Warhammer 40: Doom

Chapter 34 Peak Showdown
Harlan removed his armor, revealing his bare torso, and stood facing Xilan, wielding a stone longsword.

Xilan also took off his mentor's robe and tied it around his waist, holding a stone sword as well, standing opposite Harlan.

The two stood facing each other solemnly, their bodies radiating a sharp aura as they clashed fiercely in the air.

"Stone sword? Want something traditional first? Does this old man need to warm up?" Harlan asked in an exaggerated tone, the sword dancing brilliantly in his hand.

"Are you an idiot?" Xi Lan scoffed, drawing a semicircle with her stone sword in front of her while assuming a fighting stance. "We can give the apprentices a demonstration; I believe it will be more impactful than verbal instruction."

Even during the duel, Xilan did not forget to fulfill his duties as a mentor.

A duel between two swordsmen is a rare and precious opportunity; how much an apprentice can learn depends entirely on their talent.

With frequent wars now, all the masters are fighting abroad, and it's impossible to find a swordsman to provide guidance and instruction.

Now that an opponent has come to our doorstep, Xilan should make good use of it.

The so-called traditional swordsmanship is a "contradictory" swordsmanship developed by the Night Watchers to hone their skills.

It's not particularly sharp, and its offensive power is average, but a person who can use it skillfully can definitely be described as having uncanny swordsmanship.

It was born from Nurbai Stone, and its swordsmanship is called "Self-Discipline".

When white stone is polished to a thickness of one millimeter, it exhibits a unique characteristic. It is incredibly strong longitudinally, but the transverse blade will break with the slightest force.

The contest of self-discipline is simple: both sides use any action to attack, aiming to cut the opponent's sword while keeping their own sword intact.

It sounds difficult, but it's even more difficult in practice.

Both sides must test their control and mastery of skills.

Since they started with the traditional method, the two sides no longer had any tense atmosphere and instead approached each other quite easily.

Harlan skipped and hopped all the way, his whole body relaxed, adjusting every muscle to its optimal state.

Xi Lan did the same, swinging her limbs to relax her tense nerves.

"Clang—" The two stone swords clashed, their clear, resonant sound echoing through the training ground. This crisp sound was both a ceremonial greeting and a declaration of battle.

Harlan launched the first attack. The moment the blades clashed, he suddenly exerted force in his arm muscles, and the stone sword slashed down along the blade, aiming straight for Xilan's face!
"Your intentions are too obvious!" Xi Lan's aged and powerful voice still sounded like a teacher giving guidance.

He gently held the sword horizontally, using the blade against the blade, forcing Harlan to stop his strike.

Indeed! When two stone swords collide, the one exerting more force is at a disadvantage, and its blade is more likely to break off at the point of impact.

"Hmph!" Harlan grunted, his arm muscles suddenly clenched, and he abruptly stopped the downward slashing blade!
This is the essence of "self-discipline," a sudden stop to the blade!

With powerful body control, he manipulated his muscles to instantly stop the stone sword from its rapid movement!
The moment it stopped, Harlan's blade defied inertia and slashed horizontally, drawing a 90-degree right angle.

"Well!"

At the edge of the training ground, tactical apprentices marveled in amazement.

Such battles have no clashing blades or dazzling sword techniques; they are simply a test of basic skills.

Doom clenched his fists as he watched. Imagine on the battlefield, your opponent wielding his sword at will, controlling the blade's trajectory at will—how terrifying that would be.

Xi Lan's face was serious; it was time for his sword to teach the young man a lesson.

The two separated in an instant, and Xilan Stone Sword rose from below to launch an attack from below.

Harlan's swordsmanship was aggressive, which meant he would not raise his sword horizontally to block, but would instead slash from above and below, also striking at the incoming blade.

"Whoever stops is a coward!"

His eyes conveyed that message. Their eyes met, a fierce battle of gazes, each trying to bore a hole through the other.

Neither side would give way, and they were determined to prove who was superior.

"drink!"

A muffled groan was heard, and at almost the same moment the blades made contact, both of them stopped, panting heavily.

Instant stop, instant slash. Two simple movements left the two great swordsmen drenched in sweat after two rounds of combat.

His legs were like the roots of an old tree, his arms were bulging with muscles, and his veins were bulging, but he had to relax them in an instant.

Even for battle-hardened warriors, such a burden would be difficult to bear.

The swords clashed "lightly," facing each other like mirror images, blades touching, maintaining precise contact in every advance and retreat. The mastery of skill and control of power displayed by both were beyond the reach of ordinary people or even the Night Guardians.

For the first time, Doom felt his breathing quicken. Anyone would be moved and find themselves breathing rapidly in the face of such a spectacular match.

He learned the first lesson of the Duel School from two masters of superb swordsmanship, which was also the warrior spirit that his mother wanted Harlan to demonstrate.

Warriors are products of violence, but they must exercise restraint in the use of power!

That self-disciplined swordsmanship is the embodiment of contradiction.

It requires both fierce and decisive attacks, and unwavering patience and restraint.

"Brilliant!" Doom felt that even a hundred theoretical explanations could not compare to the master's skill in interpreting the art.

The two great swordsmen's blades were pressed together for only a few seconds, and their faces were covered in sweat, their muscles turning red from the repeated tensing and stretching.

"Have you warmed up enough?"

Harlan noticed that Xilan was exhausted and offered her a way out.

"That's about it!" Xi Lan also understood that traditional swordsmanship was too simple for the two great swordsmen, and it was difficult to determine a winner.

In a contest of self-discipline, one master cuts the sword of another master?
Logically speaking, even if such a contest continues until exhaustion, it would be difficult to determine a winner.

It would be better to save some energy for the second stage, and use advanced swordsmanship to decide the winner.

Traditional swordsmanship is the basic swordsmanship, which every Night Guardian knows. What truly determines victory is "advanced swordsmanship."

It's a very general term; any swordsmanship that deviates from basic swordsmanship is called advanced swordsmanship.

Harlan's instinctive swordsmanship is an advanced swordsmanship, as is Xilan's sword techniques. There's almost no definitive conclusion; as long as you develop your own style of swordsmanship, it's considered an advanced swordsmanship.

After switching to fine iron longswords, both sides rested for a few breaths before preparing for the second stage of the competition.

Upon hearing that both sides were taking this seriously, Queen Daisy's expression changed drastically, as if she had remembered an important lesson from the incident.

"You may learn Harlan's swordsmanship later, but you cannot learn anything else!"

"Promise me!" Daisy, abandoning her usual gentleness, said to Doom with a serious expression, "You absolutely cannot learn this!"

Seeing the serious expression on his mother's face, Doom also said earnestly, "I promise you! I won't learn anything except swordsmanship!"

The next moment, Harlan spoke up.

Doom finally understood the reason for his mother's ban—Harlan was forbidden from learning anything except swordsmanship.

"Old man! You didn't even come to see your wife when she gave birth to your great-grandchild?"

Harlan's mouth was faster than his shuriken. The moment he spoke, Xilan's momentum faltered, and Doom could clearly see the veins bulging on Xilan's forehead.

In that moment of hesitation, Harlan seized the opportunity to close in, his sword flashing relentlessly, forcing Xilan to retreat repeatedly.

As is well known, Harlan's swordsmanship was known for its aggressiveness, with each strike aimed at the vital throat.

"Look at you, your hand is trembling as you hold the sword. Why don't you retire and go home?" His words were just as aggressive as his sword.

Doom had heard of the Champion Swordsman's name, but didn't know much about him personally.

The incessant chatter on the field made Doom uneasy; he hadn't expected his own guard to be just as verbally aggressive.

"Although it's a very effective strategy, never learn it!"

Queen Daisy solemnly admonished him again, her expression serious, a look Doom had never seen before: "You are a prince of the Norwick family. You can lose with dignity, but you cannot win like him."

Doom nodded, understanding the meaning behind his mother's words.

He and Harlan are different. A champion swordsman can use any means necessary to achieve victory without any scruples; that is his duty.

But royalty has to save face!
　I'm going to take a shower; there should be one more chapter to go!
　　Vote for this post! Vote for this post!
　　Refreshed daily! Free every day!

　　 The AI ​​found typos and grammatical errors, but the text was typed out word by word by the author.

(End of this chapter)