Chapter 345: Mana Sword [4]
At this instant, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of heroism to be seen from Noah’s appearance, and his words were the same ones that every villain used.
Hatred really was a tool of destruction, as the protagonist was changing his role in real time.
From a hero to a villain... the sight was amusing to watch.
Though it wasn’t like some mere words were enough to depict Noah as a villain, they were indeed sufficient to degrade how the public viewed him, and that was something the protagonist seemed unaware of.
The surge of power had instilled unbridled arrogance in him, and it was that very arrogance that was provoking Noah into taking such senseless actions and saying the most foolish words out there.
"You only enjoy bullying the weak, don’t you?"
As the distance between us was closed to a mere foot, Noah asked another question, though it was an interesting one, as at the moment it was Noah who was superior to me, at least in terms of rank.
"You don’t look in the best shape. I think it would be wise to get you treated—"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Interrupting my innocent and polite advice, Noah roared as his eyes boiled with raw anger.
"Don’t fucking pretend to be someone who you are not and would never be."
The words were spoken by the protagonist in a low voice that was closer to a wild animal growling while hungry.
Sigh.
Witnessing Noah’s current state, I had now begun to pity the poor soul.
He had no idea about what he was getting himself into.
The mana pressure intensified around me, and I could feel it trying to crush my body with all its might.
That was when I closed my eyes, and—
Mana surged through my core as a new mana pressure descended upon the area to counter Noah.
"Yeah... let’s settle it!"
Noah shouted as he willed more of his mana to increase the pressure upon me, but I stood in the same place without moving an inch.
The expression on my face stayed the same as before, as a dome of mana enveloped me from all sides.
It was my mana pressure safeguarding my body from being crushed by Noah.
I wasn’t fighting to defeat him, but simply defending myself, and that was why the mana that I required was far less than what Noah might have been using at the moment.
Still, the urge to raise my sword and launch it at Noah’s neck was trying to overwhelm my sense of logic, yet I didn’t act on my impulses and held on.
But maybe Noah wasn’t as patient as me.
I could sense the mana in his body aggressively moving towards his dominant right hand and also into the mana sword held in that hand.
Lowering my body, I quickly got into a basic stance—
"Just die!"
Noah roared as he charged towards me with the sword in his hand, making me raise my own sword in return.
Our blades clashed, resulting in waves of mana erupting in all directions—
My pupils dilated as I willed more of my mana to surge through my dominant hand, as well as through the entirety of my body, but—
Boom!
I was thrown away by the mere strength behind Noah’s monstrous attack that had the raw power of a Platinum core, which was further amplified by Noah’s already existing inhumane physical strength.
Planting my sword in the ground below, I tried to lessen the impact, and up to a certain extent I had succeeded, but Noah was quick enough to follow up on his attack, as the guy once again appeared before me, his sword already in motion—
Aiming for my neck!
Ducking down, I avoided the strike, but Noah didn’t give up.
Twisting his sword midway, Noah aimed it at the back of my neck, but my sword was already in motion to counter his attack.
The blades clashed, but no sound was made, as Noah wasn’t using some normal sword, but a sword made of mana.
Each strike felt like battling against a mountain, but being a Gold 2... I had sufficient mana reserves to battle the protagonist.
Logically, I should have only used the mana reserves at the disposal of a Silver 3, but knowing the intensity of the situation and my opponent being Noah, I didn’t hold back.
Though from the outside, people would only sense a Silver 3 fighting against a Platinum 1.
That was going to pose a serious issue, as the situation was too ridiculous to believe.
There was no way a Silver 3 could go against the might of a Platinum 1, and that too against a monster like Noah.
Maybe if I had really been at Silver 3, I might have used all my abilities to the maximum extent, and through a combination of my skills, combat techniques, and everything at my disposal, I could have posed Noah a serious challenge, but that was a ’what if’ situation.
People would have found it suspicious, but if I had been at Silver 3... there was nothing to be cautious about, as that would have been my real strength.
But at the moment I wasn’t a Silver 3, and if the headmaster found my battle suspicious, which he definitely would, that would result in him probing deeper into my core, and though I had confidence in Alfred’s expertise while making the device that had hidden my original core rank... I had no interest in taking unnecessary risks.
Sigh.
Maybe I didn’t have much of a choice but to increase my own rank to the original one.
If Noah could evolve mid-battle, then what was stopping me from doing the same?
People would suspect my sudden rapid evolution as well, but it was easier to defend it than fighting against a Platinum 1 while being a mere Silver 3.
Seeing his attacks being blocked, Noah shifted his approach to close combat, as a kick came flying at my chest, but I was quick enough to sidestep at the right time, avoiding the attack entirely—
Maybe not!
Lowering his body, Noah dived further as he grabbed me by the waist before—
BAM!