# Chapter 12: Sword and Blade Are Not the Only Way
"You're here."
Watching the blonde swordsman run from afar and then stop ten meters in front of him, Joshua, who had been standing silently on the snowfield like a statue, finally moved. He took a step forward, stretching his somewhat stiff body, and said with visible delight: "To be honest, when I suddenly received the message and learned that you actually wanted to spar with me before returning to the Imperial Capital, I was truly overjoyed."
"In all these years, this is the first time someone has challenged me, rather than me being the one to challenge others... Brandon, I never expected that you would take the initiative to fight me. This is something I absolutely did not foresee."
"I'm not blind, Joshua."
Hearing the warrior's words, Brandon's lips curled upward. The running earlier seemed to have cost him little effort, and had even built up considerable momentum. Now, the blonde swordsman appeared equally excited: "From the very beginning, you wanted to fight me. You don't know how to hide it at all. Back on the city wall, I could already tell you were a battle maniac—if it hadn't been for the beast tide besieging the city and the black dragon lurking in the shadows, you would have challenged me immediately."
"So it's that obvious to others, huh."
Joshua laughed openly, appearing unconcerned: "But then again, I never intended to hide it."
—After all, the name Brandon Kaos represented one of the future [strongest legends] on the Mycroft Continent, someone whom even I in my past life dared not claim certain victory against! Is the desire to fight against the strong something that needs to be hidden?!
His eyes locked firmly onto the blonde swordsman before him, Joshua's face revealed a savage and pure smile, like that of a bloodthirsty hungry wolf.
Charging into the abyss, breaking through twenty-seven checkpoints set by greater demons! Leading a team to raid Tear Valley Fortress, eliminating six legendary-rank demon commanders! Finally, when the team was completely out of supplies, single-handedly slaying the Demon Lord, the instigator of the Second Abyss Invasion Campaign, 'Greed Demon King Goliath,' and completely ending the Abyss War!
—This kind of battle, fighting against this kind of strong opponent, was precisely his reason for growing stronger and the joy of his existence.
Even if the current Brandon was not yet the legendary sword saint of the future, Joshua was also not yet the number one warrior player in the entire world. Of course, while it might not be entirely fair, battle itself had nothing to do with fairness anyway!
While the other was locking onto him, Brandon naturally had no room for relaxation. He too had fully prepared for battle, remaining vigilant against any attack that might come at any moment.
Speaking of which, this guy in front of him might possibly be the most talented warrior in the entire empire's history... Even His Majesty the Emperor, who had now achieved legendary rank, only advanced to Gold at the age of twenty-five. And if they were to fight at the same rank, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.
No, he would probably lose... Even His Majesty the Emperor, though powerful, was still within the realm of human imagination. But Joshua's performance during the beast tide had long surpassed human limits—that kind of sustained strength and stamina made him more monstrous than any monster!
Facing this man who was much younger than him, the blonde swordsman felt unprecedented pressure. Taking a deep breath, Brandon's arms trembled slightly from excitement. He gripped the hilts of the twin swords at his waist, feeling the blood burning within him!
—No matter how powerful the opponent before him was, he would only know after fighting!
When it came to confidence, he would yield to no one. After all, he, Brandon Kaos, possessed such astonishing talent that he had made a mage family that had once produced a legendary mage support him in becoming a swordsman—a true genius!
The atmosphere between the two grew increasingly tense. Crimson battle qi and deep cyan battle qi clashed in midair, and the air itself seemed to become as heavy as stone.
The silver-haired girl, who had been sitting nearby with an unhappy expression, sensed the danger. After thinking for a moment, she retreated several dozen meters further, sitting down on a hill two hundred meters away, continuing to watch her master and the blonde swordsman confront each other with the same displeased look on her face.
Brandon naturally noticed this and immediately furrowed his brow. He stared seriously at Joshua's hands—those iron fists clenched tightly, with black-red battle qi flowing across their surface, as hard as metal, extremely dangerous.
But no matter how much they resembled metal, no matter how hard they were, there was no doubt about it—empty hands!
"Joshua!"
Brandon growled in a low voice, his face full of anger, his handsome features somewhat twisted. He looked exceptionally humiliated: "Empty hands?! Are you insulting me?!"
"Even if you don't wear armor, that's fine. But if you truly want to fight me, then pick up your divine mechanism!"
His arms moved slightly, half-drawing the Order Twin Blades. The razor-sharp edges gleamed with metallic cold light, and the blonde swordsman's eyes widened, cyan whirlpools swirling in his pupils, carrying a hint of death: "This should be a fair battle between us!"
But the warrior's expression did not change at all.
"That's not it."
Listening quietly to Brandon's accusation, Joshua placed his clenched fists at his waist, palms facing upward, elbows pressed against his ribs, and assumed a strange stance with his feet. He flexed his muscles, causing his thick, solid back muscles to bulge high. His body shook, and the ground and snow beneath his feet began to tremble slightly, as if someone had stomped heavily upon them.
Assuming this posture, gathering his strength, the warrior grinned and said: "You just need to understand one thing—Brandon, you are proficient in swordsmanship, but I know all methods of combat."
Sword and blade are not the warrior's only way; my fists and body are also my weapons.
After speaking these words, Joshua's entire aura instantly enveloped a vast area of several dozen meters in radius. His fierce battle intent and killing intent were as thick as substance. He did not use battle qi, but the surrounding falling snow naturally changed its trajectory, avoiding the warrior's direction, while the accumulated snow on the ground showed deep indentations as if crushed by a heavy object.
—Before my transmigration, I, Joshua, was the inheritor of the world's strongest [killing technique], the invincible, strongest martial artist!
Although these hands hold nothing, even so, as long as they are clenched, they are the strongest fists in this world!
"My fighting you with empty hands is not an insult, but a genuine sign of—respect!"
He wasn't lying!
Although his reason found it hard to accept, Brandon's instincts told him it was true—the moment he saw Joshua assume a stance he had never seen before, a bone-chilling cold surged up his back. It was colder than the minus forty-degree wind and snow around him, a coldness capable of freezing hot blood—the coldness called fear!
So, facing Joshua's terrifying aura and pressure that came like an avalanche or natural disaster, the blonde swordsman gritted his teeth and decisively raised his twin blades. Cyan battle qi erupted, wrapping him in an invisible gale. His entire figure instantly vanished like a phantom, his aura completely disappearing, merging into the world around him.
If Joshua was steel burning with flames, a snow tide crashing down from the highest heavens, then he was an invisible gale, a sharp blade hurricane capable of cutting through everything.
Even if the flames burned like volcanic magma, they could not harm the wind in the slightest!
(To be continued)