Under the astonished gazes of the growing number of onlookers, Siegfried menacingly advanced.


    He was fast.


    Unfortunately, not fast enough to catch Shye off-guard.


    ''Heh, if you think you can cross the strength attribute gap with just this, I''m afraid you''re gravely mistaken, Sieg!'' Shye inwardly thought with a confident smile, aiming both greatswords forward before using one of his reliable gap-closer skills.


    ''Rush Stab! Boost!''


    Winds howled as Shye sted through the air with unparalleled speed and ferocity, prompting Siegfried to narrow his eyes in wariness.


    The intensity of Shye''s attack was overwhelming.


    However, Siegfried was fully prepared to counter it.


    He vanished at the perfect moment by hiding in a spatial pocket, then reappeared behind Shye, whose speed suddenly dropped after losing his target.


    Siegfried then wielded his wooden katana with all his might, summoning three illusory swords of different colors: red, yellow, and blue.


    Shortly after, the three swords whistled through the air, stabbing straight at Shye''s back.


    Unfortunately for Siegfried, Shye already predicted that he was gonna disappear before they shed.


    This is why as soon as Shye lost speed due to losing his target, he prepared his next attack, [Half-moon sh Lv.4 (Umon)].


    Turning around, he fiercely shed both greatswords, first the right and then the left, firing off two enormous silver sh marks that formed an X as they flew toward Siegfried.


    Then, as the two warrior projectiles shed, the three swords were easily overpowered, forcing Siegfried to quickly roll sideways to dodge.


    ''Hoh? Why didn''t he disappear this time?'' Shye pondered.


    Siegfried should be able to dodge his attack easily by disappearing into a spatial pocket.


    Hence, Shye couldn''t help but question the method he used to evade the attack.


    ''Can''t waste this chance now, can I?''


    *GYAOOH!*


    Two pairs of pitch-ck wings emerged from Shye''s back, apanied by reddish-ck horns on his forehead, elbows, and ankles.


    A pitch-ck armor then materialized on his body, followed by a blood-curdling howl reminiscent of ancient demons, enhancing his attributes, defensive capabilities, and mobility.


    This was the final form of Shye''s [Fallen] skills.


    Experience more on empire


    …With one p of his max-level wings, Shye arrived in front of Siegfried, who had just finished stabilizing his footing.


    He then brandished his greatswords like a berserk war god, shing them diagonally downwards one after the other.


    This resulted in Siegfried backpedaling like there was no tomorrow—his focus, razor-sharp as he parried and dodged Shye''s attacks the best he could.


    He simply doesn''t dare block for fear of being sent flying once more.


    Five secondster, Siegfried vanished into a spatial pocket once more, reappearing behind Shye and thrusting his de toward Shye''s heart from behind.


    Naturally, Shye was already prepared for this moment as learning about this annoying skill of Siegfried''s was the main goal of his earlier relentless assault.


    With one p of his wings, Shye bolted forward at shocking speeds, easily dodging his opponent''s attacks.


    ''Hoh…so his skill''s cooldown mechanics were like that of my [Boost] skill, huh?'' He mused smilingly, charging at Siegfried once more the next moment.


    This time, however, Siegfried unleashed his own [Half-moon sh Lv.5 (Umon)] skill.


    Unfortunately, since he was using a katana, his sh was sharper but lighter and considerably smallerpared to Shye''s.


    Still, it wasn''t an attack that Shye could receive with his body.


    …or could he?


    He had never tested the defensive capabilities of the ck armor granted by the max level [Fallen''s Howl].


    Since this was only a friendly duel, Shye decided that it was better to test its capabilities now than in a real-life-or-death scenario.


    Hence, despite the mighty aura of the half-moon sh mark, Shye recklessly advanced, opting to take the attack head-on in exchange for a clean hit of his own.


    Shye gritted his teeth and prepared himself to endure agonizing pain.


    Yet, surprisingly, when the sh mark made contact with his chest, it evaporated like smoke along with his ck armor.


    As a result, Siegfried waspletely caught off guard, sent flying by another powerful blow to his chest.


    "Puhaahk!"


    This time, his injuries were rather severe.


    Fortunately, he still had two charges of his skill [Spatial Shift], which enabled him to evade crashing into the training hall walls.


    Using one charge of the skill, he disappeared into a spatial pocket mid-air and reappeared at a safe distance from where Shye was momentster.


    "Hahahaha! What the hell is that ck armor, Crowley? Isn''t that thing basically a cheat?"


    "Hahaha! I really don''t want to hear that from you, considering you have that darned spatial pocket skill or something to get you out of trouble anytime you want!"


    The twobatants engaged in a friendly banter.


    However, Shye purposely remarked, "Siegfried can get out of trouble ANYTIME he wants using his skill," feigning ignorance of the skill''s cooldown after three charges.


    Might be a bit of a rat move considering they were both warriors.


    But hey, it wasn''t his fault that his intelligence attribute was higher than Siegfried''s, was it?@@novelbin@@


    It would be a sin to fight like an idiot if he had smarter options.


    Fully knowing that Siegfried only had one charge of [Spatial Shift] left, Shye initiated the attack once more, pping his wings mightily to arrive in front of his opponent.


    Unfortunately, Siegfried seemed to have predicted it, and with a p of his own golden wings, he bolted heavenwards with a n of his own in mind.


    Naturally, if Shye knew certain things about his close friend''s skills, Siegfried also knew some things about him.


    For one, he knew that Shye''s wings couldn''t be used continuously and that he would have to wait for one second before using them again.


    This was enough for Siegfried to use gravity to his advantage, pping his wings in sync with Shye to descend fiercely.


    With this, he was sure that his ace in the hole would snatch victory for him.


    Watching the mesmerizingbat scene, where it appeared as though an angel descended from the skies to strike down the ascending demon back into the depths of hell, the onlookers were captivated.


    How they wished they could freeze that moment for a few more seconds to admire it.


    Unfortunately, a fierce battle was bound to be fast-paced, and the moment that seemed toe straight out of a fairy tale ended almost as soon as it began.


    Shye shed his [Power sh]-empowered greatsword upwards while Siegfried shed his katana downwards.


    Then, at thest moment, Siegfried hid in a spatial pocket, allowing Shye''s greatswords to pass through before reappearing at the same location, brandishing his wooden katana viciously at Shye''s neck.


    Shye still had another greatsword, though, which allowed him to block the attack.


    He even raised it horizontally, entering a blocking motion.


    ''Ethereal Sword!''


    Just when the wooden weapons were about to sh, Siegfried''s wooden katana suddenly flickered and passed through Shye''s guard.


    "It''s my win, Crowl–?!"


    *ROAR!*


    An ear-splitting roar that resembled those of mighty dragons suddenly emerged out of Shye''s mouth.


    Unfortunately for Siegfried, with no other options to dodge, he fell victim to Shye''s skill, [Draconian Roar Lv.5], once more.


    As a result, he was scared witless, and it was as if his attack was frozen in time.


    The next moment, he felt a strong grip around his neck, followed by the sensation of being violently mmed into the ground.


    Soon after, he was engulfed by oblivion.


    ''Ahh…crap…I lost again…''


    [Congrattions! You''ve earned 3,620 points!]