Chapter 360: Vera vs Clarice

Vera and Clarice stood in front of each other. This was the time Vera had been waiting for. She wanted to fight Clarice and prove to the world that she managed to take down the one known to be the most talented in swordsmanship.

"Aren’t you glad that you have gotten the opportunity so soon?" Clarice drew her blade.

"Indeed. Defeating you and Ellia is definitely something I look forward to." Vera took a deep breath before raising her sword.

"There is no need for words." Clarice pointed her sword at Vera.

Since both of them were ready, the referee announced, "The match begins!"

In that instant, they released their energy at the same time. Clarice Estella possessed a light element. It might not be a powerful light element, but her main fighting ability came from her sword. So, her element didn’t really matter.

The same applied to Vera. Her wind element was stronger, but she mainly focused on her sword.

They used their elements as a supplementary ability that would allow them to elevate their swordsmanship to a different level.

Their energies erupted at the same time before they leaped forward. Vera took this chance to strike her from above, while Clarice swung her sword horizontally.

*Clang!*

Their first clash was already on another level than the previous matches. Even Clarice knew that holding back against Vera would mean defeat.

The energy in Vera’s blade had become much more refined and thinner. It looked like there was a second layer to the blade instead of a club, like it used to.

Still, it didn’t change the properties of the wind.

Vera used the explosive power in the wind and bounced her sword off from Clarice’s sword.

"!!!" Clarice frowned. The bounce threw her sword to a different trajectory, making it harder to control.

Vera then swung it again and struck Clarice. Clarice did the same while tilting her body, but it looked like Clarice was moving a step too late.

As a result, Clarice avoided the sword, but Vera still managed to graze her cheek.

"!!!" Everyone was stunned.

"What?"

"Clarice was the first to get injured?"

"Isn’t Clarice Estella known for her swordsmanship? Someone is actually better than her in swordsmanship?"

"NO! Look at that!"

They checked the arena one more time and saw a graze on Vera’s shoulder. In a way, Vera’s wound was actually deeper and put her at a greater disadvantage than Clarice’s wound.

In other words, Clarice didn’t lose.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that Vera’s swordsmanship had been proven to be at a similar level to Clarice’s.

Clarice and Vera turned grim. They immediately swung their blades again, trading blow after blow.

Their movements were sharp and precise.

Vera utilized the bouncing power to attack Clarice, but Clarice used her light element to stabilize her form while increasing her power.

Clarice would overpower Vera in every engagement, but Vera fought in a much trickier way that Clarice couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities Vera created.

The sword fight intensified as more and more small, superficial wounds appeared on their bodies.

They originally thought Clarice would win by a landslide. They never expected the battle would turn into a battle of attrition.

"Haaa!" Vera took a step forward and smashed her down at her from above. The wind was flowing down, creating additional pressure that cracked the ground.

Clarice withstood it as her sword started to shine. She tilted her body and her sword so that Vera’s attack would slide along her sword. Then, she also took a step forward before swinging her sword again.

Vera used her other hand to pull the sword, putting it in front of her.

The light element flew forward as a sword strike.

Vera’s feet slid on the ground as she was pushed back by a massive light wave. After being pushed back ten meters, Vera managed to plant her feet firmly and cut the sword strike in two.

She then raised her sword, putting one hand on the blade before lowering her stance.

"!!!" Katarina couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows. "That’s... Ellia’s stance."

Vera stepped forward and slashed diagonally. The wind flew forward like a snake, but because of the bouncing attribute, it kept bouncing on the ground while marching toward Clarice.

More importantly, Vera didn’t stop with just a single slash. She kept slashing forward, releasing bouncing sword strikes one after another.

Clarice frowned. Since they came from Vera’s slashes, Clarice could simply strike them one by one.

However, Vera actually added another twist to her attack.

All of a sudden, the bouncing sword strikes collided with each other. The wind let out a small burst and bounced away from each other. With so many bouncing sword strikes in the arena, it would be impossible to predict their movements.

"Ah! That’s..." Katarina remembered what she and Auric did when they fought Supervisor Jacob. "Pinball!"

In other words, Vera actually took Ellia’s technique and turned it into her own, combining the concept of pinball. It would have been more effective if she had released it in a dense forest, using the trees to bounce her attacks, but because there was nothing but a plain field, she had to rearrange it by making the speed of each sword strike different.

Clarice was stunned, not expecting Vera to have a technique of this level. The control, the energy, and even the timing required to unleash this kind of technique wasn’t something that normal people could do.

"Impressive. However, I’m Clarice Estella. I bear the name Arthur, and I can’t afford to lose in this battle." Clarice took a deep breath. Her light energy flared up.

She raised her sword and leaped into the air.

Suddenly, the light energy formed many swords.

"!!!" Vera widened her eyes in shock. She gathered her energy in her foot and stomped the ground. "Go up!"

The wind burst in all directions, launching the bouncing sword strikes into the air.

Clarice swung her sword downward as the numerous light swords flew down, hitting every bouncing sword strike.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

"Is this truly the fight between Rank 3 students?"

"Their strength is close to Rank 4."

"Vera is tricky, but Clarice is still overwhelming."

The viewers never thought they would watch a match of this level so soon.

However, Clarice decided to bring this fight to a close. She gathered her power in her sword and slashed down, releasing a sword strike much more powerful than the one Vera had used.

’She still has that kind of power in store after creating all those swords?’ Vera widened her eyes and put her blade above her head.

"Gah!" Vera spat a mouthful of blood. She tried to withstand it, but it took a toll on her body.

"This is the end." Clarice put her sword forward. The light energy erupted into the sky. Clarice knew that fighting Vera for a long time would be quite dangerous. For some reason, Vera didn’t show any damage on her face, making her unable to assess Vera’s condition.

Auric had seen it as well. It wasn’t because of what he did during the marathon. Instead, Vera had learned it from his best friend, Eric.

After seeing how hard Eric had trained without showing anything, she was entranced by that unique charm.

She had been living as though she had a tough life, but she never realized it was simply she who hadn’t done enough to escape from her own fate.

This time, she intended to challenge that fate.

Vera lowered her blade and tilted it to her right. Surprisingly, a few green blades emerged from the hilt of her sword. They wriggled around as though they were grass, letting the wind brush them.

There were a total of ten strikes. Ellia squinted, feeling familiar with this power. It might actually be one of her techniques as well.

Vera’s energy wasn’t as overwhelming as Clarice’s.

Everyone realized that Clarice was going to win this match.

Clarice and Vera took a deep breath before jumping toward each other.

Clarice took one firm step and smashed her from above. Her light element flew forward, trying to overwhelm Vera.

The referee was also raising his stance, ready to help Vera before she got cut down.

However, no one realized what Vera was trying to do... no one except for Auric.

Auric couldn’t help but stand up. "Fusion?!"

Right before the clash, the ten green blades coming from Vera’s sword hilt suddenly fused into one.

"!!!" Clarice widened her eyes in shock. ’Those sword strikes are fusing?’

The energy in her sword increased drastically. The problem was that the change wasn’t linear. It was on an exponential scale.

In other words, the more sword strikes she combined, the more power could be released.

The clash of their energy dyed the arena gold and green, and both of them seemed to be on the same level.

Everyone simply couldn’t believe what was happening right before their eyes. However, the conclusion came all of a sudden.

Their clash was over as Vera spun past her, while Clarice smashed the ground.

Her light energy ran through the ground, cutting everything in the path. One instructor had to move to that section and erected a barrier to stop this attack, preventing the arena from being destroyed.

However, Vera didn’t seem to produce anything. In other words, Clarice had cut down Vera’s ability.

Then, Vera suddenly gritted her teeth. "Goddamnit."

Suddenly, a big wound appeared from one shoulder down to her waist, running diagonally across her body. The blood spurted as her body dropped to the ground.

The match was concluded. Supervisor Jacob closed his eyes regretfully.

When they thought it was Clarice’s victory, Clarice suddenly spat a mouthful of blood as a deep wound appeared on the top of her abdomen. "Gah!"

Clarice fell to her knees, using her sword for support.

"Clarice Estella from the UK won!"

As soon as they heard the announcement, they cheered.

"Clarice won!"

"I didn’t expect the battle would be at this level, but Clarice is still better."

"Hahaha. In the end, Vera was just doing one last struggle."

People were feeling relieved, but there were only two people who could see what happened in that last exchange. They were Clarice and Auric.

Clarice gritted her teeth, recalling what had happened. ’You idiot. That wasn’t it.’

Auric narrowed his eyes, muttering in a low voice. "Vera could have won, but she failed to combine the last two strikes. The last two strikes ended up bursting, which ended up dispersing her own power..."

"!!!" Katarina couldn’t help but overhear him. At that moment, she understood what he meant.

After all, a sword mark suddenly appeared on the wall of the arena.

*Rumble!*

"!!!" The instructors widened their eyes when they saw a massive sword mark circling the arena. They knew whose sword it came from.

Clarice clicked her tongue. ’If she actually managed to combine all that power, I would have been the one on the floor...’

...

"..." In Esfrata, Eric was watching the whole match closely even though he was in the middle of the wilderness.

Seeing Vera lose, Eric could understand how frustrated she must be.

"Hey, Eric. We’re good to go." Tommi waved his hand, gesturing for Eric to start moving.

"Give me a second." Eric waved his hand down. He called a number and said, "Hi. I’m sorry for bothering you right now, but I think I will take you up on your offer. I wonder if you can send something to Dermania? Yes. Thank you."