"Seems like we underestimated them," he murmured to himself.

"Yeah, that's right." Gunther Schalke didn't realized that his team captain was talking to himself and joined in. "I heard the rumors, but I couldn't believe it. That Craig Carlson…the Demonic Spear. They said that his spear can pierce through any defense…but I didn't think he would be able to break through Adonis's impenetrable wind barrier so easily. He cut through the Barrier of the Wind King as if it was nothing more than paper!"

"No." Cain shook his head. "Did you not realize it?"

"Realize what?" Eleanor asked, puzzled. Cain sighed and lowered his head.

"That spear technique wasn't natural. It was truly a curse. It didn't simply penetrate Adonis's Barrier of the Wind King. It reversed casuality and effect…in other words, no matter what kind of protection Adonis cast, it wouldn't have worked."

"I don't understand. What do you mean, that technique reversed casuality and effect?" Eleanor was left looking more confused than ever. However, realization seemed to dawn on Gunther and he slammed a fist into his palm.

"Ah…you mean…!"

"That's right." Cain nodded, almost as if he had read Gunther's mind. "Usually, the act of Craig Carlson throwing the spear would be the cause, and the effect would be the piercing of his opponent's chest. Or wherever he chose to attack. However, his curse reversed that cause and effect, and it is almost as if his opponent's chest or wherever getting punctured is what caused him to throw his spear. It's pretty convoluted, but unstoppable once he pulls it off."

"Then there is no counter!" Eleanor gasped. "How do you fight against such a horrifying curse?!"

"As horrifying as that cursed technique is, it has a range limit." Gunther was the one who came up with an answer. "The moment he begins casting that spell, back away and retreat as much as you can, maximize the distance between yourself and him. As long as you are far enough, that terrifying cursed spear would be nothing more than a stinger."

"Easy for you to say!" Eleanor complained. "You use a gun! You excel at long range combat! But how do people like me, who are exclusively close ranged melee combatants, fight against him?!"

"We have our ways," Cain told her. "Instead of whining about it, take your time and think of a solution yourself."

He then proceeded toward the stage.

"C…Captain?!"

"I'll be finis.h.i.+ng the individual matches personally," he told his stunned teammates without turning back to look at them. He gripped his sword tightly. "We'll need to regain the intiative and build back our advantage."

"Oho!" the commentator's voice raised the tension, and I could almost imagine the guy leaning forward and almost yelling into his microphone. "The captain of Adorno Academy personally takes the stage! Perhaps he realizes that he cannot afford to hold back any longer! It's time for him to eke out a decisive advantage over Jing Tian Academy!"

The spectators gasped and murmured, watching the scene unfold before them. Cain was a famous figure among the Federation, and there were few people who did not know him. He was a superlative swordsman, one of the few who was almost comparable to Kureha Franklin. Almost. That still made him a formidable opponent in his own right, for he had integrated his own style and magic into his swordsmans.h.i.+p.

He was a very difficult person to fight against.

"Will the Jing Tian Team send their captain out as response to this ma.s.sive challenge?" the commentator continued excitedly. "Or will they strategically yield this match and focus on the team battle instead?"

I glanced at Harrison, wondering the same thing. Personally, I wasn't very fond of giving up any matches, and any decisive advantage we could gain in the individual matches would spill over to the team battle. If we could eliminate Cain in the individual matches, he would be disqualified from partic.i.p.ating in the team match. That would prove beneficial to whatever team Harrison chose to send out.

But who should he send? Bu Fan? The pseudo protagonist of Versatile Mage had plot armor, so I had no doubt he would win no matter who he was sent up against…okay, never mind I was going too far with the joke. Regardless, this would be a tough choice for Harrison, and as much as I detested the guy, I recognized Bu Fan's strength. Moreover, Bu Fan wouldn't be partic.i.p.ating in the team match because he was the solo type of guy. He could work with us if he was forced to, but quite frankly he was far from being an ideal teammate.

Unfortunately, I was in no position to criticize him. Everyone else probably thought the same of me. They didn't consider me arrogant, thankfully, but I wouldn't be surprised if they thought I was toxic and considered me a pain to work with.

Everyone in our team glanced at Harrison, awaiting his decision. However, he merely stayed silent, pondering by himself. His eyes seemed so very far away, as if he wasn't even thinking about the current situation.

"Harrison?" Yue Chu prodded. Our team captain blinked and glanced at him, then shook his head. Smiling, he turned to me.

"Richard, you're up."

"Huh? Me?"

"I know you can do it." Harrison placed an encouraging hand on my shoulder. "This is a great chance to take out their captain and gain an edge in the team battle."

"Are you sure about this?" I frowned, feeling nervous. "I can't guarantee that I can win. That Cain guy is pretty formidable."

"There are no guarantees in life," Harrison replied sagely. "But that doesn't matter. Just do your best and don't worry so much. Whatever happens, happens, but make sure you give your all and have no regrets."

I straightened up, took a deep breath and nodded. Picking up Hei Yue and Bai Ri, I entered the stage.

"Eh? Jing Tian Team is sending Richard Huang!? What a surprising selection! You would think they will reserve their summoner for the team battle, but they are using him for their final individual match? Will he be able to hold on against Cain long enough to summon anything?"

Cain narrowed his eyes as he watched me take my place opposite him, on the far side of the stage. He swung his unsheathed sword, as if testing his weapon, his eyes never leaving me.

"A summoner trying to be a swordsman? Are you sure about this?" his eyes gleamed maliciously. "No matter what stunt you're trying to pull, I have no intention of showing any mercy to you!"

"That's fine." I shrugged almost nonchalantly. "That's exactly what I ask for. Give your all against me, and I'll do my best."

With that, I drew both Hei Yue and Bai Ri and held them in a defensive stance, preparing myself for the match ahead.

"Ready, battle start!"

The commentator shouted, and we moved immediately.

Gripping his sword tightly, Cain charged at me. Kicking off the ground, he cleared the s.p.a.ce between us in a single bound. In contrast, I didn't waste my energy lunging at him and instead stood my ground. Drawing a deep breath, I crossed both of my swords and held them up, parrying Cain's fierce strike.

Clang!

"!!"

My legs nearly buckled from the force of his blow. The ground cracked beneath my feet as it struggled to endure the tremendous weight of Cain's strike and my steely resistance. Gritting my teeth, I swung both of my swords, inadvertently unleas.h.i.+ng black and white waves of energy. Cain's eyes widened briefly and he sprang backward, sparks flying between us as his blade screeched against my twin swords.

"Those spells…!" he muttered before he skidded backward. Dropping his sword, he held it parallel to the ground and readied a thrust before shouting. "HAAA!"

Surging forward, he stabbed and slashed at me in what seemed to be a chain attack, seamlessly stringing together thirteen sword strikes to confound and pierce through my defenses. Even though I was desperately parrying and blocking with both of my swords, I could barely deflect his strikes away in time.

"That's the sword technique designed by Adorno Academy over the course of thousands of trials!" Sheila exclaimed. "Adorno's Thirteen Chained Strikes!"

Everyone in our team turned to stare at her, causing her to blush. She glared back, trying to hide her embarra.s.sment.

"What? It's true!"

"No, it's not," Harrison told her bluntly. "You appear to be confusing reality with a webcomic. This is not Battle Frenzy. Adorno Academy never came up with some stupid thirteen strikes! It's true that Cain is unleas.h.i.+ng a combo, but it has nothing to do with thirteen strikes, and nothing to do with the academy developing it over countless trials! Cain is just using the sword techniques he learned from the combat magic currirculum developed by Adorno Academy!"

"I've been spending too much time reading comics on Webnovel," Sheila admitted, her face completely red by now. Craig chuckled and threw a hand over her shoulders.

"Don't worry about it. We all do. I mean, we have Fast Pa.s.ses now, which is actually better for comic readers than the previous spirit stone system."

While they were discussing the benefits of a reading website, I was fighting for my dear life, trying to block and deflect Cain's consecutive strikes. I was suddenly reminded of Shawn Franklin's sword techniques.

"This is so familiar…!"

That was right. Most of the sword techniques we learned in combat magic cla.s.ses today probably had their origins in the Franklin family's sword magic. Needless to say, the ten Great Families of the Federation gained their current unshakable statsues today because their ancestors, their founding members were the ones who pioneered modern magic. Especially elemental magic – the Porter clan, for example, pioneered fire magic, and the Stuart family innovated the first ever spells for wood magic. All elemental magic could trace their lineage to the founding members of the ten Great Families, and that was also the reason why their positions in the Global Federation were absolute. They were practically the parents of the modern magic world.

"You can't keep dodging forever!" Cain yelled as he launched another flurry of sword strikes that grazed my arms and cheek, drawing blood. I staggered back, and just barely managed to deflect the tip of his blade away from the center of my face, between my eyes. Then he reversed the grip on his sword and slashed my shoulder, drawing another geyser of blood.

"Uh oh! Seems like Richard is being fully suppressed here! It wouldn't be long before he falls!"

"Will you surrender?" Cain asked. He wasn't mocking me, just recognizing that I was at a complete disadvantage. I merely shook my head.

"You should worry about yourself more."

"Hmph."

With a snort, he launched a barrage of three short, sword strikes that sharply grazed my face and neck, but I was fortunate enough to avoid a direct severing of my carotid artery or jugular vein. I floundered as I attempted to knock my opponent back, but he rammed the hilt of his sword against the side of my head. I crashed downward, the floor rus.h.i.+ng to meet my face, and Cain seized the opportunity to deliver the finis.h.i.+ng blow, his sword arcing to decapitate me.

The blade never reached my neck. Spinning around, my foot came up and I kicked him.

"!!"

Cain's incredible reflexes saved him. He hurriedly blocked my powerful kick with his forearm, which forced him to draw his sword away from me. The powerful blow sent him staggering a few steps to the side, and I kicked out again, forcing him to defend his chest. As he caught my foot with his palm, I used his hand as a platform to propel myself away, flipping around in midair to land on my feet. Bringing both my swords up, I adopted yet another aggressive stance.

"So you do have some tricks up your sleeve, after all." Cain exhaled as he dusted off his hand on his uniform, trying to hide a grimace. "It seems that you are no mere simple summoner."

"As ashamed as I am to admit it, I am still no match for you in terms of swordsmans.h.i.+p."

"No, you are not." Cain didn't mince his words, and I winced a little at his bluntness. Wow, dude, I wasn't expecting you to praise me, but you didn't have to be that cruel. "But it's still impressive that you lasted as long as you did against me. Not many people will still be capable of standing after trading over a few hundred blows with me. However…it's over."

Narrowing his eyes, he then kicked off the ground and almost vanished. For a second, I glanced around, trying to track his whereabouts, but he appeared in front of me a second later, his blade screeching as it streaked toward my throat in a deadly, silver blur.