BBYW Vol. 4 Chapter 45 (WN)
Chapter 45 – The Final Duel
“Ghh…!!!”
My fist made a dent on the mummy’s face. Any regular human would have probably had their skull caved in and die, but Valon just retreated a couple steps.
“Youuu…daaaAAAAMN YOUUU!!!”
Valon, holding his face with his left hand, swung his shamshir in a wide arc. I quickly stepped out of the way and poked out my tongue at him.
“Be glad, you’re a lot more handsome now. That ugly dried up mug of yours got slightly more bearable to watch, at least!”
“How dare you….!! Mock my reborn bodyyy!!!”
Valon swung his shamshir at a terrifying speed. I responded in turn by swinging my sword.
In the darkness that surrounded us, barely lit by the lamp, our blades clashed and produced sparks.
“YOUUUU!!!! Die!! DiedieDIE!!! Disappear from my siiiiiight!!”
Valon’s face, smashed almost beyond recognition, was twisted and contorted in anger.
If Naam and Mist were to see him now, they would be probably lose their senses due to the horrible transformation he went through.
“You must be banished here and now…ghost of Valon Sphinx. You are nothing but a blasphemy to the name of one of my finest rivals…you do not belong to this world.”
“NONSENSEEE!!! YOU ARE GOING TO HELL FIIIIIRST!!!”
Valon’s sword arm became more violent.
Every slash was heavier, faster, more intense. I continued to parry them, then counterattacked.
“Hmph!”
“GHAHHH!?”
Piercing a tiny opening in the seemingly relentless offensive of my opponent, my sword struck Valon’s left shoulder.
His mummified corpse had no blood to shed, but a large chunk of the muscles of his shoulder were torn off and turned to sand.
“How can this be…!! How can you match my power…my speed…!!”
“How, I wonder? You probably got weaker.”
“Shut your mouth!! That is impossible!!”
Valon swung his sword in a powerful arc, trying to cleave my neck off my body.
I crouched to dodge it, then slashed his body diagonally, in a rising motion. From the wound, sand poured out profusely, just as blood would have.
“GWAAAH!? This…this cannot be happening!! How can I be…at disadvantage…!!”
Valon shouted, his eyes bulging.
In the royal martial tournament, we were more or less at the same level. He could not believe that, after obtaining a stronger undead body, he was being struck and cut helplessly like this.
I shot a glance of pity to Valon and flipped my sword.
“Valon, your sword arm was the bane of me. Impenetrable, solid as a rock. Punishing the smallest opening with a counter attack. The defensive stance of Valon Sphinx was like a wall of iron…almost like it could anticipate the opponent’s attacks. It was a nightmare. But now…your sword arm is very different, isn’t it?”
The reason why I struggled against Valon’s sword so much was because I couldn’t break through his defense.
After becoming an undead, however, Valon got drunk on his heightened powers: his fighting style depended on brute forcing his way through with power and speed.
Once he abandoned all forms of defense, dealing with Valon’s sword arm became like child’s play to me. Neutralizing it was no difficult feat.
(It’s heavy, it’s fast, that’s for sure. But…my mother’s fists are heavier! Captain Drake’s sword was faster!)
It wasn’t only them either.
My father, my mentor in the art of the sword, had much sharper swings. The spear of Bjorc Zagann, the fierce general of the empire, would not have lost in power either.
Fighting against such opponents allowed my sword arm to grow.
There was no way I would lose to the pale ghost of Valon Sphinx.
“The battles I fought couldn’t be won with brute strength alone. As you are now, you’re pretty much the same level as Sullivan, when he used Herakles.”
“Nonsense!! Nonsense, NONSENSE, NONSENSEEEEE!! GWREAHHH!!!”
I unleashed a flurry of slashes, slicing through Valon’s body.
He naturally countered, but his shamshir could not even graze my body: every slash cut nothing but empty air.
“GWROAAAHHHH!!!”
Finally cornered, Valon’s sword lost all technique. He swung his blade as a child would swing a branch, roaring from the pit of his stomach.
“I fought against Valon Sphinx many times…but this was the most boring duel of all. You’ve done enough, time to sleep.”
“GWAAAAAHHHRR!! THIS CANNOT BEEEEEEEHHHH!!!”
My steel sword cut through Valon and his scream of despair.
The mummified body, which should have surpassed its mortal coil, was sliced in two, and quickly dissipated in brown sand.