"Interesting!" With a twisted smile, Phyllis watched the sword trajectory of the slave. His sword path had become sharper, cutting down all the unnecessary movements.

She guessed, he was growing his sword style right in the middle of battle, learning from every failure. And it turned out that was the slave's real purpose. It really, really made Phyllis impressed and content, because defeating an enemy at their strongest was the best way to feel delight.

"Good! Show me all you have, then I'm gonna smash your confidence and everything you are proud of."

Phyllis swung a series of attacks, while Alaric simply slipped past them with jumps and rolls. He already knew the strength of her chopping battle axe, so there was no reason for him to try blocking it. The smarter choice was to avoid it whenever he could.

Even while evading, he was still capable of deflecting her blows by using the edge of his longsword through three words: balance, speed, strength. And by grasping them, he reached a deeper insight into what those three words truly meant. His sword trajectory became unpredictable and flexible.

Therefore, with most of the muscular bitch's attacks, he could finally block them without suffering their full destructive force anymore—at least.

The clang echoed through the arena, and heavy footsteps pounded across the area. The burst of impact tore through the air…it didn't look like an ordinary duel between two students anymore.

No one dared to look down on the slave now, even if he ended up losing.

A professor commented with a curious tone,

"That slave is not normal at all. His sword technique suddenly grew at a ridiculous speed. It's not like he's learning something during battle, but like his skill is recovering."

Another professor shrugged.

"Maybe that's his blessing. In this world, blessings related to learning swordsmanship aren't uncommon."

A few professors frowned, stumbling over the thought.

"Really? Are there blessings that improve skill to that level?"

Brian, at this moment, smiled brightly as he watched his students, scoffing.

"What if it's the blessing from the Nameless God?"

Silence blanketed the professors. All of them stiffened at the thought of the Nameless God. Then everything suddenly made sense. For some reason, his abrupt and inhuman growth fit perfectly with a blessing that enhances sword style. Oh, well, even though their guess was only half right…Alaric accepted it anyway, using it to hide his true blessing from the Nameless God.

"Oh…if so…makes sense."

Most professors nodded, agreeing with Barin's opinion and resumed watching the match.

However, Alaric's insane growth speed in combat technique still wasn't enough to help him defeat Phyllis at this moment.

Alaric fought to stand up after enduring countless brutal, menacing attacks from the muscular girl. His whole body was covered in wounds, blood dripping onto the floor.

The professor stood nearby, ready to interfere at any moment. Honestly, he had wanted to stop it for a while now, but seeing Alaric's tenacity against a much stronger opponent made him hesitate. And so, the outcome arrived when the slave looked utterly wretched after those filthy crashes.

Phyllis spat, standing firm as she stared at the pathetic slave, her tone a mix of curiosity and irritation.

"So this is your blessing… something about improving sword style, or something else, isn't it?"

Alaric shook his head a bit to regain consciousness, then looked up at Phyllis to assess her condition after the fight. She had taken a few wounds—his slash had left long but shallow cuts on her torso and face. Judging by appearance alone, they looked relatively harmless.

Only Alaric knew what those wounds could actually cause her. His plan had worked perfectly… and the trade-off for enduring that brunt of attacks was worth it.

He bared his teeth, making Phyllis scowl in confusion.

"Who knows? But I suppose a dead-brain muscular bitch would never know what my truly power is… never."

…

Phyllis's face darkened even more. She stayed silent, but there was a tiny change in her. Her pupils quickly filled with shadow, pitch-dark as ink.

"I changed my mind. I'm gonna make you suffer the most agony."

Soon, from the void, an energy-shadow slash tore through the floor of the arena, heading straight for Alaric. But that powerful attack was blocked by Khaled, who stood in front of Alaric like a solid, unbreakable shield.

"You're done?"

The slave demon lingered for a moment before answering.

"That big rock… vanished."

Alaric frowned. He understood what his summon was saying...which meant, Phyllis had recalled her knight. He turned his attention toward Phyllis. Then his eyes widened in shock. He had no idea about that, but certainly such a thing was beyond his predictions. Something could change the title of the fight.

"W-What is that?"

At this moment, Phyllis changed completely. She was wearing shadow armor, radiating an aura of death and obscurity. Each connector of the armor was intertwined with horned vines, layered over every part like overlapping plates.

She lifted her gigantic battle axe and swung it casually, testing her strength—but everyone in the arena just gawked. She wielded that weapon as if it were a small stick.

Then, she fixed her dark eyes on Alaric with clear hostility, yet kept a proud voice about her blessing.

"That is my blessing: Armor of Shadow Goo–!"

Suddenly, she coughed up a handful of dark blood. But the strange sight didn't end there—her mysterious armor began dissipating quickly, as if disappointed in its owner.

She staggered and nearly collapsed, but quickly used her battle axe for support to lean on. She looked over her body, black-pulsing veins crawling across her skin like ugly, disgusting worms.

"W-What happened to me?"

She tried to use her mana to erase those hideous worms, but it only stirred inside her body, growing more aggressive and eager, as if a muscular girl had fed them a big, delicious feast.

For the first time in the match, she showed fear and tension… no perverted or twisted expression remained—only pure horror and fury.

Her face burned red with rage, thinking about the only likely culprit at this moment and she exploded in a yell at Alaric.

" WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE!"

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