"That's a good kid..." the captain muttered, ordering all the soldiers to put away their guns.
......
7) Blooming on the Mountaintop (Part 6)
The wind blowing across the top of the Wanren Mountain gradually became colder, as if the warmth brought by the rising sun was just a fleeting spark dancing in this cold world.
The tone of Wanren Mountain is always cold, forever.
At this moment, a group of soldiers from the Infinite Iron Legion are surrounding the execution ground on the cliff in a circle, just like at the previous banquet: this is Thebit's [Battle of Blood and Steel], a duel between two people, and no one can interfere.
In the steel circle, Pace and Venia were facing each other, their two pairs of black eyes staring through each other mercilessly.
A cold wind mixed with snowflakes blew by, which was a precursor to the next snowstorm. Pace felt that the axe in his hand was getting colder and colder, but the fire in his heart was indeed burning more and more fiercely.
[Blood and Steel] is a traditional duel in Thebite, and is one of the [Code of Blood and Steel]. This is an absolute fight to the death between two people, no one can interfere, sacred and inviolable. The winner will realize his claim, while the loser will join the [Bone Burial Frozen Land] and become one of the millions of dry bones.
At this moment, Pace was staring at Venia who was standing not far from him, thinking in his mind how to kill him in the most painful way possible.
"Hey! Boy!"
A voice suddenly came from behind Pace, and Pace recognized the man at a glance: it was the captain he met on the way up the mountain. At this moment, he was looking at Pace with a puzzled expression.
"Ah..Sir, you are here too."
"You actually lied to me that this federal woman is your sister. You are such a daredevil..."
Pace felt a little embarrassed when he saw that the truth was revealed.
"Ah...this..."
"It's quite courageous to dare to break into the Iron Fortress alone."
To Pace's surprise, the captain did not seem angry at all, but instead had an expression of approval.
"You and this girl are both very courageous..even though she is not really 'courageous'? But she is definitely more courageous than the guy across from you."
The captain pointed at Venia and then nodded at Pace.
"Do what you should do and prove yourself to Wanren Mountain."
Pace was stunned for a moment, then nodded to the captain and faced Venia.
"I will..."
Holding the sharp axe tightly in his hand, Pace gently closed his eyes. The icy lake and his father's instructions to him appeared in his mind again:
"For the family (Thebite)."
When he opened his eyes again, his black pupils were as bright as if there was a burning fire. He began to slowly approach Venia, and the battle axe with a snow sculpture head was spun by him very skillfully, and the thin factor energy was "buzzing" at the tip of the axe.
Snow fell on the mountain top, and it was time for this family dispute to come to a proper end.
The more fierce Pace's arrogance became, the more Venia felt weak. He and Pace slowly rotated around the field. In this cold air, a few drops of sweat still flowed from his forehead:
"Hey, hey... I say, you're not really going to fight me, are you..." Venia's tone was still tough, but his slightly panicked breath exposed him. "I have Prototype - 09 'Gold Vein' on me, don't you think..."
"You won't have Ivar as your sword this time, Venia (Thebite),"
Pace's voice was as fierce as if it came out of his throat. He gently rotated the axe in his hand and observed Venia like a hunter. His flashing black eyes locked onto Venia's every move with incomparable precision.
"Monaque, or Eleonforno (Thebite)", Pace slowly stretched out a finger, "a survivor (Thebite)..."
"Oh, don't... I am a general after all. You can't get out if you kill me," Venia smiled as if to comfort himself, "Put down your weapons and go to jail. Maybe your cowardly brother will use your house to exchange you out, and then you can go back to that shabby tavern..."
"Pray to the mountain, you bastard (Thebite)!"
Without giving Venia any time to finish his words, Pace leaped forward, raised the axe in his hand high, soared into the air with the help of the giant armor, and chopped down Venia -
"clang--"
The cold steel knife collided with the sharp axe, and after a short stalemate, it was bounced away. Venia took two steps back in panic, trying to distance himself from Pace.
"waste!"
Pace roared and rushed forward, and when Venia's blade was not in front of him, he chopped Venia with an axe -
"Den-"
The sharp axe chopped into Venia's shoulder, but due to the protection of the giant armor, it only slightly injured the flesh. Venia screamed and waved the cold steel knife in his hand in panic:
"Ahhhhh!!"
Pace pulled out the axe, causing a splash of blood, and stepped back, looking calmly at the screaming Venia.
Logically speaking, the axe that just broke through the surface of the giant armor should only cause minor flesh wounds, and Pace had a rough idea of this, but looking at Venia's reaction, it was as if he had lost a hand...
So, is he so weak?
Pace glanced at the Iron Lord in the stands. Mikhail was just staring at the battlefield with an indifferent look, with no intention of intervening.
Ha...it seems that there is indeed a chance. The Iron Lord will not violate the [Law of Blood and Steel] casually. After all, he is the founder of the rules and is the one who maintains the rules.
In this case, this is where we really have a chance to kill Venia.
Pace turned his attention back to the battlefield, where Venia was holding his shoulder and gasping for breath, as if he had just suffered a serious injury.
"Hey, does it hurt so much, General?" Pace taunted, "Do you want to go see a military doctor? Otherwise it will be too late and the wound may have healed..."
"Fuck you!" Venia roared. He had always been arrogant and domineering, and he had never suffered such injustice before. "Go to hell!!!"
Venia rushed forward like a madman with the cold steel knife in his hand. Pace calmly pushed back slowly, while using the axe in his hand to deal with Venia's attack. Sparks continued to burst out where the blades met, exploding waves of heat in the cold air of the snowy day.
In this [Blood and Steel Battle], everyone watched the duel between the two with bated breath. There was no cheering or applause, only the usual tone of Wanren Mountain: silence and coldness. After entering [Blood and Steel Battle], the identities of the two were no longer different. They were both people of Wanren Mountain, swinging their sharp blades on the cold mountaintop.
"clang--"
"clang--"
"clang!!!"
Pace took Venia's blow with some difficulty. It must be said that even though this young master's attack was haphazard, with the addition of Prototype's "Gold Vein" armor and Thebite's specialty cold steel knife, his attack was still not to be ignored. In addition, Pace's strength might not be that superb. If this battle continued, it would probably not be optimistic.
Sure enough, when selling alcohol, you should pay more attention to exercising...
Pace made up his mind that if he could get out of the iron fortress alive, he would definitely exercise well.
Venia slowly took two steps back, panting heavily, and it seemed that he could not continue fighting for much longer. Even if the giant armor had a strength-enhancing effect on people, it would be useless if there was no training for its compatibility.
Observing Venia's movements, Pace's brain was working quickly. He needed to find an opportunity, an opportunity to end the battle in one fell swoop.
......
7) Blooming on the Mountaintop (Part 7)
In a trance, Pace recalled a battle that left a deep impression on him: at the Monark Mansion, Perlis dodged Yelena's factor energy bullet with a very low posture, and then took advantage of Yelena's opportunity to defeat her.
Well... there is a high probability that... well, I will never be able to perform any anti-human actions like "low-altitude ejection" like Perlis, but this idea is indeed good - if close combat will eventually lead to a moment of fatigue, then what I need to take advantage of should be the empty period after Venia's swing.
There was no need to waste energy by clashing with his blade. Instead, he could focus on dodging and then look for an opportunity.
"Hey, you idiot from the Monarch family, are you scared?"
Venia laughed at Pace breathlessly, as if the previous few rounds of confrontation had given him inexplicable confidence.
"Why don't you kneel down and beg for mercy now... Let's get this done quickly, I still have to chop off that federal man's head, can you..."
"You will never be able to hurt Perlis again, I promise you that..."
Having said this, Pess looked back at the wooden stake at the execution ground: Perlis was leaning against the stake, sleeping soundly with her eyes closed. Pure white snowflakes fell on her head, covering the mud that had stained her pure white hair. She suddenly became so pure again.
Ha, just wait, little princess, Brother Pace will definitely take you away from here.
Pace turned back, faced Venia, and gently turned the axe in his hand.
"There won't be another Lianna, absolutely not."
"Fuck, why are you talking so much bullshit?" Venia cursed, "If you like her so much, I will hang your head and her head together, and you two can just watch the scenery together at the gate of the Iron Fortress."
"Hey, who wants to like that kind of difficult little girl..."
Pace tilted his head slightly, as if trying to hide something. He raised his hand and gently scratched the top of his head. The cold snowflakes melted into snow water at his fingertips, giving him a slightly cold feeling.
Well, if you want to say nice things at this time, you have to say them to your heart's content~
A warm feeling spread in his heart like ink. Pace paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly:
"Okay, okay, I'm telling you, you're right..."
Pace spread his hands and shook his head slightly under Venia's glare:
"I really like this old girl."
After saying that, Pace rushed forward and swung the axe fiercely. Venia blocked the knife in a panic, then roared and started to chop wildly.
Pace did not take the initiative to attack like before, but kept dodging, allowing Venia to continue slashing at the air.
Sure enough, Pace's guess was correct. As Venia's movements increased in number, they became slower and slower, and his flaws were gradually revealed. Pace, who did not consume extra energy due to blocking, naturally retained his remaining strength and was able to concentrate more on finding opportunities.
"Uhhhhh!!!"
Finally, this moment arrived - after Pace dodged his attacks for who knows how many times, Venia swung his hand in frustration, using his last bit of strength to make a horizontal slash.
Pace knew that his chance was now.
"call!"
Pace did not choose to continue to retreat. A pure white figure flashed through his mind, which made him go forward without hesitation.
Then, at the moment when he was about to be chopped by Venia's cold steel knife, Pace leaned down low. The cold blade passed over his head and cut off some of his hair - if it was a little later, it would have cut off his head.
At this moment, the flaw was completely revealed in front of Pace, and time seemed to have run out. Pace saw a flash of astonishment in Venia's eyes - but he could not do anything more to make up for his fatal mistake.
As if he had already accumulated enough strength, Pace did not swing the axe, but instead lowered his body and rushed forward, hitting Venia's chest with his shoulder.
"Well!"
Venia was knocked back in surprise. At this moment, his right hand was still holding the cold steel knife, and he was trying to use it to make a surprise attack.
In this slow time and space, Pace aimed at Venia's wrist holding the knife - that was one of the few places where the giant force armor was weak. Then, he swung the axe in his hand fiercely and chopped it down -
“Crack—”
The cold steel knife slowly flew into the air, shining in the slowly losing temperature of the rising sun. Around the cold steel knife, a few red blood beads flew up with the cold blade, like a satellite accompanying the moon.
This beautiful moment soon ended, and the cold steel knife fell on the snow stained with blood, accompanied by a severed hand falling beside it.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"
Venia screamed and covered his broken wrist. His eyes were wide open, and the whites of his eyes were covered with blood. Blood kept spurting out, and Venia stumbled back. Drops of blood fell on the ground beside his feet along with his movement trajectory, creating a strange picture -
“Ahhhhh!! Impossible!! Ahhh!! No!!”
Looking at Venia who was screaming like crazy, Pace gently wiped the blood from the axe on his sleeve, then slowly walked towards Venia:
"The game is over, Venia Irenforno," Pace's voice lost its anger and instead sounded detached and calm, "I won."
"Ahhhhhh!!! Impossible!!! Damn it.. I'm a general!!! General Venia Irenfono!!"
Venia covered his broken arm and screamed. His former arrogance and false elegance were gone. At this moment, he was no different from a clown, barking like a loser dog.
All the lords and soldiers watched Venia's madness silently: most of them were indifferent, and when this little brat who had caused them so much trouble got into trouble, no lord of any family went back to pity him. Respecting the [Law of Blood and Steel] and not laughing at Venia was probably a reflection of their good qualities as Thebites.
The more embarrassed Venia looked, the more ridiculous Pace felt that what was happening to his family was: such an incompetent waste, just because he was born in the arms of the Iron Lord, was given the surname of Irenforno, and was born to wantonly use resources and power that did not belong to him to bully the weak and act recklessly.
However, the cold wind of Thebeth will eventually strip off his fancy shell and reveal his ugliness to everyone.
Pace raised his head and looked at the Iron Lord again: this time, the Iron Lord was looking at him, but his sculpture-like face was still expressionless, as if tacitly allowing Pace to proceed.
It seems that he has no intention of breaking the [Law of Blood and Steel] for his son. In that case, there is no need to be polite.
Thinking of this, Pace calmly raised his axe and continued to approach Venia.
"You will rest here forever, Venia Irenforno," Pace murmured, "sink into the [Iceland of Buried Bones]..."
“Ahhh! Ahahaha! No!! You can’t kill me! Ahahaha…”
Venia kept screaming like a madman, like a patient.
"No! Ahaha! Impossible..."
"Can you just shut up before you die... Leave yourself a decent appearance..."
"No!!! I can't die here!!"
