Chapter 35: Steel Fortress

A sprinting figure pierced the curtain of rain, rushing toward the enemy with a longsword gripped in both hands and pulled diagonally to his side.

The military sword technique’s opening stance for a charge, a lunging diagonal slash; the immense speed closed the distance between the two in an instant, bringing them within striking range in the blink of an eye.

He slammed his right foot into the ground, a spray of mud and water exploding outward with a dull thud. The tremendous force surged from his foot, channeled through his body into his hands, and the longsword swung upward in a diagonal arc.

The razor-sharp blade shattered the air in its path, slicing every raindrop in two; a silver trail flickered and vanished in the darkness, swift beyond measure.

Clang! The faint light that flared in that instant was the spark of two blades meeting. A sword, far heavier than Wang Yu’s, stood firmly in the path of his full-force strike.

The blades hummed and vibrated, the recoil traveling up Wang Yu’s sword and leaving his wrists numb.

Conversely, Oka, his body encased in heavy iron armor, stood like a fortress of steel, showing no sign of retreat.

Failing to land the strike, Wang Yu immediately pulled back, retracting his sword and stepping away.

But Oka would not grant him the chance to withdraw. With his blade already positioned above Wang Yu’s, it was easy for him to exert pressure, and his leverage was far superior.

Skillfully channeling his battle aura, he unleashed a second surge of power the moment the first began to wane, pressing down on the hilt with both hands to crush Wang Yu.

Wang Yu held his sword with both hands to parry, the two weapons clashing with a metallic ring. From this single exchange, he knew that in terms of raw strength, he was no match for Oka.

Veins bulged on his arms, muscles straining as he poured every ounce of his strength into resisting the relentless, unadorned pressure of the blade.

Pure power—this was the physique of a formal knight. Even with his decline, it was enough to make Wang Yu struggle to hold his ground.

His feet sank into the mud, now soaked through by the rain, and his arms began to tremble and ache. This wouldn't do; if he kept forcing it, his arms would be injured, making it even harder to fight.

Following the slickness of the ground, Wang Yu used the force of Oka’s downward pressure to slide, his body tilting toward the lower right.

It looked as if he had stumbled, but as he neared the ground, he used the momentum to shift right and evade the blade, rolling away like a donkey to dodge Oka’s follow-up strike and create distance.

He rolled across the ground a few times, then pushed himself up with a hand, raising his sword once more to face Oka.

Across his back, a long wound stretched from shoulder to waist; the chainmail beneath his leather armor had been torn open, leaving a gash that bled incessantly.

It was not deep, but blood continued to flow, staining the puddle at Wang Yu’s feet.

This was a formal knight. It was a total suppression similar to his encounter with Obi-Wan, yet different, and this time, Wang Yu wasn't even sure of his own fighting spirit.

Oka had been a formal knight for years, and one could not attain that rank without the will to face death in battle without fear!

Yet Wang Yu remained steady; he would not waver simply because he faced an insurmountable foe. Besides, even if he were suppressed as a knight, he was more than just a knight...

Holding his sword, Wang Yu watched the fortress-like Oka, retreating slowly into the endless darkness of the rain.

Oka’s eyes narrowed beneath the slit of his mask; the darkness remained one of his greatest obstacles.

The enemy who had suddenly lunged at him did not seem strong—in power, speed, and technique, he held the advantage—but if they were to engage in a war of attrition in this pitch-black, rainy night...

Ripples emanated from Wang Yu without pause, spreading outward and conveying the surroundings in the darkness with precision. A three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view granted Wang Yu more possibilities.

There were no blind spots in his opponent’s blade trajectory, and sneak attacks would not work on him. Since he lacked the advantage in raw strength, he would utilize his own unique edge.

Looking at the heavy iron armor on Oka, Wang Yu had already made his calculations. He revealed a smile; a traitor, was he? He would not lose to a man like that...

His figure emerged from the darkness, this time behind Oka. The moment Wang Yu appeared, Oka reacted, turning to strike, but this time it felt hurried.

However, realizing he could not contend with the strength of a formal knight like Oka, Wang Yu had adjusted his strategy; this strike, too, lacked force.

The blades met and parted instantly; even a hurried strike from Oka held the upper hand.

Oka gave Wang Yu no chance to retreat into the darkness, stepping forward, pressing his body into the assault, his sword thrusting forward mercilessly.

Wang Yu retreated without hesitation, never intending to clash head-on, keeping his sword at the limit of his attack range, parrying once, then clashing again.

The two blades fought like ferocious dinosaurs, though Wang Yu’s side seemed less powerful, touching and retreating, while Oka pressed forward step by step.

Retreating, fighting while retreating, Wang Yu’s nerves were taut as he controlled his blade. There was still a gap in swordsmanship; given Oka’s age, his mastery was far superior to Wang Yu’s.

Therefore, to compensate for this gap, Wang Yu had to be fully focused and utilize things beyond the norm.

Oka’s sword style was swift and fierce, and the weight of his armor gave him terrifying stability. Strike after strike, the recoil was negligible for Oka, but for Wang Yu, it could not be ignored.

The constant collisions made Wang Yu’s footwork chaotic, and the force transmitted through the blades forced him to constantly adjust to avoid the impact.

Yet, this space that seemed constantly compressed refused to collapse. Under Wang Yu’s vision, the trajectory of every one of Oka’s strikes was crystal clear.

Yes, even if strength and speed were fully dominated, the vision of the ripples meant that for Wang Yu, there was no such thing as an unclear sword path.

In the darkness, Oka’s blade cut through the rain toward Wang Yu, but a blade was already there to intercept it. The two met, and Wang Yu’s blade was immediately overwhelmed.

Oka was relentless, seizing the opportunity to press in, his blade slashing out, but Wang Yu had begun to retreat before the strike was even launched. Oka’s slash was dodged by a thrilling yet steady retreating step.

Oka’s intuition was poor; Wang Yu controlled the distance perfectly, every clash occurring at the very limit of their reach.

Undeniably, the darkness hindered Oka significantly. A formal knight’s senses were enough to allow him to predict and observe in this endless darkness through blurred vision, sound, and the touch of the wind.

But without doubt, the darkness still affected him.

Wang Yu, however, could see everything in this darkness, even without blind spots. It was this gap that kept them clashing; while it seemed Wang Yu was constantly being defeated, in reality, it was more of a tug-of-war.

The eyes beneath the heavy helmet narrowed, flashing with a dangerous light.

If it were a few years ago, before his physique had declined and his senses had faded, such an environment would have been no problem for a formal knight.

But time spares no one, his physical functions had long been on the decline, and he had chosen to betray.

Oka tightened his grip on his sword. Even if he was much older and his physique had severely declined, he was not a man to be toyed with by a mere squire.

He began to channel his battle aura. Compared to Wang Yu, his vastly greater reserves brought greater support. The aura vortex spun, inhaling and exhaling, flowing through his body in search of the moment to erupt.

In the black world, the two blades met once again. As always, Oka’s blade effortlessly pushed Wang Yu’s aside, and Wang Yu retreated without hesitation.

Oka’s eyes narrowed—this was it. Leaning forward, the battle aura he had been circulating for so long concentrated in his right leg, and he slammed it down!

Clang! A dull thud as he stepped; the muddy ground was crushed into a crater, soil and water exploding outward. Oka’s armored form accelerated violently, rushing toward Wang Yu with terrifying speed—abrupt and swift.

This strike, amidst the stalemate of blade-clashing, was incredibly sudden. The abruptly accelerating Oka instantly disrupted the rhythm of Wang Yu’s retreat. Advancing, Oka thrust his sword forward from his chest!

The rapidly thrusting sword aimed straight for Wang Yu’s chest, the eyes behind the mask burning with dangerous malice. This strike, he was certain to land!

It was a double suppression of power and speed, and this sudden break in rhythm was abrupt; Wang Yu’s retreat could no longer keep up with his speed.

Under the omnidirectional view of the Inner Eye, the trajectory of the thrusting sword was still crystal clear, but it was too fast, and it had come too suddenly.

Even if Wang Yu exerted himself to accelerate his retreat, it was already impossible to dodge in time. This was the helplessness brought by the gap in raw strength: he could see it, but he could not avoid it.

Raindrops pelted Wang Yu’s face, occasionally landing in his eyes. He did not blink; in his fully focused gaze, there remained that same calm and composure.

Without hesitation, the battle aura was carried by the ripples and instantly shifted to the soles of his feet, slamming into the ground to accelerate his retreat, while simultaneously unleashing the full power of the Void.

This time it was not a barrier; with Wang Yu’s poor storage of Void energy, even his entire reserve would not be enough to intercept a thrust that concentrated all of Oka’s strength.

An invisible force appeared behind Wang Yu. The Void energy distorted reality in the simplest way, granting Wang Yu a "force" pushing him backward!

The sudden force caused Wang Yu’s body to be forcibly pulled back a distance.

Pfft! The sound of a blade entering flesh followed. Even with his utmost effort to evade, he could not bridge the gap in their physical quality, but he had also prevented Oka from achieving a killing blow.

The blade grazed Wang Yu’s shoulder, tearing a deep wound, blood pouring out and being washed away by the rain onto the ground.

Oka’s pupils contracted; he had sensed Wang Yu suddenly pulling back.

This filled him with confusion and pressure. No matter how Wang Yu had done it, it was certainly not a good thing for him.

A knight’s combat training ensured he would not hesitate or dwell in battle. Stepping forward to pursue, he would not give Wang Yu a moment to breathe.

The blades clashed once more in the curtain of rain, just as they had at the start. Oka constantly pressured Wang Yu’s defensive space, yet he never quite reached the point of total suppression.

Retreating, striking, retreating, defending, Wang Yu pushed his advantages to their absolute limits, leveraging his ability to perceive everything within this pitch darkness; it was akin to dancing upon the point of a blade, a perilous orchestration fraught with narrow escapes, yet he remained miraculously unpierced by the edge.

This was the reality of combat—no matter how severe the disadvantage, so long as one had not lost the capacity to fight, defeat was a word that held no meaning.

Orca felt as though he had stepped into a quagmire; he possessed Herculean strength paired with immense agility, and his opponent was inferior to him in every single metric, yet this adversary chose to wage war within the mire, a sludge that hindered his own movements while imposing no penalty whatsoever upon that damned fellow.

Beneath the heavy veil of rain, their silhouettes shifted in a perpetual dance, splashes of water erupting and muddy earth flying upward between their ceaselessly moving feet.

The blades clashed and severed through the air in a frenzied symphony of collisions, their silver-white edges casting faint, sporadic gleams through the surrounding gloom.

With a sudden, violent surge of power, another thrust came lashing out, but this time Wang Yu had already learned his lesson; previously, he had merely grown complacent with the rhythm and fallen to carelessness during that single exchange, but this time, he would not.

The exact moment Orca’s footwork shifted, Wang Yu’s perspective—unreachable by ordinary men—had already captured the movement.

Without a shred of hesitation, the power of the void and his battle qi were unleashed ahead of time, creating an invisible force once more; the momentum rising from beneath his soles coupled with the propulsion against his back allowed Wang Yu to evade the strike cleanly, narrowly escaping without a scratch.

In the very next instant, the deadlocked, murderous clash resumed without a moment's respite, their figures intertwining and severing through the curtain of rain.

Watching the wounds upon the black-haired knight’s shoulders continuously lose blood, and seeing a crimson mist spray from his back from time to time while Wang Yu maintained a cold, expressionless visage as if nothing were amiss, Orca knew he had encountered a truly formidable adversary today.

This species of willpower, once possessed, would inevitably elevate a man far above the common herd; Orca had already discerned his opponent’s intent, and the man had indeed achieved a portion of it.

He was beginning to feel the onset of fatigue, not merely because his physical stamina was being frantically consumed in this high-intensity cycle of continuous pursuit and slaughter, but because it was becoming increasingly difficult for his aging body to endure such strain.

Simultaneously, the immense defensive capabilities provided by the iron bastion upon his frame had transformed into a burden; this exceedingly heavy suit of armor offered unparalleled protection.

Yet at this precise juncture, it served only to impede his efforts to run Wang Yu down, its massive weight causing his stamina to drain at a meteoric rate—far faster than that of Wang Yu in his leather armor.

If the confrontation were prolonged indefinitely, his condition would inevitably deteriorate until he was dragged down to ruin, yet Wang Yu’s bizarre capability made it exceptionally difficult for any ambush to succeed.

Furthermore, his opponent would certainly not be so kind as to afford him the opportunity to shed his armor; thus, even though his physical condition was no longer entirely permissible, he had no choice but to deploy it.

The battle qi began to circulate along a peculiar trajectory, flowing ceaselessly within a specific, predetermined pathway; a sharp, swelling ache resonated through his body, for his aging physique could scarcely bear the immense burden of this formidable power.

As the circulation of battle qi accelerated and his speed climbed higher, a unique, invisible matrix finally manifested within his physical form—the matrixing of battle qi, an inner potential, ignited!

A numbing sensation surged continuously throughout his entire body, but it was immediately followed by the emergence of a highly specialized power.

Orca had been observing Wang Yu’s habits since the very inception of the battle, analyzing patterns and seeking the enemy’s intrinsic rhythm—this was an art Orca had practiced incessantly ever since awakening this inner potential.

And now, although the senescence of his body made it difficult to sustain the inner potential, the habits and techniques of his earlier years remained entirely within his mastery.

A peculiar field unfolded silently and invisibly, enveloping Wang Yu within its confines; "Ah, found it. The heartbeat under intense combat—I have mastered your rhythm!" Inner Potential: Fatal Rhythm, activate!

In that split second, Wang Yu felt his movements grind to a halt, his limbs suddenly feeling as though they were obstructed by some intangible force, a pressure that was not overwhelming in magnitude but omnipresent.

The same befell his battle qi; its circulation slowed down, and the energy that had previously coursed through his body to grant him enhanced strength now sluggishly ground to a near-halt as if blocked, rendering the empowering force intermittent; the only elements left untouched were his ripples and his thoughts.

Orca, conversely, was entirely in his element; while Wang Yu was fettered, he remained completely unimpeded, raising his longsword to deliver a decisive, downward cleave without a moment's hesitation!

The blade tore through the air, its approach similarly detected by Wang Yu ahead of time, prompting him to stamp the ground with force.

Yet under the oppressive influence of the Fatal Rhythm, a discordance emerged between Wang Yu’s physical actions and his cognitive thoughts; the delayed stamp of his foot brought about a fatal consequence.

The ripples remained unaffected, and the distorting power of the void energy was activated in a timely fashion, but the impairment of his body caused the evasive maneuver—already a gamble of inches—to fail utterly.

With a sickening squelch, the blade plunged into the calf of the leg Wang Yu had used to propel himself, the immensely powerful strike burying itself deep into the flesh.

Ignoring the agonizing torment it brought, he resolutely continued to exert force and pull back; as flesh and steel ground against one another, the tissue gave way instantly, a massive chunk of flesh being torn away as fresh blood sprayed wildly.

Unimpeded in the slightest, a smile tugged at the corner of Orca’s mouth; as time marched on, the restrictions binding Wang Yu would grow progressively heavier, his speed would plummet further, and that bizarre ability of his would no longer be able to save him.

Orca pressed the advantage without a single breath of hesitation, his blade driving toward Wang Yu as the latter forced himself to retreat; Wang Yu, whose entire body was now subject to the influence of Orca’s inner potential, felt the sensation of obstruction growing ever more suffocating, his brow furrowing as he realized how truly terrifying an inner potential could be.

If this state of affairs persisted, his strength and speed would be suppressed to less than half their capacity, or perhaps even lower; yet the greater probability was that before he could even be suppressed to that halfway mark, his head would be severed by a single stroke of the sword.

In that case, he had no choice but to employ that particular method; it was time to bring this to a swift conclusion!

Having long since learned of Orca’s inner potential from Avia, how could Wang Yu have failed to prepare a countermeasure? Disrupting the rhythm was the precise method to shatter Orca’s inner potential.

Yet this was far easier said than done; every individual possessed their own ingrained habits, which were exceedingly difficult to alter, and a forced modification would only serve to diminish one's own combat effectiveness.

Wang Yu had originally intended to wage a war of attrition with Orca, trading blow for blow; could Orca, who had studied his own inner potential for an entire lifetime, possibly fail to find the underlying patterns? It was an absurdity to even consider; therefore, the only solution was to disrupt the rhythm entirely, throwing everything into absolute chaos!

The power of the void was violently summoned, a chaotic and uncontrollable energy erupting fiercely; exerting every ounce of his will to control this limited void energy, he concentrated it entirely within his fist, maintaining it in a chaotic yet loosely patterned state.

He slammed the fist heavily against his own left breast; driven by the ripples, this rampaging void energy was violently injected straight into Wang Yu’s heart!

Instantly, every organ within Wang Yu’s body went utterly frantic; the velocity of his bloodstream accelerated wildly, adrenaline began to secrete without restraint, his breathing turned ragged and sharp, and the pumping of his heart abruptly doubled in speed.

Blood began to seep from his wounds at an extreme velocity, countless fine blood vessels manifested within his eyes before rupturing under the surging blood pressure, rendering his entire visual field a stark, bloody crimson.

Wang Yu’s physique entered a state of berserk frenzy—or rather, a state of boiling; the chaotic void energy had thoroughly galvanized his body, causing every single organ to wildly convulse and react.

An immense burden would invariably bring about immense destruction, but it also yielded a terrifying enhancement and an absolute chaos.

In an instant, the control exerted by the Fatal Rhythm was shattered by Wang Yu, whose entire being had devolved into pure disorder; a thrust from the pursuing Orca was cleanly evaded by Wang Yu’s suddenly accelerated frame.

With bloodshot eyes and a body continuously spraying crimson from its wounds, Wang Yu’s current visage resembled nothing short of a malevolent demon!

Named after a spell from a novel he had thoroughly enjoyed in his past life, *The Tech Wizard*, and modified by Avia, it was the Witchcraft: Baiping Boiling Blood Art!

A heavy, ragged panting escaped Wang Yu’s mouth as he seized the opportunity to draw the very last hatchet remaining upon his person; a hatchet in his left hand, a sword in his right.

Facing Orca, Wang Yu spoke for the very first time in the midst of this battle: "Did you know? My true self-alignment... has actually always been a... Berserker!"

Before the words were even halfway spoken, the hatchet had already been hurled forth with tempestuous violence, the word 'Berserker' arriving fashionably late!

(Double update of thirteen thousand words, requesting some recommendations and collections; of course, your readership is my absolute greatest support!)