Damien narrowed his eyes upon seeing that it was the crown prince of the Lancaster Empire.
He knew this guy was quite a rare one and someone with a good heart and a gentleman who knew when to back out even in a situation where his only crush denied his confession.
However, right when he was wondering why this guy would participate in a tournament like this, Yuria gave Damien a subtle nod, making him quickly understand what was going on.
Apparently, it seemed that Maximus had already informed Yuria secretly about the reason for his participation to avoid any misunderstandings.
And Damien actually appreciated that this guy was so thoughtful, though in the end, his assistance was really not required.
Still, Damien only had gratitude towards this guy and had no plans in humiliating him before anyone.
However, he also didn't want to waste time by acting weak and making people feel that he was having some kind of arrangement with Maximus.
So with the same confident smile on his, Damien said, "Ah, I have heard a lot about you, Your Highness. I had always wished to have a spar with you, especially when I heard people hailing you as the 'Vanishing Sword Prince'. So how about I suggest we simply have a fight involving only the pure arts of the sword? No use of ethereal energy or ethereal arts. Just a simple exchange of sword moves."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Damien was indeed telling the truth when he said that he always wished to spar with him. After all, at that time, when Lily mentioned his peerless sword skills, Damien felt a competitive fire inside him, making him want to know how good he was personally.
Maximus never expected such a condition, and in fact, even the people watching this didn't see this coming.
Still, they shook their heads, thinking that Godnim was still being cocky but foolish to think that his sword mastery could actually exceed the unrivaled master of sword arts among the young generation.
After all, it was common knowledge that Maximus was coming from an empire that literally was experts in wielding and creating all sorts of weapons, especially swords.
No geniuses from any other empire were ever able to beat them in this department since time immemorial.
So even if it seemed that Godnim was a hidden genius, they felt that he was going too far by putting up such conditions and digging himself a hole.
Even the emperors also had the same conclusion, especially since it was the Vanishing Sword Prince inside the arena and the Lancaster Emperor was able to sigh in relief, thinking that maybe his son might still stand some chance.
Still, these emperors surely didn't think that Godnim was simply being overconfident, but probably there was some other reason for his confidence after seeing his performance so far.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})And so they still held some suspicions and decided to conclude their thoughts after seeing how this went.
Yuria was the only one who still had a subtle smile on her face while her gaze was fixed on Damien.
She had no doubt at all about who would come out as the winner.
However, Lily, for some reason, was feeling a bit anxious and gently tapped Yuria's hand as she asked, "Do you think this Godnim will win this?'
"I guess we will have to wait and see. But I can assure you that one of them is an unrivaled master of the sword arts," Yuria said with a wink, making Lily look at her with knitted brows, pondering on her words.
Maximus was equally surprised that Godnim put up such favorable conditions, and without hesitation, he accepted since he would never back down from a challenge despite finding the rules a bit unfair for the other person.
"Sure. I will be happy to have a spar with you using only the arts of sword. May we both comprehend something from this," Maximus said politely as he took out his Heaven Piercing Sword, making people gasp as they saw the shiny longsword that seemed to emanate the aura of a thousand battles.
It was obvious that this sword was quite special and was handed down to Maximus by his forefathers based on the strong aura it was giving off.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Damien simply took out an ordinary Sky Ethereal Grade sword and didn't take Kalypso's help since it was not suitable for this spar.
"Do you want me to give one of my best swords to you?" Maximus asked politely since he felt that Gondim's sword just was ordinary compared to his, and he didn't want to have any more of an unfair advantage.
Damien smiled as he put up his hand and said, "No thanks, Your Highness. This humble scholar could battle with any weapon, even if it is just a stick. Shall we?"
People snorted hearing his swords, especially the geniuses who were already laughing, being sure that Maximus would put his cheeky ass down within one move.
However, Maximus didn't feel offended, but he admired the confidence this guy was giving off. It surely didn't seem to come from nowhere, and for some reason, he felt excited to spar against someone this mysterious.
After all, he could notice how Godnim's innate aura changed the moment he took out his sword. It was as if he could already feel a blade being pointed toward him up close!
Maximus nodded as he readied his stance with focused eyes while the elder clapped his hands as he announced, "Begin!"
The next moment the two young men kicked the ground with their feet with all the strength they could gather as their bodies sped forward at an inhumane speed
Even if they were not using any ethereal energy, their bodies were still powerful, and their natural speed would still be far higher than even the best runner among ordinary humans.
Maximus was so skilled with his movements that it seemed as if he had literally vanished from the spot.
Everything seemed to happen in a second as the two of them clashed in the middle and stopped, though the audience had their jaws slack upon seeing what happened.