Chapter 538 - Flames of Destruction (IX) (1/2)
CHAPTER 538
FLAMES OF DESTRUCTION (IX)
Xia held tightly onto her greatsword as she felt a massive pushback force slam into her chest, propelling her backward a great deal. She gritted her teeth and burned through Qi to halt the momentum, rapidly throwing herself back. Unlike most others, she was engaged in a one-versus-one duel, yet was still falling short. This was despite Lord Empyrean's best efforts to aid her in the past year to become as strong as possible. In her heart she felt she was failing his expectations of her, dragging the rest down as she even required occasional assistance as to not completely crumble over.
Her opponent was a similarly-armed man seemingly in his forties, slightly on the handsome side, wearing rather ordinary-looking plate armor. In his hands, he held a greatsword that was even larger than hers, yet he wielded it with such prowess and nimbleness that he managed to attack twice as frequently as she could. Part of her had already realized that the man wasn't even trying to kill her; for one reason or another, he simply kept pushing her away and observing the rest of the battlefield.
”… is it fun?!” she asked, though quickly remembering it was pointless as he wasn't from Noterra. There was no way he would understand her.
”Is what fun?” the man, surprisingly, replied, and no less in Noterra's Common Tongue. Briefly shocked, she recovered and stared carefully at him; is he a traitor?!
”…” noticing her gaze, Alan smiled bitterly and sighed. Why did I get stuck babysitting this kid?! Though he complained inwardly, it was actually a perfect position for him; he had no desire to throw himself into an impossible battle like Jonttar or even Lira, both of whom were fighting at their full capacity, yet still failing to gain any ground on their opponents. This reality had shocked Alan greatly; the numerical advantage they possessed was beyond being ridiculous, yet they were still being held back greatly.
Granted, a large portion of it was due to the single person floating in the far distance; Alan wagered that even if half of them attacked in concert, they'd still fail to defeat her. Right now, all they were doing was occupying her and feigning deaths in order to buy some time and try and exhaust her.
”Oi, stop looking at me like that,” Alan finally couldn't endure the strange woman's even stranger gaze, feeling jittery all over his skin. ”I can cleave a planet in two with my sword, so why the hell shouldn't I be able to pick up on a language within a few minutes?!”
”… oh!” she exclaimed in understanding as tears began streaming down Alan's cheeks. It seemed that no matter the corner of the universe, humans still remained ever the same. ”Why are you toying with me, then?” she asked a moment later.
”Shouldn't you be grateful?” Alan shrugged. ”You can claim to have participated in the battle without ever being in danger of dying.”
”Huh? What bullshit is that?” the woman spewed back, anger visible on her face. ”You are invading my home! I don't want to slide along the edge and 'survive'!”
”…” Alan sighed once again, slightly reminded of countless others that had the same fire in their eyes. He envied them, slightly, that ability to latch onto something with such fervent passion it blinds them. ”I don't want to diminish your intentions,” he said, smiling faintly. ”But, if I'm being honest, you'd be able to fight only the weakest of those from my end. And, even then, chances of you winning are slim. Part of the reason why I'm not fighting you seriously is indeed that I simply don't want, but another part is that I'd most likely be blown up into pieces if I do.”
”… hm?” the woman looked at him quizzically. Ah, Alan realized, she's one of those types that sees nothing outside the immediate battle…
”Well, it doesn't seem as though this battle will end any time soon,” he shrugged, turning his attention back to her and lifting up his greatsword – with a single arm – pointing it at her. ”For the next ten minutes, become a sponge.”
”…huh?!”
”Rather than digging into your mind, trying to find ways to kill me, focus on how I battle; learn from me. However much you can absorb within ten minutes, well, that's up to you, isn't it?”
”…” Xia stood entirely confounded, staring at the strange man in front of her. All of a sudden, he declared he was going to teach her how to fight. Part of her felt shame, another part confusion, and yet another a faint sense of excitement. She was hardly proud enough to ignore the good grace; at the very least, if she's not fighting out there, she's tying him up… kind of. ”Fine!” she exclaimed, entering a battle stance. ”I'll learn all your techniques and then use them to kill you!”
”…” Alan felt an incoming headache, quickly shoving it back. Ah, I'm really no good with people…
**
Alison spun in a full circle, slashing upward with her blade held in a reverse grip, parrying an overhead strike aimed at her neck. Using the shifting momentum, she spun back around and used the blade as she would a dagger to swiftly stab it toward the man's abdomen; the latter quickly responded, thrusting the sword down and blocking it. A momentary lockdown ensued as their eyes met – the man's playful expression had long since vanished, instead replaced by a serious one. However, the gleam in his eyes was rather strange, Alison realized.
”… Tier 2?” the man mumbled strange words, causing her to furrow her brows.