Child of Destiny

...

"Heh! I see that you've become more courageous since the last time we met," sneered Sildra when he saw Archimedes walking forward.

"I guess you finally get tired of running away," he added in a mocking tone while taking out his daggers.

After that, he squinted his eyes before looking at Leonard who was currently standing behind Archimedes. 'The real problem here is that guy. He is a real monster; things will surely get ugly if he joins the battle.'

Sildra could clearly sense how dangerous Leonard could be just based on the aura that his body was emitting. He was sure that he would be killed in an instant if that monster went all-out.

Naturally, Leonard was able to notice that gaze and could sense Sildra's distress. So, he chuckled for a little before waving his hand while saying. "Don't mind me. I'm just here to spectate. As long as you don't use any underhanded tricks in this battle like calling out your companions, I will not get involved."

Hearing that didn't make Sildra any less wary. In fact, it made him even more anxious because Leonard was practically saying that no one could interfere in this duel without his permission. And much worse, no one could leave this place either if he didn't permit it.

"Tsk! I'll think of a way to get out of here later," cursed Sildra with a voice that only he could hear before charging towards Archimedes.

Seeing that, Archimedes immediately jumped away from his previous location while loading a couple of arrows on his bow.

But before could even infuse them with his mana, Sildra suddenly accelerated his speed and arrived in front of Archimedes while swinging his daggers.

Clang! Clang!

Archimedes managed to block the daggers with the limbs of his bow. And right after blocking, he immediately positioned his bow in front of him in a horizontal manner while pointing the arrows to Sildra; he was planning to fire it at a point-blank distance.

Twang!

Unfortunately, the arrows were sent upwards instead because Sildra put a lot of strength on both of his hands before pushing the bow upwards. And due to that, the arrows infused with magic were sent flying in the air.

After that, Sildra was planning to kick Archimedes and sent him flying with it. But his leg was immediately blocked by the latter's foot and prevented him from executing his sudden move.

Then both of them borrowed the forces behind each other's moves to separate themselves from each other.

"Oh~! I didn't expect you to learn a few things about close combat confrontation," sneered Sildra right after regaining his footing.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

And the reply that he got after was a barrage of arrows flying towards his direction. But none of them managed to find their target since Sildra was nowhere to be found before they could even land on the ground.

He then moved in a curving motion as if he was copying how a snake moved on the ground. Moreover, his speed was quite troublesome to deal with which was giving Archimedes a hard time locking his aim at him.

"Tsk!"

Left with no other choice, Archimedes was forced to fly high up in the air to gain a much clearer view.

"Nope! As if I am going to let you!" muttered Sildra when he saw his opponent spread his wings widely.

He then quickly extended his arms forward which immediately transformed into a group of snakes that flew straight at Archimedes, planning to capture him.

Seeing their insane speed, Archimedes knew that he didn't have enough time to fly in the air; especially that the groups of snakes were cunningly aiming at the space above him. So, if ever he tried to jump upwards, he was sure that he was going to get caught by them.

Having that in mind, Archimedes chose to flap his wings forwards to launch himself backward instead of flying upwards.

Hiss! Hiss!

But the snakes seemed to be persistent and continued to chase after him even though they couldn't match him in terms of speed.

Hu~!

Seeing that, Archimedes took a deep breath to regulate his breathing while infusing the loaded arrows on his bow with a large amount of mana.

A few moments later, the arrows were set ablaze with a silver flame that was large enough to cover his entire arm.

With another deep breath, Archimedes aimed the blazing arrows upfront before quickly releasing it a second later.

'Class Fighting Style: Silver Hunter'

Swoosh!

Then a silver beam of light was sent flying right after he released the string of his bow. The light beam was not only burning everything on its path as it was also cutting through space due to the sharp and pointed head that it had.

"Eh!? That's fast!" mumbled Sildra when he saw the incoming beam of light. He then stared at it for a couple of moments as it was rapidly magnifying in front of his eyes.

Boom!

Then an explosion was immediately created when the silver beam of light collided against something.

Meanwhile, Archimedes was staring intensely at the cloud of smoke and dust created by the previous explosion. He knew that he hit something with his skill but he was also aware that it didn't harm his opponent the slightest.

A few moments later, he suddenly shot up in the sky as he sensed some vibrations on the ground.

Boom!

Then the ground where he was previously standing suddenly exploded as a large number of snakes burst out from it. They tried to chase after him but they failed miserably as they were greeted by a downpour of arrows.

"Heh! You are still as predictable as ever, my dear rival!"

Then Archimedes heard a familiar voice coming from behind which immediately sent an intense shiver on his spine.

Meanwhile, Leonard couldn't help but nod his head when he saw the change of favor before muttering to himself. "That Sildra guy is quite cunning. Each of his moves is a craftily made setup for his next move. Not bad, not bad."

Going back into the fight, Archimedes' eyes suddenly turned wide as he knew that fell on his opponent's trap. But he also understood that it was already too late to escape or strike back, so all he could do was to enhance his defenses to minimize the damage that he was going to take.

First, he quickly folded his wings to prevent them from directly receiving the attack. He then forced his body to turn around in the air while swinging his bow at his opponent.

"Futile struggle," sneered Sildra while thrusting his dagger downwards and was planning to dig it on his opponent.

Sildra tilted his head to the side so that he could dodge the upper limb of the incoming bow. And because of missing his target, Archimedes' shoulder became exposed to his opponent's attack.

"Ugh!"

The dagger pierced through the unguarded shoulder which gave intense pain to Archimedes. But despite receiving a serious injury that severed a large chunk of his HP, he was still able to withstand the pain he was suffering by gritting his teeth before forcing his other hand to grab his opponent.

After that, he suddenly spread his wings outward before wrapping both himself and his opponent with them as quickly as possible.

Sildra was caught completely off-guard by that move since he was not expecting that his opponent was going to retaliate like that.

Then Archimedes adjusted their position in the air, making their heads facing the ground first. And quickly after that, he suddenly initiated their fall while spinning rapidly in the air.

Right before they hit the hard ground, Archimedes suddenly re-opened his wings and released Sildra, sending the latter to continue his fall.

Swoosh!

Boom!

From the sideline, the corner of Leonard's mouth was twitching uncontrollably as he was able to recognize the move that Archimedes had executed. "Isn't it-…? D*mn! Brother Arthur will surely want to see it first-hand. He loves to watch those shows after all."

Meanwhile, Archimedes was currently gulping a 'Superior Grade Potion' to quickly recover his Health and heal his injuries.

At the same time, he was also staring intensely at the cloud of dust created by the previous collision. His eyes were fully focused on that spot, warily waiting for his opponent to show himself once again. After all, he was fully aware that that kind of attack was not enough to finish up Sildra.

In fact, Archimedes could also start attacking right now if he wanted to. But he was also aware that his opponent also had a special skill under his sleeve that could reflect all kinds of attacks thrown at him. And that was also the very skill that almost killed him the last time they met.

"Well, well~! I guess you really have grown patient since your previous defeat," said Sildra as he slowly walked out of the cloud of dust.

"Then I guess I also can't fool you with those tricks anymore, huh?" he added after removing the dust from his leather armor.

After that, he immediately held his daggers in reverse fashion before assuming a battle stance. At the same time, the air surrounding him suddenly changed as the look on his face also became serious.

"Then should we start getting serious now? I'm also quite eager to test out the new abilities granted to me by my lord," he said before manifesting his Aura Manifestation.

From Archimedes' perspective, what he was seeing was a huge embodiment of a black serpent coiling behind Sildra with its head sticking out in the air while staring back at him with a fierce glare alongside some eerie slithering sounds.

Seeing that, Archimedes closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled deeply, trying to regulate his breathing again. And when he reopened his eyes, a powerful pressure was suddenly released from his body and fought with the heavy atmosphere surrounding Sildra.

Then a gigantic figure of a wise-looking Owl was suddenly manifested behind Archimedes. It was spreading its wings widely, showcasing its beautiful silver feathers and seemingly trying to intimidate the massive snake that it was facing.

On the other hand, Leonard couldn't see their Aura Manifestations since he was not the current target of their suppression. But at the very least, he could guess what was happening by looking at the immense aura that both sides were currently releasing.

So, he started grinning from ear to ear before muttering in an excited tone. "Should I get some popcorn first?"

...…