The Prince of Heaven's Gate - Last Stand At World's End

Gilmore looked at his opponent with a serious expression on his face.

His casual smile could not be seen anywhere, and it was replaced by a solemn look that he rarely showed to anyone.

This just proved that the person standing in front of him was someone that he couldn’t afford to look down on, or he would suffer a terrible defeat at the mysterious swordsman’s hands.

After watching the skinny teenager’s battle, Gilmore had finally understood how the Swordsman was able to execute those deadly attacks that were able to slice off his opponent’s limbs in an instant.

GIlmore was also a Swordsman. As a Prince of the Royal Family, he had been trained by only the best swordsmen of the land. Some even said that he was the next candidate in line to be able to bear the title “Sword Saint” when he grew up, but Gilmore knew that he was still far from achieving this prestigious title.

He might be arrogant, but he wasn’t delusional. Gilmore knew that he was meant for greatness, but it would take him a long time before he could finally reach that peak where the Masters of the Worlds stood, looking down upon the mortal lands like Gods from their heavenly thrones.

“Are both of you ready?” Judge Dredd’s question broke Gilmore out from his daze, as he refocused on the opponent in front of him.

“Yes,” Gilmore replied, as he unsheathed the sword in his scabbard.

He knew that if he didn’t take out his weapon now, he wouldn’t have a chance later on.

The skinny teenager, on the other hand, nodded his head, signaling to their referee that he was ready to fight as well.

Judge Dredd nodded and raised both of his hands high in the air.

“Battle Start!”

As soon as the signal for the start of the battle was announced, Gilmore disappeared from where he stood and reappeared two meters away from the skinny Swordsman.

He had used the skill “Flash Step”, which was similar to a blink ability that allowed Swordsmen like him to close the distance to deliver an attack against their opponent.

Gilmore’s sword strike was like a blur that struck his opponent, but the skinny teenager was prepared to meet his attack as well.

A metallic ring reverberated inside the arena as two swords clashed against each other. Both Swordsmen had calm expressions on their faces as if they had already expected this outcome.

Gilmore knew that he couldn’t distance himself from his opponent because his one-slice-attack was a long-ranged one. As long as he engaged him in close combat, the skinny teenager wouldn’t be able to use the technique that had allowed him to progress this far in the tournament.

As they continued to exchange blows with each other, they got a better understanding of their opponent’s abilities.

The audience roared and cheered for both fighters, despite the fact that they could only see two blurs moving around in the arena.

All the contestants were paying close attention to the battle, especially Lux, Nero, and the Boar, who stood beside the Half-Elf.

“Little Swordy is at a disadvantage against his opponent,” the Boar commented. “If he can’t gain enough distance to execute his attack, he will lose in a prolonged battle.”

Lux continued to look at the battle with great focus. He didn’t affirm or deny the Boar’s words. The Half-Elf didn’t know the skinny Swordsman enough to judge whether he could fight a prolonged battle or not.

All he knew was that a single mistake from either fighter would end this match in a heartbeat, and he was waiting for that small gap to better understand his future opponents.

Lux arched an eyebrow when he noticed something peculiar in the battle.

Whenever Gilmore executed a slash, the Half-Elf could see two slashes instead of one. The slashes happen in very quick successions, making him understand how deadly Gilmore’s attack was.

It was like a hammer, hitting a nail twice. These attacks done in quick succession would greatly sap his opponent’s stamina due to the power of two blows combined.

This was a passive skill that Gilmore had learned in Elysium which was called “Double Slash”, allowing him to do double damage with a single slash.

However, the skinny Swordsman’s counter to this ability was more interesting. After blocking Gilmore’s attack for the first time, he would skid his sword downwards until it reached the handle of Gilmore’s sword, before using the momentum to counterattack by moving his sword in a hacking motion, forcing his blade to descend on Gilmore’s shoulder.

Whenever this happened, Gilmore would take a step to move to his right, in order to allow the blade to pass briefly by his side, dodging it completely.

A minute later, both of their swords started to shine, infusing their magical abilities to them, making them sharper and increasing the power of each blow they delivered.

Lux was also a Swordsman, but he had to admit that compared to the two fighters, his sword skills were mediocre. If he didn’t have his crippling disability when he was young, he might have mastered the Kaizer Family’s Sword Art, allowing him to stand toe to toe with the young Swordsmen of his generation whose way with the sword had surpassed most of their peers.

“Omnislash.”

As soon as the name of this skill left Gilmore’s lips, his body blurred which made the skinny Swordsman lose sight of him for a brief moment.

A second later, he felt a stinging pain in his back as Gilmore hacked him from behind. A moment later, another slash was delivered to his left shoulder.

If not for the fact that he had somehow managed to take a step back, Gilmore’s sword strike might have severed his shoulder completely. Even so, a centimeter deep cut still ran down from his shoulder to his elbow, causing Keane to grit his teeth, as he blocked the consecutive attacks that followed afterward.

All in all, Gilmore delivered six attacks that were too fast, even for Keane to follow. Only his instincts as a Swordsman allowed him to barely block the third up to the sixth blow, avoiding serious injuries to his body.

When the blonde Swordsman finished delivering his devastating attack, he reappeared in front of Keane and delivered a sword thrust aimed on the skinny teenager’s chest.

A metallic ringing sound spread throughout the surroundings as Keane’s sword deflected Gilmore’s attack, forcing the blade to pierce his left shoulder instead.

The blonde Swordsman was planning to deliver another deadly thrust but his instincts screamed at him to put some distance between them.

Gilmore immediately stepped to his right and backed away in a hurry.

A second later, a three-meter deep cut sliced the arena in half and made the Boar, who was watching from the stands, gasp in shock.

Gilmore, as well as the audience, stared at the Swordsman, who was standing straight and holding his sword in his right hand. Its tip was pointed at the ground, right where the deep cut started.

His left arm was a bloody mess, but his gaze was still as calm as the surface of the lake, untouched by the elements of the world.

For some reason, everyone looking at the skinny teenager felt as if his aura had changed. Right now, the presence that Keane was radiating was so sharp that everyone looking at him could feel their skin tingle.

Gilmore gave the deep cut on the ground a side-long glance before shifting his attention to his opponent. He had already known that his opponent was strong, but he never expected that the skinny swordsman’s mastery of the sword to be able to cut the arena cleanly in half.

“So, you finally decided to get serious,” Gilmore stated.

Keane shifted his attention to him as a bitter smile appeared on his face. He had done his best to hold back, but doing that against an opponent as strong as Gilmore was a stupid thing to do.

“I guess ending this battle peacefully was never an option,” Keane replied. “I still have a long way to go before I reach my ideal.”

Keane sighed in his heart as he pointed his sword towards his opponent.

‘Forgive me, Master,’ Keane thought as he prepared to fight with the Sword Skills that had been engraved in his body through constant training he had received his Master since he was young.

‘It seems that I still have many things to learn about how the outside world works.’ Keane mused as another sigh escaped his lips. “I need to find my version of peace, and in order to do that I must first sweep away the obstacles that block my way. That’s right, I need to start with you first.”

“You’re being quite talkative for a duel to the death,” Gilmore replied. “Didn’t your Master ever tell you not to do that?”

The blonde Swordsman took a step and reappeared in front of Keane, who moved his sword to meet his attack as if he had predicted where GIlmore would strike him.

“You’re right,” Keane replied as he gazed at his opponent who was hell-bent on striking him down. “My Master taught me a lot of things, and one of them was… in the face of someone who wants you dead, Peace will never be an option. Since that is the case, I will no longer try to settle this matter peacefully.”

Yes. He no longer wanted to settle this match peacefully. Since his opponent was someone who was determined to win, he could only answer his determination with his own, and teach him that even someone as peace-loving as him, knew how to draw his sword with the intent to kill.