âHuaâ¦â¦â
Matcha tried to move forward but was immediately slowed by Mu Xuanâs [Ice Cone]. Queen Mu Xuan wasnât in a hurry to kill Matcha, so she only used one spell at a time to slow her down. Matcha did her best and used both her potions, as well as [Cleansing Wind]. But as before, it could not stop her health from draining away. In the blink of an eye, Matcha was left with only 20% health.
âWuwuâ¦â¦â
Matcha could not do anything about Mu Xuanâs magic; she had neither a Swordsmanâs [Blade Rush], nor a mount, and she could not move as fast as a Mage. She was being completely dominated. In that moment, she seemed to have come to a decision. Not far from the battle, her Illusionary Butterfly began to flap its wings, and activated [Vines of the Dancing Butterfly]!
âShua!â
Green vines appeared from the ground and wrapped themselves around Mu Xuanâs snowy legs. Startled, she asked, âHuh? Thisâ¦â¦is this a disabling skill? It can actually penetrate [Mana Shield]?
Matcha seized the opportunity and moved forward, using her shield to knock Mu Xuanâs pet leopard away. She activated [Heavy Strike] and [Flame Axe] right onto Mu Xuanâs [Mana Shield]. âPa.â The [Mana Shield] shattered. Matcha then followed up with [Skyshaker Slash]. This was her only chance!
âBang!
Matchaâs spear vibrated the air and landed on Mu Xuanâs shoulders, inflicting a long cut. Fresh blood gushed out and a large damage number appeared!
2817!
It was surprising how a Mage like Mu Xuan was still alive even after taking 3000 points of damage. She calmly waved her staff and activated [Indigo Sea Arrow] and [Pillar of Fire & Ice], engulfing Matchaâs beautiful body.
2615!
1928!
âAhhhhhhâ Matcha cried out as she slowly fell to the ground. In the end, she wasnât able to kill Mu Xuan. Itâs a shame that [Skyshaker Slash] didnât produce a critical hit, or Mu Xuan wouldâve been eliminated in the 14th round.
â¦â¦
âShua!â
Matcha returned to the room and angrily stomped her feet, âWuwu, I actually lostâ¦â¦â
Little Wolf lifted his dagger and said, âItâs normal to lose against Mu Xuan. She is number two in Jiu Li City, and the Guild Master of a guild in the top 10. Losing is extremely normalâ¦â
I nodded as well, âYeah. Matchaâs done very well already. There will probably be more tournaments in the futureâ¦â
âOkayâ¦â¦â
At that moment, the final results of the tournament appeared. There were only 10 of the 20 people in the room left in the tournament. This, however, was already an impressive feat. Out of the total 7M people in the tournament, we had managed to have 10 of our own survive through 14 rounds. It could even be considered a miracle, since there were only 256 people left; the rest had been washed out. It was so miraculous that I feel as though Old K, Wolf, and the others must have had incredible luck to have not met any extremely strong opponents and survive until now.
Nearby, Old K carried his axe in one hand as he waved his other in front of him. I couldnât contain my curiosity and asked, âOld K, What are you doing?â
âIâm prayingâ¦â He grinned.
âPraying for what?â
âPraying that I donât meet an expert from the CBN Battlemaster Ranking Charts. What else would I be praying for? If I get someone like Jian Feng Han or Simple, Iâll kneel to the ground for sureâ¦â
I couldnât help but laugh, âOkay. I wish you good luckâ¦â
Very quickly, the screen appeared again with our matchups for the next round. I couldnât help but be nervous. My opponent wasnât much but, Cang Lei and General Bai Qiâs opponents were pretty strongâ¦
Xiao Yao Zi Zai [Lv 71 Dragon City Nightwatch] vs Stray Toad [Lv 67 Musketeer]
Cang Tong [Lv 70 Gold Assassin] vs Vicissitude Human [Lv 66 Gold Mage]
Cang Lei [Lv 67 Gold Berserker] vs Mu Xuan [Lv 70 Ice Flame Mage]
General Bai Qi [Lv 68 Gold Berserker] vs Lu Chunyan [Lv 70 Gold Swordsman]
â¦â¦
General Li Mu raised his head to look at the screen and said, âI feel like⦠things are going to go to sheetâ¦â¦â
âHow so?â Little Wolf asked.
Li Mu stated, âNothing good can come out of going against Mu Xuan. Ah Lei probably wonât be able to break her [Mana Shield] in one hit, while Mu Xuan can probably one-shot him with her spells. After all, Ah Lei doesnât have the defensive skills Matcha has, like [Holy Shield] or [Cleansing Wind]. His strength is also limited; [Absolute Zero Megrez Wall] can hold for at most a few seconds. On the other hand, Bai Qiâs opponent is Lu Chun Yangâ¦â¦F*ck, heâs an old rival.â
My eyes widened, âLu Chun Yang. Isnât he one of the founding members of [Legend]?â
On the side, Matcha nodded and said, âYea. Fang Ge Que, Lu Chun Yang, Xuan Yuan Feng, and Chang Sheng Jue are the four godly experts of [Legend]. Lu Chun Yang is a master in fencing, and is regarded as one of the very best fencers. Itâs said that he is a sword master in real life too, and isnât inferior to expert level players like Jian Feng Han or Q-Sword. He has a 46% win rate against Jian Feng Han and a 41% win rate against Q-Sword; you can just imagine how strong he isâ¦â¦â
I pursed my lips and looked at Bai Qi, âOkayâ¦â¦ good luck Bai Qi. Destroy himâ¦â¦â
Matcha lightly smiled. She was not too depressed after her loss and had started to help us scout our opponents online. She looked at me and said, âBoss, your opponent is Stray Toad, a Musketeer. The fundamental reason he won in his previous rounds is pretty simple; he would use his [Blinding Shot] skill to blind his opponent. After that, he would use his Elite Illusionary Butterfly to immobilize the opponent and then kill them, bringing him to the 15th round.â
I groaned, âThis kind of opponent⦠maybe itâll be better if I use my Flaming Tiger God to kill his Illusionary Butterfly firstâ¦â
Matcha smiled, âBoss, donât worry. [Blinding Shot] uses a red guideline, so you have about 0.3 seconds to react and dodge the bullet. If you can just avoid the [Blinding Shot], heâll definitely lose. With [Blade Rush] and your attack power, you can finish him in one hit!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
I nodded, âOK. Got it!â
â¦â¦
As [Zhan Long]âs tactician, Matcha prepared battle plans for each of us. After explaining them to Old K, Little Wolf and the others, we were all transferred to the arena. Time to battle!
âShua!â
I entered the arena for the 15th round. Stray Toad stood in front of me with his pistol raised, and his Illusionary Butterfly hovering next to his shoulder. With an earnest expression, he exclaimed, âXiao Yao Zi Zai!â
âWhatâs up?â I asked.
âYouâre definitely going to loseâ¦â¦â
âOh really?â I laughed. He was obviously taunting me. Either he was trying to get me to lose concentration, or he was trying to make me underestimate him. No matter which one I fell for, he would still profit from it.
When the timer reached zero, I immediately activated [Dragonâs Whistle of Thunder and Lightning] and [Haste]. With the Emperor Qinâs Sword in my hand and my defense and attack buff, I rushed forward.
âSha sha shaâ¦â¦â
Stray Toad immediately retreated a few steps and steadily lifted his gun with both hands. âBang!â A red line flew straight at my body; it was [Blinding Shot]âs tracker. His actions were really too fast!
I stomped on the ground and in one swift movement, dodged the bullet, causing a huge MISS to appear. At the same time, I wildly charged toward my opponent. As Stray Toad tried to escape, I activated [Blade Rush] and appeared in front of him. My sword stabbed forward, activating [Wind Blade]!
3217!
He didnât die! It seemed like he was a Musketeer that had added stats to Vitality!
Stray Toad stared at me and cried, âGreat hero, have mercy on me!â
âPaâ He fell to the ground and entered a fake death state, turning my attack into a MISS. His skill at faking deaths was very polished; it was almost admirable.
I stepped back a few steps and activated [Seven Star Fragment Slash]!
âBoom!â
After ârevivingâ, he fell limply to the floor again. The battle had only taken 3 seconds!
âDing!â
System Notification: Congratulations, you have defeated Player ãStray Toadã, and successfully advanced to the next round!
â¦â¦
After returning to the waiting room, Matcha stood next to me. âTo instantly kill your opponent⦠Boss is in good shape! There are only two more rounds until you reach the top 32.â
I nodded and looked at the screen. Little Wolf, Li Mu, and Wang Jian were still in battle. Their opponents were not considerably strong, but they werenât exactly weak either. It wasnât easy for them to instantly finish their battles. Old K used [Whirlwind Blade], followed up by [Savage Jump], to send his opponent into a daze. His opponentâs health was quickly halved; he was clearly at a disadvantage.
I was going to watch Cang Leiâs match against Mu Xuan, but I noticed that he was already standing next to me. He had lost the round in 7 secondsâ¦â¦
Scratching his head, Cang Lei forced out a laugh, âBrother Xiao Yao, I canât beat that big-breasted lady. Her magic attack is too high. One of her fireballs dealt 2000 damage to meâ¦â¦â
I nodded and smiled reassuringly, âDonât worry. Getting to the 15th round is pretty impressive alreadyâ¦â¦â
âThanks Brother Xiao Yaoâ¦â¦â
â¦â¦
Shortly after, Li Mu, Wang Jian, Wan Er ,and Dong Cheng all finished their battles. At the same time, the battle between General Bai Qi and Lu Chun Yang was starting to heat up. Lu Chun Yang was very skillful in tactical-style fighting. He would attack Bai Qi several times, but retreated whenever Bai Qiâs health decreased. He was not in a hurry to kill his opponent, and fought by observing his opponentâs cooldowns very carefully, including the cooldowns of his potions. When Bai Qiâs potions were on cooldown, he would attack Bai Qi directly. It was obvious that there was a significant gap between the two when it came to battle tactics.
âDamnâ¦â¦â
Wang Jian clenched his fists, âBai Qi is being overpowered by his opponentâ¦â¦â
Li Mu frowned, âLu Chun Yang is too f*cking OP. Itâs normal for Bai Qi to be overpoweredâ¦â
Yue Qing Qian looked around and said, âThis isnât going too well. We only have 8 people left in the tournamentâ¦â¦â
âItâs not a problemâ¦â With her Scarlet Edge in hand, Wan Er nodded and smiled, âThe people who are already in the tournament are the top 128. Even if we lose, weâll still get rewarded. Iâm almost certain that weâll level up at least once, and maybe get some Charm points on top of that. That said, everyone has performed pretty well so far.â
A few minutes later, the screen displayed the matches for the next round â
Xiao Yao Zi Zai [Lv 71 Dragon City Nightwatch] vs Jian Tan [Lv 69 Gold Swordsman]
Cang Tong [Lv 70 Gold Assassin] vs Goodbye Tears [Lv 67 Gold Monk]
Yue Qing Qian [Lv 69 Gold Assassin] vs Cyclone User [Lv 68 Gold Mage]
â¦â¦