Sword God in a World of Magic

BANG!

Shang exploded forward with his sword.

This time, he would be on the offensive!

He hadn't done that before since he had come here to learn. Yet, in his eagerness to learn from his opponent's attacks, he had learned nearly nothing since the fight had ended in basically one swing. The power of the first swing had been used in the second swing, which could technically make it count as the first swing.

'I have to get rid of the mindset that I need to go easy on Astor to learn from him,' he thought.

Astor had barely finished half of his wind-up when Shang arrived with his sword. Shang had the speed advantage due to his more powerful body as long as Astor couldn't build his momentum.

At the moment, Astor's sword was far behind him, and he lacked the speed to block Shang's attack. Additionally, since Shang had the speed advantage, Astor wouldn't be able to easily evade, and if he did, the evasion would be sloppy and would mess with his balance.

Because of all of these reasons, Shang didn't slash but stabbed forward. That would reach his opponent the fastest.

Shang had no idea how Astor could escape.

If he were in Astor's shoes, he also wouldn't find a method to get out of this one.

And then, Astor stopped.

A split-second later, Astor's left foot gathered nearly all the accumulated power of the swing and unleashed it in a stomp.

BANG!

The ground cracked as an incredible amount of power was pushed into it from one point.

Shang hadn't expected the ground to shake and crack in front of him, which meant that he wasn't able to react properly.

The ground shook, and Shang's sword barely missed Astor's torso.

However, even if it was barely, it still missed.

Shang's eyes widened as he realized the new dynamic in the fight.

Initially, Shang had caught Astor in an indefensible position. Shang had all the momentum, and Astor had nothing.

But now, Shang had completely lost his balance as his sword didn't hit anything, while Astor stood as firm and stable as a rock in front of him.

However, Shang still knew that he had the speed and power advantage thanks to his body, and he would make full use of it. From his offset position, Shang quickly used all his power and made his extended sword swing towards Astor's torso.

The wind-up was tiny, and Shang couldn't put a lot of power into such an awkward swing, but his sword was sharp, and Shang had a more powerful body.

This should be enough to, at least, injure Astor. Additionally, Shang could use that swing to gain some space to rebalance.

As Shang's sword went towards Astor's torso, Astor's body lowered as he gathered power in his left foot.

And then, Shang's sword hit.

Clink!

his sword bounced off Astor's

He hadn't expected that!

BANG!

and he shot forward with his shoulder, hitting Shang in

charge had so much weight being it that he still got shot into the

incredible pressure built up in his chest. A normal warrior would be stunned for at least two seconds under such an

Shang had dealt with such injuries many,

CRRRK!

ground and created a ditch as they

BANG!

before Astor could ready his

an instant, Astor's eyes showed a bit of surprise, but they quickly returned to their cold

before he could

swing wasn't as insanely powerful as the first one in the last fight, but it

Astor was using

transformed the aggressive attack into a secondary block. Shang couldn't possibly take Astor's

But Shang didn't stop.

He continued running.

then, Astor's swing

CRRRR!

on the ground. The swing would pass over him, and Shang would

Shang was right. The

him, but

trajectory of his swing to not be horizontal but diagonal in a curved line.

right above his head, fully extended to the sky. Both of his arms

pressure from above him, but instead of

in front of Astor's waist, and he could stab Astor's heart before Astor could reach

Astor before

as it stabbed right towards

was suddenly unleashing

Shang's sword hit.

CRACK!

Shang's eyes widened.

'What?!'

chest, but when it did, several Magic Runes

uniform lost its luster.

What had just happened!?

then, Shang

Pressure.

Incredible pressure.

like Shang was in front of a monster that wanted

above Astor shot down with an insane amount of power

half on the ground, and his attack

He couldn't evade.

came right for Shang's head, exploding with the storming sounds of

Clink!

said as he stopped Astor's sword with two

moment, Shang couldn't