Chapter 13: First Round of Combat
The sudden gale stirred up the wind and snow from all directions, twisting air currents mixed with white ice dust obscuring everyone's vision. In that instant, the blonde swordsman had already closed in on Joshua's right side.
Brandon did not foolishly approach the warrior's flank directly. He sprinted rapidly around Joshua, swinging his blade swiftly from a distance of over ten meters. Instantly, dense, transparent ripples shot out like a rain of arrows, flying straight toward the warrior!
Eyes wide and fully focused, Joshua saw that these incoming transparent ripples were not simple shockwaves, but rather incredibly sharp, bird-like intangible sword blades.
Royal Secret Art, White Crow Swordsmanship!
Twin swords were inherently agile weapons, exceptionally fast in attack frequency. Through this secret sword technique that manipulated wind force to injure enemies from a distance, Brandon, while on the move, continuously unleashed these air blades—capable of breaking solid rock and tearing metal—to attack Joshua. The tide-like assault gave the warrior no chance to counterattack!
Each wind blade possessed power equivalent to the user's own hand wielding a sword for a slash. In other words, each transparent ripple was equal to a swift strike from Brandon, a Gold-rank swordsman, capable of cleaving houses and boulders. At this moment, every strike was infused with full force, each from a different angle—some straight chops, some horizontal cuts, backhand slashes, and even continuous thrusts!
Slashing wildly at such speed, let alone Joshua's flesh and blood body, even a Gold-rank magical beast, or even a rock wall dozens of meters thick, would be chopped into fragments. If not for the Order Twin Blades being as tough as divine artifacts, ordinary weapons under Brandon's full-powered burst would shatter instantly from countless supersonic swings.
Yet facing such terrifying attacks, the warrior standing like a statue showed no fear. He merely focused his eyes and swung his fists, blocking all these ripple air blades!
Without using any skills or techniques, Joshua simply and solemnly channeled his battle qi to his fists, then raised his hands to block, punch, and hammer. Relying solely on the body tougher than steel granted by the Steel Armor Breathing Art and his incredibly powerful reaction speed, he forcibly halted Brandon's onslaught, smashing all the transparent ripples into nothingness!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
At this moment, just as Brandon was surrounded by swirling wind force and transparent ripples, the warrior's hands were also filled with surging white mist. The fog-like water vapor produced by breaking the sound barrier continuously formed as he swung his fists. Countless intangible air blades surged toward him like angry waves, yet Joshua shattered them all like the hardest reef on the shore!
Is this bastard even human?!
The battle between the two sides fell into a stalemate. The clashing sounds of fists and blades, like steel colliding, rang out repeatedly, yet they seemed to pound directly on Brandon's heart—he was using the powerful Order Twin Blades, while Joshua was bare-handed! The very fact of the stalemate meant his failure!
"Show me some real skill, Brandon. I know you're not this weak!"
Joshua still had the energy to speak. He grinned, locking onto the blonde warrior's aura. With a tremor of his battle qi, he scattered countless ripple air blades. Then, the warrior placed his hands vertically before him, palms facing each other as if gripping something. Black-red battle qi rapidly spun and condensed between his palms, forming a wildly fluctuating black sphere.
Annihilation·Wave Punch!
Boom! With a shake of his arms, he launched the sphere. The ground within a dozen meters trembled slightly like an earthquake. Accompanied by Joshua's force release, the black wave punch transformed into a raging dragon charging forward, shattering all of Brandon's air blades with irresistible force!
Facing such a terrifying strike that had locked onto his aura, how could the Gold-rank swordsman hold back? With a roar, deep cyan battle qi surged wildly within his body, driving the potential of his flesh and soul. He immediately stopped using the now-useless intangible ripples and raised the Order Twin Blades high. Explosive air currents friction against Brandon's body, producing a low rumble like thunder.
White Crow Style·Military Charge!
Kicking off with full force, Brandon's body tore through the atmosphere like lightning, reaching such extreme speed that the air around him surged like visible waves. Amid the bursting gale, only the sparks and thunder from the blades' intense friction with the air and countless afterimages could be seen.
The Order Twin Blades, wrapped in wind force, struck Joshua's wave punch head-on. As explosive air currents whipped up a gale, blowing away all the surrounding ice and snow, two cold gleams pierced through the black battle qi, completely dispersing it. In an instant, Brandon was before the warrior, his twin blades carrying the residual force of the wave punch's destruction, slashing down at his head!
Slap! Slap! Boom!!!!
Shockwaves vibrated, air surged, and white mist obscured all vision. Two large hands, shimmering with black-red light and possessing a metallic texture, shot out from the mist, directly meeting the sword blades capable of cleaving city walls—a violent collision sound, and everything returned to calm. The mist dissipated, revealing Brandon's stunned expression.
"Now this is much more interesting."
Joshua grinned, breathing deeply the icy air. At this moment, his left and right hands were raised above his head, clamping the blades of the Order Twin Blades like iron pincers—just now, the warrior had channeled battle qi through his muscles, bones, and internal organs, unleashing incredible power within his body to forcibly block Brandon's full-force strike. However, because of this, half of Joshua's body had been hammered into the hard frozen ground. The earth within dozens of meters around him was completely sunken, covered in countless spiderweb-like cracks.
Micro-level control allowed Joshua to channel the force of Brandon's slash into the ground and use his hands as pillars to block the charging strike. Of course, this arrogant behavior came at a cost—the sharp blades had nearly cut through his palms, almost severing the bones.
"Again!"
With blood and qi circulating, his Gold-rank body began to wildly churn battle qi like an overclocked machine. Accompanied by a violent explosion, mud splattered as Joshua's legs, buried in the earth, were freed. He channeled power to his hands, and blood immediately sprayed from the wounds. Red battle qi erupted along with the blood, completely shaking off the Order Twin Blades in his grip.
Although the warrior's hands were injured, Brandon's condition was not much better. He had already suffered some internal injuries from his earlier forced charge to break through the wave punch. His full-force strike had just been blocked, and his momentum had plummeted. Shaken by Joshua's tremor, his entire body was sent flying high, floating in midair.
Sensing trouble, Brandon immediately used battle qi to stabilize his form, wanting to land quickly on the ground. Unlike mages, Gold-rank combat professionals, even if they could fly, needed the earth as a fulcrum to unleash their full power. Being knocked into the air was the greatest disadvantage.
How could Joshua give his opponent time to rest? He clenched his fists, his steel-like muscles contracting to close the wounds and stop the bleeding. Then, with a heavy stomp that shook the earth, he crossed dozens of meters in an instant, punching straight at Brandon's face as he just landed!
This was the most unadorned straight punch. Though simple, no one could ignore the destructive power contained within.
Brandon had only just touched the ground. The old force in his body had not yet dissipated, and new force had not yet been generated. He was completely unable to block or counter. Facing Joshua's close-range assault, he could only helplessly erupt his battle qi again, rolling backward to dodge the blow. At the same time, he decisively threw the Iron-Edge in his left hand. This relic left by the Sage transformed into a pale cyan light, tearing through the atmosphere to block Joshua's path of attack.
Bang————Boom!!!
Blood still trickled from his palms. The warrior's punch hit empty air. The violent fist pressure, carrying the rusty smell of blood, whipped up a gale. The shockwave cut through mud and ice, atmosphere and cold wind, carving a black frozen earth path across the snowfield. Countless ice dust was blasted into the air, then drifted down.
After a round of exchange, the two stared at each other, then simultaneously resumed their stances, beginning the next round of frontal combat! (To be continued.)