Now a fierce fight was on the verge of breaking out like a dormant volcano now about to erupt. On one side, the killing intent was already hinted by the scent of blood. On the other side, a forceful murderous power kept on gaining competence. Both of the energies were truly powerful, almost half a step to the innate spiritual level, so it could be expected that the upcoming clash between them was likely to be incredibly violent. It would be a lot different than the usual battles ever recorded in history.
Even before the collision took place, everyone around could tell the two sides' mighty powers from the aura they unleashed to their immediate surroundings. Once they collided like two waves, drastic waves of energy lashed out around the area from where the two surge of energies met, shaking the whole space and crashing the light curtain on the competition platform like unstoppable tides.
"This is, no doubt, another fierce struggle between well-matched opponents," one of the warriors who seemed to have seen every fight exclaimed. "I do hope they could fight like Kilkenny cats. If both of them are to be crippled because of each other, things would get much easier for us later." That warrior who was looking forward to both sides' defeat, was not the only one who was taken aback by how intensive this fight was. All the warriors around were holding their breath, seeing how the interesting battle unfold while praying secretly that those two strong rivals could finish each other off so that no one would have to deal with any of them afterwards.
"Even if the fight won't kill both of them, we can at least expect that one of them will be greatly weakened like a vegetable left unwatered. Or we can hope that they would end up like Grace and Kinsey, one resting in peace, and the other sent out after the fight. That would be good enough for us already!" another one shared his sentiments which were kind of dark yet interesting to many.
"Dream on, guys!" a third one taunted them as they started imagining possible outcomes. "These are all strong warriors and only the strong can laugh the last laugh. Just stop thinking about making a breakthrough to the level of an innate spirit by luck because it is barely achieved!".
"Well, well! Those were my lines, dude! If you are some puny insect that would be finished by one single strike of any weapon, this fight is bound to be too boring for me!" Sham scoffed with disdain hearing what Ricky said. "I'm expecting a worthy opponent, you know!"
"Oh? It seems that we at least have one thing in common. Come on, show me what a murderer's boastful killing power could do!" Ricky replied most defiantly, looking forward to what was yet to come.
In an instant, they both disappeared like bubbles that popped out of sight, and what was only visible to the others were two figures that flashed past the competition platform.
The moment they were done speaking, they dashed to each other like arrows unafraid to land anywhere they were targeted to. Their speed was too fast, just like lightning stroke, that no one could recognize who was who. Before everyone figured out what was happening in front of them as they made sense of the blur and swift movements, great blasts of fortune exploded. For a split second, warriors present were finally able to realize that this was the result of the meeting of the two sides' fists. It was, indeed, a good sight, "the battle of the battles" according to others, because of how promising attacks they were.
For a moment, everything seemed frozen by the powerful energy. As Sham's and Ricky's eyes mirrored each other, black killing power were swirling like a tornado around Sham, while Ricky was surrounded and protected by his three runic powers. After being combined with his spiritual energy, Ricky's runic powers gradually increased as if it was meant to destroy.
Then a cracking sound broke the deafening silence. "Snap!" The explosive energy their clash had produced shook the whole space as if an earthquake just happened and threatened to smash the space like shattering pieces of glass. But the space cracks had healed themselves in a blink of an eye as if it had an oasis of regenerative power, even before the fractures could ever worsen. After all, both of them were only at the demi-immortal level, and their power, though already promising enough, were not yet qualified to break the space that served as their battleground.
On the contrary, their energy backfired as if it was a recoil of a newly launched attack. Both sides had taken many steps backwards as they tried to keep their balance, while their feet were being pressed deep into the floor of the competition platform by the force the way quicksand took heavy objects. But neither of them had hit the ground in the end as the impact of the crash didn't really hamper their actions. Reacting quickly, they adjusted their bodies for balance, and gathered up their spiritual energy again almost at the same time. Then, without pause, they leaped out from the dents on the floor as if they were ghosts permeating from the ground and faced each other one more time!
While moving at lightning speed, the dark spiritual energy around Sham merged into his killing power, and fully wrapped up both of his arms like a protective shield. The combined energy seemed to have become part of his body and turned his arms into two sharp blades for slaughter. It was easy to imagine that his arms were now able to split anything, from a piece of paper to a newly mined diamond, with every forceful strike he was yet to make.
Ricky was no less striking. As he raised his restless fists, his three runic powers had absorbed a big amount of his spiritual energy and flooded into his hands, too. As soon as these two kinds of powers touched his fists, they hardened right away to form an armor covering his hands. Now his fists were as hard as premium steel and with their strength, he was sure to resist any attacks from Sham's killing arms, and even break them without much energy exerted.
What was more interesting was, while Ricky's fists could act as shields to fend off Sham's blows, he could also use his three kinds of Supreme Skills collectively to do some deceiving movements and confuse the enemy like a trickster. By doing so, Sham might be caught unprepared sooner or later, unable to draw the line between the truth and deception that was coming into him.
However, this was only Ricky's plan that he was able to plot in his head, just to make himself feel that it was the best thing to do. In reality, Sham had barely escaped all of his attacks even if some seemed to be unplanned and unexceptional. As a top killer from the Endless Shadow, Sham was truly talented, and agility was his biggest strength. Others might not be able to avoid Ricky's fast barrage of violence, but Sham definitely could, like a fox ready to stealth in the time of need.
For a moment, it seemed that they had entered a bitterly contested battle of martial arts and the victory hung in the balance, as if it was out of either side's reach.
They were moving so fast like a river flowing after a heavy outpour, that each time they met, they changed their positions and launched another round of attacks in no time like there was no other chance. From what the other warriors could see, they were like two light balls that continuously bumped into each other. They made flash moves from one side of the platform to the other as if either of them would be willing to already call it quits. All the audience were completely dazzled by their persistence and were persistently running bets in their minds as to who would deserve to win this battle.
Within a short span of time, the two of them had fought for dozens of rounds. The impulse force they made kept creating huge cracks and deep dents to the space and the platform, making them scarred and battered than ever before, a proof of a good fight between promising warriors.
Fortunately, the competition platform was formed by fortune, which could repair itself the moment it was damaged as if a regenerative power was instilled in it. Or else, those warriors might have been already buried alive in the debris they kept on causing to the area.
Boom! As their fists met for one more time, both of them were forced to retreat by the shock waves they produced. To end this fight as soon as possible, they drew their weapons at the same time to try attacking in a different way, unpredicted by the opponent.
Sham pulled out his blood-black soft-iron sword from his sash, while Ricky drew that white Iron Destroyer dangling from his back. Both were controlling their attacks to kind of focus on a better way to destroy the other.
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