In the underground passage of Orario, Ryu and Dix walked toward each other in the wide clearing, stopping five meters apart.
"Gale, I've heard your name so often lately I'm about to vomit," Dix said.
Roy and Ryu were undoubtedly the most talked-about adventurers in Orario over the past six months, consecutively wiping out multiple Familias and breaking leveling records. If not for the "Berserker" of the Freya Familia, the "one of" could be removed. The strongest Level 7 adventurer was simply too bright. Even now, people were still searching for him.
"Barbarian, I haven't heard much of your name at all," the ice-beauty Ryu replied coldly.
"Then that is your misfortune!" Dix wasn't angry; instead, he felt glad. Not being heard of meant the opponent lacked intel on him—wasn't that a good thing?
Under the gaze of the crowd, the battle between two Level 5 adventurers exploded. Suddenly, a thunderous crack echoed through the space!
Dix lunged forward, his figure carrying a crushing momentum as he crashed through the darkness. He charged like a falling boulder, his blood-red spear generating a heavy whistle of wind. Before the spear even arrived, a violent gust pressed down, making Ryu's cloak flap loudly and causing ripples in the water beneath her feet. The spear tip turned into a streak of red light, like a bolt of bloody lightning piercing through the dusk toward Ryu's head.
Ryu's body swayed slightly, moving as light as a jade-green leaf startled by a gale. Her Alf's Lumina swung out, meeting the strike in the nick of time—not head-on, but by resting the sword tip delicately against the heavy spine of the spear. With a slight redirection and a sharp clang, the fierce blade grazed past her, parrying the blood-red spear and sending it slamming into the ground to Dix's left.
Boom!
In the deafening roar, the water and stone floor struck by the spear tip exploded, sending debris flying like a rain of bullets. It left a crater over ten meters wide. Their figures blurred; an ordinary person's eyes could hardly track their movements.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Their weapons swung like a violent storm. Countless afterimages intersected as sparks erupted, producing the crisp sound of metal clashing that echoed clearly through the silent passage. This was the power of Level 5 adventurers. Both had entered the realm of the non-human. Even an army of thousands of ordinary men would be nothing but clay and straw before them.
Blade met spear tip with a Zheng! A clear dragon's cry collided with a heavy tiger's roar, a sound so sharp it felt like it would split the ears. Sparks splashed in the dim passage, blue and gold intersecting, momentarily lighting up two faces.
Ryu was as calm as a deep, ancient well; Dix's eyes were blood-red, as if a terrifying poisonous flame burned within. As the battle intensified, Ryu gradually fell onto the defensive. Dix had higher stats and, from years of using the Labyrinth to capture monsters, his experience and technique were superior. There was no reason he couldn't suppress Ryu, who had only recently leveled up.
"Captain, kill her!" "Dix, if you lose, we won't forgive you!" the Ikelos members shouted.
"Miss Ryu won't lose!" Daphne gripped her fists, her face full of worry. Everything she knew had been taught by Ryu; to her, Ryu was both a mentor and a friend.
Cassandra whispered to herself, decoding the dream. Lady Astraea stared at Ikelos, sensing something unusual. Roy focused most of his mind on the duel. Ikelos and Dix might think they could win through a fair fight, but they didn't realize that this rule was also extremely beneficial to him and Ryu. This was a two-on-one!
Synchronization Contract!
With a thought, Roy activated the contract's power. Amidst the fierce fighting, Ryu stole a glance at Roy and accepted the connection. In a normal duel, Ryu might not care about winning or losing, but if she lost here, it would cost the Familia dearly and Roy would lose an arm.
Roy winced slightly; while the contract was active, the other person's stats drop by 30%, and he felt a brief sense of being drained. On Ryu's end, however, it was the opposite. Accepting Roy's Ability Points, a new power surged within Ryu's petite frame. Her base stats jumped, and her blue eyes flashed with light. The aura around her shifted violently; this numerical boost represented the effort of two or three years of grinding. Ryu was internally shocked that the Level 3 Roy could provide such a massive increase. It meant that every time Roy leveled up, and even now, his stats must have broken the limits.
This boy's talent is enough to—no, it even surpasses that witch we met two years ago, Alfia, Ryu thought, her heart shaken. She composed herself. Now, her job was to protect her comrades.
With her conviction and stats boosted, Ryu shifted from defense to offense. Her relentless assault instantly startled Dix. Ryu's wooden sword became as wild as a crazed tiger. Within a few meters, the floorboards groaned under the pressure, instantly covered in deep gashes. The torrent of blade shadows turned into an unpredictable streak of light, forcing Dix back.
The blade flickered like a snake's tongue. Every thrust pointed precisely at Dix's tiny openings. Though not yet a heavy wound, his light armor was soon covered in narrow slits, with beads of blood seeping out.
In the heat of the struggle, Dix finally realized something was wrong. "Your stats are higher than mine?!"
The crowd was in an uproar. They couldn't imagine a "Synchronization Contract" existed; they assumed Ryu had some special skill that boosted her stats. This was Orario—never short on geniuses!
With her superior stats, Ryu began her chant while attacking: "Just as the forest sky that has receded. Infinite stars set in the boundless night sky!"
Seeing Ryu's lightning-fast parallel chanting, Dix panicked, his movements becoming frantic. Once a magic was cast, the victory would be decided in an instant!
"Like hell you will!" Dix roared, pouring all his strength into his blood-red spear. It whistled through the air like a dragon, aiming to pierce Ryu through! Where the spear tip passed, the ground was plowed into a deep trench.
At the moment the blade was about to hit her, Ryu sighed softly, a cold electric light flashing in her eyes. Her toe tapped the ground, and instead of retreating, she lunged forward like a weightless willow leaf, drifting right toward the destructive spear.
Lord of Thunder!
Ryu switched to using Roy's no-chant magic. Golden lightning coiled around the wooden sword, thrusting hard against the incoming spear tip.
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Danmachi : Starting with an Elf (378 Chapter – Ongoing)
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