Chapter 593: Samuel Vs Ace [2]
Farid pressed forward, forcing Klein’s water barrier back by a meter, "Klein, you are one lowly traitor. Not only did you betray the Association, you’ve also betrayed Baaron and Ian. They died believing you were still on their side. You watched the bones consume them and didn’t say a word."
Klein’s water lashed forward.
Farid deflected it with a burst of fire.
Tom stepped in beside him, his golden fire ready, "You know, Klein... I never really liked you. Not even back when you were pretending. There was always something off about you. Your kindness was too consistent. Real kindness has bad days. Yours never did.
But even then, I never imagined you’d turn out to be a traitor. The good you’ve done over the years wasn’t insignificant, yet to think it was all nothing more than a facade... You’re one hell of an actor.
"If this were the early 2000s, I’d hand you an Oscar myself. Hah!"
Klein scoffed dismissively at their words, dismissing the argument he considered beneath his time.
"You wouldn’t understand it. Even if I explained it in detail. You could sit at my feet for a hundred years and still not grasp what today means."
His eyes moved slowly across Tom and Farid’s faces. "This is greater than you. Greater than me. Greater than Baaron and Ian and every fighter who thought they were participating in something they understood. You three, standing across from me with your indignation and your loyalty and your outdated life framework, are exactly the kind of small people who couldn’t ever see it."
His water surged forward.
"Now be quiet and fight back. I have work to finish after this."
Tom, Farid and Sierra exchanged glances for a moment. Then, the exchange resumed at full intensity.
Samuel didn’t wait for Ace to get accustomed to his power. Whilst he did wait for him to ascend, that didn’t mean he would allow him any further advantages.
He was already flowing into his next sword stance before his attack was dealt with. His sword rose again, this time in a horizontal sweep, and he closed the distance between them in a single burst that broke the sound around him.
Samuel’s speed was faster than the speed of sound.
Ace met him head on.
The two daggers slid into position, one high, one low. Samuel’s sword drove between them in a thrust angled to catch Ace’s neck.
Ace’s low dagger tilted upward and caught the flat of the blade, redirecting it past his shoulder. His high dagger came around in the same motion and cut toward Samuel’s throat.
Samuel’s head tilted sideways.
The dagger passed within a finger’s width of his neck.
Samuel’s sword pivoted mid-motion, sliding along the redirect and sweeping downward toward Ace’s ribs. Ace stepped inside the strike, letting the blade pass behind him, and drove both daggers forward in a powerful thrust at Samuel’s chest.
Samuel’s off-hand came up.
A barrier formed in front of his ribs, halting the daggers before they advanced further. The blades stopped, their tips vibrating against the barrier.
Samuel’s grin widened.
"I have a question, which ancient being did you get the bones from?"
Ace’s eyes flickered.
He didn’t answer.
His daggers withdrew from the barrier and both swept sideways in a scissor motion aimed at Samuel’s neck. Samuel ducked beneath them. His sword came around in a rising slash that Ace deflected with a downward strike of his dagger.
They separated by ten meters.
Then, Samuel launched forward again.
His sword came in from an angle Ace shouldn’t have been able to defend against. His right foot planted, his hip rotated, and the blade descended in a crushing overhead cut that carried the full weight of his physical power.
Realizing the danger behind the powerful attack, Ace was forced to use his two daggers to block the attack.
The sound rang across the arena in a deafening clash of metal. Samuel’s blade drove down. Ace’s dagger held it.
For a fraction of a second, the two of them were locked.
"Which one? There are only a few possibilities of ancient beings. The Serpent That Devoured Its Own Coils. The Six-Winged Silence. Could it be them? The bones can’t be that of ordinary third or fourth-order beasts. Give me a name and I’ll give you a clean death."
Ace’s smile remained on his face, and no answer left his mouth.
His second dagger came around from below and drove toward Samuel’s stomach.
Samuel broke the lock. He kicked off Ace’s chest with his back foot, launching himself backward through the air, and landed cleanly dozens of meters away. His sword came down and rested at his side.
Ace straightened up.
His daggers spun once in his hands before settling back into their guards.
Samuel advanced again.
His pace picked up, driving forward in a series of rapid strikes, probing different angles, looking for flaws in Ace’s defense.
Ace parried them all, his daggers constantly on the move, whether it was defending Samuel’s strikes or counter-attacking.
Samuel’s sword found no opening from the full exchange.
Despite that his grin didn’t fade.
"You know what I find interesting?"
His sword came around in a horizontal cut.
Ace ducked beneath it.
"These bones are able to connect the person they drain to another source. Whoever’s on the receiving end doesn’t just get lives. They get fragments of something else, perhaps that’s why your features changed?" Samuel grinned, "The eyes. The hair. Your entire bearing. Do you perhaps take on some of the characteristics of whoever the bones came from?"
His blade rose again. "Which one wore your face before you did?"
Ace’s dagger came in low.
Samuel deflected it upward and drove a knee into Ace’s midsection. Ace absorbed the blow, his body flexing backward with the impact, and his second dagger came around in a counter-strike aimed at Samuel’s temple.
Samuel’s head moved.
The dagger passed through empty air.
Ace landed and reset his stance.
Samuel’s sword lowered slightly. His breathing hadn’t changed neither did his grin.