CHAPTER 282: CHAPTER 280 "SECRET TECHNIQUE: WIND SCISSORS" AND HEART-PIERCING MURDER

Boom——

Watching the dust rise where Thomas landed ten meters away.

Aiven slowly withdrew his foot, pushing the blade that had barely left its sheath back into the "sheath."

After all this time, Aiven had already fully mastered the techniques he had secretly learned from the "Rose Sword Saint."

Although limited to what an Official Knight could understand and digest, combined with his constant insights and the precise monitoring of his body through "Data Visualization."

Aiven had pushed his [White Sail Swordsmanship] to the brink of Mastery, only a catalyst away from breaking through to the Master-level, where he could use the signature "Sword Qi!"

For him now, seeing through Thomas’s Secret Technique was not difficult.

In fact, he could even have replaced that kick with a sword strike, but Aiven ultimately resisted that tempting thought.

If he were facing just a "Navy New Star" with no deep background, killing them might have been of little consequence, and even if Zilan were dominant, Aiven wouldn’t hesitate to take them out.

But killing Thomas Gregory would inevitably bring about dire consequences.

The reasoning is simple; for a major power like the Kingdom, interests are paramount. If the loss can be mitigated and appearances kept, it’s unlikely they’d take action against a "killer" far off in another country.

Even Aiven himself was not certain that if he were eliminated, the Kingdom would go through great lengths to send a hunting party to avenge someone who lost their value.

But he was quite sure that if he killed Thomas, he couldn’t say what kind of reaction Ilya’s officials would have, but there would definitely be one person who would spare no effort and go to all lengths to retaliate against him...his own father!

One Earl Wright in Ilya would be enough trouble, and adding a military bigwig with unknown power who has a vendetta, life would become truly unlivable.

Ugh, actually, my life wasn’t all that stable to begin with.

However.

It seems the shadow Aiven left on Thomas wasn’t quite deep enough.

"Ah! Cough, cough... I... won’t let you go!"

Clearly, having suffered a severe blow, he was struggling even to maintain balance, propping himself up to awkwardly rise from the ground.

Picking up his Extraordinary Longsword, he couldn’t help but spit out another mouthful of blood, with half his teeth gone; even speaking had him leaking air, and Thomas was so furious his entire body was trembling.

Under the protection of his grandfather, a former Navy Deputy Chief of Staff, and his Vice Admiral father, he’d progressed smoothly to where he was now. When had he ever lost such face in the country?

Especially in front of a group of officers from the Alliance of Six Nations!

With this blemish, how can I present a perfect image to compete for Ilya’s Navy Marshal?!

"Huff! Huff!..."

Panting heavily, as if he might collapse again at any moment, he still took steps toward Aiven.

With two steps, the Extraordinary Longsword "Bloody Lake Light" in Thomas’s hand blazed with blood light!

In his rage, he moved while shouting out the core ability of this weapon’s name:

"Extraordinary Ability: Lake Reflection!"

In the dense red Extraordinary Spiritual Light, Thomas, relaunching his charge, seemed to recover his original state momentarily, then suddenly split into two, moving to the left and right like identical reflections in a lake.

Boom! Boom! Boom!....

The two figures were simultaneously enveloped in a layer of fiery red flame, like two armored rhinos, causing every step on the stone fortress bricks beneath him to shatter.

The momentum was now incomparable to when it first began!

Evidently, being on par with Ocean Treasures and Divine Gifts had its reasons.

The core of "Bloody Lake Light" was that when "Lake Reflection" was activated, it could simultaneously invoke the pre-stored "Combat Qi" within the sword for the wielder’s use.

Additionally, the images created by the Extraordinary Weapon shared the burden of the higher-tier Extraordinary Energy, allowing the wielder to manage such powerful Extraordinary Abilities with crude control.

Even in this state, like a child wielding a heavy hammer, one couldn’t defeat any real Great Knight, but theoretically at the Official Knight Tier, it was unbeatable! Unless encountering another power comparable to Combat Qi.

This is why it stands alongside the Ocean Treasures!

Of course, for it to be effective, there must be at least one "Great Knight" willing to charge it up behind you.

"As my last trump card, I originally planned to use this opportunity in a duel with the ’Octopus Ghost.’ I didn’t expect to use it on you first. To die under a Great Knight’s Combat Qi, you should feel honored!"

With his naturally arrogant and indifferent to all, narrow-minded disposition, Thomas was now both ashamed and angry, having long forgotten any reason or consequences, completely disregarding the fundamentals of "Frost Wolf Swordsmanship," driven by sword fury!

However, under absolute power, no techniques were necessary, just like a tsunami crushing a sandcastle on the shore effortlessly!

Well, theoretically.

Click——

The spring mechanism snapped back open.

Sss——

At this point, the rapier in Aiven’s hand gradually unsheathed, allowing the observing officers to see the true form of that fleeting snow light—it was also an Extraordinary Weapon.

Only then did they suddenly realize that Aiven had been holding back all along?

He twirled a small sword flower.

The sword staff, with no special abilities other than sharpness and resilience, was best characterized by its disguise. Until unsheathed, even a Vice Admiral at the Great Knight level hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

Aiven still had leisure to give the Major General a reassuring look, stopping him from further escalating tensions with Thomas, which had been hard to bear with his hot temper.

However, even with Aiven’s reassurance, Major General Koverdale had already stepped up, ready at any moment to intervene and prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

"Ha, the wind is rising!"

The fierce charge from the opposite side hadn’t arrived yet, and the violent Combat Qi infused by someone had already stirred up a gale, ruffling Aiven’s hair.

With both hands gripping the sword, poised in a Sail Up stance, Aiven’s eyes sharpened instantly.

Even though he was mainly preparing for his promotion to Official Wizard during this period, it didn’t mean he had set aside the swordsmanship that was ingrained in his bones. In fact, the Activated Spiritual Power that had reached the Apprentice Peak precisely opened another Gate for the progress of his swordsmanship.

[Eye of Spirit]

The perceptive and unerring Spiritual Eye!

As he closed his eyes slowly, a broader view unfolded before him.

The two gusts of wind facing him roared, clashed, and tangled!

The "Black Panther Talisman" at his waist was activated, instantly amplifying his Agility Attribute from 3.8 to 4.56, which belonged to a Peak Knight’s physical value.

A gentle breath escaped Aiven’s lips, as the Knight’s Breathing Method quietly adjusted, mobilizing most of his bones, muscles, and nerves.

He then stepped forward, accelerating.

The slender Swift Sword in his hand raised up, and a faint breeze danced, leapt, and swirled on the blade...

Shuh——

[Extraordinary Secret Technique: Wind Cutter·Fake!]

The Swift Sword followed the incredible patterns within the two streams of airflow, deftly threading through as if sewing, weaving the strands of the breeze anew, then instantly detonating them!

Onlookers only saw Aiven’s silhouette suddenly vanish from where he stood, then reappear behind the two Thomases, as if skipping frames in a stuttering image, completely bypassing the intervening steps.

The speed was so intense that even the Major General couldn’t move in time to stop it.

Shing! Shing!

After Aiven stood firm again, the cold glint seemed to blossom belatedly on the foreheads of the two red figures like frosty flowers.

Whoosh——!

The fierce winds exploded like a cape behind Aiven, ruffling the onlookers’ hair and clothes, and dispersing the dust on the ground, revealing the large intersecting cross etched into the hard stone pavement!

And the two silhouettes of Thomas were precisely at the endpoints of these lines.

Thud!

Zoom——

The first sound was Thomas collapsing in defeat, the latter was the Major General who could no longer hold back, pouncing forward.

By this time, his face already bore a wry look.

"Just when I thought I found someone sensible, their next blink seems intent on piercing the heavens..."

Only when he reached Thomas’s side in two steps.

Seeing that the longsword had not pierced through the skull but only left a slightly bleeding red scratch on his forehead, which, thanks to the Extraordinary Knight’s self-healing ability, would fully heal in a few minutes, the Major General finally let out a sigh of relief.

However.

Although the sword tip did not pierce through, Aiven’s chilling killing intent passed through the skull, making Thomas feel as if he had walked along the edge of a cliff thousands of meters up in the air.

His gaze darting nervously, lips muttering, he was like a cooked noodle slumped over the shoulder of the Major General who helped him up, unable to utter another harsh word.

Clearly, he was scared out of his wits by the near-death encounter just moments before.

The next time he encounters Aiven, while avoiding him might not be necessary, it’s apparent he wouldn’t have the courage to draw his sword again.

Whether such a person could ever break through to the so-called unwavering Tier 3 "Great Knight" is something Aiven deeply doubts.

"Killing someone’s spirit," seems to describe this kind of situation perfectly.

"Major Thomas, on account of us being colleagues once.

I hope you will refrain from appearing before me in the future, thank you!"

Aiven suppressed the sudden restlessness ignited by "Adventurer’s Blood" within him, holding back the enticing impulse to turn and strike him with another sword.

After giving him one last warning, he glanced apologetically at the Major General beside Thomas, then turned and left hastily.

Major General Koverdale looked down at Thomas with a sigh:

"I hope you can learn some lesson from today’s incident and take good care of yourself."

At this point, the crowd of onlookers finally snapped out of the shock from Aiven’s singular breach of Combat Qi.

"No way? He actually shattered a Great Knight’s Combat Qi with the body of an Official Knight!"

"Was it the wind?"

"Could it be the Sword Qi that only a legendary Sword Master can employ?! Captain Aiven is not even 17 years old yet!"

This strike was actually Aiven being resourceful.

The true [Secret Technique: Wind Scissors] requires reaching Master-level in swordsmanship and understanding the profoundness of Sword Qi. Using Sword Qi to guide the power of the wind, even before awakening Combat Qi, one could wield a powerful Extraordinary slash with pure swordsmanship.

Facing off against a Great Knight possessing "Combat Qi."

Aiven relied on expert-level swordsmanship paired with Activated Spiritual Power to form the [Eye of Spirit], and with the cooperation of the opponent, could execute such a strike, directly piercing through Thomas’s Combat Qi Flame.

If he attempted it alone, it would be impossible to strike again.