Reincarnation to the Past

Chapter 34

Li Yǔ's POV

(A/N (I took the description of the knight from a manga I read called Solo Leveling since the accompanying pictures are also from the same manga.)

The first thing I noticed was the blood-red full-body armor suit and a long cape that the knight wore, unlike the dull silver color that the other knights had adorned. The next thing that caught my eye was its helm, more specifically the red-colored mane extending backward from the top of the helm that reminded me of a horse's tail (I know, weird thing to notice).

Another thing that caught my attention was how lifelike it seemed. The other knights and archers seemed more mechanical, just doing what they were programmed to do. But this knight was different; it was sizing me up as I was; it was cautious, not blindly making a move. It seemed to be calculating its best course of action.

"I don't suppose you could shrink yourself to my size, could you???", curious if it would respond, which it did by tilting its head. "You're over twice my size, so how are we going to do this???"

It slowly nodded before pressing a button on its breastplate and shrunk down to my size, noiselessly. "Impressive...", honestly, I wasn't expecting that but apparently whoever created it gave it a feature that allowed it to shrink. It wrapped its metal hands around the sword's hilt and pulled it from where it was wedged into the ground (the sword once in his hand also shrank).

I held out my hand, summoned a sword from the space, and infused it with my water powers to temporarily take away my disadvantage. I don't use this technique that often since it drains a lot of power and requires extra concentration. And it's difficult to concentrate on that and a battle at the same time.

I twirled the sword around my palm, feigning to be calm, as we circled each other, taking our time and testing each other's defenses. When the other knights made attempts to assist, the red one waved them off and gave me a nod, from which I understood what it was trying to say: "This battle is between us; they will not interfere."

He made the first move, sprinting forward at a blinding speed, covering the distance between us, before jumping into the air and swinging his sword down on me. I let my instincts take over and raised the sword over my head to block his attack. I sank at the force he exerted and had to use both hands to just hold off against his sword.  I summoned as much strength as I could muster and forced him away. We both jumped back, creating distance between us again.

This time I made the first move, making good use of my feet and Hermes' deftness to keep out of his attack range, using my sword to parry his every move. I swung my sword, but he dodged to the right. As I rushed past him, I raised my sword and struck out backward, striking him straight on the helmet, and raised my right knee, sending him to the ground, using a turning kick. As he fell, he reached out his leg and swept me off the ground, causing me to fall with him. I instantly rolled away from him before jumping up. I grimaced as a sharp pain rushed through my foot (note to self, never kick anything metallic unless you have proper protection, which in my case I didn't!) but chose to suppress it.

By then, he was also standing and we rushed at each other again, striking at the same time as our swords struck with loud 'CLASHs'. We were all over the place, with little blurs striking and being pushed back, striking and pushing back.

CLASH, CLASH, CLASH!!!

I don't know for how long we were fighting but I could tell that I was growing tired; my arms were growing heavy, my movements were slowing and my breathing was hitched. However, my opponent, on the other hand, being a metal knight, didn't seem at all fazed. There was no end to this fight in sight. I knew that to end this battle completely, I'd either have to destroy it (which I don't want to)... It's so cool! Or get it to surrender...

I jump backward to create distance between us and prepare myself for his next attack. As he bolts towards me with his sword swinging mid-air, without missing a beat, I catch his wrist in my left hand and use the pommel of my sword to strike his wrist, making him drop his sword, which I lift with my right foot and toss to the other end of the room. Simultaneously, I twisted the hand behind him and pinned it to his back, kicking at his feet to force him to his knees.

THUD!!

I hold him down in a death grip, with his back towards me, and place my sword dangerously close to his neck. His sword had been tossed away (since the surroundings were dark, I couldn't find it anywhere) and his movements were completely restricted. The winner was already clear. All it would take was one swift movement to behead him—not that I wanted to but if left with no choice, I wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

"Surrender??!!!"