Chapter 473: Sword Fight between Father and Son

A burst of laughter startled the Earl.

He strode over and rapped on Liszt's door: "What are you laughing about?"

"I will soon be able to fly, father," Liszt had no intention of hiding it. Being a sky knight, he didn’t need to be overly cautious.

Even if others envied him, he was strong enough to defend himself.

In the Sapphire Duchy, unless the Duke personally rode a dragon to confront him, as a fellow sky knight, if he couldn’t win, he could always flee to the sea, with the mermaid Acheronides shielding him. No one could catch him.

"Fly? What do you mean?" The Earl didn’t react immediately.

"I’ll be soaring through the skies!"

"Are you saying you’re becoming a sky knight?"

"Yes."

A long silence followed.

Finally, the Earl spoke first: "Liszt, are you certain you’re advancing to a sky knight? You became an Earth Knight once you reached adulthood, an elite Earth Knight just six months later, and now less than a year later, you’re about to ascend to a sky knight? I hope you’re not joking."

"Father, while I’m not always serious, I’m not one to joke about this," Liszt smiled slightly. "I’ve learned from your and grandfather’s experiences as sky knights, and I’ve always kept grandfather’s 'Sword Saints’ Notes' with me. I know my current situation."

"What does it feel like? Tell me."

"My mana is transforming, like it’s evaporating from liquid to gas, or as if the calm mana suddenly ignites. It feels like I’m enveloped in power, and the strength of my mana techniques has surged!"

"Come with me to the deck. I’ll personally test your combat skills!" The Earl still didn’t quite believe it and prepared to test it himself. "I don’t sense the pressure a sky knight should exude from you, and your mana loss rate is nowhere near that of a sky knight."

Of course not.

One reason was that Liszt had made some progress in practicing 'Mana Decay,' at least halving the speed of mana loss.

Another was that his mana had been altered by the magic power seed, further slowing the loss rate. Even the speed of dissipation of the mana techniques he used had slowed down significantly, though it was still a far cry from the Fire Dragon’s nearly eternal magic power. For now, it was just 'Primary Dragon Mana.'

Perhaps as the magic power seed continued to gestate, it could upgrade to low, medium, high, super, and ultimate dragon mana and the like.

So, from his aura, Liszt gave off a harmless impression, but his body contained a violent mana that only he knew about.

The fire attribute mana rendered by the primary dragon mana was as restrained as magma waiting to erupt.

...

Standing on the deck, Liszt held his sword with both hands, his gaze straight ahead, his expression serious. "Father, don’t underestimate me too much. When my strength erupts, even I can’t measure it." Facing a sky knight of the sword saint level, he didn’t intend to hold back any strength—he would unleash it all.

"I should have advised you not to be too proud, but without absolute pressure, you probably wouldn’t understand. So, let’s fight first and then talk!"

Lee William drew his longsword.

The battle was about to begin.

On the Tulip, the nobles, hearing the commotion, emerged from their cabins to witness the battle. They were still puzzled, not knowing why the Earl and Liszt were starting to fight.

"What's going on?"

"It seems Viscount Liszt has challenged the Earl."

"Perhaps the Earl is preparing to guide Viscount Liszt in his training?"

Viscount Jonas raised an eyebrow and whispered to the arriving Viscount Trick, "My intuition wasn't wrong. Viscount Liszt's strength has progressed rapidly, and he's already daring to challenge the Earl."

"The gap between an elite Earth Knight and a sky knight seems hard to bridge."

"I've heard that during the battle at the Castle of Many Hands, Viscount Liszt once fought against Viscount Fredo, known as the Galloping sword saints. It seems they ended in a draw, as the Galloping sword saints couldn't catch up to Viscount Liszt riding a land bird."

"But this time it's a sword fight."

...

Liszt didn't pay attention to the whispers around him.

His body was extremely excited; this was the first time he was engaging in a sword fight with a sky knight. Knights prefer to use longswords in close combat, hence close combat is referred to as a sword fight. He had fought against various Earth Knights and had slain several elite Earth Knights with his Skyrend Greatsword.

But when it came to sky knights, he had only ever sniped or kited them from a distance, never daring to face them head-on.

Now.

On the verge of a breakthrough.

He could finally face a sky knight head-on.

Flame-like mana surged within his body, circulating through his meridians. His mana should now be called "Intermediate Fire Attribute Primary Dragon Mana."

Suddenly, the Skyrend Greatsword was raised, and a Fire Dragon Assault was unleashed out of thin air.

It struck towards Lee William.

Lee William looked relaxed, raising his sword to counter, his blade imbued with advanced water attribute mana, easily blocking Liszt's attack.

And with enough strength to counterattack, his mana erupted, causing a burst of water vapor.

Facing Lee William's strong counterattack, Liszt, who had initiated the attack, had to quickly switch to passive defense. The Skyrend Greatsword danced rapidly, with wild mana continuously pouring in, dispersing the water attribute mana coming at him.

His movements were slightly panicked, and it took several strikes to barely neutralize Lee William's casual counterattack.

Just this single round of probing made him realize the vast gap between himself and a sky knight. It wasn't surprising; Lee William was among the top-tier sky knights at the sword saints level.

Suppressing his panic.

His mind quickly calmed down, casting aside all extraneous thoughts, and he focused all his energy on attacking the Earl. Mana flowed freely, combined with sword techniques from his mana manual, he launched a fierce attack. Such a violent attack, almost disregarding his own defense, was unnecessary against Lee William.

After all, this was a test of strength, not an actual combat exercise.

Lee William defended passively, without initiating any attacks.

Liszt became increasingly unrestrained, his mana gradually integrating, and he rapidly improved in sword fighting. Moreover, his offensive stamina far surpassed that of a typical elite Earth Knight, and his mana dissipated very slowly, creating an aura that gradually matched the Earl's surging water attribute mana.

"Dragon Heart Drill!"

With a sudden thought, he transformed into a fire dragon, charging forward. Mana surged around him, forming a whirlwind-like flame drill, striking towards Lee William.

The Earl, who had been as steady as a rock, couldn't help but show a hint of surprise at this move, then dodged. But before he could fully evade, the fiercely attacking Liszt turned sharply and charged at him again. The mana transformed into roaring flames, not falling behind at all.

This once again amazed him—how could intermediate mana contend with advanced mana?

Moreover, as the battle dragged on, he noticed that Liszt showed little sign of fatigue. Such endurance was rare even among Earth Knights.

"Is he really about to become a Sky Knight?"

His attention wavered for a moment, and by the time he refocused, Liszt unleashed another ultimate move. The sword's energy transformed into a deluge of fire raining down upon him. Such a widespread attack left almost no room for evasion, and the fire rain, formed by mana, was not extinguished by his water-attribute mana.

It was a full-on clash between advanced mana.

Compelled to retaliate with full force, he unleashed a fierce advanced mana technique, transforming his mana into a tidal wave that surged toward the fiery rain.

Sizzle!

Splash!

In moments, fire and water vapor reached a dynamic equilibrium, drawing a clear red and blue boundary between the two.

At this moment.

Liszt, the elite Earth Knight who relied on potions, stood toe-to-toe with Lee William, the Sky Knight at the level of a Sword Saint. 8)