Earth's Greatest Magus

The number of spectators had gradually increased since the duel between Atlas and Zeto. Now that they heard there was going to be another duel between those in the top 10, especially with one of them being the young savage acolyte, most people in the area were more than willing to make time to watch the match.

[Taylor Haze - Rank 8]

The white-haired young man calmly stood before him. Two small, crystal clear daggers just 10 inches in length were ready in his grip as he looked at Emery with a deadly gaze.

Under the crowd's anticipation-filled eyes, Emery pulled out his [Savage Sword] and prepared his [36 Dao Sword Technique] stance.

With all the information provided by Klea, Emery knew what kind of person the opponent he was about to face was hence he was ready.

"Fight, start!" the magus referee shouted.

The moment the referee's words resounded in the area, the white-haired man in front of him immediately cast a spell on himself. At that moment, the temperature sharply dropped, causing even the crowd watching to feel the freezing cold.

Knowing that Taylor was using a spell to buff his body, Emery quickly used [Immortal Gate Stage 6] to do the same.

[Battle Power: 256 (320)]

The young man took a breath and dashed toward Emery like a chilling wind, leaving a thin cloud of smoke from the cold.

Clank!!

It happened in less than a second as Emery managed to parry it with his reflexes just in time, but just as the two's weapons collided, the man swiftly passed him and turned to attack for the second time.

Clank!!

Once again, Emery's sword technique blocked the opponent's daggers. However, it seemed that the man had already expected it as he quickly followed up with a battle art skill.

[Wind Stride]

The skill was a high-tier battle art, a combination of dual dagger wielding and the wind element that was on par with Emery's [Shadow Blade]. Throwing multiple slashes at the opponent, the battle art skill didn't even require its user's daggers to touch the opponent's flesh in order to make a cut.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

Unfortunately for him, Emery already knew about this skill beforehand. The moment he saw the wind gather at the opponent's daggers, he immediately countered using his new sword skill.

[Omega Strike]

Emery swung his sword with a powerful strike. However, it wasn't to block the barrage of wind slashes.

Instead, Emery struck the arena ground.

BAAMMM!!

The strike broke the arena ground while creating a force strong enough to disrupt the wind and simultaneously throw himself back a few steps, allowing him to perfectly dodge the battle art.

The clashes occurred in the span of just a few seconds.

Seeing this, the crowd cheered in excitement as they closely watched the two's clashes, and some even clapped in awe. After all, the dagger battle art shown by Taylor was something even a magus would have difficulty dealing with, yet Emery was able to escape it not only with ease, but also beautifully.

And it wasn't just the crowd. Even Taylor was slightly taken aback when he saw Emery stop his proud technique in such an unexpected way.

"It looks like you've read my data." Taylor gave a calm smile and prepared his stance again. "But I've witnessed your fight against Zach with my very own eyes. You won't be able to win against me!"

This time, the young man cast another spell that made light blue lines appear all over his body.

[Aurora Vessel]

It was a divine spell that boosted his body with the Law of Wind and Ice, one of Taylor's most well-known spells that he could cast despite still being a rank 9 acolyte. 

Seeing him use this skill, Emery also quickly prepared his [Fey Transformation]. At that moment, shiny silver fur grew on his hands and feet, boosting his agility to the max.

Howwlllll!!

In that instant, Taylor swiftly dashed forward with twice the speed, while Emery stood still with both of his hands on the Savage Sword's hilt.

Clank!! Clank!!

The two's weapons clashed yet again, creating sharp squeaks from the clashing blades as the two focused on the speed of their attacks rather than power.

Clank!! Clank!!

With Taylor using dual weapons, Emery was at a disadvantage for a close-range battle on speed. Even so, Emery's sword technique variation was enough to allow him to parry and block all his opponent's attacks.

However, at the same time, Emery noticed that the bombardment of attacks was quickly growing faster. It was to the point that he could no longer see the movements of Taylor's hands.

The next thing he knew, the man had once again broken through his defense and blood was gushing out from his waist.

When Emery reflexively turned around, the previously calm yet sharp expression on the man's face had turned into a wicked grin as he licked the blood from the crystal dagger.

"I like to see you bleed."

Shivers ran down Emery's spine, and his expression quickly turned into shock.

In turn, the man's eyes became filled with mirth as he looked at the expression on Emery's face, like a predator looking at his prey.

"Haha, you should be afraid…"

However, Emery's response as he doubtfully looked at the young man surprised him.

"Err, no… I'm not afraid, just… Why are you licking my blood? That's disgusting."

The twisted smile on the man's face turned into a deep frown at a speed visible to the naked eye. Annoyed, he once again charged at Emery, and Emery countered.

Clank! Clank!

10 clashes, 20 clashes, 30 clashes…

Emery was able to parry Taylor's attacks, but he was still quite amazed. For Taylor to be able to stay on par with him, even with Emery using his sword technique at almost his highest speed…

Splaattt, splatt!

Like before, the man's attacks quickly increased in speed until Emery could no longer catch up. In the end, another deep wound was cut into his body before Emery could [Blink] away.

Emery was slightly taken aback. Seeing this, the man became even more confident as he said.

"To satisfy your curiosity… what I just used is not in the data because it's not a skill. It's the Dagger Aura."

Emery's eyes widened. As his master once told him, the Weapon Aura was part of the Laws, something only those at the level of a magus and higher would be able to use.

However…

When he heard this, instead of getting intimidated, Emery became even more interested to fight.