As a veteran player, constantly paying attention to possible health bars appearing around you was necessary.
When Angus took the initiative to attack the very first moment, Viktor noticed the health bar he revealed in that instant.
So...
No matter who the other side was now.
'Beat him up first!'
Viktor instinctively swung the round shield across the front of his body, skillfully deflecting Angus's attack perfectly.
Because of years of training, and due to growing up under harsh conditions, Angus had forged a body and will as hard as steel.
As a knight, close-quarters combat naturally had to reach a high level, and the judgment needed to respond to attacks had to become absolute instinct.
So, when Viktor deflected his attack perfectly, Angus quickly adjusted his posture and retreated several steps.
The dizziness lasted for less than a second.
In Angus's hand was a silver longsword engraved with beasts, and the pressure instantly poured all around Viktor.
He stared at Viktor coldly. Even though his body wasn't particularly large or muscular, a powerful beastlike aura constantly radiated from him, like a cold-blooded wolf.
"Impressive reaction speed."
"Even if you had been training since childhood, you shouldn't have this level of close-combat skill."
"Remember, you're a mage."
Viktor smiled. "Is that so."
The moment the words fell, the atmosphere inside the room suddenly became very unstable; several bright lights began spiraling around Viktor's body like fish swimming in water.
Magic arrays slowly began forming in every direction around Viktor, and all aspects of his abilities suddenly surged upwards at this moment.
Beneath his clothes, a faint magic flowed through Viktor's flesh and blood, traveling along his meridians.
Attack, defense, agility…
Very quickly, all kinds of buffs spiraled around Viktor.
The buff bar under his health bar was instantly filled to the brim.
As the magic began to dim, Viktor turned into a shooting arrow and charged straight at Angus.
From beneath his coat, several thick, green vines shot out, intertwining with one another and forming a strangely shaped wooden sword in Viktor's hand.
But strangely, that wooden sword seemed to be flickering with cold light, extremely sharp.
Clang!
The instant Viktor swung the wooden sword, Angus instinctively raised his blade to block.
After feeling that iron-hard collision, a force actually made his hands tremble slightly.
A trace of shock flashed across his eyes.
Viktor held the wooden sword, locked in a stalemate with Angus.
His arm holding the blade didn't budge at all, his tone filled with confidence.
"Then let's..."
"Have a little match."
A blue glow appeared at his fingertips, and one or two runes were suddenly engraved onto the magic array as if carved by a giant invisible hand.
In that instant, a new energy flashed across Viktor's arms.
[Strength Boost (Large)]
Angus suddenly felt a powerful pressure, his grip on the longsword actually trembled under the sudden increase.
Because Viktor had linked with Veya, Viktor now had endless magic.
In the blink of an eye, behind him dozens more small buff spells appeared.
Like being shrouded in a rainbow, Viktor's body erupted with a terrifying, overwhelming power.
Under the ancient physical strength granted by the Wood Origin, Viktor had more than enough stamina to endure a prolonged close-quarters battle.
'What, never seen a mage fight in melee?'
'Then today you'll see one.'
When the first strike didn't work, Viktor withdrew, leaping back several meters, moving fast enough to slice the surrounding air.
His back foot pressed lightly onto the ground, and his figure vanished instantly, flickering all around the huge room; countless afterimages appeared.
But Angus didn't feel intimidated by Viktor's overwhelming buffs, on the contrary, his momentum grew even stronger.
Among the countless illusions, he very quickly locked onto Viktor's presence.
'Behind me!'
Angus instantly swung his sword with huge force, slashing toward his rear.
BOOM!
The two weapons collided again, and the resulting sonic blast shattered the cups on the table and the wardrobe glass not far away.
Following the sonic wave, a delayed gust blasted outward, knocking all the surrounding furniture into pieces and sending debris flying.
Angus remained calm, holding the sword in one hand.
The next moment, he reached behind himself.
"I admit your strength has earned my recognition."
"But don't forget who I am."
Before the words even finished, a knight's lance tore out from a crack behind him.
Angus swung his arm powerfully, knocking Viktor's sword aside.
His other arm gripped the massive lance and thrust it straight toward Viktor's chest.
But at the same moment...
Clang!
Green light burst throughout the entire room, spiraling around Viktor.
Vines appeared out of thin air, rapidly wrapping around one of Viktor's arms and forming a wooden lance.
In an instant, the two spears collided, and a violent shockwave swallowed everything nearby.
Their figures flickered rapidly through the space, dark afterimages clashing and devouring everything around.
Angus kept pulling out weapons from the void; a battle-axe appeared and he swung it fiercely toward Viktor.
At the moment it was about to hit, Viktor tilted his body slightly and used the collision of their weapons to swing himself behind Angus, dodging the fatal strike.
Angus immediately sensed the shift, he drew out a chain-mace and swung it viciously toward Viktor's legs.
The chain-mace was extremely fierce, shooting straight toward Viktor's calves.
Viktor's arm was instantly wrapped in vines, transforming into a long chain that whipped the chain-mace aside, knocking its angle off.
The vine-chain continued lashing forward, about to strike Angus.
Angus decisively retreated a step, lowering his body to dodge the whistling strike.
The chain instantly transformed into a sharp arrowhead, scraping across Angus's cheek.
Angus frowned. A thin line of blood slowly appeared on his face.
The two kept fighting, locked in a tight battle; sparks flashed again and again in midair, suddenly illuminating everything.
Viktor snapped out of the immersion of battle, staring hard at the powerful enemy before him.
No doubt, Angus was the strongest opponent he had ever fought in close-combat.
Every one of his attacks was meant to kill. If Viktor slipped even once, he might already be a corpse.
But…
He was far too familiar with Angus's fighting style.
Weapon Master, Angus.
He represented the pinnacle of knightly technique, which meant Angus would never use the same weapon for his next attack.
He had pushed the knightly philosophy of "not being restricted to any weapon" to the absolute extreme.
This was why knights, aside from not being able to equip staves, could wield any weapon.
"But it's a pity."
Viktor was completely at ease in this battle.
His calm face remained full of confidence.
"I'm not bad either."
[Item: The Universalist]
[Skill: Thousand-Shift, transforms into different tools according to the user's magic input and intent.]
[Skill: Magic-Energy, attacks can inflict corresponding elemental damage]
As long as he infused powerful wood-attribute magic into his arm and pictured the shape of a longsword, a wooden sword would appear in his hand.
Naturally, if he infused fire magic, then a flame-attribute blade would be created.
This item was the reward gained after killing Druja.
Unlike world-class items, the Universalist was not a one-time tool.
It could be used freely.
The next second, the two separated by a great distance. Countless weapons flew through the air, colliding together, neither of them showing a single opening.
But the problem was, Viktor was a mage.
Angus understood this very clearly, making him even more cautious of Viktor.
So he kept attacking with weapon after weapon specifically to prevent Viktor from using any powerful spells that required casting time.
As long as Viktor couldn't chant, Angus would always have the upper hand.
But what Angus didn't expect was, Viktor never planned to chant any magic at all.
Confident Viktor had only one thought in his mind.
"To defeat you in the field you're best at."
He had that ability.
Several red lines lit up on the back of Viktor's coat, and the wooden sword in his hand instantly ignited, turning into a massive fiery blade.
The heat swept across everything nearby, and the scorching temperature instantly filled the entire house.
The flaming blade swung at Angus, the intense heat eroding him instantly.
Angus instinctively raised his sword to block, but the flaming blade passed through his weapon like an illusion.
He had no time to react, and his chest was slashed hard by the blade.
No blood came out; the flesh and skin instantly charred black.
Angus showed no sign of pain, stepping back several steps to regroup.
Viktor stood still, not choosing to pursue the advantage.
The flaming sword in his hand seemed to lose power, gradually drifting away like ashes and fading into the air.
Viktor stared at Angus, and Angus stared back.
The hall was instantly swallowed by wind and snow, white fragments swirling through the space.
As the heat faded, the falling snow instantly blanketed everything around them.
Angus reached behind him. Several cracks split open, and knightly armor burst out from the void, attaching piece by piece onto Angus's body.
In an instant, steel armor completely wrapped around him.
Cracks tore open again in the sky, revealing dozens of different weapons.
Angus extended a hand and grabbed a massive lance.
The other weapons didn't vanish but instead floated in a circle around him.
He stomped lightly on the ground, and the scenery around them changed dramatically.
The huge room disappeared, replaced by endless frozen wilderness.
Now, it was as if the two stood on an infinite snowy plain.
Viktor stood in the snow, feeling the sudden bone-piercing cold around him.
This was the "Domain" of a fourth-tier Great Knight.
[Snow Mastiff Knight]
This was the ability domain of this powerful knight.
Beneath the silver-white armor, two red-glowing eyes appeared, and murderous cold intent wrapped around Viktor completely.
"My nephew."
"From here on, let's show some real skill."
Viktor raised a hand. Vines wrapped down the sleeve of his coat, forming the wooden sword most suited to him.
He looked at Angus calmly. Amid the raging snowstorm, his coat whipped violently in the wind.
"Of course."
"You can't beat me."