City Lord Gabito held back little. The air that Dorian carried himself with, alongside his impressive reputation and powerful Aura, had fully convinced the City Lord that Dorian was a powerful opponent.

He did not even consider the possibility that Dorian was faking it.

Dorian's odd movement to bring his sword to his waist, as if it was put into a sheath while closing his eyes, didn't cause the City Lord to bat an eye.

Gabito was a veteran from several campaigns, including the brutal Territorial War with the Vampire Families, known among the Nobles as the 'Invasion of Light.' The war itself was an extremely complex one involving disputes over 16 different worlds that the Commune and the Three Families laid claim to.

Gabito had seen battle after battle, including all sorts of weird or odd characters, unusual technique after unusual technique. He had long since learned that the most important thing to focus on in a battle is your own offense and defense, to not allow yourself to be distracted by your opponent's unusual tactics.

WHOOSH

Therefore, the attack City Lord Gabito sent out was a full force slash, imbued with power from the Law of Cutting. It didn't involve any Mystic Martial Art or secret technique, but was instead a simple strike, intended to test the waters and gauge Dorian's reaction.

The longsword gleamed with power as it cut through the air towards Dorian's chest. White energy flowed around it, the manifested Power of Law.

Dorian's eyes were closed.

But he had not given up.

'Perfect Body, activate!' Dorian's physique, including his ability to sense his surroundings, increased tremendously. At the same time, Dorian focused deeply on the world around him, sending his senses outward to detect energy.

After gaining access to 4 separate Laws, Dorian's soul had become incredibly adept when it came to sensing energy from different Laws, especially when that energy was directly manifested. While he couldn't always use that energy, especially if it was a Law he had not experienced a baptism in, he could still feel it.

He had closed his eyes to help him concentrate, zeroing in on any outside energy sources.

And now, as he fully focused, his senses enhanced, an image of the world around him appeared in his mind.

The image was vague and distorted, lit up by bright specks of energy. One speck, in particular, that was just a meter away from him, headed directly towards his chest.

The attack from the City Lord.

WHOOSH

CLANG

BOOM

A small explosion of energy rang out as the sword strike stabbed right towards Dorian…

And was deflected, causing the blade to smash off to the right and stab into the ground, gouging a two-meter long gash in the reinforced stone floor that the practice room was made of.

"Hmm?" Lord Gabito jumped backwards, looking at the damaged floor and then at Dorian in surprise. Confusion filled his eyes, as if he didn't understand what had happened.

"Huh? The City Lord's attack was deflected?"

"What?! But Lord Inigo didn't move!"

"What happened?! His eyes were closed!"

The onlooking attendants and guards all stared in confusion, looking at Dorian.

Dorian smiled calmly,

"Are you just going to play around, Lord Gabito? Or are you going to attack for real?"

'It worked!' Internally, he was cheering himself on.

When Dorian sensed the direction and location that the attack was coming from, he had activated a second Ability.

His Lesser Magnetic Manipulation Ability. It was an Ability he had picked up a long time ago that allowed him to manipulate metallic objects.

And the weapon that the City Lord was using was a metal sword that fell into this category. Thankfully he hadn't used some type of weird Artifact weapon of any sort, otherwise Dorian would've had to go with a separate plan.

By using the Ability, he could forcibly redirect the blade. However, instead of trying to take full control of the weapon, Dorian had simply thrown a single, powerful blast, loaded with energy, against the sword.

At the same time he pulled on Fate slightly, to help redirect the strike. These two factors combined together to cause the longsword strike that was aimed at his chest to miss completely, all while he stayed still, unmoving, with his eyes shut.

"Patricia, did you feel that?" Off to the side, the male Wizard from the Church of Light, Gavin, whispered to the other, his eyes glinting.

"Yes. The energy he used was minute, but he definitely executed some sort of technique right there. Only…" Patricia frowned, her expression confused.

"I couldn't see anything." She shook her head as she looked from the strange Shade to the bundled figure of Helena sleeping on the ground.

"Who are you? And why does my Sigil detect the presence of a Vampire between you and your wife…" Shades came in many shapes, colors, and sizes, much like that of humans. Because Helena was wrapped up in clothes, able to ignore the sunny heat outside due to her physique, it wasn't possible to see if she had the tell-tale Dark Points that all Shades had.

Therefore, she was indistinguishable, Race-wise, from many other Shades.

"Hahahaha, impressive, Lord Inigo! I apologize for testing the waters. I will now go at this duel with full seriousness! Let us learn from each other!"

Back at the duel practice ground, the City Lord laughed out loud as he boisterously raised his longsword again. This time, however, the air around him took on a concentrated Aura.

An Aura that was sharp and powerful, full of raging power and might. Some type of stance or technique related to a Mystic Martial Art.

'Wait, he actually was playing around?!' Internally, Dorian's eyes widened.

'I was just trying to sound impressive, dammit. You don't need to get all serious on me.' Dorian mentally swore. He had never seen the City Lord fight and had assumed his first strike had been a full powered attack.

"You have earned my respect with your deflection of my basic strike. Your movement was so quick I could only sense the energy remnant from your technique. It is extremely rare to meet a warrior of your caliber. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity." The City Lord went off on a monologue as he lauded Dorian and complimented him.

Dorian frowned ever so slightly as he heard this, however, not liking where it was going.

'This sounds like the speech a villain gives before he unleashes his ultimate attack.'

"This next technique is my ultimate attack." Gabito promptly continued, as if on cue.

'Oh, come on!'

Dorian decided to stop mentally commentating on things. He felt like he was jinxing himself.

The City Lord raised his blade up above his head, locking eyes with Dorian. The Aura around Lord Gabito seemed to sharpen, becoming even stronger.

"This is the Raging Emperor Martial Art's 12 Rushing Rivers Explosion. The Mystic Martial Art draws upon the natural Laws of the Universe through my natural movement with the blade, forming an incredible 96 slash technique." The City Lord's voice was full of authority as he took a step forward.

'96 slashes? That's just excessive! Why not 12? Or just 6? What's wrong with 6?' He mentally cursed for a second time. Why were all the people he met so abnormal?

"Please guide me." The City Lord's voice was full of genuine respect as his body blurred, blasting toward Dorian. The air around Lord Gabito distorted as multiple white lines of energy rippled, full of fierce power.

"Here, here! The City Lord is going all out!"

"Everyone back up!"

"That Shade is a goner now."

A deluge of voices broke out as the attendants all retreated, pulling back away from the scene of the fight. The guards stayed steady as they watched the battle, several of them resting their hands on the hilt of their blades as they looked at Dorian nervously.

"Oh, wow. The City Lord is far stronger than what was reported by the Church." Patricia muttered as she saw this, her eyes widening as she continued,

"Strength like that places him among the upper tier of Lord Class fighters, even among the Church elites."

"He's a veteran from the Territorial War that chose to head east after retiring. Anyone that fought in that war and survived is bound to have some level of strength, save, perhaps, for the common foot soldiers." Gavin responded brusquely. He shook his head as he continued,

"Be ready to heal Lord Inigo, Patricia. The Shade certainly has some level of skill, but I doubt he'll be able to withstand that attack."

Patricia nodded, her eyes sharpening,

"Of course. Even I would not be able to escape this unscathed. We can use that as an excuse to investigate what's going on with him and his wife." Her eyes trailed back over towards Dorian.

'Fine, I can handle this.' Dorian's eyes flashed, pushing aside his worry as he felt the incredible force the City Lord generated.

It was an extremely strong attack, a Mystic Martial Art that had been mastered to an extremely high level. The man in front of him was clearly worthy of the title Swordmaster.

But compared to the Holy Prince Isaac's awe-inspiring blows, it was only so-so.

'If I could deal with the Shade Prince, I can deal with this.' Dorian shut his eyes once more.

WHOOSH

The world around him devolved into vague shapes and blips of energy.

Right in front of him, however, Dorian saw something that was terrifying.

It looked like a dozen snakes, flashing with bright, chaotic energy, soaring through the air all directed towards his heart. Each snake of energy contained bright, white light within them, the inherent power of the Law of Cutting granting each strike incredible potency.

Even with his Perfect Body Ability activated, a single blow from one of those snakes of energy would shred through his basic defenses and injure him.

That was, if a blow could land, and if he ignored his other Abilities.

WHOOSH

Energy from the Law of Valor, the Law of Greed, the Law of Wrath, and the Law of Mercy flooded into Dorian's veins, all at once. He transformed into a vast, distorted concentration of power as raw might caused the air around him to shiver with power.

To the onlookers, Dorian hadn't moved a muscle and was still standing still, while the City Lord's strike was about to land on him.

In that instant, however, as Dorian simultaneously drew on four Laws at once, his Aura changed.

It was as if he had become a fierce God of Death in their eyes. His Aura shot up to incredibly fierce levels as his Laws mixed, creating a horrifying, unstoppable air. His presence was like that of a giant, looking down upon tiny, wayward ants.

Half of the attendants passed out directly, fainting.

The other half stood frozen in terror, unable to make a move. The guards all stood frozen as well, jaws dropped as their hands fell to the side, limp.

"What in the Heavens..." Patricia stared at Dorian as if he was a freakish monster.

"How…?" Gavin muttered, his eyes wide.

BOOM

The City Lord's right arm blurred as he struck out. The fighter was so concentrated and intune with his own attack that he had completely blocked out Dorian's Aura, and was thus temporarily unaffected.

The dozen snakes of energy slammed down towards Dorian as, in reality, the white streams of energy appeared, flowing mysteriously. All of the snakes of energy formed together into a single, thick snake of energy that combined with the City Lord's blade, carrying with it enough force to split a mountain.

The City Lord than began to attack.

Lord Gabito's body itself was blurred as slash after slash, blow after blow, rained down upon Dorian's body. A full 96 separate slashes cut towards Dorian, all in the space of a few seconds. The incredibly fast, incredibly potent technique was the ultimate move of the City Lord, combining his every ounce of talent and skill into a single blow.

An attack that he had mastered from his years and years of experience and intense training, focusing on nothing other than gaining the power to defend himself after he experienced the horrors of extended warfare many years ago.

BOOM

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

A series of metallic clangs rang out as Dorian activated his Lesser Magnetic Manipulation Ability, over and over, dozens of times.

'Block! Block! Block! Block!' Dorian's mind raced into overdrive as strike after strike was deflected. Every time, he had to forcibly concentrate a certain level of energy and explode it forward while simultaneously drawing upon his soul to twist Fate and ensure the attack missed.

The process was incredibly straining on him, causing his soul to feel a massive amount of stress. He spent a massive amount of energy.

However, cool energy rushed into his soul from a new source. Energy from the Law of Greed, a law focused on enhancing the soul.

Thanks to this, Dorian was able to adeptly manipulate each strike, blocking blow after blow after blow, despite the huge drain to his soul.

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

Everything was happening extremely quickly. Dorian's mind moved with an almost instinctive level of control as he redirected 95 of the sword strikes.

"Great Heavens above… He's moving his blade so fast it can't even be seen! I can't even see his arm move, let alone his sword!" Gavin sputtered, his voice a hiss as he turned to Patricia.

"…inconceivable." Patricia's voice was similarly shocked.

Each strike from the Swordmaster was slowly increasing in power and might as the City Lord's 12 Rushing Rivers Explosion technique went through its full cycle. The technique was a complicated one that built itself up as it went forward, becoming stronger and stronger.

Through the use of this technique, Lord Gabito had remained undefeated ever since the war ended.

As the City Lord felt his attacks be deflected, however, strike after strike redirected by attacks he could not even see, an indescribable feeling overwhelmed him.

A feeling of pure, unadulterated awe.

"Take my final strike, Lord Inigo, and I will fully admit my defeat!" Fervor filled the City Lord's voice as he yelled out loud, his voice booming. Raw energy rocketed off of him in waves, causing the air to stir.

The last, and 96th blow of the complex technique, cut through the air towards Dorian's chest. Every single iota of energy the City Lord had went into this blow, the full power of all 12 snakes of energy combining together one last time, built up to a powerful crescendo.

Dorian looked at it as he opened his eyes fully, a calm smile on his face.

His left arm blurred as he brought it up and held it out just in front of his chest, right at the incoming attack.

'Mystic Armored Body Ability, Perfect Body Ability, cover me! Law of Valor, enhance my defenses! Law of Wrath and Mercy, combine and cover my hand in a palm strike! Law of Greed, enhance my soul to handle it all!' His mind mentally commanded his powers.

At the same time, he shifted his body slightly so he was standing directly in front of Helena, shielding her from anything that came about as a result of this attack.

The longsword slammed forward and collided with Dorian's left palm.

BOOOOOOOM

A rippling explosion of white light shook the arena air, throwing up a huge gust of wind and an equally large shockwave. Everyone below Grandmaster Class, including most of the attendants, were thrown backwards like ragdolls.

The ground and ceiling of the practice room were magically enhanced and reinforced, but were unable to bear the brunt of the impact. A large, stone crater formed in the ground where Dorian and Lord Gabito had collided, stone shrapnel and dust blasting off and covering the area. Rippling white energy shot out erratically, crackling in the air.

WHOOSH

As the dust cleared, the few guards that had managed to keep their feet, including the two Wizards from the Church of Light who's innate barriers had shielded them, saw the result.

The newly formed crater had a visible line marring it, untouched by the blow. A line that led to the body of Helena that was resting peacefully on the ground, unharmed.

At the center of that line, near the center of the crater, Dorian stood calmly, holding the blade of the City Lord's longsword in his bare hand.

Lord Gabito stared up at Dorian, Dorian's powerful Aura washing over him.

"Not bad, City Lord."

"Heaven's above… He's not just at the level of a Swordmaster." Patricia stared at Dorian, her body trembling in fear.

"His skill is approaching that of a Sword Saint!"

"The Commune is going to give birth to a new Saint!"

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Off to Shanghai :) Expect our normal, daily schedule to start up again on the 8th of this month. I will try to release a chapter or two between then! We will see as we go forward!

Take this time to recharge all your SS <3 thank="" you="" all="" for="" reading="" and="" enjoying="" my="" story,="" and="" making="" this="" all="" a="" possibility="" :)="" happy="" new="" years!=""></3>

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