Chapter 125: Skybound Duel
Do I shatter the ice? No. Well, since there’s hope, I better get up too," Zevric thought, continuing to dodge the ice spears. He glanced at his sword. "Let’s do this," he said.
He lifted his sword, and to everyone’s amazement, it stayed suspended in the air, flying on its own. Zevric then jumped onto it. As he did, the sword grew in size, making it look like he was skating through the air. The sword carried him as he maneuvered to dodge Asta’s attacks.
"Wow! This is truly impressive. It’s like the sword has a life of its own. Very intriguing," the emissary remarked.
Zevric closed the distance, deftly dodging every ice spear. He focused, controlling the sword mid-air, keeping it steady as he avoided Asta’s relentless onslaught. Then, an ice boulder, created by Asta, fell from above. The crowd gasped.
In a split second, Zevric bent, lifted his leg off the sword mid-air, grabbed it, and shattered the boulder into two. Instantly, he returned his leg to the sword as it soared toward Asta.
"Wow! Impressive! Truly outstanding!" the emissary shouted as the crowd erupted in cheers.
"Zevric is really skilled," Alaric said.
"Yes, indeed. But Asta is equally impressive, attacking continuously with flawless precision," Rovanis added.
Asta continued launching ice pebbles while Zevric dodged them with precision. Finally, he leapt past the ice platform Asta was standing on, bringing them face to face. In an instant, Zevric jumped onto the ice and tried to punch Asta, but Asta blocked it.
Zevric then summoned a sharp spear from the ice, aiming to pierce him, but he quickly jumped back onto his sword mid-air. Asta increased the size of the ice around him, and Zevric followed, standing on his sword as it moved alongside the growing ice.
The two soared higher, leaving the audience in awe. By now, both Zevric and the ice had reached seventy feet above the ground.
"Wow, the both of them are truly so, so impressive," Nolan said.
"Yeah, they are. But if it was you, Zevric, in this case, what would you do?" Lyra asked.
"What else? It’s easy. To defeat our star, I just need a single punch to shatter that large, thick ice. Or... I could just end it before he even notices. Because no matter how skilled he is, if I move fast enough, he won’t even be able to follow my speed. It would take me less than a second to defeat him if I wanted to," Nolan said.
"Well, for a show, you wouldn’t end it in a second, right?" Lyra said.
"Yes. When I fight him, I wouldn’t do that. I’m going to make the audience enjoy every single moment, and I’m going to make luthar feel a lot of pain," Nolan replied.
"Hey, move away. Go away from this seat I wanna stay beside my master. And again, what are you doing here?" Celia said to Tharion.
"Nah, I’m going to sit here," Tharion replied.
Then Celia dragged Tharion away and sat beside Nolan.
"Master, what are you and Lyra talking about?" Celia asked.
"We’re just enjoying the match. Actually, both opponents are really strong," Nolan said.
Meanwhile, Zevric and Asta kept fighting. In the air, Asta jumped with his sword, but it wasn’t flying anymore; now it was falling. When it reached about 30 feet, Zevric said, "You can do this," and threw his sword. His sword increased in size, dividing in half over the thick ice Asta had made.
As Asta was about to fall, he quickly formed a large ice staircase leading down to the ground. Before he could land, he was already 20 feet above it. Zevric was 15 feet off the ground, and he pulled his sword, slowly lowering it as it carried him up, ready for the second clash.
As Asta hovered 15 feet above the ground, he jumped down from his ice platform and formed an ice sword. Moving closer, he prepared to strike Zevric. Zevric, balancing on his sword mid-air, kicked and tossed it to intercept. As Asta swung, Zevric caught the ice sword in his hands, blocking the strike.
Both of them continued slashing at each other in mid-air, descending toward the ground. Zevric spotted an opening and used his leg to kick Asta. They landed smoothly, immediately charging at each other again, their swords clashing at lightning speed.
Asta’s ice sword shattered under the force, but he instantly remade it, stronger than before. Zevric’s sword, however, was different—its power caused Asta’s ice sword to break repeatedly. Asta formed additional ice swords in both hands as they ran toward each other, slashing relentlessly.
"Well, you’d be kidding if you think ice is the only thing I can use. My sword skill isn’t at the level of a Swordmaster," Asta said as both of them pushed against each other’s swords, forcing a tense stalemate while moving back.
"Okay, yeah, let’s keep going. You are strong, I can see. Your power is a cheat. You have limitless, limitless, limitless mana. Creating this much ice or using this much of your skills takes a toll on one’s body. Your skill is actually a cheat skill," Zevric said.
"Well, can’t you say the same for yourself? You have no good ability apart from this sword. Just because you were chosen, now it makes you really strong, which makes you a rank S," Asta replied.
"So it means the both of our powers are similar in the sense of cheats," Zevric said.
"Well, I don’t have time for your nonsense. Me and you are not the same in any way. You are going to lose. I’m not someone who loses," Asta said, charging toward Zevric.
The two clashed swords, sparks flying as their powers collided. Behind Asta, about thirty ice spears formed, trailing him as he ran. Zevric skillfully clashed their swords while simultaneously dodging the flying ice spears. He wasn’t just fighting Asta with his sword—he was carefully watching the barrage of ice spears, reacting to every attack with precision.