F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 296: Legacy Thief

"He’s still going! Onimaru Kunitsuna has no answer!"

Nathalie wished different words than the variations she was barely surviving on would come out of her mouth, but the Sky Prince seemed not to be built for entertainment.

It had been a minute and a half since the battle began, yet he was totally content with bombarding the other party with the same Wind Slashes and Cutter Halos.

Daru was constantly reminding himself to remain patient.

Skylar Ashwind was the most skilled opponent he had fought so far, and although the crowd did not like what the tyrannical young master was doing, he believed that there was nothing wrong with it.

This was an official match for the championship, after all, and the Sky Prince already had everything he needed in the early stages of his career as a Bladeborn to be pleasing the crowd instead of going for the win.

It didn’t seem like he cared, either.

Honestly speaking, Daru would wholeheartedly admit that he was growing a lot in this battle, even though all he had done was run around and defend himself from the sword projectiles.

Merely fighting a very skilled opponent who was willing to stop at nothing to achieve his goals was quite the eye-opener.

How to conserve energy better; how huge of an advantage items were, how underprepared he actually was for this match.

Daru had a few potions and tonics in his inventory, but there were fewer than a dozen combined.

His opponent, meanwhile, had already used over twenty, and he was still going.

It was as if Skylar was certain that his biggest advantage lay in his inventory, and because of his character, it was not beneath him to use any means necessary to win.

This.

Daru could pick this up from the tyrannical young master, although he probably would never be able to do it in the same way and level as Skylar does. Ever.

He had morals, after all, and a compromise of his humanity was not as easy for him.

Three more minutes of the same, boring, one-sided aerial assault played out before, finally, Daru felt that he was tapping into the slightly deeper parts of his stamina reserves.

This was certainly not good. However, it at least allowed him to realize that for the first time in his life, his weakness was being exploited.

The hole in his overall combat prowess was being converted into a lethal disadvantage.

Still, Daru didn’t panic.

He merely continued surviving with the help of the Limbo Carrot and Hellberry he had consumed a few minutes ago.

This time, he made sure to make only the most efficient of movements.

Meanwhile, Skylar also continued burning through his stamina potion reserves.

Thirty, forty, then eventually, fifty.

After ten whole minutes of the same action, the Sky Prince finally stopped, hovering in the skies while watching his opponent with a slightly less playful smile.

Daru breathed heavily beneath him, looking back with the same unyielding and unfazed gaze.

The crowd watched with expectant gazes. Has Skylar’s golden bag run out of stamina potions?

"To think you survived that...Haha, well, that would’ve been a lame defeat for the enigmatic Onimaru Kunitsuna if you didn’t, so that’s fair." The tyrannical young master chuckled as he slowly made his way down.

He had no more stamina potions to use, so the skies were not an option anymore. Fighting his exhausted foe head-on would be more practical for victory.

Besides, it wasn’t like stamina potions were his only advantage, plus Daru seemed to be down to less than half his own reserves.

"You’re not going to fly around anymore?" Daru asked coldly.

"Yeah," Skylar confirmed as he gracefully landed on the ground, the handle of his jikdo settling in his palm. "I just decided that it would be more satisfying to defeat you the standard way, so count yourself lucky."

Daru, however, sneered in response.

"Didn’t you just run out of stamina potions?"

"What? Absolutely not! I just decided I would give you a chance to fight back."

"I see. It seems you’re not as smart and logical as I thought, then..."

The smile on Skylar’s face faltered slightly at the last retort. Clearly, he did not like how his opponent was shaking his head in slight disappointment.

"I don’t need to rely on my sword’s flight ability to defeat you." He taunted, failing to suppress a facial twitch.

Whatever that meant, only Skylar knew.

Daru, meanwhile, exploded into a charge. He might be low in stamina, but he was high in enthusiasm.

He could finally clash blades with Skylar in a way he very much preferred!

The Sky Prince sneered inwardly, quickly assuming the stance for his seven slash "counter" skill, his left eye subtly emitting a scarlet aura.

"H-Hey, they’re finally going to..."

The crowd had just realized that they were finally in for the treat they had been expecting ten minutes ago.

This time, the match didn’t disappoint.

Daru sheathed his tachi as he closed the distance, mimicking his opponent’s actions, except for the L-stance.

Then, the moment he arrived within striking distance, his opponent’s jikdo lashed out like a cutting whip.

But his tachi, too, flashed out of its saya at almost the same time.

The ethereal sounds of shattering glass echoed in the arena, then another, then five more times.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Skylar, too, seemed dumbfounded for a moment, his focus slipping.

Daru, on the other hand, firmly grabbed at the opportunity and struck one more time, this time with an eerie black aura veiling his blade.

His strike was both fast and powerful. It would be unwise to block it passively.

Of course, despite being caught with his pants down for a moment, Skylar had a way to defend himself in a way best suited for the situation.

A violent gust of spherical wind extended from his chestplate, momentarily blowing Daru away for just long and far enough for his Mountainsplitter to hit nothing but air.

Skylar then quickly struck back, his jikdo howling like a silver hurricane.

Daru, however, easily dodged with a somersault, counterattacking in the process with a pitiful, red slash mark that his opponent easily swatted away with his next, casual swing.

He landed gracefully a few meters away.

The two youngsters locked eyes, but this time, Skylar seemed far less amused.

"And how did you obtain the Legacy Sword Skill of my family, I wonder?"