Lokkishi blinked.
"Th-then... could he use magic?"
Rudy's serious expression abruptly relaxed, as though he had received a bit of comfort. He chuckled.
"Good thing he knows absolutely nothing about magic. If Allen had talent for magic too, wouldn't he go and make you his teacher, Lokkishi? That'd put me in way too much danger!"
"Oh, I see."
Lokkishi sighed in relief, not understanding what Rudy meant by danger. She turned to look at the two people in the yard, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her lips.
Looking at Lokkishi's expression, Rudy felt that something was off, but he could not put his finger on what exactly it was.
Meanwhile, Sylphy blinked, secretly glancing sideways at Lokkishi. Then her eyelashes trembled slightly as she looked at Allen as well.
In the courtyard, Allen and Paul had finished warming up.
There were roughly three meters between Allen and Paul. Unlike the relaxed way he had held his blade when facing Rudy earlier, he now stood ready for battle as he faced Paul, another swordsman.
He stood in a low stance, his legs firmly planted on the ground. He gripped his blade with both hands and rested it behind his shoulder, the back of the blade almost touching his right shoulder.
Paul, on the other hand, casually held his sword as he looked at Allen.
"Ready? Then I'm coming."
Allen took a deep breath. His pupils suddenly contracted as the Dragon Saint Battle Qi Core Embryo in his abdomen compressed, driving his innate battle qi surging through his body.
He "sensed" the dust slowly drifting before him and smiled.
"I'm ready. Begin."
The moment he finished speaking, Paul's blade had already swept toward his left shoulder, far outside the range of Allen's blade!
Soundless Katana!
The next instant, the two passed each other.
Paul staggered a step and turned around in astonishment.
Allen's legs remained firmly rooted to the ground.
He had not even turned around. With his back to Paul, he merely tilted his head to meet Paul's gaze. His previous posture, with the blade resting behind his right shoulder, had changed only slightly—his sword hand had moved from beside his forehead to in front of him.
The hilt happened to be above his left shoulder.
"Did he miss?!" Zenith cried out.
Paul's expression sobered, his face turning grave as he casually answered the question Zenith had voiced for everyone.
"No. He didn't miss."
He narrowed his eyes at the hilt hovering above Allen's left shoulder. The sensation transmitted through his blade in that lightning-fast instant remained vivid in his memory.
He had definitely hit him.
But it had done nothing.
Allen's response just now had been too "perfect."
He had "perfectly" shifted his blade, "perfectly" placed the hilt above his left shoulder, then "perfectly" caught the tip of Paul's sword and "perfectly" knocked it away.
Perfect down to the finest detail.
There had not been a single unnecessary movement.
It was like... a boulder in a raging current—steady, unshakable, without the slightest opening.
Paul stared at Allen for a long while before asking.
"Aren't you going to turn around?"
Allen still looked at him over his shoulder, keeping his blade resting on his right shoulder.
"No need. This stance is enough for me to deal with attacks from any angle. Of course, that's only if I can 'sense' them. I just happened to sense your Soundless Katana earlier. Lucky me."
Paul smiled.
"An arcana formed by combining extreme perception with Water God Style—Flow Arcana? Then if I get even faster, is there a way I can cut you before you sense me swinging my sword?"
Allen narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"You can try, sir."
Paul gave a low chuckle, the sound drifting away on the wind. The next instant, he had appeared beside Allen.
His sword was already hanging less than half a meter from Allen's brow.
But Allen's hand moved along with Paul's body, and his blade had already risen before his own forehead.
For an instant, Paul and Allen's gazes met.
With a crisp bang, Allen deflected Paul's sword tip to the side. This attack, too, had been "perfectly" diverted by his Flow Arcana.
Yet a smile bloomed on Paul's lips.
He let go of his sword hilt, and the blade slipped free from before Allen's eyes. At the same time, Paul's whip kick was already bearing down on Allen's chest!
A feint!
His earlier talk about being faster had only been meant to make Allen think he would strike with the Sword God Style!
From the very beginning, he had intended to abandon his sword, using the seemingly fierce thrust as a feint and placing his true winning move entirely on the whip kick from his lower body!
Even so, Paul's calculations still came to nothing.
Allen shifted his blade again. At the very instant Paul's kick was about to strike his chest, Allen barely brushed Paul's foot with the hilt in his hand, applying a deflecting force through Flow Arcana and sending the kick sweeping past his ribs and behind him.
At that instant, a sharp glint suddenly flashed in Paul's eyes as they met Allen's. The leg still on the ground exerted force, and he instead used the momentum from the kick and the force unloaded by Flow Arcana to accelerate. He caught the sword that had just slipped from his hand behind Allen, then planted his missed kick firmly on the ground. A fresh force traveled from the ground through his waist and abdomen as he twisted and slashed at Allen's back!
There was another move after the whip kick!
Allen did not even have time to turn around!
Seeing that his blade was about to strike Allen's back, a trace of delight rose in Paul's eyes.
That Soundless Katana was already the fastest speed I can manage. He hasn't even turned around... I've won—how is that possible?!
At that moment, Allen lowered his shoulder.
A thin blade, ghostlike in its movement, swept back from over his shoulder and accurately pierced before Paul's sword edge.
A faint scraping sound trembled through the air, sending ripples spreading through the sky beneath Paul's gaze, which had abruptly turned from fierce to astonished.
With a bang, the blade was knocked away by Allen's sword tip. It spun past Paul's ear with a howl, slicing through the ripples before embedding itself directly into a nearby tree with an urgent buzzing sound.
Zenith and the others all turned to look at the sword in the tree, then turned back toward Allen and Paul, blank expressions appearing on their faces.
Without battle qi enhancing their dynamic vision, the two moved far too fast. At a glance, it only looked like they had suddenly rushed into each other's faces, then jerked their bodies around strangely a couple of times amid flashing blade light. Before anyone could even see what kind of dance they were fighting, Paul's sword had already flown off and embedded itself in a nearby tree.
It looked like they were fucking around.
Paul blinked in shock. He turned to look at the sword lodged dejectedly in the tree, then at Allen, who tilted his head after lowering his shoulder and gave him a teasing look. For a long while, Paul could not say anything.
Seeing Paul looking a little dazed, Allen straightened up and withdrew his blade. He turned around, waved a hand in front of Paul's eyes, and teased him.
"Sir, you really like using the North God Style."
Paul had come back to his senses. He looked awkwardly at his own hand, as if he still could not accept that even after hiding two moves, Allen had still disarmed him in an instant with Flow Arcana.
But his mouth remained stubborn.
"Uh, that was strategy. Still, your arcana is pretty amazing. It's an absolutely airtight defense, without a single flaw. Unless your opponent has overwhelming raw strength over you, they'd probably find it hard to hurt you."
Then, somewhat puzzled and somewhat exasperated, he said,
"This arcana is basically a perfect Water God Style technique! What inspiration do you still need? What are you trying to comprehend? Don't tell me you want to deflect my sword and cut off my head while you're at it?!"
Allen blinked and immediately replied.
"Why not?"
Paul stared at Allen's serious expression and froze.
Before you continue