F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 297: There’s More Where That Came From

"T-T-There it is!! Onimaru Kunitsuna and Ourion’s first exchange! What a treat...what a treat!! Neither seemed to be inferior to the other, and strangely, Onimaru Kunitsuna appeared to also be in possession of one of the Sky Prince’s signature Sword Skills?"

Nathalie’s booming, vibrant voice was promptly met with stentorian cheers, summoning a rumbling storm over Crownspire Arena.

Meanwhile, on the stage, Daru did not shrink. This was not his first rodeo.

"Who knows?" he responded with not the subtlest of changes in his expression.

Skylar’s eyes narrowed, the slight, forced smile on his face turning into apathy, or at least that was what he showed on his young face.

If the Sky Prince was infuriated, he did not show it.

Legacy Sword Skill Scrolls would never have copies, after all, and one could only obtain them from the owner of the Legacy Sword Skill — House Ashwind, in this case.

Was it truly the Seven Glasswind Slash, though?

Skylar had doubts. However, the ethereal glass shattering sounds whenever a fragile yet deadly slash was destroyed seemed all too real.

Either way, further engagement through combat would give him more information. The Sky Prince wasted no time.

The next instant, he took the initiative, dashing at his opponent with incredible speed — slightly faster than his foe’s.

While one could argue that this was because of the attribute-enhancing pills he consumed before he descended from the skies, it remained a fact that he wouldn’t be superior now if their physical attributes weren’t close from the start.

Daru had no intention of crying over a small disadvantage, though, and was in fact quite appreciative of it.

He had always loved challenges and improvement, after all. He knew that only through difficulties would he be forged.

Soon, Skylar was upon him. Ourion howled as it thrust forth, calling upon the raging tempest.

But Daru was ready.

His legs had been on the move the moment his opponent sprang into action. Before the storming jikdo could touch him, he blurred to the side, the furious winds raging in a straight path from his previous position.

He then countered with a rising slash, but Skylar unhesitatingly blocked his full-powered swing.

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the Sky Prince remained rooted on the ground, only skidding back for a few centimetres.

Daru didn’t invest too much reaction on the less-desirable outcome, though, proceeding to charge at his opponent to capitalize on his small advantage instead.

He jumped and turned into a deadly red tornado the moment he got close enough, lashing down with his tachi.

However, the Sky Prince was suddenly out of his reach, crouching low to the ground — arms extended to the side like a bird in low flight to maintain balance.

The moment his blade passed, Skylar’s abdominal and lower body muscles pulled, and the young master was able to assume proper combat stance once more in less than a second at the expense of a tiny amount of stamina.

Daru landed gracefully.

However, before he could rush back in, sinister scarlet eyes approached. The winds trembled in its wake, then formed a diagonal cross slash as a tailwind propelled forth Skylar.

The sudden speed burst was so explosive that it was impossible to avoid in that exact situation.

So, Daru didn’t.

Instead, he quickly shifted into a rather ridiculous straight-spine, chest-out pose, as though a bodybuilder in a competition, his entire body gleaming under the sunlight a moment later.

Skylar was caught utterly off guard.

Unfortunately, he could not stop now.

Nathalie and the crowd’s eyes widened, their mouths tremblingly opened as the scene, akin to the clash of an unstoppable force and an immovable object, unfolded, except they saw the latter as someone who had lost his mind.

But it was they who lost their minds as the cutting cross winds slammed at their target and crumbled into a burst of gust before dissipating completely.

Naturally, the body behind them suffered the same fate.

The Sky Prince felt like he rammed straight into a colossal block of steel, his shoulder joints cracking and dislocating upon impact, and he reeled backwards, stunned beyond reason.

Yet Skylar remained elusive to defeat.

Almost as soon as he stumbled back in agony, his sword moved, sweeping him off his feet and dragging him back to his domain.

Daru pursued with a Crescent Dicer.

Unfortunately, a wall of roaring wind that lasted for a few seconds swallowed the sword projectile.

The Sky Prince was already back in the safe embrace of the skies by the time it disappeared.

Skylar immediately accessed his inventory for recovery potions while breathing in an irregular pattern. The clash resulted so badly for him that even his ribs were messed up.

Then, as if what he had just suffered wasn’t bad enough, Nathalie’s voice stormed the main stage and the arena seats:

"B-B-Built different!! What else could Onimaru Kunitsuna be if not built differently than others?! Representative Ourion retreats like a dog with his tail between his legs after learning what a train that crashed into a wall of pure, reinforced steel felt!!"

There was definitely at least a hint of biased satisfaction and not-so-hidden resentment in her words.

Fortunately for the hostess, Skylar was not in the mood and condition to notice her arguably mild transgressions, though it was half-calculated on her part.

The crowd went wild.

Some bolder ones even dared to let out stifled chuckles as they witnessed the Sky Prince’s currently pathetic figure desperately reaching out for potions.

Meanwhile, on the main stage, Daru had some free time. He himself downed a pitiful lesser stamina potion to stabilize his heavy breathing, if only slightly.

This was what he had left apart from two lesser health potions, which would’ve been called quite plebeian by Sigrun had she been here.

It was, really, especially compared to his opponent, who drank fifty greater stamina potions earlier.

But at least he wasn’t the one in a pathetic state.

Daru hadn’t been one to push his advantage by making his opponent lose their cool through sharp words.

However, realizing how effective it was after watching Cody and Lucas’ match, he figured he would give it a try.

He had nothing else to do but wait for Skylar to come down, anyway.

"Hey," Daru called out.

Hearing his voice, Skylar instinctively turned to look, not a hint of his earlier amusement on his face.

"There’s more where that came from."