Emperor of Steel

Chapter 217: Gigantic Duel 2

“Captain, is that man a Higher Advanced Expert?”

Philip asked Luke who was in front of him with his arms crossed and staring at the match.

Until then, the enemy Gigant riders had all been Experts with Intermediate or higher Expert ranks.

Until then, the advanced riders seemed to be at the least best, but none of them were able to catch the eyes of Philip.

“No.”

“Not a Higher Advanced? Then, just Advanced?”

Among the knights, there were those who were particularly good at maneuvering Gigants.

Such men often used to propagate their abilities through the Gigants, and sometimes they were able to win a battle against those who were better than them too.

“That isn’t the sound made by an Advanced, but somewhere around the edge of a Master.” Stated Luke.

“Ehk! Like a Spear master?”

“Yeah. Even then would you like to fight?”

It was often said that the swordsman was often 3 times stronger than combat fighter and that the spearmen were often 3 times stronger than the swordsmen.

It was just an objective judgment that calculated the length and interval of the weapon used, and it wasn’t absolute.

But it still had some impact on how the battle went.

So Luke asked, and instead of pulling out, Philip shook his hand and smiled.

“Kukuku, of course, I want to get in. If not now, when will I ever have an opportunity to fight with a Master, that too in a Gigantic Duel?”

“You might even die. Even if you manage to come back alive, won’t it be embarrassing to live?”

“That is my concern to deal with. Anyway, I hope you let me enter.” Stated Philip.

Philip constantly had trial battles with Luke or Rogers, often with Gigants too, both in his time of military service and Luke’s.

But no practice was the same when their lives are at stake.

Seeing Philip’s determination, Luke nodded.

“Fine, go ahead. Instead, you’ll have to train for one month of hell instead, so you’d better squeeze out every single power left in you.”

“Hut, see you later.”

The moment Luke’s permission fell, Philip got into his Gigant.

Luke joined the anti-revolutionary army and pulled out five Gigant that he had kept in the sub space bracelet.

And among the five Gigants that were hidden in a nearby forest, was Philip’s baby, Marina.

Marina, the originally Sting II of the Hallis Magic tower, had been steadily improved by the Iron Mages of Luke and the Katarina Magic tower for the past two years.

“Let’s go, Marina. Let’s take down that Spear Master!”

“Ahh, is there no one else other than this uninteresting old man?”

Shirley was disguised in a Hector Gigant which had been disguised as a Centurion and began to yawn.

“I am so hungry…”

Thinking that she would face fierce fights, she had eaten early breakfast and entered the morning battles, but none of the riders from the army turned out to be good opponents.

Five of them ignored her as she was a young girl and ended up getting smashed, and the other three were too nervous to even show their skills.

“Are all the Sword Masters of the Anti-Revolutionary Army old and near to death?”

Mumbling to herself, Shirley took out a pouch from her pocket and ate the cookies which she stuffed in them.

While she was soothing her empty stomach with sweets, another Gigant appeared from the camp.

“From where is the Gigant? I don’t think I have seen it before?”

Thud Thud Thud!

As Philip approached with Marina, Shirley held up the halberd.

As she tried to fight him right away, Philip asked her to stop.

“Hold on! When we are fighting, isn’t it common to know one’s name?”

At Philip’s suggestion, Shirley opened her mouth.

“I guess you are one good old man.”

“And you must be one lively lady.”

Philip already knew, and coming from the voice that the enemy rider was a woman, a young girl, probably.

The problem was the skills and personality of the rider.

If one knew about the character, they could get a rough idea of how one would fight and think of possible skills.

So Philip tried to talk with her as much as he could.

“But, that won’t be possible. My higher-ups have told me to not give out my name to a suspicious person.”

“Hahaha, do I look suspicious to you?” Asked Philip.

“Isn’t it sneaky when one asks this and that? Like a kidnapper telling you that they would give you candy.”

“Ah no, how do you even describe a person…”

“Like this!”

Swung!

With those, Shirley swung her halberd.

But as Philip’s Marina moved back and escaped, she only managed to slash the air.

“He’s fast…”

Shirley was complimenting her opponent and had to stop her talk.

As Philip moved back, he immediately threw the shield he was holding on to.

“Gap!”

While Shirley’s Hector faltered, Philip, who narrowed the gap stabbed with the giant sword.

Kwang!

Giant sword with Gigantic aura pierced the shield and touched the gloves of Hector.

But just before it could plunge in anymore, Shirley pulled back and the attack ended.

“Tch, waste!”

Unlike the regret Philip was feeling, Shirley jumped right at him.

“Coward! Where the hell would one use a sword like that!”

“Then, are they used to grill meat?” Asked Philip sarcastically.

Slirk.

The image of Hector disappeared from Philip’s eyes.

Startled, Philip twisted the frame to the side.

At the very moment, a halberd flew right at the head of Marina and slipped straight to the ground.

‘Dammit, I almost died!’ Thought Philip.

Although it was a Spear Master, the lady seemed to be young, so Philip thought that he might not be able to have too much fun with the combat.

Which was why he thought that she displayed skillful maneuvering to cover her lack of experience.

‘She almost managed to slash through the Gigant frame. It is a high-speed maneuver and it cannot be seen if one lacks combat experience.’

When Philip was feeling confused, Shirley rushed over while swinging her halberd.

“Have a good night, talkative mister!”

‘Fast, she is so fast!’

The halberd flew in like lightning.

So fast that Philip could barely bring up the giant sword to shield himself from the attack.

Kang!

Marina got pushed back. He did manage to lose some scrap due to the tremendous power and shockwaves it created.

‘Wah! What is with this crazy person?!’

‘Oh my, how did he manage to get away?’

While Philip was flustered, Shirley, stared at him.

The attack just seemed to be a quick attack, but it surely contained a lot of power.

The previous riders couldn’t live through the force and ended up losing the entire Gigant, but the opponent in front shocked her by having still more than half of his sword.

“Tch, what kind of a girl has such strong power? Can’t you move a little cautiously?”

“First time to seeing someone duel knowing that their neck is on the line.” Said Shirley.

“There are a lot of women waiting for me back in my hometown. So, I need to keep a lookout.”

“Huh, I don’t like listening to it.”

While the two of them were busy fighting verbally, the other two were constantly exchanging attacks.

Shirley, who seemed to be a spear master was definitely stronger than Philip, the best of Experts, but Philip was a huge deal too.

In the meantime, he knew enough to deal with the Masters, through the battles between Luke and Rogers. Field experience that he got was something that he had to feel, and it was thanks to it.

In the midst of Philip’s stubbornness to attack and the tenacity, he was able to fight with Shirley on an equal level, since before where the battle was one-sided.