Pivot of the Sky
chapter-180-30041322

Idu smiled bitterly. “The people here call you God Amon, and you are like a god. I’ve already been to Salem and saw that scene with my own eyes, and everything here can truly be called a miracle, it’s breathtaking!”

However, Gabriel did not bother with pleasantries and said with a grim expression: “Amon, you should know what we’re here for!”

Amon replied: “I know exactly where the two of you are coming from, you are here on orders from the Ejyptian Empire to hunt me down. Let’s find a convenient place to talk, there are too many people here, it’s not good for catching up.”

Continuing forward, the Plains of Duc were currently wilderness everywhere, and the few of them were silent along the way. Finally, they arrived at an uninhabited valley surrounded by small hills. Amon stopped walking, and with a wave of his hand, he set down a golden-roofed tent out of thin air. The tent was set up with a table, chairs and wine, he said as he sat down: “Lord Idu, Lord Gabriel, whatever matter it is, sit down first and let me make a toast.”

When Amon had first arrived in Ejypt, he was still a commoner from a foreign land, Gabriel had saved him and Idu had helped him. When he left Ejypt, he was already a powerful general, and both Gabriel and Idu had once been his subordinates and had taken orders from him on the battlefield. Today, for this toast, Amon’s status was still that of a Supreme General, as he had not been publicly dismissed.

Idu raised his cup and slowly drank it down. Since the moment he met Amon, the supreme mage had been smiling bitterly. Gabriel grabbed the cup of wine and drank it all in one shot, then stood up and said: “Amon, since you know what I’m here for, there’s no need to waste any more time. I now formally request a duel with you in the capacity of a supreme warrior!”

A duel? He had already had two duels along the way, first in the desert with Lion King Ugallu, and then in the swamp with Celia and her summoned beast Rulio. He had never expected that there would be a third duel after entering the Plains of Duc, against his savior Gabriel.

Amon put down his cup and stood up to remind her: “Your mission is to kill me. A stealthy assassination attempt might still be possible to achieve, but if you fight me head-on you have little chance of succeeding, so why settle it with a duel?”

Idu and Lynk frowned, Amon actually spoke in such a way as if to remind Gabriel what to do if she wanted to kill him. At the same time, he was also telling Gabriel in a tactful way that both of them should face each other once they have finished preparations, since right now she is not a match for him.

Gabriel said solemnly: “Supreme General Amon, I am aware of your meritorious service to Ejypt, the Ejyptian Empire did not openly punish you, but only ordered me to assassinate you. Then I can only offer a duel to a warrior like you as a warrior myself. Is it all right for me to do so, High Priest Idu?”

Idu nodded and replied: “Of course you can, and it seems to be the only thing you can do.”

Amon asked again: “Noble supreme warrior, if it’s a duel, you need the other side’s permission. What if I don’t agree?”

Gabriel replied: “Amon, I have saved your life once. I do not ask for a reward, I only want to ask you to help me out of this predicament by agreeing to a duel.”

Amon nodded slowly. “You say that so that I cannot refuse, well, I accept your request for a duel! …Since it’s a duel, we need an agreement for the duel, who do you want to be the judge, and what agreement do you want to make?”

Gabriel: “I request High Priest Idu and Sir Lynk over here to judge the duel. There will not be any special agreement, but simply to deal with the outcome of the duel as it would have been between rival warriors while observing noble etiquette.”

Gabriel was not asking for a private duel between private citizens, but rather to be treated according to the duel between the warriors of the opposing warriors at the time of the engagement. The winning side could kill the losing side, and if they did not kill their opponent, then the loser would be a prisoner of war and the country or city to which he belonged could redeem him. This was not an explicit law, but rather a noble etiquette of the continent.

Amon looked quite helpless at Gabriel’s expression and nodded again. “Alright, as you wish.”

Gabriel bowed to Amon again and took out a cowhide envelope before handing it over. “Before the duel begins, according to the Adoratrice’s orders, I want to give you this letter, please read it before you do anything.”

Amon hurriedly reached out and took the letter, since Gabriel had accepted the mission to assassinate him, it was impossible for Maria not to deliver something. Amon had been meaning to ask but couldn’t bring himself to ask, and indeed there was already such a letter. He opened the envelope and took out a piece of parchment, took a quick glance at it and was startled. Then he put the letter back into the envelope and carefully put it away.

Gabriel did not ask him what was in the letter, but only asked: “Have you finished reading it?”

Amon replied calmly: “I have. When do you want to duel me?”

Gabriel unslung her sword from her waist and placed it on the table before extending a hand towards Idu. Idu sighed and retrieved a silver battle axe from his spatial artifact before passing it to her. This battle axe was like a half-round moon, emitting a bright silvery-white light, and it seemed as if there were moving patterns on its surface, like strands of electricity flowing. Instead of engraved patterns, it was like a strange reflection of its surroundings.

Amon was slightly taken aback, as this was no ordinary weapon. It was also a magical artifact at the same time, and it seemed to be able to change with the body and mind, so one could call it a holy object! In fact, this battle axe was originally given to Gabriel by Amon, from the mysterious cave where Bai fell. In that place, all the weapons that could be preserved intact were all treasures of the continent.

Gabriel fought against Enkidu with this battle axe, and there were many gaps and cracks on it, but she did not discard the weapon, and used secret silver to mend the defects. Silver is the main ingredient of the so-called secret silver, but it has been specially processed by mages, and it is the most effective material for channeling power, so it is considered a precious material for processing weapons used by warriors. However, fusing it to the surface of a weapon requires magical refinement techniques and is not simply lining the surface with it.

The material of this axe had been changed miraculously by countless powerful stirrings of power. No matter how much Gabriel fused and mended it with secret silver, the axe always carried traces of gaps and cracks, just like an indelible mark.

She couldn’t repair the weapon, and even if she had repaired its shape, when she wielded it with power, there would always be uncontrollable cracks in the silver, and her attacks would be like a comb with no teeth, with an inexplicable lack of power. When she accepted the task of hunting down Amon before departing on her mission, she made a request to the Adoratrice to focus all the power of the Shrine of Isis to finish the complete refinement of this weapon.

Maria agreed, but the result was somewhat unbelievable. She summoned the master alchemists belonging to the Shrine, and finally mobilized all the supreme mages to lay down a magic formation. The battle axe was then placed in the center of the magic formation for refining. Finally, even Maria herself had to use the power of the Adoratrice’s staff, before they could completely bridge the gaps and cracked lines of the battle axe, forming those flowing patterns.

At this moment, Gabriel took out the battle axe, and when Amon swept over it with his detection magic, it felt as if an invisible gap had been cut in the space on either side of the axe blade, dividing a boundary, and even the detection magic seemed to be cut off. This was a holy object that could cut open space, and if the user’s magical power was strong enough, this weapon was incredibly powerful. Amon couldn’t help but secretly marvel at it.

Gabriel walked into the valley with her battle axe in hand, then turned around and said: “Amon, please take out your weapon as well, we shall duel right here, right now.”

Lynk also vaguely sensed that the battle axe in her hand was unusual, and advised: “Respected supreme warrior, God Amon has just opened a path in the Charcoal Marsh, and used his magical power continuously for a month, so it must have been extremely exhausting. I think it’s better to rest for a while before dueling.”

Idu also took advantage of the situation to advise: “Lynk has a point, God Amon just had a hard time driving through the swamp, he needs to rest for now. Let’s carry out the duel when he has fully recovered his strength and mana.”

Both of them wanted to stall, not wanting to see Gabriel and Amon actually duel, since it wouldn’t hurt anyone to drag it out anyway. Gabriel looked at Amon and said: “People here call you God Amon, do you need to rest?”

Amon smiled and asked with deep meaning: “If you wish to rest, then wait until your strength is restored before dueling, but if you insist on dueling here and now, I have no objection either.”

Gabriel simply replied: “Then let’s do it!”

Amon looked a bit strange and nobody knew what he was thinking. He slowly walked into the valley and stopped ten paces away opposite Gabriel before taking out a weapon out of thin air. Idu and Lynk watching from afar were both taken aback, because the weapon Amon took out was also very special. It was a thick and long broadsword with a wide sword guard, making it look like a slender cross.

Embedded right in the middle of the blade was a gemstone, translucent in the sunlight, with a thin slit in the middle which made it look like a cat’s eye. Lynk recognized it as the staff of the cat goddess Bastet, and it was also once a holy object that could change with one’s body and mind. Later on, its broken remains were given to Lynk, who in turn gave it to Amon.

Amon traveled through the Syah Desert and through the vast Charcoal Marsh, and along the way, he actually managed to finish the refining and made it into a sword. The sword looked heavy, but it seemed to be weightless in Amon’s hands. When sweeping across the sword with detection magic, it seemed to possess a kind of annihilating power, as if the aura it emitted could seal all kinds of senses.

After Amon stood his ground, Gabriel asked: “Are you ready, Supreme General?”

Amon did not say anything but nodded his head, and Gabriel made her move immediately. She lifted her battle axe and charged forward, crossing the distance of ten paces in the blink of an eye. Then she swung diagonally to cut Amon with a silver light. Amon held his sword sideways, dodging the axe blade and attacking Gabriel’s arm. Gabriel did not withdraw her axe to dodge, but spun in a downward motion, and the face of the axe spun in the air and slapped the tip of Amon’s sword.

The battle axe and sword tip struck together with a clanking sound and a sharp buzz, and the two moved so fast that they had already exchanged positions and were fighting again. Idu and Lynk, who were watching the battle, were a little puzzled. They thought that they were going to see an amazing fight of epic proportions, and Idu even gripped his staff in preparation for the waves of energy that would erupt from the battle, but unexpectedly the scene before them was very strange and even bizarre.

Gabriel’s martial techniques were first class, she had learned all kinds of fighting techniques at an early age, and had worked harder than one could imagine, as well as performing all kinds of dangerous tasks. Even if she wasn’t a supreme warrior, she was a master of fighting. Her skill with various weapons was near perfect, the combination of speed and power was seamless, the judgment of her strikes was extremely accurate, and there was no need for her to think, as she could already react according to her instincts.

Amon had not trained in such systematic fighting techniques, but Schrodinger had been Goddess Bastet of the Ennead, and had gone through countless dangerous battles during her time in the divine clan. Amon had experienced her spiritual imprint and also inherited her fighting skills and experience, and fighting Gabriel like this was not a disadvantage for him.

Silver light and sword shadows intermingled, both their figures dazzling as they moved in and out, their weapons occasionally grating together with a crisp clink. But there was no eruption of light rays on the battlefield, nor was there an explosion of energy impact, unlike a duel between two supreme warriors. It was more like two masters of melee combat competing in skill and experience, to see if Amon’s swordsmanship was more refined or if Gabriel’s axe wielding skills were better.

Lynk couldn’t help but exclaim: “So that’s how they want to fight, High Priest Idu, did you see that? A supreme mage like you could be easily assassinated if you allowed such warriors to get close.”

Idu nodded. “They’re the best fighting masters on the continent, and it would be hard for anyone who wasn’t prepared to defend against them. But why don’t they use the mighty power of the supreme warriors?”

Lynk shrugged. “How should I know, maybe they have a secret agreement about it?”

Neither Amon nor Gabriel used that mighty superhuman strength, and simply fought as two strong, ordinary humans would, with the grass and leaves flying within the valley and the battlefield having been trampled to a flat surface. But there was also an unseen danger hidden in the fight, and it came from the weapons in their hands.

Amon could feel that the sharpness of Gabriel’s battle axe could cut through almost anything. Describing a weapon’s sharpness usually depended on how hard the material was and how thin the blade could be smithed. But this battle axe was different, it had the power to cut through space. No matter how tough an armor was, if the space it was in was cut through, it would lose its defensive meaning.

Wherever the blade of the axe sliced through was like a strange severing of order. Not to mention tough armor, it could even cut through flowing water which normally could not be cut, and if used with powerful magical power, it was a truly incomparable sharpness in the world! If Amon did not use additional magical defenses, the serpent-scale armor he wore, no matter how tough it was, would just be completely useless in stopping a slash from the axe.

Gabriel also felt that the sword in Amon’s hand was also special, as it possessed an indescribable annihilating power. No matter how strong her weapon’s attack was, in front of this sword, all the power in her attacks seemed to be dissipated like it had entered an endless pit of mud, as if it had been sealed, or as if the connection between the power and the one who wielded it had been cut off.

They fought for half a day, the shadows in the sunlight wavering, and though the weapons struck each other many times, Amon didn’t let the other’s axe blade cut directly on the sword, and just used the tip of the sword to hit the face of the axe to parry its attacks. Amon was so skillful with his sword that if a different warrior had been hit by the tip of the sword on the battle axe, the traction of the impact would have dislocated the entire joint of his arm. But Gabriel’s use of her footwork and the inertia of her swinging weapon always dispelled it in the most logical way.

They had fought from morning until afternoon, and the sun had changed its direction of shining. With the physical strength of the two great warriors fighting each other like this, they would be able to hold on for days and nights, and the outcome would depend on who would be the one to accidentally reveal their weaknesses first.

Lynk finally saw something wrong and said to Idu: “They are fighting like this because of the weapons in their hands. Gabriel’s axe can cut through space, while Amon’s sword can annihilate power. Since neither can gain an upper hand, so they simply compete with fighting skills.”

Idu frowned. “Their weapons are indeed amazing. But even for a hierofact, one needs to be powerful enough to exert its maximum power, and I’m afraid it’s not only because of the weapons that the two are fighting in such a manner, maybe there’s another mystery.”

Lynk: “You mean I guessed wrong? But how long will it take them to finish the duel if they keep fighting like this? Actually, you and I both know very well that if they really fought at full power, Gabriel would never be a match for God Amon.”

Before they could finish their words, there was a sudden change on the other side of the battlefield. A jarring sound of a sword and axe colliding appeared, and Amon’s figure was knocked back a few dozen feet away. The shocking impact of the sound shattered all the utensils on the table, and rose-colored wine spilled all over the table. Idu raised his staff in alarm, and layers upon layers of various shields covered the golden-topped tent.

The battle scene had suddenly changed, and the silver axe in Gabriel’s hand emitted thousands of light rays, cutting through the dirt seemingly without a trace, but the trees that they swept by snapped without a sound, and the hard rocks continuously fell as if they had been somehow cut off from the mountain.

Amon shouted: “Nice move, I’ve been waiting for it!” The sword in his hand had also transformed into countless shadows, shattering the silver light wherever it passed. Gabriel swung her axe as she charged forward in big strides, the silver battle axe had turned into a whirling arc of light that could cut through even the faint shadows of the sword light[2].

The astonishing impact of energy scattered, and the two could no longer be distinguished from outside of the battle, even the nearest small hill had been flattened into a writhing pile of dust. At this moment, even if someone wanted to stop the duel between the two, it would probably be impossible to intervene.

The big tent was like an island at the edge of a stormy sea, suffering from various shocks from time to time, and even Lynk had to use his magic to protect the tent. Fortunately, this side of the tent only received the aftershocks of the power surges, and Idu and Lynk could still sit still. From time to time, a silver light would appear and shatter a layer of shield, but strangely reappear from behind the tent. From time to time the sword light would approach and silently destroy the elemental shields around it.

Idu tightened his grip on his staff and frowned as he asked Lynk: “Can you see what kind of fight they’re having?”

Lynk also held his staff and shook his head. “I can’t see properly, even the detection magic is disrupted! How do you judge this duel?”

Idu smiled bitterly. “What’s there to judge, they don’t need anyone else to be the judge, we’re just doing it for show!”

The fierce battle continued until dusk, and strange buzzing and cracking sounds were constantly heard, even the sunlight was sometimes bright and sometimes dark. The images in the distance seen through the battlefield were also distorted and indefinite, and the appearance of the valley had already completely changed. Suddenly, an incredibly loud sound came from the battle, like a huge iron hammer hitting a giant bell. Lynk felt a buzz in his head and his eardrums were burning, while Idu nearly fell out of his chair, then everything was calm again.