Gray was striking without restraint, forcing the masked man to block.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
'This crazy bastard,' the masked man clicked his tongue in frustration.
To break Gray's momentum, he unleashed his Aura.
Shooong!
With a strong shockwave, Gray was sent backward.
The masked man then spoke in anger, "I've changed my mind. You're someone I need to kill quickly."
Fwoooosh!
After he finished speaking, he channeled all the rising Aura into his sword, creating an Aura Blade.
Aura Blade is a technique where one wraps their Aura around their sword, making it stronger and more powerful.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Cracks began to spread across the ground around the masked man because of his overwhelming Aura.
Seeing the Aura Blade, Gray narrowed his eyes.
'…This is troublesome.'
Although he had anticipated the masked man's strength to be at the Sword Master high stage, now that he saw him using an Aura Blade, it completely exceeded his expectations.
Only a Transcendent Realm swordsman could use Aura Blade. Thus, the masked man was at the Transcendent Realm. Perhaps at the low stage.
Meanwhile, the Left Guardian's disciple and Lina, who were watching the fight, were speechless. For a Transcendent Realm swordsman to be here meant it was over for them.
'That bitch Duchess.' Lina clicked her tongue inwardly. She hadn't expected the Duchess to send such a skilled swordsman. Even Gray, who had shown unimaginable martial strength, wouldn't be a match for that masked man.
'I need to use that.' Lina steeled her resolve to help him.
Right then, a system window appeared before Gray's eyes.
Ding!
[An Urgent Quest has been generated]
[Scenario: An assassin has come with murderous intentions towards the '&@##'. Kill him in order to secure your own safety. If you do not follow this instruction, #$%^%$#$%^!&#$%^$.]
[Difficulty: A Rank]
[Number of enemies left to kill: 1]
Gray's eyes went wide as the system window began glitching, and its appearance changed to crimson.
Right at that moment, the masked man charged at Gray with his Aura Blade.
Gray had no time to think and quickly twisted his body to the left.
Thud! Slash!
As soon as he did, the air right in front of his nose was cut by a sharp energy, and a blue light sliced through space.
Then it cleanly split the ground in a straight line.
The attack stretched over 30 meters.
Gray clicked his tongue inwardly. If he had reacted a little slower, his body would have been precisely split in half.
"You have good reflexes." the masked man said before vanishing and appearing in front of Gray.
"I should take those eyes."
The moment Gray heard the word 'eyes', he reflexively tilted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding having his eyes pierced.
However
As soon as Gray dodged the strike, the masked man swung his leg and kicked at his abdomen.
Baam!
The kick was so strong that Gray's body flew to the side and crashed into the carriage.
Crash!
As his body collided, the carriage burst into pieces.
"Cough… Gkk…" Blood flowed from Gray's mouth as he clutched his abdomen.
"Young master!" Both Lina and the Left Guardian's disciple shouted, about to rush to him, but Gray raised his hand to stop them.
Gray staggered and stood up. He had tried to use mana to disperse the impact, but it was too fast for him to properly react.
Seeing him like this, a glint appeared in the masked man's eyes.
He endured?
It seemed that at the moment he was about to be hit, he entrusted his body to the force and managed to avoid a fatal injury.
Truly impressive.
Then, the masked man charged at Gray with full force and struck at his head. He intended to cut it off and kill him instantly.
He can't dodge this time, he thought, since Gray was injured.
However, just as his sword was about to reach Gray's neck
Ding!
[Activating Celestial Authority: Abyssal Energy]
Whoosh!
A dark, eerie energy rose from Gray's body and repulsed the masked man's sword. Even the masked man himself was thrown a significant distance by the force of this errie energy.
Thud.
"What??" The masked man looked perplexed at Gray's sudden, ominous energy.
Just then, the long sword Gray was holding shattered.
Krrrrash!
Gray looked at his broken sword and sighed, "It seems it couldn't handle Abyssal Energy."
It was expected, as Abyssal Energy was the Abyss itself. So an ordinary D-rank long sword wouldn't withstand its power.
Moreover, his sword already had cracks from clashing with the masked man.
Gray then let go of the sword and raised his hand.
Ding!
[System Inventory]
[You have taken out an A-Rank treasured sword]
It wasn't a pre-existing system weapon, but a weapon he received after coming out of the Isolation Chamber.
The patriarch had given it to him through the Left Guardian.
'I think it can handle the Abyssal Energy.' Gray thought.
"Hey you, how did you summon a sword out of nowhere?" the masked man asked in puzzlement.
But Gray ignored him and charged with killing intent. He couldn't use Aura Blade because he wasn't a Transcendent Realm swordsman, but he wrapped the Abyssal Energy around his sword, making it similar to an Aura Sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Gray and the masked man exchanged six sword moves.
Ripple! Rumble!
Their sword strikes were so powerful that the surrounding trees were uprooted, turning the forest into barren land. The horses they had brought for the journey were thrown into the air.
Lina and the Left Guardian's disciple were also blown away by the shockwave. But before they could crash, the Left Guardian's disciple grabbed Lina, who wasn't a warrior, and landed safely.
Thud
They were thrown far away, and before them lay a barren land where both of them were fighting with unimaginable martial prowess.
Clang clang clang
"Hahahahaha, Truly impressive." the masked man laughed.
Though they were fighting on equal footing, the masked man was still in the lead.
Then Gray used a sword technique:
'Ashborn Sword Art: 3rd Form'