Chapter 188: Duel for Honor

Chapter 188: Duel for Honor

"Aren't you going to put on your armor?" Tabbris asked when he saw Gerald just stand there in his leather clothes.

"My body is my armor," Gerald struck his chest with a weird grin, "And Toothpick is my weapon!"

Just as Tabbris wanted to complain about Gerald mocking him again, the latter took a brutal-looking spear from his Space Pouch with the word 'Toothpick' engraved onto it.

"Are you trying to mess with my mind in hope that I might make mistakes? Don't bother, it's not going to work!" Tabbris shouted with a smug smile.

Gerald shrugged his shoulders and decided to stop fooling around since his opponent saw through his tricks. "Well then, any rules I should be aware of? If you have anything to say, say it now, because I won't be stopping until you beg me to!"

"Confident!" Tabbris commented and unsheathed his sword, "The rules are simple: We will fight until one of us gives up or is unable to continue! Killing is forbidden by the King, so we don't have to take it too far. Other than that, anything goes!"

Tabbris confidently stood opposite to Gerald with the tip of his sword drawing lines on the ground.

"Anything goes, huh?" Gerald burst into a laugh, "I hope you won't regret your words later!"

His opponent didn't take his words to heart and also laughed. Then they requested Arthur Rosecloud to give the signal to start the fight.

"Okay! Are you ready?" he paused for a moment, and both warriors nodded, "Then go!"

Gerald immediately took two vials and chugged them down, throwing the bottles away immediately after. Meanwhile, Tabbris mumbled something and Mana spread across his body, giving him some sort of buff.

"Hah!" Gerald was the first to attack, holding the spear in the middle for better balance, and swung it with one hand with his super-human strength.

Tabbris smiled confidently and lifted his sword to deflect the strike, but then his expression suddenly changed as he realized he couldn't. He crouched down at an amazing speed and the tip of the spear grazed the top of his helmet, producing sparks.

"Holy shit!" He rolled on the ground away from Gerald and jumped on his feet soon after. "This had to have been a fluke, right?"

He didn't have much time to think, however, as Gerald already almost caught up with him, swinging the spear like a madman.

Each strike made a whistling sound as the blade cut through the air, barely missing the opponent. Tabbris jumped around, ducked, and weaved, barely avoiding those dangerous strikes like a slippery eel.

Bang!

'I just need one strike! If I can disrupt him for just a second, he's done!' Gerald's mind filled up with ideas, some quite tame, others as crazy as it gets.

He decided on a plan of action and went on the offensive once again. He rushed forward, striking and swinging as fast and aggressive as he could.

Suddenly, with a thought, a Stone Spike shot out of the ground to where Tabbris was going to move.

The guy noticed in the last second and twisted his body in an uncomfortable position and jumped sideways to avoid it. But then, another Stone spike shot from the ground, aiming for his waist. Then another rose and blocked his escape path, forcing him in an awkward position closer to Gerald.

"Shit!" Tabbris Northendark cursed under his breath. He jumped straight up, high above Gerald, and performed a somersault.

"Gotcha!" Gerald suddenly released the spear and slapped forward with an open palm.

Boom! Boom!

Two simultaneous explosions were created from his hands, propelling him back towards Tabbris. He twisted his body from the force of the explosion and arrived in front of his opponent just as the latter touched the ground.

Bang!

It was a direct hit. Gerald put all of his strength behind his punch, even going as far as to punch with his metal hand to push himself to the limits. The ground where his foot touched the pavement just before the delivery of his strike cracked from the immense transfer of force.

Tabbris was sent flying through the air and rolled on the ground after a rough landing. He stayed unmoving thereafter.

Many people held their breath at the sudden display of power and a reversal of events. Nobody expected something like this to happen to the most famous warrior of the young generation.

"Brother!" Aster shouted and tried to jump into the arena, but was stopped by one of the members of the Phoenix Knights.

"Don't panic! Look, your brother is just fine," he said and pointed at Tabbris who was already getting back on his feet.

Gerald was not happy to see that, but he also didn't expect the fight to end just like that. He already expected he would have to reveal some of his trump cards in this fight.

"Haha, that was a good hit!" his opponent laughed after standing up. He did not look too shaken at all, instead, he looked more relaxed than before.

"Not many people know, but this armor is a real treasure! It can absorb a big part of the energy of an impact, protecting me from most harm!"

Tabbris patted his chestplate, "Look, I'm completely fine, barely a scratch! If that was the most you can do, I suggest you give up! You are not breaking through my armor in this lifetime!"