Chapter 190 Fantasy Caricature! The Silk Thread Breaks!
"Thank you for waiting, everyone! The third round of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival is about to begin!"
The commentator's roar was immediately swallowed by the thunderous, fervent cheers echoing through the Harbor Dome!
Spotlights focused on the arena, dispelling every shadow. The red and blue gates opened, and Sarah and Arthur stepped inside, greeted by thunderous applause.
The commentator was still rambling, introducing the two, trying to hype up the atmosphere, but Arthur's gaze was already fixed on Sarah.
This woman felt different.
Previously, Sarah always looked drowsy and lazy, as if she had no interest in anything in the world.
But now, she exuded an astonishing will and drive, her sharp eyes like those of a top predator locking onto its prey.
Seeing this, Arthur spoke up, his voice not loud, but clear enough to cut through the clamor.
"Quite a change in just one night. I guess you want to kill me too?"
Sarah lightly raised her hands, a palette and paintbrush appearing out of thin air. She returned his gaze with a fervent stare.
"An artist only pursues the pinnacle of art. What nonsense are you talking about?"
Arthur heard this and shook his head with a chuckle: "Too bad, I know nothing about art."
Before his words faded, the air between them suddenly solidified, turning into invisible blades that pricked the skin of everyone present.
The head referee beside them felt his throat tighten, experiencing a fatal palpitation once more, and immediately announced loudly.
"Both sides, take your positions! Third round of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, Area A, first match! Arthur versus Sarah—begin!"
The moment the whistle blew, Sarah moved!
She applied paint with astonishing speed, raised her hand as if the sky was her canvas, and fiercely swung her paintbrush into the air!
"Blazer Skill: Flashing Bright Yellow!"
In an instant, the scattered yellow paint erupted with a blinding, nuclear-explosion-like brilliance, turning the entire arena pure white, instantly robbing everyone of their vision!
The light came and went quickly.
In just a few seconds, when colors returned to sight, hundreds of skeleton soldiers had already formed an impenetrable formation, guarding Sarah behind them!
Their dark muzzles and cannon barrels were all uniformly pointed at Arthur!
Fantasy Caricature: Army of the Dead.
Sarah's signature combat technique, for low-tier Blazers, was a nightmare capable of blasting people to dust.
However, facing hundreds of guns and cannons, Arthur's lips slowly curled into a sneer.
"These toys are already ineffective against C-rank Knights. Try something new, artist."
No sooner had he spoken than crimson cursed energy exploded from his body. Arthur didn't even bother to dodge, transforming into a bloody afterimage with his sword, and fiercely crashed into the skeleton army formation!
The Army of the Dead pulled their triggers, and a metallic storm of gunfire and cannons suddenly descended, the swirling fire and dust instantly engulfing him!
The next moment, the fire was forcibly torn apart, and Arthur, bathed in the hail of bullets, was completely unharmed!
He lowered his stance, his speed erupting again, and in a flash, he plunged into the center of the enemy formation!
durandal created layers of vacuum fissures, and the tireless skeleton soldiers were easily shredded into countless flying paper fragments!
Just as the audience marveled at this violent aesthetic of one man against a thousand, Sarah had already completed what she perceived as her most perfect work!
A pure white figure, emanating a faint glow, held a pair of winged blades. On her expressionless, pretty face was an absolute coldness capable of severing heaven and earth!
Even though she wasn't an officially recognized Magic Knight, this figure was already famous worldwide!
Inside the stadium, everyone held their breath the moment they clearly saw that figure!
"It's the world's strongest swordsman! Wings as One Edelweiss! Is this Sarah's trump card!?"
"It's fake, right! How could that girl… Did she have contact with Wings as One?"
"To be able to recreate the criminal at the peak of the world through fantasy…"
"How can we fight this? You tell me, how can we fight this! This is cheating!"
The commentator and audience were speechless due to extreme astonishment. Only one female spectator raised her hand to pull down her hat brim, trying her best to hide her presence.
She listened to the discussions around her, feeling the coldness that truly felt like a blade against her throat, but she only shook her head helplessly.
'A crude imitation that didn't even capture the essence… It's impossible for that esteemed person to take it seriously.'
And indeed, it was as she expected.
After Arthur took a direct slash of light from the fake Edelweiss, the trace of fighting spirit that had just surged in his heart rapidly faded.
Too weak.
At that very moment, the fake Edelweiss silently moved, her pure white blade transforming into a white lightning bolt that struck down with a roar!
Arthur met it with an equally fast slash that stifled the five senses!
In an instant, pure white and cold silver slashes furiously intersected, holding their own!
The steel gale tore the arena surface to shreds, and vacuum fissures swirled within the confined space, preventing the two combatants from retreating even a single step!
"Fantasy Caricature, being able to imbue the world with soul and leave projections in reality that are indistinguishable from real people, is indeed impressive."
"It's just a pity, how can a painter who knows nothing about swordsmanship imagine the true 'strongest'?"
Arthur's evaluation was understated. He suddenly held his sword horizontally as a shield, precisely blocking the rapidly descending twin swords!
Gazing at the fake so close at hand, he didn't even bother to end it with his sword.
Crimson cursed energy filled his right arm. Ignoring the continuing white lightning strikes, a simple, unadorned heavy punch, carrying the sonic boom of tearing air, shot straight out!
Boom—!
The deafening roar transformed into a tangible shockwave. Under this brutal, absolute force, the paper forming the fake Edelweiss was instantly shattered into dust, scattering everywhere!
The terrifying aftershocks of the impact overturned turf and fences, slamming hard into the protective shields held up by the assistant referees, making their faces pale!
The battle, which had just been evenly matched, was ended so violently with just one punch!
Sarah, hiding at the edge of the arena, clenched her silver teeth, trembling uncontrollably.
In her perception, Edelweiss was an insurmountable, ultimate fantasy!
Now, the strongest had been shattered with a single punch, and with her magic almost depleted, how could she possibly continue to fight?
Squeak—!
Invisible threads suddenly tightened in her mind, and that irritatingly playful tone sounded again, uttering a malicious temptation.
'What are you still hesitating for?'
'The strongest material is standing right before your eyes… Draw him, turn him into your work too!'
Sarah, whose eyes instantly lost their focus, was like a manipulated puppet, once again picking up her paintbrush!
She squeezed out her dwindling vitality and magic, the ethereal canvas violently trembled, and four identical silver-haired figures descended one after another!
Fantasy Caricature: Radiant Dragon Holy Sword!
The four "Kaxius" moved and shifted, completely surrounding the true Arthur!
The crimson aura emanating from them actually caused the already shattered arena to crack even further!
"You truly never learn…"
Facing the gaze of the four evil dragons, a look of complete disappointment flashed in Arthur's eyes.
His figure swayed slightly, and four phantoms attacked in four directions, directly confronting the murderous fakes!
"You can't even imagine Edelweiss's strength, so how much can you understand about me, whom you've only met a few times?"
Before his words faded, wind and fire intertwined. The four fakes couldn't even last a second before him, and were burned to ashes!
The next instant, Arthur's figure transformed into a lightning bolt, appearing instantly before Sarah, and shattered her palette with a single sword strike!
"Pfft!"
With her inherent Magic Conduction linked to her soul damaged, Sarah immediately bled from her mouth and nose, yet her aura instantly became even deeper and more bizarre than before!
Arthur was not surprised by this. He grabbed her by the neck, and a wisp of pale light surged from his fingertips into her body!
From a precise perspective, unseen by ordinary people, that wisp of pale light accurately clamped onto the few Hell Silk threads coiled in Sarah's brain, violently extracting them from deep within her brain and out of her body!
All of this happened in a flash of lightning.
Arthur casually threw the unconscious Sarah out of the arena, then looked down at the few Hell Silk threads still faintly struggling in his palm, his voice icy cold.
"You've been playing behind others for so long, it's about time you came out and died."
The moment his words fell, the strange threads that had been extracted let out a low, playful chuckle in his palm, then shattered into nothingness, inch by inch.