"Heh, I have completely forgotten about you."

Ardyn’s blade gleamed as he rolled his shoulders.

"Then, we need to talk more often. So, care to enlighten me? Why the broadsword?" Ruvian said, loud enough for the man to hear it.

Ardyn smiled. "What else do you think? Because it can kill any Voidspawn faster than your toothpick wand."

Then, he laughed at his own jokes. The crowd from Class A also gave a ripple of laughter.

Ruvian smiled thinly.

"Faster? Huh, you serious? You really know how to make people laugh. Even your class was laughing at your nonsensical logic. I know for sure that you drag around that oversized cleaver just for show-off."

"Like... come on, surely someone has told you before that the heavier it is, the slower you move?"

"So what?" Ardyn asked, his voice grew irritated.

"Nevermind, I’m quite disappointed now. Despite your shiny hair, you’re not quite a bright person, are you?"

The murmurs in the stands grew louder.

Ardyn’s jaw tightened, but his voice remained steady.

"Hah! A real man earns fear with his strength, not with his mouth. You talk too much."

Ruvian let out a short laugh.

He tilted his head slightly, smirking.

"Alright then, using your amazing logic..."

"...guess that makes you not much of a man either."

"Because from the very start of this match, your so-called ’strength’ hasn’t scared me even a little."

Ardyn’s nostrils flared, his grip on the sword tightening so hard his knuckles turned pale.

But Ruvian just kept going, completely ignoring the obvious warning signs.

"So, Goldie... wanna know what kind of man I think you are?"

He gave a lazy, wolfish grin.

"...the kind of guy who practically begged the audience to clap for his ass."

Ardyn’s composure finally snapped. The smug grin disappeared, replaced by the ugly look of someone whose pride had just been kicked down a flight of stairs.

"I’LL SHUT THAT MOUTH OF YOURS!"

He roared with all of his strength, the platform shook under each heavy step as he barreled in, looking less like a noble warrior and more like an angry bull that just got insulted in public.

For someone swinging around a giant slab of metal, he was annoyingly fast. Faster than before, even. The oversized sword should’ve slowed him down, but somehow it just made him look more desperate... like he was trying really hard to prove something to the audience.

Ruvian could feel the pressure coming straight at him.

Ardyn wasn’t holding back anymore!

’Well, that was fun.’

The blade came crashing down with enough force to turn him into a plummeted dough.

Ruvian clicked his tongue and flicked his wand forward.

"[Wind Blast]!"

A coil of wind shot straight at Ardyn.

And he just... blocked it.

Seriously? That was it?

But the impact left a scar across the platform, as sparks and dust burst into the air.

"You’re dead!"

Ardyn had already moved, eyes locked on Ruvian with frightening intensity.

His sword twisted with deceptive ease, and he chased the gap like a shadow, forcing himself inside the space where Ruvian had been before.

He was already in Ruvian’s face before the crowd could even react.

’Oh come on, give me a second here!’

Ruvian’s lips curled into a tight, strained smile.

Again, Ruvian dodged just by a close margin.

However, Ardyn charged again immediately, like he’d already predicted Ruvian would dodge... and was determined not to give him even half a second to chant another spell.

’...Okay, maybe I pushed his buttons a little too hard.’

Scratch that.

’I definitely pushed his buttons way too hard.’

But unlike a certain muscle-brained hero wannabe, Ruvian actually used his brain. He had already predicted Ardyn would pull something like this, which was exactly why the spell was already forming on his tongue.

The spell was waiting, ready to use.

As Ardyn’s blade screamed down again...

"[Wind Blast]!"

This time, Ruvian didn’t even bother aiming at Ardyn.

Instead, he blasted at his side, towards the ground.

The burst of wind exploded next to him, launching his body sideways. The gust dragged him out of range just as the blade cut through empty air with a very satisfying whoosh.

Ruvian had cast the spell not to attack, but to propel himself, using the force of it to move faster.

With that last desperate-yet-totally-calculated evasion, Ruvian slid across the platform and regrouped with the others.

Noelle had already steadied herself. Her posture radiated composure, but her hands still trembled faintly around the hilts of her daggers.

Griffer stood beside her, less composed and significantly more frustrated, his expression pulled tight with guilt as he gave Ruvian an awkward glance.

"Sorry," Griffer muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That was on me. I shouldn’t have leapt."

Noelle, ever the more curious of the two, tilted her head slightly to signal suspicion as she kept her eyes on Ardyn’s unmoving figure.

"Why did you enrage him?" she asked, her tone calm... but definitely judging.

"I was trying to buy us some time," Ruvian replied casually. "Unfortunately, I may have slightly... overachieved."

Griffer blinked, clearly not seeing the problem.

"Hey, then keep it going," he said. "Isn’t it better if he keeps throwing a tantrum? He looks way easier to deal with when he’s mad."

Ruvian gave him a flat look.

"I think we’ve reached the optimal level of ’angry idiot,’" he said dryly. "If I push him any further, I’m pretty sure I’ll just die here. And I’m not interested in knowing what’s in the afterlife yet."

He exhaled quickly, shifting back into focus.

"Anyway, we’re switching to Plan B."

"We strike in the same pattern... just the upgraded version."

He pointed lightly toward Ardyn.

"I’ll intercept the sword."

"You two follow through."

Then, after a short pause, he added:

"And try not to shout your attack this time."

Ardyn’s ability hadn’t surprised him. His speed was monstrous, his strength was undeniable. He was twice Ruvian’s weight and power, and yet... 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He wasn’t landing a single blow.

Ardyn’s raw speed was listed as nearly double their baseline, a discrepancy wide enough to make any attempt at outmaneuvering him seem laughable.

But raw values didn’t always translate cleanly into practice. In truth, Ardyn’s strongest trait was speed. But his focus on heavy, dominating attacks held that speed back.

And therefore, Ruvian found the opening he needed.

For all his fancy footwork and surprisingly decent reflexes, Ardyn had one very obvious problem.

He loved big, dramatic swings.

Every attack always looked heavy. His whole body moved with each strike, like he was personally trying to cut the entire arena in half instead of just hitting one guy.

Sure, it made his attacks ridiculously powerful...

...but also ridiculously slow.

Because, shockingly, when you swing around a giant chunk of metal using your entire body weight, you can’t exactly stop on a dime.

No matter how fast the swing starts, it still needs time to finish. And the bigger the motion, the longer it takes to recover afterward.

And in a real fight, even a fraction of a second can become an opening. That brief pause after the swing, that slight delay before he could reposition, was enough for Ruvian to evade.

Now they stood across from him again, forming that same formation. Ruvian was at the front. Griffer and Noelle were just behind, keeping to his flanks.

Ardyn gave his broadsword a tightened grip. His lips curled into wrath.

"This again, well, do your best."

He said, inviting them.

The three of them launched forward at once, moving in unison. The slight gap in their formation, between Ruvian and the others, was intentional.

Ardyn’s gaze narrowed, watching only Ruvian.

And then, when Ruvian crossed the invisible line, the range where Ardyn’s blade could reach him.

Ardyn didn’t waste any time and cast his spell on his broadsword.

[Thunderfall]

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[Chapter 75: Counter Attack]