Chapter 89: Space Scent

The tip of the spear sliced through the air, aiming in turn at the throat, the solar plexus and the joints of his opponent. Daemon, for his part, was forced into a purely defensive posture.

Every time the steel of the katana met the tip of the spear, a burst of sparks briefly lit up their tense faces.

Kellen followed up with a feint, forcing Daemon to raise his guard, then he pivoted sharply on his feet to deliver a violent sweeping blow with the heel of his spear toward his opponent’s ankles. Daemon jumped at the last moment, but no sooner had he touched the ground than a new thrust was already aiming at his left flank.

Kellen’s blows were becoming more and more precise, each movement calculated to reduce the maneuvering space of the heir of House Winter.

’ Shit... I’m not going to be long before I’m completely exhausted. I have to find a way to escape... ’

Daemon was out of breath and his arms had gone numb under the repetitive impact of the charges. Moreover, he noticed that Kellen was not content with striking hard; he was trying to read his reactions...

’ He seems to have trained a lot to take down a swordsman.. ’

Daemon knew his weak point even if he was not that mediocre, he had two major weak points in a fight: the first was his lack of experience in real combat and his impulsiveness which could make him take stupid decisions like throwing himself into the wolf’s mouth without a plan to save his skin.

’ In a word... I am really an idiot. And my opponent does not seem to have that problem at all. Apart from the fact that he really wants to kill me... ’

Kellen stopped for a fraction of a second, maintaining a safe distance thanks to the length of his weapon. He wore a contemptuous smile, although his breathing had also become faster.

" I have studied the sword techniques of every house of the Sword Clan with particular attention... Yours is really different... You did not learn it from the Sword Clan... Who was your master? " asked Kellen who had spent his childhood training specifically to counter the styles of the Dagon, of Snowfall of Ingmar or of Ravenna. Yet Daemon’s footwork, that serpentine fluidity and those parrying angles were rather unusual.

Daemon spat a trickle of blood onto the ground.

" If I had counted on the Sword Clan to become a Chi User, I would already be six feet under... And as for your question, you do not need to know. " he replied with irony.

Kellen let out a dry laugh, devoid of any joy. " Not that I gave a damn, you are going to die here anyway. "

" That makes the thousandth time you have said it, you are becoming annoying. " retorted Daemon. A slight smile stretched his lips as he closed his eyes for a short instant. He concentrated on his energy center, feeling the heat of the Chi circulating in his veins. He inhaled deeply through his nose, letting the air fill his lungs, then exhaled slowly through his mouth, visualizing the energy condensing around his muscles and bones.

< Second Sense of Sword : Steel Breath >

Daemon’s aura changed instantly. His Chi, formerly erratic, stabilized and densified, enveloping his body in a film.

" The best defense is attack! "

Indeed, Daemon had not only stayed to seize the Pandora’s box as the other spearmen had launched themselves in pursuit of Kristian, he might have a chance in this 1 vs 1.

Daemon projected himself forward with a speed that took Kellen by surprise. In a flash, he was at close range.

His katana described a devastating arc that Kellen blocked with the shaft of his spear. However, the power of the Steel Breath was such that the heir of the Spear Clan was thrown backward, his boots scraping the ground over several meters. Daemon did not wait for him to recover. He followed up with a series of heavy strikes from the right hand, each blow of his katana making Kellen vibrate down to his joints.

Daemon was using his boosted right arm to break his opponent’s guard, while his left hand guided the blade with precision. He was no longer the young man in difficulty from earlier... The stone under their feet was beginning to crack under the intensity of their stances and the shockwaves of their exchanges.

’ He possesses a Chi reserve far too large for a simple practitioner of the second sense,’ he thought with fury. He then decided to put an end to this masquerade.

" I would have liked the fight to continue a little longer... To savor this moment, to see the hope die in your eyes... but it is finally the time after all these years to take revenge on the son of Persephone! " shouted Kellen.

His Chi surged brutally, emanating from his body in waves of pressure that made the flames of the torches waver. He took a strange position, almost crouched, his spear held horizontally, pointed toward Daemon’s torso. Until now, he had contented himself with using his first sense to reinforce his ocular capacities but now, he was getting serious.

Daemon, sensing the imminent danger, did not give him the time to finalize his technique. He ran immediately toward Kellen’s ribs, his katana armed for a horizontal cutting blow charged with all his Steel Breath. He thought to take advantage of his enemy’s unusual posture to deliver a fatal blow.

Nevertheless, Kellen did not move his head to look at Daemon arriving. He no longer needed to.

< Second Sense of Spear : Space Scent >

At the precise moment when Daemon’s blade was about to make contact with his tunic, Kellen dodged with a torso movement of unreal fluidity, without even granting a glance to the attack. He spun on himself and taking advantage of Daemon’s momentum, sent him a devastating kick straight to the sternum.

Daemon felt his breath cut off instantly while his ribs cracked under the pressure. He was thrown backward, crossing the room to crash violently against the opposite wall, raising a cloud of stone dust.

Kellen straightened up slowly, his spear absorbing his Chi. Thanks to the Space Scent, he was now capable of sensing every movement, every fluctuation of Chi and even the heartbeat of any living being in a radius of 50 meters extended around him. For him, the darkness of the Catacombs no longer existed... He perceived the world as a map where Daemon was nothing more than a luminous and predictable target.

" You do not even need to dodge the blows anymore, Dagon. " murmured Kellen, " In this space, I can feel everything."