Chapter 375: SA- The Third Mode (v)

Xavier didn’t wait for Shade to explain anything else. He dropped the rifle to the ground and stepped forward, cracking his neck once as the battlefield noise roared around them.

Shade mirrored the gesture, rolling his shoulders like he had been waiting for this the entire event. Their stances shifted at the same time. Just two fighters who knew the next moment would decide everything.

They clashed in the middle of the warzone, surrounded by explosions, gunfire, and a million players fighting across the map. Shade moved first, a clean forward step with a straight punch aimed at Xavier’s jaw, but Xavier caught the wrist and redirected it while trying to drive his elbow into Shade’s ribs.

Shade twisted free and sent a knee toward Xavier’s side, forcing him to block and pivot back before Shade swept his leg. Xavier jumped just enough to avoid it and countered with a low kick meant to break balance.

They fought without speaking at first, exchanging blows faster than many players could even see. Xavier parried a hook, Shade blocked a counterstrike, Xavier rolled under a kick, Shade sidestepped a palm strike aimed at his throat. Dust exploded under their feet as they shifted from one point to another, weaving between broken vehicles and fallen structures.

The ground shook when a tank exploded nearby, but neither of them slowed down or even looked at it.

Shade suddenly switched his fighting style, throwing a short combination aimed at Xavier’s guard, but Xavier read the pattern and slipped through the attacks, striking Shade across the jaw with a clean right.

Shade staggered back with a grin that made Xavier want to hit him again. Shade rushed him with another series of fast blows, mixing feints with real strikes, but Xavier countered every angle almost perfectly.

His movements were better than before, more refined, sharper. It wasn’t luck or instinct. It was the result of training he had pushed himself through since Reva’s engagement countdown began ticking.

Shade stepped in and tried to grapple, but Xavier swept his arm aside and slammed a knee into Shade’s chest, sending him back several steps. Shade steadied himself, eyes narrowing. “You weren’t fighting like this in Phase Two.”

Xavier exhaled once. “No shit. I was a noncombatant player.”

“You are good at fighting, I must say. You must have years of experience.”

“Nah, I recently took some lessons. Say a month max.”

Shade let out a small laugh before darting forward again. This time, they collided with more speed. Xavier blocked the first punch, but Shade caught his arm and twisted, trying to throw him.

Xavier planted his foot and reversed the momentum, flipping Shade over his hip. Shade rolled through the fall, popped back up, and charged again, swinging a kick that Xavier ducked under before driving his fist into Shade’s gut.

Explosions lit the sky behind them. A guild convoy was torn apart as the Leviathan passed underneath, ripping open the ground, but Xavier and Shade kept fighting as if the world wasn’t collapsing around them.

After another exchange of strikes, they broke apart at the same moment, both realizing hand-to-hand wouldn’t settle anything. Xavier reached for the knife on his hip, and Shade pulled his own dagger from his boot. They stepped forward again, and metal flashed between them.

Their knives clashed faster and louder than their fists had. Shade slashed for Xavier’s ribs, but Xavier deflected the angle with the flat of his blade and tried to stab downward at Shade’s shoulder. Shade rolled aside and retaliated with a quick cut aimed at Xavier’s thigh. Xavier twisted, letting the blade scrape armor instead of flesh, then countered with a quick slice across Shade’s side.

Shade hissed between his teeth, not from pain but from how close it had been. “You weren’t supposed to be this good.”

Xavier tightened his grip on the knife. “You weren’t supposed to be here.”

Shade lunged again. Xavier met him halfway. Their daggers collided again and again, sparks flying each time. Xavier knocked Shade’s arm upward, then tried to drive the knife into Shade’s ribs. Shade blocked with his forearm, spun behind him, and attempted a neck cut, but Xavier ducked low and slammed his shoulder into Shade’s stomach, sending him rolling across the ground.

Shade rose quickly, knife spinning lightly in his fingers, but his breathing had changed. He wasn’t relaxed anymore.

Shade walked forward, knife steady and gaze sharp, as the battlefield raged behind them. “Round two?” he asked.

Xavier grinned again, wider than before. “Oh, we’re far past rounds.”

The battlefield grew louder as the timer dropped into the last ten minutes. Guilds who had been fighting the NPC army earlier were now abandoning their battles and sprinting through smoke and flames to reach a single destination — Xavier.

The moment a group spotted him in the distance, they shouted across the comms, their voices overlapping in panic and excitement, and dozens of players changed direction to swarm him.

Shade wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and glanced around with irritation. “They’re getting in the way. Shall we change our location to the forest?.”

They rushed across the ruined ground, weaving between burning vehicles and fallen structures. Shade shredded a squad trying to ambush them from the right, and Xavier dropped another group from behind with clean, precise shots.

More players charged in, shouting his username ’KITLER!’ as if they had just discovered buried treasure. Xavier cut them down without losing momentum. Shade didn’t spare a second glance either; he stabbed, kicked, disarmed, and moved on with the same impatience he had since the duel began.

They broke through the last line of ruins and reached the forest. The trees here were tall and thick, their branches rattling from the shockwaves rolling across the warzone. It gave them space — not perfect, but enough for a duel without interference.

Shade cracked his neck once and adjusted his stance, and Xavier stepped forward to meet him again.

“You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I can’t call myself a man if I don’t like a bloody fight.” Xavier beckoned him. “Come. I will fight with all I have learned so far.”

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