The battle between Artoria and Ryu Ishigori continued.
Ryu Ishigori was the first to fire several Cursed Energy blasts at Artoria.
While Artoria dodged and parried the Cursed Energy blasts, Ryu Ishigori rushed to Artoria's front at his fastest speed, hoping to seize the initiative.
Thanks to the added length of her Holy Sword, Artoria's attack arrived even before Ryu Ishigori's fist.
The Holy Sword swept horizontally, a Move that cleared a thousand armies, striking towards Ryu Ishigori.
Seeing this, Ryu Ishigori slammed his right foot down, braking sharply, avoiding being cut in half by the Holy Sword.
Then, Artoria twisted her wrist, swung the Holy Sword from behind her body, and brought down a powerful 'Forceful Split of Mount Hua' Move from top to bottom.
The wide, sweeping attack, carrying enough force to sever even large Cursed Spirits, cleaved down fiercely, leaving a long gash on the ground.
This sword strike was dodged by Ryu Ishigori, who moved to the side.
Ryu Ishigori crouched slightly, then pushed off with his left foot, moving a meter horizontally forward, bringing him in front of Artoria.
"Take this!"
Ryu Ishigori threw an uppercut at Artoria.
Artoria tilted her head, dodging the punch.
Ryu Ishigori's height was still much greater than Artoria's.
Although Ryu Ishigori had crouched to attack.
But Artoria, having just used the 'Forceful Split of Mount Hua' Move, was also bent downwards.
Therefore, this uppercut was slightly too high, and it was not difficult for Artoria to dodge.
Ryu Ishigori obviously knew this, but he didn't care.
Because he had successfully entered Artoria's sword range.
Normally, while wide, sweeping attacks represent swift and powerful offense, they also mean larger gaps in the attack.
One punch, two punches, three punches... Ryu Ishigori's attacks continuously rained down on Artoria.
Artoria promptly raised her sword to parry.
Clang, clang, clang.
Fists wrapped in Cursed Energy continuously struck the sword blade.
Artoria successfully blocked all of Ryu Ishigori's attacks.
Conversely, Ryu Ishigori's fists, even reinforced with Cursed Energy, still sustained minor injuries due to the Holy Sword's sharpness.
Ryu Ishigori's gaze sharpened.
His right fist, enveloped in powerful Cursed Energy, struck the Holy Sword fiercely.
Pfft.
Ryu Ishigori's fist was cut by the edge of the Holy Sword's blade.
Artoria's figure also recoiled slightly from the heavy punch.
A Cursed Energy blast instantly condensed above Ryu Ishigori's head.
The blast shot towards Artoria's upper body.
Ryu Ishigori knew that while the head was more lethal, it was also easier to dodge.
He had witnessed Artoria's powerful combat awareness more than once; it was as if there was no fatal attack she couldn't dodge.
So Ryu Ishigori chose the body, which was harder to dodge.
Artoria, who had just recoiled from Ryu Ishigori's heavy punch, immediately performed a backflip, dodging the Cursed Energy blast.
Ryu Ishigori immediately looked up and adjusted his cannon muzzle, splitting the Cursed Energy blast into several streams that enveloped Artoria's entire body.
Artoria, having just landed, was clearly unable to dodge.
Artoria adjusted her stance, swinging her sword from bottom to top, either cutting or dodging the Cursed Energy blasts aimed at her abdomen, heart, and head, and used Mana Burst to enhance her defense.
Boom.
The Cursed Energy blast hit Artoria.
Ryu Ishigori didn't stop, because he knew these minor tricks were useless against Artoria.
Strike her when she's down, finish her off.
Ryu Ishigori began to continuously unleash barrages of blasts at Artoria.
Explosions constantly erupted from Artoria's location.
'The cannon feedback is off.'
It was like a boxer's feel for his punches.
Ryu Ishigori, who had spent his life with cannons, also had his own 'cannon sense'.
'The explosion sounds are getting louder, this feeling, it's as if none of my blasts hit and they all struck the ground...'
Ryu Ishigori realized something was wrong.
Sure enough, the next second Artoria burst out from another direction.
Her blue and white armored dress showed obvious damage; the blue skirt was torn in places by the blasts, and the silver-white armor also had some dents and abrasions.
But Artoria herself had not sustained any significant injuries.
This was the only result of Ryu Ishigori's round of Cursed Energy blasts.
She initially took a few Cursed Energy blasts because Artoria had just landed and couldn't evade.
But with her resistance to magic and Mana Burst enhancing her defense, the damage from these uncharged rapid-fire blasts was simply insufficient.
"Over here, then? Bring it on!"
Ryu Ishigori threw a punch at Artoria, and the cannon muzzle on his pompadour head also fired a Cursed Energy blast in cooperation immediately.
The fact that his attacks failed to achieve results did not make Ryu Ishigori fearful.
Instead, it made his fighting spirit even more invigorated.
This was a person like Kashimo Hajime, who would challenge relentlessly even if he knew he couldn't win.
A strong individual who would sacrifice his life for one all-out, exhilarating battle.
A famous Baki Hanma once said: Techniques are impure things, meant for the weak to study.
Ryu Ishigori once had similar thoughts.
Because he was born too late.
If he had been born 20 years earlier, Kashimo Hajime wouldn't have been too old to travel far.
The two might have even had an incredibly satisfying battle.
Therefore, Ryu Ishigori had never tasted defeat in his life, nor had he ever been 'full' from a fight.
The techniques of those weaker individuals were naturally regarded by him as useless tricks.
But at this moment, Ryu Ishigori began to use those techniques he had originally disdained.
After giving his all, the impressive Moves that weaker opponents had used against him in battle began to be employed by him one by one.
Artoria's sword struck towards Ryu Ishigori's head.
Ryu Ishigori sidestepped to dodge, then ducked and dived, using the opening created by Artoria's Holy Sword being unable to immediately retract, to fiercely punch Artoria's abdomen.
Artoria released the sword hilt with her left hand, retracting the sword with her right hand alone.
Her left arm, however, blocked in front of her body first.
Bang.
Ryu Ishigori's fist struck Artoria's armor.
Both frowned simultaneously; clearly, this blow hurt both of them.
Artoria swung her sword with her right hand, cutting downwards at Ryu Ishigori.
Ryu Ishigori maintained his crouched, diving posture, moving his feet continuously to dodge the sword strike.
At the same time, he circled to Artoria's side.
This was a Move Ryu Ishigori had seen from a guy who loved to box.
Constantly circling and moving around the opponent.
This allowed him to timely evade powerful frontal attacks while also attacking the opponent's sides.
That guy, with his strange footwork, broke several of Ryu Ishigori's ribs.
As Illaoi said: Preaching is useless, broken bones are better textbooks.
The few broken ribs made Ryu Ishigori remember this Move completely.
Thus, after circling to Artoria's side, Ryu Ishigori fiercely punched Artoria's ribs.
Moreover, Ryu Ishigori chose Artoria's right side.
Because Artoria had just swung her sword with her right hand, she couldn't block in time.
If it had been her left side, Artoria surely would have been able to block with her left arm again.
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