San Tian Liang Jiao

Chapter 1002 Duel, War of Attrition

“Stubborn to the point of being touching…”

“I didn't expect him to last this long…”

“He is, after all, the champion of S1… even if he's just an idiot.”

The members of Team Sengoku One said these words as they watched Tianma Xingkong and Oda Ai fight for a full five minutes.

In daily life, five minutes isn't very long. Making instant noodles, brushing your teeth, taking out the trash, shaving… doing just about anything takes about that much time.

But in the game world, in the midst of an ultra-high-paced battle, five minutes… is enough for two players to clash a hundred times over.

“Ugh—it's getting more infuriating,” Oda Ai said, her face showing obvious anger. “Are you some kind of unkillable cockroach!”

“Hmph…” Tianma Xingkong replied, his legs trembling, barely able to stand as he faced his opponent. “Our team only has me left. I carry the hopes of all my comrades… how could I fall so easily!”

“Hey, hey… where do you see ‘easily’?” Takeda Tomo couldn't help but interject upon hearing Little Ma's words. “From any angle, you should have fallen a long time ago, okay?”

“Indeed… I'm almost rooting for him,” Uesugi Jin said with a serious expression.

“Oh?” Hearing these words from the long black-haired woman beside him, Akechi Nobu couldn't help but smile. “So, you like this type?”

“No.” Uesugi Jin's expression changed slightly, and she replied honestly, “I just think people who are earnest deserve encouragement.” She paused for half a second before adding, “Although… he's an idiot.”

“Yeah…” Takeda Tomo and Akechi Nobu shook their heads in unison, muttering, “He really is an idiot…”

“Ah—” Several seconds later, Tianma Xingkong let out another long roar, his fighting spirit blazing.

Fighting to this point, Little Ma was already covered in wounds, and even the Cloth he wore was tattered, but… there wasn't the slightest hint of fear or fatigue in his eyes. All that could be seen in those pupils was high morale and burning passion.

“Haa… this is really infuriating…” Conversely, Oda Ai's breathing had become heavy, and the hand holding her katana had begun to tremble slightly. “I said the line ‘I'll defeat him alone,’ but I still can't end the battle… how unsightly.”

Currently, Oda Ai, who held the advantage, was the one who was starting to get anxious. The unbelievable courage and determination of Tianma Xingkong were something she had never seen in any duel. In fact, before today, she thought people like Little Ma didn't exist in the real world at all. You could find them by the handful in manga, though…

“I've decided!” Suddenly, Oda Ai shouted loudly, and the stance with which she held her katana changed accordingly. “To dare make me lose my composure like this… watch me kill you with my most magnificent move!”

Upon hearing these words, the viewers watching the livestream got excited. However… Oda Ai's three teammates all changed their expressions.

“Ai, don't be rash,” Akechi Nobu warned from the back. “If you save that move to use against…”

“Captain!” Oda Ai interrupted him, turning her head slightly to reveal the ferocious look on half her face. “Please don't say anymore…”

In the next second, her teammates fell silent.

When they saw Oda Ai's expression, they had already given up trying to dissuade her. They would rather let Oda Ai use "that skill" here out of stubbornness than risk angering her further and causing her to "go berserk."

“Hmph!” Tianma Xingkong, seeing the opponent's reaction, also shouted fiercely in response, “If you have the guts, then attack!” After saying that, he spread his stance and launched another attack, “Tianma Meteor Fist!” (Pegasus Meteor Fist)

Don't be fooled into thinking that Tianma Xingkong only uses one move, because his practical combat skills are definitely not as simple as they seem.

Many people may have forgotten that Little Ma was already ranked twentieth on the player combat power rankings when S1 started. Moreover, he wasn't a specially invited player. He made his way from the preliminaries to the finals based on his own strength. If Little Ma was really just a guy who "mindlessly spams Meteor Fists," he would have been eliminated long ago…

Think about it from another perspective… a player who only uses one active skill from beginning to end, yet is able to compete on the same stage with those high-level players without being at a disadvantage, even if he can't be called a "genius," is at least a "freak."

This kind of miraculous feat… can't be done without extraordinary combat intuition and combat intelligence.

Right now, Tianma Xingkong had perceived a slight opening before the opponent unleashed his trump card, and decisively launched another round of attacks.

If someone else used the skill [Tianma Meteor Fist], each time it would be the same. But Tianma Xingkong's Meteor Fist… could achieve a micro-level of control in every round and every punch.

Take the current move as an example… eighty percent of the fist barrage only added the basic damage of the skill itself, but the remaining twenty percent of the fist radiance carried an extremely penetrating super-powerful fighting spirit, and these twenty percent of fist radiance… under the cover of the massive fist barrage, flew towards the various openings in Oda Ai's stance.

“Damn…” Oda Ai, in the midst of accumulating power, suffered a heavy blow. Without even looking, she knew that her survival value was rapidly decreasing. “I underestimated him…” In this instant, in addition to anger, her heart also added a touch of respect. “To be able to bring something simple to the extreme… it seems he's not just an idiot…”

This respect quickly brought back some clarity to her mind, and also stabilized her slightly trembling stance.

Originally, Oda Ai might not have been able to successfully unleash the skill, but after regaining her composure… she successfully withstood the attack of the Meteor Fist and launched her trump card!

[Name: One-Sword Style. Iai. Lion Song]

[Skill Card Attribute: Active Skill, disappears after one use]

[Skill Category: Combat]

[Effect: Draw your sword, cut the enemy (can only be activated by using a long katana or longsword)]

[Consumption: 40% of the upper limit of Stamina Value]

[Learning Conditions: Level 40, Combat Specialization A]

[Remarks: An Iai Divine Skill that can only be comprehended by swordsmen with extremely high comprehension. The move appears as fast as lightning, cannot be seen by the naked eye, cuts iron like mud, and kills with one blow.]

Then, it was seen…

Figures passed each other, and the sword light flashed.

Everything happened in just an instant.

Victory or defeat had already been decided in this moment.

Poof—

Tianma Xingkong fell. Before his blood could spread, he had already turned into white light and disappeared.

“Did… I win?” Oda Ai muttered in a daze.

Two seconds later, she seemed to notice something and looked down at her left chest, only to see a bloody hole…

“Heh… I see…” Oda Ai gave a miserable laugh. “He changed the trajectory of his fist at the instant I cut him, using my rushing force to counterattack me with a punch…” She shook her head. “A speechless idiot…”

Saying this, she also fell down and turned into white light…



Looking again, in another scenario…

The match between [Red Sakura One] and [Order Two] was still in progress.

At this time, Order One and Ice Emperor had already determined the outcome, and the result was the same as Feng Bujue predicted… Order One ultimately won. Hell Front and Sengoku One also won, so… the battle in front of them had become the final focus battle that hadn't ended this morning.

Looking up, on a giant peak made of solid ice, a melee battle between six people was unfolding.

[Brave Fearless] wielding a long spear, and [Brave Unrivaled] wearing gauntlets, were working together to launch a fierce attack on [Xuhuaishang].

Although outnumbered, Xuhuaishang wielded dual blades, and her movements were graceful, showing no signs of falling behind.

On the other side, [Blood Rose] of Red Sakura was stepping on a giant eagle, chasing [Ye Zhi] of Order in the air. The latter was fighting and retreating, defending and evading, with almost no room to fight back.

Fortunately, there was a "sixth person" covering for her…

To be precise, it wasn't a "person," but a long-haired yeti. This NPC was naturally the "power" that Ye Zhi had obtained in the scenario, which was equivalent to a free summon creature with no time limit.

In the previous scenario, this long-haired yeti had given Order Two a considerable advantage. The reason they were able to fight in a three-on-two situation was because this yeti had played a surprising role in the initial encounter.

However… Red Sakura, with only two people left, had not fallen into a disadvantage.

Although Red Sakura had one less person than the other side, the two who were killed were support-type players. Xuhuaishang and Blood Rose, who had stronger solo combat abilities, had survived unscathed. Furthermore, Team Red Sakura had also borrowed "power," but this "power" was not a summoned creature, but a Buff-like, intangible resource.

Looking at Order Two, although they still had three members plus a long-haired yeti, the one who was taken down… happened to be the main force of the team, and also the one known as the strongest shooting-type player in the entire Order Studio, [Barcode].

If it were in previous years, a master like [Barcode] would have been completely eligible to be selected for Team One, but this year Team Order One's lineup was too gorgeous, and even one of the Drunken Life and Dream Death Four had to be a substitute, so Barcode could only retreat to Team Two.

In terms of strength, he was also a man who entered the top fifty in the S1 period. Of course… he didn't have many opportunities to perform in the finals and was turned into a corpse by Luther. But in any case, compared to the other three in the team, Barcode's level was undoubtedly more outstanding.

Unfortunately… his experience at this time was the same as in S1. He received a boxed lunch before he even took the stage, and didn't even have a single line.

In addition, it is necessary to talk about the long-haired yeti… This NPC's intelligence is very low, and can even be said to be lower than summon creatures. Because low-intelligence summon creatures… such as dogs, bats, wolves, turkeys… these things can at least be controlled by the summoner's own will or commands, but this yeti can't…

This long-haired yeti completely lacks the communication skills of higher creatures and does not obey anyone's orders. Since it was discovered by Ye Zhi, its behavior pattern is probably "follow and protect Ye Zhi," and it doesn't care about anything else.

As a result, the above scene appeared…

Even though they had the advantage in numbers, Order Two could not create effective pressure on Xuhuaishang and Blood Rose without the support of the shooting-type player.

Under the premise of similar specializations, it was not a big problem for Xuhuaishang to deal with two first-rate opponents alone.

Blood Rose was very clever in keeping a close eye on the enemy's medical specialist. Doing so… on the one hand, prevented Ye Zhi from supporting her teammates, and on the other hand, it indirectly restrained the long-haired yeti. Anyway, this monster only had high attack and high health, and basically had no air combat ability or intelligence, so she could kite it however she wanted.

“Unrivaled, don't be anxious.” As the battle entered a stalemate, Brave Fearless said to his teammate while fighting, “Stay steady, don't reveal any openings.”

Brave Unrivaled completely understood what his teammate meant, and replied while fighting, “Don't worry, I understand.”

“Hmph… you want to exhaust my stamina, is that right…” Xuhuaishang also calmly joined the conversation of the two while dodging.

“That's right, that's the plan.” Brave Fearless admitted very frankly. Since he dared to say it in front of the opponent, it meant that there was nothing to hide about this tactic, and he also had no spare strength to hide it…

“Even if you can achieve a balance in a one-on-two situation, it is impossible for this balance to continue.” Brave Unrivaled took over his teammate's words and said to Xuhuaishang, “We have two people, so there are always moments of temporary rest in battle; we also have more leeway in terms of skill selection and fault tolerance.” He paused. “But you… can't relax for a moment.”

Brave Fearless waved his spear and continued, “Simply put… in this battle, your stamina consumption is bound to be faster than ours. Maintaining the status quo is definitely beneficial to us.”

“Heh…” Brave Unrivaled smiled. “Captain Xu, if I were you, I would give up defense and attack with all my strength now. Maybe you can take one of us down.” As he spoke, he shifted sideways a few steps and launched three punches. “Otherwise… when your stamina reaches its limit, you won't even have a chance to counterattack.”

The two sang in harmony, although there was a hint of tempting the enemy, most of it was still the truth.

However… these words were quite harsh to the ears of those viewers watching the livestream, who were fans of Xuhuaishang.

“Despicable guys! Actually using a war of attrition!”

“If you have the ability, fight Shangshang one-on-one! What kind of heroes are you fighting two-on-one!”

“You should be the first to attack since you have the advantage in numbers! Too hateful!”

Obviously, the above are all comments or barrage posted by die-hard fans. It is justifiable to use any tactics in a match, and the players of Order will not choose a method that is obviously detrimental to themselves in order to satisfy the other side's fans.

And this… Xuhuaishang also knew very well.

“The two of you… do have a good suggestion.” After fighting for dozens of seconds, or rather… after thinking for dozens of seconds, Xuhuaishang actually replied, “Continuing to delay will only increase my chances of losing.”

As soon as these words came out, the two "Brave"s' expressions changed, and they immediately tightened their nerves, preparing to meet a round of strong attacks.

“Then…” Xuhuaishang didn't make them wait too long, “… I won't be polite.”