“Mortal Style, Nachbilder!” Ambrose zoomed forth, using his dizzying footwork that made him look like he had just multiplied by a twelvefold!
As he neared the towering figure of Reinhardt, he suddenly came to a stop, and all his afterimages slowly faded away.
He suddenly put his sword into a thrusting stance and pulled his arm and shoulder back before lunging forward.
“Mortal Style, Kanone!”
Like a cannonball, the sword pierced through the air, approaching the close-eyed man with incredible speed and force.
Reinhardt swung the scabbard in front of his body and then collided it with the black blade. The sparks flew slightly, but the tip of the scabbard was blocking the black blade effortlessly!
“?!” Ambrose’s widened slightly as his powerful attack was blocked so casually.
“Whoo.” Reinhardt exhaled and took a step forward, sending the black blade away from him.
“Ugh!” Ambrose’s muscles strained as his sword-wielding arm was swung to the side, his shoulder rotating almost 180 degrees.
Reinhardt reeled in his scabbard-wielding arm and then thrust it forward. The scabbard connected solidly with Ambrose’s shoulder, stabbing into his flesh and causing him to be thrown into the air.
“Aargh!” Ambrose groaned and tried to land safely on his feet, but he lacked the athletic capabilities to do so; therefore, he crashed on his back.
The impact knocked the wind out of him, leaving him gasping for breath.
“You are pathetic, Ambrose!” Cerberus shouted with a grin.
They were treating this as a game; everyone had already realized the vast difference in strength between them and Reinhardt.
They were already thinking about alternative methods of escaping or whether they simply had to resign to death.
Some Zahhak members tried to find a way to kill Ambrose so they would know where he would spawn next time around.
Julian and Serenity watched the scene silently.
“Ugh!” Ambrose climbed back to his feet and wiped off the blood from his lips. ‘Nothing seems to be working. I definitely don’t want to use Self-Possession, as it is my greatest trump card, and I don’t want Cerberus to see it just yet.’
He sighed, frustrated with his lack of strength, but there was one thing he still wanted to try.
He looked at his black blade and slowly sheathed it back into his scabbard.
Then he reached out to inventory and pulled out a red-bladed sword, as if it were made of hardened blood.
Cerberus and Zahhak members frowned their brows, wondering about the strange blade, and some even made guesses about whether it was one of the rewards he stole.
Ambrose ignored their speculation and continued to grip the sword tightly, feeling its power coursing through his veins.
He lowered his stance, then lowered his sword beside his waist before spinning it around, and then grabbed the hilt with his other hand.
Now, he was holding it in a rather strange grip, with the left hand holding it normally while the blade faced backwards, but the right hand was holding it in reverse grip.
The unfamiliar grip felt awkward at first, but he quickly adjusted and prepared to strike.
Reinhardt pointed the scabbard into the empty air in front of him, his eyes still closed, but his ears were perked up, and slowly, the scabbard began pointing in Ambrose’s direction as if he could sense him.
The tension built on his muscles, and then he took a long stride forward and stabbed the scabbard forward.
However, the scabbard was nowhere near Ambrose, but still, an invisible attack flew out from the scabbard, stabbing through the air and soon arriving in front of the young man.
Not even Ambrose could see the attack, but he knew something was nearing him as the wind picked up.
“Mortal Style, Nachbilder!”
With dizzying footwork, he began weaving past the wind, and soon, over half of the afterimages got blown away by the wind once the invisible attack reached them.
However, Ambrose’s real body managed to evade that disastrous strike and did a large leap to close the gap between him and Reinhardt.
“Mortal Style…” He whispered and jumped into the air, his foot leaving the safety of the ground.
Reinhardt had his head turned away from him, but his ears perked up, and then he swung the scabbard towards the air.
Again, a powerful invisible slash flew out of the scabbard.
Seeing the powerful swordsman send another attack, Ambrose didn’t hesitate and shouted. “100 kg!”
The weight of his sword turned overwhelming, but still, with his muscles swelling, he swung it down with all his might.
“D?mon!”
After finishing shouting the skill’s name, his waist twisted around, and soon his entire body was engulfed in a blinding aura of power.
His body spun around like a whirling tornado, and then the heavy red sword struck the invisible slash, smashing straight through, and almost instantly after, the red blade managed to reach Reinhardt.
Reinhardt raised his scabbard, and as soon as the red blade slammed into it, he felt the impact of power sending a shockwave through his entire body.
Crack—the ground below him exploded; cracks covered the pavement in all directions.
“Oh…” Reinhardt coughed unwillingly, as if some of the wind were knocked out of him. 𝒪𝐯𝐿𝒩xt.𝕔𝒪𝐌
However, that was the extent of the damage—Ambrose managed to make him cough, which was already much more than a thousand other opponents had managed.
‘That’s all?’ Ambrose chuckled mockingly and landed back on the ground, then leaped backwards to distance himself from Reinhardt, but all his fighting spirit was gone.
He knew he was outclassed in every way possible.
“Magnificent.” Reinhardt shockingly smiled. “I think I felt a fading sensation of pain. Unfortunately, it only lasted millisecond.”
Ambrose’s eyebrow twitched, then he stored the Red Sword back in his inventory and drew his Black Sword.
He lacked his usual fighting spirit, but he still planned to press forward and continue the battle.
“Unfortunately, the time has come.” Reinhardt tied the scabbard back to his belt and looked into the horizon. “The dawn…”
On the horizon, the sun started peeking over the mountains, slowly casting a warm glow over the town.
“Time has come?” Ambrose frowned and instinctively asked. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll…” Reinhardt inhaled the fresh air and smiled. “Destroy this town, kill everyone here, and make sure that it never appears in history books, ever again.”
The chilling words hung in the air, sending shivers down Ambrose’s spine.
“W-what did you say?”
At first, he thought he misheard; therefore, he wore somewhat a blank expression, but soon, the heavy words registered in his mind.
“I’ll eradicate this place.” Reinhardt crouched on the ground, his eyes still closed, and picked up a broken piece of pavement.
With a powerful squeeze, he turned it into dust in his hand.
“Every soul, every building, every memory, and even the pavement below our feet, I’ll eradicate it all, as if this place never existed.”
“W-why?” Ambrose asked with a trembling voice, remembering the fleeting outline of Bella’s face.
This meant that everyone inside Hightown would cease to exist.
“This place exists because of me.” Reinhardt stood up and tossed the dust into the wind. “It shall also cease to exist because of me.”
Ambrose looked at Reinhardt with disbelief, unsure of what to say next.
His gaze slowly fell to his black blade, which gleamed ominously in the fading light.
“This is not a joking matter…” He whispered, still remembering the face of the red-eyed young woman. “She would die…”
“She?” Reinhardt heard the words and smiled. “So, you have someone important in here. Well, if it gives you any comfort, you don’t have to mourn her death because I start the purge with you.”
“Aargh!” Ambrose screamed and lunged at Reinhardt. “Slash of the Six Worlds!”
“Heh.” Reinhardt chuckled mockingly and for the first time in the fight, he drew his katana from the scabbard, revealing a dark blade.
He effortlessly blocked Ambrose’s all-out attack.
“I have faced thousands of swordsmen, everyone wanting to defeat me and become the World’s Strongest Swordsman.
“After a thousand years, I alone stand at the pinnacle!”