122 Chapter 122: Pride Comes Before a Fall

"I wasn't asking for your name or affiliation!" Franklin bellowed in fury.

"If that's the case, then why are you asking who I am?" I shot back, irritated.

Franklin didn't respond to that. Instead, he staggered to his feet and immediately attacked, taking me by surprise.

"The Divine Art of the Franklin Clan: the 64 Consecutive Strikes!"

"What…?"

I wasn't even given any time to muster a retort. Franklin's sword flashed from every conceivable angle, penetrating my defenses and piercing into me. His blade cut through my flesh like hot knife through butter, sending several sprays of blood into the air and splattering them over the smooth, marble floor. Yeah, the floor of the arena was made from marble. Go figure.

I staggered back, hard-pressed to keep up with his blows. As I expected, Aquarius was too heavy and unwieldy to defend adequately against a fast and nimble opponent. Additionally, Franklin wasn't giving me enough time to even breathe. His attacks mercilessly came one after another in an onslaught of thrusts and slashes that flowed like a violent river.

"Wow, now this is impressive," I murmured, impressed that Franklin was actually turning the tables on me. "You should have fought like this from the start…ouch!"

Another strike landed, the thrust leaving a scrape on my cheek. I could feel warm blood trickle down my face.

Yet, I could swear that the blade was so sharp that it was practically cutting me without even touching my flesh.

However, the omni-directional attacks seemed to fade away after a while. Panting heavily, I staggered backward, only to see Franklin readying for what seemed to be the final strike of his technique. Unlike all the other attacks from earlier, this was a single, heavy blow. Copious amounts of white mana flowed into his blade, illuminating it with blinding holy light.

Instinctively, I hastily jumped back to put as much distance between us as possible. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that my action was futile.

"The 64th Strike: Conclusive Execution!" Franklin bellowed, swinging his glowing sword down in a final, vicious attack.

"What the…?" I choked in surprise as a bright flash of light leaped from his blade and crossed the distance in an instant, catching me full on the chest. His previous attacks had all been up close and personal, so I didn't expect the final strike of this particular technique to be a long-ranged beam. Not to mention, its ferocious speed far exceeded anything I had anticipated. The tremendous impact knocked the wind out of me and sent me flying, blood spurting from my mouth.

I finally slammed into the wall behind me, the impact cracking the concrete.

This single strike is several dozen times more powerful than all the other attacks he used earlier! I realized, recalling every one of Franklin's techniques that he executed when using the pathetic ornamental sword from before.

"Kneel," Franklin ordered as he stepped in front of me, his sword flashing toward my throat. "And weep. Weep and beg for mercy, and I may spare your miserable life. You have no chance of winning."

"Who are you talking to?" I asked as I whirled around behind him, swinging Aquarius for a lethal strike.

"Wh…what?! When did you get behind me?" Franklin demanded as he quickly spun around. Stupid of me. I shouldn't have spoken up, but given his skills and reflexes, I knew he would have reacted in time anyway, even if I had remained silent. To his credit, he managed to intercept my attack.

"While you were talking to yourself," I replied, pulling my blade back and jumping several meters away. "The match's not over yet."

"Then I'll finish it!" Franklin screamed defiantly. "Franklin Style: Royal Flash!"

Before I knew what had just happened, a giant burst of white light blasted from his blade and slammed into me.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Yes, that was me.

I smashed into the wall behind me, which was actually quite far away, so you could probably estimate just how powerful that single attack was.

"Ugh…"

Forcing myself to my knees, I heaved painfully as blood dripped from my wounds all over my body. Behind me, the golden plaster that layered the wall was falling around me in flakes. We were demolishing the very expensive room in our fight, but right now that was probably the least of my worries.

"Royal Strike!" Franklin bellowed as he descended upon me, his sword shrieking through the air and crying for blood. Reluctant to oblige the bloodthirsty katana, I rolled away and barely avoided his attack. His deadly blade left a crater in the ground where I was kneeling just seconds ago. I watched the destruction with wide eyes as I hopped backward.

"Not yet!"

Franklin twisted around with his sword, relentless in his pursuit. With a determined roar, he swung the katana in my direction even as I desperately retreated.

"Franklin Style: Divine Judgement!"

It was the same attack as the one he used earlier, only that this time it was several dozen times more powerful.

And I couldn't avoid his attack in time.

The brilliant burst of white light rammed into me and exploded. Pain and blood burst across my entire body, but I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from howling out.

I was thrown like a helpless and broken rag doll across the room. Crashing onto the ground heavily, I bounced feebly several times before finally coming to a stop. I lay unmoving, facedown in a pool of my own blood.

"It's over." Franklin turned to Stuart and bowed triumphantly. "I have won this match."

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I got to my feet unsteadily. "I admit that you're strong, but you still haven't defeated me yet. Don't decide things on your own." I sighed reluctantly. "Man, I really didn't want to use this, but…"

A golden light flashed all across me as golden streams of mana swirled around my body and created a huge whirlwind that swept across the room. I had finally completed my summoning spell that I had been trying to cast while Franklin pummeled me. The reason why I didn't summon any other Constellation spirits was because I was saving up my mana and casting process for this guy.

"I can't believe you've forced me to get a little serious," I complained. The strong currents of mana whipped around me, throwing my hair and remnants of my suit into disarray.

"W…what are you doing?" Franklin cried out. Stupid question. Obviously I was summoning something. I could tell that he was beginning to feel scared. Desperately, he assumed another sword stance and pointed his Ye Mo at me. "Franklin's Full Hand: Royal Flush Deck Out!"

Who names his techniques? I wondered curiously. However, before I could even begin to consider any possibilities, a massive white burst of mana hurtled across the room toward me, destroying everything in its path.

Needless to say, another enormous explosion ensued.

"Hah…hah…" Franklin panted, staring triumphantly at the devastated and empty scene before him. He began crowing. "I did it! I…really did it! I finally won!"

"Didn't I already tell you to stop deciding things on your own?" I snapped from behind him.

"What…?" He spun around, completely taken aback. "Impossible! I just killed you! I just killed…!"

"Watch your step," I advised as I pointed downward.

Leo emerged from under Franklin, tossing him into the air. Franklin fumbled helplessly in the air, wailing and flailing with his sword in futility.

"Leo," I instructed. The golden, majestic lion nodded at me as he anticipated my next order. "Regulus."

A golden pillar of light burst out of the king of beasts. It struck the helpless Franklin, who was still spinning in the air, and detonated.

"GEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

That must really hurt. I was already wincing just from hearing him shriek in pain.

To be fair, Leo was the Constellation spirit closest in power to my Celestial Guardians. I would even go so far as to say that he was on par with White Tiger. The two made great rivals. That was why it took me so long to summon Leo.

Still, it was pathetic, really. I was using less than one-fifth of Leo's full power so as not to kill Franklin, but he looked as if he was half-dead from that single attack. Again, I was not a psychopath, so I had no intention of murdering him in front of a large crowd. Yes, he was arrogant and got on my nerves, but who the fuck murdered people over such a trivial reason!?

It wasn't as if he killed my dad and raped my girlfriend. Seriously, if you guys are so bloodthirsty, go read Martial God Asura or something.

I watched as Franklin hit the ceiling before plummeting back to the ground. He smashed into the golden marble, throwing up chunks of concrete and stone over himself.

"You…you…monster!" Franklin hollered in both fear and fury, holding his face. It turned out that he had taken the full brunt of Regulus there. I sighed in disappointment when I realized I had failed to break his jawbone. It meant that he would still be able to talk for a while. Perhaps I should have used more than one-fifth of Leo's power when casting Regulus, after all.

Well, at the very least I seemed to have scarred his pretty face. Not that it mattered. Any basic healing spell would completely remove the scars anyway.

"DIVINE JUDGEMENT!"

This time, I faced down the oncoming torrent of light. Holding out my right hand, I intoned, "Scutum Sobiescianum."

The Shield of Sobieski materialized in front of me. The massive blast of white mana slammed against the shield futilely before dispersing, the attack being rendered useless against its impenetrable defense.

Franklin stared at me in disbelief. "No way…how…how…this is impossible…"

"Stop spluttering and be a man," I snapped, disgusted by his whimpering. And this was the guy who looked down on me for being a low-class commoner. "If you're going to panic every time something doesn't go your way, you're never going to win. Not that you ever had a chance in the first place."

I suddenly realized the real reason for insults, gloating, bragging and mockery. Psychological warfare. If I could get under my opponent's skin, he would inevitably make mistakes that he normally wouldn't, and I could open up a bigger advantage between us. I wasn't fond of indulging in such psychological warfare, but if someone used it against me, I had no qualms in using it right back at him.

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Franklin bellowed.

Really? I sneered inwardly. Because you don't look like you're able to keep your cool.

"Franklin Style: Royal Thrust!"

A strong beam of light lanced from his sword toward me.

I simply blocked it with Sobieski's Shield. The light ricocheted off my shield and dispersed harmlessly. Moving Scutum Sobiescianum aside, I began approaching Franklin in a slow and deliberate manner. A smile crept across my face as I closed the distance between us.

"No…no!" Franklin backed away from me, shaking his head in denial. "Don't come near me! Don't come near me! Stay away!"

"What was all that big talk earlier for?" I asked, revolted by his sniveling, cowardly behavior. "Are you really just a bag of hot air?"

"S…shut up!"

"So, are you giving up?" I asked, taking another step toward him. "Or should I continue attacking?"

"Fuck you! I…I will never lose to a lowly commoner like you!"

"Then what are you doing right now? You don't look like you're winning." Sighing, I shook my head in pity. Then I twitched my hands, and heavy metal chains materialized in them in an instant. "Chains of Andromeda."

Throwing them at him, I sought to incapacitate him.

"UWAAAA!" Franklin instinctively raised his sword to defend himself. Exactly as I planned. My Chains of Andromeda wrapped around Ye Mo before whipping across and binding Franklin's limbs in thick, heavy coils.

"Argh!"

With his legs bound, Franklin toppled over in an undignified manner. He struggled desperately, but was unable to break out of his restraints.

I squeezed the chains in order to apply pressure on the blade. As expected, the demonic sword held strong against the legendary chains that was said to have restrained a gargantuan sea monster.

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"Ye Mo is a really strong sword," I observed, awestruck. "If it had been a normal Divine Device, the Chains of Andromeda would have snapped it cleanly in half."

"You…you…MONSTER!"

"At least you aren't calling me commoner now," I taunted as I leaned forward. "What's the matter? You were so confident before.

"Fuck you!" Franklin spat. He continued to struggle, to no avail. Shaking my head, I proceeded toward him, backed up by Leo. The majestic Constellation spirit growled in an intimidating manner, which caused him to pale.

"Do you give up?" I asked, pointing Aquarius at his exposed throat.

"Who's going to give up?"! Franklin snarled. I pressed the blade against his neck, drawing blood.

"Then you'll die, you know?"

"That's enough, Richard." I glanced up at Stuart. He nodded gravely. "You've won this fight…"

"NO! NOT YET!"

"?!"

An explosion of mana from Franklin caused me to stumble backward. Deadly white mana coalesced around the blade of his Ye Mo and he cut through my Chains of Andromeda within seconds. Another swing of the demonic katana and my Aquarius was cleaved cleanly in half. I jumped backward, accompanied by Leo, as I tried to assess this new threat.

"This is not over yet!" Franklin howled defiantly as he drew more mana into himself and infused his Demonic Device. "Elite Franklin's Song: Royal Melody!"

Ye Mo began glowing and humming with an eerie melody. Without any hesitation, Franklin kicked off the ground and lunged at me with the pure, unadulterated intention to kill.