Chapter 27: Extreme Combat
The Spartans fell silent.
To be fair, Bitias hadn’t made any mistakes; it could only be said that the opponent was indeed an evenly matched adversary.
This Northern woman was undoubtedly an explosive strength-based warrior, and Bitias’ chosen tactic of focusing on defense was precisely countered by her.
He should have attacked from the beginning, striving to seize the initiative in the fight, while looking for opportunities for a fatal blow.
No, wait. The bald, muscular man suddenly thought of something: Bitias’ last downward strike with the hilt of his sword.
At his swinging speed, he should have been able to hit the target simultaneously with the opponent’s wooden sword.
However, in the end, Bitias missed, and the opponent’s wooden sword hit his abdomen first.
Could it be…
The bald man finally remembered.
When this Northern woman charged and swung her sword, before Bitias struck downwards with the hilt of his sword, she had made a distinct lowering motion.
Was her original target his chest? But if that were the case, she would have suffered a mutual defeat with Bitias (if they were using real swords).
So she chose to strike the lower abdomen, lowering her height at the same time, thus hitting him first?
This woman, if she could control such details in such a wild attack…
Then even if he had attacked her from the beginning, he might not have gained any advantage!
“How was it?” Sidlipha, triumphant, asked Asker proudly.
“You fought well.” Asker said, “But what the hell was that throwing knife at the end?”
“Huh? That was to lure him to raise his sword, and then I would take the opportunity to slash!” Sidlipha defended herself.
“If you wanted to lure him to raise his sword, why didn’t you use a downward Lion’s Fang with your left hand, forcing him to parry, and then use a Tiger Cut with your right hand?” Asker asked.
“Your throwing knife was easily deflected by him, and he still had the strength to strike downwards with the hilt of his sword while facing your right-hand slash. If it were Lion’s Fang, his wooden sword would have to maintain an upward block, and he wouldn’t be able to defend against the Tiger Cut from your other hand, right?”
“Uh…” Sidlipha’s expression faltered. “I didn’t think that much at the time.”
“Go back and think about it carefully.” Asker said. “The battlefield situation changes rapidly, there’s indeed no time for you to think. However, every choice you make must be the optimal choice under the circumstances, and this can be optimized through post-battle analysis.”
“If you don’t know how to do post-battle analysis, ask Eleanor.”
“Oh.” Sidlipha said dejectedly.
What are they doing? The bald man looked at Asker instructing Sidlipha, a suspicious look on his face.
These guys didn’t seem to be simple characters.
“I’ll be the next one.” The bald man stepped forward.
“Rudashius? You’re coming personally?” A Spartan handed him a wooden greatsword.
“Yes.” Rudashius, the leader of the Spartan envoy, nodded.
“Peggy, how’s your practice of that sword technique coming along?” Asker asked.
“Not yet.” Peggy shook her head. “But I can now steal other people’s thoughts and anticipate their actions in advance.”
“That’s good enough, you’re up.” Asker said.
So Peggy stepped forward and picked up a wooden short sword from the side.
“You’re not an adult yet, little girl?” Rudashius frowned, his greatsword dragging casually on the ground.
“Don’t call me little girl.” Peggy said coldly. “You’ll regret it.”
“How do you want me to regret it?” Rudashius asked mockingly. “Punch me in the chest?”
Peggy sneered, her figure suddenly bursting forward.
“So fast!” Rudashius’s expression changed drastically.
He really hadn’t expected such explosive speed from such a petite girl.
Rudashius swung his greatsword horizontally, slashing at the charging figure.
Peggy, as if she had anticipated it, sidestepped the slash and instantly moved behind him with a swift step.
Backstab.
However, Rudashius simply turned agilely and swung his greatsword in a backhand slash.
Following Slash.
Peggy swiftly jumped back twice, perfectly dodging the sweep of the wooden greatsword. The moment the blade swept past, she charged into the attack range again.
“Extreme combat?” Eleanor said in surprise from the sidelines.
“Extreme?” Sidlipha asked.
“What Asker taught us last time, have you forgotten?” Eleanor stared at the fight and explained:
“Assuming the opponent’s arm length plus sword length, their attack range is 3 meters. Then, if you want to dodge the attack, you just need to retreat beyond 3 meters, whether it’s 4 meters or 5 meters.”
“However, in reality, the further you retreat, the longer it will take to get close again for a counterattack. Therefore, the so-called extreme combat is dodging just outside the opponent’s attack range.”
“If the opponent’s attack range is 3 meters, you retreat 3 meters. After dodging, you only need to move forward a little to re-enter the counterattack range, which is a few tenths of a second faster than retreating 4-5 meters and then counterattacking.”
“Dodging at the very edge of their range?” Sidlipha pondered. “Isn’t that…”
“Yes, extreme combat has a very low fault tolerance rate.” Eleanor said seriously. “If the enemy deliberately hides their attack range, then extreme combat can easily be exploited in reverse, causing you to be hit by attacks that you could have dodged.”
“But according to Asker, the opponents we encounter at this stage basically don’t have the ability to perfectly hide their attack range.”
“What do you mean by ‘at this stage’?” Sidlipha smiled. “Does that mean we will encounter stronger enemies in the future?”
“Yes.” Eleanor nodded slightly.
So fast! Rudashius on the field realized for the first time what it meant to be “like a shadow.”
The opponent was too close, almost always moving within a distance of 0.5 to 1 meter around him, fully utilizing the close-range advantage of the short sword.
As a result, the large greatsword he was wielding, because it wasn’t as flexible as the opponent’s, became a disadvantage at such a close attack range.
Rudashius held his breath and gritted his teeth, once again using Moon Slash, sweeping a 360-degree circle around him. Peggy retreated half a step just in time, dodging just outside the range of Moon Slash, not an inch more.
Now! Rudashius shifted his body slightly, turned, and swung his sword. At the same time, he suddenly stepped to the left, the circle of his sword instantly enveloping Peggy’s position.
I hit her! He roared inwardly.
However, there was no force on his sword. Peggy, once again as if she had anticipated it, jumped back and dodged the suddenly expanded sword circle.
The moment the greatsword swept past, she landed from her jump and kicked off the ground, her body charging forward, her short sword thrusting forward sharply!
Dodging? No! Only then did Rudashius realize that, in order to hide his attack range and expand the sword circle, his body was currently in a tilted posture.
It was impossible to retract the already swung greatsword to block. However, to dodge left or right, he had to first stabilize his tilted body, and with the opponent’s thrusting speed, he simply didn’t have time to complete these actions.
His heart sank, and he suddenly dropped his weapon, grabbing towards Peggy’s wooden short sword with both hands.
If it were a real sword, the opponent could easily cut off all ten of his fingers with a light slash.
However, it was a wooden sword. For the sake of victory, Rudashius didn’t care anymore.
Empty-Hand Disarmament!
The short sword suddenly stopped during its thrust. Rudashius’ hands grabbed at the air. He looked up with a shocked expression and saw that Peggy’s short sword had stopped right between his eyes, at his forehead.
“You lose.” Peggy said lightly, threw the wooden short sword aside, and left on her own.
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