Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1114: Lyca vs Nam

“It is time for the battle you all have been waiting for! Two combatants who look back at a streak of overwhelming victories. The amazon Lyca and sword cultivator Name, the two forces of nature are finally clashing!” Umi Kaldrops gave her introduction to the fifth and last fight of the third round,

The ultimate duel between two participants who won all their fights so far in a matter of seconds. Even Seth was interested to see who would win between these two. If Lyca wasnʼt restricted, he would have had no doubt of her victory, but considering that Nam had revealed next to nothing of his skills, the restricted Amazon would probably have a hard time for the first time in the tournament.

Even Lyca seemed to take the fight seriously. Unlike in the previous fight where she wore casual attire, she now wore the armor from her homeland. It was a tight leather cuirass with a skirt, golden bracers as well as golden shin guards. The blacksmith knew they were from her homeland, because the the couldnʼt appraise them. They were items yet to be recognized by the system.

Although her attire said that she was serious, the athletic amazon entered the arena with a wide grin. She was visibly excited about this fight. On the other side, Nam had finally dropped the dark cloaks that had hidden most of his body in the previous fights.

He wore wide black pants while his muscular upper body was covered in bandages filled with weird runic characters. A black facial mask hid everything below his eyes. A striking feature where his black eyes and the bright green mane of hair. At his belt hung the simple, straight sword he had yet to fully unsheathe. His appearance screamed main character or antagonist.

As if to bless the fight, the clouds had dispersed and the sun shone brightly on the freshly repaired arena. Umi Kaldrops floated above the arena.

“Are you ready?” she asked as always. Lyca nodded. Nam pulled his sword from the sheathe and took his stance before he also nodded. His dark eyes were fixed on the Amazon who had been doing light warm-up moves ever since entering the stage. Seth couldnʼt help his bad habit of appraising weapons.

Relic

Phys. Attack 1991
Mag. Attack 1800

Durability: 1988

1. + 120% on Energy-based Attacks

2. + 100% Power of Dark magic and Curses

3. + 90% Attack Speed

4. Toggle Skill: Fox Flames

5. Active Skill: Manta Frenzy

A blade forged from the bones of an ancient maritime beast with a handle wrapped with the leather of a fox spirit. Created by a Craftsmen of the Steel Fist Sect, 375 years before the current owner obtained it from the hidden storage of the fallen sect.

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Has a low chance of becoming a legendary sword if its wielder becomes a legend.>

Surprised, Seth found that it was actually a sword forged from a bone and it was already quite old. Since the tournament started, Seth had realized that the descriptions of items from the Voracious Cloud Continent kept becoming more and more precise. The flavor text was quite interesting.

As for the skill and effects of the weapon, they were simple and straightforward. The covered the blade in a special kind of magical flame, while added 100% of the basic movement speed and attack speed. overall, it was a very good weapon for a straightforward warrior.

“...one-Begin!” Umi gave the start signal and Seth had no longer the time to ponder and observe the weapon. Nam moved so fast that he simply vanished from the spot where he had stood. People heard the loud clang of metal on metal before they realized what they saw.

Nam had directly charged and attacked Lyca, only to have his sword stopped dead in its tracks by the golden bracer on her right arm. Namʼs serious face was met by Lycaʼs joyful grin. She launched forward, trying to grab the man with her free hand. Jumping back, the cultivator quickly evaded her grappling motion, taking his distance.

“What happened? Just now you couldnʼt approach me fast enough, now you are too shy for some skin ship?” she provoked the silent man with a chuckle. As she charged forward to close the distance, the arena tile broke under her step. They were not using any skills yet, but there was already damage to the flooring.

It was a high-speed clash that barely anyone in the audience could follow. One would expect the one with a sword to have an advantage over a barehanded opponent, but it was an even battle of evasions and blocks, without either of the two landing a hit.

After a minute or two of feeling each other out Cultivator Nam made the next step. As Lyca was about to block his sword strike, the edge of his weapon was covered in sword aura, as bright green as his hair. A sly ploy to cut through the bracers and amputate her arm.

TING! The deafening sound echoed in the stadium. Probably only Seth was able to follow what happened next in real-time.

Instead of hitting the bracer, the sword covered in aura was blocked by a golden pole that appeared in Lycaʼs hand, straight from her inventory. The cultivatorʼs arm was still shaking slightly when he had to bend back. A thin golden blade shot past his face, missing his eyeball by a hairʼs breadth. So close, Seth almost started sweating himself. The cultivator used some kind of technique to almost instantly move out of Lycas range.

The next scene everyone was able to perceive after the big thing, was Nam standing in a defensive stance, several meters away from the Amazon, who was now equipped with a golden dory, a spear slightly above her height. They had reached the old conundrum, the spear vs the sword.

At this point, there was no perceivable difference between the rare-rated marble and ordinary stone. As the weapons clashed and skills came into the mix, their blade winds alone cut up and shattered the floor, with stones and debris flying everywhere.

“Those are Qi Swords. Materializing twelve at his level... he must be a prodigy from a sect or the disciple of a hidden master,” Yu commented when Cultivator Nam started using swords shaped from energy to attack.

They didnʼt just shoot around like projectiles, but in several instances showed skill as if they were wielded by actual people. However, this couldnʼt corner Lyca just yet. The amazon had brought forth a great shield, which she used to block the additional attacks, with apparent ease as the smile on her face only grew wider as the battle intensified.

The fight was at a level that made it hard even for Seth to follow, since so much was going on. Even if he was able to perceive it thanks to his amulet, he couldnʼt grasp everything because of the complexity of the battle. He didnʼt seem to be the only one.

Mina, Fin, and the others who had not left to grind levels across the Pathworks had looks of trepidation as they couldnʼt quite follow what happened without using the replay functions on the screens. Others like Monique were watching with silent attention.

Monique was absorbing what she saw from Lyca. She used to hold the class of spear demon and was the chosen of Athena. As they used similar weapons, she tried to learn from the way the amazon fought.

Jonah was not much different, his eyes were fixed on cultivator Nam. Although their levels were different, the cultivator had an edge in the time he wielded his sword and the techniques he learned. Seth didnʼt doubt that either of them could win against the two on the arena floor, but it wouldnʼt be pretty.

The blacksmith focused back on the fight, waiting for the conclusion or the next twist.