Chapter 1652 - 985: King of Black Wood, Gwyn_3

As Gwyn suddenly swooped down, the blazing great sword slashed down in an instant.

The scene of Gwyn’s once divine might flashed through his mind, and Leon instinctively wanted to dodge, absolutely not daring to take this blow that could leave him without remains, but it was too late. He could only unleash all his strength to raise his shield to block, already calculating in his mind how many Elemental Bottles he would need to recover from the ensuing damage—

"Boom!"

The sound of sword and shield clashing drowned out the sorrowful music, and Leon found himself bewildered.

"I, I blocked it?"

The arm holding the shield was trembling constantly, yet part of the tremor was psychological. In reality, he had successfully blocked the slash with his shield.

Moreover, the force from the other side was lighter than he had imagined.

Gwyn swung the great sword again, but the sword’s movement had no technique to speak of, relying purely on instinct to repeatedly swing. Seeing this, Leon dared not lower his shield and blocked repeatedly, until an opportunity arose during Gwyn’s swing. Only then did he swiftly retreat with a Hound Step, swinging a sword as he withdrew.

"Slash—"

As Leon appeared dozens of steps away from Gwyn, the sound of his blade tearing through flesh reached his ears.

This sound caused him to pause in astonishment once again.

For Gwyn’s arm had been cut with a wound by Leon’s sword, a wound wide enough to expose the dried flesh within.

I, I injured him?

Leon blinked, and at that moment, Gwyn charged again, flames fiercely roaring from the sword blade.

This time, he boldly engaged in a sword clash, and in an instant, the entire arena was alight with fire and the collision of swords. Taking advantage of a gap in the confrontation, he once again withdrew far away, and now his face still bore an expression of disbelief. Yet everything happening indicated one thing.

Gwyn’s power was declining.

Declining to the point where he could now clash with him equally; in terms of sheer ability, perhaps...

Comparable to those four King’s Soul bearers.

Perhaps even weaker by a margin.

Leon suddenly understood what the title of King of Black Wood truly represented.

Burned out, consumed within the Initial Fire!

This term was fitting to describe the current Gwyn.

At this moment, he was already burnt-out firewood, unable to ignite blazing flames anymore.

As this thought emerged in his mind, the music echoing within the furnace grew increasingly clear. What were once merely forlorn notes now evoked an impulse to shed tears.

Leon would not cry; he only felt desolation.

The once mighty Sunlight King now reduced to burnt-out firewood in the furnace, his commanding power vanished, even his consciousness unable to be maintained.

Within the Initial Firestove, there was no indomitable Sunlight King, nor any grand final battleground.

There was only a dim fire pit and a burnt-out king.

It was precisely because he had witnessed the powerful strength of Gwyn during his Sunlight King era that seeing the King of Black Wood thus formed a stark contrast and impact that nearly suffocated him with its magnitude.

At this moment, several beams of green light representing calming technique swept across his body, forcibly suppressing the shock in his eyes.

Thanks to Drew’s foresight, knowing that with Leon’s personality, he would surely become emotionally overwhelmed upon truly seeing Gwyn, so he preemptively applied an auto-trigger calming technique on him.

However, Drew likely didn’t anticipate that the reason for their captain’s emotional agitation this time differed from what he imagined.

"..."

Leon remained silent.

It turned out that Fire Transmission was not like he envisioned, not an instant burning of the Firekeeper, but rather a continuous burn and suffering for countless years until ash remained, even someone as esteemed as Gwyn becoming animated corpse.

In this light, every glimmer of brightness in the world seemed especially precious.

He glanced at the dim fire pit and then at Gwyn, finally gripping his weapon tightly.

His mindset had swiftly transformed.

"I’m ready for Fire Transmission."

Gwyn hurled his signature Sunlight Spear, merely the flickering thunder now was not as radiant as in the past.

Leon likewise launched a Giant Thunder Spear to clash with it, the collision instantly erupting with a loud noise. As the residual power of the Sunlight Spear came surging, Leon had already dodged to a safe spot.

But Gwyn stayed relentlessly close, his blazing great sword slashing from afar, suddenly engulfing half the arena in flames, rekindling even ashes upon its path—this move seemed to evoke his past grandeur.

As the flames reached Leon, he instantly transformed into a swelling smoke, activating the combat skill [Hidden Mist Fierce Bird], his figure suddenly appearing in the air, evading all attacks.

The [Residual Fire] inscribed on the Ring Knight Straight Sword was activated, the black blade unleashing flames reaching up to Skyrim. He slashed downwards with all his might, yet Gwyn sidestepped with unexpected agility to evade.

He immediately ceased the combat skill’s release, utilizing the downward force to spin mid-air, the residual fire now entwined around the Ring Knight Straight Sword resembling a greatsword; he unleashed [Lion Slash]!

This time Gwyn did not dodge but faced the attack with the great sword directly, the blades collided at this moment, amid the blossoming explosion, Leon leaped out and landed behind Gwyn. Upon landing, he crouched and drew the Reverse Sword.

Gwyn turned and swept out a fan-shaped flame, accompanied by the faster Thunder Spear, yet the figure on the other side had vanished, followed by the sudden burst of Sword Qi appearing before him.

[Swift Slash]!

The boundless Sword Qi shattered his armor, already rendered fragile by flames, etching marks on his withered body.

Gwyn’s body wavered slightly, instinctively swinging the sword again at Leon, the latter then used [Dead Angle Strike], dodging past the lethal flames and sidestepping to his rear, lightning-fast stabbing into Gwyn’s side abdomen.

Layers of raging flames exploded around Gwyn, the fires on the sword blades growing more intense, the attacks increasingly fierce.

If it weren’t for the King’s Soul’s support, Leon might have already been overwhelmed, but now he was able to contend with him.

Within this lonely furnace, he unleashed all the skills he had learned over the past year and a half, dazzling combat skills erupted here.

Just like a student using every bit of skill in a final exam to present a perfect answer sheet.

Leon experienced for the first time, and would experience many more times in the future, the classic scenario—

Fighting the old lord on the open ground.

The fierce battle, unaware of how long it had continued.

The sound of blades colliding, from initially overwhelming the music to matching it, until finally, those desolate and simple notes became the main theme of the battlefield.

Leon was covered in wounds, panting heavily, the effects of the King’s Soul gradually waning.

Gwyn, with his flames about to extinguish, looked even more haggard than his opponent, his unclear mind repeatedly forgetting to dodge attacks, his body accumulating terrifying scars beyond count at the vital spots.

Seeing him like this, thinking back to his majestic appearance during the Ancient Dragon War.

How power had declined to this...

Leon showed a reluctant expression, then his eyes conveyed a resolution.

"Bang! Bang!"

The weakening flames on the great sword chopped down on the Black Knight Shield, its surface already mottled.

He found the optimal angle and timing, as Gwyn’s great sword once again landed sideways on the shield surface, Leon swung the shield fiercely in the opposite direction.

[Bounce Back]!

"Boom—"

A muffled sound, Gwyn’s guard wide open.

"Slash—"

Following that was the Ring Knight Straight Sword piercing through his chest.

Leon used his shoulder to support Gwyn’s body about to collapse, maintaining this posture.

When the blade pierced out from Gwyn’s back, what emerged wasn’t splattering blood, but scattered sparks.

The sparks fell upon the ashes covering the ground, yet the ashes could no longer rekindle the flames, losing the ability to awaken fires.

The sparks fell upon them, finally.

Along with them transformed into gray-white embers.