Lord System: Reborn As The Genius Heir To A Noble Family-Chapter 61: Scales of Honor

[...Minutes Earlier...]

Against the tide of monsters, the red-haired adventurer carried a stream of fire with the swing of his blade. Around him, a half dozen goblins and kobolds lunged with their little weapons.

Phoenix slid his right foot out before spinning around, swirling the fire around him into a blazing whirlwind:

"Burning Cyclone!"

The spiraling element tossed the small fiends into the air, igniting them with a display of violent fireworks. None of the cannon fodder stood any chance, especially with the golems sweeping through the likes of goblins as easily as catching rats with a broom.

"Hell yeah—!" Phoenix couldn’t help but feel hope watching the steel giants crushing through the numbers.

Some monsters slipped past the golems, leaving him and the adventurers essentially on "clean-up duty."

After sending the small fiends into the destruction of fire, Phoenix moved ahead amidst the wave before—something larger broke through.

A lizard-man in dark-blue scales lunged towards him, wielding a dual-bladed sword. It sprinted close to the ground as if moving on all fours, sweeping by with its double-edged blade.

"Woah—!"

Phoenix was forced to quickly move to the side to avoid having his legs amputated from the knee down. As it missed, the reptilian combatant stood up, revealing an unusual height, dwarfing the adventurer by two heads.

"Strong human...Wielder of fire...I challenge you..." The blue-scaled lizard warrior invited with slithering words. "I am Karta, the greatest swordsman of my clan..."

By the way the scaled warrior stood tall, bearing his unusual sword with a focused look in his eyes, somehow, the red-haired adventurer felt some kind of honor in the monster’s challenge.

"I’ll accept your challenge," Phoenix said, holding his sword with a ready stance.

Amidst the chaos brewing on the frontlines, there was a calmness oozing from the lizard swordsman, who seemed delighted by the answer given by the human warrior.

"Good...Very good..." Karta said.

As they two stood at opposing ends, the first move was made by the human swordsman. Phoenix dashed with fire at his heels, igniting his approach as he used the momentum to back the motion of his sword.

He swung for the lizard’s neck, though pulled away in a faint, spinning around with the guiding flames. Using the spin produced by his heel-blaze, he went around the scaled swordsman, swinging at his back.

The nimble nature of the lizard was on display as it contorted its body, spinning its double-edged sword around to deflect the strike.

’How the—?’ Phoenix questioned.

Without a chance to adjust, he was put on the back foot, moving his sword to defend himself as the lizard’s offense began. It wielded its unnatural, teal-shaded sword like an extension of itself.

Sparks danced in the air with each collision; he moved the blade, defending his gut, his neck, and even his knees from being cut down. Even blocking each attack, the weight behind the scaled warrior’s strikes rang through his bones.

’My arms are going numb—I can’t stay on the defense against this guy,’ he realized.

As another heavy strike sailed his direction, he flexed his body, intensifying the heat of his mana as he let it explode outward into a wave of fire.

"Hyaaaah—!"

The burst of heat forced the lizard-man back, lasting only moments before dispersing into fleeting embers.

Phoenix exhaled, coated in sweat from the short-lived overheating, looking towards the scaled warrior.

There were light burns etched onto the dark-blue exterior of the lizard, though Karta didn’t seem wounded.

"As thought...You are a strong human," the lizard-man admitted as smoke exuded from his scales.

"’Preciate it. You’re not too bad for a lizard yourself." Phoenix admitted.

A surprising reservoir of honor presented itself from the monster as it wore a bright smile at the shared compliment.

"I shall enjoy this battle to the fullest!" Karta claimed.

Phoenix felt some amount of intimidation from the spirit of the monstrous warrior, though felt some comfort in the fact. As he readied himself, taking the first step, he paused, finding a pair of orcs suddenly lunging at him from both sides.

"What?!—" He reacted.

Before he could attempt to defend himself, he witnessed both of the orcs’ heads he launched from their necks. It was faster than he could’ve perceived, watching as the savages fell limp to the ground.

’Did he do that...?’ Phoenix questioned.

In front of him, the lizard swordsman swept his dual-edged blade, discarding the blood from it, "Dishonorable ones...They will not ruin this fun."

"Thanks and all, but aren’t those your comrades?" Phoenix asked, keeping his blade raised.

A new layer of wariness was brought, witnessing speed he had not seen previously from the scaled swordsman. The flame-wielder questioned if it was merely playing with its food, or if by some disturbing sense of joy, it wanted to extend the "fun."

’Do I even stand a chance here...? There’s no point in thinkin’ like that—I’m here, and there’s no running. The only option is to win,’ he resolved, steadying himself with a hearty inhale and exhale.

Once more, he strove for the initiative, boosting himself forth with the roaring flames. He put his speed behind his sword, thrusting it as he closed the distance—

"Huh?—" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

His blade pierced nothing but air, looking up as he found the lizard warrior having used his own tail to boost himself above. The shocking bit of inhuman acrobatics led him unprepared for the counterattack as a sharpness ran across his shoulder.

"Ghh...!" He gasped, watching as his own blood sprayed from the wound etched across his right side.

As the pain processed, he watched as the scaled swordsman flipped off his bent tail, using it like a spring to launch into an eviscerating flip. He stepped back, more so in a stumble as the blade slashed against the dirt— a much better alternative than his body.

"Good! Very good, human! Don’t let me make light work of you!"

"Light work?! In your dreams, scaley!" Phoenix shouted.

Even if he could expel such bravado, it was easier to speak than to back it up as he was immediately placed on the backfoot again.

Blocking a sideways strike, he didn’t have time to react before the lizard’s foot shot against his gut. All the air was forced from his body as he slid back several feet.

As he got his lungs to work again, he fumbled with his sword, readying to defend. In a peculiar fashion, the reptile was already performing a swing of the unorthodox weapon, yet from a range it could not reach—

’What is it doing—?’ He questioned.

In place of the overwhelming ignorance harbored in his panicked mind, the adventurer received an answer as the air hissed against his ears. Without any inclination of what was coming, he simply held his sword in front of his body—FWOOSH.

A wind sharpened greater than any blade released from the lizard man’s peerless slash. It was a feat not unlike the master of a Paladin, yet wielded by the inhuman with frightening elegance.

The brunt of the eviscerating wind collided with the flat side of his sword, though the remaining length cut into his armor. He could only bite his tongue as the sensation cut into both pecs, leaving gashes on both arms.

Behind him, the unblocked remnants of the weapon weaponized air cut through the orcs and goblins fighting with the golems.

"Fuuaaa...Haah...!" Phoenix gasped, attempting to compose himself as his arms trembled.

It was difficult to hold up his own sword as the cuts had sliced into his biceps.

Karta stood amidst the bodies of fallen monsters, watchful of the human, "You have fought well. Allow me to remember your name, warrior."

The honorable spirit of the lizard man only brought laughter from the bleeding swordsman, forcing himself to lift his sword with fire propelling his elbows, "Haah...! Don’t make me laugh, Scale-Face! Who the hell said I’m done?! You wanna know the name of the one who’s gonna kill you?! It’s Phoenix—burn it in!"

A smile enriched with joy stretched upon the scaled swordsman’s face as it flipped its sword around, "Good! Good! I shall hold nothing back, Phoenix!"

The challenge was immediately put to the test as the lizard spun his word around, unleashing a flurry of strikes that sent blades of wind outward.

Phoenix moved forward, closing the distance, jumping to the side, rolling as a slash passed by. Before he could pick himself up to his feet, he rolled over again as another count of eviscerating air cut across the soil beside him.

He glanced back, watching the masterful wind completely bisect a poor goblin left in its path. If he was a second slower, it would’ve been him—a grim reminder.

A pop of fire at his fingertips pushed against the soil, launching him up onto his feet into a full sprint. In an act of perhaps pure desperation mixed with utter resolve, he completely engulfed his body in fire that propelled him forth, wildly and without stopping.

"Ghhhh!--"

The lizard-man wore an intense grin, flipping his sword as if performing a lethal dance, sending forth a plethora of air slashes towards the man that approached like a fireball. Against his body, Phoenix felt each of the blades cut into him; mitigated by the blaze around his body, making the wounds shallow, but still plentiful.

"Grrrh...!"

"Haaah–!" Karta let out, pulling his dual-edged sword back as the man-fireball came.

As the scaled swordsman went for a climactic strike, the red-haired adventurer passed by with an extra gear of speed at the last moment, bringing his blade through the side of the monster’s body.

With an entire chunk split through a half of its body, the blue-scaled warrior stood there, spitting out blood, "Thank you...Phoenix. It was...fun!"

"Yeah," Phoenix dismissed the flames, standing behind the lizard as blood leaked from the wounds across his body.

The moment he acknowledged the lizard, the inhuman swordsman collapsed with a fulfilled life.