As much as Ketis wanted to immerse herself in learning, she only had a limited amount of time available.

She still had to go back to her healing pod in order to resume her recovery. She also had to mitigate the effects from her previous exertions. It didn't matter if she managed to end her match against Horvast Trion quickly. Her body was in such a fragile state that just wearing the protective suit considerably worsened her condition!

​​

Still, she didn't need to absorb too much theoretical knowledge and insights to improve her performance.

When she next stepped onto the arena with Shiva in hand, she faced a confident swordsman from another sword school.

Unlike her opponent from yesterday, her current adversary did not intend to rely on a passive strategy to win the match.

Gelic Rodomer held a typical fencing sword that was very popular in the Heavensword Association. The sword type may be a bit too thin and fragile when employed in mech combat, but it was a lot more practical in personal combat as long as the adversary wasn't wearing too much protection.

Also different from yesterday, Gelic did not talk too much. He merely bowed to Ketis before entering a fencing stance. Obviously, he learned deeply from the clown from yesterday and was determined to do better!

"Well, damn." She softly cursed.

Gelic clearly learned that exchanging words was pointless. It was better to secure a victory first before starting to boast. Anyone who reversed this order risked turning into a laughing stock like Horvast Trion!

She would have preferred to face another idiot who tried to rely on defense to outlast the opposition. With her Annihilation Sword Style, armor was basically invalid in front of her blade.

A wry smile appeared on her face as she held Shiva with a bit of difficulty. "I'll have to work harder for my win."

When the match commenced, Gelic patiently crept forward while maintaining his odd-looking stance. He looked ready to dash forward or step to the side at any moment if Ketis did anything unusual!

His light sword along with his explosive stance were highly conducive towards short, high-speed spurts of motion. Ketis could already tell that Gelic wanted to rely on his excellent dodging and evasion abilities to avoid her powerful annihilation attacks.

While the Annihilator Sword Style was able to exert a fantastic effect upon contact, it did not incorporate any good solutions against fast and agile opponents!

Not only did it lack a ranged technique or a means to extend her reach, it also did not include any moves that expressly countered these kinds of opponents.

Its practitioners essentially had to rely on their own skills and attributes to outfight those who excelled at avoiding powerful attacks!

Strangely enough, Ketis still looked fairly relaxed. While she recognized the difficulty of overcoming her current opponent, apparently she did not look that concerned!

"Will you come closer or not?" She impatiently asked.

Gelic abruptly darted and leaned forward to perform a stab!

Clang!

Ketis easily managed to deflect the opportunistic lunging attack, but she had to employ more strength than she was comfortable with. In other words, she had to pay a heavier price than Gelic.

Still, the other swordsman did not repeat his earlier attempt. Ketis could channel her annihilation power at any moment in order to cut his fencing sword!

In order to preserve his weapon and avoid getting eliminated by a single hit, Gelic had already concluded that he should employ a hit-and-run approach. His earlier attempt already confirmed that Ketis' ability to react against his attack was not strong!

He was not unaware that Ivan Reid adopted a similar approach, only to fail at the last moment. However, the Ketis back then was very different from the wounded and recovering woman before him. He also did not intend to give up any advantages in order to play with his food.

"I will win this match cleanly!"

He proceeded to enact his plan. He rapidly circled around and lunged forward in order to launch another attack.

Ketis changed the orientation of her body with some difficulty and managed to deflect the stab, but Gelic was already moving after he pulled his body back! He circled around again and repeated his earlier attacks!

While Ketis was barely able to deflect the simple stabs, her diminished stamina rapidly drained as she did so. Gelic actually expended a lot more energy, but his previous matches hadn't injured him so much, so his endurance was monstrous in comparison!

Everytime she attempted to launch a counterattack, Gelic had already pulled out of range long ago!

Since she was unable to perform a lunge herself, there was no way for her to get close enough to her nimble target.

What was even worse was that when Ketis and Sharpie entered annihilation mode and started to cover Shiva's blade with a dark corona, Gelic rapidly dashed back in order to open up a healthy distance.

There was no way for Ketis to make good use of the technique she performed when her target was this far away!

Gelic patiently stood still and waited as Ketis continually condensed her will in order to maintain her current state.

That bastard was deliberately forcing her to consume her willpower!

She sighed and let go. Shiva's blade lost its dark sheen as the power of annihilation had receded.

As soon as Gelic saw that she retracted her energy, he immediately closed the distance and resumed his circling attacks!

Ketis had enough of this. She originally wanted to exercise restraint and avoid revealing anything more, but her adversary was too clever for his own good!

"Enough!"

She commanded Sharpie to return to its original form. When the urge to destroy receded from her mind, she began to focus on her first sword style.

Her unyielding will surged and her spirit became sharper. She soon began to resonate with Sharpie, which was actively helping her condense her will in a form that was much more familiar to her. The changes caused her to exude a substantially different vibe!

Gelic grew cautious and immediately backed off by at least twenty paces. He was spooked!

"Are you a swordsman or a coward? Fight me!" Ketis barked like a Swordmaiden as she slowly began to step forward!

Gelic did not allow her to reduce the distance between them. He cautiously maintained his stance even as he inched back.

What a cautious swordsman!

Even the audience began to boo and jeer at Gelic. This time, the Heavensworders had no qualms in taking her side!

"You scaredy-cat! Why aren't you attacking her head-on? The Sword Devil is standing right there!"

"You're less of a Heavensworder than the Sword Devil!"

"A true warrior always welcomes the chance to fight against a sword initiate!"

Despite the many ill remarks, Gelic did not let himself get pressured by public opinion. Winning was more important than winning a popularity contest, and the best way to accomplish this was to stick to his own plan!

His behavior did not break her expectations. While she faintly hoped that he would come closer and make things a little easier for her, she had to make do with the current situation.

Her eyes exuded a sharp glint as she began to accumulate power. Her will continued to surge and the resonance between Sharpie and her grew more intense!

What was truly new was that Ketis even extended her will into Shiva!

Even though the weapon did not welcome any influence that was different from that of the founder of the Annihilator Sword School, Ketis did not let this hinder her attempt.

"Sharpie!"

Her living sword intent somehow connected with Shiva and managed to smooth over the difference. It helped that Ketis had already bonded to it numerous times.

Shiva began to resonate with her. A sharp, white corona began to form on its edge. The manifestation steadily grew brighter and brighter as Ketis continued to gather more power!

Several dozen paces away, Gelic began to grow concerned at what was happening. The Sword of Lydia that Ketis displayed before was incredibly scary!

Yet even if Ketis was able to extend the reach of her saber by three times, so what? He stood far enough away that she had no chance of getting close enough to land a hit!

Even so, Gelic's intuition began to sound increasingly more alarms. There was something deeply dangerous about what she was doing at the moment.

Perhaps he made a mistake by backing off and giving her the time to prepare her next maneuver!

"When all else fails, just step back."

The arena was quite wide, so Gelic had plenty of room to back off. Out of an abundance of caution, he continually pushed himself back. Even if Ketis was able to unleash an energy manifestation that was ten times longer than her saber, Gelic would be at least a hundred paces away!

Ketis was well aware of what her opponent was doing, but she did not alter her actions. She didn't even bother to step forward!

"It's no use!" She grinned as the glint in her eyes had grown sharp enough to kill! "Taste the attack that has cut straight through a mech formation! EXECUTIONER!"

The glow around Shiva rapidly grew brighter until she performed a horizontal stab!

The energy manifestation lept from her saber and surged forward like a projectile!

The audience gasped while Gelic immediately sensed the danger. Even though the energy manifestation did not travel as fast as a gun projectile, at this distance he had very little time to react!

Seeing that the height of the broad and narrow energy attack was set to cut off his legs, he decided to leap into the air in order to jump over the deadly wave!

Ketis smirked. "Did you think I failed to account for this possibility? You're too naive!"

While Ketis was not capable of influencing her energy attack after she had released it, Sharpie was different! As the personification of her sword intent, it maintained an active connection to the energy wave.

It only took a brief spurt of effort for Sharpie to adjust the trajectory of the energy attack and angle upwards.

Stuck in mid-air, Gelic did not have any leverage to alter his orientation in the air. Although he was already trying to pull up his legs, there was too little time for him to complete this last-ditch effort!

Shhhhhhrt!

The sharp energy wave brutally cut off both of Gelic's vulnerable legs just above the knees!

Unlike the instances where Ketis utilized the power of annihilation, this time the energy blade made a very loud cutting noise as it passed through several different barriers!

Neither the energy shield nor the protective suit was able to negate the power of this transcendent atack. At best, the energy wave had weakened a lot, but Ketis made sure to pump enough power in it to complete its mission!

As the energy attack harmlessly dissipated after Sharpie issued another command, several meaty thumps echoed across the arena as Gelic's body parts dropped onto the surface.

A copious amount of blood leaked from the cut sections before the protective suit automatically adjusted its shape to stem the bleeding!

"AAAHHH! I NEED A MEDIC!"

Ketis calmly sheathed Shiva and turned her back to her injured opponent. She was already moving to the exit even before the announcer declared her victory.

Her body was already aching a lot from all of the weight she was bearing.

To the spectators who witnessed her incredible actions, she looked incredibly cool at the moment!

"WHOOAAAH!"

"She can unleash sword energy! She's much farther ahead than I thought!"

"The Sword Devil is much more impressive than Ivan Reid!"

If her previous performance against Ivan Reid could be dismissed as a fluke, then the domineering way she dispatched Gelic Rodomer definitely cemented her as championship material! Reaching the top 100 was practically guaranteed as long as her body condition didn't worsen!