CHAPTER 670: THE BOULDER

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Cedric was back to the Virtual Arena.

The cruise was nice, but he had seen everything that he wanted to see there. He also didn’t feel like staring outside as the ship swam through the vast blanket of stars; that sight has gotten old somehow by now.

So, to stave off his boredom and to keep himself occupied before the ship arrives at its next destination, he decided to go participate and watch some matches himself.

He queued up for a match and was instantly thrown into the battlefield. He still couldn’t get over how fast the matchmaking system here was; there are practically a lot of people who are looking for a fight anytime of the day, it seems, and even Immortals aren’t rare.

When his senses recovered, Cedric saw himself standing in the vacuum of space. It seems that this was the randomized battlefield chosen for him and his opponent this time.

Speaking of his opponent, he saw him.

He’s against a heavily armored man with a halberd. He was covered with steel from head to toe. His armor looked both heavy and uncomfortable. Cedric was a bit surprised because there were certainly better options for armor out there, ones that are not only durable but also very comfortable to wear, but this one insisted on wearing this bulky thing instead.

Well, not that he could speak for himself since he’s not wearing any armor either. But maybe there is a good reason why this dude was wearing this.

’The Boulder, huh? ’Cedric, he muttered to himself as he saw the codename of his opponent.

This codename hints that his opponent might be a defense specialist. But there’s no telling until the match starts.

Another thing that Cedric discovered, though, is the number of people watching this match currently.

He didn’t see them nor feel their presence; the Virtual Arena’s core systems make sure that the audience cannot interfere with that match and are just there to watch. The competitors were informed of how many people were watching through a small notice in their systems. It was minimized to, again, not disturb the fighter’s mentality during the match, but it’s there.

The small counter notified him that there were at least 300 people that were watching his match right now, which really surprised him.

This wasn’t the first time he’d seen such a high number. His match with Hornet Widow had even more audience, mostly coming from her side. There were at least thousands of them during that match that Cedric ignored.

But he wasn’t expecting there to be so many right now. Whether these people came with his opponent this time or not will be determined once the match ends since they will go with him after this concludes.

For now, Cedric wouldn’t allow this to distract him.

The countdown reached its end, and immediately, his assumptions were confirmed.

Tang! Tang! Tang!

Sounds of rocks and steel clashing suddenly erupted from his opponent’s body. The armor he’s wearing morphed, forming an outer shell that sealed all remaining gaps. Its surface became smoother, and it had a smooth metallic sheen.

A heavy and solid momentum appeared around the enemy as soon as the armor finished transforming. Cedric suddenly felt like he was not facing a human but a towering mountain instead. There’s also a rich metallic element around the enemy, not the sharp kind but the strong and sturdy kind.

The Boulder now felt like a mixture of a towering mountain and an iron fortress combined into one.

’Yep, most definitely a defense specialist,’ Cedric confirmed to himself.

A sword appeared in Cedric’s hand as he prepared for a clash. And he was right to expect that since as soon as the transformation was over, the Boulder charged at him all of a sudden, crashing onto him like a shooting star.

Clang! Boom!

The burst of speed was a bit surprising. Defense specialists are, obviously, good at defense, not speed like assassins. So the sudden acceleration of his opponent caught him off guard for a moment. But it didn’t really hurt him at all.

Cedric reacted fast enough to catch the charge, stopping it dead in its tracks the moment of impact. All it managed was to push Cedric an inch backwards.

He sensed the surprise from beneath the shell of his opponent’s armor. Yeah, he’s probably not expecting this result. The velocity of the attack should’ve done more than just push Cedric back, yet it didn’t. It’s as if Cedric were more durable and rooted than the person wearing the heavy armor himself.

Cedric didn’t give the enemy too much time to think, though. With a cold glint in his eyes, his sharp sword intent whistled from within his body, startling The Boulder greatly and forcing him to retreat.

He must’ve felt the threat coming off of Cedric. Wariness emerged in The Boulder’s heart. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting to face a Sword Master this time.

’Okay! Great. But it’s not the first time I faced a sword master,’ the boulder internalized.

’In fact, I’d even dare say I’m what Sword Immortals both love and hate the most.’

Defense specialists like him are, most commonly, Sword Masters’ sharpening tools. Pure assault and pure defense clashing against each other was a tale as old as time. Now is no different.

The Boulder faced numerous Sword Masters before. Most of them he defeated, and most of them used him as a sharpening stone in exchange for his victory. As for those he lost against, they’re either too strong or too weird.

He had been in the Virtual Arena for many years now and fought many people at the Immortal League. While he wouldn’t dare say that he knew every single one in the league, he could say that he had fought with most of them, at least.

His expectations were not high going into this match. But now that his opponent suddenly emitted such a sharp and refined sword intent, his interest was definitely piqued.

The heaviness and solidity of his momentum rose to a whole new level in response to his opponent’s whistling sword intent.

He readied his halberd and prepared for a long and grueling match.

Clang! Boom!

Halberd and Sword clashed in the vacuum of space. The impact of the clash caused the nearby asteroids to explode into space rubble. Space itself groaned, also feeling the weight of their clash.

It’s actually a little ironic that it’s the defense specialist who’s charging at the assault specialist, but neither party paid attention to that.

The Boulder pursed his lips, feeling slightly annoyed with Cedric.

Wasn’t I supposed to be the ’rock’ here? Then why does this guy feel sturdier than he is? Even after he took advantage of his weight and momentum, he was completely unable to push the other party back.

The Sword Master felt like he was even more deeply rooted into his spot than he was, and it’s not like they’re standing on solid earth right now. They’re in the middle of nowhere in the vacuum of space; how does he have such a grip?

And the way he received his weight and momentum looked effortless too. Are Sword Masters so fierce nowadays?

What he has failed to realize so far is that his enemy has yet to attack.

So far, all Cedric did was to defend. He received the Boulder’s attacks, neutralizing them with sheer skill and technique. He’s yet to go on the offensive.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to, but Cedric wanted to see everything that The Boulder could offer so that he could learn a thing or two from him. This was his real objective by participating in the arena matches, after all.

The Boulder attacked some more. At some point, he was hurling asteroids at Cedric, multiplying gravity, playing with the gravitational field, calling out sharp metals and shaping them with nothing but his thoughts and hurling them at him, etc.

Through it all, Cedric remained firm and calm. He received everything that his opponent threw at him. Nothing pushed him back anymore. He sliced everything that was thrown his way into pieces.

After a couple of minutes, the Boulder was feeling spent. Beneath his shell, his face looked grim. This Dawnbringer didn’t even look tired. His breath was even, and his expression was as serene as a lake. Nothing he did worked so far, and his bag of tricks was about to run out soon.

Really, who’s the actual defense specialist here?

Somewhere in between though, an idea struck him. Maybe he’s going up against someone he couldn’t handle. Maybe he kicked an iron plate this time.

Would that be his fault, though? He’s not in charge of the matchmaking. Besides, this guy looked so unassuming, so how could he tell?

It wasn’t until Cedric raised his sword for the first time, a sign that he was going on the offensive now, that The Boulder confirmed his suspicions.

’Yep. He’s most definitely a Sword Master. One that is way beyond what I could currently handle.’

The last sight he had in this match was an image of a gigantic sword appearing out of nowhere to descend upon him like God’s punishment.