Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage

After days of a series of intense battles in the Imperial Battle Tournament, this year's competition was about to meet its end, and only four mighty fighters were remaining to fight for the championship.

The final four were composed of Boris the Terror, last year's champion; Rogcal the Destroyer, a Supreme Rank Adventurer in the empire; Erik the Phantom Fencer, a mysterious warrior whose name was never heard of; and, lastly, Imperial Crown Prince Edward Dixon.

Everyone in the coliseum was quite excited for the last three matches of the tournament. Especially since this year featured the participation of the empire's crown prince, as well as the presence of an unknown underdog.

"It is hard to believe that Prince Edward reached this far," my sister said. "It is all thanks to his armor, I guess?."

"His skills are also contributing to his success as well. Let's credit him for that. But his armor is kind of cheating."

I agreed with my sister regarding his opinion on the armor, which kind of had truth in it. Currently, we were in the VIP seats waiting for the next match to start. Since it was already the semifinals, the fighters were given some time to rest before they set foot in the arena.

"But is this kind of thing allowed in the tournament, right?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah. Anything is allowed in the arena as long as it doesn't affect the user negatively."

"I see. But who do you think will win this tournament, Raphael?"

"Hmm... I don't think. They all seem strong. But if you asked me, I think I would vote for the Phantom Fencer."

"Why so, Raphael?" My sister asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because he is probably holding back the whole time."

"That's a fair point." Big Sis nodded once. "From what I have seen so far, I have a feeling that he is not someone around Level 500 at all."

"But even my Analysis says so..."

Erik was reported to be around level five hundred, which was what I wanted him to be—an unknown and mysterious warrior who came out of nowhere to dominate the tournament.

As a few of the audience had Appraisal skill, they could see how powerful he was, but it was also making them doubt if he was as strong as he was on paper. Erik had become an interesting topic among the audience and veterans.

"Erik is going to fight Boris, right?" My sister suddenly remembered something. "I think this match will decide that he is actually hiding something."

"Yeah. I would not be surprised if he actually won this tournament."

Around half an hour after the last match, the announcer and the referee stepped into the arena and called the names of the next fighters.

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"WOOO!!!"

In the coliseum, the audience erupted with their cheers upon the entrance of the two semifinalists, Erik the Phantom Fencer and Boris the Terror. Coming from both entrances of the arena, Erik and Boris met in the middle.

Boris was a tall and muscular man in a light armor made out of durable mithrill that had dents and scratches on it, indicating the experience Boris had with it. In his bulky hands, Boris was holding a pair of large adamantine battle axes, horsemen's axes to be specific, which he used to either chop or stab his opponents.

Seeing him up close, Erik now understood why he was given the nickname Terror. His face was remarkably intimidating, and his eyes were frighteningly sharp. Besides his physical attributes, Boris was also known to be cold and brutal toward his opponents, whether it was monsters bore hostility or anyone who he saw as threats.@@novelbin@@

Currently, at the level of around six hundred, Boris was considered to be the most powerful active adventurer in the empire, probably on the continent as well, in terms of levels, rank, and feats.

Overall, Boris had more advantages over Erik, and so the audience and analysts thought the same. However, they could not ignore the fact that Erik performed remarkably well in his previous fights, so some of them thought if the reigning champion would be able to defend his title.

"Fight!"

At the signal of the referee, the air between the two fighters tensed up. Boris and Erik walked around slowly as they were squaring up. Boris had been wearing a smirk since they stepped in the arena, clearly boosting his confidence. Erik took it as a provocation, so he decided to be the first one to move.

Whoosh.

Like a gust of wind, Erik dashed forward and readied his sword. He thrust his rapier and intended to aim it at the joints of Boris's armor. Even though he was rushing as fast as his current level could, his eyes caught Boris swinging his axe faster than his gallop.

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Boris had every chance to land a solid blow on Erik, but instead, he just blocked his pointy blade. After that, Boris swung his other axe at Erik.

"Ugh—!"

In response, Erik quickly used his blade to block the incoming attack. Due to the momentum of the axe, Erik was blown away by a few meters, and he even rolled several times on the floor. Erik then quickly recovered his balance and stood up immediately. However, his entire body was still shaking after the recoil from taking that attack.

"Ho, you were able to withstand that blow? Normally, my opponents would instantly turn to minced meat after that."

"You are as strong as they said. No, you are much stronger than that."

"Enough with the chitchat. Let's fight."

For the first time, Boris finally took a step and then followed it with a big one before he started running toward Erik. To everyone's surprise, Boris was moving as fast as a cannonball despite his size. Again, someone his size at that speed would definitely cause severe damage to its target.

"Take this!"

Boris raised his axe before he struck it down to Erik. But as he expected, his axe hit nothing but the air and then the floor as Erik had used Instantaneous Movement to escape himself from the situation. When he turned his back, Erik was already behind him, standing and hiding among the afterimages he created.

"Haha. The fun starts here."