Soul Duel (III)

"¡Boom!" "¡Boom!" "¡Boom!" "¡Boom!"

The echoes of destruction outside the Silent Wind Military Base grew louder as Ion and Vlad continued their fight.

All the humans watching couldn't help but take a deep breath as they watched the destroyed surroundings. The angel's bastard sword had caused so much devastation that it seemed like an artillery barrage had struck the ground, proving just how powerful an individual could become.

It would require a large and well-equipped military squad with heavy weapons and maybe even tanks to take down Ion, and he was just a man. The old world's military technology was impressive, with weapons capable of leveling cities, but it was clear that the new world order and Level System did not fall behind. Instead of machines, that power was concentrated now in people, giving the voice of a single person the authority of a million.

Vlad's eyes were bloodshot, as he could not even afford to blink due to the powerful strikes coming his way. He just moved to the side as the bastard sword clashed next to him, and the next second, went to the ground to avoid being bisected, only to roll back to evade another strike.

Every move he made was designed to save energy and focus solely on evasion, allowing him to diminish the speed at which his Force was depleted.

However, it was not only Vlad who was starting to grow tired.

"Ahh, ahh, ahh."

Ion's breathing was rough, and he felt his arm numb. He had attacked with all his power, moving that massive bastard sword, which was taking its toll on him.

"You coward. Fight back!"

The angel shouted in rage as he started to get frustrated. He attacked with everything he had, but the human was only dodging, and he could not land a single blow.

Vlad did not care about that childish taunt or what anyone might think of him. If anyone had a problem with how he fought, they should take his place and see how they survived against the Champion angel.

His eyes were clear and empty as he stared at Ion. He was taking these small moments of rest to breathe deeply, regulate his stamina, adopt a crouching position, and be ready to move at any point.

Ion was already tired, and he could not help but feel something was wrong with this fight. But as he saw how Orion and the other angels were looking at him, he knew there was no pulling back now.

"Ahhh, damn ant!"

The angel shouted in rage as he flashed toward Vlad, continuing striking with his massive bastard sword, destroying everything around him with the single goal of crushing the young man.

"¡Boom!" "¡Boom!" "¡Boom!" "¡Boom!"

No human or angel dared to utter a word, and the only thing that remained were the explosions left by Ion's bastard sword.

It continued for an entire hour until Vlad's white Force finally faded, as he had drained all. However, he was not alone since Ion's sky-blue Force also vanished. Even if the young man had a smaller energy pool, the angel spent it much faster.

Since both drained their energy pool, the battle should not have changed much, as Ion's body was still much stronger than Vlad's. Yet, while the angel was gasping for breath and could not control his breathing due to overwhelming exhaustion, the young man seemed perfectly fine.

All the humans and angels were confused and shocked as they did not understand what was happening. Even if Ion's stamina drained faster, it was still tiresome to dodge all those strikes, yet Vlad's stamina remained strong.

The only one who understood what was happening was the small yellow cat. Jormungandr remembered that Vlad gave himself runes specifically designed for stamina.

A direct battle would have resulted in Vlad's death 9 out of 10 times, so the young man chose a battle of attrition instead. It was incredibly dangerous, and a single wrong move would have meant being crushed under the bastard sword, but he succeeded!

Vlad opened his hand, and the next second, a thin white sword appeared in it. He adopted a battle stance, his eyes cold and full of killing intent, and it was finally time for him to attack.

Ion's eyes widened as he saw Vlad flash toward him, and rage appeared in his eyes as he raised his bastard sword and struck forward. However, his move lacked the necessary skill without his Force enhancing his speed, and exhaustion hindered his body.

Vlad moved to the side, dodging the bastard sword, and his eyes narrowed as he slashed with his sword, aiming at the soft spot in Ion's knee plate. The next second, a jet of blood emerged.

A wave of pain assaulted Ion, but he clenched his teeth and waved his sword to the side. Unfortunately for the angel, Vlad had already put distance between them.

Vlad stared at Ion's bleeding knee and saw how the angel's base was shaking due to the wound and exhaustion. He raised his sword again and flashed ahead.

"¡Boom!"

Ion's bastard sword clashed against the ground, failing to strike, only for a jet of blood to emerge from his shoulder plate the next second.

Ion had been striking for an entire hour, and all Vlad could do was dodge. Now that he finally started his attack, it became a one-sided clash. Even without his Force, the young man moved at a surprising speed, with each strike leaving a deep cut in the angel and wounding him more and more.

Five minutes.

That was all Vlad took to push Ion to the ground. The angel had deep cuts in every articulation, and he could not even stand by this point, much less raise his sword.

Vlad calmly walked toward Ion like an embodiment of death, grabbing the angel's chest plate to keep him steady and placing the tip of his sword on the neck of the man.

"Wait!"

Just as Vlad was about to bury his sword in Ion's neck, he heard Orion's voice.