...


    Bang!


    Arthur was pushed by Sigurd, forcing him to take a couple of steps backward. Each step was quite heavy which left deep footprints on the ground as he tried to disperse the force from the impact.


    "Let''s how far that sharp tongue and take you," said Sigurd as he held the greatsword with both of his hands, placing it in front of his chest horizontally.


    At the same time, the blue flame surrounding his body became more violent and blazed in rage.


    "Ha!"


    With a shout, the flames suddenly gathered toward his sword as he swung it before him multiple times and released them at the same time.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    A series of blazing crescents flew toward Arthur as he was trying to recover his footing. They left long trials in the air as they advanced.


    Arthur quickly raised his shield before him and activated his skill. The shield also released a golden glow as he infused his power into it. Then a magic circle appeared and projected itself in front of that shield, acting as a wall that blocked the incoming blazing sword waves.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Arthur was immediately swallowed by a thick cloud of dust as he was bombarded by the sword waves. His figure immediately disappeared within it, preventing the opposing side from seeing him.


    Sigurd slightly knitted his brows as he could feel that Arthur remained unharmed despite the attacks that he had just thrown.


    Whoosh!


    Not long after, a hole appeared from the center of the cloud, which slowly expanded and suddenly revealed Arthur, who was thrusting his spear forward.


    The speed of the charge was so fast that it almost reached Sigurd, forcing him to take a couple of steps backward to prevent the tip of the spear from reaching him.


    Clang!


    At the same time, he twirled his greatsword in front of him, deflecting the spear and changing its trajectory upwards.


    Bang!


    He then stomped one of his feet and suddenly planted itself on the ground behind him as he halted his retreat. He then suddenly spun while using the spinning momentum to swing his greatsword.


    Shing!


    The sharp edge of the sword cut through the air it left a flash of light behind while heading straight to his opponent.


    Arthur, on the other hand, followed the momentum of the earlier deflection and let his spear to deflected. He then let it land on his shoulder as his other arm raised the round shield and blocked the incoming strike.


    Bang!


    The collision sent another violent ripple in the air as the two of them paused their actions for a brief moment.


    "Hmph!" Sigurd then retracted his sword back and was about to retreat. But his eyes never left Arthur, closely observing every movement of the latter.


    From the earlier exchanges, he could tell that this kid was quite talented in terms of Martial Arts and possessed such a rich experience in battle. Even if the gap in experience was still quite large, Sigurd could not afford to let his guard down.


    That was when he saw Arthur slightly lower his shield, revealing his head, which was now covered with a dragon helmet.


    The golden glow that was leaking out from the gap of the helmet meant for the eyes indicated that that ocular skill was still active.


    These eyes gave Sigurd an ominous feeling as it reminded him of when a dragon was looking at him. That familiar cold and indifferent gaze reminded him of his experience when he was fighting against the dragon race during his early years in life when he was still alive.


    As his eyes were attracted by the gaze of his opponent, he did not immediately notice the tip of the spear pointing straight at him.


    The dragon spear was horizontally placed over Arthur''s shoulders and behind his neck. It resembled a venomous viper laying in wait and ready to attack at any time.


    Shu!


    Not long after, Arthur pushed the spear forward, stabbing straight at his opponent.


    Swoosh!


    It was at this moment when Sigurd noticed the sudden attack. He swiftly leaned to the side, barely dodging the tip of the spear. "Cheap tricks!"


    He was about to counterattack when Arthur swiftly pulled the spear back and slightly retreated.


    Arthur adjusted his posture and somewhat tilted his body before stabbing the spear once again, sending it toward Sigurd, who was still in the middle of re-establishing his state.


    Shu! Shu! Shu!


    A series of stabs flew in Sigurd''s direction, making him repeatedly dodge and constantly retreated.


    Arthur, on the other hand, steadily chases while constantly attacking. He did not give Sigurd enough time to regain his footing, taking full advantage of the initiative that he had gotten.


    Swoosh!


    BOOM!


    A massive explosion erupted once again the two powers clashed against one another and yet another thick cloud of smoke enveloped the air at the point of collision, which was also where Arthur was currently located.


    Silence befell in the entire place right after the rumbling sounds of the explosion subdued.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    But immediately after that, enraged roars of dragons reverberated in the entire dimension as a group of golden dragons, which seemed to be a smaller version of the previous one, broke through the cloud of smoke and dust and flew to Sigurd.


    ''True Nine Dragon Arts: Dance of the Nine Dragons''


    They danced in the air while heading straight to Sigurd, who was already preparing his next move.


    Right before the nine golden dragons reached him, Sigurd suddenly swung his greatsword multiple times and created a net of sword flashes in the air, which cut through everything.


    ''Dragonborn Swordsmanship: Dragon Slaying''


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    The golden dragons were cut by the sword lights, transforming them into specks of light that slowly dissipated in the air.


    Whoosh!


    But as it was happening, the cloud of smoke and dust in the distance was split open as another huge golden dragon broke through it and flew straight to Sigurd while opening its huge mouth wildly and planning to devour him.


    Roar!


    Within this golden dragon was the spear that Arthur had thrown from the opposing side. It carried an unstoppable force, amplifying the speed and momentum of the golden dragon formed by draconic mana.


    ''True Nine Dragon Arts: Golden Dragon soars through the Heaven''


    Sigurd slightly frowned as he saw the incoming golden dragon. The timing was too perfect for him to dodge or counter it. It was sent out when he was still in the middle of ending his previous move, not allowing him to properly prepare for a counter-move against it.


    "This little hatchling indeed has some skill," commented Sigurd as an excited face washed over his face. "It has been a while since someone made my blood boil! This can be entertaining!"


    Boom!


    At the same time, his aura exploded as he stopped suppressing his powers. The blue flame that was covering his body grew larger, almost reaching a dozen meters, and became even more violent.


    The corner of his eyes seemed to have been filled with scales that were formed by mana while his pupils turned golden with vertical irises.


    Swoosh!


    Then he casually swung his greatsword with one hand, sending a sword crescent that easily cleaved through the incoming golden dragon and instantly destroyed it.


    The dragon spear was also sent flying back to where it came from.


    Whoosh!


    Arthur, who was standing in the distance, swiftly extended his right hand to catch the Dragon Spear.


    "Eh!?"


    Boom!


    But right after he grabbed it, his body was suddenly sent flying further away due to the powerful force that the dragon spear carried.


    The spear dragged him until he reached the end of this isolated dimension and collided against the invisible wall that it had.


    (-200,423)


    "Urgh!"


    At the same time, he vomited a lot of blood as a huge number appeared above his head, signifying that a huge chunk of the health bar disappeared.


    He was barely hanging on his life as he tried to support himself with his spear. "What the heck!? What kind of power is that?"


    He did not even receive the direct hit from the earlier attack. It could not even be considered a residual force from the explosion, yet he was left with a sliver of health.


    If his health bar was slightly lower, he most likely had been killed just now.


    Taking out two Master Rank Potions from his inventory, Arthur chugged their contents in his mouth to recover his health back to full.


    After wiping his mouth and throwing the bottles, he stared at Sigurd, who was currently releasing an absurdly strong mana from his body. "Tsk! This is going to be a real pain in the *ss."


    "I guess I have to use my Elemental Possession. And the strongest one at that," he mumbled as he stared solemnly at his opponent.


    ......