Nemo VS The Masked Swordsman

The old man swiftly hopped off the stage, and the fight started. The two stood there for a brief moment staring each other down.

After a moment passed, Nemo decided to give his opponent a way out.

He smiled smugly and shouted towards the masked swordsman.

"You, whatever your name is. I don't know what you had hoped to achieve by entering this tournament, but this is as far as you will go."

"..."

Hearing no response but seeing no movement either, Nemo continued.

"I have an offer for you. It's mutually beneficial, so I suggest you listen well and accept my grace. Surrender now. If you do, you will live in abundant luxury for the rest of your life. You will never lack anything. I can give you women, gold, jewels and anything else you can imagine."

"..."

The masked swordsman continued to stand without a word.

"Haa, you'll really decline my mercy? You have no chance of beating me." Nemo sighed in frustration.

"Whatever, it's your life. If you want to die so badly, I can only oblige and give you your wish." Nemo sneered.

Nemo gathered his mana within the palms of his hands. The mana swirled around on the top of his palms, turning from a light blue to bright orange.

"Nemo Gulliver, is about to show us his impressive flame magic. Will we have yet another charred corpse to clean up, or will the masked swordsman show us something impressive" Shouted the match commentator.

The mana then became two fireballs that radiated extreme heat, they were the size of baseballs and looked threatening to Kaylus.

It was the first time he had seen magic that wasn't his own, and part of him didn't believe that classic magic spells were even a thing in this world.

The flames made Nemo look like a fire demon. He shouted at the masked swordsman and launched his attacks.

"Don't die right away!"

He threw the fireballs, immediately preparing more and launching them too.

They flew at extreme speeds. Some flew at the swordsman's head while others at his body and legs.

To everyone's surprise, the swordsman dodged the fireballs with ease. He gently moved his head from side to side to avoid the initial attack and simply turned his body to sidestep the rest.

"An impressive dodge from the masked swordsman. Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we are in for a fight." Commented the commentator.

"I must say, I'm impressed," Nemo told the swordsman.

"But you won't be able to dodge this."

Nemo put his hands above his head and started to collect mana again. A giant ball of fire began to form. It grew until it reached around 2 meters in diameter.

"Looks like Nemo will be using his signature attack. Will the masked swordsman surprise us again, or is this as far as he will go?" The commentator remarked.

Nemo smiled confidently, "It's too late to regret anything. Enjoy the afterlife!"

He launched the fireball at his opponent, charring and turning the ground black as it passed it.

The flaming ball of fire was so large that it blocked Nemo's view of his opponent. He believed that the fight was already in the bag.

The fireball flew at the masked man, and as it drew closer, the masked swordsman finally made a move.

He drew his sword and with a powerful step forward, slashed at the flaming ball of fire, splitting it in half.

The flame went on either side of the man revealing him again to Nemo. Not a single hair was out of place.

Somehow the powerful flame, that charred the grey concrete that made up the arena, didn't singe even a single fibre on his clothing. It was as if he activated magic to protect himself.

Kaylus may not know much about how magic worked in this world, but he knew what it felt like when someone used magic, and he could tell that the swordsman did no such thing at that moment.

The crowd erupted in excitement. Their cheers shook the arena. Nobody could believe what they had seen.

"Woah, an impressive move by the tournament dark horse. What will he do next to surprise us?"

Having seen that, Nemo became wide-eyed from shock.

He had never seen somebody cut a spell in half, and he had to imagine that slicing a spell in half, let alone one of this size, was extremely hard or near impossible.

"Ha, I guess I will have to acknowledge you. You have some skills, but it's time for me to get serious. This time it will seriously be the end." Nemo laughed.

He prepared another fireball, this time 3 meters in diameter. It was bigger and somehow flew faster than the last.

The masked swordsman prepared himself to cut the fireball again. It reached him, and he sliced it in half, but to his surprise, just as his sword finished cutting it, Nemo was right behind it.

His hands were flaming, and Nemo swung at his opponent, who narrowly avoided it by leaning backwards.

Nemo pressed on and started to pressure the swordsman, who began to dodge and weave as he moved back.

Having his opponent keep avoiding him infuriated Nemo to an extreme level.

"Stop running away, you rat and fight me! Or is running away the only thing you're good at?" Nemo shouted in anger.

He increased his mana usage and started to empower his kicks and punches even further.

Nemo's breathing became more ragged as he started to become more tired, and his mana began to run out.

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. "So you really are a coward that can only avoid my attacks?"

The masked swordsman finally ended up speaking. "Sorry, I thought you were stronger. I'll stop embarrassing you now."

Nemo was about to scream in rage, but before he could do it. The masked swordsman rushed at Nemo and hit him with the back of his sword on the neck, promptly knocking Nemo to the ground.

An action which shocked the entire crowd into silence. Even the commentator did not speak a single word for a handful of seconds.

Then the crowd exploded. Everyone believed Nemo would win the tournament. The dark horse might have been the biggest surprise in the tournament, but no one considered that he'd be able to win against the young master of the Gulliver clan.

"What an upset! The young master of the Gulliver clan is down, and it doesn't look like he will be getting back up. This match is over!" The commentator roared passionately.

Some people ran up onto the stage and took Nemo's unconscious body away.

The old man from earlier also walked up onto the battle platform. "An impressive win by the masked swordsman yet again. It was an upset that nobody expected, but here we are!"

"This was a showcase of pure strength and skill difference. It is a well-deserved win."

The old man then stopped by the masked swordsman and spoke to him. "Is there anything you'd like to say after your win?"

The masked swordsman shook his head so the old man continued. "In that case, would you like to continue fighting, or would you prefer to take a few days to rest?"

"I'd like to continue."

Having heard that, the crowd was overjoyed. The skills the man displayed were impressive, but they showcased barely anything. Everyone was curious about what else he was capable of.

"In that case, the next fight will begin now. I don't think I need to introduce the masked swordsman to anyone anymore. He had surprised us time and time again, barely displaying what he is capable of."

The man cleared his throat and continued, "However, that is not the case for his opponent. Hailing from unknown origins, this man showed up out of nowhere within the grounds of the Argenda clan."

"Various rumours have been circulating about him, but nothing is said about his strength. Will he be able to put up a good fight, or will the battle be over before it even begins?"

Kaylus walked up the stage with the same sword he used to train in hand.

"I introduce you to the final competitor and the last obstacle for the dark horse of the tournament that is standing between him and winning the ultimate prize the Argenda clan can offer! Kaylus!" The old man screamed Kaylus's name.

Seeing Kaylus up on the stage Maya to everyone surprise stood up from her seat and called his name, wishing him luck.

"Kaylus, good luck!"

Despite the loud environment, plenty of people had heard the princess wishing a competitor luck, something she hadn't done throughout the months that the tournament had been going on.

People started whispering to each other and discussing the rumours they had heard.

Even though they tried to keep it low, the whispers didn't entirely escape the ears of those on the stage.

Kaylus smiled at the sound of the gossip, but his opponent's hand balled into a fist and started to shake.

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A/N: hope you enjoyed this chapter. Show of hands, who thought Nemo would be fighting Kaylus and would cause him trouble?

Now the question is, who is the masked swordsman?

If you enjoyed this chapter make sure to vote with your power stones, if enough people start voting I might begin to release bonus chapters based on the amount of power stones that the novel gains.

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Thank you for reading

-DontLookPls