The Monster King's Legacy-Chapter 198: A Grand Bout Between Two Monsters

After several minutes, Aldric took a step back, his expression turning serious. The playful glint in his eyes was gone, replaced by something far sharper. He rolled his shoulders, the tension in the air deepening.

"You're better than I expected," Aldric said, his voice carrying across the field. "But enough games. Let's see the real you."

He planted his feet on the ground firmly, his aura shifting as the ground beneath him cracked slightly from the pressure of his stance. The sheer physical might radiating from him made the human spectators cheer even louder.

Lance's lips curled into a small, challenging smile. "I was just about to ask you the same."

Lance adjusted his posture, his calm demeanor hardening into something sharper, something that sent chills down the spines of those watching. For the first time, the air around Lance seemed to hum faintly, a subtle but unmistakable sign of the power lurking within him.

The crowd fell into a hushed silence as they watched the two warriors prepare for the next exchange, even those standing beside Aelyndra couldn't bring themselves to cheer like the humans were doing a moment ago, the atmosphere seemed too serious for that. The suspense was peak. The playful dance of testing strikes had ended. The real fight was about to begin.

Aelyndra smirked from the sidelines, murmuring to herself, "Show them, Lance. Show them why you lead."

King Aldric grinned like a man who'd found a worthy opponent. "Come, Lance. Let's see if your strength can match mine!"

Lance's smile didn't waver. "Don't hold back, Aldric. I'd hate to be disappointed."

The crowd gasped as king Aldric surged forward, the force of his movement shaking the ground beneath, as his massive frame blurring into motion.

In response, Lance barely moved. With an elegant sidestep, he avoided the strike, the impact of Aldric's blow carving a crater several meters wide into the earth and just as deep. Dust and rock exploded outward in a thunderous roar, sending shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. The force from the strike didn't even allow the dust to settle into a natural smokescreen, as it was blown outward.

The onlookers gasped as they shielded themselves from the force and debris quickly, amazed at the intensity of the battle.

Aldric didn't relent. He spun, his foot sweeping toward Lance like a steel battering ram. Lance raised an arm, deflecting the kick with a clean block. The sound of impact echoed like a clap of thunder, and yet Lance stood firm.

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"Is that all?" Lance asked, his voice as steady as ever.

Aldric's grin returned, sharper than before. "Not even close."

He lunged again, faster this time, throwing a flurry of punches and strikes that sent ripples through the earth itself as his eyes seemed to glare through it all. Each blow was aimed to break bones, to crush, to overwhelm, a dominating force. Lance, however, was a ghost, flowing between the attacks as though they were never aimed at him. He parried some strikes, his movements controlled and measured, redirecting Aldric's strength against him.

From the sidelines, Aelyndra watched with a keen eye. "Lance is toying with him," she muttered, her lips curling into a faint smile.

Around her, the crowd erupted in disbelief.

"How is he keeping up with the king?"

"No one can match King Aldric in combat!"

"This… this can't be real!"

That aside, half of those gathered could no longer follow the fight clearly at this point, piecing things together as they watched.

…

Aldric grinned, slamming a fist into the ground, sending fissures racing toward Lance like cracks in glass. The earth buckled and exploded upward in a torrent of debris, a maneuver meant to catch Lance off guard, he leaped into the air, spinning gracefully above the chaos below. His descent was marked by a low hum around of as he landed softly atop a rising boulder, his posture nigh perfection. His calm demeanor seemed to mock Aldric's raw show of overwhelming strength.

"You'll need to do better," Lance said, his voice carrying across the field.

Aldric snarled, planting his feet. His muscles tensed as the ground beneath him cratered once again.

The onlookers fixed their eyes on the fight below to see how it would unfold, yet, in a blink, Aldric had seemingly disappeared, reappearing right in front of Lance, his fist aiming to obliterate everything in its path.

It was unbelievable and beyond reason that one could even move that fast, and whatever his punch contacted was already desolate, yet, an even greater shock and surprise ensued as Lance caught the blow with his open palm.

The shockwave that followed was unlike anything seen since the fight began. Dust and rock exploded outward in all directions, forming a mushroom cloud of debris, that if anyone with prior knowledge was to witness it, they would only liken what their eyes saw to a nuclear bomb, albeit one of smaller scale.

The force was so intense that the spectators screamed, some being pushed back as they scrambled for cover.

"Move back!" knights shouted, herding the crowd farther away.

Aelyndra's voice rang clear. "Brace yourselves!" She promptly formed a shield in front of them, deflecting all debris towards them, but even then, there was no way to mitigate the force from the shockwave, and many still lost their balance and fell on their butts .

The battlefield, once a serene field of adequate green and hard ground, had been reduced to a wasteland of cracks and craters. In the center of it all, Lance and Aldric stood, the only figures unshaken by it all.

Aldric's grin was wild now, exhilaration lighting up his eyes. "You're holding back, aren't you?"

Lance's lips curled faintly. "Perhaps."

The air around Lance shifted as he finally moved to attack, after all, he had been on the defensive for the most part of their bout. His speed was incomprehensible, even to the most seasoned warriors watching. There wasn't even a blur, one moment he stood still, the next he was upon Aldric.