Earth's Greatest Magus

The previous encounter did bother him; after all, the Nephilim girl threatened the safety of his home.

While it was true she gave him some tips on how to fight Arcana, who was to say those tips were true and not meant to mislead him? Moreover, even if that was the case, Emery was sure the girl had her own agenda for helping him.

What was she planning? 

That short talk had successfully messed with his head.

While Emery was still thinking about what Jinkan was trying to do, a new name appeared on the screen floating above the arena, pulling his attention back to the present.

[Rank 16 - Sigurd (14)]

Similar to the Nephilim girl before, Sigurd, the dark-skinned fighter, walked up to the stage early. Despite the man's straight posture and the large axe in his hand, the way Sigurd approached Emery did not seem threatening at all.

But that was not all. Rather than his relatively friendly demeanor, it was the first words the man said to him that surprised Emery.

"Don't let those threats bother you…" 

From his words, it seemed the man with the Titan bloodline heard what Jinkan had said to him.

Under Emery's somewhat questioning gaze, Sigurd continued, "Those nobles and their intricacies… you should just focus on fighting what's in front of you."

The Titan bloodline in front of him appeared to have some issues with nobles.

Emery had heard about those with the Titan bloodline - born with a divine body, individuals with this bloodline were the most sought-after race in the universe to be raised and owned as a fighter.

They were so valuable to the point that factions bought and traded them as if they were no longer considered human. The man in front of him must be one of those who had gotten used to being controlled by the nobles.

Sigurd then raised his large axe and asked, "How experienced are you against an axe user?"

Emery was about to answer Sigurd casually, but at that moment, he realized he had almost no experience at all in the matter. There was that one practice with Lord Izta, but he was not sure if that counted since Lord Izta kept changing weapons. The truth was, most of Emery's opponents so far were sword users. He had never really fought an axe fighter before.

"Not much at all… Why?"

"That's too bad." 

Immediately after, the man with the Titan bloodline suddenly dashed and swung the huge axe at him.

Swishhh!

Emery reflexively dodged a step back, but the Titan descendant's axe still managed to inflict a shallow wound on his chest.

"!!!"

With how amiable the man was when he first walked up and even empathized with him, Emery did not expect Sigurd would launch a sneak attack on him like that. Furthermore, despite the size of that axe, the man's swing was much faster than he initially anticipated.

The man calmly said his reason, "That's for being too relaxed in a battle... especially against someone with the Titan bloodline." 

Emery shook his head. What was this man trying to do?

The opponent in front of him had not used any spells or skills to buff his battle power, yet just from the attack earlier, Emery could already tell that Sigurd's battle power had, at the very least, reached the 300 mark.

Fighters with the Titan bloodline were indeed frightening individuals.

For an opponent with such a high battle power like Sigurd, Emery did not hesitate to immediately use his [Fey Transformation] and [Immortal Gate] altogether.

[Battle Power: 244 (306)]

This time, however, Sigurd did not continue to attack and instead silently waited until Emery finished his preparation.

Under the Titan bloodline patient look, Emery opened his [Spatial Space], took out his dark [Savage Blade], readying himself for a fight.

"Let's see how good of a swordsman you are!" The large dark-skinned man vigorously said, before dashed towards Emery again, swiftly swinging his axe like it had no weight.

Clankk! Clankk!

However, compared to how light the man made the axe seem, the weapon was extremely heavy. Added with Sigurd's unexpectedly swift and precise swings, Emery's grip trembled with every clash of their weapons. 

The axe had almost no thrust movement at all. On the contrary, all of its attacks consisted of multiple slashes and chopping movements that made full use of the axe's weight, making it just as fast as a slash, but not any less powerful than a strike.

Clankk! Clankk!

Under the Titan descendant's continuous attacks filled with pressure, Emery was quickly forced to use the [36 Dao Divine Sword Technique] in order to match the man's fighting pace. Although it was now not nearly as apparent, the man currently still had the upper hand.

Emery had seen how fierce Sigurd fought during the game against the Bone Dragon. Ever since that day, he had been wanting to have a match with this Titan descendant. Now that he got the chance to be at the receiving end, Emery finally understood just how strong this man was.

Yet, despite this, Emery p knew Sigurd still had not used his full strength. Hence, even though he was at a slight disadvantage at the moment, Emery decided to follow the man's pace and thought of the fight as another chance to get some nice, proper training.

Clank! Clank!

"Good! Now see this!"

Suddenly, Sigurd's attacks started to become even more ferocious. Emery could barely dodge the first few attacks and was forced to block one of them with his sword. However, the moment their weapons came in contact with each other, Sigurd instantly pulled his axe and used it to lock his sword before using his other arm to swing a fist at his face.

Bammm!

The powerful hit was quickly followed by a headbutt just as strong as his surprise punch.

Bammm!

The man's attacks were very simple, yet those simple attacks managed to hurt Emery and even throw him a few steps back. 

"That is the axe's hook and locking technique, something a sword doesn't have!"

Once again, Sigurd jumped in and fiercely swung his axe towards Emery.

Clankk! Clankk!

Unwilling to lose against Sigurd's fighting technique, Emery did not use [Blink] to dodge the man's attacks. Instead, he once again countered the incoming strikes with his sword technique.

He gradually increased his variation from stage 1 of [Dao of Sword] up until stage 6, the more complicated variation of the sword technique, before Sigurd slowly started to feel overwhelmed by the counterattacks.

Of course, there was no way the Titan bloodline would just let Emery have the upper hand. After taking a step back to gain a little distance, the man lifted his axe high in the air. At that moment, Emery felt the air suddenly change, as Sigurd prepared his powerful battle art.

"Now see if you can stop this!"

[Soul Shaker]

Emery had witnessed this skill being used against the Bone Dragon before. It was a powerful outburst of energy slash that brought forth total destruction.

He knew the wise thing to do against such an attack was to dodge, but out of curiosity and respect for the powerful fighter, Emery decided to use his [Day Transformation].

As spirit power started to quickly fill his entire body, Emery channeled his spirit energy into the dark blade in his hand in preparation for using his powerful [Shadow Edges].

Both sides took a few seconds to prepare, the audience watching from the distance started to cheer in anticipation due to the build-up.

Sigurd came charging first like a powerful meteor, while Emery unleashed his powerful [Shadow Edges] enhanced by the day transformation and at close quarters.

BAMMM!!!

The two powerful attacks clashed for a while, before both sides were thrown back half a dozen steps. The impact caused both Emery and Sigurd to spit out blood, both of them simultaneously realized their attacks were equal. 

When Emery prepared his stance once again to continue the battle, Sigurd raised his axe and instead looked in the direction of the audience.

"I surrender!"

This surprised not only Emery, but also everyone watching them. However, the moment of surprise quickly ended, as the audience expressed their dissatisfaction. The fight was far from over, yet it ended just like that.

Despite the unsatisfactory ending, the referee finalized the decision, quickly changing Emery's rank as a result.

[Rank 16 - Emery Ambrose (9)]

While Emery was still confused by the Titan descendant's decision, Sigurd calmly approached him with a satisfied expression.

"Zetto, your next opponent, has the Titan bloodline like me. He's stronger and more skilled at wielding the axe, so you'll need all the stamina and spirit pool you have to defeat him. Focus on the fight and take that commander position for us."

The man then walked away from the arena. Following his suggestion, Emery quickly cast [Nature's Blessing] on himself to recover his health as his next opponent's name appeared above the arena.

[Rank 10 - Zetto (9)]