Chapter 88: breaking limits

At the last moment when the Executioner’s weapon was advancing to cut her leg, Emily’s brain calculated and she discovered that she could not avoid losing her last leg.

So, she just ignored it. She focused on striving for a last effort, at breaking her speed limit.

As soon as she lost her last leg, her brain sent her pain signals but she tried hard to ignore all these. Before it was cut, she managed to propel herself up a bit. She gritted her teeth, as her suspended body ascended higher. Blood dropped like rain after her ascending figure, making the battle arena extremely bloody.

The excessive blood loss, was already muddling her consciousness. A normal soldier would have already been in a near death state from this.

Her opponent was not ready to leave any stones for a counter-attack unturned, as he aimed to also remove her right hand. She dodged narrowly, as her figure ascended higher.

Despite the airheaded feeling she was currently experiencing, she tried to focus her mind to fulfill her goal, speed. Her closed eyes suddenly opened, as she exploded in a last burst of speed, in a desperate effort to reverse her situation.

Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Her opponent quickly raised his weapon to block, but the sheer amount and speed of the initial strikes quickly numbed his hands.

She completely broke her limits, as she stabbed at her opponent 40 times under 2 seconds. All most people could see was just a blur, she was also not seeing again as blood covered her eyes. She poured all her soul and might, in this last desperate attempt.

Under the shocked gazes of the spectators, her opponent’s weapon shattered from the center due to the sheer number and force of her strikes.

The executioner didn’t expect this, not even in his wildest dreams. As his opponent’s sword stabbed unrestrainedly, at his unprotected face repeatedly. Blood splattered everywhere, as his face quickly became a bloody mess.

She quickly switched from stabs to slashes, as her opponent’s head was reduced to parts. Or more or less fragments, mixed with blood. She lacked strength to overwhelm her opponent, but she just succeeded in developing her speed to a state that can overwhelm opponents.

After 5 seconds of being suspended in the air, and attacking speedily. The fatigue from attacking so speedily and forcefully breaking her limits, finally landed as she immediately fainted from exhaustion.

Her blood loss was even more severe, as her blood completely covered the area they fought at. Before she could even touch the floor, medical practitioners in white already rushed in, with a stretcher again to carry her away.

The spectators finally relaxed their tense nerves, as they cheered, shouting her ring name excitedly. Somewhere shocked at the unexpected turn around, but they still applauded her.

…

Somewhere else on the ship, Clark and Henry also relaxed their tense nerves, as they both plopped down on the bed covered in sweat.

Henry didn’t really feel bad this time, as he knew that there was a very high chance of them dying this round. His friend already crossed the enormous hurdle, can he do it?

She already scaled through, though narrowly, she still survived her battle. But could he survive? As he thought of this, his thoughts couldn’t help but go to Clark’s direction.

Saying Clark was a beacon of light in their life, was not spouting nonsense. It was very much a reality to them. They were both strong soldiers, yes, but not entirely exceptional soldiers.

Since Clark came into their life, there has been obvious changes. They never once believed that they would survive to the last round.

The quote, show me your friends, I will tell you who you are. Was very real, here. Clark’s strict attitude of always trying to train, always trying to improve, indirectly affected them also.

As they followed him to train, though their improvement was not as absurd, they still improved enormously. Proving that diligence and hard work always rewards.

“Well, next week will tell,” he muttered to himself silently as he stood up. Clark followed him, as they went to the medical bay to see their friend. Her injuries were really serious this time, as the doctors said that she would be out for a week.

That’s just a benefit, of this era’s increased technological skill. In the 21st century, someone with this degree of injuries would have probably died. Or he/she will be out for over a year, if they could treat the injuries.

They didn’t spend up to an hour there, as they quickly returned to continue training. They both felt the pressure of this round, none of their opponents is easy, and the battle results were definitely not predictable.

Clark already noticed that Emily is kind of surrounded by a luck hallow, it’s provable. Her last battle, she fought. She won narrowly, against all odds that were against her. Then this round, she somehow broke her speed limit during a battle, helping her to secure another victory.

That’s simply absurd, he couldn’t help but feel respect for his friend. He felt kind of envious, but he was extremely happy for her fortune.

“I don’t know if I will ever be as lucky as she is. But I’ll try my best to improve as much as possible, before my battle”. He soliloquized, while slowly clenching his fists.

…

Emily’s battle didn’t interrupt the day-to-day activities, as more gladiator battles raged on. On the 3rd day after her battle, Captain Jack of the Camelotian fleet completed his last battle. He completely demolished his opponent, after about 30 minutes of battling back and forth.

In the 2nd rank, high-grade soldiers’ category. After Emily’s battle, the main highlight of the week was the battle between Jian Wushaung and The Scavenger.

Jian Wushaung demonstrated his strength again, against this weaker opponent. As he finished the battle in less than 20 minutes, killing his opponent. Naturally, the spectators hoped for another upset, any dark horse was welcome to them.

But this guy destroyed their hopes, dominating the battle from the very beginning. He proved his strength as one of the pinnacle gladiators in the ship.

So far, no dark horse emerged as all the remaining gladiators already revealed their real strength. Only a lucky freak like Emily, deviated from the norm.

Another week quickly passed, as Henry prepared to fight for his survival. Henry’s nickname is The Secret Wanderer, while his opponent’s ring name is Demon Subduer.

After a week of intense training, he was better prepared for his battle. He didn’t improve much in strength, as growth in strength is not a day or a week job.

“Ladies and gentlemen, strap your seat belts as the 2 gladiators of this round come to duck it out, in a battle of survival”.

“Let’s welcome these 2 exceptional gladiators, The secret wanderer and Demon subduer”. As soon as the commentator finished, a wave of applause erupted. As the 2 gladiators came in, from the opposite gates of the cage.

Bam!! The gates slammed shut, as Henry already began observing his opponent. This was a procedure, that absolutely could not be ignored to get a chance to win. He wielded 2 sharp swords, just like Emily as his weapon of choice.

Unlike her, he wielded normal swords, not light swords, as he is a fighter who pursued balance. His opponent, wielded a broad sword as his weapon of choice, clearly displaying him as a fighter with a wild personality.

Demon Subduer did not stop to think strategically, as he advanced straightforwardly to meet his opponent. Henry on seeing his opponent’s impatient attitude, advanced slowly and cautiously. As his brain, through his implant started simulating different battle scenarios, and how he should better respond to them.

Boom!! They quickly met as his opponent struck with his broad sword, slashing horizontally forward. He ducked, and quickly rolled forward as it seemed like they swapped positions.

Clang!! They both did the same action, as they quickly turned around and slashed backwards with their swords. The force from the blow made Henry stagger backwards a bit, as he quickly rolled backwards to maintain some distance and to also steady himself.

All these seemed just like probing attacks, as his opponent finally adjusted himself. He rushed forward with momentum, while activating his battle art, “The Wild envoy”. There was no use biding for time in a drawn-out battle, as they both already studied each other extensively before coming for this battle.

Dragging the battle can even backfire, putting you in a disadvantaged position. So, he followed the flow, as he also executed his battle art, “The balance scale”.

His battle art is one of the few battle arts, that aim at creating a balance. It gives a balanced boost to all attributes and strengths, when executed.

Whoosh!! His opponent’s sword descended imperiously, like a death decree from an Emperor’s envoy, as he hacked down vertically with his broad sword.

Henry quickly shifted to the side, as he completely dodged the slash. A fierce shockwave followed but he withstood it, as his sword stabbed forward swiftly.

His opponent dodged, as he pulled back. He predicted it though, as his other sword slashed forward horizontally. Clang!! His opponent reacted fast as he blocked with his broad sword on time. Quickly lifting his sword up again, his opponent prepared for a counter attack.

Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! His opponent’s sword landed thrice, but he dodged them all as he twisted his body to the side. He was always faster than his opponent’s sword, by a tiny margin.

Whoosh!! His opponent ended his wild strikes with a horizontal slash, but he predicted it as he slid down under his opponent’s sword.

Ptui!! He drew the first blood, as his sword cut his opponent’s leg. He aimed to remove his opponent’s leg, but fast reactions saved The Demon subduer.

He was now in complete control of the battle, despite not having a clear advantage. His pursuit of balance, succeeded in suppressing his opponent’s wild tempo.

His opponent’s tempo became completely suppressed, as he couldn’t see opportunities to unleash his wild style of fighting. His balanced style of fighting, is a natural counter to his opponent’s wild style. And most especially, he spent considerable time to research his opponent in detail.

Demon subduer began to get more annoyed, as he could not fight freely. It felt to him like he was fighting a battle, handicapped.

If he forced it, he would just expose openings, that his opponent will take advantage of. He felt incredibly pissed off. It’s just like a fly buzzing all around your ear, but you can’t kill it.

As the battle continued, his injuries slowly accumulated, as he started thinking of ways to break this situation, he was in. Deciding to ignore it, was just a slow, but steady path to his defeat and death.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate. If you love this book, please leave your power stones behind to support it. Guys, from tomorrow I'll try to be publishing the chapters in a specific time. No chaotic publishing again.]