The two of them didn't say anything else and walked towards the weapon rack. Bernal swept his gaze over the weapons rack and chose an ironwood sword about 1.5 metres long with a slightly narrow blade, while Kepel chose an ironwood sword about 1.3 metres long with a wider blade.
Afterwards, the two of them walked onto the stage without a word and stood at opposite ends. They looked at each other, cold light flickering in their eyes.
* Swish! *
Without any greeting, the two of them moved.
* Peng! *
Kepel was dressed in brown battle armor. He fiercely stomped on the ground with his right foot, and a powerful force entered his body through his right foot. His body quickly charged forward under this force.
Fortunately, the platform was built with a type of bronze stone that wasn't any weaker than iron in terms of hardness. Otherwise, he would have left a footprint on the stone beneath his feet.
Gray was already able to shatter a stone slab with a single punch when he was a low blood warrior. Kepel's destructive power as a middle blood warrior was obviously even greater.
As he charged forward, the ironwood sword in his hand viciously slashed out diagonally from his chest.
* Crash! *
The powerful sound of a black sword tearing through the air rang out, and the ironwood sword slashed out like a black shadow.
* Swish! *
On the other side, Bernal was dressed in white battle armour. As Kepel charged forward, he also quickly charged forward.
He didn't cause as much of a ruckus as Kepel. He only lightly stomped on the ground, as if the tip of his foot was lightly touching the ground, and his entire body had already charged forward.
However, his speed wasn't any slower than Kepel's, and was even a bit faster.
As he charged out, the sword in his hand slashed out diagonally from the opposite angle of Kepel's.
* Bang! *
The two ironwood swords collided in midair, and an intense explosion rang out.
It was as if a firecracker had exploded between the two of them, and it quickly spread out in all directions.
Afterwards, the two of them quickly separated and retreated backwards. Every step they took on the stone of the stage was like stepping on a leather drum, and a muffled sound could be heard.
In the end, Kepel retreated three steps, while Bernal retreated five.
"My strength is a little lacking …"
At the side of the arena, Gray narrowed his eyes when he saw this scene.
Judging from the distance he took, Bernal was weaker than Kepel in terms of pure strength.
Of course, it was still too early to say that there was a difference in strength between the two of them. After all, the difference between taking three steps back and taking five steps back was not too big.
Moreover, the battle wasn't just a contest of strength. It was also a comprehensive contest of strength, speed, defense, combat skills, and other aspects.
His elder brother had probably chosen to fight Kepel head on with the intention of probing and observing his opponent during their first exchange. His fighting style would probably change in the future.
Peng!
Because he had retreated less, Keppel was the first to stabilize himself.
His left foot stomped heavily on the ground, and his entire body shot out quickly.
The distance of a few steps was too close. In the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance. The saber in his hand slashed horizontally at Bernal.
Whoosh!
An ear-piercing whistling sound was heard in the air. This was the most powerful attack he could perform without using his Blood Force.
Pa!
However, just as his saber was about to strike Bernal, he saw Bernal lightly stomp on the ground. His entire body shot backwards at an extremely strange speed, barely dodging this attack.
Not only that, but he also stomped on the ground a few times and circled around Kepel. He quickly arrived at Kepel's side and slashed at Kepel's neck.
If this slash landed, even if the ironwood sword did not have a blade, it would be enough to heavily injure Kepel or even kill him. After all, his neck was not protected by any armor.
Kepel's hair stood on end at this moment. He quickly turned his saber around and blocked Bernal's slash, blocking Bernal's dangerous attack.
Bang!
Another explosion like that of a cannon rang out. Bernal and Kepel separated upon contact once more, retreating backwards.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
The sound of someone stepping on a cowhide drum rang out once more. This time, Kepper took three steps back, just like before. However, Bonar's steps were the same as Kepper's, also three steps.
"As expected!"
Seeing this, the corners of Gray's mouth rose slightly.
There was still a gap in strength between Bernal and Kepel before, and it was impossible for this gap to disappear all of a sudden. The reason for this was naturally because Kepel had acted hastily and was unable to display his full strength.
Evidently, after testing out that Kepel's speed was inferior to his and that his strength was greater than his, but only by a small margin, Bonar had already changed the way he fought.
Relying on his speed, he dodged Kepel's attacks and attacked from the side, forcing Kepel to hastily defend himself and be unable to display his full strength.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sounds like that of a cannon rang out continuously on the stage. Bernal and Kepel were quickly exchanging blows.
One moment, they were fighting to the east of the stage, the other to the west.
Fighting with all their might caused their physical strength to deplete rapidly. Sweat dripped down from both sides of their foreheads, and the hair on their temples was already soaked with sweat.
Because Bernal was always attacking from the side or the back, Kepel's attacks were unable to display their full strength.
Of course, Bernal wasn't able to gain an advantage either.
Even if he relied on his speed to attack Kepel from the side or the back, forcing Kepel to be unable to display his full strength, he was only on par with Kepel in terms of strength.
Whoosh!
Bernal appeared on Kepel's right and slashed his sword at Kepel's side once more.
"Hah!"
But right at this moment, Kepel suddenly roared.
His hands suddenly swelled up, and the arms of his armor clearly felt as if they were being propped up.
Then, he turned around and swung the long saber in his hand from top to bottom with great force.
Rip!
The air seemed to be torn apart by this slash, and the sound it emitted was extremely ear-piercing.
Around the stage, the weaker nobles couldn't help but turn pale as they stared at Keppel's blade in fear. This blade gave them the feeling that it was unstoppable. If this was a real battlefield, they would very likely lose their lives facing this blade.
Even the descendants of counts and viscounts couldn't help but narrow their eyes. This slash was already a huge threat to them.
"Get ready to end this quickly!"
The expression in Gray's eyes suddenly turned sharp.
Judging from Keber's sudden increase in strength, it was easy to determine that Keber had used his blood power.
Although blood energy could increase battle strength, a blood warrior of too low a level had too little blood energy in their body. Even a middle level blood warrior could only use it about ten times in a short period of time.
Thus, blood energy was extremely precious in battle. Once it was used, it was clear that one intended to end the battle in a short period of time.
Bernal's expression turned serious when faced with Kepel's sudden use of blood energy. He poured blood energy into his legs without hesitation.
Swish!
He'd originally been slashing his sword at Kepel, but now he retreated at an even faster speed, dodging Kepel's terrifying slash.
He definitely wasn't Kepel's match in terms of pure strength, not to mention that Kepel had already used blood energy to increase the strength of his arms.
Although he could also use blood energy to increase the strength of his arms, it was clear that the characteristics of the blood art Wind Wolf meant that the degree of increase would definitely be inferior to Kepel's. The difference in strength between him and Kepel had become even greater, so he chose to dodge.
Bang!
On the stage, the loudest explosion since the start of the battle rang out. Kepel's slash viciously landed on the stage, causing the entire stage to tremble slightly.
If one looked closely, they would discover that Kepel's slash had left a shallow scratch on the surface of the bronze that was as hard as iron. One could well imagine how powerful his slash was to be able to leave a scratch on a stone that was as hard as iron.
Not far away, Bernal stared at this terrifying slash with lingering fear. He'd naturally seen the scratch on the stage, and that was exactly why he still had lingering fears.
If he'd taken such a slash head on, even with the protection of his armor, he would definitely have been injured and naturally lost.
Fortunately, with the boost from blood energy, Kan Kan's increased speed allowed her to dodge.
Swish!
Both of them moved at almost the same time.
Both of them had used blood energy. Just as Gray had predicted, they were prepared to end the battle quickly.
One of them poured blood energy into his hands, causing the blade in his hands to rampage and emit terrifying whistling sounds. The other poured blood energy into his legs, rapidly dodging attacks while also looking for an opportunity to attack.
Bang!
Both of their physical strength and blood energy were rapidly being depleted. Finally, at a certain moment, a figure was sent flying with a muffled sound.
This person was Kepel, dressed in brown armor.
After dodging Kepel's ferocious attacks several times, Bernal finally found an opportunity to slash at Kepel's body and send him flying.
With the protection of his armor, Kepel only felt a bit of pain when he landed on the ground. He wanted to turn around and stand up, but at this moment, a sword was placed against his neck. The other end of the sword was in Bernal's hand, who was panting heavily.
His heart suddenly sank, and his eyes filled with disappointment. He'd lost. He hadn't been able to wash away the shame of the Oliver Family!
He no longer cared about Kepel. After all, this was a spar that didn't involve life and death. A victory was a victory, and there wouldn't be any retaliation. The dignity of a noble wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.
Using his sword to support his body, Bernal looked down at Viscount Fergus below the stage.