Embers of the Holy War [BEING REVISED]

The Fire Dragon

3847 defeats. Fifteen years later, Guang had suffered 3847 defeats at the hands of Ms Penelope. It had been a long, tough journey, but through his losses, he learned more and more about not just his strengths and weaknesses, but Ms Penelope's strengths and weaknesses. Under the clear skies, the cool wind brushing his cheeks, Guang took in a deep breath and got into a fighting stance. Opposite him, Ms Penelope was watching him impassively.

The pleasant weather was a good omen. A good omen that today, he was going to break that long streak of defeat and score a victory.

Ms Penelope unsheathed her sword and pulled it back. Underneath the sun, her sword flashed menacingly.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

One blink, and the two figures disappeared. The next second, a resounding boom that shook the earth reverberated through the Dragon Manor, as if a bomb had gone off. However, no one was alarmed. Used to Guang and Ms Penelope's explosive sparring sessions, the servants barely flinched and continued to go about their day.

Meanwhile, in the training field, sweat flew in the air and the grass crunched as Guang and Ms Penelope engaged in a furious, aggressive dance. Guang remembered when he first started off as an amateur, he couldn't even touch Ms Penelope despite the numerous handicaps the swordmaster had subjugated herself to. But now, after training under Ms Penelope's wing for fifteen years, both parties could go full-on on each other without worry.

Even though Guang said he would emerge victorious over Ms Penelope today, Ms Penelope was still an exceptionally difficult opponent. In combat, she kept a cool head and wasted no movements. When she swung her sword, it was with great, devastating force that could slice ten trees in half with one stroke. Her talent mainly lies in her strength, which was why, whenever it came to sparring with Ms Penelope, it was more often than not that her ultimate move would decide the results of the spar. A move that she had created and mastered, a move that had taken out many great warriors, a move capable of decimating the heavens in just one clean slash: that was the Heaven Splitting Slash.

It was only after many years that Guang had managed to discover a major weakness within her unconquerable move. That was, it required one second of charge up.

It was an extremely miniscule timeframe. Guang must be able to notice it and be quick, as well as choose the most effective counter and time it well, all within a fraction of a second, without lowering his guard. Any ordinary person would have been unable to do anything even if they picked up on this brief moment of weakness.

However, Guang was no ordinary person. He was a noble, a knight of Long, and Ms Penelope's disciple. Just to overcome this one move, he had concocted many tactics.

The one that had proved rather successful over the years was to constantly attack her in close-quarters. As a hand-to-hand fighter, this tactic worked well for Guang. Unfortunately, this tactic doesn't conquer her move at all. Rather, it only served in delaying her attack. The idea was that, with Guang raining down attacks, Ms Penelope would not be able gain that one second of charging to unleash her ultimate move. Although, as seen in many previous battles, his tactic can be easily conquered, such as...

With a forceful kick, Guang was sent skidding across the field. With the distance between them, even if Guang bolted at top speed, it was more than enough time for Ms Penelope to charge up her ultimate move. Guang knew it was coming, and Ms Penelope knew he was expecting it too. Without tearing her gaze from him, Ms Penelope raised her sword above her head, as if saying, 'Here it comes'.

However, instead of making an expression of terror, Guang smiled.

After so many tries, it was obvious that Ms Penelope's move couldn't be overcome by normal means. A few years ago, Guang realised he needed something more. He needed to utilise all the skills he had at 100%, and because of that, he had confronted the mysterious, slumbering power within him.