To the surprise of no one, the final two contestants in the tournament were none other than Edrick and Xiao.

Some might have had different expectations at the start, but as the duels went on, it became rather clear that they were far superior compared to the rest. And although a special disciple, Edrick had indeed only begun cultivating for about as long as most outer disciples from the latest batch, the same was true for Xiao.

It was rather obvious that they both boasted skills of a higher order, far above average, considering the short amount of time they had been cultivating for… One might attribute Edrick’s swift progress as having to partially do with his wealth, allowing him to use pills or elixirs to quicken the speed of his training.

But everyone knew that he had earned a bloodline at this point. On top of being built like a killing machine, with his superior, natural physique, he held a great advantage without a doubt.

As for Xiao, it was less obvious why he stood out among the other disciples. They could only chalk it up to greater talent than most, but in truth, as the protagonist, he was well furnished with advantages from the very start. Being the scion of the Chen clan, he was naturally disposed to wielding weapons and fighting, almost like he possessed some hidden constitution that just made him better than the majority in that regard. Add to this the incredible speed at which he could cultivate, and it was only natural that other outer disciples could not compete.

The crimson-eyed youth stepped onto the arena, facing off against Anoteros, who just loomed over him, somehow appearing even more imposing than usual. The noble scion’s expression was inscrutable, clearly already focused on the fight itself, not letting even the slightest of his thoughts or intentions show on his face.

The Kanabo was already poised to strike once the signal was given.

Likewise, Xiao swiftly unsheathed his sword, feeling a bit restless beneath his calm facade, he had managed to catch a few sights of Edrick fighting here and there, but he had ended every one of his fights with just a few moves, only a single hit had been needed each time to put an end to the fight, so he truly had barely any clue how things would go down.

Thankfully, he had also made sure not to show his hand, so Anoteos should also be in the dark about the details of his fighting style.

‘I really need to get my sword back… And I definitely would prefer not to have to do whatever it is that he has in mind for me if I lose!’ but also, this was a rather good opportunity for him to test himself.

In the original story, the final duel was against another outer disciple of good skill, which the protagonist obviously won without much problem, and in the process of doing so, would inadvertently ‘offend’ the other party, who would seek revenge for the perceived slight.

That disciple had been knocked out cold by Edrick in his previous duel, so that little storyline would not be going anywhere. As a result, Xiao was about to face an opponent that was far more of a threat. It was by fighting that one progressed, and hitting above your weight in such a safe environment was the best way to gain insight.

Frowning slightly, his grip on the blade stabilised just a second before Elder Gang signalled the start of the fight. Almost immediately, both of them reacted by stepping forward.

For Xiao, the goal was obviously to reduce the distance between them. He could do nothing otherwise. He didn’t have any means of attacking from range unless he decided to throw his weapon, and Edrick had a far longer reach and actual means of attacking from far away, too.

The Kanabo was swung through the air, moving right above Xiao’s face as he leaned backwards to evade the blow. However, this caused him to lose some momentum, which snowballed into him being caught by a strike of Edrick’s left hand as he stopped two-handing the club.

Xiao moved in the same direction as the attack, greatly minimising the damage endured, and, whilst being hit, lashed out with a precise sword strike, cutting into his adversary’s side.

“Heh…” Anoteros was not kind enough to mark a pause whilst Xiao was thrown off balance by the attack. The goliath of a man was seemingly unfazed by the wound, despite the slash having grazed against one of his ribs.

He swiftly raised his Kanabo and brought it down onto the floor, activating the sole special ability granted by Oni Smash. The ground of the arena cracked and erupted upward, forming a straight line heading directly for Xiao. He was far too close to dodge efficiently, he could only throw himself to the side and roll whilst trying to make some distance between himself and Edrick. This was far from ideal, but preferable to making himself vulnerable to getting stomped on and massacred by the Kanabo.

Rising, he caught sight of Edrick raising his weapon once more.

‘Again?’ Xiao found something odd. It didn’t have anything to do with Edrick, per se, but rather, the ingrained battle instincts within him were flaring up. He hadn’t experienced that aspect of himself much before, but it seemed to come along with the package of being a pure-bred descendant of the Chen clan. He could tell that Anoteros was performing a feint- And indeed, the ground was not smashed a second time. Instead, the noble scion threw the club through the air.

The crimson-eyed youth was not caught off guard, successfully evading the attack, and poised himself for what was coming next. The trepidation of combat crept up on him. It was almost like his body was moving faster than he could process information.

Edrick retrieved the longbow on his back, and swiftly, he began to fire arrows in succession. Each of them was rather heavy, launched with great force. Anoteros just pulled back on the string like it was nothing. His aim was not focused, he merely aimed for Xiao in general.

A slight smile appeared on his face as he deflected the first arrows. Doing so had certainly sounded much simpler in his head, it felt like trying to block bullets with a metal bat. But it wasn’t like Xiao could do much more than this for now, so he deflected as many arrows as he could, allowing some to graze him.

One managed to slip through. He failed to deflect it properly, and although it lost much of its strength, it still lodged itself into the side of his stomach. Pain washed over him, but no other arrows came. Edrick had run out, so he dropped the bow and quiver, reaching for his rapier instead.

Anoteros was not devious enough to use hooked arrows during a tournament, so Xiao was able to pull it out. He knew that it wasn’t ideal, but it would get in the way of his swings if he left it there.

“You got me there, Edrick…”

“You should consider some more options than just a sword, Xiao”

“Yeah…”

‘I will have more options once I get my sword back and unlock its potential…’