The battlested for a quarter of an hour, and Warden finallynded some blows on his opponent.


    The short swordmaster began to slow down, attempting to sneak in blows. He managed to execute abination of two or three attacks at once with his de; however, the damage they inflicted on Warden was almost equal to what a single blow from him did to the swordsman.


    The void essence at work.


    "I''m hoping you''re enjoying yourself," Warden said, his spear shing just a little short of his opponent''s nose, barely missing by an inch. But the wind didn''t miss the attack. Baleful wind, empowered by his intent and void essence, crashed into the swordsman''s head before he could muster a block. Even the block he came up with only saved him from having his head blown off.


    Well, even if his prowess was suppressed, he was a goddamn gold ranker. He wouldn''t die just from this.


    As Warden thought, the swordsman withdrew, unleashing half of the pattern in his control at Warden.


    The attack was what he created after being inspired by Karim''s first attack, Whispers of the Immortal Wind. This was the attack which had the most utility among the three Karim showed him, and Warden ventured further on the path. While it could be a killing blow against a slightly weaker opponent, Warden''s main desire for this move was to keep multiple opponents at bay.


    The current version was more of a concentrated form, for a single opponent. Of course, it wasn''t polished yet, still rough around the edges, but this was arguably the most powerful he could make it.


    The reason behind being was simple. The more the fight went on, the synergy between his Intent and void essence rose. The strain he was put under was inspiration enough for both of them to work together.


    "You''re getting under my skin," muttered the swordmaster,nding on a higher spot.


    "I''m sure you must be feeling under the weather," Warden grinned.


    "You fight hideously," retorted the swordsman.


    Warden was about to make a curt reply which might have been a little too disrespectful for a swordmaster of his calibre. So he refrained.


    "Is that apliment?" he asked instead. After all, a real fight was never meant to look beautiful. There was a beauty to movement, in the art of swinging your weapons masterfully, but the finishing act was nothing but hideous.


    The swordmaster sneered. "I''m going to use my best attack on you; try and see if your hideous style can block it."


    Warden tilted his head and shot at the swordmaster before he could make his move. "You''d be thoroughly mistaken to think I''d let you make your best move unhindered."


    Because that would bepletely foolish. The swordmaster had already proved his speciality and lethality to him; leaving him room would only be disastrous for him.


    "You, petnt child," the man snorted. "Do you think someone like you can stop my de when I put my undivided desire into it?"


    The wind rushed in as the swordmaster rose into the air, before his spear struck. Warden chased, summoning his own wind. However, the rushing wind bought his opponent enough time to prepare his move.


    "Open your eyes, and experience Peak Mastery!" the swordmaster shouted, his form dancing beautifully through the wind as the stormy wind surged into motion. As more and more wind coalesced into the de, there weren''t enough to keep him hovering in the air, but that seemed to be the n, as the swordsman shot towards him, his de shing in a full arc.


    Shit! Warden cursed. Before he knew any better, the attack was upon him. There wasn''t even a moment for him to study its weak spot, if it had any. Warden pulled on all the patterns under his control and supplied them to obstruct the move.


    The attack looked very different from Karim''s final move, though the lethal power in it couldn''t be mistaken. Not to mention, it was apletely unavoidable move, reaching a further degree than Karim''s skilled move.


    "One de!"


    The wards of wind Warden employed didn''t seem to do anything to restrict the path of movement. Time seemed to stall as Warden watched the sword beam strike him. "One de" seemed to ignore all the wind, barely disturbing even the flow. Warden couldn''t believe it.


    His mind rang with existential crisis, as all his power surged within him, employing everything in his arsenal to stop the lethal blow. Thankfully, his instinct had called upon [Absolute Invulnerability] as well, when the attack bit into his skin.


    The force of the "One de" force after his life-saving ability turned up. Warden watched as a sharp sh of blood sprayed out from his arm where the attack struck.


    A couple of seconds passed with him stuck dumbfounded.


    Thankfully, it didn''t take six seconds to disperse the power of the terrifying move. Actually, it didn''t even take more than a blink of an eye. Most of the force dispersed, missing him, and for the rest of it, most was absorbed by the [Void Vanquishing Physique].


    Warden didn''t know what happened to the absorbed force after it disappeared. And he didn''t have time to wonder about that.


    It wasn''t only Warden who was dumbstruck. The assant was bbergasted, finding his attack not getting the result he desired. While exhausted to his bones, he still had in him to flip over and swing his de once more. Or he tried to...


    Warden dismissed [Absolute Invulnerability] before six seconds were up and threw his spear like a javelin. There was no wind augmenting its speed, but Warden''s intent and void energy were enough to prate through a worn-out opponent.


    In his panic, Warden had targeted the centre of the chest. The swordmaster moved away; unfortunately, he wasn''t nearly fast enough. He only managed to move a little to his left as the spear plunged into the right side of his chest.


    The spear tip came out from his back,pletely prating his chest.


    Then a loud crackle entered his ears.