Should I intervene?

The White Knight Guild Master stood up, but found herself unable to move. How exactly was she supposed to help? She had already been unable to injure the previous sword knight, much less this one.

Thinking through all of this, she made the best decision for the situation. The best thing to do was simply not to intervene. At this time, doing anything would do more harm than good.

Lukas could not pay attention to anything else at all. For the first time since awakening, he felt as if he were being pushed this far. Even when he fell during the second trial, he had not felt the same sense of danger that he felt today....

Just one wrong move, and he had a feeling his head would roll.

Clang! Clang!

Sword clashed against sword. Sparks flew in every direction. With every attack, Lukas was pushed back dozens of steps, barely able to control himself. By now, the hand holding the sword had already gone numb. In some places, his palm had torn open, blood flowing freely and staining the entire blade crimson.

At that point, his body wanted nothing more than to let go of the sword and throw itself against the sword knight’s blade to end this torture.

Of course, Lukas was never going to allow that. The harder the struggle became, the more he had to control himself. At this seeming dead end, it appeared as if he had run out of options, but Lukas had to stay alive. As long as a path appeared, he would win.

Countless thoughts surged through Lukas’s head at this moment, and in the face of life and death, he did a cold-blooded analysis of what he had and what he lacked. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

One thing was clear to him: when it came to sword mastery, he was no match for the sword knight. If he tried to go on the offensive, he would die, and death would be the likely outcome.

The fight continued to progress. Lukas’s eyes were sharpened like a hawk’s as he watched the sword knight cleave through the sky, leaving the heavens trembling. Lukas stood still, moving only at the precise moment needed to defend and then resume his stance.

If possible, he would avoid all bloodshed and preserve his own life.

At this point, he no longer gave off the aura of a battle-hardened warrior, but rather that of a hunter waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Time continued to pass, turning minutes into hours. The two of them, Lukas and the sword knight, seemed trapped in an endless loop, one defending while the other continued to attack aggressively.

From the sidelines, the White Knight Guild Master watched everything with growing admiration in her heart. She had been watching Lukas defend for hours, yet not even a single hint of fatigue showed on his lips. His face remained as calm and steady as ever.

The calm and cold bearing of someone who knew victory was inevitable.

However, there was one more thing she was curious about as well: did he not feel tired at all?

Before she could continue thinking, her stomach rumbled again, reminding her that while Lukas might be fighting the knight, she was not fighting another war with her hunger.

The sun did not care about the struggle going on below. It followed its own schedule, and when the time was up, it slowly made its way downward.

However, at this time Lukas could not pay attention to that at all, as the setting sun also changed the speed at which the knight attacked, making it increasingly frenzied.

However, instead of feeling afraid or cowering, Lukas’s eyes lit up.

His chance had arrived.

The sword knight was indeed capable, but right now it was pushing itself too hard. At this stage, it was bound to make a mistake.

Lukas’s heart grew alert, waiting for just one chance.

He did not have to wait long. For a split second when the knight attacked, Lukas noticed it.

This is my chance!

Lukas’s hand tightened around the sword hilt. This was the chance he was not going to miss. Taking one step forward, he closed the distance between himself and the knight until their bodies were almost touching. Then he simply thrust the sword directly forward, willing to pierce the knight’s chest while leaving his own vitals completely exposed.

Lukas, however, was not reckless. He completely believed in this attack.

Immediately, the knight’s defense broke, and the sword managed to pierce deep into the knight’s body.

Boom!

A shower of light particles emerged and merged with Lukas’s body. This was the knight’s understanding of the first style of One Sword to Rule the World — One Sword to Rule the Man.

Immediately, in his vision, the knight’s form, which had once been slightly blurry, became completely clear and easy to understand.

This was Lukas’s reward for successfully attacking the knight.

Still, that did not mean the gap between Lukas and the knight had been fully bridged. There was still a significant gap, but now Lukas could understand the technique better.

For other warriors, this insight might have meant nothing, but to Lukas it was everything. All this time he had been struggling against what seemed like an endless barrier, yet only he could see how this small crack could help him survive the storm.

Soon, defense became easy, until the point where he was pushed back dozens of steps by each attack, but still managed to hold his ground.

When the sun completely set, the knight stopped and bowed. Then its figure slowly dissipated.

Lukas watched all of this happen with a stunned expression on his face. To be honest, all this time he had been expecting the fight to continue deep into the night, but now the sudden disappearance of the knight told him many things he needed to know.

He could defeat the knight.

Maybe they wanted to use the knight to hone my skill better.

Time continued to flow like water. During the night, Lukas did his best to put into practice everything that he had learned from his fight with the knight. The next morning, the knight would descend to ruthlessly crush him to bits.

"Hmmm... every day, the knight’s mastery of One Sword to Rule the World is increasing. It is indeed not going to be easy..."

Lukas thought, his eyes flashing with sharp light. At first, he had thought the knight’s mastery would remain the same until he defeated it, but by now it had become quite clear that if he was unable to catch up with the knight during the night, he would have to suffer for it.

Once this became clear to him, he did not dare waste even a single moment. Every night, he would train like a mad dog, his entire focus on feeling the sword.

What could he do to make every swing of his sword a force of nature that none could resist? No treasure, nor any intangible force, could help him here.

During all this time, he did not even glance in the White Knight Guild Master’s direction, as if she simply did not exist.

However, contrary to his expectations, the White Knight Guild Master’s eyes never left him. All this time, no matter whether it was day or night, her eyes followed all of his movements. She had grown so engrossed that she had even forgotten about her hunger.

This level of ruthless dedication and focus...

The White Knight Guild Master’s heart unconsciously accelerated. She could not understand why she was so drawn to this.

For the first time in years, the White Knight Guild Master felt a strange emotion take root in her heart.

Lukas did not know what was going through the White Knight Guild Master’s head, neither was he in a position to care.

Clang! Clang!

Shouts of metal clashing against metal echoed.

Shit...!

Lukas was one second too late in reacting, and—

Swish!

The iron blade, filled with unstoppable momentum, brushed past his ear and landed on his left shoulder. Blood splashed in every direction.

In the distance, the White Knight Guild Master covered her mouth in worry. No matter how diligent and determined Lukas was, he simply was not that talented in the way of the sword. With Tommy not around, it was becoming difficult for him to keep up with the knight’s progress.

With no remaining matter around, he could not even heal, so step by step, wounds on Lukas’s body were starting to accumulate.

Still, through sheer perseverance alone, Lukas survived another day.

Lukas looked at the dissipating knight, his gaze heavy, fists tightly clenched as his thoughts surged.

Only if I had one more night, I might have been able to keep up with the knight... but at this rate, the knight will eventually outperform me.

Just as he was thinking that, the fresh injuries that were barely holding off once again flared, sending blood spraying in every direction.