Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 273 - 71 Outdated Swordsmanship

Chapter 273: Chapter 71 Outdated Swordsmanship

"How is that possible?!" Meyer immediately turned pale with shock.

This Square Swordsmanship was his masterpiece, and his research on the ultimate killing strike had cost him countless hours. According to his years of research, when the opponent’s defensive range was suppressed to the extreme, they wouldn’t be able to dodge his final, ready-to-strike blow.

"Surprised?" Aske asked with a smile.

"You! What extraordinary ability is that?" Meyer grimaced fiercely as he spoke, "The ’Death Spirit’s’ ’Voidification’? ’Shadow’s’ ’Dissolve’? Or ’Illusion’s’ ’Misalignment’?"

"None of them," Aske replied. "I didn’t use any extraordinary ability."

"That’s impossible!" Meyer roared in disbelief.

"It’s quite simple," Aske said. "When you studied Square Swordsmanship, your level was only Lv.5, right?"

Meyer stood there, stunned as if struck by lightning.

Yes, in the year he left the team, the intensity of the Magic Tide was at its lowest, and the suppression on the world’s level limit was still at Lv.5.

Thus, all his sword techniques were designed with "Lv.5 enemies" as hypothetical opponents.

The continuously narrowing dense sword circles, and the ultimate killing strike, were all aimed to be "100% unavoidable by a Lv.5 enemy."

However, should the opponent advance to Lv.6 or Lv.7, with their significantly enhanced physical power and bodily attributes, the sword moves designed to be unavoidable by Lv.5 could now be dodged due to extreme loopholes.

As the assassin mentor Rasul had once taught Mia about the "Ilanian Instant Step": Mortals have the battle methods of mortals, while transcendents have those of transcendents; different levels and different physical attributes and traits mean that the same tactics are not suitable for everyone.

Meyer’s Square Swordsmanship, though a work of genius in that era, had now become somewhat outdated. It was fine against transcendents who were not proficient in swordsmanship, but against true swordsmanship masters, it was entirely flawed.

Moreover, as the Magic Tide’s level limit and the mainstream level of transcendents continued to rise, if he did not continue to improve his Square Swordsmanship, it would only become increasingly unsuitable for actual combat.

That’s why Aske said that Meyer studying the rigid framework of these sword techniques was purely a waste of time.

Meyer stood there, lost in despair with a face full of hopelessness. Aske lifted his longsword and beckoned him with a gesture:

"Still want to fight?"

Damn it, don’t underestimate me! A furious emotion surged from Meyer’s chest, and he gritted his teeth, lifting his longsword again:

"Don’t think that just because you’ve seen through my sword techniques, you can be sure to win this duel!"

"Admirable courage," Aske said.

Once again, the two figures clashed. This time, Meyer abandoned his Square Swordsmanship and instead raised his longsword high, swiftly striking downwards.

Mountain Crashing Strike!

Aske dodged to the side, and with a direct thrust, his longsword aimed to slice towards Meyer’s eyes.

Meyer quickly retreated, his longsword once again swinging out, Crescent Moon Slash!

The Crescent Moon Slash was powerful and forceful—if Aske insisted on continuing his attack, he would inevitably be bisected. Thus, he had to withdraw and leap back.

As he leaped back, Meyer changed his move to a thrust, his longsword stabbing straight towards Aske’s abdomen.

Unable to dodge mid-air, Aske could only draw his sword to precisely block the thrust while his body flew backward using the force.

"Hmm, that’s right, this guy definitely has a high-level ’Weakness’ Sequence. All his attacks target my vulnerable spots,"

Aske stood firmly on the ground, having already made a clear judgment.

Indeed, even if Aske hadn’t pointed out his issue, years later in the original plot, Meyer would have realized the obsolescence of the ’Square Swordsmanship’ by himself and would have reformed it into a more suitable style for high-level Transcendents, which he called ’Big Square Swordsmanship’.

Although his talent for naming was still lousy, this future ’Square Sword Saint’ did indeed possess an outstanding talent for swordsmanship. Now, it was clear that his own high-level ’Weakness’ Ability was one of the secrets that enabled him to rapidly improve this swordsmanship.

After all, only by understanding more weaknesses could one design moves with fewer flaws.

However, even the future ’Square Sword Saint’ was ultimately no match for Aske, let alone the younger, weaker version of Meyer now.

With a sweep of his longsword, Aske blocked the opponent’s straight cleave and then spun his body to dodge the next thrust—East Solomon Swordsmanship—Eagle Soaring Sword!

On the stands of the Wolf Family emissary, the man in the black robe suddenly raised his hand, aiming his palm at Aske in the arena.

Meyer was too late to defend and could only try to sidestep to avoid vital points, suddenly realizing that Aske’s longsword had missed his side.

Eh? He was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized,

It was the Heart Stealer brought by Lord Viscount who had made his move! Aske had been controlled!

Meyer immediately counterattacked with his longsword. Although a thrust would have caused more damage, his mind had changed at that moment—he just wanted to fulfill the earlier contract, swiftly win the bout, and then quickly return to research and improve the outdated Square Swordsmanship.

As his longsword clashed against the metallic blade, Aske firmly blocked his attack and stepped back to disperse the force.

"You?!" Meyer was astonished. "You weren’t controlled?"

"Almost got me," Aske said with a smile. "Tch, your people really are well-prepared, huh?"

Meyer pushed aside the opponent’s longsword and spun again to deliver a downward cleave—Mountain Crashing Strike!

Aske raised his longsword, blocking the attack. Meyer’s arm exerted force consecutively, unleashing a Mountain Crashing Triple Strike, all of which were completely blocked by his opponent.

Eh? Meyer again sensed something was amiss. From their multiple exchanges earlier, he had intensely felt his opponent’s cunning—simultaneous evasion and rapid repositioning, and the counterattacks after each block always targeted the most difficult angles and timings for him to handle.

Yet now, Aske was merely defending against his attacks, lacking the previous smooth and continuous oppressive aggression.

"So, it is as I thought. You haven’t escaped his control," Meyer immediately realized with concentration. "You’re just distracted, resisting his abilities with your will."

That said, he knew the Heart Stealer had reached ’Mind III,’ and his opponent could resist Level III Mind Control? How formidable must his will be! Could he possibly possess a ’Will’ Sequence?

"Surrender," Meyer lowered his voice as his longsword pressed against the opponent’s block, "you can’t exhibit your full strength now; there’s no possibility of winning this battle."

"That may not be the case," Aske used the force on his sword to leap backward.

A few minutes earlier in the back of the spectator stands, Medea and Nora had sensed something was off right from the start through ’Mind Vision’ and had simultaneously activated their ’Mind I’ ability, continuously disrupting the black-robed man’s ’Mind Manipulation’ on the other stand.

"Are there really two Heart Stealer witches on the opposite side?" The black-robed man was slightly surprised, then sneered, "Merely Level I Mind Power, even with two, what can they do?"

The spiritual output from the opposite side suddenly intensified, and both Medea and Nora immediately felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue.

"Peggy!" Medea suddenly said, "Control that black-robed man, but don’t reveal yourself!"

"Okay," Peggy nodded and also glanced towards the opposite side, quietly activating her ’Plague I’ ability.