Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer-Chapter 31: Duel (1)

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Title Acquired: Beholder of Nemean Blessing

Effect: Named after the formidable Nemean lion, the blessing imbues the recipient with an impenetrable defence for a short duration. Renders the user invulnerable to physical attacks for 5 minutes, deflecting blows and reducing damage by 90%.

Cooldown: Once used, a cooldown period of one hour is required before the Nemean Blessing can be invoked again.

Limitations: It does not protect against magical or elemental attacks; its strength lies in negating physical harm.

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’A blessing that protects me from physical harm,’ Adrian sighed. ’I would have been useful... if only I weren’t fighting a freaking magic swordsman!’ freēwēbηovel.c૦m

However, Adrian didn’t dare put his ungrateful thoughts before the entity. If they were giving him a blessing just because Rowan offended them in some way, the entity certainly wouldn’t hesitate before making an example out of Adrian, either.

Hell, if they decided to heal the heroes, it would be the end of him. That was something Adrian didn’t want to entertain, even as a thought.

Besides, as Adrian peeked at Rowan’s stats using [Analysis], he realised the opponent did not have much mana to perform sudden magic attacks. So Rowan should be going for physical, which would benefit Adrian.

’That Libra guy messed them up pretty good,’ Adrian thought. ’I better not cross paths with him any time soon, or it would end badly for me.’

Adrian also noticed a sharp decline in Rowan’s attributes. He wondered which entity had sponsored Libra with such a broken skill. It was no wonder the Zodiacs could challenge the Church so blatantly. With a skill like Libra’s, they were basically unstoppable.

’This isn’t the time to fawn over them!’ Adrian thought, trying to shake off his memories of the past events.

Regardless of what Libra did to the heroes, Adrian was still way over his head. Despite his stats being reduced to a mere 30% of their actual value, Rowan was still a formidable foe.

’Logically, I have more attribute points than a swordsman with reduced stats akin to level 17. However, I lack the experience that Rowan has. Defeating him would still be a bit of a challenge.’

However, while Adrian was busy devising a strategy to defeat Rowan, the latter rushed towards him. Adrian instinctively brought forth the Minotaur’s Broadsword to block Rowan’s attack.

*Clang*

Following the clash, both Adrian and Rowan had to take a couple of steps backwards to regain their footing. The heroes spectating their fight were surprised.

However, they weren’t surprised at the unknown man stopping Rowan’s attack. They were taken aback because they noticed the sword the strange man was wielding.

"Is that-" Clara mumbled but was interrupted by Vincent.

"Minotaur’s Broadsword," he mumbled, turning towards Sophia. "Looks like we found our little plunderer."

"...It can’t be him," Sophia mumbled.

On the other hand, Sophia wasn’t interested in the sword, but in the technique, the stranger used to deflect Rowan’s attack.

During one of their earliest expedition as heroes, Sophia stumbled across a skill scroll, an artefact through which anyone capable could learn a skill. Upon inspection, they realised the skill engraved on the scroll was called [Blade Parry].

Since Sophia was a mage and didn’t require such a skill, she had given it to Adrian, who had gotten injured while fighting a goblin earlier that day, for her sake. Besides, it was a skill that didn’t require mana use, so the skill was perfect for someone like Adrian, who had little to no mana.

As it was the only combat skill Adrian had, Sophia had seen him use it countless times. That’s why when she noticed the stranger using the same skill, her mind immediately went to Adrian.

However, [Blade Parry] was a common skill thousands had already mastered. Logically speaking, the skill could have belonged to anyone from Nexaria. But somewhere in Sophia’s heart, she wanted the person in the hoodie to be Adrian.

***

"What is a blade like that doing in your hands?" Rowan questioned Adrian but got no response.

Unlike before, when Rowan acted confidently, he looked strangely taken aback as soon as his eyes fell on the Minotaur’s Broadsword.

Adrian held the sword tightly. He knew using the blade before Vincent might reveal his identity as the Plunderer they were looking for. But that sword was the only weapon Adrian could use against Rowan.

Taking advantage of Rowan’s confused state, Adrian quickly activated the sword’s unique ability, [Minon Fury]. In the blink of an eye, Adrian raised the blade, swinging it around him like a whirlwind.

Rowan was within the skill range and got hit twice before disappearing from Adrian’s sight. Adrian stopped momentarily to look for Rowan, but as he did, he felt his opponent’s presence behind him.

Adrian raised the blade again to block Rowan’s sword, but Rowan kicked Adrian in the chest instead of swinging his weapon. Only after rolling on the ground a few times did Adrian manage to balance himself. As he got back to his feet, Adrian got a look at Rowan’s injuries.

The hero’s sword arm was bleeding from two places, both where Adrian had hit him. Adrian was lucky the heroes were attending a funeral and not carrying their armour, or else he’d be lucky to make a dent in Rowan’s armour.

"That sword... fucking HURTS!" Rowan yelled, quickly pouring a healing potion on his wounds. "I swear... I take your head along with that filthy sword of yours!"

Adrian still didn’t respond, hoping to get a rise out of Rowan. If he had learned anything about Rowan from the few expeditions they did together, it was his easily irritable nature.

With the right choice of words, or in this case, actions, Adrian could make Rowan lose focus, and when that happened, the duel would be his to win.

’A few more insults should do the trick. Besides, I can’t waste much time here. The rest of them would get up soon, and I can’t stay here for that. Gotta wrap this up soon.’