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Chapter 154:

Is this the momentum of a boy who’s barely fifteen? Babylon could hear his heart pounding as he struggled to swallow.

The boy had drawn a long red object from somewhere. It had an odd, two-pronged shape, but Babylon could feel something special from it, something he hadn’t felt even from the many famous swords he’d held before.

“What is that? Isn’t that a spear?”

“So the rumors were true? The young monster of Avalon uses a spear?”

“Nonsense. Why would he use a thing like that?”

No. Babylon was screaming in terror on the inside. That’s not a “thing.”

Spears were a weapon for unskilled soldiers, made effective by their sheer length. However, their length was not always the most important factor. The spear was as tall as it was long, and as heavy as it was tall. That made it unwieldy and practically useless once the range closed. Not a single one of the Absolutes used a spear, so it was true that Babylon had disregarded the spear.

But why does it look more impressive in his hands than any sword…?

“Are you conceding?”

Babylon was startled from his thoughts.

“Well, I won’t refuse.” Joshua shot forward like a loosed arrow.

Crazy! Babylon hastily raised his sword and barely managed to block Joshua’s attack. How the hell does he swing a spear of that size so fast? He broke into a cold sweat.

“Hah!” Once again, a bright red flash shot towards his side.

Babylon took a deep breath. It looked like the spear was attacking from all directions, stitching a splendorous embroidery in the air.

Another loud bang rattled the air.

Second clash.

The spear cut through the air so fast it was hard to track with the naked eye. Babylon’s right hand was flung away, unable to block the attack.

Third clash.

Joshua turned around and dropped low, sending the spear slicing through the air towards Babylon. The older man stepped away quickly, but the spear drew a sharp line across his cheek nonetheless. He immediately retreated ten paces and stared at Joshua warily.

Babylon found Joshua watching him with a relaxed expression. It looked as if he didn’t feel like attacking any more. His eyes overflowed with arrogance, the way the strong looked at the weak. Babylon grit his teeth, but then he felt something sticky trickling down his cheek. His skin had been cut no less than three times by Joshua’s spear.

“I don’t want to hear any more excuses. Stop being careless. I came to Reinhard to improve the spear’s reputation.”

Babylon’s hand clenched around his sword.

“Kid—”

“Ten. I’m going to finish this in ten blows, including the ones so far.”

Babylon stared blankly at him for a moment.

“Hah!” Babylon snorted. “You… you must think I’m a joke. I admit, I misjudged you. You’re fully qualified to participate in the Master Battle.”

Joshua smiled. It seemed that Baylon’s reputation as a man of steel was not unearned.

“Come. From now on, I will give it my all.” Babylon began to infuse mana into his sword.

The air hummed and split with blue mana. Anyone who aspires to be a knight—and even those who are knights—dreams of this: a complete aura blade, rising from Babylon’s sword to pierce the sky.

Joshua’s smile deepened. Here, now, he was being watched by everyone on the continent. Among them were tremendously powerful men with pride to match, some of whom could claim to have “one-shot.”

Before his return, Joshua was known as the Undefeated Spear Knight¹

, although more for his notoriety than his fame. They called him a slaughterer, a blood-crazed killer, the Emperor’s dog, Kaiser’s puppet. He spent his whole life on the battlefield, and there was never a day where the blood had time to dry on his hands. They whispered about Joshua Sanders, not about the spear.

The pinnacle of mankind was a lonely place, but Joshua was more saddened about the reputation of his weapon of choice than by his solitude.

Now I will show you. God, there is no finer weapon than a spear.

Joshua suddenly cranked his right arm as far back as it would go and raised his left palm to point at Babylon. The muscles in his shoulders and back began to visibly contract.

“What…?” Babylon examined Joshua’s posture, puzzled. Was he… going to throw his spear?

I hope not. Babylon calmly lifted his sword, feeling optimistic. There was no point in getting caught up in his opponent’s pace. All he had to do was respond to whatever he did. Even so, Babylon never imagined that Joshua would really use his spear like a javelin; losing your weapon in a battle of A-Class or higher was like digging your own grave.

Babylon was startled from his thoughts by a blast of noise slamming into his ears.

Possibility had become reality—a bright ray of light shot towards Babylon, leaving a streak of vivid crimson behind it.

It’s too fast! I can’t— I can’t avoid it!

The crowd went wild.

Fourth clash.

The flying spear collided with Babylon’s sword.

If I can stop this…! The older knight grit his teeth.

The momentum of the spear was unbelievably strong—but if he could block it, his opponent would be unarmed.

Suddenly, something dark fluttered in front of him. Babylon’s eyes bulged, but by the time he came to his senses, Joshua was dancing in front of his nose. The spear’s astonishing rush forward evaporated as it was sucked neatly into his opponent’s hand.

He’s controlling the spear with his will?!

Joshua gripped the spear lightly and spun it into a graceful twirl before suddenly stabbing it at Babylon’s side. His dextrous move managed to both deceive his opponent’s eyes and take advantage of his blind spots.

Fifth clash.

A bright beam of red light flew towards Babylon’s left thigh.

Despair flickered in Babylon’s eyes.

I can’t stop this…

A scorching pain spread from his thigh, announced by a horrific crunch. He managed to twist his body, but the blow was fatal nonetheless. Belatedly, he realized that Joshua had infused his spear with aura just before it struck his thigh. All of Babylon’s training would not have helped him stop this blow.

Sixth clash.

With an almost boneless flexibility, Joshua flicked the spear upwards.

Babylon’s eyes unconsciously squeezed shut as the spear flew towards his face. A storm of thoughts whirled through his head.

I… never had a chance to fight back. Careless? Hilarious. He may have underestimated Joshua at first, but he gave it his all after the third strike. If he’d been serious from the start, it wouldn’t have changed anything. Joshua was just that strong.

“Are you done?”

Babylon cautiously cracked his eyelids open.

“I—”

His mortally wounded thigh twitched, weeping tears of red blood.

To continue the battle like this… would only embarrass me further.

A faint voice, barely a whisper, squeezed from between Babylon’s lips.

“I lost.” Babylon collapsed to the ground like his hamstrings were cut.

What was left of his pride demanded he stand, but his opponent crushed that thought.

The arena was gripped by a suffocating silence.

One man’s hair fluttered in the air; the other knelt before him, crushed by his red spear.

The match was over.

An earth-shaking shouting shook the colosseum to its foundations as the crowd unleashed a torrent of raw emotions.

The greatest Master Battle of all time was on, and they’d found their protagonist.

1. So that’s it, huh? We’re some kind of Suicide Squad? ️