Ark Undead

Before people could react, the two weapons clashed again.

The clanging of steel against steel enveloped everyone's hearing like a giant net.

Crimson flames burned on the blazing straight blade.

Each swing leaves a trail of flame as the blade passes through the air.

The straight knife itself has also become more durable.

When Melanie stood up again, she was much more at ease when facing the experts' attacks once more.

Her body was greatly enhanced.

Not only can he go head-to-head with experts in terms of strength, but he can also keep up with their attacks in terms of speed, instead of relying solely on muscle memory as before.

Her eyes could follow the sword in her hand, as well as the movements of the expert.

Melantha felt that the world had slowed down considerably in her perception, and she was even able to see the expert's knife trajectory.

When the straight sword and the katana collided, the two blades, forged from special materials, only trembled slightly, without showing any signs of breakage.

The force and the wind from the blades tore the branches off the flowers swaying on the ground in the initial furnace.

Petals danced around the two men's blades, forming a near-circular circle around them.

The impact caused it to remain suspended in the air, unable to fall back to the ground.

The two wielded their swords faster and faster, the dense, rapid sounds filling everyone's ears.

Nowadays, ordinary people can no longer see the trajectory of their swords; they can only see faint shadows and fleeting flashes of sharp light.

Only some soldiers could still barely make out the direction of the battle between the two.

"So fast..."

Morton, who had been intently watching the game, unconsciously uttered this remark.

If Melantha had attacked him in that state, Morton probably wouldn't have lasted even a minute.

He could barely make out the marks left by their blades. But if he were to defend himself against such an attack, he would definitely not be able to react in time.

Yato remained silent; both men possessed unique swordsmanship skills, yet it was clear they shared the same foundation in Eastern swordsmanship.

Yato, who had been practicing Eastern swordsmanship for a long time, actually felt that he could gain some new insights from the duel between the two.

Has Melantha grown into this kind of person without us even realizing it?

The battle between the two continued, and everyone believed that Melantha was finally able to hold her own against the expert.

But only Melantha herself knew that her time was running out.

"..."

Melantha gritted her teeth; after all, she was neither immortal nor ashes. Even with the fire's approval, she still had to endure the pain it brought.

Yes, her strength has indeed increased to some extent. But her frail body cannot withstand such side effects.

To bear the power of flames with an ordinary human body is to defy the heavens.

Melantha could feel her skin slowly drying out, and with each breath, her chest and nasal cavity burned with intense pain.

And the power within her body, which had been abundant at the beginning, gradually dissipated with each strike.

She had less than five minutes left.

If she cannot find a way to defeat this heroic spirit within these five minutes, then she will surely wither away quietly after her brilliant bloom.

She couldn't accept this outcome.

The experts also seemed to sense that Melantha's power was gradually and evenly weakening with each strike.

He wasn't in a hurry to attack. As long as the two maintained this evenly matched state, he would definitely be the one to win in the end.

A life-or-death battle is inherently about winning.

Melantha would rather be defeated by the experts again than remain in a stalemate and be dragged out to death by them.

So instead of resisting the expert's attack, she deliberately took a step to the side.

The blade of the katana sliced ​​across Melantha's temple, severing a strand of purple hair. The hair, along with the blade, floated in the air before being completely engulfed by flames in the next instant, turning into ashes as it burned.

Having dodged the sword attack, Melantha took a step forward and slashed upwards at the expert's chest.

If the expert doesn't turn around and sheathe his knife, he'll inevitably be disemboweled by that blow.

So he did indeed sheathe his sword, holding it horizontally in front of him. After blocking Melantha's blade, he also took a step forward.

The two were now less than a meter apart.

At such a distance, the blade only needs to turn slightly to slice off a piece of flesh or an arm.

This is also the most dangerous moment in their battle of wits.

Neither of them chose to retreat. At this point, whoever retreats will fall into a disadvantage and be relentlessly pursued by the other side.

As a master swordsman, he naturally understood the situation. Therefore, he not only wanted to take it a step further, but also to use this step to completely defeat Melantha.

The blade that was originally blocking her chest suddenly turned and slashed diagonally toward Melantha's left shoulder.

Melantha, surprisingly, did not dodge. She also kept close to the blade of the katana and slashed at the expert's lower abdomen.

The blade of the katana pressed down on the blade of the straight sword, and as the two struggled, the blades simultaneously slashed towards their bodies.

The blades rubbed together in the flames, sending sparks flying that landed on their skin, leaving marks of varying depths.

But no one stopped; the blades, ruthless and resolute, sliced ​​across the hem of their clothes with the intent to kill their opponent.

laugh...

Two sounds of blades piercing flesh were heard simultaneously.

Two streams of blood shot out from different directions.

Their bodies were even closer together. After the blade strike ended, both men simultaneously flipped their swords by the hilts and struck each other's heads with the bottom of the hilts.

boom!

Arms collided, and then both men simultaneously raised one leg and kicked the other in the abdomen.

Their calves collided, and the two finally caught their breath amidst the relentless, wave-like onslaught, each taking a step back.

"call..."

The expert held the knife in one hand, exhaled, and then inhaled back into his lungs.

A huge, bloody wound stretched across his lower abdomen down to the side of his ribs.

Melantha wasn't much better off.

A chunk of flesh was sliced ​​off her left shoulder. If she hadn't reacted in time, that sword strike would have severed her left arm completely.

Even with effective avoidance, it became even more difficult for Melanie to hold the knife with both hands again.

Melantha's left hand trembled slightly as she gripped the hilt of the knife tightly in her right hand.

The girl forcibly controlled her trembling body. The flames burned at the wound, quickly stopping the bleeding. Her body also gradually recovered its strength under the intense energy consumption.

As long as she breathes, the flames will protect her and forge her into a battle-hardened body.

Therefore, Melanie must not waste any time.

Before the flames consume her, she must kill the heroic spirit or fall under his blade.

Having just caught her breath, Melantha took another step forward, sword in hand, and slashed downwards with her blade.

The expert reacted extremely quickly, raising his knife above his head to block the blow, then immediately stepped forward, glancing at the blade as he turned and slashed at Melantha's chest.

Their figures intertwined once more. But this time, the clanging and clattering sounds were much less frequent.

Only those with sharp eyesight could discern the true nature of the frenzied attack.

It's not that the number of clashes decreased, but rather that they almost simultaneously chose to abandon defense.

When faced with an attack, try to dodge it with your own movements rather than trying to block the blade's trajectory.

Both blades were constantly slicing across the other's clothes, but few of their attacks left any marks on the other's body.

The two of them, relying on each other's blades, staged a drama of walking on the edge of a knife.

Sometimes, when faced with the same slash, they dodge in almost the same direction.

He truly deserves the title of expert, even to this day. Even after exchanging injuries with his opponent, the expert's movements remained as calm as still water.

Melantha, on the other hand, exuded even more murderous intent. Every strike she made was extremely sharp, and an aura of wanting to tear her opponent to pieces pressed down on the expert without hesitation.

The confrontation between the two seemed to have entered its final stage, and neither of them cared about their own safety anymore.

They also opted for a fierce, storm-like attack.

Their physical strength was almost simultaneously depleted, and their movements could no longer be as fluid as they had anticipated.

Just one minute after their second exchange, both men had several wounds inflicted by the other.

Blood gushed from the expert's thigh, half of his left thumb had been severed, and his hair, which had been tied up at the back of his head, was now loose, with a third of it cut off by Melantha.

The girl's injuries were even more severe.

On Melantha's cheek, a gruesome wound tore through her already dry and dull skin, completely ruining her otherwise beautiful face.

It wasn't just the wounds inflicted by the experts; the flames had pushed her body to its limits.

Her once well-maintained fingers had completely withered, the skin like tree bark clinging to the atrophied muscles, which in turn wrapped around the finger bones, making it look like the hand of a long-dead mummy.

Her face was no longer the beautiful girl it once was; scorched by the flames, it had almost turned into a skull.

Lava-like patterns still crisscrossed her body. Melantha now looked like a demon crawling out of hell.

But she didn't know she had become like this, and she didn't care.

At this moment, Melanie only had one thought in her mind.

Kill the enemy in front of you.

Ding!

The blades clashed again, and after a brief struggle, both men took a step back.

They both understood that the other had reached the final stage, his life hanging by a thread.