Alex jumped from the tower and brandished his weapon in the air.

A wave of energy surged as he slammed into the roof, sending a strong gale to every direction. Below him, the roof cracked and caved in.

Alex stood up without any hint of pain in the way he moved. He didn't seem to use any fall-slowing or impact-reducing skill. The fall that hurt even Theo after he used a skill, Alex took it without flinching.

Theo took out a small bottle from his pouch, opened it, and poured the content to his weapon. The weapon let out a dim blue hue after he finished.

It was a magic buff potion. Once applied, it gave the weapon a temporary magic power if it doesn't have one, or increase the existing power. He preferred using a fire buff or lighting buff over magic, but using a lighting buff in rain is suicidal and a fire buff wouldn't have any effect in a huge rain.

"[Strength boost][Agility Boost]" Theo said as he used his buff skill.

Theo knew that he had no chance against Alex in a normal fight. Alex was a level 50 Class 4 swordsman. He was 19 level higher than Theo while possessing the same talent. He was also Sir Arslan number one disciple and his exploit in the Fourth Amaryn-Mosk War was well known. He has to find another way of beating him.

Theo couldn't keep his smile down. Despite all the odds stacking against him in this battle, he couldn't help but be happy with the fact that he was fighting the second best swordsman in amaryn after Sir Arslan. It would be a fun, exhilarating, and hard fought battle, but he was confident he would triumph. He still got a lot up on his sleeve that Alex didn't know while most of Alex's skill was already recorded in military and history book.

Alex observed Theo with a cold lifeless stare. He only moved once Theo had assumed a battle stance. He pointed his sword downward and slashed it up with a blinding speed.

A wave of pure red energy traveled in the air towards Theo.

'Flying slash.' Theo thought. It was one of the skills a swordsman could use against a ranged enemy. Usually, the power was lacking when compared to a direct contact, but he was wrong.

Theo was pushed back as he blocked the energy. His feet dragged the roof tile, leaving a two-meter long mark. It felt like he was trying to block the charge of a bull.

Before he could regain his balance, Alex appeared before his eyes in a flash. His massive sword moved from left to right. Due to its size, dodging backward was not a possible choice.

"[Instant dodge]" Theo's leg and stomach muscle cramped as it forced his body to duck. Against any other enemy, he would have blocked it. But considering how powerful Alex's [Flying Slash] was, he wasn't confident his muscle and bone could hold it.

Theo launched a counter-attack. "[Serene Slash]"

Alex's arm jerked sideway, parrying Theo's slash. The strength his sword carried was immense. It almost threw Panes from his hand.

"[Recovery]" Theo's leg moved on its own to maintain his balance. "[Vaporizing Slash]!"

Time slowed down. Theo could see each individual raindrop's shape. he could feel the slight movement of air. He could slightly see the formation of a thunder.

His sword caught on fire. A cold fire that would vaporized his enemy.

Horizontal Slash from the right – Blocked.

Vertical slashed from above

Spinning attack – Blocked

Diagonal slash from the bottom right.

'Impossible'. Due to the sheer speed of the slashes, [Vaporizing Slash] should be impossible to block without a prior knowledge of the skill. Yet, only two of his four attacks hit. Not only that, the slashes that destroyed Roderyk's enchanted armor did nothing on Alex. It only made two long scratches on Alex's armor.

'What the heck are those armor made of?' He shouted in his mind. Pain assaulted his right hand, but he ignored it. He mustn't show any weakness or opening.

"So you're Class 4 Swordsman too....but you're weak. If you think you can threaten Princess with that power level of yours, then you're gravely mistaken."

For the first time, Theo heard Alex's voice. It was a high-pitched voice quite unfitting of his tall body, but Theo didn't have the luxury to think about a trivial fact like that. One second loss of focus could mean life and death.

"I'll show you. What a true Class 4 Swordsman mean." Alex said. In fact, as unfitting his voice was, it sent shivers down Theo's body.

Theo smiled. "Good, Show me!"

Alex charged towards Theo with a tremendous speed. He raised his sword and launched an overhead slash.

Theo dodged to the side, but the slash was a feint. Before the sword touched the floor, it changed direction to where Theo stood.

Theo was unable to dodge it. The attack was too low to be ducked, and if Alex was able to change the course of the sword mid-slash, then jumping was not an option.

Theo blocked it. The force traveled from his hand to his torso then to the rest of his body. The force was so great that even after blocking, his body was thrown into the air. He somersaulted in the air and landed on his two feet.

His whole body was trembling and aching. The muscle all over his body screamed, telling him to rest, telling him to give up. Their difference in strength was astronomical. It didn't feel like he was blocking a slash. It felt like blocking a Giant's punch. There was no way he could block another slash without breaking a bone or two.

There was also the problem of his leg wound. It had been mostly healed, but because of the crawlers, some parts opened up again. Even the best magic doctor in Redmound couldn't heal that big of a wound completely.

Theo refocused his gaze at Alex, who charged towards him again.

His 2 meters long Forlorn gave him a significant range advantage compared to Theo's 1.4 meters long Panes. Not to mention Theo didn't have his armor since he has to climb the tower. Climbing a 50 meters tall tower in the middle of a thunderstorm while using a heavy armor was simply not possible.

Fighting him head-on was not an option and since dodging and blocking were useless, his only option was to run. Theo ran, heading towards one of the castle towers. Alex followed behind.

Theo was running slower than he wanted to. His feet were slippery from the rain. The rush of water flowing down the roof was like a stream, the water was dragging him to the edge. Even as he enhanced the grip of his foot using aura, he would have fallen if he wasn't careful. Luckily, Alex was having the same problem as him.

Theo ran up to the wall and kicked it. Like the roof, the wall was slippery. He wasn't able to gain as much height as he wanted to.

He positioned his falling bodies above Alex. "[Monster Beheading]" Theo fell at an accelerated rate, much faster than he normally would.

Alex raised his sword to block Theo's attack.

Their sword clashed. Alex grunted as he received the full force of Theo's [Monster beheading]. Alex's legs trembled and the roof beneath him cracked, creating a small crater. But Alex stood still.

'Impossible' Theo shouted in his mind. Even from only three meters, his [Monster Beheading] has the same force of a falling bear. Yet, Alex was able to stand after blocking his attack. He only bent his knee and elbow a little.

Before Theo's feet touched the ground, Alex kicked him and slammed his body into the tower wall. The kick was more powerful than the ram of a chimera. Blood came out from his mouth.

Alex slashed Theo who still stuck on the wall. "[Instant Dodge]"

Theo dodged down, but Alex's next slash already came from above.

Theo rolled away at the nick of time. The slash struck his previous position, sending debris and chunk of roof tiles into the air.

He turned his body and slashed Alex, hoping that Alex wouldn't have time to dodge or block it. "[Serene Slash]"

He was right. Alex put too much strength into his last attack, slowing his recovery. Even an [Instant Recovery] or [Instant Dodge] would save Alex from his attack.

"[Red Flash]" A red horizontal flash struck Panes and threw it from his hand.

Panes flew at a staggering speed. It hit the roof tiles, creating a distinct sound before bounding off again. It didn't stop until it reached the other side of the rooftop, 25 meters away from Theo.

Theo's fingers were hurt and trembling, some even cracked. If he held Panes just a little bit tighter before, the impact would have broken all his fingers. If not his hand and arm also.

Theo took a spell-paper from his pouch and activated it. "[Combustion]"

The fire spread from it and consumed Alex. It was smaller because of the rain, but it was still a big fire. Alex emerged unscathed, neither flinched nor distracted by the show of fire.

Alex raised his sword to a high guard. The wind swirled around Forlorn and a massive red beam of light soared to the heaven. The dark cloud above was pierced by the beam, the sky itself was split.

Theo body froze. The feeling of fear and dread returned to him. It was his instinct that caused him to feel fear, even though Theo was confident with his plan and secret item.

He knew what that beam was. [Red Death]. It was Alex's unique and signature skill. During the Fourth Mosk-Amaryn War, Alex slaughtered 800 men with one slash using that skill.

"Are you fucking serious, Alex? You'll destroy the city with that!" Theo shouted, trying to stall Alex while trying to get up. Despite having full confidence in countering the attack, his legs refused to move. The sheer pressure from Alex's skill was enough to paralyze him.

"I'll slaughter the entirety of this Kingdom if it's for my Princess." Alex brought down his sword. "[Red Death]"

Theo grabbed an item from his back pouch, from his special pouch. Before he could use it, the beam was redirected to the sky by another sword.

Sir Arslan appeared before Theo in his full glory, with his shining golden armor and fluttering white cape.