Battle Frenzy

Licking his lips, the crescent-moon blades weaved complicated patterns around Casio’s hand before coming to a sudden stop. Lifting them, he suddenly shot forward and, in the flicker of a second, instantly covered the small distance limited by the circular arena. He appeared right before All-Mouthy King, the blades in his hand thrust right for All-Mouthy King’s chest.

“What speed!”

Casio’s first move instantly shocked everyone. Perhaps it was because All-Mouthy King’s fame was too bright and his most recent fight had been against Divian, but most of the audience sort of looked down on Casio.

“I had assumed he would be some weak chicken.” Inside Flame City, Sharmie’s eyes were wide open as she watched. “He really does possess some tricks of the trade.”

“Captain, when you’re in this state you get really scary.” Mario shook his head at the scene. As tactical strategist for the squadron, he was extremely familiar with the numerous famed people of the Federation. He obviously hadn’t overlooked a figure like Casio. “Please stay calm. All-Mouthy King is just an illusory figure. You can’t be too engrossed with him.”

Bang~~~

Mario squatted on the ground, tears streaming down in his grievance. Why! Why does our captain’s intellect shrink when it comes to All-Mouthy King!?

“You stupid idiot! This is just standard routine for All-Mouthy King! Furthermore, he will definitely appear in the CHF! My gut is telling me this!” Sharmie exclaimed at the fallen man, her voice brimming with confidence. Her words made Mario cry out, his tears already shed and emptied. Gut feeling… indeed, only the stupid would try to do something like reason with a lady.

☀

Indeed, All-Mouthy King had long made his choice by hoisting up Molok’s Battle Axe. If he allowed an all-rounded soldier like Casio near him, it would be an absolute nightmare.

Meeting Casio’s attack head on, All-Mouthy King’s movements became extremely heavy. On the other hand, Casio seemed light and nimble as a feather. He maintained a constant, controlled distance and didn’t dare to rush with his killing move in order to prevent against any instantaneous counter by All-Mouthy King. Soldier rich in combat experience never trusted their opponent. One might assume All-Mouthy King was just barely putting up any resistance, but that assumption could be crushed the moment he released those constraints he placed on himself. Casio would never let himself get fooled by this!

As long as he could deal with Molok’s Battle Axe, All-Mouthy King wouldn’t be able to put up any resistance. Currently, all of his opponent’s strength and soul power was used just to move the battle axe. Even so, these movements were extremely… awkward. That weapon really was too heavy.

Aware of this fact, Casio continued his relentless harassment while also keeping guard against any counter from All-Mouthy King that could come at any moment. This was a battle of energy consumption, which was extremely advantageous for Casio. If he could, on the off chance, grasp a weakness in All-Mouthy King’s defense, then he would immediately launch a lethal strike.

Successive lightning-quick fierce attacks made his twin blades radiate as light was reflected off its surface. Five minutes into the match and Casio had already sent over eighty slashes. Every time he approached and came face-to-face with All-Mouthy King, he would launch a barrage of attacks. Regardless of what result he obtained from such attacks, he would quickly retreat and prevent himself from getting into an entanglement.

As for All-Mouthy King, while his ability to dodge and evade was quite strong, he was faced with an opponent who possessed caution and sufficient strength. Even as seven to eight attacks landed on his body, he was actually unable to shore up any resistance.

Everyone watching the broadcast was already completely silent, including those that wanted to see All-Mouthy King lose. While they wanted him to lose, they didn’t want him to lose in such a stupid, vexing way! Can you not throw that thing away? Don’t use it! No one is forcing you to use it!

But that axe seemed to have stuck itself to All-Mouthy King’s body. He didn’t seem to understand! With him holding that gigantic thing, every action and move he made was completely under Casio’s control. If it hadn’t been for its large surface, thus allowing the axe to couple as a shield, then he would have been chopped to pieces by now.

But anyone with the slightest bit of skill would be able to spot the biggest issue here. All of this had lasted so long just because Casio had been too cautious and was worried about the off chance that All-Mouthy King would suddenly ditch the axe and launch a killing blow. This meant Casio hadn’t yet gone all out with his attacks. His current state was making sure his strategy was as precise as possible while also being on guard. This way he could maximise the amount of energy being consumed by All-Mouthy King. His plan showed the personal accomplishment a squadron captain should possess.

“Your movements are too slow.” Casio’s voice rang out from behind All-Mouthy King. “If I were you, I’d have tossed that cumbersome thing away by now!”

Even as he spoke, two glinting blades sparkled with a chilling light as they pierced toward All-Mouthy King’s ribs like two poisonous fangs.

Unable to pull his axe back in time, All-Mouthy King unexpectedly used the giant axe as an anchor and swung himself up into the air. It was quite an ingenious way of dodging.

Ding ding.

Two metallic sounds rang out as the quick attacks of the crescent-moon blades were blocked by the giant axe. Even so, Casio’s plan continued to reveal itself as he went all-out on his offensive. In this situation, All-Mouthy King had lost the chance to toss his battle axe and counter.

“Wake up to the cold light of my blades!” roared Casio.

Twin blades followed by the shadows of a hundred slashes!

As though their spiritual souls had suddenly woken up, Casio’s crescent-moon blades seemed to transform into poisonous vipers that rushed berserkly toward All-Mouthy King in rapid succession. He didn’t display any flashy moves in this assault. Once a person passes through the elite training process set up by the Federation’s heroic soul academy, most would toss away any fanciful and impractical moves in favour of clean, powerful ones. Casio was currently using the most coherent and effective way to link a berserk attack style with his crescent-moon blades.

His style was quite similar to All-Mouthy King’s previous matches, though the sole aspect of his ‘speed’ was even faster than All-Mouthy King’s. The combat techniques he used, along with his outstanding ability to grasp opportunities and his clear grasp of the overall situation, revealed the key points heroic soul academies wished to nurture.

In an instant, an afterimage of Casio seemed to appear behind All-Mouthy King.

Still not wanting to throw away his battle axe, All-Mouthy King had sunk himself into a completely passive stance. On the other hand, if he had truly tossed it, then he would’ve been slashed apart.

Dang, dang, dang, dang…

Again using the giant battle axe as the axis, All-Mouthy King tried his best to dodge and weave through those sharp and accurate attacks. Casio’s assault wasn’t anywhere close to Emily’s flashy Flaming Lotus Dance, but more of a blitzkrieg that combined successive attacks into a controllable chain that followed its own rhythm as it weaved and cut toward its target.

Casio’s feet seemed illusory as he moved, his blades flashing constantly as slash upon slash was swung at All-Mouthy King’s body. Although he didn’t have the chance to leave a lethal wound, he didn’t grow impatient. Since the start he was wary of All-Mouthy King’s lethal capabilities and didn’t take the risk of going all-out. The very instant he did so, All-Mouthy King would toss that axe and steal his life away.