Only One Like This

Tales still remembered his first meeting with Starfaller.

Six years ago, the Prince had seen Nikolai clearly through Hell Senses: a silver humanoid radiating needle-like light, Ending Power flickering inch by inch inside the man, ready to pull his movements and direction at any moment, creating erratic motions and an unpredictable form.

Back then, even with Sin of the Hell River, Tales had racked his brains and calculated every change in his opponent's speed, trajectory, and direction, only to realize bitterly that his weak self couldn't dodge Nikolai's attacks—even when Nikolai was fighting barehanded.

And now, six years later...

"Bang!"

Nikolai's heavy fist arrived in an instant, slamming hard into Tales's shield.

The impact made Tales's whole body stagger!

But he gritted his teeth, planted his back leg, and held firm against the blow.

Through Hell Senses, the silver humanoid before Tales flickered.

The Prince immediately tensed.

As expected, the second wave of attacks came—the Starfaller's left fist shot toward him without pause!

Tales prepared to retreat as he always did.

But at that moment, Wyatt's words from their courtyard training flashed through his mind:

[Your Highness, you can't always retreat or block. In the Palace of Heroes, Kohn and I fought that big fellow from the Black Sand Territory the same way. We were too wary of the Rising Sun Saber's attacks and only kept avoiding battle, but in the end, we still lost—defense isn't giving up. It's preparation for the next attack.]

Whoosh—the wind raised by Nikolai's fist was terrifying!

Tales drew a deep breath.

The next moment, his expression turned resolute. He stepped forward into the incoming fist and attacked with the side strike from Northern Military Swordsmanship!

The sword edge forced Nikolai's attack to falter.

But the Starfaller's ability to adapt surpassed his imagination. While dodging