Chapter 324: Time to Begin the Education Phase
In a barren and crude world bubble—a vast black metal platform stretching to the horizon—Sigurd floated silently in the air, holding the Core of the Herrscher of Rock in one hand. Bathed in a blinding crimson light, his expression remained calm and indifferent.
Across from him, Senti twisted her waist in warm-up exercises, the giant sword-shaped weapon case on her back swaying with her movements.
"Enough of the long-winded nonsense! Come at me already, I've been dying for this!"
Yes, she'd dreamed more than once of stomping that smug face of his into the ground. She could hardly wait.
Sigurd said nothing. He clenched the Herrscher Core in his hand, and it dissolved into a flood of Honkai energy, merging into his body. The Judgement Key's ring on his finger also faded into his form.
Using the gravity authority or the powers of a God Key would have been more efficient, but if he wanted to leave a deep impression on Senti, then a direct, brutal, no-frills brawl would serve better.
"Come."
Surrounded by a suffocating surge of raw energy, Sigurd raised his hand and beckoned, his expression unreadable.
Senti stepped forward, bent her knees. From the weapon case on her back flew a flying sword, a long spear, and chain blades.
"Hah! You wanna brawl with me? Sigurd, you're digging your own grave! Real martial skill isn't something your calculations can match!!"
BOOM!!
A crater shattered open in the metal ground as Senti surged forward, her spear lunging like a dragon.
Bang!
A thunderous blast erupted in mid-air. The spear, glowing with red Honkai energy, struck Sigurd's open palm.
Sigurd was pushed slightly back, sliding a short distance through the air before absorbing the full force of the impact. He looked up and nodded approvingly.
"Good force."
The human body's capacity to channel Honkai energy had limits—even for a Herrscher, power output was constrained by the body's endurance.
But Blade Mantra and the Six Fists stances transcended that boundary.
Fu Hua's martial arts philosophy didn't treat the body as a simple vessel for energy. Instead, it turned the body into a conduit through which Honkai energy could flow freely. The usual limits of endurance were bypassed—so long as energy existed nearby, it could be drawn in and released. Theoretically, no upper limit.
That meant an attack that would require other Herrschers to go all out… was just a warm-up for Senti.
That spear strike wasn't at Herrscher level—it was above it. The kind of level shared only by a handful of transcendent beings like Sigurd, Kevin, or Fu Hua herself.
"Heh! I'm just getting started!"
Predictably, Senti hadn't expected her first strike to succeed. Chain blades lunged like vipers, and flying swords shot through the air like shooting stars. Countless attacks poured in from every blind spot.
Sigurd's eyes shifted slightly left and right, expression unchanging. He casually caught the spear tip again, sidestepped, and threw a punch.
Senti wasn't backing down. She released the spear with one hand and threw a punch of her own.
BOOM!!
The thunderous collision rocked the space around them—both from the clashing fists and from the barrage of flying weapons slamming into Sigurd's body.
In a violent shockwave, Senti was blasted backwards, her body crashing into the metal floor and skidding across it for several kilometers, carving a deep, wide trench.
After the impact was absorbed, she flipped back onto her feet with a clean backflip.
She shook her hand—the one that had clashed fists with Sigurd—and her face darkened.
"Damn! My whole arm's numb! How the hell is he this strong?"
High above, the dust cleared. Sigurd hovered calmly, one hand gripping a trembling flying sword, the other clutching a writhing chain blade.
Clank!
The weapons twisted and went limp in his hands, inert. He tossed them aside.
Sigurd patted the wrinkles from his now-repairing clothes and shook his head.
"As a massage, it still lacks some pressure."
"You son of a—!"
Senti cursed through gritted teeth.
Sure, she'd expected Sigurd to be physically overwhelming, much like Kevin—but this was absurd. Was this the result of merging two Herrscher Cores?
She let out a cold snort, raising her spear in one hand. Her other hand shimmered red as a crimson gauntlet formed over it. From the greatsword-shaped scabbard on her back, she kicked loose the hidden blade.
With a powerful back kick, she launched herself into the sky, shattering the steel ground beneath her.
A heartbeat later, the massive sword was already swinging down toward Sigurd's face.
Sigurd met it with both arms raised, absorbing the full force of the impact—without retreating a single step.
At the same moment, Senti appeared at the rear end of her greatsword. With nimble but forceful precision, she launched a powerful kick that flipped the massive blade forward, forcing it between the gap in Sigurd's raised arms and slamming it directly into his chest.
Bang!
A deep, metallic thud rang out as the sword struck Sigurd's body, like heavy steel smashing against steel.
Almost simultaneously, Senti raised her spear high overhead and brought it down in a vicious arc.
Sigurd, frowning from the blow to his chest, reached up to intercept the descending spear.
But the spearhead flickered like an illusion—phasing just past his block and landing squarely on his shoulder.
BOOM!!
His clothing shredded open at the shoulder, and a streak of fresh blood dripped down.
Sigurd frowned, looking up into Senti's wild, gleeful grin.
"I calculated it… but I still couldn't block it?"
"That's right!" Senti declared proudly.
"An Immortal can do what others cannot! Combat is ever-changing, and I'm the master of that chaos! If you think pure calculation can dominate the battlefield, your defeat is already sealed! And don't you dare confuse the old, irrational me with the me standing here now, dumbass!"
"I see. I've learned something today."
Sigurd nodded slightly. At the same time, the blood on his shoulder began to flow in reverse. Within moments, the wound had completely healed.
Senti's smile faltered.
"…What?"
"That's enough warm-up. Now we begin the main event."
Sigurd calmly pushed aside both the greatsword and spear. He leaned forward—and before Senti could react, brought his head crashing down.
It was a headbutt. Brutal, straightforward, and unrefined.
Sigurd slammed his forehead against Senti's own—a blow just as dangerous in his hands as any punch, given that he too had mastered the core concepts of Six Fists stances and Blade Mantra.
BANG!
Senti was sent flying, slammed into the metal ground, and rolled violently across it. She finally came to a stop, clutching her head and howling in pain.
"OWOWOWOW—what the hell?! Is his skull made of Soulium?! No—no way, it's at least ten thousand times harder than that!!"
WHOOSH!
As she writhed, a sharp sound cut through the air.
Senti flipped backward just in time—
BANG! BANG!
Her spear and greatsword slammed into the ground beside her, embedding themselves with explosive force.
She smacked her forehead hard, then kicked the weapons back toward Sigurd.
Leaping up, she landed atop the hurtling greatsword mid-flight.
"Sword-riding technique!"
Well—it was the physical version of it, but close enough.
She clashed with Sigurd again, this time entering a true close-quarters melee.
Though the weapons were rarely in her hands, Senti manipulated them with uncanny grace. They struck Sigurd again and again, timed perfectly with her flurry of punches and palm strikes.
Sigurd only blocked sporadically, allowing most of the barrage to come through. His attention focused primarily on Senti herself—targeting her face, chest, and abdomen with pinpoint counterattacks, leaving marks at every vulnerable point.
Their battle raged from the sky to the ground, tearing up chunks of the metal platform, before soaring upward once more. They moved so fast that even the naked eye could no longer track them.
After what felt like half a day of relentless combat, another double-fist clash brought them to a halt.
Sigurd didn't budge. Senti was blown back hundreds of meters, tumbling through the air before landing on her feet. The two faced each other across the distance, the air falling into a tense, sudden stillness.
"Huff—huff—"
Wiping the blood from her nose, Senti burst into a wild, breathless laugh.
"Hahahahaha! Yes! Yes!! That's it! This is the kind of exhilarating battle I've been craving! Come on, keep watching—witness my strength!"
Sigurd calmly brushed off his auto-repairing clothes. A moment later, he looked almost exactly as he had at the start—composed, unshaken.
"Hmm. You are strong," he admitted.
"I haven't fought Fu Hua directly, but I imagine you're not far behind her. Very well. We'll begin the next phase."
"Huh? What phase?"
"You and I both grasp the essence of martial arts. But you hold one Herrscher core—I hold three or more. Did you really think our gap was just that small?"
The last word had barely fallen when Sigurd suddenly appeared right in front of her.
Using the height difference to full effect, he looked down at her with calm, unblinking eyes.
"Education phase: Commencing. Brace yourself."
And with that, Sigurd's fist exploded forward in her vision.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!
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