Celestial Era: The Rise of the Full-Time Enhancer

Vincent had no plans of going easy on this person.

He's someone who was trying to harm him after all. All of the man's strikes were lethal and he has to return the favor.

Vincent stayed on his ground after parrying another strike… Perhaps because Wesley was being too impatient, he made a wide swing that exposed his right side.

'I can't show all my abilities in this first duel… I'll save some of my moves and end this battle now.' Vincent thought as he swiftly threw his Astral Night Dagger to Wesley's chest as the latter's eyes widened in shock.

He probably didn't expect that Vincent would throw away his weapon! After all, he was still confident with the Aura Protection on his body to stop the dagger from heavily injuring him.

However, Vincent was different. Now that he threw away his weapon, he would have to endure his sword strike without a weapon!

He felt that it was a perfect opportunity for him as well!

In that split second, Wesley poured 30% of his Aura to defend his body while 70% of it would be to end Vincent's chance of competing again.

Bam!

The Astral Night Dagger hit his protective aura as his sword struck Vincent's Mana Gloves!

That's right… Vincent just used the Tier 1 Mana Art called Mana Gloves. This low-level technique's function was simply to coat his hands with mana and was normally used when handling sensitive tools or during alchemy. It's not really meant to be used in battle.

However, there is something that Wesley didn't know and that is his Synthetic Celestial Core!

What he uses is Pseudo-Celestial Energy which is on a different level than mana.

Thud!

Vincent held the sword with his hand!

Wesley's full swing was blocked! The blade was grabbed by Vincent's hand like he has the iron-like skin of the Barbarians!

"Y-you!"

Wesley witnessed this with horror… He had never seen anyone catch an Aura Knight's sword strike! It was too dangerous since the Aura is a form of energy that is mysterious and could even fight against Celestial Energy with the right concentration or amount.

Even his patriarch would not dare to catch a sword strike of someone at his level.

It was incomprehensible to him but he didn't have the time to think about it…

Ptui!

He spat a mouthful of blood.

'When did I—'

He was confused!

It was then he felt the pain in his chest!

He realized that Vincent's dagger pierced through his defense! His Aura Protection did not fully stop the dagger that was carelessly thrown at him! He was sure that the force behind that throw wasn't strong enough to heavily injure him!

At most, he was expecting a scratch or light injury…

'What's going on? It doesn't seem like a dagger technique or a Mana Art… There were no Mana Fluctuations… How could he—'

As he was processing this in his mind, he felt that the dagger that stabbed his chest disappeared…

He swiftly stepped back as he felt another threat coming.

Whoosh~

This time he managed to evade the thrown dagger…

However, that attack was different this time, the dagger shifted its direction in midair as it hit his shoulder guard!

He felt relieved at this since he was confident that his expensive pauldron could stop the dagger easily… But his expectation wasn't met again as he cried in pain!

He can feel Vincent's energy invading his body…

'He can control the dagger's path? Is it similar to Sword Kinesis that I've heard about?'

Wesley thought as he bolstered his defense again. He wasn't aware of its Assassinate Skill after all.

Sword Kinesis is a Magic Knight's ability. Specifically, it was something that a Grand Knight would have.

Obviously, Vincent is not one of them… Then it must be similar to that or the dagger is a Magic Artifact with such a strange ability.

'Not good… My aura will be drained before I could even injure this person…'

Right now, he was suppressing all his injuries using his Aura. It is a common technique that Aura Knights use in battle.

This is why they are one of the best possible soldiers as their tenacity and vitality are just amazing. As long as an Aura Knight wasn't instantly killed, they could mystically use their Aura to suppress their injuries and continue fighting.

This is what was happening to Wesley right now…

Although he's injured, he hasn't despaired yet as he knows that he can still go on.

'Shit… I don't like to use my family's Soul Art… but I have no other choice. I will lose if this continued.'

Seeing that Vincent was about to attack again, he realized that he has to use the Soul Art that he didn't want to show in the crowd just yet.

This soul art wasn't meant to be used against Vincent after all. He was previously planning to use it against Elena after dealing with Vincent…

'It's now or never… Soul Mutilation!'

His Soul Domain and Soul Pressure were immediately canceled as soon as he cast this technique… Furthermore, his Ancient Soul Aura, or the technique he was using to ignore Vincent's Soul Domain and Soul Pressure was similarly removed.

Because of that, he was pressed to the ground unable to move… He could only kneel on the floor and he even spat another mouthful of blood.

However, despite his condition, his face was excited.

As he expected, Vincent was unable to dodge any soul techniques! He won!

He was confident that this blind man would collapse any moment now…

'Right, his Soul Domain should be canceled by now. I just need to endure.' This is what he thought.

'Eh?'

He waited for a few seconds but Vincent just remained there standing and looking at something in his hands.

It was weird since he was supposed to be blind but he seems to be holding some broken pieces of a magic tool.

It was then he heard Vincent speak…

"What a strong and vicious Soul Technique… You even destroyed two of my protection talismans…"

Vincent grimly said as he shook his head.

It was as if he was disappointed by his attack just now.

Nevertheless, Wesley just felt completely helpless… He was about to admit his defeat when he suddenly felt a stinging pain on the top of his head as his face was smashed to the ground…

Boom!