Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage

503  Alto Versus Erik Conclusion

"Meteor Spear!"

In the air a few meters from the floor, Alto executed a Level 10 Spear Art technique as he aimed the spear at the target, Erik. With the Tempestuous Blade, his spear had become the embodiment of the storm. The process only took less than a fraction of a second, and Alto was ready to unleash its power. With Erik still standing on his spot, probably stunned by the sight, Alto hurled the spear. When the spear was freed from his hand, it went straight to Erik at the astonishing speed of several sonic speeds. With the spear's pulling effect, Alto was certain that Erik would be dragged to his defeat. In an instant, the spear ultimately reached the target. Crash!

After a loud sound, dust then covered a part of the stage, teasing the audience about the outcome of the ultimate move as well as the fate of its target. Thud. Shortly after, Alto had landed on the floor and waited for the dust to settle. Sweat dripped down on his forehead after using so much strength. The referee was also around to check the condition of Erik, judging whether this match should stop or not. A few seconds later, the dust slowly dissipated, and the floor was gradually becoming visible. The suspense in the arena was getting heavier as the audience was also waiting for the result. "?!"

However, when the dust settled, Alto's eyes suddenly widened upon only seeing his spear struck to the floor. Erik was nowhere to be seen. Alto hurriedly scanned the surroundings and failed to find Erik around. Suddenly, he sensed something up above and he looked up. Not only Alto, but the audience saw what he was seeing as well. "Look! Isn't that the Phantom Fencer?"

"It's really him! And he is floating midair!"

"Impossible!"

"No way..."

At an altitude higher than Alto's jump earlier, Erik was hovering still in the air with his arms closed, indicating that he had been watching Alto for quite a bit of time. In contrast to the shock of the crowd, Alto remained calm and seemed to notice something was wrong. Indeed, Alto felt that the one above was not the real Erik at all; it was an afterimage. He quickly picked up his spear and scanned the surroundings and strengthened his guard to prepare himself for an incoming attack. As he expected, he sensed something fast coming at him from behind. Swoosh! "?!"

Alto swung his spear, but it hit nothing. He thought it was strange as he could feel him coming. He looked up to check on Erik, but he had gone. Before he realized it, there were now six of them surrounding him. "What?! Six?!" Alto yelled in shock. "How can anyone create this many afterimages?!" "Piercing Barrage."

Without waiting a second, the six figures of Erik immediately executed the same technique as before, which Alto responded to with the same move. Since Alto just used a large amount of energy in his last move, his spear barely deflected all the blades. As soon as his technique finished, all of Erik's images disappeared before one figure, which seemed like his real body, appeared behind him and stabbed his back, piercing through his armor and penetrating his back all the way to his chest. "Ugh—?!" Just a split second later, Erik vanished with his rapier and reappeared in front of Alto, whose one knee was on the floor while covering his open wound. Erik then slowly approached him full of openings. It was as if he was passively taunting Alto to attack him. "Hah!"

Alto took his provocation and swung his spear with all the might he had left. It was probably the last of his strength, but the spear's speed almost broke the speed of sound. On the other hand, Erik did not have any intention to dodge or avoid it.

Whoosh. Alto's eyes widened when the results he expected betrayed him. The spear definitely landed on its target, but Alto did not feel anything that was cut at all. The blade seemed to pass Erik's body as if he was made of air. Even so, Alto's intuition was certain that the one in front of him was the real Erik. His claim was even solidified when Erik continued walking toward him as if nothing happened before stopping in front of him. When Erik took a thrusting stance, Alto immediately understood that there was no chance for him to win. He could not stop him any further. After that, Erik thrust his rapier forward and stabbed Alto in his chest.

Splat.

"Ugh...!"

The rapier pierced through Alto's lung and went through the back. After that, Erik pulled out his bloody blade, and then Alto collapsed on the floor. A few seconds later, the out-of-place-looking bracelet around Alto's wrist glowed before shattering into pieces. Shortly after, Alto's whole body shone a bright light for a few seconds. "Ugh..."

Later on, a grunt came out of Alto's mouth before he pushed himself up. Coincidentally, all of his wounds, injuries, and even his strength had seemed to have recovered. Seeing that, the referee finally made his judgment. "Alto's Resurrection Bracelet has been activated! The winner of this match goes to Erik the Phantom Fencer!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The events in the arena were different from those at the camp. In the arena, fighters were provided an item that activated when their lives came to an end. Upon activation, the incapacitated warriors would immediately recover their injuries and even resurrect if necessary, hence the name of the item. The Resurrection Bracelet was a unique-class item that could only be obtained from the reward chests of dungeons, albeit rare and more common in lower floors. Due to its rarity and usefulness, each bracelet could fetch an unreasonably high price. The Imperial Battle Tournament was the biggest annual event in the empire, and the emperor wanted to give the audience maximum entertainment. For that reason, the empire had a stockpile of the bracelets for the purpose of providing the warriors more freedom to unleash their full potential without risking lives. However, death could not be avoided if the damage was beyond what the bracelet could endure. For that reason, the executions must be quick. If Erik had not pulled his blade from Alto for a few more seconds, his blade could have stuck in his body after his wounds had healed. With his victory, Erik the Phantom Fencer would advance to the next round.