Chapter 222: Unarmed

The male elf elder named Dulos; not only did he have exceptional status of battle power, he also had superb accomplishment in combat technique. Then, as if those weren't enough, he now even had an extraordinary magic spell that basically made him a walking monstrosity of destruction with nigh-impenetrable defense.

The sight of the elf, who was completely covered and layered by rocks at the moment, wielding two longswords that looked incongruous to his figure certainly gave off an eerie feel to those who saw him.

The crippled Elroth who kept his attention on the fight was seen shouting at Tristan, telling him an important piece of information.

"Unless you have a Tier 4 artifact weapon, the spell that Dulos casted essentially made him impervious to any attack. There's no chance you would be able to injure him with your current weapon. Do you have a better one? Because if you don't.." Elroth's words trailed at the end, as both he and Tristan knew what would occur if that exact thing happened.

Upon hearing Elroth's words, Tristan immediately decided to put his mithril sword back to the interspatial ring. Then, contrary to all expectations, he began taking his orthodox stance. He planned to show his hand-to-hand battle art.

Even though blind, Prince Elroth still knew what Tristan was doing when he 'saw' what he did. He turned to Serene who was next to him and said, "Is he an idiot? No, I mean, is his brain alright?"

"Yes, he is. He's a helpless idiot." replied Serene, but in a concerned tone. Meanwhile, Astrid was also able to stand up thanks to the healing spell Serene had given her. However, she was still unfit for another fight, as her wounds only healed superficially.

Tristan, who was in his stance, raised his two hands and shouted, "Round Two! Let's go!"

As if the bell had been hit, the ground trembled as Dulos swiftly charged at Tristan. The target also didn't remain still as he also began to move and dodge the incoming diagonal slash by leaning his body to the right. The sword barely went past Tristan's nose as it sliced through the air.

After successfully dodging the lethal strike, Tristan focused his entire weight on his left foot before delivering a fully-cocked left hook where Dulos' stomach should be.

BAM! Faint cracks appeared and flakes of rock fell from Dulos as his body was pushed back by the blow.

"Nice!! One hit!!"

It seemed the failure began to get into him as Dulos went in again and this time attacked with even more ferocity.

The two longswords danced in the air, slicing through without exhibition like huge scissors as Dulos' killing intent exploded and could be faintly perceivable by those observing. But Tristan managed to dodge every attack thanks to his slightly superior speed

It was apparent that Dulos' stellar defense and massive figure was not without cost as the elf had lost quite a bit of his flexibility and mobility. His actions had become slightly rigid and much easier to follow. Hence, Tristan was becoming increasingly confident as the fight went on.

From a long time ago, Tristan always preferred his bare hands as the means when fighting. However, being thrown into an unknown world shook his psyche, especially when the first thing he did was forced to massacre living beings.

Moreover, the claymore was the weapon that he wielded at that time. Thus subconsciously, Tristan thought using weapons, or rather, swords were better for his and his sister's survival in this dangerous world. 

Now with the opponent that has a body that  resist sharp objects, it was time to return to his old way. He believed the impact from his punches would be effective against opponent such as this

Combining the refined footwork he learned in Vanyar with street boxing, Tristan felt he was finally able to maximize the true potential of his newfound battle power.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Blow after blow landed on Dulos' figure over and over. Unfortunately, the figure swinging his swords in front of him was just really a hard nut to crack, literally. Even after successfully bestowing over a dozen punches that could easily break a boulder, the man was still standing tall.

On the other hand, the things Tristan showcased at the moment actually brought an inexplicable sense of awe to Serene and Elroth, who watched the fight intently. 

The two could swear that Tristan wasn't and shouldn't be this fast and strong. Naturally, they were oblivious to the upgrade that his body just went through.

BAM!

Tristan managed to land a nice, square hit to Dulos' face, and he could clearly see the elf spit out blood and became angry.

"Hahaha, you like that?!" said Tristan, provoking the already provoked elf.

At the moment, he truly felt like a professional boxer who used gloves to attack his opponent in a life and death battle. It might even take him a hundred punches to actually make any real internal bleeding on his opponent.

How amusing it may feel, but Tristan got bored after successfully connecting another dozen punches. Therefore, he decided to finally end this fight.

The moment he made up his mind, Tristan swiftly got into action. At one moment where Dulos sent a sideway slash at him, he ducked to dodge the attack and then circled around the massive figure before jumping to the former's wide open back. Without further ado, he stretched his hand over Dulos' head and grabbed the man's face with his fingers.

Tristan held on tightly while his fingers crawled over to Dulos' eyes before digging into them. At the same time, he casted [Heat Touch]. Immediately, Dulos screamed into the point of howling as the pain was too much for him.

One could imagine the sensation Dulos felt when flame materialized and blazed his eyes. It was certainly painful, and something that shouldn't be wanted.

He began flailing around, turning and twisting his body to get Tristan off his back, but the latter certainly wouldn't let it happen. He only needed a few more seconds before the flame completely destroyed the elf's inner brain.

However, Tristan was forced to bail out when he suddenly perceived a tingling from his senses and Serene's shout warning him resounded in the air.

In the split second after he got away, dozens of thorn roots were seen swirling on Dulos' body before pulling him back to safety. Tristan threw his gaze to the source of the roots.

It was the other elder, the slender and pale-looking female, who saved Dulos from his imminent death. Tristan could see a large number of similar roots moving all around her.

Knowing that he had just lost the chance to kill Dulos, Tristan immediately did the one thing he could only do now. Protesting.

"Hey!!! That's cheating!"

Tristan's words definitely irked Prince Janus as he immediately showed an annoyed look.

"You already won the fight. I will not let you kill my elder."

Seeing that the other party was annoyed being called on his cheating, Tristan decided to not stop there.

"Huh! I feel cheated. This is supposed to be an honorable duel between two individuals! I want compensation for this!"

The Forlorn Prince stared dagger at him, his face basically telling everyone that he was mad.

"Alright, fine! I will give you compensation! You all together can fight me, while my elder here will only watch. I'll let you go if you win the fight!"

Inwardly, Tristan was smiling. His plan seemed to be working.

"All? There are 5 of us here. Are you sure?" asked Tristan with a faint smile on his face.

But his smile instantly went away when a piercing light emerged from the Forlorn Prince's hand and a bolt of lightning streaked past him. The next thing they realized, the body of Astrid fell on the ground with an oxidized hole on her body.

"It's only four now"