Chapter 1416: Initial Appearance

Translator:

Exodus Tales

Editor:

Exodus Tales

Chapter 1416 – Initial Appearance

When Flaming Arm was less than 10 yards away from Fierce Snake, he shouted abruptly.

Suddenly, his body released a golden glow. Divine swords began to appear around him, rotating as he moved.

Tier 1 Skill, Divine Storm!

When activated, the Skill would deal divine damage to all enemies within an 8-yard radius three times. Each attack contained 130% of player’s Strength and dealt 200% weapon damage.

“Flaming Arm is merciless! He’s using his signature move right off the bat.”

“Signature move?”

“While it looks like he’s trying to finish his opponent off with Divine Storm, in reality, he’s only using it to trick his opponent into defending themselves or dodging his attack. When his opponent has lost the power to resist, he’ll finish them off with Divine Adjudication. Divine Adjudication is an unavoidable Skill, and Flaming Arm has relied on it to pass the initial phase during previous competitions.”

A few participants who were familiar with Flaming Arm could not help but pity Fierce Snake.

Although Flaming Arm was a Guardian Knight, he had dumped the majority of his Free Attribute Points into his Strength. Moreover, his Gemstones were all Strength-based. He operated more like a DPS player than an MT.

Flaming Arm’s Strength could even rival top-tier Berserkers of the same level. Even his Berserk Skill was Strength-based, increasing his Strength by 100%. Not even a top-tier Berserker of the same level could compete with Flaming Arm once the Guardian Knight activated his Berserk Skill.

Seeing the enemy Guardian Knight charge towards him fearlessly, Fierce Snake activated Power of Darkness, and faint layers of dark fog swirled around his body. He then rotated as he swung his greatsword horizontally.

Whirlwind Slash!

Immediately, a black tornado dominated Group Three’s stage.

What a fool!

Flaming Arm sneered as he put even more power into his charge.

When the black tornado and the golden tornado clashed, a powerful shockwave tore through the stage.

When the tornados scattered, everyone watching was stupefied.

“Impossible! He blocked Flaming Arm’s attack?!”

“How high is Fierce Snake’s Strength?!”

Flaming Arm was a Guardian Knight famed for his Strength. Very few players had ever blocked his signature move, but if an opponent could block the first assault and retain their stance, Flaming Arm would lose his opportunity to follow up with Divine Adjudication.

Flaming Arm’s expression hardened as he glared at his opponent.

During the previous collision, Fierce Snake had only been forced to retreat by one step. On the other hand, he had taken three steps back. He had also lost over 500 HP. The difference between their Strengths was obvious.

How is his Strength so high?

Flaming Arm refused to accept this. To help him score well in the competition, his adventurer team had lent him a set of Epic bracers, which boosted his Strength considerably. With these bracers equipped, he was even confident of securing one of the top 100 positions.

Yet, he had lost to an unknown Berserker’s Strength.

This All-rounded Device the Guild Leader had me equip is amazing!

Fierce Snake couldn’t help his shock when he saw his Skill Completion Rate.

In truth, his Strength Attribute was only slightly higher than Flaming Arm’s. The main reason behind the outcome of that clash was his Whirlwind Slash’s Completion Rate.

He had achieved a 90% Completion rate with his counterattack. This was the first time he had executed Whirlwind Slash so smoothly. As long as a Skill’s Completion Rate rose past 85%, every 1% increase would boost the attack’s power. Upon reaching 90%, the Skill would undergo a qualitative transformation.

It was only natural that Flaming Arm had difficulty blocking his attack.

Since I can’t overcome his Strength, let’s see who lasts until the end!

Flaming Arm calmed very quickly. Immediately, he activated Protection Blessing. Then, while disregarding his defense, he attacked Fierce Snake ruthlessly, intent on exchanging blow for blow.

Protection Blessing halved the damage he received. Even if there was a difference in Strength, he had the advantage in an exchange of blows since Berserkers didn’t have any Skills that reduced incoming damage.

As everyone assumed that Fierce Snake would dodge Flaming Arm’s attacks, the man rushed forward to meet the Guardian Knight in battle rather than retreating.

“Is his brain broken?! He clearly has the advantage in this fight. He could easily win if he just waited out Flaming Arm’s Protection Blessing, yet he’s charging towards his death.”

Fierce Snake’s behavior confused the spectators.

Fierce Snake and Flaming Arm engaged in a vicious battle, attacking and defending. However, a Guardian Knight had a much easier time defending against attacks than a Berserker. With a slight adjustment of his shield, Flaming Arm could easily guard a large portion of his body. In contrast, Fierce Snake could only protect a limited space even with large swings of his greatsword.

The difference between their damages was also clear. Even when Fierce Snake’s greatsword struck his opponent, his normal attacks only dealt around -3,000 damage. On the other hand, Flaming Arm’s normal attacks dealt over -6,000 damage. Meanwhile, Flaming Arm had over 80,000 HP, while Fierce Snake only had around 70,000 HP.

When Fierce Snake’s HP fell to 50%, Flaming Arm still had over two-thirds of his HP left.

However, the more Flaming Arm fought Fierce Snake, the more afraid he became. As the battle dragged on, he could sense his opponent’s combat standards improving. Moreover, the more Fierce Snake fought, the more natural the Berserker’s actions became. As a result, it became increasingly difficult to land an attack. On the other hand, Fierce Snake had an easier time hitting him.

After another five seconds, Fierce Snake had only one-third of his HP remaining. However, Flaming Arm had the same.

“What?! Flaming Arm is losing?!”

No one could believe their eyes as they watched Flaming Arm’s HP Fall below Fierce Snake’s, the gap between them growing wider as the seconds ticked by.

How is his combat standard so high?! Has he been toying with me all this time?!

When Flaming Arm saw his HP drop to a critical level, he knew that he had lost his chance of winning. Not only was the difference between their combat standards so great, but his Protection Blessing’s duration was running out.

What Flaming Arm didn’t know was that due to the sudden increase of Mana density around Fierce Snake, he couldn’t fight at his peak, but as the match progressed, Fierce Snake adapted to the increase brought about by the All-rounded Device.

Honestly, Fierce Snake could’ve ended the battle already. However, fighting a top-tier expert like Flaming Arm was inspiring. Hence, he hadn’t bothered to use any of his Skills, toying with the enemy Guardian Knight.

When Fierce Snake eventually eliminated the final strand of Flaming Arm’s HP, gasps of amazement echoed from the crowd.

“Zero Wing’s Fierce Snake is so amazing!”

“I never thought that, aside from the several well-known peak experts, Zero Wing had someone like this. I’ve underestimated Zero Wing.”

“It seems we’ll have to be more careful of this Berserker later on. His melee combat abilities are too strong.”

After the match, the various major powers’ representatives were a little afraid of this Berserker, Fierce Snake. After all, Fierce Snake had relied on normal attacks to defeat the Black Dragon Empire’s 37th ranking Guardian Knight. If he had used his Skills, he would’ve wiped the floor with Flaming Arm.

After Fierce Snake’s match, Wind Mill, Wild Bone, and Negative Life completed their matches. Without suspense, they won their respective battles. Moreover, they also won their matches without any Skills. No one had seen the true depth of their prowess.

As the ranking competition grew more intense, Zhao Yueru’s turn eventually came.

Group Five – No. 918 VS No. 29!

“What?! The Flame Witch is going up against Falling Flowers?!”

“Both are experts capable of qualifying for the final phase. To think the system would pit them against each other...”

“This is going to be interesting. Falling Flowers is one of the top ten Swordsman experts in the Purple Thorns Kingdom. I’ve heard that some time ago, she even defeated Whistling Sword, the 394th ranked player on the God’s Domain Experts List. On the other hand, even the Dark Guild, Corpse Soul, is helpless against the Flame Witch. This will be an intense fight.”

Everyone grew excited as they watched the two women approach Group Five’s stage.

As soon as the match began, both sides activated their Berserk Skills.

Upon doing so, Zhao Yueru executed triple-casting. Although she had only cast two Tier 1 Spells and a Tier 0 Spell, both her spellcasting speed and her Spell’s power shocked the audience.

Fireballs, Flame Spears, and Flaming Chains shot towards Falling Flowers in rapid succession. Despite being a Refinement Realm expert, Falling Flowers couldn’t keep up with the attacks. After exhausting of her Lifesaving Skills, the dozens of Fireballs and Flame Spears killed her instantly...