Starting from the Planetary Governor

Matins's battle with Erso was the longest of all 68 battles.

Two giants in their different Terminator Power Armors fought furiously with their exquisite swordsmanship.

As time passed, Matins gradually found the key to countering Erso.

There was no point in competing in swordsmanship where there was a gap that had to be acknowledged. He had to make good use of his equipment advantage.

And indeed, he did quite well.

Again and again, he used the 'cheap shot' tactic when he was at a disadvantage in swordsmanship, often abandoning his defense to launch fierce counterattacks. It was an obvious statement: you might land a blow on my armor, causing me injury, but with the resilient defensive capacity of my armor, the wound I inflict on you will be more severe.

Erso definitely wouldn't go for this trade, so he could only defend.

But sometimes he couldn't help it.

Maybe he felt that this exchange would be profitable.

In reality, after several exchanges, both sides had their fair share of advantages. You would leave a gash on my abdomen; I would strike your arm hard in return.

Often, Matins, thanks to his armor's thickness, suffered lighter injuries; but because of the gap in swordsmanship, he would receive more attacks than Erso.

Both of them were badly scarred at this stage, and it was hard to say whose condition was worse.

But as fatigue and injuries accumulated, neither fought as flawlessly as at the beginning. Inevitably, they started making mistakes, which in turn led to more openings for being hit by the opponent.

The onlooking warriors from both battle groups were increasingly tense. They could see that this duel was nearing its end, approaching the decisive moment. With both sides making more mistakes, the likelihood that the next strike would determine the victor was growing ever larger.

And that moment finally came.

Erso found another chance through his superb swordsmanship, better than any before. Under his maneuver, Matins was wide open, and Erso's sword strike aimed straight at Matins's head.

Earlier, he had already struck Matins's head once. However, that blow was off-target, and Matins's quick reaction had prevented the end of the fight, only leaving a crack in Matins's helmet.

Now, he had the opportunity to follow that crack with another strike. He was certain that this blow would claim Matins's life.

Matins couldn't block Erso's sword. He adopted a similar strategy as before, giving up defense to thrust his powered sword forward. The target was the juncture between Erso's chest plate and abdomen, which had also been hit by him before.

This time, Erso chose not to defend.

Facing a sword strike or beheading Matins, he made his choice.

Even if Matins's strike might pierce upward into his heart, Erso was willing to take the risk.

Interstellar Warriors have two hearts; destroying one would cause severe damage but wouldn't result in instant death, and they could be saved later.

The attacks of both men hit almost simultaneously.

Erso's sword clearly cut into Matins's head, right into the existing crack.

The crack suddenly widened under his heavy blow. He felt resistance, but his sword edge continued to cleave downward. That was until a sharp pain erupted from his abdomen.

His powered armor had been pierced.

Moreover, Matins's technique was indeed as bad as he had anticipated: angled upward, piercing his heart.

To achieve this, Matins's body leaned forward to the utmost, pressing his head against Erso's sword edge to facilitate the upward thrust.

This certainly made Erso's cutting easier, but what he found terrifying was that it seemed he had not fully penetrated the helmet, as if his powered sword was being stuck.

The helmet was hard enough, and perhaps so was Matins's skull.

He continued to exert strength, trying to completely break through, even as his body was pierced and one of his hearts impaled, not letting it affect his power output.

Of course, it hurt a lot, and the injury was severe. But as an Extraordinary Soldier genetically modified, the Interstellar Warriors could be regarded as powerful war machines. Especially for a top expert like Erso, unless he was completely dead or had incurable wounds like limb loss, his combat strength would hardly be affected.

Even if he lost a heart, the other one would beat even more fiercely, giving him power not less than at his peak.

This of course couldn't last and posed a significant recovery burden in the future. But in life-and-death struggle, there was no need to consider this; his body would automatically and instinctively react with such response.

However, before he could completely open Matins's helmet, he was struck by a terrifying electric shock inside his body, piercing through his second heart.

At the same time, Erso's sword finally cut deep into the entire helmet.

The bodies of the two warriors froze there.

...

"Who won?" Kalduce couldn't help asking Priest Rizzo beside him.

At this moment, one powered sword was stuck in Matins's head, cutting halfway through; another powered sword pierced into Erso's abdomen, most of the way in.