Separated by about one hundred paces, Roxfield and Emily stood in high tension. Obviously, the Commanding Generals of their respective sectors decided to settle their conflict in a five-second spar that would put their battle experience to the test.
The rules were simple.
They would rush at one another, clash for five seconds, and separate. Both of them held dull wooden swords. Leonardo stood on a distant mountain peak behind Roxfield, but the man wasn't worried one bit about a sneak attack.
As for Emily, tension gripped her heart as she grasped the handle of the wooden sword, a swirl of shimmering ether instilled into the wooden frame, granting it a scintillating vibe of blue.
Roxfield's robust energy concentrated into his large frame at a steady pace before whirling down the long wooden sword, reinforcing the substance just enough to cleave through the hardest of rocks and sturdiest of metals.
"I'm really curious about what gave you the courage to challenge me in a frontal clash— I who have roamed the secular and martial worlds for years upon years…"
Roxfield stated softly as he took a stance, a web of fissures spreading from beneath his feet even as he spoke calmly, an unrivaled aura surging to the sky and churning the clouds of restless, chaotic ether.
Emily's eyes flickered as her line of sight brushed past the Commanding General's shoulders and laced into a brief eye contact with Leonardo's honey-brown eyes. She was baffled by Leonardo's calm as if she were to lose, the first condition of the bet was Leonardo's life; all three of them swore a sacred pact to this end.
No matter how prestigious Leonardo's position was in Memento Mori, if he didn't comply with the oath, his cultivation path would end here— today. Did he trust her that much? Or did he trust his martial intent?
Noticing the conflicting feelings in Emily's eyes, Leonardo felt exasperated. He couldn't explain his martial intent or its name to the lass as the karma would mark her fate, drawing her into an even greater mess than a simple contest for a seat at the provincial level of power.
After thinking about it, he took out an information chip and carved something into it within his spiritual sense. Then, he shouted from a distance, "My lady, I advised a special tactic for you!"
Hearing about a special tactic even at this moment, Roxfield snorted in derision. As expected, the smart people are always looking to use their brains to solve their imminent doom.
Whatever, though. In the face of absolute strength, no amount of finesse or intelligence can save you.
With that in mind, he didn't intercept the incoming chip even as it whizzed past his head and settled into Emily's fair palm, even as perplexion riddled her eyes.
"Take your time," Roxfield snorted, his stance firm as a resting mountain. "No matter how you go about it, we will inevitably clash; five seconds is more than enough time for me to lay a clever lady to waste."
"Is that so?" Leonardo's voice drifted from afar, riling the seasoned veteran's ire as he wished to hack the young attendant to death then and there. Even as that transpired, Emily sank her senses into the chip as a flood of information rushed into her head, leaving her staring blankly into space for a fraction of a second.
Bang!
The information chip self-destructed in her hand, crumbling into bits and pieces even as confusion clouded her mind and heart. She couldn't make out the contents of the chip— it seemed too complicated for her mind and too taxing on her superficial knowledge of handling the sword.
Yes; this was definitely information about the sword— yet try as she might, she couldn't grasp a thing other than an indistinguishable fight hacking with a long sword twelve times.
"Enough!"
Roxfield's aura suddenly exploded.
As impatient as he was, his temper snapped off, jolting Emily awake from her state of confusion just as the former tilted forward, about to change.
Emily's pupils dilated as she chose to off with it and flood her spiritual sense into the runes on her mask, even as she gripped her sword tightly and rushed to clash with the incoming promise of violence.
Silently, the two blasted through the sound barrier like two elongated phantoms that distorted space-time, two shimmers of pale blue ether representing the wooden swords traced beautiful arcs in the air and joined into a blossoming sphere of absolute destruction.
What was the concept of five seconds to a normal person? Absolutely nothing.
To a powerhouse of their level, though? It meant the world; it meant life and death; it meant honor and disgrace; it meant a dividing chasm between strong and weak.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A blast of concentrated air leveled the mountaintop into a flat ground as the two Commanding Generals disengaged. Then, a staggering phantom landed somewhat gracefully next to Leonardo and without a word, rushed off into the distance.
"See ya!"
Leonardo waved his hand in salute to the study back view of Roxfield who stood motionless at the center of the blast radius, quickly turning his head and rushing after Emily.
Roxfield of House Renhuang, a fearsome Commanding General, stood rooted in his spot as disbelief colored his fierce eyes.
Rip! Rip! Rip!
The sound of ripped clothing followed twelve times as the Commanding General looked down at his chest, only to find a blossoming lotus of twelve petals carved into his military uniform, directly above his heart.
Twelve times…
If this was a real life and death battle, he would have been killed twelve times in five seconds!
This felt too surreal! Too unbelievable!
"What a scary lass," Roxfield muttered as cold sweat drenched his forehead. Then, excitement pulsed in his blood at the ingenious sword technique displayed in the battle, blanking him out for a moment before he started laughing to his heart's content, his laughter shaking the sky and mountains; it even reached the far Renhuang Sector.
…
Very far away on a deserted mountain, Emily dropped from the sky with a heavy thud. Following that, Leonardo's figure stepped out through the void in a languid manner and removed his silver mask, allowing his hair to flow freely as he chuckled to himself. "If you didn't have any sword techniques, you have informed me earlier… Phew, that was a close one."
Even as he spoke, Emily didn't respond.
Her body began to shudder uncontrollably as she crouched down and clutched at her pretty little head, a searing headache threatening to split her mind apart as black blood trickled down from her eyes, through the mask, and onto the ground.
The entire exchange of five seconds replayed in her mind; this was an otherworldly experience.
Even as she rushed at Roxfield with her heart in her throat, a wonderful sensation enveloped her mind and senses as the world lost all color, isolating Roxfield in her perception. Then, thousands of phantoms depicting Roxfield's movements in infinite variations clicked in her mind; it was as though an omniscient god whispered the secrets of the past, present, and future to her mind.
Things that she shouldn't have peered into.
Everything about Roxfield flooded her mind in one calculative deduction after the next, narrowing down the infinite possibilities into a finite, observable motion. Then, the sword technique she couldn't comprehend suddenly became a lucid thought that blended perfectly with her form, as though second nature.
Everything after that was a piece of blank paper in her mind and before she knew it, she was parrying, reflecting, dodging, and striking at the same time.
These were the longest yet shortest five seconds in her lifetime. She now realized why Leonardo limited this martial intent to a short five seconds.
Even then, she felt like one more second of that overwhelming sensation where everything all around her split from a uniform one-directional trajectory into infinite possibilities would have roasted her mind. She felt frightened.
Blurgh!
Emily lifted her mask and spew vomit from her pale lips for a few moments as the bout of dizziness finally dissipated from her system.
Taking a deep breath, she gathered herself and put the mask back on, slowly standing up as clarity returned to her eyes along with the overwhelming shock.
…
Renhuang Sector, Core Area.
The left-wing general had a dark and depressed expression as he walked down the mountain path descending from the magnificent pavilion with a waterfall in the backdrop. He couldn't for the love of him understand why they refused to ally with his Qing Sector no matter what he said or depicted of a bright future.
"These musclehead brutes!"
He cursed under his breath, the mask on his face serving its purpose by concealing the gloom that took over. Even as he contemplated his next step in the negotiations despite his lack of confidence, a robust laughter that shook heaven and earth reverberated throughout the sub-dimension, blasting most of its residents from maids and servants to the ground.
"Guests from the Qing Sector, why the rush?! Hahaha!"
