Erin quickly retreated, a.s.serting the situation. He had no idea of what Amon had done to the sword, but it was certainly dangerous. He felt a chill running down his back when he saw the sharp Qi covering Amon's sword as he retrieved it.

Erin was already on the losing side of a contest of strength, and now even his weapon would be on the line if he locked sword with Amon. All Erin could do was to dodge and make use of an opening.

Amon's eyes were still cold and his expression was blank. He was like a completely different person as he shot towards Erin again. Erin jumped to his right, feeling the wind hitting his face as the s.h.i.+ny blade in Amon's hand whistled through the air centimeters away from his head.

Erin promptly countered, taking a step forward and stabbing the sword in Amon's back.

'Clang!'

Amon spun on his feet and blocked Erin's strike. Erin felt the sword in his hands trembling as another chip formed on the blade. He took a step back and slashed forward. His eyes were cold as he tried to think of a plan to deal with Amon.

"Tsk." He had an unwilling look on his face as he looked at his sword. It had been gift from his mother. Erin would feel regret if it broke, but he had no choice. He was weaker than Amon and his weapon couldn't handle the blocks and clashes.

Erin gave a sigh as the look on his face steeled. He raised his sword, pointing it at Amon and shot forward like a lightning bolt.

'Clang!'

The swords collided, sparks flew and another chip appeared on his sword. Erin gritted his teeth as he sent a flurry of attacks in Amon's direction.

Amon narrowed his eyes as he saw Erin coming for him. He twisted his body to dodge the stabs and used Windhowler to block the slashes and swipes that Erin sent his way. He never looked away from Erin's eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

Suddenly, Erin took a step forward, raising his sword to send a downward slash to Amon's head. The timing of the attack was wrong, Erin was exposed.

"A feint!" Amon realized. He took a step back, but Erin smiled as he saw that.

'Thud!'

Something hit Amon's ankles, making him fall heavily on his back. The air was expelled from his lungs and he was confused. Before he could think, Erin's sword was coming down at him, in the same attack Amon took as a feint.

Amon hastily rolled away as the white sword struck the floor.

'Bang!'

The tiles under the sword turned to dust as a huge crater appeared on the arena. Amon managed to stand on his feet, but a whistling sound made his hair stand on end. He lowered his head and felt something grazing his hair.

He looked back and saw a piece of the platform's tiles flying through the air at an amazing speed. He raised his golden eyes to look at Erin. Erin was playfully throwing a piece of the tile up and down on his hands as he looked at Amon with cold eyes.

Amon realized that what had hit his ankles before was probably one such piece that Erin moved with his Qi. His eyes turned even colder as he gripped Windhowler tightly. The condensed light around it seemed to turn even denser, and the edge even sharper.

"You work with everything you have at your disposal, nothing more." Erin muttered to himself, throwing the rock at Amon's head.

The moment Erin had threatened his mother was the first time Amon really wanted to hurt someone. It was not an unbridled rage, nor was it a simple impulse. His hate for Erin ran deep from long ago, but there was a limit.

Even if Erin was taunting him, Amon knew that Erin had no lines he wouldn't cross to get what he wanted. Windhowler started humming as Amon took a step forward and swung the sword, turning the stone into dust.

Time seemed to slow down as h run to Erin, and saw him sigh. Erin's eyes flashed with a strange glint as he readied his sword, clas.h.i.+ng with Amon head-on.

'Clang!'

The swords collided again. This time, Amon let go of the sword with his left hand and threw a punch at Erin's stomach.

Erin coughed loudly as his body bent forward and Amon sent a knee to his face. He felt something giving in under his strike, and Erin was send tumbling back.

When he raised his head, his nose was bent in an awkward angle and blood flowed freely from it.

"That makes us even." Amon said, shooting to him again. He focused all of his Qi in Windhowler and smashed with the sword at Erin's head.

To Amon's surprised, not only did Erin not dodge, he blocked the strike with a slightly regretful expression. Amon felt something was wrong, but it was too late.

'Clang!'

The swords collided yet again, and Erin's arms started trembling. His sword made a screeching sound as it vibrated and sc.r.a.ped against Windhowler's edge.

'Crack Crack Crack!'

The white sword in Erin's hands started cracking. However, Erin did not retreat. Instead, he put even more strength in his arms. Amon didn't understand why he would do so, but he forced the strike in. He would win in a head-on confrontation. Victory was in his grasp.

'Crack Crack!'

Cracks run all over Erin's sword as he sighed. He was holding it horizontally over his head, with the edge pointing to his left. He took a deep breath and stepped forward with his right feet, not hiding the pain in his eyes.

'CRACK!'

His sword shattered. Under Windhowler's Sword Qi, Erin's middle-grade artifact finally gave in, exploding in what seemed to be countless shards. Amon looked horrified at the glistening fragments of metal that reflect the light of the arena like mirrors as his body moved forward.

With the sword broken, Amon had nowhere to put his weight into. He was forced to take a step forward to not fall, pa.s.sing by Erin, who had taken a step forward before.

Amon looked with surprise as Erin still held the handle of his broken sword. There was still a few centimeters of blade attached to it, cracked and about to break, but as sharp as ever.

Amon's golden eyes reflected the cold glint of the broken sword as it came in his direction. Time seemed to have stopped, and he saw the scene in horror as he realized his mistake. He looked at Erin unwillingly, but all he saw on his opponent's face was pain and regret.

Ever so slowly, taking what seemed to be years, the broken sword tunneled through the air arriving with a lethal blow at Amon's exposed neck.

'Crack!'

A layer of light covered Amon, making the broken blade stop millimeters away from his skin.

Erin looked at Amon with a strange look on his face.

"You work with everything you have at your disposal, nothing more." He quoted his father again with a heavy voice.

"And, should the need arise, we must not be afraid to make sacrifices if the victory is worth it." This was the second part of his father's lesson, one that he had taken to heart the first time he heard and that his father never had to repeat to him.

Amon's eyes were wide as looked at Erin, but he realized that Erin was talking to himself. The boy dressed in red carefully put the broken sword in his Bottomless Pouch, and with a wave of his hands, gathered the remaining fragments on the ground, putting them away too.

"You cost me my sword, Amon Kressler." Erin looked at him with a cold stare and piercing eyes, but somehow, Amon could see no disdain in them, only unwillingness.

"You should be proud of this." Erin looked away, gazing somewhere in the sky. "You made this victory worthy of a big sacrifice."

"You lost because of your arrogance." These were the last words Amon could hear before he was pulled away by the light and thrown outside the platform.