Close Combat Mage
chapter-276

Chapter 276 – Peak Battle Pt. 2

Picolo gazed intensely at the wristguard before taking a deep breath and saying resolutely, “Men, bring over my most powerful Raging Inferno Sword.” Following his order, two guards rushed over with a blazing crimson, two meter long sword in their hands. From their twisted expressions, one could see that this precious sword was abnormally heavy.

“Hum…” Picolo gripped the hilt of the large sword. By just exerting a tiny bit of strength, Picolo lifted the Raging Inferno Sword. He confidently swung it, and it emitted a low whistling sound.

“Hahaha…” Picolo lifted his head and laughed, and he lightly used one hand to wipe clean the precious sword as he said, “This is the Raging Inferno Sword I relied on to make my name. If you beat me, it’s yours.”

The mysterious person nodded, and slowly stretched out his hand, probing around the seven weapons on his back. Suo Jia and Nicole secretly watched as the mysterious person’s hands moved past the handles of weapon after weapon. His eyes remained locked onto Picolo the whole time, and the glow in his eyes made it seem like he was pondering something.

“Bang…tinkle.” Finally, the mysterious person chose a weapon. His right hand grasped it, and he swung his arm to bring the blade out. With the crisp, resounding clang, a dazzling light suddenly flashed.

Suo Jia looked at the weapon in the strange person’s hand, and finally figured out what weapon the person used; it was a sabre. A bright, long sabre that emitted eye-piercing rays from reflecting the sunlight, making it impossible for anyone to look at it directly.

This sabre had the most reasonable length among the seven weapons the strange person was carrying. It was neither too long nor too short. Nobody would doubt its sharpness, but it seemed to be missing a domineering aura.

Suo Jia and Nicole watched the strange person flip his hair, then slowly raise his right arm. The meter long sabre in his hand was pointed at Picolo. At the same time, the strange person said in a frigid voice, “The sabre’s name is Waxing Moon. It uses the Waxing Moon Blade Technique. Please guide me.”

“Oh.” Picolo nodded curiously and smiled, “Waxing Moon Blade Technique? This is the first time I’ve heard of it. Come…let me witness your so-called Waxing Moon moves.”

It was clear to see that Picolo wasn’t really taking this strange person seriously; there was no way Picolo treated this guy as a true opponent. But he couldn’t really be blamed for this; there were absolutely no undulations of battle qi or magic power coming from the strange person’s body. Without these things, even the strongest person couldn’t ever go up against a true expert.

In response to Picolo’s scorn, the strange person only took a deep breath and slowly closed their eyes, as if already accustomed to such treatment. At the same time, Picolo laughed and said, “You’re a guest that came from far away, so you should go first. You can come and attack any time you’re ready.”

Following Picolo’s words, a breeze suddenly began to spin around Picolo’s body. At first, everyone present thought that it was just some wind in the courtyard. However, the next moment, they all realized that there was no way this wind was natural.

The fierce wind loudly whirled around the strange person, forming a cyclone that began to suck in the dust and grass from the ground. At the same time, an enormous, indescribable pressure could be felt coming from the strange person’s body.

This was a hurricane evoked from energy, a mighty pressure created from dominance. After feeling this extremely stifling presence, Nicole’s jaw dropped open in shock. Although she hadn’t been able to sense this before, even an idiot would be able to feel that the powerful pressure the strange person was now giving off without purposely repressing it.

Nicole softly approached Suo Jia’s ear and sighed in praise, “You were too right. This person really isn’t normal. For him to be able to hide such a powerful pressure from us, I wonder how he did it.”

“Yea…” Suo Jia nodded while deep in thought, and agreed, “That’s right. Normally, I can only tell if he has battle intent, but I can’t sense the energy in his body at all. His power is too reserved, too concentrated. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“I agree…” Nicole firmly stated, “This definitely isn’t battle qi. But judging from just its capabilities, it’s still battle qi. However…his battle qi isn’t emitted outwards, but is instead within his body. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this strange circulation method and this abnormal type of battle qi. Actually, I’ve never even heard of such a thing before.”

Suo Jia nodded excitedly and replied in a low voice, “We should watch carefully. This fight definitely won’t be as simple as Picolo thinks. Look…he seems to have realized this as well.”

Picolo’s expression had indeed grown more serious. Although his ability to sense others’ powers wasn’t as acute as a thief’s, this was the first time he’d ever encountered such an overpowering and terrifying pressure that made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Pressure was something that some people could naturally emit, while others relied on arduous training to learn it. But both types of such people were extremely rare. There were more of the latter type, who all became experts. A warrior that could draw out huge amounts of power would naturally be able to create this kind of pressure.

Historically speaking, people always talked about how mighty dragons were. This was firstly something innate for dragons, but secondly because the amount of power they could display was too great. Without even needing to move, they could terrify any person out of their wits.

In reality, something like pressure was something that almost any predator had, such as lions, tigers, and leopards. Whenever they attacked, their overwhelming pressure would be able to scare something like a sheep so that its legs would go soft, making it impossible for it to run. It was also possible that it would be so scared that it’d lose its wits and run around randomly, eventually falling into the predator’s mouth.

Although this was a trait that many animals had, this kind of thing still had levels. A fierce tiger’s pressure couldn’t compare to a great dragon’s. An evil dog’s couldn’t compare to a fierce tiger’s. This kind of thing was split into 3, 6, or even 9 ranks.

Looking at the youth in front of him, Picolo strongly believed that this person was naturally skilled at displaying pressure. Typically speaking, ruffian bullies were always skilled at using such methods, but…while they had powerful presence, they lacked that strong and solid strength. Thus, to Picolo, such people were insignificant.

However, against this gradually escalating pressure, Picolo couldn’t bear not attacking first. He knew that in a contest of presence, he had already lost. It was a pity that he’d already stated that he’d let the opposite party move first. With his new status as the champion, he obviously couldn’t go back on his words.

“Hah…!” Finally, the strange person gave a low roar, and the hurricane surrounding the strange person reached a terrifying intensity. The next moment…the strange person’s body moved as fast as a cheetah, the Waxing Moon Blade flashing like lightning as it penetratingly cleaved outwards from the hurricane. For a moment, all the people present seemed to sense lightning flash and thunder roll. The instant the strange person’s sabre pierced outwards, there seemed to be millions of thunderbolts crashing down simultaneously.

The reason for this was because of the dazzling light the sabre gave off, as well as the world-destroying presence the strange person gave off. But most importantly, it was due to the sabre’s speed and how it advanced with such confidence and resolution, like a thunderclap. Once the sabre slashed out, it seemed impossible to retract it.

“Clang.” A fierce boom rang out. As expected of the annual competition’s champion, Picolo was able to meet even such a piercing sabre. In reality, all he did was tilt the great sword in his hand, and the thick body of it managed to completely intercept the opponent’s long sabre. It didn’t even shake.

“Mmm.” Suo Jia inwardly felt that something wasn’t right. Judging from the strange person’s aura, this attack definitely couldn’t be so simple. How could it be blocked so easily? Hadn’t it just become a weak finish to a strong start?

Suddenly, a bright light seemed to flood the area and rise to the heavens as the long sabre and Picolo’s great sword came into contact. Immediately…the entire sabre seemed to curl backwards like a spring. Borrowing the energy from Picolo’s block, it easily turned around, and then shot back outwards even faster than before.

Only a moment had passed between the instant the two weapons had come into contact and when the long sabre had shot back out into the air like a bullet. Even though Suo Jia hadn’t blinked, Suo Jia hadn’t been able to see how the strange person had raised his sword.