Absolute Soul
39. Haikal vs Edward III

With Edward turning the audience back, how could someone who had yet to awaken the Soul Arc be able to blow away a genius who had even reached Awakening before becoming an official Blazer?

It was true that Haikal was touted as the best 'black horse' in the Welcoming Tournament this year, but no one expected the young man to have such great strength that he was able to corner Edward the genius.

"Snakeshaker...." Edward rubbed the blood flowing on his lips, not expecting Haikal to not only withstand his attacks but also be able to counterattack the weak, "He is no ordinary commoner...."

Not wanting to wait for another attack, Edward immediately rose from his supine position on the floor and took a position ready to defend, while Haikal broke the ice floor Edward made in one hit freeing his legs.

Haikal sighed feeling his feet were not numb from freezing for some time. If he could not feel the pain in his legs, then Haikal could hesitate to attack or defend because of doubt about the condition of his feet.

"Okay, I don't think it's a problem." Finished checking the condition of his leg that was not injured means, Haikal turned his eyes to Edward who was currently preparing for an attack.

Edward seemed calmer than before who attacked with anger, but Haikal himself was difficult to calm down in just a few seconds.

"It seems that he did use the first method to purify soul energy," Haikal's inner self felt a strangeness in Edward's emotions.

Purification of soul energy is known to be divided into three methods, one of which is a method of taking the soul energy of other people who can give side effects in the form of instability to emotions or violence.

This method is indeed faster than the other two methods, but if it is not controlled properly or excessively absorbs the soul energy of other beings then the side effects can be seen. That's what Haikal suspected seeing oddity in Edward.

"If that's true then there's no point in me holding back!" As he steadied his heart, Haikal channeled more soul energy throughout his body exerting more pressure on Edward.

Thanks to the amount of soul energy that suddenly deployed the air around Haikal rampaging, accidentally telling the entire audience how strong he really was even without the Soul Arc.

"The pressure of soul energy is this close, it shouldn't be something that even a Blazer candidate who hasn't awakened a Soul Arc can get." Sensing the power emanating from Haikal, Veindal spontaneously stood in his room.

Some of the teachers and Blazers who could sense Haikal's soul energy reacted more or less the same as Veindal, none of them would have expected a Blazer candidate to have this kind of power in this generation, even now there has not been a semester passed since the new school year opened in the Skymaze academy.

Currently Edward did look calm and could control his soul energy, but who could have expected him to rampage like before? For this reason, Haikal did not want to hold back any further.

"Huh, I admit you're the first commoner to have cornered me." There was clearly anger in Edward's expression, but this time he did not lose control as before. He admitted that this opponent was not an ordinary commoner that he could underestimate, "But, as a noble I won't lose to a people like you!"

Edward crossed both hands in front of his stomach while fully concentrating exerting so much soul energy, then in an instant an explosion of soul energy was created throwing down the surrounding air.

Shortly after the burst of soul energy some parts of Edward's body froze slowly starting from his chest, hands, feet, and forehead. But the freezing did not have a negative effect on him, but showed a strength he had never shown in public before.

Now Edward's body had been covered in a layer of dark-black ice shaped like a harness that exuded a strong impression of intimidation, "Winter Lion: Empty Code – Knight Shape!"

"Ice peninsula?" Haikal slightly raised his eyebrows watching the ice armor that protected Edward's entire body without exception, like a knight without a weapon.

Completing the change of his ice armor, Edward then gathered soul energy in his right hand and created a spear with an axe blade that he used to attack Salvia earlier, "Winter Lion : Fourth Code – Halberd Shape!"

Haikal frowned seeing that Edward was able to exert two of his Awakening abilities at once, whereas when fighting Salvia, Edward only showed one ability every time he attacked, "More ice armor... it'll be hard to get through."

Haikal bit his lip feeling the difference between a genius and one that was not getting more visible, but he did not just give up. Haikal then grabbed an iron rod from his waist and poured some soul energy into the iron rod.

The iron stick gave off a bright green glow centered on a straight line and formed a thin sword 60 Centimeters long.

"Soul Saber's? Commoners like you have Soul Device?" This time Edward's replacement who frowned, could not believe that the young man who became his opponent was indeed an ordinary commoner.

Edward's reaction was not excessive, some spectators and Guild representatives also reacted similarly to seeing the Soul Device in Haikal's hands. The price of the tool in Haikal's hands is indeed too high for ordinary people, only nobles or upper class people who are able to obtain Soul Device is so expensive.

"It's not mine, it's a loan from Salvia." Haikal wore a thin smile, but there was no joy in the smile, "I will use it specially to defeat you."

Edward swung his spear vertically aiming at Haikal's head with all his might, but for Haikal who was used to dealing with the speed and agility of Heru higher than Edward, this was nothing.

Haikal turned the body on the shaft of his foot avoiding Edward's attack in a thin distance, then threw a Void Palm punch on Edward's armor to make the young man retreated several steps.

"You think you can hurt me with an attack as weak as that?" Edward exclaimed loudly feeling the durability of his armor far beyond the attacks of Haikal, but he had not been satisfied with bragging Haikal was in front of him in an instant.

Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Haikal unhesitatingly swung his Soul Saber giving three quick slashes that made Edward once again retreated, "First keep your distance, then attack immediately."

"Damn it!" Edward cursed to feel that he had not sustained a decisive attack, while his opponent continued to lash out without his chance to field, "I'll show you my North Ice Spear technique!"

Not wanting to feel humiliated any further, Edward took a step first and swung his spear attack after attack towards Haikal.

As someone slightly experienced in melee combat, Haikal was able to evade and fend off most of Edward's attacks using his Soul Saber, yet he wasn't smart enough to avoid them all.

It is clear that there were some scratches on Haikal's body after Edward ended his consecutive attacks making Haikal grimace a little, but he realized grimacing as hard as anything would not change the plot of the fight.

Haikal again attacked with his Soul Saber, while Edward also floated a barrage of his ice spears. The attacks of the two fiercely clashed in the area of the fight to the point of causing some scratches and cracks on the floor, leaving everyone watching them dumbfounded.

"They're really Blazer candidates? Not the official Blazer?"

"Disregarding Edward who was a genius from the beginning, how could Haikal fend off all of Edward's attacks?"

"This fight is not to be missed."

Some spectators gave a lot of praise as well as discussing the flow of this match, while some others could only be silently amazed to see the clash of attacks of the two participants. Some of the Blazers present were also amazed to not believe in the ability of both of them that are difficult to obtain at the SMA level.

After a few minutes of each other's attack and defense, Haikal and Edward then ended the exchange of attacks taking one step back, simultaneously managing their lost breaths.

"You.... How can you that common maggot rival me?!" Edward loudly exclaimed that almost all of his attacks could be repelled by Haikal, "I am a noble is impossible to lose to a commoner like you!"

Edward's words may sound insulting to others' ears, but Haikal captures them differently.

Edward is a noble and Blazer genius who should appear every few years, should he have been prepared to be a Blazer much earlier and harder than Haikal who is an ordinary people. Why is he balanced with the commoners?

Haikal himself did nothing but adjust his breathing to restore lost soul energy and energy, nor did he intend to answer Edward's question. As accurate as the answer is, Edward will not accept it and instead provoke his emotions even more.

If Edward still had hidden strength and Haikal accidentally stepped on a mine, it would be difficult for him to keep pace with Edward going forward.

Since it was always boosting his body using soul energy to compensate for Edward's attack speed, Haikal had already lost quite a lot of soul energy. Even though the quantity of his soul energy was quite a lot for the Blazer candidate at his level, in fact to fight Edward the amount was not enough.

"Moreover this Soul Device devoured a lot of my soul energy," Inner Haikal looked at the Soul Saber in his hand with a wry smile, not expecting this thing to suck in more soul energy than he had anticipated.

A few moments after his breath stabilized, Haikal drew and exhaled a large breath before grasping his Soul Saber tighter and focusing his mind on this fight, "Maybe it's time I use 'it'."

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