430 Chapter 430: Duel between Tiger and Dragon (1/2)

By the way, the title is a Chinese idiom or proverb, referring to the colossal rivalry between the tiger and the dragon. One represented hard power, the other embnodied soft power, and the both of them symbolize the balance between the perpetual opposite powers of yin and yang. The tiger was all ferocity, raw strength and brute force, whereas the dragon was respected for its wisdom, unending patience and unwavering calm. The dragon also represented Heaven, while the tiger was the scion of Earth.

Well, theoretically, anyway. It was meant to be symbolic, an idiom that was rarely manifested literally. Even so, it was quite the coincidence that our auras had taken their respective shapes. Honestly, I could have summoned White Tiger instead, but I was terrible at lightning magic, so…yeah. No go. It was either ice magic or wood magic, and since I had more practice with the latter, the choice was an obvious one.

\”Ugh…!\”

My razor leaves were incinerated instantly by a surge of holy lightning, which was followed up by a riposte from Charles. The point of his blade grazed my cheek, and I countered with a stab from below, which he deflected by withdrawing his sword and using the pommel to knock my blade away. I then swung my other sword, but he bent his arm and parried my strike, only to be sent staggering when I kicked him in the midriff.

\”Not bad,\” he murmured, impressed. His smile widened. \”This is it…this was what I've been searching for all this while! A worthy opponent!\”

He then spun about with a kick, which I dodged, and then followed up with a series of blinding strikes that were almost too fast for me to see. My glasses compensated, the motion detectors calculating the trajectories and highlighting them in blue for me, anticipating the place where his sword would be so that I could block his attacks preemptively.

\”Huff…\”

I found myself knocked backward by another ferocious strike from him, and I could almost see an ethereal image of a tiger roaring as it swiped at me with its claws. Instead of physical violence, his strike exploded in a burst of holy lightning that seared through my defenses and scorched me. Breathing heavily, I jumped back to widen the distance between us, but Charles sent a lightning bolt in my direction.

Clang!

Crossing both of my swords, I parried the immense lightning bolt. My arms went numb from the intense voltage and I was sent skidding several meters backward, leaving a scorched trail in the ground. Heaving, I kicked off the ground and circled him while retaliating with a barrage of razor-sharp petals, leaves and entangling vines.

Boom!

With a single stroke, Charles called forth another colossal blast of lightning and disintegrated my spells immediately. Ashes and black, burned matter fell around him, a rain of singed soot and dust that gave the environment a deathly tinge.

Spinning around, he swung his sword and launched a second lightning bolt. I managed to block that with a wall of wood and petals, which immediately split apart and divided into yet more petals, before directing them at him. Yet the King of Knights was able to slice all of them apart without much effort, his glowing, golden blade weaving intricate patterns in the air. He then kicked off the ground and lunged at me, swinging his sword fiercely.

Despite crossing both of my swords to parry his strike, I found myself overwhelmed almost completely. My legs buckled under the immense impact, and the ground around me cratered, turning into a cracked crater. With a yell, Charles put in more strength behind his blow, driving me deeper into the disintegrating concrete.

Gritting my teeth, I forced him back with a desperate swing of my swords, gathering more black and pink petals around me. Thorny vines whipped out, attempting to ensnare him, but Charles hacked them apart with nary a thought before driving me back with another powerful blow. Golden mana, combined with white lightning, surged out and enveloped me, causing me to curse as my arms and legs grew numb from their deadly electrocuting effects.

Another forceful strike sent me hurtling backward, my swords clattering at my side as my arms flopped down helplessly. Sucking another breath into my abused lungs, I tried to rally myself and return to my feet, but first I had to purge the electricity out of my body. Those holy buffs were increasing their debilitating effects by several magnitudes, and proved to be crippling.

\”He's strong…!\”

I already knew that, but even so…being forced to confront Charles directly like this was sobering. I was aware of the gulf between our strengths. In terms of swordsmanship, the King of Knights completely surpassed me.

He was overwhelming me almost too easily.

\”Ugh…!\”

Heaving, I pressed a hand onto the ground and discharged all the lightning within my body in one go, earthing it.

\”Ho…\”

Charles had been approaching me this entire time, and he watched, impressed. He brought a hand to his chin as he observed me.

\”So you've figured out how to get rid of the electricity in your body. I must admit, very few people are calm enough to think of a solution in the middle of a battle. But it's a good move. Otherwise my electricity will continue to clog up your mana circulation, hinder your magical flow and prevent you from casting any spells.\”

That was exactly why I did it, even at the risk of being hit when executing the process.

\”I'm curious. How did you come up with that trick?\”

\”By reading a Korean manhwa. Never heard of Veritas? The protagonist of that manhwa has similar abilities to you.\”

\”Ho…\” Charles raised an eyebrow skeptically, but he didn't protest or demand for a more serious answer. Unfortunately, that was the truth. I learned that by reading about how a level 8 Traditionalist martial artist countered the lightning techniques belonging to the protagonist of Veritas through an identical process. \”I won't pursue the question further if you wish to keep the truth from me. Oh, pardon me. We're still in the middle of a match. Of course you wouldn't be amenable to telling me everything about your techniques and skills right now…not while we're still competing.\”

Without wasting any time on any other dialogue, he leaped forward. Huge gusts of wind billowed around him as he descended upon my position, his glowing holy sword swinging down like a guillotine. I instinctively dove to the side, rolling away from his powerful blow.

Somehow I knew that I did not want to receive that attack head-on. Given Charles' overwhelming strength, he would have obliterated me in that single exchange.

Turning around, Charles fired off another lightning bolt in my direction, after my retreating figure. This time, I understood that I couldn't evade it and I was forced to whirl around to intercept the spell. The lightning blast detonated upon contact and sent me sailing a few meters away. I skidded to a stop and rolled back to my feet, but Charles was already upon me.

\”Taurus!\” I shouted.

The gigantic bull materialized in midair and charged at the stunned holy sword wielder. Charles had great instincts and combat sense, however, and he quickly spun away from the charging Constellation spirit. In a single stroke, he cleaved Taurus in half as the metallic, armored bull passed by him, turning the poor guy into dissipating mana.