Chapter 420: Profound Slash (1/2)

After Aiden gave his response, both men stood still, staring silently at the other. The two artifact blades, Mort glistened with a silvery hue, while on the other side Ryg was black as the night.

Light versus Darkness, the eternal, never-ending conflict. Neither youth made a move, their eyes matching the other's equally piercing stare. Seconds passed in a tense, strained atmosphere.

Suddenly, as the moment passed, the stillness of the two sides shattered. Drake's lips curving to a crooked smirk, he tightened his grip on Mort's hilt, he spoke with a delighted tone.

”Can you feel it, Aiden?” The smirk in his face transforming yet again, he stared at Aiden like a hungry predator would at his helpless prey. ”This… All of this is honest. There are no lies, misinformation, there's no place for any shroud of doubt. Pour your everything into that blade and answer my call!”

With that, his calves stretched, like an arrow fired from a bow he charged forward, towards Aiden. His figure blurred, his sword held by his side, a silver streak could be seen dashing forward.

Promised to only rely on his pure skill and determination, Aiden raised Ryg in front of his chest, holding it horizontally. His grip was firm, his muscles flexed, he squinted his eyes, focusing on the incoming clash.

Time once again seemed to slow to a snail's pace as Aiden's mind was fully focused on one single task: Processing each and every single one of Aiden's movements. Even though the whole charge should barely take a second as the distance between the two wasn't much, to begin with; to Aiden, it literally felt like minutes as he could clearly see behind the blurry streak of the silver-haired boy. He could clearly make out as Drake almost on instinct, raised and bent his right elbow and pushed it slightly behind, pulling the famed blade into a striking pose.

As soon as he crossed the halfway mark between them, Drake's hand moved again, and Aiden's gaze was once again fully focused on every thousandth of an inch or mil. Even the tiniest of movements was played out and was bare in front of him.

He could see as the blade slowly drew a diagonal arc aimed to use all of Drake's power, skill and strength added with his gained momentum to clash against Aiden's blade and destroy his block before ultimately giving a harsh reminder of the haughty victor of the deathly dance between them.

Just like how he exclaimed before the fight, Drake didn't bother with anything fancy. There was no flamboyant trickery, or backhanded traps involved in his attack at all, what he relied on was his experience, learned, and trained skill. His full intent, his full body, and his mind were one; his aim was simple. End the fight the same was as the swordmasters of the legends did: With one single strike, carrying everything he could muster. A [Profound Slash] as it was referred to by the scribes and masters of today.

Focused on the simplistic-looking arch that the blade drew as it steadily crept closer, Aiden was, for the first time probably since forever, startled. As he looked at the glimmering silver blade he felt a sense of threat, a danger that normally should not be possible.

Drake, though he was stronger than most of the humans he met so far in this pigsty of a city, was still far below in terms of attributes to match his own. Still, despite that, this single attack seemed to defy logic.

He somehow knew that without relying on his inner power, he would not be able to contend with this strike.

He couldn't evade either, as whilst time was seemingly crawling, this was only an illusion, a trickery invented and created by his own mind, his own heightened state and high Spirit attribute made such a miracle become possible.

No. There was no way out, his only option was to respond to Drake's strike in kind. He had to, he needed to respect such commitment, and showcase his own determination in return.

He clenched his right hand, as he fully focused on Ryg's ebony blade alone. As his mind was processing everything that was happening overdrive, he felt as if some gate was unlocked and opened in himself, as new information, a new knowledge entered his mind.

He faintly heard the bell-like sounds coming from deeper inside, his system alerting him of something he couldn't possibly care about now.