Chapter 21

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“Crack————!”

With a crisp and clear cracking sound, Noah’s knight sword was directly plunged into the ground not far away, the sharp blade stirring up quite a few pebbles. It was not hard to imagine what kind of outcome one would face if truly struck by such a sword.

“It’s over like this!”

Erusa’s lips curled, and she thrust her knight sword resolutely.

The target was Noah’s neck!

Given Erusa’s abilities, she should have been able to control the sword to stop precisely an inch or so in front of Noah’s throat!

However, just as Erusa was convinced that the battle was over, Noah suddenly raised his head, and his left hand, wrapped in bandages, swung out abruptly. A black shadow immediately flashed and collided heavily with the tip of Erusa’s thrusting knight sword.

“Clang————!”

The next second, a loud clashing sound echoed between Noah and Erusa. Erusa was momentarily stunned by this unexpected situation. It wasn’t until a force transmitted from her knight sword, causing her to involuntarily take a step back, that she understood what had happened.

In Noah’s other hand, there was clearly another usable weapon.

The scabbard!

The scabbard that Noah had been holding in his other hand!

Just now, Noah had directly used the scabbard in his left hand as a sword to meet Erusa’s knight sword, defusing her decisive strike and turning the tide of the battle!

Looking at the surprised Erusa, Noah stomped his foot hard on the ground, and his figure appeared lightning-fast in front of Erusa.

“It’s not over yet!”

Under Erusa’s slightly narrowed pupils, Noah, gripping the scabbard, quickly levered his body, spinning half a circle in mid-air and strangely drilling into Erusa’s embrace. After a brief pause, he brought a sharp, air-tearing sound and struck the scabbard heavily at Erusa’s chest.

Feeling the approaching force, even Erusa’s expression changed, and her magic power surged.

“Change of attire————!”

A blinding silver light bloomed in front of Erusa.

This was the characteristic light of the ‘Change of Attire’ magic.

When the light dissipated, a silver shield, about the size of a washbasin, appeared in front of Erusa.

Seeing this, Noah couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.

A shield?

Noah had seen Erusa’s ‘Change of Attire’ magic many times over the past three months and had seen various weapons she had hidden, but this was the first time he had seen her use a shield.

Did this mean that the situation was so urgent for Erusa that she had to use a shield?

While this thought crossed his mind, Noah’s movements did not hesitate for a moment. The force in his scabbard increased, and he struck it heavily against the silver shield.

“Bang————!”

A dull impact sound spread out like invisible ripples between Noah and Erusa.

“————!” Erusa felt that although the force on the shield in front of her did not cause her any harm, the push still existed, breaking her posture and forcing her to retreat.

After retreating nearly twenty steps, Erusa finally stabilized her stance.

However, at this moment, Erusa did not move again.

Because in front of Erusa, a figure had already appeared, the tip of the scabbard stopping an inch or so in front of her throat, pointing at it.

This scene had also appeared in Erusa’s mind at the moment she knocked Noah’s knight sword away.

Unfortunately, the person in her mind should have been the other way around.

“This is really over!” Noah laughed, the tip of the scabbard pointing at Erusa’s throat, which had not fully reacted.

“Erusa, you underestimated me!”

Erusa had indeed underestimated Noah.

It wasn’t that Erusa had been holding back, but after knocking Noah’s weapon away, she thought she had won for sure and naturally became a bit lax, not expecting Noah to use the scabbard to counterattack, catching her off guard.

If not for this, with Erusa’s reaction and reflexes in battle, the fight would not have ended so quickly, and Noah would not have won so easily.

Looking at the scabbard stopped in front of her throat, Erusa helplessly lowered her arm, a trace of dissatisfaction appearing on her delicate face.

“To use the scabbard to counterattack, how cunning!”

“Pot calling the kettle black.” Noah rolled his eyes, put down the scabbard, and walked toward his knight sword, which was stuck in the ground not far away.

“You also used magic and a shield, so we’re even!”

Over the past three months, Noah and Erusa had almost daily such duels, but they had always used only sword techniques to hone their skills.

This time, Erusa first used magic to gain the upper hand, Noah unexpectedly used the scabbard to counterattack, and then Erusa used a shield. Compared to the previous training-oriented duels, today’s felt more like a real battle.

Of course, being able to have a serious battle once was quite satisfying for both Noah and Erusa.

However, no matter how serious they were, only they themselves knew how much of their abilities they had used in this battle.

At least, Erusa knew that Noah had two more means at his disposal in this battle.

The first was Noah’s pride, his magic!

Over the past three months, Noah had not only honed his sword skills to the point where even Erusa could be caught off guard, but his magic control had also improved significantly.

Three months ago, Noah could control the equivalent of several dozen mages’ worth of magic to activate the ritual lake. Now, the amount of magic he could control at once would certainly not be less.

If, in the previous battle, Noah had used his magic like Erusa to enhance his physical abilities, even without using all of it, just the amount he could control would have increased his strength far more than Erusa’s, making the battle much more favorable.

The reason Noah did not use magic, and kept saying he couldn’t use it casually, was just because of his own concerns.

Erusa had often heard in the guild that when Makarov first adopted Noah, he had several times lost control of his magic due to emotional agitation, nearly destroying the entire guild.

Thus, before Noah could fully control his magic, he would definitely be cautious in all aspects.

Moreover, since his opponent was Erusa, not an enemy, but a companion for mutual improvement, Noah instinctively did not use magic in his battles with Erusa.

As for the second means...

Erusa’s gaze slanted toward the ice-like brilliant knight sword that Noah had just picked up, feeling the faint, intermittent aura emanating from it, and recalling the scene when Noah first truly used the sword in front of her, she smiled bitterly and changed the subject.

“I didn’t expect that three months ago, you couldn’t even see the trajectory of my casual sword swing, but three months later, you can not only keep up with my speed but also defeat me...”

“Giving up so easily? That doesn’t sound like you.” Noah waved his knight sword, looking at Erusa provocatively.

“What do you say? Another round?”

“Of course, no problem!” Erusa responded firmly, then changed her tone.

“Although I’d love to say that, I just went to the guild, and the master asked me to call you back.”

“Back?” Noah was stunned.

“What’s up?”

Erusa smiled and said,

“We have a new companion!”

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