Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Chapter 64 - Three sword strikes

The first thing Valdel did after he heard what the king said was remove the cloak covering him and wrapped it around the Zweihander. After placing the Zweihander in a safe spot, Valdel removed the mask he was wearing since it obstructed his eyesight.

Once he was done preparing himself Valdel took the stance he was most familiar with. This was the stance that Ren drilled into him since childhood. It was the most basic stance of Ren's swordsmanship but it was also the most versatile. The two hands holding the heavy weapon lifted the weapon up until the handle was a little bit below Valdel's chest.

"Young knight there is no need to hold back. Use your mana and strengthen your body. If you do not do that, this king might accidentally cripple you. We do not want that to happen to such a promising young knight."

Valdel who has always stayed with Ren was used to this kind of confidence. Still he wasn't sure that the King knew what he was dealing with.

"Your majesty, I know you are confident with your strength but if I use mana I hope you do so as well. I do not wish to sound rude, but I hope to fight your majesty fairly. So if your majesty wishes me to use mana, I hope your majesty uses his mana as well."

The king hearing what Valdel said looked at him amused. After a short while the King smiled and then started laughing. His hearty laugh echoed throughout the the throne room.

"We are truly impressed with you young knight. I understand what you want from this king, but unfortunately we can not do anything about that. You see this king has only the bare minimum amount of mana."

Hearing what the king said made Valdel looked at him in shock. This was the exact same problem that Iselv has. Valdel who was still in a stance not once breaking off from his position asked the king.

"Once again I'm sorry your majesty if this might sound rude, but has your majesty been cursed?" The moment Valdel said this the people hiding started acting a bit agitated. On the other hand the king laughed another thunderous laugh.

"Young knight you really are straightforward. This is the first time this king has to deal with someone as direct as you... There is no need to worry young knight, this is not a curse, it has something to do with the royal bloodline. You see young knight all the men in my family have God like strength and in exchange for that strength, the mana we have is lower than even children. There is no need to worry about this king. So defend with all your might young knight, and if you can find an opening I allow you to strike me. It doesn't matter if you attack this king or simply defend as long as you last three moves, it will be your win young knight."

After saying this the king raised the heavy sword with his one hand. The pressure that king was emitting was fierce it reminded Valdel of his daily spars with Ren. Without any signal the king slashed downward at Valdel. The speed of the slash was fast which surprised Valdel. There was no time to evade as the heavy sword was coming down on Valdel.

Seeing this, Valdel tried to block and redirect the king's attack but the moment he blocked the king's attack his hands went numb and he almost let go of his sword. Still with sheer willpower Valdel was able to hold onto his weapon and successful parry the king's strike.

That one attack from the king greatly shocked Valdel, who was even using [boost] to strengthen his physical abilities. He already thought that Iselv's inhuman strength was weird, but witnessing the king's inhuman strength was frightening.

The king was pleased to see his attack got blocked and redirected, but that didn't stop him from continuing his next attack. While Valdel's hands were still numb from the first attack, the king did a sideward slash. Valdel had no choice but to use [enchant] on the weapon he was using strengthening it. He then placed the backside of his sword near his left shoulder and did a horse stance.

The moment Valdel received the king's attack he felt like he was hit by a huge monster. The power from this attack was double than what was used awhile ago. Valdel who was hit by the king's attack slid across the throne room. Even though he had successfully blocked the attack and enhanced his weapon as well as strengthened the spell [boost], he was still on the verge of vomiting.

The king didn't follow up immediately and spoke to Valdel whose hands were already shaking from receiving his two strikes.

"That was very good young knight, this king is truly impressed. Now is the moment of your victory. If you are able to receive the next attack without fainting or dying. Then this test is your victory. Still this king must warn you young knight, the next strike this this king will make, this king will be using about ninety percent of my full strength. The next strike might actually kill you, so we will allow it if you do not wish to continue, since this king is already pleased witnessing the strength of the next generation."

Valdel who heard what the king said, smiled the same smile his best friend always shown when the battle gets tougher. For some reason Valdel felt something boiling within him.

"Your majesty, I will not falter if I did my friend Ren will laugh at me." Hearing the name Ren again in this situation tingled the king's curiosity. Even if it turns out that the boy Ren wasn't as strong as Valdel claims. The king was still interested in what kind of character would be able to train someone of Valdel's calibre.

"Very well young knight, brace yourself for this is the last strike." The king who was holding the heavy sword with one hand, was now holding the sword with two hands. He then raised the sword above his head.

Valdel whose hands were already numb and whose legs were about to give in, stood there with sword at hand. When he saw the king readying to strike, his whole body was screaming to him that death was coming. Still Valdel didn't back down and remembered something Ren used to say. When facing against an opponent who is stronger than you, you must use that strength against him. Valdel had never understood this part of Ren's lesson. How does one use the strength of an opponent who was stronger against him?

Still if he doesn't do something about this, he might actually die. The king who as promised used ninety percent of his strength had slashed down on Valdel. This strike looked like a strike that could cleave mountains. The moment the king's sword touched Valdel's sword, Valdel loosen his grip on his weapon. This move was able to parry the king's move, and Valdel was able to evade the attack.

When this was done successfully the king was about to congratulate Valdel, but he felt eminent danger. Valdel who was standing motionless started to glow for a bit, it was then the king unconsciously moved to the left. Moments later the king saw that there was hole in the roof of the room, and a ray of sunshine was able to enter the throne room from the roof.

It was then the king finally noticed that his right cheek was bleeding. Amazed by what had happened, the king looked at the young knight who did this. The king was about to ask Valdel what he had done, but what he saw was another surprise. The young knight who had injured his cheek and had pierced through the roof of the throne room, was now standing motionlessly, unconscious.

Valdel who had used the last resort that drains all his mana, had fainted after that one successful attack.