Path of the Berserker

I blasted through the frigid air with [Ride the Lightning], racing to reach the ground as quickly as possible. A thousand feet away, I spotted Rhe Su Long doing the same thing. She hit the ground a couple seconds faster than me, causing a torrent of snow to jettison into the air.

The next thing I knew a blade came shooting across my face.

I thought she had thrown something at me, but only when a second attack came, did I realize it was Rhe Su Long herself who had covered that huge distance in the blink of an eye.

Son of a bitch!

Only my sensing of her killing intent had caused me to deflect her attack at just the last second. I parried a third and fourth attack of her twinblades as we twisted in midair combat, sparks and lightning flying.

“Damn little cheat!” I shouted at her with vehemence. “I hadn’t even hit the ground yet.”

“Not my fault you’re slow on the uptake, Bull man!” She twirled with a spin of her blades, water forming around her. “And if you want to hit the ground, then fine! [Twin Dragon Falls]!”

A huge volume of frigid water cascaded from her, hitting me with the force of a falling star. I slammed into the ground hard enough to sink through the snow and at least twenty feet of the rocky ground below it. A jolt of pain assaulted my spine as debris flew in a massive explosion of rock and shale. The water kept coming, filled with spectral energy that threatened to snuff out my Flame. I fought back with [Sacred Soul Shield] and had to cycle my Frenzy through [Death’s Door] just not to drown.

I dug deep and released a burst of [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls].

The lightning crackled through the torrent of water, flash-evaporating it and freeing me from her deadly spectral attack. I backflipped through the air with [Lightning Walk] gaining distance from her as I regained my bearings.

“Looks like the Little Princess has claimed victory over the opening salvo,” the announcer crooned. “No surprise there, given the difference in cultivation realm between the two. Let’s see if that Hell World training can make up for it or if the Iron Marshal is going to find his limit today!”

I glanced at the score as the crowd went wild with excitement.