Grant gripped the broken sword in a reverse grip and unleashed a horizontal slash from right to left. Colin pushed off with his feet, raising the knight's sword to his side with one hand and placing the other on the blade—
"Bite!"
A crisp impact rang out, and Colin staggered, but he didn't fall, managing to barely block the horizontal slash.
Colin moved swiftly, quickly recovering from his Imbalance, while Grant sheathed his broken sword and prepared for his next attack.
To outsiders, this attack was merely a lucky block by Colin, having no impact on the overall battle; even the strategist [ Ginseng Rooster ] failed to discern the underlying reason.
In another world's boxing matches, he sometimes couldn't even see the boxer's punches, let alone the speed of attack and defense.
But only the two people involved knew that this parry was not so simple.
Although Colin was knocked off balance, he didn't feel any obvious pain; he just felt that the attack was much weaker than he had expected.
The reason I stumbled was not so much because I failed to block, but rather because I overestimated the opponent's strength, causing my body to tilt excessively when I parried, and I was pushed back by the opponent's force.
Meanwhile, Grant on the other side was in a state of utter turmoil.
That's impossible!
How could Colin, this junior, so easily block my attack?
How could my strength have become so weak?
Have I always been the weaker one?
No, that's impossible--
Just a few hours ago, I had charged through the horde of Blood Corpse more than a dozen times; my strength was not an issue.
Was I weakened by excessive fighting?
Probably not. I specifically found an open space to test my strength before coming here, just to make sure everything was in order.
What else could it be?
Grant couldn't figure it out, but he knew that the moment he realized the problem, his mind was in turmoil.
His mind was in turmoil!
After the pursuit that should have come was delayed by a moment, Colin had this realization.
Although it's unclear why, Grant's movements didn't seem as fluid as before.
By combining dodging and blocking, Colin managed to block more than a dozen of Grant's attacks.
He also discovered the problem.
From that moment on, Grant's attacks seemed not to be aimed at killing himself, but rather at probing.
What was he testing?
Is it to test whether I have the ability to defeat him?
But what's the point?
I've already gambled my life on this; today, only one of us can leave this meeting hall alive.
What's there to hesitate about?
The crisp sound of the crystal cluster weapons colliding at high frequencies only strengthened Colin's resolve. A phrase often uttered by the Soul Returner Fang Soldiers came to mind—
Strike while the iron is hot and kill him!
"Bite!"
Seeing the stab aimed straight at his heart, Colin parried while simultaneously turning his body to the side and rushing forward to stand in front of Grant.
Grant's broken sword was still in place, and his other hand was swung behind him for balance, leaving him unable to stop Colin's attack for the moment.
Colin's one-handed sword had already lost its direction due to the parry, and at such close range, it was impossible to use such a one-handed sword.
then...
Like a blond thug, Colin used a move that ranks among the top ten most popular in street brawls—a knee strike.
He used one foot for support, leaned his upper body back sharply, and took the opportunity to raise his knee high.
"Bang!"
The sound of impact and shattering came simultaneously. Without the cushioning of abdominal flesh, Colin's flying knee landed squarely on Grant's right ribs.
A rib, broken into three pieces, lay on the ground, causing the crowd below to stare in astonishment.
Less than two minutes into the fight, Colin, who had been on the verge of defeat, launched his first effective counterattack, and... he even broke one of Grant's ribs.
Although such injuries were of little benefit to the overall war effort, many warlords also recognized a problem—
Everyone thought Grant was going to win, but has Grant actually done even the slightest harm to Colin?
Everyone thought Colin was going to lose, but he's actually achieved a spectacular score of "Bone Crusher".
Therefore, it's really hard to say who will win.
Colin had no idea that his flying knee had earned him at least three votes; all he knew was that, accompanied by the crisp sound of bones cracking, he seemed to enter a state of complete absorption.
His movements became increasingly fluid, and his combat thinking became clearer. No matter how the opponent attacked, he could find the most suitable response in the shortest amount of time.
While preventing Grant from hurting him, Colin also launched several harmless counterattacks.
Finally, seeing Colin elbow his lowest ribs again, Grant reluctantly stepped back to avoid a repeat of the fracture tragedy, causing Colin to miss his target.
However, as the saying goes, once is never enough, Colin was not satisfied after forcing Grant to back down from the first step.
His attacks became increasingly fierce, forcing Grant to retreat step by step. In front of everyone, the battlefield returned to the central open area.
The initial battle was like a tiger hunting a domestic pig, with Grant having the upper hand in both size and attack.
But after the recent reversal, Colin now resembles a honey badger that's ready to fight anyone.
Yes, you are bigger than me, but so what?
Seeing this, the warlords, who had previously been exchanging a few words, all fell silent, afraid of missing the crucial moves that would determine the outcome of the battle.
In people's subconscious, a rebound from rock bottom is often better than a decline from prosperity.
The same applies to the skeletons, especially since Grant was the one who started the trouble, naturally giving him the right to win.
In fact, when Grant cornered Colin but didn't take him down immediately, or rather, when Grant took the first step back, Colin had already won the fight.
The seemingly intense back-and-forth attacks and defenses that followed were, in a sense, just garbage time.
[ Ginseng Rooster ] pulled himself out of the exciting battle and looked at [ The Chosen of the Four Gods ] across the table.
Noticing his companion's gaze, [ The Chosen of the Four Gods ] nodded slightly, indicating that this was indeed his masterpiece.
"Ding ding ding!!"
Having regained tactical space, Colin unleashed an exceptionally swift three-hit combo. Although Grant managed to defend against it completely, the center line had been breached, forcing him to retreat a large step to trade space for time.
"Eh~"
It could be a military governor inside the meeting hall, or a personal guard outside.
In short, at that moment, a very, very, very clear hiss entered Grant's mind.
This caused him to lose his temper instantly.
"Etc!"
Grant deflected Colin's attack and turned to look at all the overlords watching the battle:
"There's something wrong with the combat!"