Chapter 709

Chapter 709

709: Sibylla vs Colbert

The battle between Colbert and Sibylla has begun.
Colbert started off by making use his footwork, and at first glance, it seems like he's waiting to see what Sibylla might do. However, I could feel that he was planning to take advantage of this opportunity and settle the fight now.
Even so, Colbert's strength lies in his ability to wait and not attack recklessly.
Sibylla, on the other hand, didn't move much and was completely amused by Colbert's moves. As expected from a fighting maniac.
Fran did the same against Mordred and was taken advantage of. On the other hand, if we ever fight a combat maniac, we might be able to take advantage of that as well.
Colbert slowly makes his way around the arena, keeping a certain distance between Sibylla.
「So you're a brawler huh?」
「I'm used to fighting swordsmen. You're going to get hurt if you underestimate me just because I'm using my bare hands you know?」
「I see! Sounds fun!」
The two were happily laughing and exchanging words with each other, but gradually the gap between them became narrower and narrower.
「You're going to get your ass kicked!」
「I wouldn't want that!」
Before Colbert could make a move, Sibylla attacked.
Sibylla's overhead blow created a small crater in the center of the arena signaling the start of the fierce battle.
Colbert is only two levels higher than last time, but his skills have increased considerably. He has probably spent less time fighting and more time training himself to compensate for losing the Dimitris style.
Sibylla, like Biscot, cannot be appraised. If Colbert breaks the magic item preventing appraisal, we'd be able to see though her.
As I was thinking about this, they exchanged some light blows. Basically, Sibylla attacked and Colbert tried to counter while avoiding.
Colbert's defense was much more sophisticated than before, sometimes ducking Sibylla's very fast slashes and sometimes deflecting them with the back of his hand.
Sibylla's attacks seem rather rough. Her style of fighting is rather linear and power oriented, although she mixes in feints and other techniques. This is a good solution when fighting against monsters and beasts, but against humans, Sibylla's attacks are easily readable.
「Uraaaaah!」
「Kuh! What kind of ridiculous strength is this?!」
「Hahaha! You see, my strength's the only thing I'm confident about!」
「And you're too tough!」
「I'm confident in that too!」
Normally, a brute force opponent like Sibylla should be a sitting duck for Colbert. In fact, Colbert sometimes managed to land a blow on her, like how he just knocked her out of her stance by deflecting her sword.
It is an example of how skill trumps power.
However, Sibylla's toughness was surprise to see.
Colbert landed a skillful hook to the gut, but she didn't even let out a grunt. He just hit her in the face and the same thing happened.
She moves forward and slams her sword down, showing no signs of caring about a sharp jab to the nose.
Each of Colbert's blows should have been enough to blow up a goblin.
She is taking damage but her recovery and momentum are just superior. There's a high chance that she had pain nullification as well. And maybe some other skills such as force resistance and perseverance.
I didn't expect Sibylla to be this much of a powerhouse.
However, Colbert after being taken aback by Sibylla's violent fighting style, soon got back into the swing of things.
If it doesn't work, then just keep doing it until it does. And if they are taking it unprotected, then aim for their vital points with stronger moves.
Moving things up a gear, Colbert delivered a series of blows to Sibylla's stomach in rapid succession. He puts a stop to her movement and then followed up with a chain of attacks when she slowed down. Well, at least that was his intention.
However, Sibylla's toughness seems to have exceed Colbert's expectations. We didn't even expect her to be this tough either.
Even though she's been hit ten times in the stomach, her movements didn't show any sign of slowing down at all. She was still wearing her animalistic smile and pressing hard against Colbert.
Gradually, Colbert's movements began to slow down. It looked like he was tired, but that wasn't the case.
「Haha! I've seen that one already!」
「Kuh! That was close!」
「Ora! Take this!」
「Seriously?!」
Sibylla's attacks began to grow more severe, as if she was anticipating Colbert's moves.
She began to swing her sword at angles that were difficult for Colbert to defend against, anticipating the direction he would duck and turn around, and even to parry and counter attacks that were launched as counters.
It seems like Sibylla was getting used to Colbert's moves during the battle. Her fighting instincts and adaptability were frightening.
Finally, Sibylla's sword grazed Colbert's body and just like that, Colbert's posture was greatly disrupted. After all, the sheer destructive power of her sword was something to behold.
「Whoa!」
「Haha! I'll take that!」
「I won't let you!」
「You're still fighting back in that condition? Not bad!」
Colbert managed to get away from Sibylla coming after him by throwing kicks at her. He seemed to have treated the wound on his left arm by tightening his muscles. The bleeding's already stopped.
However, there's no way he could easily use his left arm anymore. Sibylla, on the other hand, still looked good.
「Sibylla, amazing!」
『Oh, that toughness…… I'm sure it's not just because of her high stats.』
（A skill?）
『I think so……』
But I don't think it's a barrier since There was no sign of magic movement. Also if she was using physical nullification, it would be strange for the spots where she was hit to turn red.
Colbert must be aware of this.
「……I don't know what kind of trick this is, but it nullifies damage below a certain level…… Or is it just a reduction? Anyway, I know that it doesn't matter how many weak attacks I put in.」
「Heh? You've got a good eye. What now?」
「I'm going to hit you with a blow so heavy that it won't matter if it's mitigated or not!」
「Hahahaha! Correct answer!」
Hey, hey! Sibylla just admitted it didn't she? She's not lying! She really does have a damage reduction skill!
Sibylla gives off big smile, while Colbert started to walk forward slowly. There was no stance, just a normal pace.
However, I could feel the tremendous magical energy building up inside his body. The magical power once concentrated in his abdomen now circulated through his body and was concentrated again, repeating the cycle, gradually permeating his entire body with a powerful energy.
After ten seconds. The distance between the two reached about five meters. But Colbert was still walking slowly.
「Shaaa!」
Sibylla slashes at Colbert with a somewhat excited look on her face.
And in the next moment, Sibylla's figure disappeared with a tremendous crash.
In the place where Sibylla had been, Colbert, who had been walking slowly just a moment before, was standing still in the same position as he had just launched a direct thrust.
『Did you see that?』
（Nn! He moved very fast, emitting magic power from the feet and back.）
Using the release of magical power, he super-accelerated in an instant. The speed itself was a little slower than Fran, but it seemed faster because of the instantaneous rapid acceleration. To many of the spectators, it must have looked as if he had teleported.
Moreover, it was very difficult to perceive the attack because the usual signs of movement were not there. He suddenly dashed from pure stillness. The acceleration with very little muscle movement would certainly catch Sibylla and even Fran off guard.
What is also amazing is that I did not even feel the killing intent. This would have been impossible without mental control.
Sibylla was sent flying horizontally with tremendous momentum and was going to lose the match by exiting the ring. That's what everyone thought but right afterwards…
「Uruaaaaaaaah!」
Sibylla roared like an animal. Sibylla's body was suspended in the air. Her momentum killed in an instant, but it wasn't air hop nor magic release. Moreover, she floated there silently. If I had to say, it was like my telekinesis.
「Buh……! Aaaaahhhh!」
Her organs must have been damaged because she spat out a glob of blood from her mouth. Was it her lungs that were hit? Her breathing sounds really labored.
But Sibylla does not stop moving. She thrusts her left hand forward with great force. The distance between the two is more than 20 meters, but…
「Gghhh!」
This time, Colbert was knocked away. Forget being similar, this is just plain old telekinesis. Sibylla seemed to be a very powerful telekinetic user.
Sibylla flies toward Colbert who is thrown into the air. It seems that Sibylla wasn't flying around like when I use Telekinetic Catapult but by levitating her whole body with telekinesis.
Well, Telekinetic Catapult would be a tremendous strain on a human body. However, the speed was fast enough probably due to the huge amount of magic power she's putting into it.
「Uraaaaahhhh! Get crushed!」
「Tch!」
Colbert managed to avoid Sibylla's slash by changing his stance in the air using magic release, but his movements were too lackluster.
His whole body seemed to be screaming from the previous attack letting Sibylla get a grasp on Colbert's right arm, which he failed to keep away from her.
「I've got youuuu!」
Sibylla, with a vicious smile on her face, head-butted Colbert. Yep, just a head butt.
Sibylla's head slammed into Colbert's head.
With a deafening cracking sound, Colbert fell from the sky. Without any movement to break his fall, he slammed onto the stage.
「Haha…… Gof…… It, was a good fight……」
Sibylla, still bleeding from the corners of her mouth, laughs happily.
『It's settled! And with a head-butt at the end! I heard an awful sound! I wonder if Colbert's head is okay! Healing magician! Please hurry!』
The magician rushes in immediately, but will Colbert really be alright?
「…I'm going to Colbert.」
『Yeah, yeah.』
===== (Author Note)
Here are Colbert's current stats
Name: Colbert Age: 39
Race: Human
Occupation: Steel Brawler
Status Level: 43/99
HP: 516 MP: 458
STR: 311 VIT: 208 AGI: 266
INT: 146 MAG: 209 DEX: 242
Skills
Covert: Lv 1, Brawling Arts: Lv 6, Brawling: Lv 7, Crisis Sense: Lv 4, Presence Blocking: Lv 1, Holy Fist Mastery: Lv 3, Fist Arts: Lv 9, Fist Mastery: Lv Max, Hard Spirit: Lv 5, Hard Power: Lv 9, Kicking Mastery: Lv 2, Blink: Lv 9, Body Enhancement: Lv 2, Swimming: Lv 4, Ocean Resistance: Lv 2, Throwing: Lv 5, Convenience Magic: Lv3, Poison Resistance: Lv2, Physical Barrier: Lv4, Magic Release: Lv6, Drowsiness Resistance: Lv3, Paralysis Resistance: Lv4, Cooking: Lv3, Eagle Eye, Weaken, Beast Killer, Split Thinking, Minor Strength, Energy Manipulation
Unique Skills
Steel Fist