Chapter 420: Profound Slash

After Aiden gave his response, both men stood still, staring silently at the other. The two artifact blades, Mort glistened with a silvery hue, while on the other side Ryg was black as the night.

Light versus Darkness, the eternal, never-ending conflict. Neither youth made a move, their eyes matching the other's equally piercing stare. Seconds passed in a tense, strained atmosphere.

Suddenly, as the moment passed, the stillness of the two sides shattered. Drake's lips curving to a crooked smirk, he tightened his grip on Mort's hilt, he spoke with a delighted tone.

"Can you feel it, Aiden?" The smirk in his face transforming yet again, he stared at Aiden like a hungry predator would at his helpless prey. "This… All of this is honest. There are no lies, misinformation, there's no place for any shroud of doubt. Pour your everything into that blade and answer my call!"

With that, his calves stretched, like an arrow fired from a bow he charged forward, towards Aiden. His figure blurred, his sword held by his side, a silver streak could be seen dashing forward.

Promised to only rely on his pure skill and determination, Aiden raised Ryg in front of his chest, holding it horizontally. His grip was firm, his muscles flexed, he squinted his eyes, focusing on the incoming clash.

Time once again seemed to slow to a snail's pace as Aiden's mind was fully focused on one single task: Processing each and every single one of Aiden's movements. Even though the whole charge should barely take a second as the distance between the two wasn't much, to begin with; to Aiden, it literally felt like minutes as he could clearly see behind the blurry streak of the silver-haired boy. He could clearly make out as Drake almost on instinct, raised and bent his right elbow and pushed it slightly behind, pulling the famed blade into a striking pose. 

As soon as he crossed the halfway mark between them, Drake's hand moved again, and Aiden's gaze was once again fully focused on every thousandth of an inch or mil. Even the tiniest of movements was played out and was bare in front of him. 

He could see as the blade slowly drew a diagonal arc aimed to use all of Drake's power, skill and strength added with his gained momentum to clash against Aiden's blade and destroy his block before ultimately giving a harsh reminder of the haughty victor of the deathly dance between them.

Just like how he exclaimed before the fight, Drake didn't bother with anything fancy. There was no flamboyant trickery, or backhanded traps involved in his attack at all, what he relied on was his experience, learned, and trained skill. His full intent, his full body, and his mind were one; his aim was simple. End the fight the same was as the swordmasters of the legends did: With one single strike, carrying everything he could muster. A [Profound Slash] as it was referred to by the scribes and masters of today.

Focused on the simplistic-looking arch that the blade drew as it steadily crept closer, Aiden was, for the first time probably since forever, startled. As he looked at the glimmering silver blade he felt a sense of threat, a danger that normally should not be possible. 

Drake, though he was stronger than most of the humans he met so far in this pigsty of a city, was still far below in terms of attributes to match his own. Still, despite that, this single attack seemed to defy logic.

He somehow knew that without relying on his inner power, he would not be able to contend with this strike. 

He couldn't evade either, as whilst time was seemingly crawling, this was only an illusion, a trickery invented and created by his own mind, his own heightened state and high Spirit attribute made such a miracle become possible.

No. There was no way out, his only option was to respond to Drake's strike in kind. He had to, he needed to respect such commitment, and showcase his own determination in return. 

He clenched his right hand, as he fully focused on Ryg's ebony blade alone. As his mind was processing everything that was happening overdrive, he felt as if some gate was unlocked and opened in himself, as new information, a new knowledge entered his mind.

He faintly heard the bell-like sounds coming from deeper inside, his system alerting him of something he couldn't possibly care about now.

Still, he had an idea, as he felt his hold on Ryg grew steadier, firmer than before. He could visualize the incoming strike's arc, several responses instantly filled his mind. In a single instant, he processed thousands of possibilities, potential responses before ultimately deciding on one.

He could even feel that even with this, his chances of victory were almost nil, but at the very least there was the minuscule possibility of a draw. Drake's [Profound Strike] was just that powerful, that incredibly mysterious. 

Coming to a conclusion, time instantly returned to its normal pacing. The stretched-out second, the singular instant that this whole fight was supposed to take came to an abrupt end.

As Drake instantly flashed in front of Aiden, his strike, just as he wanted to clash against the dark edge of Rygintarth.

Sparks flew from their point of impact, a blinding display of strength exploded blanketing the small subsection of the underground tunnel system with the veil of milky white light.

The two sides pushed against each other with an equal matching force, neither side could gain a foothold and take a single mil closer towards the coveted outcome.

As the light steadily faded, allowing the spectators to take a gander over the small, makeshift theater of wills, the sight that greeted them only caused confusion to appear on all faces and gazes.

As if the previous clash never happened, both parties were at their original starting positions. The only difference being that both blades were pointed towards the ground whilst both sides were heaving as if they just finished a marathon. Beads of sweat covering both sides, nobody could guess who was the victor.

"What happened?! Who won?!" Unable to withstand such frustration Scarlet exclaimed with an annoyed expression. This time, however, Lily and even Galina joined her crusade in prying some response from the boys. Neither of them could guess what exactly happened, nor who could have possibly won.

None of the boys responded to the agitated outcry of the red-haired girl, they kept grinning and heaving at each other. Pure bliss, happiness, satisfaction displayed on both of their faces.

Eventually, after roughly a minute or so, both boys moved as if tugged by the same puppeteer. With a flick of his hand, Ryg vanished into thin air, returning inside Aiden's body. 

At the same time, the silver blade of Mort was tucked back into its sheath. As their duel came to a brilliant and beautiful conclusion, there was no need for the Royal Artifact any longer.

"Come on, who won?! What happened?!" Getting greatly annoyed by the continued silence, Scarlet was slowly but surely testing the limits of what her tired mind could take. 

Her sanity being questioned, she was getting closer and closer to resolving this conflict with her own fists. She wanted to pummel both boys to the ground, which as she took a gander at her side to the other girls, was a shared sentiment by the two.

Walking towards the girls, both boys smiled similarly to the agitated maidens, their response was simultaneous.

"Well… The truth is…"