Kai initiated the first attack.

He took a step forward and with the speed of lightning, he arrived in front of the Blind Swordsman who had already anticipated his arrival.

DING

Their swords clashed. However, unlike before, neither of them continued with any more attacks. Their swords ground against each other with the same amount of power on both sides. The pressure of a God was weighing down on the Blind Swordsman's shoulders while sheer power was stopping Kai from advancing any further.

Kai's wings remained stationary behind him. His eye that was set to block any attacks that he couldn't react to had returned to normal.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'm not stupid enough to fall for such a lame trick. Only idiots would tell opponents their plans when they aren't confident in winning."

Kai pressed forward and forced the Blind Swordsman to take a step back.

"Looks like you've gotten even stronger."

"I guess you can say that."

Though Kai still had lightning crackling around his body, he wasn't moving anywhere except forward. It took his entire strength and the speed of lightning to match the Blind Swordsman's swing.

"At the very least... I don't feel like I'll lose anymore."

"Such big words coming from a coward who ran to the past."

"I could say the same to that fallen hero."

"You..."

For the first time, Kai turned his head away from the battle to look at the barrier. However, he didn't forget to exert pressure on his sword.

"This is the barrier's limit. I guess I'll have to end this soon."

Kai turned his head back and spread out his wings from underneath his armor.

"In truth, there's one more component to living metal currently unknown to the world. Since I'm feeling generous today... I'll tell you."

The armor surrounding Kai's body suddenly had red lines coursing through them as if they were veins.

"The more blood they drink from the owner, the stronger they get."

The vein-like lines began pulsing.

"Are you sane?"

Even the Blind Swordsman found that ridiculous. He knew that living metal became stronger the more blood it drank from the owner but who would actually be sane enough to do so? At most, if the owner were to bleed in battle, then it would help them a bit but nobody has been sane enough to make themselves bleed so much.

"If I was a normal human, I'd already be dead. Luckily, I'm far from being a normal human."

"Even if you are a vampire, losing that much blood won't let you laugh it off that easily. Knowing that, you still intend to get stronger with this method?"

"I've done crazier things."

I've used life-threatening techniques at the brink of death as a human plenty of times before.

Kai started to feel the pain that came with his blood being sucked out by the living metal. His vision doubled momentarily but he bit his lip to stay conscious.

"For temporary power, you even risk your life. As I thought, you have to be eliminated right now."

A cornered beast does very frightening things. Even though the Blind Swordsman believed that Kai wouldn't be able to do anything to Howard, there was no demerit in being cautious.

"Ha!"

The Blind Swordsman destroyed their stalemate by redirecting Kai's sword toward the floor.

BOOM

All of the force that Kai had gathered was used to tear open a giant hole in the ground.

"This is your end."

The Blind Swordsman used Flash Step to walk beside Kai who still struggled to regain his footing.

"One Sword Style: Bisecting Pass."

After aiming at Kai's abdomen, the Blind Swordsman passed him. He sheathed his sword after walking a few steps and then came the sound of blood spraying.

"You were a worthy foe. Unfortunately, you were far too outmatched in power."

Both Kai's armor and his body were cut in half. A wound that would only take a vampire—especially one of his purity just a few minutes to heal wouldn't regenerate.

The Blind Swordsman's sword was laced with a faint green aura.

"Under the influence of the seal, it's difficult to wield life force. But, that doesn't mean that I can't wield it."

"What's the use of you being able to use Green Ki if you can't even hit your target?"

Kai's voice came from the Blind Swordsman's side and the latter instinctively used his blade to try and cut him apart. Kai calmly walked forward and passed through the Blind Swordsman's territory. It was such a foolish move that when a mistake is made, the person approaching would be cut in half or at the very least, gravely injured.

Kai held onto the Blind Swordsman's wrist to stop his sword from swinging and then rammed his body against him.

"Urk..."

The Blind Swordsman flinched in pain for the first time.

"If it takes a single person's worth of blood to awaken the living metal, how much would five, ten, twenty person's worth of blood be able to strengthen it?"

The Blind Swordsman furrowed his brows, "you're insane. Even as a vampire, losing that much blood would leave you half-dead."

As a vampire, though he could regenerate eventually, he wouldn't be able to recover his stamina. Though he wouldn't die from losing that much, it would still weaken him by quite a lot. It would even be a miracle if he were still able to lift a hand after all that.

"I've already stared at death and lived to tell the tale, what more can a few more times make?"

The vein-like lines on Kai's armor began pulsating.

"Right now, I'm on par with an SS-class, which means that we're currently on the same level. You've been lording over me with your superior skills and power but what about now?"

"Don't be so proud of temporary power."

"I'm not proud at all."

Kai stopped and took a deep breath. He looked at his covered hand and clenched it.

"It's a level of power I've reached before. Reaching it like this feels like an insult to my old self's hard work. But, who cares?"

Kai took a step forward, his entire person radiating immense power.

"As long as I can protect my family and friends, and this world they live in, who cares about my pride? Who cares about hurting others? Certainly not me. Well, that should be enough talking—

Taking a step forward, Kai created a hole in the ground and the elements ran amock. Fire, earth, water, air, darkness, light, all of them began rampaging and destroying the surroundings. That wasn't all, ice, lightning, magma—there was no end to the number of elements.

"—are you prepared to die?"

"Such arrogance."

The Blind Swordsman wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth then held onto his blade.

"What makes you think you have the qualification to sentence me—a general of the great Howard Greylock—to death? You have quite the lofty dream."

"When you failed to kill me before I retrieved my armor and released my aura is the moment you lost."

Kai leaped forward and slashed down with his sword overhead.

The Blind Swordsman blocked his attack but there was something different. The power behind Kai's sword was so strong that even though the Blind Swordsman exerted much of his power into stopping it, the ground beneath him still sunk.

"[Rending Blade]."

Kai moved back and then thrust his sword in front of him. A giant beam of pure mana fired from the tip of his sword and forced the Blind Swordsman to block once more.

"Your physical prowess might've entered another realm but your mana is still the same!"

The Blind Swordsman cut apart Kai's Rend and arrived in front of him in the blink of an eye.

"One Sword Style: Cleaving Wheel!"

Contrary to expectations, Kai wasn't blown away or cut apart. Instead, he calmly stood there holding the Blind Swordsman's blade in his hand.

"Eat my fist."

Kai pulled the Blind Swordsman toward him and launched a punch that landed right on his face.

BOOM

That single punch was so powerful that it broke through the sound barrier. The Blind Swordsman was sent flying and broke what was left of the walls into rubble before crashing into the barrier.

The Blind Swordsman's body slid down the barrier. There was blood dripping from his nose and the corner of his mouth. There were also bruises left on his face but as if it didn't affect him at all, he stood up and wiped it with his thumb.

"Sorry but let's end this soon. I don't really feel safe getting a temporary boost in power."

Kai roused his mana. He was putting his all into the next attack.

"...You're right. We really should end this soon."

The Blind Swordsman sheathed his blade and reached out.

"King of Swords, blade of the undefeated king, this one humbly requests for you to lend me your incarnation so that I may smite all that stand in my way. Come, Caliburn."

Accompanied by a golden flash of light, a golden silhouette of a sword manifested itself in the Blind Swordsman's hand. Just its presence alone was enough to shake the world and even the aura of a God that Kai was releasing was being suppressed.

"I deem you worthy of standing against me at my best. This is the greatest honor I can bestow upon you."

The Blind Swordsman raised Caliburn and opened his eyes. Only golden light beamed through the sockets where his eyes were supposed to be.

"...So it was real, after all."

Kai sighed and released his armor. The pressure he was exuding quickly dropped to that of an S-class. His wings folded back into their place and his skills were turned off. The eye that had done countless rotations since its activation stopped and his limbs returned to their original looks.

"Do you resign yourself to your fate?"

"My fate? Hahaha! Honestly, that's the one thing I won't resign to. Fate can eat dirt."

"...You don't seem at all scared despite knowing how strong this sword can be."

"Sword? That thing isn't fit to be called a sword. You said it yourself—it's just an incarnation. Not only that, it's an incarnation of a fake."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Because an original won't lose to a sword unknown in history."

Kai took the pendant from his pocket and stored his sword inside. Then, he closed his eyes and tapped it once.

"Old friend, I'm calling you once again."

RUMBLE RUMBLE

If the entrance of Caliburn shook the world then the rumbling produced from Kai's tap was enough to shake the solar system.

"Come, Superbia."