System's POV

Chapter 720  Hero Versus Villain [Part 3]

Feeling completely and utterly surrounded, Roland roared, and a powerful aura burst out from his body, sweeping away the gray mist that surrounded him.

Clark was just about to launch an attack but stopped mid-way at the sudden turn of events.

As if sensing a disturbance from somewhere inside the gray mist, Roland sent his Flying Sword flying in that direction.

A moment later, the sound of two weapons colliding reached his ears, and he promptly charged in the direction of where he heard the sound.

Clark almost cursed internally, knowing that Roland's Flying Sword was too fast for him to dodge. Left with no choice, he could only raise his sword to deflect it, which exposed his location to his opponent.

The powerful force that had burst out from Roland's body swept the mist in front of him away, allowing him to see a few more meters ahead of him.

When his sight finally caught Clark, a glint appeared at the depths of the young man's eyes as he brandished his weapon at his opponent, who had initially hidden himself deep within the gray mist.

Seeing that Roland was almost upon him, Clark didn't panic.

In fact, he never felt more calm in his life. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

He had experienced many life-and-death battles in Solterra, and he was indeed one of the strongest Wanderers of the current generation.

Although he already knew that Roland was more proficient than him in close combat, he believed that the gap between them wasn't that big, so he met his attack with his own attack.

Sparks scattered as their weapons clashed against each other.

The audience, who was unable to see anything earlier, finally saw the action-packed battle between the two Seeded Candidates in the competition.

Roland was on full offensive, while Clark blocked, deflected, and counter-attacked in a calm manner.

And through all of this, both of them never stopped moving.

One was advancing, one was retreating.

It might look like Roland had the upper hand, with Clark seeming to be pushed back by his attacks, but the truth was the opposite. Roland was the one struggling more every time he clashed with his opponent.

The leader of the Hero Party could even sense that each time his sword clashed with Clark's sword, he felt as if its weight was becoming heavier.

This surprised him greatly because this had never happened before.

Thirteen, who was paying close attention to the battle, finally understood what Clark's Core Ability was.

The young man had the power to mess with his opponent's senses.

This meant that he could make them hear, see, feel, and taste, certain things that could disrupt their senses.

Just like the auditory illusion he used earlier, he applied the same trick to his opponent's weapon, making Roland feel as if his weapon was getting heavier.

Although this was merely an illusion, it felt very real, making Roland's brain treat it as reality.

Gritting his teeth, Roland pushed on and endured the heaviness he was feeling.

He already assumed that something was wrong, but he couldn't point out exactly what was wrong.

Fortunately for him, Clark could only focus on one sense at a time.

If he could mess with Roland's vision and sense of touch at the same time, the battle would have been in his favor since earlier.

Sensing that his opponent had become sluggish enough, Clark's eyes glinted with determination as he deflected Roland's sword strike and unleashed a counterattack.

His blade drew blood and cut across Roland's chest.

The young Hero's sixth sense had alerted him that something dangerous was going to happen, so at the last second, he kicked off from the ground and jumped backward.

Even so, Clark's blade still slashed across his chest, cutting through his armor like a hot knife through butter.

The Prodigy of the Ashford Clan glanced at his blade which was tinged with the color of blood. However, a glance was enough to tell him that the wound that he gave Roland was shallow, not at all deep enough to cause him real problems.

Claude, who was watching from the VIP Seat, clenched his fist, also initially expecting that his son had managed to give his opponent a serious injury.

Unfortunately, although Roland was injured, he treated this injury as a mere scratch.

Compared to the wounds he received during his training with Zion, where the teenage boy forced him to fight against the Undead Centipede King on his own, his opponent's attack equated to nothing.

Thirteen, seeing Clark fail in his attempt to eliminate his opponent, smiled faintly.

He could see that although the Prodigy of the Ashford Clan looked disappointed at first glance, that was far from the truth.

'I'm really liking this kid,' Thirteen mused. 'If Roland doesn't finish this battle early, he's in for an unexpected surprise.'

Thirteen already labeled Clark as someone who didn't do things half-heartedly and who made sure that he would gain the advantage in everything that he did.

It was also at this moment that the teenage boy truly acknowledged the young scion of the Ashford Clan as someone worthy of his title as one of the strongest in their current generation. In the arena, the initially disappointed Clark once again prepared to attack his opponent.

'I just need to stall for a few minutes,' Clark thought, narrowing his eyes. 'If I can do that, I can win.'

Just as Thirteen had predicted, Clark had already made some preparations beforehand, coating the blade of his sword with a special poison.

Although this poison wasn't lethal, it could cause paralysis to those who were infected by it.

But this poison takes time to spread inside the body.

The more that person moved, the faster the poison would spread, and the faster the paralysis would take effect.

Clark vowed to his father that he would win his battle.

True to the words of his vow, he stepped into the arena armed to the teeth, with every part of his body hiding some weapons that he could use to gain every advantage that he could against his opponent.

Roland was already having trouble lifting his arm, which was holding his sword.

Right now, he felt as if he was holding onto a weapon that weighed a few tons, barely able to raise it high enough to strike at his opponent.

On top of that, there was also an indiscernible poison spreading inside his body, which was the real reason why the sword in his hand seemed to be a bit heavier than usual.

The two young men stared at each other for nearly half a minute before they both took a step forward at the same time.

Only one would be the victor of their battle, and both of them believed that they would be the one standing after the dust had settled in the arena.