F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 279: Grudge Match (1)
Crownspire Arena was ablaze.
In the main stage, two youngsters, one with short brown hair and the other with spiky blue, faced and glared daggers at each other.
Lucas initially viewed Cody as a prancing clown.
The bastard might have a sharp tongue, but in combat prowess, the Petrov Family’s oldest son was confident he was miles ahead.
He was ranked 1st among the A-rankers, after all, while the consistent loser from Ashton High was originally nineteenth.
Plus, he was a Sword Prince of a top-five high school; the other was not.
Their swords might be of the same rank, but Lucas believed the two of them could not be mentioned in the same sentence.
This was why he would seethe whenever the bastard dared even stand in front of him as though they were equals.
The most infuriating part, however, was that Cody had actually managed to spoil his plans in the past, and just recently, his "brilliant" victory over Elune Tseradze added to his accumulated misfortunes.
Lucas truly hated the trio with a passion. So far, he had been really unlucky in the encounters, as though the will of the world was on the three’s side.
But this time...this time, no one will stop him. This time, no amount of luck can save Cody Han.
He would make sure the bastard would never even dare look anyone in the eye ever again.
He would destroy him!
Lucas trembled, finding the pre-match checks of the referee a bit too lengthy, but at the same time, he somewhat enjoyed it.
It gave him time to speak his mind.
"Meddlesome fool, your luck has finally run out. After all that sharp talk...You wouldn’t jump off the stage while screaming your surrender, would you? Ah, but on second thought, that’s fine too. What else is your lot, anyway, if not cowards?"
Cody, however, merely sneered in utter disdain.
"Why, did your brilliant win feel like a shitty loss? Don’t worry, it’s not your imagination. You did become a laughingstock. Who knew you were so talented in comedy? Perhaps this is why your boss keeps you around, so you can make him laugh whenever Iris Snowcrest would reject him?"
The eyes of the spectators widened at the retort.
This Cody Han...is venomous! Not only did he sharply insult Lucas, but he also spat a jab at Skylar Ashwind — all in a short paragraph’s worth of words.
Why were there so many fearless individuals in this batch? Do youngsters nowadays not value their lives?!
Lucas isn’t too dull in verbal sparring himself; it was just that he wasn’t used to people talking back to him, so he had zero experience.
He could hurl insults but couldn’t take them.
Cody’s words pierced straight through his very soul, and the blue-haired A-ranker was instantly enraged.
"Bastard! Only good at talking crap! I want to see if you have the skills to back them up!"
Before the referee could even raise his arms, Lucas had already charged with the fury of vengeful specters, face contorted into a heavy scowl.
But Cody was all too ready.
His muscles contracted, and his arms lashed in a diagonal angle. In the next moment, before the shocked and furious gaze of the referee, a piercing clang echoed.
The claymore and the konda bit at each other, the arms of their wielders attempting to push through and break the stalemate.
"B-Begin!" the referee declared in a panic.
It was perfectly within his means to warn, or perhaps even disqualify Lucas...but he didn’t dare.
The underhanded attack didn’t cause much damage, anyway.
Thankfully.
Otherwise, things would’ve been trickier.
With the referee’s decree, the match officially got underway, and all the subsequent strikes were now legal.
Lucas eagerly utilized his newfound right to hack his opponent to pieces.
"Hoh, you at least survived that...yeah, you did..." he spoke in a low, cold tone, almost whispering with his head bobbing slightly up and down.
Cody could instantly tell his opponent was thoroughly angered — a small, sweet victory.
"Yeah, so what? Why do you keep saying senseless things?"
"Keep talking, bastard. I’ll destroy you soon."
After a short, private exchange of how much they truly liked each other, Lucas disengaged.
But only for the purpose of making his opponent’s life hell in the next minute.
He cut his forearms shallowly, a red damage value floating above his head as red cubic particles were greedily absorbed by his sword.
Valthuzar then began to emit the familiar azure, smoky aura, threatening to conjure lethal mirages.
But Cody wasn’t fazed.
He knew the effects of his adversary’s Innate Sword Skill now, thanks to Elune, and this was an advantage he could capitalize on. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Valthuzar was in the light, while his Vulkhan was in the shadows.
Nonetheless, this didn’t make the battle any less difficult, just slightly less dangerous. He still had to deal with the slash marks once they matured.
But for now, the two of them shall dance like leaves in a whirlwind.
"RAAGH!" Lucas snarled, charging right back in.
Cody met him with the same level of coldness. His sword flashed vermilion as he stabbed it at the stage, manifesting a red, flaming fissure that snaked towards the hoodlum.
His Sword Skill, however, was stopped easily as Lucas slashed at it — a white smokescreen billowed from the clash.
At the same time, an azure slash mark hovered at the point of contact.
It didn’t take too long for the song of steel to resume.
Neither of the two seemed to be too hesitant to engage each other in the smokescreen. Perhaps both were simply confident of their abilities.
With every passing second, however, the obscuration thinned, and a dozen seconds later the fiery excitement returned.
And slight panic for those rooting for Cody.
Half the arena wanted Lucas to win, but only because their Swordcoins are involved.
If everyone were honest, very few would want the hoodlum to claim victory...which was why the little over a dozen slash marks were so worrisome.
After all, unlike Elune, Cody Han did not have the option to jump out.
That would simply be cowardice, since both of them are A-rankers on even footing.
The first slash mark soon matured.
