Chapter 43_ God Hand (4)
Noe grumbled with resentment which made Greed was baffled. It was completely disappointing. Greed clicked his tongue and grabbed Noe. However, Noe immediately struggled.
"Save Noe! Save me! Nyang!"
Noe cried out loudly with a protruding stomach! His short legs were moving and it was tearful at the frightening thought that Greed would throw him to a dragon. It was a pathetic appearance, but Greed tried to be indifferent.
Seeing that the best demonic beast of hell was neutralized, Greed cursed as he charged towards Lexus.
"I don't know what you had done but...Pagma's Sword Dance, Wave!"
Waves of energy shot in every direction from Greed's Failure.
[You have been dealt by a lethal blow.]
[You have suffered 7,500 damage.]
[Movement speed will be reduced…]
[You have resisted.]
Greed then used Blacksmith Rage to increase his attack power.
"Pagma's Sword Dance, Transcended Link!"
A total of 20 energy blades that inflicted 150% of his damage per hit flew towards it.
[You have suffered 8,000 damage.]
[You have suffered 8,000 damage.]
[You have…]
Though he could avoid the attacks of Greed, he didn't bother to. It's because he was strong and confident to take the attack head on. Even though he can use his Absolute Defense to completely neutralize the damage and Absolute Regeneration that heals the health he lost. He didn't want to crush his spirit any further if he will suffer no damage.
"Pagma's Sword Dance, Kill!"
The greatsword filled with extreme killing intent attempted to pierce straight into Lexus' heart.
[Failure's option effect is activated, causing you to attack the target five times.]
[The Holy Light Gloves option effect is activated, causing you to attack the target five times.]
The +9 Failure had an attack power of 1,768~3,682. It was already the best weapon at +0, so after being increased to +9 with a 70% increase in attack power, it was fully OP (overpowered).
Let's compare it to legendary weapons of the same level. The average attack power of a powerful two-handed weapon was around 1,000, and Lexus' Blight of Misery only had 1,200 so the maximum attack power of the +9 Failure was three times stronger than that. What if 1,800% of that attack power was added due to the level two Kill?
The users could never endure it. They would just die. As Greed was rejoicing because he triggered the legendary items' effects, he froze when something came out from Lexus' inventory.
A golden red bar of unknown mineral neutralized the power behind his attack that should deal millions of damage. Never did he imagined that he will encounter the superior mineral of Pavranium.
The Aetherium.
As Greed was thinking about how Lexus blocked his attack, he heard Lexus spoke with a grin.
"Then, is it my turn?"
Hearing his casual voice, Greed suddenly felt unease and nervous. Now that he thinks about it, he noticed that Lexus haven't unleashed a single skill since they had started to spar. While Lexus willed it to show his battle intent, system messages appeared in his sight.
[You have encountered a strong opponent.]
[The stat 'fighting spirit' has caused the enemies' stats to drastically drop.]
[The stat 'fighting spirit' is not high enough to make a legend yield.]
[The opponent has resisted.]
As the distance between him and Lexus narrowed, his eyes didn't blink once. A sword filled with all of Greed's physical body that started to strengthen only to be blocked and defended by something. Since he was agitated of the sudden variable, Lexus didn't missed the opening. It was only after he penetrated Greed's shoulder with Brilliance three times that a sound was made belatedly, and blood splashed out. Greed saw the gushing blood that consisted of numerous 'droplets'.
'He neutralized it?'
Greed gulped with tension. Lexus clearly blocked his sword that was fired like a flash of light. It was originally the heart that should be pierced, but the damage was nulled because of the unknown interference that blocked his attack. Despite the fact that Lexus didn't need to mention anything to activate a skill, he still did as he wanted to widen the horizon of Greed's mind at this moment.
"Pagma's Sword Dance, Flower."
'...!' Greed was astonished. Hundreds of petals containing sword energy, reminiscent of a flower blooming appeared.
'Pagma admired the work of Dainsleif and Valhalla and gave an example. It is said that he showed off his swordsmanship while wearing Dainsleif, which has never been used by any hero. The beauty of it was unbelievable, and the swordsmanship seemed to pierce the sky, creating lightning.' The description that Albatino, Khan's ancestor, used to describe Pagma's Sword Dance came to Greed's mind.
The swordsmanship that pierced the sky—Greed had always thought it was an exaggeration. It was because there was a huge gap between the Pagma's Sword Dance that he had learned and the description of Pagma's Sword Dance. However, not now. Looking at the sword dance that Lexus had made, he knew by instinct that this was the true Pagma's Sword Dance.
[You have suffered 13,000 damage.]
[Your ribs have been broken!]
[It is a serious damage! Skills can't be used! Your spirit can't endure it. Movement speed is reduced! Health recovery is reduced by 80%!]
[A legend doesn't yield easily.]
[You have resisted.]
[You have suffered 13,000 damage.]
[You have suffered 20,000 damage.]
[...]
"Cough!" Greed's health gauge that recovered upon consumption of a health potion, dropped to less than half when he was repeatedly hit by Brilliance. Due to Lexus' attack, he was stunned and became unable to do anything for a moment but as a legend, he resisted it.
Unlike Pagma's Sword Dance that Greed currently has which distinguishes between activated and deactivated states. Great Swordsman Pagma's Sword Dance, the evolved version of Pagma's Sword Dance, the effects of the increase in physical attack power, critical hit probability, and critical hit damage were applied all the time!
'The attack power has increased by 40%!'
Was that all...? No, the critical damage had also risen sharply. Lexus enjoyed the effects of the 'One Who Met the Martial God!' title, and with the passive effect of Madra's Mastery and other skills, items or titles he had, his critical hit damage could now reach more than 400%. Normal players normally had 50~110% critical damage, so it was more than twice the damage value.
This was why, Lexus held the advantage over Greed. Lexus on the other hand, paid attention to the recovery of sword energy. Every time the sword was swung, one point of sword energy was restored. There was no explanation for natural recovery. It also meant there might be situations where recovery wasn't feasible.
Though the recovery of sword energy happens faster if one had faster attack speed, the process to recover it is still a hassle.
"How?.....!"
Greed's pupils quaked as he wondered how and why Lexus was able to use a sword dance of Pagma despite not being able to identify what sword dance it was. Greed stiffened and his heart beat faster. His eyes shook as sweat started running down his body. It was a phenomenon of fear that transcended tension and agitation. Was he overwhelmed that was emitted?
No.
This was sheer instinct. The source of all his abilities was Pagma, so he couldn't help feeling awe and a sense of smallness when facing Pagma Sword Dance being used by other people. As Pagma's Successor, Greed had assumed that aside from Pagma, only him could use the sword dances of legendary Pagma, who was the greatest swordsman after Muller.
Greed was not the only one who's surprised. The Overgeared members around were nervous and baffled. Though they was just watching the spar from the distance, they were caught by the feeling of helplessness. This helpless feeling was so strong that they wouldn't be able to move their fingertips unless their survival instincts were invoked.
"Hey, look at this. Isn't the swordsmanship extremely similar to Greed's swordsmanship?"
The person who spoke was too young to be called a man, but too mature to be called a boy. He was estimated to be in his late teens. He had blond hair and white skin. His eyes were calm and he had stubborn lips. He had a pretty forehead and narrow jaw.
"It can't be…"
Hearing Lauel, a name entered in their mind. However, the weight of that name wasn't light, so they couldn't express it with their mouths. Pagma. One of the nine legends and the source of Greed's strength.
"How, is it? It's pretty simple."
Seeing Greed's surprised reaction, Lexus grinned as he continued.
"I am now in the same class as Muller. A Sword Saint."
"...!!" Greed was shocked like he had been hit by a hammer. Sword Saint Muller had lived hundreds of years ago. Sword Saint Muller was known as the 'strongest legend of all time.'
According the S.A. Group, there were a total of nine legendary classes. They were special classes only for the chosen nine people. All of them were immune to CC. That's right. The CC Immunity was a passive skill that all nine legendary classes had in common and was a privilege exclusively for them.
And because of the legendary feats of Sword Saint Muller, they became aware that a Sword Saint is one of those nine legendary classes.
Greed's anxiety intensified. He knew better than anyone else in the world why a legend was a legend. A legend transcended common sense in their respective fields, and a Sword Saint was peerless in both the aspects of swords and swordsmanship, just like the weapons crafted by Pagma's Successor were of a different dimension compared to other blacksmiths.
Though everyone was surprised when they heard Lexus' reply, King Wiesbaden and Chucksley had the greatest reaction, followed by the other princes' and the nobles that watched the spar and so on.
Lexus saying that he's a Sword Saint was just that of a big deal but looking at how he reproduced the swordsmanship that pierced the sky of Pagma, there was not even the slightest doubt in their minds as none of them could do what he had just done.
As someone who had played many games while he was still on earth, Lexus remembered something. In PVP, the most important thing is how well you can deceive your enemy with some false information.
For instance, you changed your armor so that physical attacks aren't very effective, you pretend they are. Or though you're weak to magic for having low magic resistance and magic defense, you suffer through without flinching.
With a smile, Lexus decided to unleash the strongest sword skill in his arsenal with enthusiasm. Knowing that people would be aware of him, he decided to give them a show that they can't afford to mess with him. The world might not know Madra, but Lexus knew Madra's greatness.
"100,000 Army."
Lexus swiftly twisted his waist in the air.
"Massacre Sword!"
"...!!"
The legacy of the Undefeated King was revealed. Beyond the baptism of the sword energy spreading out like hot wind, Lexus identified that Greed's eyes were shaking. He was very flustered when facing a different swordsmanship than he expected.
[You have suffered catastrophic damage!]
[You won't die in sparring mode. Your health has fallen to a minimum.]
[The spar has ended.]
With a pale expression, a thought entered in Greed's mind.
'I know there are many weaknesses in the sword dance.'
The sword dance was literally a dance. A dance while wielding the sword. There were some unnecessary and unhelpful movements in combat. There were many forced movements because each sword dance visualized a specific object or concept. A typical example was when he needed to take a stride—the gap was a deadly weakness and many talents had targeted it.
However, Greed was enlightened by Lexus to sublimate this weaknesses into strengths. Thinking about his advice— from the saint of the swords, Greed is now determined to reach the point where he will use most of the movements in the sword dance as defensive or evasive maneuvers. He must minimize the useless behavior by evolving the sword dance itself. It wouldn't be possible without a bone-deep efforts.
In terms of strength alone, Lexus would be on par with some experts of the human race! This was why, Greed was determined to make the advice of Lexus to come into reality. His respect for him was just that high.