F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 280: Grudge Match (2)

"Please...Cody...you have to win..."

On one of the special seats reserved for those who were eliminated from the tournament, the hands of a lavender-haired young woman were clasped together before her trembling lips.

Less than thirty seconds had passed, and Cody was already in a dangerous situation.

Elune knew some of his Sword Skills, and while they would help, they would not be able to keep up with the horde of maturing slash marks.

Does he have something that can help, or is he merely staying focused because that’s the most optimal thing to do?

Unfortunately, she can only continue praying to the gods and goddesses.

"Hahahaa! What now, bastard? Your end is nearing, so you should probably start spouting excuses." Lucas guffawed maliciously.

He believed that he could even eliminate Alopecion and fight Taiya evenly, yet this stupid Cody Han thinks he can talk back to him?

Lucas didn’t get the reaction he wanted, though.

No gritting teeth, no difficult expressions, no excuses, just sharp focus and a stable heart.

Cody even dared sneer with a hint of derision.

Naturally, the hoodlum was dissatisfied. He wanted to hear excuses, at least. Those would make him feel better.

But the bastard just wouldn’t react the way he wanted!

"No matter, I’ll crack your facade sooner or later." Lucas snapped in self-consolation. "Eat this!"

In the next moment, the first slash mark fully matured. It tore through the air as it shot towards Cody.

But Cody’s Vulkhan flashed silver this time.

He slashed at the incoming Sword Projectile, deflecting it with zero loss of power and momentum back to its owner.

The hoodlum was caught with his pants down.

His perception attribute, however, was not only naturally high, but he invested a lot of attribute points in it, too.

Lucas was narrowly able to duck the sudden azure slash mark...though not unscathed.

His spiky blue hair suffered the brunt of the damage.

The sword projectile spun and passed vertically, as though a barber’s electric razor, cleanly "trimming" the middle part of Lucas’ hair and scaping it into a blue valley.

The crowd burst into laughter, and Nathalie made sure to comment on it, albeit with restraint.

The passionate hostess would not miss a chance to contribute to society.

Of course, Cody, too, would not miss this chance to further anger his enemy.

"That hairstyle suits you better. It would make your job of making Skylar laugh easier," he quipped.

"YOU BASTA–"

Before Lucas could curse in sheer fury, however, Vulkhan was upon him, and he could only raise his sword to block the Chopping Lunge.

Cody’s attempt to capitalize on the hoodlum’s anger issues failed. His foe’s reaction time was simply a bit too fast — borderline unfair.

But he wasn’t disheartened.

In fact, he was just testing how much he could get away with. Perhaps he wouldn’t even need to use his Innate Sword Skill if he got lucky and Lucas’ anger issues did him in?

Unfortunately, it seemed things wouldn’t be so easy.

Two azure slash marks matured almost simultaneously, and the hoodlum willed one of them to immediately take control back for him.

Cody jumped back to evade the sword projectile.

His eyes narrowed the next moment, realizing that his opponent could not only choose the slash marks’ trajectory, but he could also opt to delay using them.

It wasn’t too difficult to deduce what Lucas was planning.

While he was lost in microthoughts regarding the battle, the hoodlum took the chance to slash at the air two more times, planting more mirages.

This prompted Cody into action, even though forcing the opponent into a defensive position wouldn’t help much.

He rushed at his opponent, starting another wave of intense clashes.

With every strike, Valthuzar created more maturing marks, and eventually, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for him to deal with them.

Lucas was the kind of opponent who became more terrifying the longer the match extended.

At least that’s what his Innate Sword Skill suggested.

Cody, however, believed that the bastard was paying some sort of price secretly. Such power...it should be demanding for more than just a few drops of blood.

Otherwise, just from the Innate Sword Skill alone, Valthuzar would’ve been at least an SS-tier sword.

His assumptions soon proved true.

Suddenly, after another dozen exchanges, the smoky, azure aura vanished from the konda.

"What, did you finally run out of steam?" Cody jabbed, to which Lucas gritted his teeth.

The hoodlum was truly way too easy to anger.

If only he could control his emotions more, he would be a far more formidable opponent, perhaps even above Alopecion and Taiya, if only in terms of sheer dueling ability.

"Shut your filthy mouth!" Lucas snarled, seemingly done with Cody and his venomous tongue. "You still dare spout crap when you’re about to lose? Look around you, delusional idiot! You’re about to be obliterated! RAAAGH!"

He pushed Cody back with a burst of strength, then jumped back to the optimal distance.

His azure slash marks have matured.

It was time to destroy the bastard and enjoy every moment of the impending torture after taking away all his limbs.

"Hahaha!!" Lucas laughed as if he had lost his mind to fury. "Let’s see if you can still speak after this."

The air trembled with a mere wave of his sword as the mature marks responded to his call.

In the next moment, three slash marks shot forth, then two, then another three, and more after that.

They cut the air in trajectories that would make it impossible for Cody to dodge.

Even if he used some kind of profound movement-type Sword Skill, he was bound to lose a limb or two...and that would be the perfect scenario for Lucas, who quickly followed behind his projectiles to capitalize on any advantage he could.

Perhaps he could even take a leg or the venomous bastard’s sword hand.

The hoodlum could already imagine his sweet victory.

Only, Cody broke expectations yet again, seemingly truly adamant in not giving Lucas what he wanted.

Cody heroically dashed towards the incoming projectiles, legs moving faster, and faster, and faster still.

It appeared that he was ready to meet his doom head-on, so that he would simply respawn and avoid the torture — a smart, decisive move...had that been Cody’s plan.

No.

He was going for the win, a burning heaven’s worth of determination blazing in the depths of his hazel-brown eyes.

Time slowed to a crawl.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats. Daru sternly watched his friend’s valiance. Nathalie’s mouth was agape, her brows furrowed.

The scouts observed in sheer anticipation.

And Elune prayed hard for her dear’s success, whatever it was that he was planning to do.

Then it happened.

Flames...a mix of blue, purple, and vermillion — one that was hot enough to directly scorch souls, ignited and burned at the centre of the main stage.

Only for two seconds.

However, that short time was enough.

His flaming charge incinerated everything in his path, and the azure slash marks were like frostbitten stars swallowed by a newborn, miniature sun.

Lucas’ reaction time was insane, but he could never have reacted fast enough.

A blazing blade’s tip pierced through the soul-scorching flames, heading straight for the hoodlum’s forehead.

The experienced eyes in the arena almost popped out of their sockets. Naturally, this included Principal Jebroham.

In the next moment, he hurriedly sprang into action, more vigorous, black flames surrounding his old figure as he reappeared in front of Lucas.

"Hmm?!" the old academy head grunted in sudden horror.

His black flames...were being pushed back.

"Argh!" the old man yelped, opting to forcibly grab Cody’s wrist instead, stopping the soul-scorching charge before it dealt real damage that would’ve dragged the entire academy into a terrifying mess.

Behind him, Lucas stood rooted in place, horror frozen deep in his eyes as he stared at Vulkhan’s flaming tip that hovered just a few millimeters away from his glabella.

He felt it.

That strike would’ve taken his soul.