Close Combat Mage
chapter-277

“Clang. Clang. Clang…” The resounding bangs all blended into one. The strange person’s long sabre hacked downwards again and again with unimaginable speed and power. Every time it struck Picolo’s great sword, it would borrow that power to rebound back up and cut down once more. The strange person didn’t seem to be using any effort at all.

In only the blink of an eye, the strange person had already slashed down dozens of times. The strikes exploded endlessly like gunfire as the Waxing Moon Blade filled the air with countless afterimages. It cut down from various angles and positions without stopping, and its overbearing aura was so heavy that it made it hard to breathe. All the spectators could do was watch blankly.

The Waxing Moon Blade was actually somewhere between a sabre and a sword. Its body was narrow, and had a slight curve. The point was terrifyingly sharp. In general, it was 30% like a sabre, 70% like a sword, and its extremely rapid strikes were impossible to see.

Everyone watched as the strange person continued to borrow power from Picolo, the war blade in his hand glowing as it struck out another 100 times like crashing thunder. Once it finally exhausted its power, it would retract once more.

Suo Jia sighed in great admiration at Picolo. As expected from the annual champion, his basic skills were so solid that it was frightening. Despite the hundreds of abnormal, concentrated slashes coming at various angles, Picolo was still as steady as Mt. Tai.

The most shocking part was that from the beginning to the end of these attacks, Picolo hadn’t yet panicked, not even advancing or retreating. He didn’t make the slightest slip-up at all. All his movements and counters were as precise as a textbook, so exact and stable that it made goosebumps rise on the spectators’ skins.

Any typical warrior would’ve fallen in defeat ages ago from the strange person’s crazy attacks. But it was clear to see that Picolo’s stable and steady style seemed to faintly restrain the strange person’s Waxing Moon Blade Technique.

“Hehe…” Picolo arrogantly straightened his back and said to the opposite party, “Your blade technique is indeed not bad. However, you’re still a bit too early to defeat me with just this.”

The strange person looked at Picolo long and hard. Because of his long hair, nobody could really see his facial expression. After some silence, the strange person said in a low voice, “I hadn’t imagined that despite using such a large sword, your swordplay would be so exquisite and elaborate. In terms of attack and defense, you’ve already reached the realm of perfection. Unless I can suppress you with power, it’ll be hard to defeat you.”

“Hehe…” Picolo laughed confidently. The next moment…his expression suddenly grew darker. He abruptly reached out, the Raging Inferno Sword in his hand piercing outwards like lightning towards the strange person. At the same time, he fiercely spat out, “You’ve been attacking for a long time. Now…it’s my turn to attack.”

The strange person clearly hadn’t been prepared for Picolo’s attack. After all…nobody had imagined that Picolo would attack so suddenly. Against Picolo’s full-on slash, the strange person was finally put at a disadvantage.

“Clang. Clang. Clang…” A series of clanging sounds rang out once more as Picolo’s Raging Inferno filled the air with its wild attacks. The strange person hurriedly stepped backwards; he couldn’t possibly defend against it.

First of all, the strange person’s abilities were clearly not as profound as the 40+ year old Picolo. Secondly…that narrow Waxing Moon Blade wasn’t at all suitable for defense. Actually, one had to guard while attacking. Once the user was forced to fall into defense only, they’d pretty much lost.

After a succession of strikes, Picolo finally managed to sweep away the Waxing Moon Blade from the strange person’s hands. Then…Picolo strode forwards with a straight back, before suddenly stomping on the ground in front of him. The Raging Inferno in his hands slashed out horizontally with a clap of thunder, fiercely chopping against the strange person’s ribs.

Following Picolo’s vicious attacks, the Raging Inferno Sword accurately struck the strange person’s ribs. With a flash of crimson blood, the person’s body was sent spiralling backwards through the air for over dozens of meters before heavily crashing into the ground.

Picolo proudly straightened his back. He was extremely confident in his own attack, and he glanced at the collapsed body of the strange person on the ground while coldly declaring, “Men, bring me the item he betted. I am going back to rest.”

After hearing Picolo’s words, Nicole couldn’t help but resentfully turn around and say to Suo Jia, “Young Master, doesn’t this count as a sneak attack? Isn’t it quite despicable?”

Suo Jia furrowed his brows as he locked his gaze onto the strange person collapsed on the ground. From beginning to end, he never believed that such a fellow would be defeated so easily. Suo Jia subconsciously shook his head in response to Nicole’s question and replied, “It counts. But it also doesn’t.”

Nicole stared blankly for a moment. What kind of answer was that? But when she thought about it more closely, she realized how fitting this reply was. Picolo’s attack was indeed technically a sneak attack, but strictly speaking, it also wasn’t. One could only say that the strange person had lowered their guard.

Picolo’s two guards began to walk towards the strange person, prepared to retrieve that Fire Dragon wristguard. However, the instant they stepped into the area, they directly fell to the ground. At the same time, the previously motionless strange person suddenly began to move.

Everyone watched as the strange person crawled up from the ground and ground out through gritted teeth, “Wait…wait a moment. You haven’t won yet.”

Hearing the strange person’s words, Picolo, who had already turned around and started heading back to his room, stopped in his tracks. After some slight hesitation, he narrowed his eyes and turned around again, looking at the strange person who was currently struggling to stand. Picolo just couldn’t understand why, having fallen to this extent already, the opposite party still wanted to continue fighting. Was he seeking death?

Picolo, as well as the hidden Suo Jia and Nicole, watched as the strange person shakingly struggled to stand up. Following his actions, crimson blood gushed out from his rib cage ceaselessly, dripping down his clothes and onto the ground. In a mere moment, it had already formed a puddle beneath him.

The strange person inspected his rib area, then smiled grimly before reaching out his left hand. He held his second, third, and fourth fingers together and struck himself around his rib area a few times at lightning fast speed. In that instant, his blood miraculously stopped flowing.

“That!” Suo Jia’s expression changed to one of extreme shock. What was that? All he did was jab himself a few times, how had the blood flow stopped? Was it magic? He’d never heard of such a thing before.

After seeing the strange person’s miraculous move that stopped the blood flow, Mister Picolo could only stare blankly for a moment. However, he then began to chuckle as he shook his head and said, “So what if you can stop your bleeding? You should’ve realized that your Waxing Moon Blade Technique is useless against me. Even if we continue fighting, you will still be defeated.”

The mysterious person took a deep breath and nodded. “That’s right, your words can’t be any more correct. I must admit that your swordplay is very mature, stable, almost without any mistakes. Choosing to use the Waxing Moon Blade Technique was the wrong decision.”

The mysterious person praised Picolo, “Originally, I had thought that you, a fire warrior, would definitely have great power and fierce moves, as well as domineering attacks as your main points. However, I hadn’t imagined that your swordplay could remain so careful and all-around while also maintaining the swordplay’s characteristic explosiveness.”

“Mmm…” Picolo nodded and freely said, “You should know that under the premise of my abilities overpowering yours, my swordplay can restrain your blade technique. You don’t have any chance of victory. In that case, why do you still want to continue the challenge?”

With a smile on his face, the mysterious person drew an intricate pattern in the air with the ruined sabre in a flurry of strokes before re-sheathing it on his back. Seeing this, Picolo couldn’t help but let out a breath of relief, thinking that the opposite party had already given up on continuing the fight.

Actually, Nicole had thought this as well, and even said so to Suo Jia. In response to Nicole’s judgment, Suo Jia shook his head wisely and replied, “No. He definitely isn’t giving up on this fight. If you try to sharpen your senses, you’ll be able to tell that his battle intent hasn’t weakened at all; rather, it has grown more intense.”

“Hm?” Nicole shot a bewildered look at the mysterious person. After closely inspecting him, she realized that it was indeed as Suo Jia had stated. Although she couldn’t feel any battle intent, she had clearly seen that blazing fighting spirit in the mysterious person’s eyes.

“Heavens. To think that he still wants to continue the fight.” Nicole cried out in astonishment after seeing how the mysterious person was still in high spirits.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the mysterious person stealthily pressed his hand against his waist. With a sudden yank, a “Shiiing” sound could be heard as the brilliant glow of a blade suddenly filled the sky.