Chapter 457: Harry Vs Roki
The match had been announced and there was excitement in the air, but most of that was from them seeing Roki fight. They had only seen him fight mostly large beasts and it would be the first time in a long time they would have seen Roki fight another person.
Based on the odds among other things, it didn't look like anyone expected much from Harry. However, there were a few in the seats who thought differently.
Hearing his own name, Harry began to feel nervous. It had been a long time since he had to do something like this, and he was going up against a tough opponent. Ray looking over to his shoulder could see this.
"Harry what happened to you?" Ray asked.
Harry looked up at him a little confused. "What do you mean?"
"Do you not remember when we were younger. You used to have such confidence." Ray replied.
By now Roki had already left and was standing in the centre of the arena, now they were just waiting for Harry.
"Let me ask you something, who do you think is stronger, me or him?" Ray asked.
Their conversation was happening in the trench-like area, so all the other participants were able to hear their conversation clearly apart from Roki who had already left. They weren't exactly speaking quietly.
"You." Harry said without hesitation.
The others felt like the Redwings were idiots. They knew Roki's skill, any warrior who was half decent could tell that Roki was just on a different level compared to all of them. However, they thought they were loyal idiots, to be able to answer back to their king like that without thinking twice.
"Well then, as a man who once beat me, you should have no problem beating him." Ray said.
No more time could be wasted and Harry now had to go out onto the arena field.
"Well this should be a quick match?" The young blonde warrior said.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Jones replied. "These Redwing members, there's something strange about them."
Jones could tell when he was in that room that day, every single one of them from the Redwing kingdom was a Ki user. If every knight in the Redwing army could utilise Ki, then even if their army was small, a kingdom would think twice before messing with them.
And Jones was still thinking about their conversation back on the carriage, if Ray's words were true, this man was more skilled than the warrior Nes they had seen.
Savanna had similar thoughts after seeing the bald headed Mike, this was a fight that would most likely surprise everyone.
Roki used a single large sword, while Harry, he had the black Raven and another sword that looked plain in comparison.
'Ray, you seem to forget the man I fought back then and the one here are two different beasts.' Harry thought. But Ray's talk did remind him of something. His goal in all of this. How his father had done all those things to his family members just because of the shadow.
He wanted to pay back the shadow for what they had done, and he had even risked going through the beasting process. The man in front of him was just another stepping stone in the way.
"Fight, begin!" The Emperor shouted and it had started.
Swooping and heading in first was Roki, he came with a thrust of his sword, perfectly timed jumping off his back foot using a burst of Ki. The movement was so smooth and so quick it would have caught many off guard and ended the match there and then.
But not Gary, the moment Roki moved, his body reacted and with a spin to the left, he knocked the blade down with one sword and went to strike the arm with the other.
As the sword was about to hit his wrist, with a flick Roki threw the hilt of the sword upward, hitting the blade ever so slightly, altering its course and skimming his armour. He caught the sword again, but instead of attacking, moved back.
No one was hurt in the first exchange but in the first strikes alone, they both thought;
"This person is good."
Roki had a smile, he was no longer upset about not fighting Nes. When it came to fighting he always preferred an opponent that was more skilled, and here he had met someone.
"Looks like the red haired king wasn't lying after all." Roki said. "The Redwing seems to be an interesting place."
From then on the fight was a different story. The two of them charged in at the same time, swinging their blades at each other. Harry would parry the blows away, but whenever he wanted to attack, he felt like he was in an awkward position.
When Roki was attacking he was using everything he knew, he needed to, because there was something strange about the person in front of him. The advantage a long sword had over two small blades like so was that the long sword was usefully heavy, had a longer reach and was more powerful.
Yet through sheer force and power, Harry was able to deflect his attacks with a single hand.
Harry had noticed it too, he didn't want to admit it, but this was only because he had gone through the basting process. It had given a boost in all his physical cabilites. In a way he felt like he was cheating.
But he couldn't let up, and his will to win was stronger than his conscience.
"Come on Harry!" Kyle screamed so loud that the veins on his neck were showing. "I'll kill you myself if you don't beat this guy!"
With a kick to his back, Martha said frustratedly, "Your bad luck put him in this situation in the first place. Stop distracting him."
The fight continued between the two, and slowly people were starting to fall in love with Harry's swordsmanship.
Roki's sword style was clean, straight and very honest. It looked like attacks were practiced a thousand times and there were no errors in his movements.
But Harry's was more like an art style. His movements, each one was like a dance and before Roki knew it, something strange was happening.
"What's happening? Not one of them has been hit yet and it's been so long. Are they really equally matched?" The young blonde warrior asked.
"When two high skilled warriors fight this is what is what happens." Jones replied. "Each one of the blows they are delivering are fatal, which is why they are doing everything they can to block every single attack."
"But the tide is starting to change." Ray said with a smile on his face.
Jones tried to look closely at what Ray was talking about. While he was watching he could see no such victor, one didn't appear to outperform the other - they were in a stalemate. But after watching carefully, he finally noticed it.
"I can't believe it, he's sucking him in." Jones thought. How could a no-name be doing such a thing to someone who had defeated an emperor tier beast?
It had taken some time, but Harry's preparations were finally starting to come through. To many on the outside, his dancing style while flinging his sword looked fancy and was pretty much overkill, wasted movements, but each of these movements were important.
He had finally gotten a hand of Roki's rhythm and now whenever Roki would attack it wasn't his own doing but Harry's. It was as if an invisible force was pulling him in, telling him where to attack and this was all Harry's doing.
Another thrust was made and leading it into the place he wanted, Harry knew where he would strike. It was at this moment, Roki figured out what was happening but it was too late. With his other blade, Harry stabbed Roki in between the gap of his shoulder piece and arm, delivering the first real blow of the match.
He pulled it out, and went for a strike across the neck. Using brute force instead of skill. For the first time, Roki lifted his arm's to block the attack, and pushed off with his legs flinging him away from Harry.
The crowd up to this point had been chanting Roki's name and for the first time it stopped. The only person who could be heard cheering loudly was Kyle.
"Hahah, suckers!" Kyle shouted. "Bring me the money!"
Ray had expected this. Roki was good, Ray could see this when he defeated the emperor tier on the video. Did Ray think Harry would take on an Empire tier? No he didn't, but that wasn't were Harry's skills lied.
His swordsmanship wasn't one that worked well when fighting beasts, but was better used when fighting other humans. The tricks and skills he used wouldn't work on beasts. When he saw Harry out there, he was confident he would win this fight.
The emperor watched this unfold from above with his eyebrows furrowed. 'What the hell is going on here?' Alexander thought. 'Who is that blonde boy!'
Alexander put down the amplifying crystal and grabbed another one.
"Roki, you have to win this, otherwise you know what will happen."
The crystal allowed for his message to be sent straight to Roki, and only Roki could hear. He gritted his teeth after hearing this. Right now he had found an opponent who was skillful in the sword.
He wanted to face him just using his swordsmanship, it was something he dreamed of and it had been ruined.
'I guess it's time to use what I got from the arena.' Roki thought. It was time for him to use his emperor tier weapon.
*****
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