Chapter 177: I will not stand back

Haldor drew the rest of his sword, and he let the scabbard fall to the floor with a clatter.

The blade was plain and gray and slightly curved, and there was nothing remarkable about it, except that the light of the broken dome seemed to slide off it instead of shining on it.

He stepped into the center of the ruined floor, and he brought the point up to the height of his own heart.

"Garrick," he said, without turning his head. "Lower your cane."

"What?"

"Lower it, and step back. I would like this to be a fair fight, and you are standing too near to the edge of it."

"This is not a duel, Haldor," the old man said sharply.

"It is for me."

Garrick stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, as if he were setting down something very heavy, he let his cracked cane fall to his side and took three steps back from the middle of the chamber.

"Thank you," said Leon.

"Do not thank me yet." The swordsman’s calm gray eyes were fixed on Leon’s fingers. "I have been waiting for this since you walked in. The way a man fights is in his hands, and every other part of him can lie.

"Why rely on that useless shield, why not let us fight, like real men!" he said.

"You say that, but you’re using a sword aren’t you? How’s that supposed to be a fair fight?" Leon replied, clicking his tongue.

His lips suddenly curled, and he chuckled.

"But if you really want to see me fight without the shield badly... then I’ll show you." he said, raising his arm.

The dome of Aegis rapidly disintegrated into tiny green particles, sucked back into the ring.

"Whenever you are ready," said Leon, gesturing at Haldor to attack.

The man grunted, then dashed towards him.

There was no sound, and there was no wind. The Sword Saint was five paces away, and then he was gone, and there was only a thin line of silver crossing the air in front of Leon’s face.

However, Leon easily dodged it, leaning back slightly, allowing the blade to slice the empty air instead.

The attack had seemed very light, but the moment it whizzed past the air, a powerful slash wave blew out, slicing a trench onto the wall and ceiling.

"Tch," the swordsman clicked his tongue softly.

He attacked again, but like before, Leon dodged it without breaking a sweat.

Haldor quickly stepped back. He did not look pleased, and he did not look afraid.

He looked like a man who had measured a mountain and was working out how to climb it. He turned the sword in his hand, and the light slid off it again.

"You have defended very well," he said.

"I have not done anything yet."

"That is what I mean." The swordsman’s mouth curved in something that was not quite a smile. "So I will ask you to do something."

He came in again.

The second attack was not one stroke but many.

The gray blade split into a spray of silver lines that came from above and below and both sides, a hundred cuts in the time it takes to draw a single breath, and each of them was aimed at a different place on Leon’s body.

However, Leon dodged all of them without even moving a step.

Haldor kept growing frustrated the more Leon dodged his attacks.

He could tell Leon wasn’t moving a step, yet all of his attacks kept missing, like they were simply phasing through Leon.

Leon found, for a moment, that he was enjoying himself.

He suddenly paused, letting one of the strikes land on his chest.

Haldor’s eyes brightened, feeling like he finally struck an attack and had dealt damage to Leon.

But instead of his blade piercing through skin, it felt like it had slammed into an impenetrable wall of steel.

’How... he didn’t take any damage?! Just what is this bastard made off!’ he thought.

’Well... it’s my turn now, isn’t it?" Leon said, pulling a fist back before delivering a powerful punch towards Haldor’s abdomen.

The S-rank was immediately sent flying like a ragdoll, blood spraying out his mouth.

He crashed through the building, vanishing from everyone’s sights in a white dot.

"Nine," said Leon.

Garrick had watched the hole Haldor had blasted through, his body shivering in terror.

In these last few minutes, it felt like he had grown many more years, and his face turned weary.

The chamber had gone completely silent. Dust drifted in the pale light. Along the far wall, Batnac was also watching with his mouth wide open.

With all his limbs smashed, he couldn’t participate in the fight even if he wanted to, which he certainly didn’t after all he had been through in Leon’s hands.

Only one man was left standing.

Garrick put both hands on the head of his cracked cane. His coat was soaked with sweat, and the blood on his face had dried in dark lines.

He looked at the bodies that lay around the room, and at the boy in the middle of them, and he began slowly to straighten his back.

"No," Leon said. "Stay down."

"I am the oldest S-rank here." The old man’s voice was hoarse. He pushed himself upright by main force, shaking, and leaned on the cane with all his weight. "I cannot sit while the rest of them are on the floor."

"You are bleeding from your nose, your eyes and your ears."

"Then I am bleeding on my feet."

"I have led this room for twenty years," Garrick said, as the dust began to lift around his boots.

"I have fought dungeon breaks that swallowed whole cities."

" I have never been beaten by a boy who did not even draw a weapon, and I will not be beaten without giving everything that I have. You may call that pride. I call it the last thing that I am able to give."

"I do not call it pride," Leon said. "I call it the reason you are the senior one."

"Flattery will not help you."

"It was not flattery."

Garrick grunted, and for the first time that day, something that was almost a smile crossed his bloody face.

Then he lifted his head. The air in the room began to bend again, softly at first and then with a growing groan. The dust that had been drifting stopped, and fell.

The cracks in the floor widened, and the stones of the ceiling began to creak, and the last jagged panes of the dome shattered one by one and rained down in glittering shards.

"Hehe," Leon chuckled. "You think you can do anything?"

Garrick gnashed his teeth, but couldn’t exactly find words to retort Leon.

The shield of Aegis materialized back in front of Leon, and he chuckled.

"I’m sure you know by now, whatever attack you have in mind, will simply bounce back."

"I know that," said the old man.

"Then stop."

"I have nothing else to give you, boy." The blood ran from the corner of his eye, and he did not wipe it away.

"I have watched nine people lose, and I will not be the one who stands and does nothing. If it comes back, it comes back!"