Chapter 860: Max vs Jake
Max’s eyes narrowed dangerously as his grip tightened around the Blue Dragon Sword. The roaring fusion of his level 2 flame concept and level 2 sword concept surged once more, filling the air with blistering heat and razor-sharp sword intent. "Severing Flow Sword Art!" he roared, slashing downward with all his strength.
Jake met the attack head-on, his spear gleaming with sharp killing intent as it intercepted the strike. The two weapons collided with an ear-splitting crash, and a shockwave erupted outward, shaking the ground and scattering loose stones like leaves in a storm.
Both men were driven backward, their feet plowing deep furrows into the earth from the force of the clash.
But Max wasn’t finished. His sword trembled with energy as he invoked his next skill. "Magic Swords Barrage!" he shouted, his voice like rolling thunder.
Immediately, the space above them shimmered as thousands of radiant blue swords formed out of pure energy, each one laced with the power of his advanced flame and sword concepts. They whistled as they fell from the sky like a rain of divine judgment, descending upon Jake with unstoppable momentum.
Yet, just as the swords were about to annihilate him, Jake’s figure blurred and vanished from sight. In an instant, he reappeared a hundred feet to the left, completely unharmed, his mocking smile unchanged. The thousands of energy swords slammed into the ground where he had been, detonating in violent explosions that sent waves of dust and shattered earth into the air.
Max’s pupils contracted sharply. ’Even with my Three Dimensional Body, I didn’t catch his movement. That wasn’t teleportation... there was no fluctuation of space concept.’ His gaze sharpened, a frown creasing his face. ’What kind of footwork is that?’
Jake, standing casually with his spear resting across his shoulder, smirked. "Haha, you look confused, Max. You should be. What you saw was my specialty—a movement technique known as One Step Mile. It’s not perfect yet, still at the beginner stage, but even so..." His eyes gleamed with arrogant pride. "Even someone at the peak of Legend Rank would have trouble surpassing my speed."
"One Step Mile..." Max repeated under his breath, his expression darkening. This wasn’t just a fast movement technique; it was something extraordinary, something that tilted the balance of battle completely in Jake’s favor.
His brows furrowed deeply as the weight of the situation settled over him. ’He’s faster than anyone I’ve fought so far... even teleportation wouldn’t be this seamless. This is going to be difficult.’
At that moment, despite the pressure Jake exuded, Max couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. His eyes briefly gleamed, not with fear, but with curiosity and hunger. ’One Step Mile... what if I could master it too? What level would my speed reach then?’
The thought sparked a dangerous fire within him, and for a brief second, a subtle glint of greed passed through his eyes.
Jake, standing tall and arrogant, caught that fleeting expression and misinterpreted it as fear. A faint smile spread across his face, cold and mocking. "Max, you’ve surprised me today. I didn’t expect you to have grasped not one but two level 2 concepts—flame and sword. Do you even realize what that means? Looking at the entire Middle Domain, you’d be considered a top-tier genius, perhaps even surpassing some Heaven Grade geniuses. But..."