Chapter 21: Lost Sword Technique

Faced with the Wraith Warrior’s attack, the five bandits were stunned for a moment, unsure of the opponent’s intentions. Although they possessed the strength of intermediate swordsmen, they had never learned group combat techniques. They originally thought this black-armored warrior would charge straight at them to fight, but to their surprise, the opponent chose a curved attack route, launching an assault on their flank.

However, these bandits didn’t panic because of this. As the saying goes, ignorance is fearless. These guys, who had only been given individual pointers by Darlos and had hardly participated in group combat, didn’t realize Judy’s true intentions. Even the swordsman on the far right, facing Judy’s attack, merely prepared a defensive stance in advance. After all, there was still some distance between them, not yet close enough for combat.

But at this moment, these bandits saw the black-armored swordsman raise her greatsword high, then make a downward chopping motion. This posture seemed strange to the bandits because they weren’t yet within the attack range of that two-handed greatsword. Even if the opponent swung down, it would only cut through air. No one knew what this black-armored warrior intended to do.

And at this moment, something strange happened.

Just as Judy’s two-handed greatsword was halfway through its downward swing, that huge black figure suddenly transformed into a black flash of light, charging towards its target at a speed several times faster than before. The poor bandit targeted barely had time to react. He only felt a blur before his eyes, and then the black figure that was originally several meters away was already in front of him. Faced with this sudden attack, the bandit immediately chose to evade. He quickly jumped back while raising his longsword, trying to block the opponent’s attack.

But he was still a step too slow.

Even before the charge began, Judy’s two-handed greatsword was already halfway through its downward swing. Now, as the charge ended, her power wasn’t dissipated; on the contrary, it was augmented by the tremendous momentum from the charge. Even though both sides possessed the strength of intermediate swordsmen, there was no way to withstand this thunderous strike – especially since with the levels being equal, what remained was simply a raw contest of power.

“Clang!”

The bandit hastily raised his defense, while Judy had been fully prepared and poised to strike. Combined with the powerful force after the charge and the weight of the greatsword itself, the outcome was decided the instant they clashed. The poor bandit only felt his arm suddenly go numb, then completely lose sensation. He didn’t even know if he was still gripping his sword. Then his arm involuntarily flung outward, leaving him wide open – and the unobstructed greatsword drove straight in, easily piercing his body. Judy slightly twisted her wrist, then forcefully swung. The bandit, now a corpse, was sent flying. When he hit the ground, the poor wretch’s face was still frozen in that moment before death – fear, unease, surprise, and a hint of confidence – as if his time had forever stopped at the instant he thought he had blocked the opponent’s attack, never to change again.

A moment of silence.

Darlos and the other bandits widened their eyes in surprise, staring blankly at the corpse, at a loss for words. Even the other bandits who had originally intended to charge forward stopped, unable to believe their eyes.

“Accelerated Charge…” Darlos swallowed and muttered in a low voice. He had never imagined that the opponent would possess such a skill.

For intermediate swordsmen, charging is a basic technique – its principle is to concentrate one’s soul power, then burst it out in an instant to increase speed for the purpose of attack. But this technique has a fatal flaw: before launching the charge, the user must stand still to accumulate power. Generally, intermediate swordsmen would assume a thrusting posture before charging, standing motionless, then activate this skill. This allows them to accumulate power in the shortest time and also helps the user change combat direction most flexibly – charging can only move in a straight line, so it’s very necessary to grasp the opponent’s position for precise attacks. In contrast, charging while in motion is considered almost impossible to accomplish. It’s already difficult to concentrate soul power while moving, let alone the instability and floating footwork caused by movement. Launching a charge in this state would at best result in throwing oneself off balance, at worst rolling on the ground and becoming crippled. You can imagine the disastrous scene if a speeding car suddenly lost its wheels.

Only those swordsmen born in the Age of the Luminous Moon, the era when magic was at its peak, retained such techniques. Spellcasters were extremely powerful at that time, and to counter these spellcasters, swordsmen created many profound combat techniques. Accelerated Charge was one of them. After all, those mages’ spells were quite powerful. Standing still to launch a charge would only make one a sitting target for spells. Only by launching charges during continuous movement, evasion, and running could one inflict sufficient damage on mages.

Today’s mages no longer possess their former might, and similarly, the profound techniques once passed down among swordsmen have gradually disappeared. However, those techniques still live on in legends, stories, and the teachings of other swordsmen, telling every warrior that there once was a group of people who, in their own way, reached a height unimaginable to later generations.

Compared to Darlos’s shock, the other bandits didn’t think so much. After all, they hadn’t reached Darlos’s level yet. At present, just improving their own strength was enough to keep them busy. So after seeing the black-armored warrior’s movement, the only thing they were surprised about was that the opponent could launch a charge while in motion. But this was no longer a big problem for the other bandits. After all, due to Judy’s charge, she had already closed the distance between them considerably. Because of this, she no longer had the opportunity to release another charge.

The silence lasted only a brief moment.

Then, both sides resumed their fierce combat.

Generally speaking, greatswords are only suitable for broad, sweeping sword techniques – because their huge form has already defined their function as a weapon. But now, facing these bandits, Judy displayed sword techniques that no one had imagined possible. Her sword moves were not only powerful and bold but also intricately detailed. The bandits obviously lacked experience in dealing with such a greatsword, so when faced with Judy’s offensive, they appeared somewhat hesitant and restrained. The only threat was that although these bandits found the greatsword very troublesome to deal with, they didn’t leave Judy’s vicinity, clearly guarding against this Wraith Warrior to prevent her from pulling off another Accelerated Charge.

“Clang!”

The swords clashed.

The black-clad bandit yelped as he retreated, holding his longsword horizontally to deflect the opponent’s force while trying to close in on the enemy’s body to launch an attack. But just as he deflected Judy’s attack force and was about to close in, Judy quickly leaped back. At the same time, her greatsword, its force deflected, swung to the side without losing momentum, forcing another bandit who had intended to take advantage and attack to hastily withdraw. His panicked action triggered a chain reaction. Seeing their comrade retreat, the remaining three also lost their footing. They looked around at each other in confusion, not knowing why the other didn’t seize this opportunity to attack.

The opponent’s formation had fallen into disarray.

Judy had already noticed this. Although she was confident that she could eliminate all four enemies before her using her combat experience and skills, it would still take time. Just now, Julian had notified her through soul communication to “finish early, wrap up quickly.”

Now was the time.

After disrupting the encirclement of the four bandits with one strike, Judy gripped her greatsword in reverse. Then, bright flames burst forth from the red patterns on the greatsword.

The scorching aura spread instantly, making even the four bandits in its midst feel uncomfortable. But at this moment, Judy had already launched her attack.

The greatsword, wrapped in soul fire, came down again. This time, the poor bandit had no time to defend. He only felt the longsword in his hand become scalding hot as if on fire, but before he could drop his weapon, the flame blade had already swept over his body, leaving only a black, charred human shape. The person next to him panicked and tried to defend, but his fate was sealed the moment Judy swung her sword.

Soon, another burning corpse flew into the sky, then fell heavily to the ground.

Judy’s greatsword paused slightly, but this wasn’t a sign of stopping the attack.

Then, in everyone’s eyes, this figure burning with flames suddenly sprang up like a venomous snake. It trailed a long red flame, leaped into the sky, then opened its great maw and pounced towards the ground. The third victim, caught in the direct path, didn’t even have time to scream before being completely devoured by the gaping mouth of the flame snake. The explosive sound even made many bandits black out momentarily, nearly fainting on the spot.

The last bandit didn’t choose to fight.

He didn’t know what kind of change had come over the opponent before him, but since his comrades had all been taken out by this strange character, he naturally was no match either. So he immediately turned around, trying to flee the battlefield and return to Darlos’s side for protection.

But he had barely taken two steps when he felt an excruciating pain burst from his chest. Then, a tremendous impact force and burning flames completely enveloped his body.

It wasn’t until Judy pulled her thrown greatsword out of his shattered, charred corpse that the roaring flames gradually disappeared.

The bandits widened their eyes in surprise, unable to believe what they had seen. Darlos’s face was gloomy, his teeth gritted.

Although he had already seen that the opponent’s combat experience and skills far surpassed the disciples he had trained, Darlos hadn’t expected the battle to end so quickly.

“Elemental power, lost sword technique?” Darlos stepped forward, drawing the longsword at his waist. He knew he had no way to retreat now.

“Very well. Although I don’t know who you are, I think you’re qualified to fight me. Come on!”

Although Elemental Power and Accelerated Charge were considered very powerful techniques, Darlos understood very well that these techniques were only superior due to their ancient origin – not because they were particularly high-level. In that legendary era, Elemental Power and Accelerated Charge were mandatory sword techniques for intermediate swordsmen. Although Darlos himself hadn’t learned Accelerated Charge, he knew very well that he still had a chance of victory. Intermediate swordsmen were, after all, just intermediate swordsmen. No matter how marvelous and strange techniques they mastered, they couldn’t bridge the power gap with high-rank swordsmen.

However, to Darlos’s surprise, the black-armored warrior didn’t meet the battle as he had expected. Instead, the opponent put away their weapon and returned to their ranks. Then, these black-armored warriors stepped aside, making way.

A young man dressed in noble attire walked out from among them.

“If that’s the case, then let me be your opponent, Mr. Darlos,” Julian said with a slight bow, looking at the enemy before him with a gentle and elegant smile.