Martial Online.

Chapter 490 The Strongest Pt. 3

?Julian's biceps grew in size as he took a powerful step forward and swung his long-bladed sword over his shoulder.

"Pawāsutoraiku!"

Ambrose's eyes glowed with otherworldly light, and a surge of energy emitted from his well-toned body. Then he raised his crimson great sword and blocked Julian's sword strike.

Boom! Crack!

The black rock below Ambrose cracked, and the lava below the rock threatened to explode.

Ambrose's arms rattled as he struggled to stop Julian's powerful strike, but eventually, the power of the strike faded away.

Julian held his sword with both hands and then raised it again in the air and started hacking at the crimson sword.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Ambrose's knees buckled under the heavy force of Julian's swings, but he managed to stop Julian's sword from striking him with the crimson sword.

However, he knew he couldn't hold out much longer.

As Julian was about to swing down again, Ambrose used Nachbilder, creating multiple illusions of himself to confuse Julian and buy some time to catch his breath.

However, Julian didn't seem impressed and again swung his magnificent sword, which sliced straight through the illusions.

Eventually, his sword also struck the crimson sword wielded by Ambrose.

It sent Ambrose sliding backwards for several meters, and once he stopped, he was at the edge of the black rock, and behind him was the lava pit, bubbling and steaming, sending waves of heat rising up towards him.

Julian rested his sword on his shoulder as he ran towards Ambrose and then swung it in a tall arc towards him.

Ambrose raised his crimson sword and blocked the deadly blow, but the strike was so powerful that the ground below him cracked again.

This time, the edge around the lava pit cracked, and his foothold almost completely disappeared!

'This is bad!' Ambrose thought as he struggled to maintain his balance on the unstable ground.

Julian moved his sword into a thrusting stance and then stabbed it forward, piercing through the air with surgical precision.

With the deadly attack nearing him, Ambrose quickly backflipped over the pit of boiling lava and landed safely on the other side.

Meanwhile, Julian's strike landed on empty air, but he still didn't show much emotion on his middle-aged face.

At that moment, Julian jumped over the pit of boiling lava, landed on the other side, and started exchanging sword strikes with Ambrose.

They entered a heated battle, steel versus steel, neither one giving an inch.

Sparks flew from the weapons like fireworks as they clashed in a fierce sword dance.

The heat was rising from the lava pit, creating a sweltering and intense atmosphere around them.

Sometimes, the lava pit would explode slightly, sending bubbles of molten lava bursting into the air.

It acted as background for the intense fight between Julian and Ambrose.

Julian's sword strikes were precise and skillful. With each movement, Ambrose countered with powerful force, their weapons clashing loudly in the heat of battle.

With each attack, Julian always put Ambrose on the back foot, as he was clearly the more agile and experienced fighter. He also had a slight edge in terms of sword techniques.

However, Ambrose managed to stop him from overpowering him with the strength of his swings.

Whenever Julian attacked, Ambrose blocked with a powerful swing that forced Julian off balance.

Therefore, he couldn't follow up on his attacks, which was one of his strongest parts as a swordsman. It had allowed him to overpower many of his opponents in the past.

Now that he couldn't use his follow up attacks, he was forced to use his agility and footwork to outmaneuver his opponent instead.

Ambrose slowly moved his crimson sword to block Julian's onslaught, who was clearly trying to break through his defenses by trying to find one weak spot in Ambrose's stance.

So far, he has been unsuccessful.

Julian's eyebrow slightly twitched, and he tried hitting Ambrose's shoulder from a slightly different angle that he assumed was his weak spot from a quick glance.

At that moment, Ambrose did a powerful swing and smashed Julian's sword away.

Julian staggered back and felt his hand turn numb from the force of the impact.

The crimson sword smashed through the black rock as Ambrose couldn't stop the swing. It was far too heavy and whenever the sword had good momentum, it was nigh impossible to stop mid-swing.

Julian saw that his chance had come, and he moved in quickly with his sword, stabbing towards Ambrose's chest before he even had time to reach it.

At that moment, Julian's sword started glowing with otherworldly silver light. He was using his Inner Power!

Ambrose's sweat rolled down from his neck, and at that moment, a secondary sword spawned out of the great crimson sword, and then he swung it powerfully sideways and deflected Julian's sword before it could strike him.

The crimson great sword turned into a pair of crimson shortswords!

'That great sword was actually two swords in one?'

Julian thought with a brief surprise.

'If I hadn't done this, I would've been skewered.'

Ambrose thought, with sweat rolling down his face. He had to show his trump card, even though he wanted to use it at one point in time.

However, unfortunately, Julian was far too powerful for him to rely on any of his tricks. He had to show his strength right away, or he was going to lose.

At that moment, the whole room started shaking as the thirty second mark was again reached.

'We've been only fighting for around thirty seconds?'

Ambrose thought with a sweat-ridden face. He thought he had been fighting for ten minutes already, as it was so exhausting to keep up with Julian.

At the center of the room, a large portion of the black rock vanished, revealing another boiling lava pit in its place. The room was getting clearly smaller because of it, but there was still plenty of solid ground.

After a moment of etching the place of the boiling lava in his mind, Julian turned back to Ambrose and rushed back at him without stopping even for a moment.

'Isn't he getting any tired?'

Ambrose frowned with a sweaty face and then smiled slyly, knowing that Julian was only a human after all. Meanwhile, he had a way to ignore the depleted stamina.

His body grew large as he Muscle Defense and then he released clouds of steam into the air, making the room hazy.

And then he returned to his normal state—his stamina recovered fully.

'This was what he used against Zahhak.'

Julian thought quickly as he started to realize the secret behind the muscle monster.

'Everyone who had played Martial Online and had fought would know that using skills constantly would deplete the stamina at a crazy rate.

'That's why stamina stat is quite important for those with poor stamina. However, he was able to use his skills constantly.

'Without the skill, Zahhak would have killed him. Whenever he released that steam into the air, it was like he was rejuvenated in an instant.

'Again, he stopped looking as exhausted as before. I thought I would drain his stamina before starting my final attack, but I suppose that isn't a possibility now.

'It looks like he has the ability to recover his stamina constantly. What a monstrous ability. How did the game even allow such a thing? Who knows, but I have to again change my tactic.

'Ambrose is truly a formidable opponent.'