Chapter 433: The Broken Crown VI

If Lian had moved even a fraction of a second later, that sword would probably have entered through his shoulder and gone all the way down to his waist.

Even the strengthened body of a Fallen Monster would not have remained unharmed against such an attack.

The knight had not even fully pulled its huge sword out of the ground when he moved forward, his foot turned on the cracked stone and his right fist moved toward the creature’s side with all his strength.

But right before the attack landed, the Crownless Executioner lowered its left forearm.

Bang!

A sound like two heavy pieces of metal hitting each other spread through the valley.

The young Vorhelm’s fist hit the thick plate on the knight’s forearm and the force of the impact pushed away the dust around them, but the result was much less than he expected.

The knight only moved half a step backward and Lian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"It has strong defense."

The sword was pulled out of the ground at the same moment and the blade moved horizontally at a terrifying speed.

Lian lowered his head and the edge of the sword passed only a few centimeters above his hair, but the knight did not stop its attack.

Its armored knee came directly toward the man’s chest and he raised both forearms in front of his body.

Boom!

The force of the impact lifted him off the ground.

His body moved almost ten meters backward through the air and then he landed on his feet, but the force had not stopped yet.

The soles of his shoes dragged several meters across the stone and left two deep lines behind his feet.

Lian lowered his forearms, a dull pain was rising from his bones, it was not real damage but it was enough to prove that this creature was not something he could simply push aside with a few punches like the previous enemies.

The Crownless Executioner moved again.

This time, he did not wait for it.

[Thunder Step]

Blue lightning wrapped around his legs and his body disappeared from its place in an instant.

But the knight’s sword moved almost at the same time, not toward where he had been standing but, surprisingly, toward the empty space on his right.

The exact point where he was supposed to appear after Thunder Step.

How did this bastard know?

How did it know so well where he wanted to appear?

Was the mechanism behind it really this advanced that it could basically understand the entire process of his battle?

Lian changed his direction in the middle of his movement, he had no other choice and at that moment the blade passed right in front of his eyes.

The pressure from the air burned the skin of his face.

If he had completed his path, his head would have been exactly in the sword’s path, he moved back several meters again and this time his smile became clearer.

"The more I think I have the upper hand, the more you show me that it is not enough." He was not angry, on the contrary, he was a little happy that he had finally found an opponent that did not get crushed immediately.

Maybe now he had a chance to try a few things.

The Crownless Executioner gave no answer, naturally, it was not supposed to, but it held its sword with both hands and lowered its body slightly.

The young Vorhelm immediately understood that the next attack was different.

A large amount of mana gathered inside the sword and the black blade was slowly covered with gray light, the pressure around it increased so much that the small stones near the knight’s feet started to shake.

Then the attack came, but not as a direct strike, instead, it pulled the sword from bottom to top.

Whooooom!

A huge gray slash separated from the blade and the ground split along its path.

Lian jumped to the left and the slash passed beside him and reached the rocky wall one hundred meters away.

Boom!

A large part of the cliff exploded.

Several tons of stone were thrown into the air and the wall, which had probably stood there for a very long time, suddenly gained a crack dozens of meters long.

He only gave it a short look.

"Alright, let’s stop joking around." His smile became a little weaker and his expression became more serious.

The knight attacked again and this time he also moved forward.

Metal and flesh collided several times at a speed that a normal Awakened could barely follow with their eyes.

Bang!

Boom!

Bang!

Lian punched the knight’s shoulder with his left fist and the armor plate cracked, but the Crownless Executioner seemed to know no pain.

Its sword came back from an unnatural angle and he was forced to pull his body back as the blade passed across his chest.

His clothes were cut and a very shallow line appeared on his skin.

Lian had not even had time to move away when the knight kicked him in the side.

Boom!

This time, his body hit the stone wall and the cliff behind him cracked.

Before the dust could disappear, the huge shadow of the stone knight appeared through it and the sword came down from above.

The young Vorhelm’s eyes widened for a moment, it was very close.

Frost Dominion.

A thick layer of ice formed between him and the blade.

Slash!

The sword shattered the ice like glass, but that short resistance changed the direction of the blade by a few centimeters.

Lian threw himself to the right.

Boom!

The blade smashed the place where his head had been a moment ago and the stone exploded, sending pieces of rock past his face.

He landed on one knee and immediately moved away, the look in his eyes had completely changed.

He was still calm but there was no simple amusement in his eyes anymore, this enemy could really hurt him.

A Level 30 Fallen Monster was already extremely powerful by itself, it would not be wrong to say that it was not much weaker than normal Level 45 monsters.

And this one was even worse for him because it knew his fighting process.

The Crownless Executioner pulled its sword out of the rocks.

Lian let out a short sigh.

"Alright, I admit it, I did not expect something like this for a school test, but do you think you’ve seen all of my power?"

He raised his hand and his storage space opened, dark light formed around his body.

A moment later, black-gray plates appeared over his body one after another.

Chest.

Shoulders.

Arms.

Forearms.

Legs.

The plates locked together like pieces of a living fortress and very thin silver lines lit up between them, and a huge weight fell onto the ground for a moment.

The stone under his feet cracked.

[World-Devourer Bastion.]

[Rank: Ancient.]

The Ancient full-body armor covered him, and the young Vorhelm opened and closed his hand once.

Despite the terrifying real weight of the armor, World-Bearing Frame spread a large part of the pressure across his entire body.

His movement was natural and without any problem, exactly like when he was not wearing any armor, but the mass of the armor was still real and that meant every attack he made from this moment would no longer be the same as before.

The knight showed no visible reaction and simply attacked, its sword came down again and this time Lian did not dodge, instead, his feet became fixed on the ground.

Mountain Anchor.

And he raised both forearms.

BOOOOOOM!

The impact was so strong that the surface of the cliff sank within a radius of several meters.

The impact wave threw dust and stones in all directions, but he remained in his place, he was not thrown back and did not even move one step backward.

The pressure of the blade spread from the point of impact across the entire armor.

Mountain Frame.

The force that could have broken his bones a few moments ago was now spread across the entire structure of the armor.

Lian looked at the knight from behind his forearms and a calm smile returned to his face.

"Try again." He then said in a cold tone.

His right hand became a fist and mana exploded inside his arm.

[Thunder Calamity]

Blue and purple light formed on his shoulder, ran down through the armor plates and covered his entire right fist.

The sound of exploding thunder spread through the space between them.

The Crownless Executioner pulled its sword back, and the young Vorhelm moved first.

His fist hit the center of the knight’s chest.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The thunder explosion lit up the entire valley for a moment, the two-and-a-half-meter stone creature’s body was lifted off the ground.

This time, it was not half a step.

The knight was thrown back several dozen meters like a bullet, it passed through a stone pillar and turned it into thousands of pieces.

But even that was not enough to finish it, its body rolled through the ruins and the sword fell from its hand.

Its movement stopped for a moment, then it placed its hand on the ground and stood up.

The central plate of its armor was pushed inward and several cracks spread across it, but it was still standing.

"Looks like you’re really tough." Lian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The knight opened its hand and the sword rose from among the rocks and flew back toward its hand.

Bang!

The handle landed in its palm, and at the same time, the mana inside its body changed, its fighting stance also changed and it no longer held the sword with both hands.

Its left hand became free and the center of its body became lower and the position of its legs completely changed.

Then it attacked, although faster than before and the blade hit the side of his armor.

Bang!

Sparks spread through the air, Lian punched and the knight bent down and the attack passed beside its helmet.

The handle of the sword came close to the first one’s head and he was forced to pull his head back.

The stone knight’s knee hit his stomach.

Mountain Frame spread a large part of the force, but even with the armor, Lian moved one step backward.

The Crownless Executioner immediately entered his range and they began exchanging attacks.

This no longer looked like a fight against an artificial creature, it looked like a warrior who had survived for years on a battlefield.

Lian blocked several attacks with his armored forearm.

One of the blades scraped across his shoulder plate and created a deep cut on the surface of the armor.

[Structural Damage detected.]

[Structural Memory activated.]

The silver lines around the cut lit up and the black metal began to return to its original shape with a faint sound.

He looked at his armor’s skill with satisfaction, but the sword came again a moment later and this time the knight changed the movement halfway through.

He expected an attack toward his neck, but the blade changed direction and went for his knee!