God's Dynasty

SLASH!

Ryan's sword flew precisely towards a gap within Gabriel's armor.

The first attack was quick and sharp, Gabriel quickly raised his sword horizontally to block it. The two swords collided and sparks began to splatter.

Gabriel was still inexperienced as an Aurora user, as it required a certain amount of concentration to draw its powers.

The moment the two swords met with a grinding sound, Ryan kicked up a stone he had seen earlier when checking the surrounding and kicked it straight at Gabriel's left cheek leaving a cut.

Gabriel, who was hit in the face unconsciously closed his left eye, and Ryan seeing that quickly aimed for the opponent's blind spot and aimed straight for the throat.

Surprisingly however, Gabriel reacted and quickly parried Ryan's sword. This was thanks to the reflexes that were unique to Aurora users.

"You fuċkɨnġ coward-!"

Finally a haze of light began to shine on Gabriel's sword. It was Aurora. If it collided with Ryan's sword, it would cause the sword to be bent or broken instantaneously.

Ryan with his legs relaxed dodged Gabriel's horizontal slash which was filled with anger however the momentum behind it left a giant gush of wind causing Ryan to fly away bumping a towering tree.

But even in the midst of being knocked senseless, Ryan had a faint smile on his lips.

On the other hand, Gabriel who was looking down on Ryan had no winner's smile but a feeling of anger and disappointment.

"This guy…"

A small knife was lodged in Gabriel's waist. At the same time as Ryan had his body thrown towards the tree, he threw a knife with his other hand and hit Gabriel's gap in his armor within his waist.

It required a lot of luck, but it worked nonetheless.

'Still, it'll be difficult for me to hold a sword in this state.'

Although Ryan had gotten a successful blow, he was not in a good state either.

His body flew and hit the tree quite hard, and also his sword despite it not hitting Gabriel sword directly, it had bent due to the Aurora surrounding the blade.

Ryan tried to stall the situation, in order to bide time.

"You still going to fight?!"

"What?"

"I don't know if you are inexperienced or what, but if you don't get treatment soon you'll die. The dagger I stabbed you with was poison!"

Of course, Ryan was just lying.

A poisoned knife to him was very difficult to manage, as it loses its effectiveness over time and if Ryan had cut himself accidentally when managing it it'd mean his own death.

To him, there was no reason to have such a dagger on him except during a raid in which he must take out targets quietly.

He was trying to force Gabriel to retreat, but after hearing Ryan's word Gabriel's face hardened with anger and determination.

"Did you kill my brother in the same way you tried to kill me?!"

Gabriel clenched his teeth and pulled out the dagger that was embedded within his waist. Blood began to pour from the opened wound.

It was an action that he had thought was the best course of action if the knife was really poisoned.

"…"

Gabriel's eyes locked onto Ryan and after a few seconds of grogginess he had regained his composure.

His anger now turned to a cold sharp stare, as if nothing can stop him in killing his target.

"It seems I haven't introduced myself. My name is Gabriel Prau, the younger brother of Malik Prau, a man you had killed."

Seeing that Gabriel was approaching, Ryan quickly got up as fast as he could and tried regaining his composure.

His bluff now was ineffective, and Gabriel showed no sign of backing down.

There was only one way this battle could end now, and it is with Ryan or Gabriel killing the other.

As if trying to ignore the pain that was caused by the stabbing, Gabriel roared loudly while raising his sword, slamming it down towards Ryan. The last strike in the beginning was weak compared to this, it was as if Gabriel turned from a novice fighter to a veteran in a matter of minutes.

It was also a level of attack that Ryan had never faced before.

'Shit!'

He saw through the trajectory of the sword and bȧrėly avoided it, but that was not the end of it. Unlike the mercenaries who had always shown gaps after swinging the sword, Gabriel swung the sword continuously without a break leaving no room for Ryan to counterattack.

'What is this…!'

Having completely given up on fighting the enraged Gabriel, Ryan quickly flew to gain distance from Gabriel's attack. However, due to the Aurora surrounding the blade Ryan was cut on the shoulder despite dodging the attack.

'I will die if this continues!'

Ryan had never been taught proper swordsmanship. He had learned how to hold a sword and how to kill people with it, nothing more than that.

He had survived this far with his fast reflexes which allowed him to kill his enemy with speed rather than skill.

Ryan's eyes began staring at Gabriel, trying to grasp the swordsmanship he was facing right now and try memorize as much as he can. The movement of the feet, the angle of the arm holding the sword and the way Gabriel was breathing.

His eyes felt like it was about to fall off his sockets, and his head felt like it was overheating and about to explode.

But Ryan felt he had understood the basics of what was going on in front of him.

He quickly grabbed his bent sword and collided with Gabriel's sword.

BANG!

The two swords collided, and it sounded like glass breaking.