Chapter 6: He's More Terrifying Than I ThoughtSwords cshed.

  The Holy Sword Xaltheon Lucis traced a radiant arc in the air, colliding with the elegant fiery ssh from a curved longsword that resembled a blood-red crescent moon.

  A Long Sword is a heavy-css weapon, requiring at least 120 Strength to wield. Heavy weapons possess high judgment force. Holy-type weapons also inherently deal 5% Holy damage per attack, and Padins frequently enchant their bdes with Holy Bde.

  Elemental enchantments not only add magical damage of their respective type to physical attacks but also grant special effects. There is even a Spell Bde css that specializes in utilizing these effects, executing fast-paced physical strikes while dealing tremendous magic damage. Other csses, though not focused on magic damage, still allocate skill points to obtain elemental effects.

  The Holy attribute boasts high judgment force—imbued with the divine righteousness of Holy Light, capable of cutting down gods and demons alike, leaving no room for resistance.

  With such power, Xaltheon Lucis struck down, knocking aside the opponent’s katana. In a sword duel, using judgment force to overpower the enemy’s weapon could throw them off bance, creating a massive advantage. But could Ignis Fmma, his opponent, possibly be unaware of this?

  He was a Sword Master, a css known for exceptional solo combat prowess. Though his Fme Edge-enchanted katana couldn't match the Holy Sword’s sheer force, Ignis skillfully used the impact to his advantage, leveraging his 140 Reflex stat to spin mid-air. His 150 Attack Speed allowed him to swiftly deliver a downward ssh aimed directly at Henry’s head. The fmes on his sword roared wildly, painting half the screen in a deep crimson bze.

  CLANGGGGGG!!!!!!!!

  The enemy had high attack speed, while Henry wielded dual swords. His left-hand Devil Sword rose to meet the strike. Without Xaltheon’s overwhelming judgment force, however, Henry was knocked three steps backward.

  The fmes from the impact tched onto the Devil Sword, spreading to his hand, inflicting burn damage. The Self Heal effect that Lana had recently cast on him had its duration halved.

  "Bck Fme…"

  Henry muttered as he checked his debuff status. That damn effect was just as annoying as ever.

  ==="Henry got hit by Bck Fme!"

  "The legendary demon sword Vajnar lives up to its name. Bck Fme transfers through weapon contact. But more importantly… how did he counterattack so fast after being knocked back?"

  Helen was puzzled. Meanwhile, the chat was exploding over this rare high-level duel.

  "Henry vs Ignis!""Is this the semifinals from st year’s world championship? :)""Henry got destroyed in that match.""Looks like Henry just ran into his dad again.""That st exchange was insane.""Shouldn’t he have been staggered for at least one frame? How did he counter so smoothly?"

  While the chat was going wild, the fight itself only took mere milliseconds to escate into a second csh.

  Henry’s relentless fighting spirit drove him forward, but his opponent was just as aggressive. The Padin had barely closed one-third of the distance, and the Sword Master had already engaged again.

  CLANG! CLANG! CLANGGGGGGG!!!!!! SWISH! SWISH! SLASH!!!

  From Helen’s perspective, Ignis Fmma appeared like a flickering fme, his red cloak dancing wildly. The demon sword Vajnar unleashed dark red sword waves, striking endlessly.

  Yet, amidst the raging inferno, a knight stood firm, parrying each strike with precision, his twin swords moving with impeccable rhythm. His block rate remained exceptionally high, and the battlefield echoed mostly with the csh of metal, interrupted only by the occasional ssh cutting into flesh.

  Despite Ignis’s overwhelming offense, Henry managed to nd a counterstrike each time he took a hit.

  Both health bars were steadily draining, but Henry’s HP drops were far more severe.

  "Ignis’s damage output is clearly higher!"

  "The Bck Fme effect burns and increases critical damage. Even with an oversized bde, Ignis maneuvers effortlessly in close combat. He constantly adjusts his position—it's like watching a dance. This must be seriously frustrating for Henry."

  "And there! He just dodged Henry’s strike by stepping back twice, then immediately nded a perfect mid-range Pyro Ssh—so smooth!"

  "Henry got hit again… but he keeps moving forward. Another trade! Henry’s HP is down to 50%, and he’s still burning! Ignis still has three-fourths of his health!"

  "Looks like a father teaching his son.""Hard counter matchup, not much he can do.""Henry has high defense and strong self-healing, but Bck Fme’s burn damage ignores armor.""Vajnar is a Mystic-grade weapon too.""How is Ignis fighting this smoothly?! Not a single stagger frame!"

  ===

  "Ignis Fmma…"

  In the tea room, Shun hadn’t expected the painting on the opposite wall to be a massive screen. They were watching live footage from the world of Valia, dispyed in crystal-clear resolution with sound booming through a high-end in-wall speaker system. Johnathan really goes all out, Shun thought. At first, he was a little uneasy about the volume, but after some consideration, the room must have had excellent soundproofing.

  "Ignis Fmma," Johnathan muttered suddenly. "His skills are truly terrifying."

  "Yeah, he uses his high Reflex stat to pull back his attack just before the judgment calcution occurs. There’s a 2 to 3-frame gap between the moment of impact and when the system determines the outcome. A high Reflex stat allows the pyer to cancel their attack animation faster, but ultimately, it still comes down to pure pyer skill."

  "From the first time I met him, I had a feeling he would become something quite terrifying."

  "You know him too, John?"

  "I once invited him to join the Guild—as an exception. I didn’t even care about his background. At that moment, he was so outstanding that he overshadowed all notions of css or status. Shun, earlier, I mentioned how having the right backing can help you accomplish things more smoothly, didn’t I? Well… he’s an exception."

  "He turned you down, didn’t he?"

  "That’s right. Shun, do you know how many people in this world would pay an astronomical price just to get my phone number? How many would sell their very souls just to sit at the same table as me? You might not pay much attention to these things, but I’m not exaggerating. Five minutes of conversation with me can be worth hundreds of millions of dolrs. And yet, back then, Ignis Fmma was just an unknown gamer—and he rejected the opportunity to connect with our elite world without the slightest hesitation."

  Johnathan let out a small ugh. Shun couldn’t quite figure out what that smile meant.

  "So, Shun, you know him too?"

  "Yeah…" Shun searched his memory. "Oxford. We were in the same css. I was bored back then, and some of my friends convinced me to try Valia. They were all from wealthy families, but pretty easygoing. We had pyers from both factions, no discrimination. So, they started looking for other students who pyed Valia to recruit into our group. That’s when we were pointed toward him."

  "And he turned you down too?"

  "He did… but not in the way you might think." Shun hesitated. "Even if he wanted to join, he couldn’t."

  Johnathan raised an eyebrow.

  "He…" Shun continued. "At the time, he didn’t even have a Valia account. But do you know why we got that tip about him? One day, I happened to see see him with stacks of notes, all filled with analyses of Valia’s world. That was three years ago. I wasn’t really paying much attention back then—I was carefree… still am, I guess. I didn’t think much of it, even after I dropped out and the name ‘Ignis Fmma’ exploded in popurity. It wasn’t until recently, when his real face appeared in the news, that I realized he was that same cssmate."

  Johnathan studied him for a few moments, then turned back to the screen, deep in thought.

  "No account, yet deeply researching Valia?"

  Another faint smile appeared on his lips. Once again, Shun couldn’t decipher its meaning.

  "Maybe I misjudged him. That guy… is far, far more terrifying than I thought."