Chapter Forty-Five: Facing A Blade Above All

The final four have emerged, and this season’s duel tournament is entering its climax. Glancing at the clock, I saw today’s match would be held at 3 p.m. I allowed myself to sleep in and only got up at two in the afternoon. After a bit of preparation, I didn’t rush to log into the game; instead, I decided to browse the forums first.

The forum was awash in all sorts of rumors and speculation, but one post in particular caught my eye: “The Road of the Strong: Who Will Ascend to the Summit?” It was a poll discussing who would become the champion, and its number of views was soaring. According to the latest updates, Illusory Moon was in first place with 150,000 votes, and the number kept climbing. Next were Lone Sword and Silver Moon, while I was at the very bottom with a pitiful 4,000 votes, which left me feeling extremely disheartened.

The first reply analyzed the strengths of the final four: Illusory Moon, a player shrouded in mystery, boasted the top-ranked gear set and a high-attack weapon. With top-tier control, she was the strongest contender for the crown. Silver Moon, though an archer, had the close-combat prowess of a warrior and had no fear of being forced into melee, but against top warriors like Illusory Moon or Lone Sword, her chances of victory weren’t high. Lone Sword, with his high attack, defense, and health, was an exceptional warrior who possessed a ranged sword energy skill; it seemed unlikely he would lose to anyone. As for me, Weiwei Dragon, the fact that a summoner had made it this far spoke to my strength. Though I had an unknown doppelganger skill that could catch opponents off-guard, once my summoned beasts were defeated, my individual strength simply couldn’t compare to the other three.

So, the general consensus was that Illusory Moon and Lone Sword were the most qualified contenders for the championship, with Silver Moon and Lone Sword at worst competing for second and third place.

The second reply asked, “Is Illusory Moon a man or a woman, and why does she hide her face?” The third guessed she was a woman, but only an unattractive girl would do that. The fourth insisted Illusory Moon had to be a man, because her fighting style was too aggressive for a woman. The fifth hoped she was a girl, so he could ask her out and level up together. The sixth said she hoped Illusory Moon was a man, so she wouldn’t be harassed when leveling up. The discussion devolved from there, focusing more and more on whether Illusory Moon was a beauty, which was rather dull. Still, the fact that I was dead last, not even considered in the top three, left me rather disgruntled.

Soon, the matchups for fifth to eighth place were announced:
- Chasing Stars vs. Rookie
- Snowy Night God of War vs. Twin Moon

The first round was Chasing Stars’ match. As soon as it began, Chasing Stars charged in and unleashed a combo: consecutive strikes, a heavy blow, and a mountain-crushing attack, nearly finishing off Rookie. But Rookie’s treant ability was too overpowering; before Chasing Stars could react, he was taken out, losing the match.

The second round, Long Xin’s match, was straightforward. She unleashed every fire spell from Fireball to Meteor Shower. Snowy Night God of War could only turn into a beam of white light and be teleported off the field, utterly dejected.

Next, Chasing Stars defeated Snowy Night God of War to claim seventh place. Then came Long Xin versus Rookie. Rookie was chased around the arena by her fire spells and finally burned to white light, giving Long Xin fifth place and Rookie sixth.

Then, it was time for the semifinals.

Weiwei Dragon vs. Lone Sword.
Illusory Moon vs. Silver Moon.

“We’re down to just you, our last hope from Dragon Studio. Big brother, you have to give it your all and take the championship,” Long Xin urged.

“I’ll do my best,” I replied with a laugh.

“Dragon Spirit, I bet on you to make it to the finals. Don’t let me down,” Xiao Ai added.

I was left speechless.

Soon, I entered the arena and saw Lone Sword standing silently in full armor, facing me with unwavering composure. We locked eyes, evenly matched.

I couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you feel hot in all that armor?”

He smiled slightly. “Not at all. Do you really think you can beat me?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

He replied, “You’ve got guts.” With that, he drew a longsword, electricity crackling blue and white around the blade, mingled with crimson flames—a rare elemental weapon. I recognized it instantly as the Thunderfire Sword, ranked third on the equipment leaderboard, the same sword that had edged my Ruyi Staff into fourth place.

The system announced the start of the match. At that very instant, both our figures burst into motion.

All around us, the hundreds of thousands of spectators fell utterly silent as the battle of the final four commenced.

I leaped forward, not summoning any beasts yet. Gripping my Ruyi Staff in my right hand, I used it to vault, my body soaring several meters in a flash. The staff swung in a powerful arc, crashing down toward Lone Sword.

But he wasn’t fazed. Calmly, he bent his knees and darted aside at an angle.

With a thunderous boom, my staff smashed into the spot where he’d stood, leaving a crater in the ground.

My opening attack missed. Lone Sword, now behind me, gripped his Thunderfire Sword in both hands and swept it toward me. As I landed, I kept my cool, angling my staff to parry his sword. Sparks flew at the resounding clash of metal. He wasn’t surprised either; he hadn’t expected that strike to injure me.

Then, Lone Sword lunged forward, forcing me back a few steps. At the same time, he switched to a one-handed grip and let out a fierce shout, slashing out with the Thunderfire Sword. Waves of sword energy shot out, surging toward me in an instant.

We were so close that dodging was impossible. But I had no intention of fleeing. With a low shout, I summoned the Giant-Horned Lizard to shield me. It blocked the sword energy, roaring as it launched a punch at Lone Sword.

But Lone Sword sidestepped nimbly and brought his Thunderfire Sword down on me. I countered with my staff—another piercing clang, sparks flying.

His strength surpassed mine; I felt myself being forced back. But the Giant-Horned Lizard leapt at him from behind, its massive weight bearing down. Lone Sword reacted instantly, rolling aside to evade.

He charged again. I ordered the Giant-Horned Lizard to charge as well.

Tragedy struck: both man and beast were stunned where they stood. The crowd was shocked. Clearly, as the Lizard charged, Lone Sword had used his own charge skill, resulting in a mutual stun.

For me, this was a stroke of luck.

I immediately unleashed a Crushing Blow and an Energy Burst, then activated the Beastmaster’s physical assault skill, Onslaught. It was similar to a warrior’s combo, but required 100 mana and had a ten-second cooldown, compared to the combo’s 10 mana and three seconds. However, Onslaught ignored 10% of the target’s defense, a feat the combo couldn’t match.

–486
–530
–795
–769

Four strikes, only cutting his health by about 2,500 points, and he still had a third left. His health pool was immense!

Then Lone Sword unleashed his sword energy skill again, taking 1,100 of my health. I was stunned, quickly gulped a healing potion, and barely avoided being finished off. Meanwhile, the Giant-Horned Lizard’s claw struck Lone Sword for 200 damage—its attack wasn’t high.

I soared in with Cloud Leap, followed by Crushing Blow and Energy Burst. Then, feinting a move to disengage, I relied on the Lizard to shield me while summoning the Hurricane Wolf King.

The Hurricane Wolf King immediately sprang into action, hacking with its Rending Claws. Even Lone Sword was dazzled by the relentless assault, unable to defend. In the blink of an eye, he took two hits and was sent flying.

But as he soared through the air, he slammed the Thunderfire Sword into the ground, bouncing himself back up, then charged around both the Wolf King and the Lizard, swinging his sword at me. I blocked with my staff—1,020 damage flashed across the screen, and to my shock, my mana dropped by exactly the same amount.

“What kind of move is that?” I exclaimed as I gulped a mana potion. This skill drained as much mana as health from the opponent—a truly terrifying technique.