The Third Round Was This Erudite Advancement Quest (Continued)

Yet what happened next caught Adrian off guard.

"You know this sword's name?"

Guryang the White Lion looked puzzled. He could not help asking in return.

"But I only got this sword recently! I found it in a treasure hoard on an uninhabited island."

Hearing that,

Adrian's mouth twitched.

I slipped up!

There goes my image...

But the Breath of All Things clearly told me this was a top-grade sword!

That was a swordsman's intuition. It couldn't be wrong!

Could it be...

When Shanks defeated Guryang the White Lion someday and claimed his spoils, he wouldn't know the sword's name either?

And because of Guryang the White Lion's abilities, he would simply call it "Griffin"?

That couldn't really be it...

Knowing Shanks and his devil-may-care attitude, he actually might do something like that...

A string of guesses flashed through Adrian's mind. But to salvage the impression his question had ruined, he kept his face impassive throughout.

High in the sky, Adrian extended an arm. The pale Spiritual Pressure Lightsaber in his palm broke apart into scattered points of white light.

Ripples spread through the air as Adrian slowly gripped the cursed sword Nidai Kitetsu. Its cold, gleaming tip pointed toward Guryang the White Lion.

"Enough talk!"

The moment he finished speaking,

Adrian, cursed sword in hand, became a phantom shadow almost invisible to the naked eye and shot toward Guryang the White Lion like lightning.

At the sight of this,

Guryang the White Lion beat his wings and lunged forward as well. Every stroke stirred up a howling gale.

Clang!

The two blades, both coated in jet-black Armament Haki, collided. Brilliant sparks burst from between them.

Just then,

Guryang the White Lion gave a sly grin. He held the hilt of his unnamed rapier in his right hand, opened his