Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 46: The Stadium Bell
The opponent for the fourth round has been decided. It is Yamamoto Kyushu, the vice leader of the old rival Never-Setting Sun Mercenary Group. He is also the only dragon knight in the Never-Setting Sun Mercenary Group, and his pet is a velociraptor. Even if we don't count the previous grudges, just for the heavy bets he made on my skills this time, for their own benefit, he will definitely do his best to stop me from advancing.
Although the velociraptors have strong offensive and defensive capabilities and will be unstoppable when they attack, they do not have much advantage over me. As long as they cannot threaten me at the beginning of the game, I can use "Summon the Undead" to summon the Terror Knight to fight the enemy first, and then summon the pet to help. With my current mental strength, I can summon a Terror Lion Knight and a Terror Tiger Knight at the same time. With Red Star or Taotao, I am fully capable of competing with a velociraptor pet that is only one or two months old.
The progress of the game was just as I expected . When Yamamoto Kyushu summoned a velociraptor and rode it at full speed and was about to rush in front of me, I finally completed the "Summoning of the Undead" - this is something Afeng and I have tried many times, and there is absolutely no room for error. I summoned a terrifying lion knight and a terrifying tiger knight. This was their first appearance in public - before, Qingwu Feiyang, Qiu Shui Changtian and others had summoned terrifying giant bear knights. It seems that for the time being, they are still slightly inferior to me in terms of basic mental strength.
In order to avoid being attacked by Yamamoto Kyushu before I had finished the adaptation period, I arranged the landing place of the two horror knights to be far away from the battle circle on the field. I believed that facing the temptation of attacking me by taking two steps forward, he would not abandon me and turn around to attack the two horror knights at both ends of the field. Of course, I was a little dangerous to do this. Under the attack of Yamamoto Kyushu's dragon spear and speed dragon, I had to be careful to dodge the stab of the dragon spear, and also pay attention to avoid the stomping and strong collision of the speed dragon. Fortunately, I was a part-time thief, proficient in the dodging skills of "One Ride Away" and "Shapeshifting Phantom", plus the use of "Three Shields to Protect the Body" and activating "Touch of Death" for protection, I could still hold on for the time being and not suffer too serious injuries.
I held on until the two Terror Knights recovered their mobility and quickly rushed up to fight with Yamamoto Kyushu, which finally relieved the pressure on me. In just a short while, even with the "Damage Conversion" effect activated, I had already lost more than one-third of my health, plus the 10% loss from using "Death Touch", leaving only half of my health. The weapon in Yamamoto Kyushu's hand was indeed the "King Kong Dragon Spear" of the same level as Afeng's "Huima Dragon Spear". Except that it did not have any attack skills, its attack power alone was higher than that of the "Huima Dragon Spear".
After getting rid of Yamamoto Kyushu's violent attack, I quickly retreated to a relatively safe distance and quickly used "Pet Summoning" to summon Taotao, who could use magic attacks and was a greater threat to the Speed Dragon, to join the siege of Yamamoto Kyushu. Then I cast "Dead Soul Curse" on Yamamoto Kyushu and the Speed Dragon, and then activated "Death Touch" to wrap around Yamamoto Kyushu's body and absorb his mental power with all my strength.
The two Terror Knights fearlessly confronted the rampaging Swift Dragon head-on, ignoring the damage they suffered. They were repelled again and again, but they rushed forward again and again, fighting with the Swift Dragon to exchange injuries to prevent Yamamoto Kyushu from chasing me and buy time for me to move in time. Taotao flew in the air, using "Flowing Fire Armor" to protect his body, performing "Fire Feather Flying" and "Fire Roar", looking down from a high position, focusing on attacking Yamamoto Kyushu on the dragon's back, forcing him to repeatedly retract the dragon spear that attacked me and turn to expel Taotao to reduce the threat to himself.
The battle was temporarily at a stalemate. As I didn't have much mental power left, I didn't dare to use the "Ghost Fire of the Netherworld" which consumed a lot of energy. I had to concentrate on absorbing Yamamoto Kyushu's mental power and consuming his physical strength at the same time. Once he was unable to use his skills and was exhausted, Taotao would find it easier to find an opportunity to kill him.
If everything went as I imagined, winning this match would be a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. As a trump card of the British Mercenary Group, Yamamoto Kyushu was not as easy to deal with as I imagined. Perhaps he realized his unfavorable situation. He forced Taotao to retreat with a shot, raised his hand, and threw out a small object emitting a faint bronze glow. It instantly grew larger and looked like a large brass bell, nearly two meters high, with a bell mouth of about one meter in diameter. Left and right, suspended in the air, emitting a hazy yellow light, moving with Yamamoto Kyushu, accompanied by the sound of "dang, dang" bells, which were clearly separated by a distance, but seemed to be ringing in my ears, shaking my heart and making me feel dizzy. I felt as if I was drunk and could not stand steadily, and my steps were weak. The two horror knights who were closer also lost their footing, swaying and unable to use their strength. They were trampled and ravaged by the speed dragons, and were easily knocked aside. I broke through their interception and rushed straight towards me. Even Taotao, who was the strongest, danced a "swing dance" in the air, swaying up and down, left and right, and his movements were seriously deformed. The attack he just launched also deviated from the target and fell into the air. Instead, he was injured by Yamamoto Kyushu's counterattack shot and was forced to retreat two steps. He instinctively circled and pulled away from Yamamoto Kyushu. He looked a little better and barely stabilized his body.
Seeing such power, it goes without saying that Yamamoto Kyushu must have used another "pseudo-artifact". As commented by "Tian Media", the "World Heroes Conference" gathered many heroes, and many players possessed this sharp prop that could turn the situation around. So far, thirty or forty of them have appeared in the individual competition, and there was even a fierce scene where a pair of players used "pseudo-artifacts" at the same time. No one who can stand in this arena will be a weakling.
The sound of the bell disturbed my mind, and I felt dizzy and staggering. I lost my focus and felt my resistance increased. I was shocked and Yamamoto Kyushu took the opportunity to get rid of the "Touch of Death", which further lost control over him. Seeing that the interception was ineffective, Yamamoto Kyushu held the bell on his head, waved a long dragon spear, and urged the velociraptor to rush towards me. As the distance got closer, the feeling of dizziness became stronger and stronger. I dared not confront him head-on, so I hurriedly waved my hand and threw out the "horse-tripping rope" to delay his actions and facilitate my escape.
A gray light shaped like a rope as thick as a thumb flew out and wrapped around the body of the speed dragon, instantly reducing the speed of Yamamoto Kyushu's attack. Taking this opportunity, I endured the dizziness, turned around and used all my strength to perform "One Ride Away from the Dust", trying my best to increase the distance between me and Yamamoto Kyushu. The "Horse-Tripping Rope" could only restrain him for a while, and it could not be used continuously after it was taken back. Now was the only chance.
Yamamoto Kyushu was restrained, and I kept changing the direction of my escape, so he was always a few steps behind me. It was only because I activated the "Touch of Death" to form a protective shield, which offset the intrusion of the sound. Otherwise, how could he escape the pursuit with his staggering steps? However, this situation could not last long. After three minutes, the effect of the "Stirring Horse Sock" disappeared, and it would take at least ten minutes before it could be used again. If the "pseudo-artifact" was still in effect at that time, I was afraid that I would be in danger.
Fortunately, there was another person who could run away for me. After receiving my order, Taotao quickly flew to the front to meet me. I jumped onto the horse's back and it spread its wings and flew forward. Although it could only get three or four meters off the ground and was affected by the sound of the bell, its speed was affected, but it was still quite fast, much faster than the restrained Speed Dragon, and quickly widened the distance between it and Yamamoto Kyushu.
The time limit was up. The Speed Dragon, who had escaped from the "trip rope", became arrogant again, chasing me closely and soon approaching behind me. Fortunately, Taotao was flying in mid-air, with more space to dodge and move, and was more flexible than on the ground. He was able to escape Yamamoto Kyushu's attacks time and time again without suffering fatal injuries.
According to the rules of the game, if I just keep evading and unable to fight back, I will be judged as a passive contestant and penalized with negative points. Even if I survive the game when the time limit is up, I will still be judged as a failure. I don't know how long this big clock can last. If I delay for 20 minutes until the end of the game, it will be too unfair for me. However, I can't do anything about the current situation. I feel dizzy and weak. Taotao and the two horror knights can't even exert 30% of their full strength. How can I fight Yamamoto Kyushu?
Fortunately, it lasted for about ten minutes, followed by three consecutive louder bangs, which almost shook me off the horse. After three bangs, the bronze bell suspended in the air stopped roaring and turned into a stream of light and dissipated. I finally reached the time limit of the usage of the "pseudo-artifact".
Without the interference of the bell sound, the two terrifying knights who had been wandering around the arena like drunks and "strolling" behind Yamamoto Kyushu suddenly returned to normal and re-engaged in attacking the velociraptor with full vigor. I also jumped off the horse, freed Taotao to continue attacking Yamamoto Kyushu, and launched a massive counterattack.
The situation on the field was reversed again. I was attacking with all my strength. Yamamoto Kyushu started to counterattack with 80% defense and 20% offense. Seeing that it was not easy to defeat me, he actually used a delaying tactic, hoping to wait until the time limit was no winner, and finally win the game with the advantage he just gained. The Speed Dragon Knight, who was always good at attacking, fought a guerrilla war, mainly dodging and defending, and was unable to cause too much damage to him quickly.
Naturally, I couldn't let Yamamoto Kyushu get his wish. I originally thought that his health was only 20% left, and I didn't want to consume another 10% to activate the " Touch of Death". Now I was anxious, so I raised my hand and shot out, absorbing his mental power while consuming his physical strength, trying my best to weaken his strength.
Yamamoto Kyushu used a "pseudo-artifact" to force me into danger, but the final failure was due to the real artifact "Touch of Death" in my hand. His mental power was quickly sucked away, and he could no longer use his skills. His strength was greatly reduced, and it was difficult for him to resist Taotao's attack. Moreover, the "pseudo-artifact" he just released seemed to have consumed a lot of his physical strength, and soon he showed signs of physical exhaustion, looking even more embarrassed. Although he finally killed the Terror Tiger Knight with the power of the Speed Dragon and severely injured the Terror Lion Knight, he was still eliminated by Taotao's "Fire Roar", allowing me to successfully advance to the fifth round.
The fourth round of competition ended, and the top 64 of the individual competition were produced. Afeng's opponent in this round was another top player, Huang Ma, who was as famous as Angel in the World among the Knights of Light. He was also a Dragon Knight, but a Flying Dragon Knight, and his mount was a level 7 pterosaur. This was a contest between a Sensitive Pet Knight and a Power Pet Knight of equal strength. The fighting skills of both sides were similar, but Huang Ma's weapon was a holy weapon-level "Wind Demon Spear", which not only increased the attack speed, but also had wind attribute damage. The performance of armor, helmets and other equipment was also better than Afeng. In the end, Afeng was eliminated by virtue of the advantage in equipment, leaving only me in the Tongxin League to advance to the top 64. Alas, the lack of more funds to obtain props and equipment with better performance is a major reason why the Tongxin League cannot produce top masters.
Strong players passed one after another, while weak ones were eliminated. Even if someone advanced to the next round by chance with the help of a "pseudo-artifact", facing increasingly powerful opponents, if their own strength was not enough, where could they find a second "pseudo-artifact" to use? "Pseudo-artifacts" were not like real artifacts. They could only be owned and used by the obtainers. There was no way to sell or transfer them. It was unknown how many or how difficult professional tasks one had to complete to be rewarded with one. The opportunities were limited, and generally speaking, a player could not own two in a short period of time.
My opponent in the fifth round was a Berserker, who was also an acquaintance. He was a neutral professional director of the "Resistance Alliance" Council, Lieri. His pet was a level 7 powerful gorilla, which was quite powerful. However, in the last round, in order to defeat his opponent, a dragon knight, he used a "pseudo-artifact". Although he won the game in the end, he had already used all means. For me, there was no reservation. I had a glimpse of his strength. More importantly, the opponent, whether human or pet, could not threaten me quickly at the beginning of the game. He had time to use "Summon the Undead", which was enough to ensure that I had a certain advantage in the current strength comparison. It was the type that I could deal with most easily. Such a result made Xue Wuxia and Afeng sigh at my good luck. Otherwise, if the opponents encountered in the game were all shooters with professions that were mutually exclusive or had powerful agile magic pets, which could directly threaten me in battle, the result would be hard to say.
During the official competition, I followed the strategy I used against Yamamoto Kyushu and entangled the powerful gorilla with the Terror Lion Knight and the Terror Tiger Knight. Taotao and I teamed up to deal with Lie Ri. After a hard fight, we finally defeated the opponent and successfully advanced to the sixth round of the top 32.
