Chapter 306 - Battle with Baldo

Chapter 306: Chapter 61 Battle with Baldo"Earl, this kid is too arrogant. Baldo requests to fight with him, and by the way, help Earl to keep an eye out, so that those who are only after fame and glory don’t taint the reputation of the Bacon family," Baldo said, bowing slightly as a sign of respect to Earl Bacon.

"Granted!"

As soon as Earl Bacon’s voice fell, two Mages at the early stage of the Third Transition began chanting their Skills, enveloping the arena to prevent damage from the duel.

Baldo clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles: "Kid, today is your unlucky day."

"We’ll see about that," Lu Hong didn’t want to waste words. The opponent seemed to be a Great Fighter but he wasn’t sure about their element attribute.

He didn’t plan to use the Holy Sword, at least not in the Eagle Alliance, because it was a signature item of his. Once taken out, the possibility of his identity being exposed would increase several-fold.

"You don’t have a weapon?" Bald Baldo, seeing Lu Hong empty-handed, asked puzzledly, "Could it be that you’re a Great Fighter too?"

"I am a Great War Master."

"Great War Master?" Baldo’s eyes widened: "There’s still a warrior profession existing in our Eagle Alliance? You’re joking! If you were an Angry Blood Warrior, would you scare me to death?"

Lu Hong grinned: "I wish, but there was a bit of a mishap when I switched classes."

"Then draw your weapon and let’s see if our Alliance’s warrior is as brave as that one from the Sacred Empire, who is renowned for his courage."

"Sorry, but I don’t intend to use a weapon against you." Aside from the Holy Sword, it seemed Lu Hong didn’t have any other weapons to use.

"You really have some nerve!" Baldo felt that the masked man was insulting him and immediately became infuriated. He gathered a yellowish Magic Power in his fists and launched a punch straight at Lu Hong’s vital spot.

Lu Hong advanced instead of retreating, his Pure Steel Battle Energy bursting forth, turning his hand into a sword and releasing his Skill suppression instantaneously.

Bald Baldo, being a Great Fighter, took the path of Body Refining, which had its advantages over ordinary close-combat jobs. However, against someone like Lu Hong who had undergone Body Refining, Baldo hardly measured up.

In just a brief encounter, Baldo was forced to retreat repeatedly. The Pure Steel Battle Energy invaded his body, creating numerous fine cuts where the sharp energies intersected.

"Thick Earth Skin!" Baldo bellowed lowly, and a massive amount of earth element solidified into armor, protecting his whole body while also suppressing Lu Hong’s Battle Energy.

"Take another punch from me!" Lu Hong launched his attack, leaping and kicking fiercely at his opponent’s chest.

This time, Lu Hong felt as if he had kicked a mountain; the opponent didn’t budge, and the recoil forced him to retreat repeatedly.

"Heh heh," Baldo sneered: "I’ve only mastered three Skills, each to perfection. Not many can break through my Thick Earth Skin," he said before rushing towards Lu Hong, each punch creating the sound of tearing through the air.

Huihui watched the fight on the arena nervously. Thanks to the Skill-provided Absolute Defense, Baldo had a slight advantage in strength over Lu Hong, but fortunately, such abnormal defenses came at the cost of speed.

Although Baldo was fierce, his attacking speed was clearly much slower than at the beginning. Most of the time, Lu Hong could easily dodge his punches, but his own attacks couldn’t break through his armor. For the moment, it was a stalemate.

Earl Bacon nodded in satisfaction and asked Huihui, "Huihui, do you know the origins of this person?"

"Not sure, I just met him at the farm outside the city."

"Oh," Earl Bacon nodded and said no more.

But Huihui was not satisfied: "Dad, I told you this guy is a bit capable, but you just wouldn’t believe me."

"Hehe, my bad. Our Huihui has better judgment than her father," Earl Bacon chuckled, then added: "Baldo’s offensive abilities aren’t strong, but his defense is unmatched, even earning him recognition in Song’s mansion. They just look down on defense, which is why he was asked to leave. I really want to know how that young man will win."

"Dad, if Lu Hong wins, what reward will you give him?" Huihui blinked curiously.

"Reward?" Earl Bacon shook his head: "If he can defeat Baldo, he will surely have a place among the Bacon family’s ranks. Such honor does not require a reward to eclipse it. However..."

Earl Bacon paused, his interest piqued as he looked at his daughter: "If he’s willing, I wouldn’t mind finding him a wife."

"Dad!" Huihui’s face changed: "What are you talking about!"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," seeing his daughter’s anger, Earl Bacon quickly raised his hands in surrender. His daughter had been too deeply influenced; he wished he’d banned the Baron’s Magic recordings from entering Ciliaxi if he had known.

While the father and daughter talked, the arena had already seen hundreds of exchanges. The immense brute force had left the arena battered with pits and indentations everywhere.

Bald Baldo gasped slightly, to tell the truth, maintaining the Thick Earth Skin skill consumed a lot. "Good lad, didn’t expect you to have such strength, but I can still hold on for nearly half an hour, just not sure if you can withstand it."

"Don’t worry, I won’t fall before you," said Lu Hong, shaking his numb arm. Hitting rocks wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling, but after the probing just now, he also spotted his opponent’s weakness.

After all, Baldo’s Thick Earth Skin was still relying on a continuous replenishment of magic power from within his body. If Lu Hong could strike at a single point with extreme speed, it would result in the opponent’s magic power being unable to keep up, thus breaking the defense from one point and defeating him.

However, the problem was that he was weaponless, which was really a bit tricky!

A Great War Master without a heavy sword couldn’t use many skills. But he had already talked tough just now; he certainly couldn’t slap his own face, could he?

Caught in a dilemma, Lu Hong kept dodging Baldo’s attacks while also looking for a feasible plan to defeat him.

Earl Bacon saw some clues: "It seems he has an idea, just lacking an opportunity."

Earl Bacon didn’t mind whether weapons were used or not and didn’t take Lu Hong’s previous words to heart at all. As long as Lu Hong could defeat Baldo, he would acknowledge his strength and recruit him into his ranks.

"Someone, fetch my heavy sword." It must be said, Earl Bacon was somewhat partial to Lu Hong, of course, as long as it wasn’t someone who lost an election from the Song residence, he was very partial.

Grabbing the weapon offered by his subordinate, Earl Bacon signaled to open a slit in the magic shield and threw his own sword in: "Lad! Catch! Let me see just how formidable a Great War Master is."

"I shall comply with due respect," Lu Hong replied with a slight smile, leaping out three zhang away and catching the heavy sword tossed by Earl Bacon in stride.

"Hehe," Baldo sneered, "What if you have a sword? You still can’t break my defense!" he thundered and charged forward like a rabid Barbaric Bull.

"Is that so? Let’s wait and see." With a weapon in hand, Lu Hong’s aura changed at that moment.

The weapon came readily to hand, and although he couldn’t utilize its full intricacies, it was at least sharp.

He unleashed the suppression skill again, striking with the sword.

Baldo raised his hand for defense, and the massive force of impact forced him into a half-kneel on the ground.

Lu Hong circled back for another hit, using suppression once more, causing another shock, the stage emitting a thunderous roar, splitting apart.

Without giving Baldo a chance to rise, the third suppression came crashing down, followed by the fourth and fifth, a barrage of attacks leaving Baldo with only the option to parry.

"You can’t break my defense!" Baldo roared, then mobilized all his magic power, as Earth Thorn Strike attacked Lu Hong from all directions.

"Break!" Pure Steel Battle Energy rippled out, like ripples in water, dissolving the opponent’s skill. At the same time, the heavy sword burst forth with a silvery-gray light.

A defense-breaking specialty skill—Fatal Strike!

As the heavy sword chopped onto Baldo’s arm, countless cracks rapidly spread across the ochre armor.

Baldo’s face changed drastically, hastily mobilizing magic power to repair it.

Lu Hong wouldn’t give him the chance, the suppression skill falling once more, interrupting the opponent’s actions.

Suppression was the fastest to execute and most intimidating skill, but it couldn’t defeat Baldo. The only effective attack was Fatal Strike; the reason for constantly using suppression was to restrict the opponent’s movements.

With another suppression against Baldo, the second Fatal Strike kept falling in Baldo’s gaze.

One Fatal Strike had made his armor unstable, Baldo dared not take the second one and quickly launched the last skill he controlled: "Earth Dragon! Turn over!"

"Intimidate!" Lu Hong staked everything on this blow, definitely not letting Baldo escape. As Intimidate activated, Baldo’s internal magic power fell into a brief silence. In that moment, the Earth Dragon didn’t emerge, and Fatal Strike struck the same spot as the first hit.

The cracks expanded further until they covered his entire body.

In the eyes of the audience, the armor shattered into pieces and then dispersed into twinkling stars, vanishing completely.

Baldo’s arm broke, and he knelt on the ground, his face pale.

Lu Hong then returned the heavy sword to Earl Bacon and said with a smile, "Earl Bacon’s weapon is indeed exceptionally sharp."

Earl Bacon grinned and said, "Young friend, you flatter me. There are plenty more weapons like this in the armory. I’ll let little Hui accompany you to choose later. Whatever you like, just take it, as my apology to you."