Chapter 1518 Duel

"Our leader?" Frostmind muttered confused. He then shot to his feet and glared at the silver-haired magus as he drew his saber and brandished it towards the latter. "Someone like you doesn't even deserve to speak his name!"

Despite the aggressive attitude the man took towards him, Emery decided to turn around, casually showing his back to the other party as he walked out of the cave into the snow-filled clearing outside.

There, he unsheathed his pair of Tier 4 swords, one in each hand before turning around and facing the man, "I'm actually looking forward to this. A fight without anyone bothering us."

The magus rebel had a smile on his face at those words.

"I'm the one who should be saying that."

While speaking those words, he raised his curved saber into the air, casting a spell upon it as it began to emit a brilliant light blue glow. In the next second, the ground inside the cave was scattered in the air as his figure shot toward Emery.

"You shall regret chasing me this far!"

The relaxed smile on Emery's face did not disappear as he took Frostmind's attack. The two swords produced sparks amidst the white gale as they clashed. From the first strike, the two seemed to be equal in power.

To Emery's surprise, he soon found out his opponent was able to channel his ice spirit energy through his weapon, which gradually affected his weapon every time they clashed. This forced Emery to constantly alternate between his swords otherwise they would be frozen by the invasive energy.

"You are not an ordinary guard, aren't you?" Frostmind said suspiciously, after they exchanged strikes for a while, learning each other's strength roughly. "You are too strong to escort such a small cargo!"

Emery did not answer the question. Instead, he threw a question of his own. "And you're not just some lowly robber, are you? Now I wonder if all the rebel captains are as powerful as you…"

"You'll never know!" The man snorted, before disappearing and reappearing a few meters away from Emery, his saber raised in the air. "Because you're going to die here right now!"

Emery's face changed when he felt Frostmind rapidly channeling his spirit energy and saw the saber in his hand emit a radiant light. The next moment, he swung his weapon, unleashing a crescent-shaped energy slash that forced Emery to use all his strength to parry with both swords.

CLANK!!!

Frostmind's powerful sword art sent Emery flying backward, his feet dragging violently against the ground. To his shock, it also managed to damage the swords he had just bought.

Even though he was irritated by the chipped blade of his swords, Emery should have expected such an outcome. After all, not only did the other party attack with a Tier 5 weapon, he also strengthened it with magic.

"You owe me a pair of new swords!"

This time Emery took the initiative as he left an afterimage of where he was standing and charged at Frostmind with a storm of attacks. His onslaught became more ferocious as time went on, overwhelming the latter completely.

"You! What sword skill is this!? Is this even a sword skill?!"

Frostmind screamed in disbelief as he barely kept up with Emery's relentless attacks.

In truth, Emery had been trying to relearn his swordsmanship for the past two weeks and so far it hadn't been as smooth as he had thought. At the same time it wasn't bad, because during the process he managed to create a new style of swordsmanship that incorporated the advantage of claw fighting techniques.

Coupled with his overwhelming combat prowess, what was created by the combination of the two was a seemingly unstoppable swordsmanship style that aimed to overwhelm his opponent by sending out a feral barrage of attacks, forcing them into a defensive position, unable to find any opening or stop his tempo. s.

Splaatt! Splaatt!

Crimson blood stained the snowy white ground as multiple wounds appeared on Frostmind's body.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to survive if nothing changed, he cast a defensive spell. A layer of crystal-like ice covered his body, deflecting most of Emery's attacks.

Instead of being disappointed to see his attack fail, Emery became even more excited. Finally, he met an opponent skilled in both physical and magical attacks, who allowed him to fight without restraint with all his might.

Until suddenly, his two swords shattered like glass, causing Emery to stop abruptly as he blankly stared at the bladeless hilt in his hands. It seemed even Tier 4 weapons were still insufficient to withstand the might of his full abilities.

"Haha! You lose!" Frostmind guffawed at the sight of his opponent losing his weapon, ready to finish him.

Unfortunately for him, Emery transformed into his [Twilight Form], unhesitantly accepting the overhand swing of the sharp saber, which embedded into his shoulder. He withstood the spell within the blade with the innate magic resistance granted by his transformation, while the tremendous increase in strength allowed him to grasp the man's sword arm.

"Let me go!"

Emery held the arm tighter and used his fangs to bite and tear it apart.

"Arrghhh!!! You lunatic!"

With his sword arm severed, Frostmind desperately tried to get away from him, using his mobility and casting a long-range ice spell [Ice Spear] to stop Emery from chasing after him. Unfortunately, Emery would not let him go like that.

He was willing to take a hit as long as it allowed him to take a step closer and, through this suicidal act, he managed to catch up to Frostmind again. This time, Emery crushed both of the magus' knees with a swift kick.

Like a bird that had lost its wings, the man ended up lying helpless on the snow, losing all ability to fight back.

"You win! Now kill me…"

Walking over to the man's lying body, Emery looked down and said, "As I said, I have no intention of killing you. Not until you bring me to meet your leader."

"Hah!" Frostmind laughed mockingly. "In your dreams! I'll never do that even if you threaten my death!"

Knowing that talking to the other party was fruitless, Emery decided to knock the magus unconscious and restrain his body using the artifact he had prepared for the occasion. He then returned to his human form.

Staring at the restrained body and broken landscape around them, Emery let out a deep sigh recalling his memories of defeating numerous elven magus by himself. To think his current self was only capable of winning against a Crescent Moon magus and at such a close shave as well.

Not only could he not perform the many spells he had seen himself use previously, he could not even use one of the most important innate abilities of his Twilight Wolf transformation – Spirit Devour. otherwise things would be much different. But without the existence of his dark core, that seemed impossible.

Emery sighed once more before continuing with his plan. He stuck a note for the unconscious bandit's subordinates and left the area with the magus and the stolen chest. He didn't return to where the cart had been ambushed, instead he went to a place outside the Silvermane City, a hideout that had been prepared beforehand.

By this time, Frostmind's Immortal Magus Body had done its job and brought the man back to consciousness. When he saw the first sight to greet him were his fellow rebels locked up with him, he was shocked.

When he noticed Emery was about to leave, he shouted, "Who are you?! Why are you doing this!? What do you want from us!"

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