368 Black Saga Vs Red Prince
Like fireworks lighting up a dark moonless night, the auras of the two men exploded into torrents of vast energy. With fury that eclipsed the wrath of a vengeful husband after having discovered the affairs of an infidel wife, Red Prince and Black Saga clashed head on.
*Boom*
Black Saga's rod was like a dragon sweeping through the heavens with so much power that even the clouds gave way. Dust gathered and swirled around the weapon due to the powerful wind the simple swing had swept up. His eyes were cold and unfeeling, and his aura was as turbulent as the waves of the sea during a mighty storm. His clothes fluttered violently due to the power of the strike, and everyone could feel the emotions contained within this one strike.
Rage
Hate
Helplessness
His strike was cold and merciless, and was aimed directly at Red Prince's chest.
Red Prince calmly regarded the attack headed towards him. His twin swords swept through the air like a pair of dragon claws. They tore space itself apart and sliced the invisible air particles into even smaller pieces. His aura was just as mighty as his opponents, and he had no intention of backing down. He was angry, and sought to vent his frustrations on the man before him. But he was no fool. He was a Cheetah, and a direct confrontation with a Tiger with vast experience like Black Saga was idiotic to say the least. So that was never his intention. His swords sliced towards the base of the large rod and swept them to the side, successfully deflecting the attack.
*Bang*
Rod and swords clashed, and the force of their clash stung the eyes of the onlookers.
"Such a powerful clash!" Peter exclaimed in amazement.
"It would be impossible for the field to remain as it is after this is over," Maggie smiled bitterly and commented. Indeed, the field was already showing signs of destruction. The path where Black Saga's rod had been deflected to had a long crack in it. The crack was several meters long, about a meter wide and a few meters deep. That was enough to show that the power of that simple swing was enough to break a well-fortified wall into two!
Black Saga was unnerved by the failure of his strike to hit his opponent. Red Prince was a Cheetah who had battled numerous Tigers. Last year he was only eliminated because his teammates were weaker than the other teams due to their younger ages compared to the others. Red Prince had won his fight last year, but he was too exhausted to go on and his teammates let him down. This time, his teammates had improved drastically, and he himself had grown stronger. And though he was furious, he knew whom he was up against. So Black Saga didn't expect anything less.
Black Saga span gracefully and resumed his attack. His rod blazed through the air like a fire bolt as he struck from below. It was an upward swing and Red Prince's groin was the target.
Red Prince coolly turned to the side to avoid the blow. With his superior reflexes and greater velocity, evading this wasn't difficult. The issue was the effects of the attack. Every one of Black Saga's strikes was very different from what he had displayed in the group stages and in the other Knockout Stages thus far. This time every attack carried weight that disturbed the air around Red Prince and broke the ground apart even without touching it. The ground was already splitting into two from Black Saga's upward swing, and Red Prince had to jump back to avoid falling into a ditch.
Black Saga's mouth curled into a cruel smirk as he hoisted his rod like a spear. He gathered power into his arms and gripped the weapon he had grown accustomed to over the years obsessively like an insecure partner. His veins wriggled underneath his skin and his skin turned red. He grunted slightly and hurled the large rod towards the still airborne Red Prince.
"So that's what he was after," Mane praised Black Saga upon seeing the man's decisiveness and battle intelligence. However, Mane thought that Black Saga thought too little of his opponent to give his weapon away so easily.
Red Prince frowned slightly seeing the powerful rod flying his way. Black Saga was a giant of a man, and his weapon was almost two times longer than Red Prince's height. It was a thick rod and was heavier than two grown men put together. There was no way Red Prince would be stupid enough to attempt to receive that with his body or even try to block it. Black Saga's attack was unexpected, but Red Prince was no pushover. He twisted his body and narrowly avoided the rod. Like a fish in water he displayed the unreal sharpness and flexibility of a Cheetah by evading the seemingly inescapable strike.
*Vraaak*
The rod swept past him, kicking up dust and unloading the powerful wind it carried which could not be evaded onto Red Prince. The Cheetah struggled to keep his eyes open under the strong wind that pushed his eyelids downwards, and his eyes stung and reddened from the unruly dust that disregarded his status and pricked him in the eyes anyway. Yet in all of this he kept his eyes on the figure of Black Saga, and rightly so.
The large rod streaked through the air like a bullet, and lodged itself into the barricade that separated the audience from the field.
*Bang*
The barricade was made of strong bricks and minerals, yet that didn't save it from the might of the powerful weapon. Almost half of the rod was lodged into the barricade, and the people closest to it gulped down saliva nervously upon feeling the tenacious spirit of the rod. They felt chilly all over, knowing that were it not for the barricade, that rod would have easily ended their lives if it got to them.
Black Saga stomped down powerfully and rushed towards Red Prince. His eyes were calm, as if he hadn't just lost his weapon. He curled his fingers into fists and clenched them tightly as he sent a powerful jab towards Red Prince's chest.
Red Prince felt more secure when his legs touched the ground. He wasn't an Eagle or a Falcon, and would never be able to move as fluidly in the air as he would on land. He was able to see the large fist of Black Saga approaching since he had his eyes on the big man this whole time. That fist was like a large metallic boulder. It was full of the force of a Tiger, and although it wasn't as domineering as Black Saga's rod, its strength was nothing to scoff at. He could already feel his hairs standing as the strong fist of the powerful Tiger approached him. His feet skipped upon the floor of the field like a seasoned dancer as he displayed footwork that would make even Mongooses jealous, and then he evaded the blow of Black Saga by a hair's breadth.
*Bang*
A column of air was shot from Black Saga's fist and created a small hole in the barricade. Red Prince didn't care about that though, he swiveled and deftly swirled his swords within his fair palm as he chopped towards Black Saga. Like a man harvesting some grain his movements were precise and accurate and there was no waste involved. Black Saga narrowed his eyes into slits seeing the swords chopping towards him. Each sword was attacking from a different angle, and each had its intended target. One of the swords was aimed at his neck, whilst the other was piercing towards his abdomen.
Black Saga curled himself up into a ball. Like a tortoise threatened by a powerful predator he withdrew into himself and evaded the sword meant for his neck. Yet the one aimed at his abdomen couldn't be escaped. But he was never planning to. His arm guards were made of flexible metal, and it was a strong defensive piece of equipment. Black Saga knew that this was the time to test how strong it was. His arms guarded his lower torso and served as protective dragon armor as Red Prince's sword struck his arms.
*Bang*
Like a floating balloon which had suddenly been punctured, Black Saga was pushed back several meters, but his feet remained on the ground. Like a pair of dragon talons his legs dug up soil as they moved across the field until his retreat was halted. The arm guards on his arms had been broken into two, and his arms were bleeding. Yet he had a pleasantly surprised expression on his face whilst Red Prince's expression was unsightly. Red Prince had struck with almost all his power – if not all of it – yet the results had left him very dissatisfied. Although Black Saga was bleeding, the cuts were shallow and would only cause him some pain and discomfort. And for a warrior at Black Saga's level, this could be easily ignored.
"That would have cut straight through his arms if not for the arm guards," Lam observed and said. His eyes shone brightly as he looked at the broken arm guards with an eager expression. Mane who was standing next to him was no different. Although the arm guards were broken, the fact that they could block such a powerful strike was very impressive, and Mane would love to have something like that.
"If this was the True Universe, I wouldn't have glanced twice at something of such quality," Mane smiled bitterly beneath his mask and said to Hildegarde. He missed his ring – a gift Uncle Jake had left him with. Apart from its ability to send him to other planets, it had a storage space filled with top tier weapons and armor. If he could access his ring, he wouldn't have to worry about getting a good weapon.
"Although the arm guards are impressive here, they wouldn't amount to much in the True Universe," Hildegarde agreed.
Vital Orange didn't look so good upon seeing Mane and Lam's reaction to the arm guards, but he regained his cool quickly. As for Black Hand, he only lightly furrowed his brow. He had no other reaction to what he was seeing.
