real bodies of Linley and Olivier. Their speed had reached an utterly terrifying level.
"What astonishing speed," Linley thought with surprise as they truly clashed. "If I hadn't used 'Wind Shadow Technique' beforehand, I wouldn't be able to match Olivier's speed on my own."
Linley was fast.
But Olivier's light-speed movement technique, derived from the Law of Light Element, was incredibly fearsome. Linley, however, had enhanced himself with the strongest acceleration spell, 'Wind Shadow Technique,' which boosted his speed to match Olivier's.
"Swish!"
A deep trench suddenly appeared on the surface of the battle stage, clearly carved by a sword. But in the next moment, with a loud crash, a large pit formed.
The eighty thousand spectators strained their eyes, desperate to catch even a glimpse.
"Damn, this is real speed! That teacher at our academy was always bragging, but compared to these two, he's like a baby just learning to walk," a burly young man in the stands said, his eyes red with excitement.
This kind of extreme-speed battle was something the eighty thousand spectators might never witness again in their lifetimes.
For such an effect to occur, both sides had to be nearly equal in speed. If one side was slower, the battle would end in an instant.
"Boom!"
Linley's black dragon tail swept straight through Olivier's body and slammed into the battle stage, shattering it into pieces. In the next instant, both Linley and Olivier vanished.
In this kind of speed battle, the audience could only barely see afterimages when the two slowed down to exchange blows. But once they moved at top speed, even the afterimages became invisible.
"Whoosh!"
A tornado seemed to form out of nowhere in the arena, howling with wind. Through the blur, the eighty thousand spectators caught a glimpse of two indistinct figures hovering in midair, facing each other.
The wind gradually died down.
Olivier stared solemnly at Linley in the distance. The Ice Dream Sword in his hand shimmered with a dreamlike, multicolored light under the sunlight.
Linley, demon-like, had his terrifying dragon tail swaying slightly. The Purple Blood Soft Sword in his hand also emitted an eerie purple glow.
The arena was filled with tension.
"I admit, your speed is not slower than mine," Olivier said.
Linley's dark golden pupils locked onto his opponent as he replied calmly, "Your speed is not slower than mine either." The two top experts had just tested each other, and neither could gain the upper hand in speed.
If they kept this up, there would be no end.
"Do you dare to fight me head-on?" Olivier stared straight at Linley, his fierce battle intent surging.
"Why wouldn't I dare?" Linley's body also radiated a violent battle intent.
The eighty thousand spectators trembled with excitement. Good heavens, these two geniuses were about to engage in a direct clash! Even the Rock Sword Saint, Hudderson, watched intently.
Meanwhile, Blumer, Wharton, and the others silently prayed for their elder brother's victory.
Linley and Olivier locked eyes in midair. Almost simultaneously, they moved. Both charged straight at each other.
"Boom!" Their explosive speed caused sonic booms.
As he charged, Olivier seemed to split apart, transforming into seven or eight figures. At the same time, the Ice Dream Sword in his hand turned into countless sword shadows.
"Comparing sword speed?"
Linley's Purple Blood Soft Sword moved. In an instant, a whirlwind seemed to form in front of him, and countless purple sword shadows stabbed toward Olivier simultaneously.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"...
Countless collision sounds rang out in rapid succession. But then, Linley's dragon tail, like a steel whip, turned into a blur and lashed fiercely at Olivier.
"Clang." Olivier's Ice Dream Sword deflected Linley's dragon tail, and he retreated backward.