Chapter 26 - Yuuki

Remaining seated, the Moderator shouted, "I will be strictly enforcing the "No Kill" rule this time! Anyone who breaks this rule will be executed on the spot!"

He deployed another barrier, a proper one this time, and shouted. "Begin!"

Without talking to each other, the two moved in a coordinated manner as if they had practiced their movements beforehand.

Gauntlet strode forward, assuming a boxing stance, covering half of his face as he advanced. Gale on the other hand began moving away, forming numerous projectiles and readying them above him, ready to bombard the enemy at once when Gauntlet is able to make an opportunity.

Gauntlet closed the distance in a zigzag pattern, throwing a punch at the unmoving Yuuki but the latter dodged effortlessly to the side, drawing his sword quickly and swinging diagonally downward which Gauntlet managed to block with his left arm.

"What monstrous reflexes…!" Gauntlet's now getting quite scared after seeing such inhuman reaction speed as cold sweat ran along his back.

Gauntlet punched again forward and Yuuki simply hopped backwards. "That won't hit," Yuuki thought to himself. But then, an explosion suddenly occured point-blank on his face, blasting him away.

"The fuck?!" His eyes widened in shock.

While mid-air, a sudden force of wind lifted him up higher and multiple wind spears were hurled at him, racking his brains quickly, he applied mana to his katana and blue, flame-like aura began blazing all around it.

[Second Form: Slash]!

He slashes all around him, annihilating the projectiles while minimizing damage, with the only damage he sustained being from the explosion earlier.

"Tsk…" Yuuki wiped the bits of blood on his forehead after landing on his feet while he slid back, much to his annoyance.

Without uttering any words, Gauntlet advanced once more with his advance being covered by projectiles from Gale, giving Yuuki no other choice but to dodge or deflect, hence Gauntlet is free to advance.

He punched forward once again, but this time, it's different, it's moving the same as before but it suddenly became significantly faster, this sudden change caught Yuuki off guard.

He's getting buffed?! He exclaimed internally.

The punch aimed at his liver connected, and a projectile followed, which also hit his shoulder as he dodges to the side, even though his perception of time is slowed down to half of normal, these sudden changes still caught him off guard. With this, Gauntlet let loose a barrage of punches.

"Oi... I'm the Honored One, didn't I told you earlier?" Yuuki whispered to Gauntlet while blocking the tens of punches being thrown out..

As the long awaited opening is now made, Gale launched the numerous projectiles in carefully selected areas to minimize chances of hitting Gauntlet while maximizing the chances of hitting the enemy.

But Yuuki suddenly hopped back while spinning.

[Eighth Form: Crescent Moon]

With a graceful spinning motion of his katana, Yuuki slashed towards Gauntlet and left behind an afterimage of a purple waning moon as he disappeared, this afterimage cut Gauntlet's arms by the front rather shallowly as he blocked it the last second while reinforcing his metal arms with mana. "That's close…!" He exclaimed under his breath but he quickly dismissed his shock and charged forward.

[Tenth Form: Shadow Step]

Moving quickly and silently, He managed to sneak up to Gale while directly in front of Gauntlet's vision and prepared another form, all while his Stamina quickly withered away.

[Stamina: 14/165]

The increase of Stamina regeneration because of the conversion rate of Dexterity gives Yuuki the ability to cast two or maybe three forms in succession in short bursts once his Stamina is filled up, but using these two high tier forms quickly drained it, and with just a meager 150 total stamina, he can't even use [Judgement Cut] which uses a base cost of 300 Stamina—with the Eighth and Tenth forms consuming 50 and 80 base Stamina respectively, the costs of which scales off of the strength of the attack and length of usage respectively—but his increased stamina regen allows him to stay fighting. But the overall power scaling of [Everlasting Sword] and by extension, all of its forms, comes from Dexterity and Strength.

Another big problem is also his mana, while [Everlasting Sword] primarily uses Stamina, it also uses some mana, which he had no stat points allocated into. And that also limits his option, while his stamina can be recovered rather quickly, his mana does not, and he's on the verge of emptying out, which is why he need to finish this fast since usage of health potions and mana potions are prohibited during this trial, because the [Inventory] of all participants are temporarily locked.

While the two didn't speak from earlier, Gauntlet shouted in dismay, "Behind you!"

Gale quickly formed a wind barrier around him without a second thought and Yuuki too had cast a skill.

[Sixth Form: Raging Demon]!

The katana was ignited, but instead of blue flame-like aura from earlier, it's now purple and the brightness is significantly stronger.

As the barrier fully formed, Yuuki unleashed a series of fast but powerful slashes, each slash ejecting the aura from his blade outward as it connects with the barrier, leaving the audience awestruck at the beauty of the attack yet conveying the power it harnesses.

In just a split second, Yuuki already managed to land more than a dozen strikes, instantly breaking the barrier without letting Gale further strengthen it.

While still buffed by Gale that increases his movement speed, Gauntlet managed to catch up at the last second but unfortunately for him, Yuuki had already recovered enough stamina to cast another form.

While guarding Gale behind him with his arms up, the purple blaze on the enemy's katana suddenly became crimson red, boasting immense scorching heat, which Yuuki himself is unaffected despite being so near it.

[Seventh Form: Solar Flare]

"Flames?!" Gauntlet exclaimed, with his metal arms up, and the enemy approaching with his sword burning bright, it only means one thing.

"Super Effective…!" Yuuki smiled.

With a fast horizontal slash as he wield his katana with both hands, Gauntlet's forearms were cleanly cut off like a hot knife through a block of butter.

Yuuki used the force of the previous swing to initiate a spin. He then performed an aerial spinning kick, landing his right heel on Gauntlet's face and blowing him away forcefully.

"Geuk—!"

Before Yuuki landed, Gale tried to send him away with another blast of air as multiple projectiles came crashing down but Yuuki simply used [Parry] one time and all incoming forces were sent back to Gale as a counterattack, resulting on multiple slash wounds due to the wind attribute of the parried attacks and making him slide backwards slightly.

"Dammit—!" Blood escaped Gale's mouth as he recovered back on his feet, and with determination on his face, Gale tried to erect a barrier in front of him while the latter advanced forward but Yuuki just thrusted his katana forward, aimed at Gale's abdomen, resulting in clash with the barrier.

Clang—!

Gale felt relieved for a second before a wave of energy bursts from the handle towards the tip of the sword in a quick manner. This blue aura effortlessly destroyed the barrier and penetrated him on the abdomen.

"W-what…?" As he looked down, he saw the blue flame-like aura gushing forward through his body.

"No worries, I avoided your vitals. You won't die immediately." Yuuki said calmly but Gale could feel bits of arrogance in it. He have no choice but to accept his defeat, after all, he's the loser, he can't even win in a two on one battle, what right does he have to whine about losing.

"Fuck this… forgive me… Leader..." He thought to himself, this loss in itself is already a big disgrace to them, once he met with their leader, the worst case scenario will be that they will be killed by him personally for such an unsightly performance. Worse is that this happened in floor 1, the very start of their journey as Divine Warriors. "Shit…"

As Yuuki withdrew his sword, the aura also dissipated, and Gale fell on the hard floor of the platform as all of his strength left his body.

"Gale!!! Oi!" Without regards to his burnt metal arms, he rushed to Gale, kneeling beside him.

But since his arms are still scorching hot, he can't go and carry him up, furthermore, he don't even have any hands to touch him with.

"Moderator! Please heal my partner! I beg you!" Gauntlet pleaded with panic on his voice.

"Tsk… I know, right?" The Moderator sent a wave of white light towards the three of them and they are all then healed to their peaks, even Gauntlet's metal arms.

He then spoke once more, "You two! Get the hell out of here. You lose! You don't have any rewards, find another trial site than this! I don't want to see the two of you here again!"

After Gauntlet helped Gale get up, they simply bowed to the Moderator and then left without uttering another word as they limp away slightly, as even if they were healed, the pain should still exist somewhat, even if slightly. Clearly they are ashamed of what happened and how they lost.

As the two exited the proximity of the trial site, a distinct, emotionless voice spoke in the two's minds.

"This is Visionary speaking… Gale, Gauntlet, I wish to talk to the two of you, head to the floor 1 base. I'll be there in a moment."

A black, vortex-like portal then appeared in front of them. They looked at each other with concern but they had no choice but to take this portal. They resolved themselves for the worst as they cautiously stepped inside it.