Chapter 169: Unexpected
A series of clashing sounds erupted between Mo Tan and A Zhi. The latter, with the full boost of 【Bloodthirsty Roar】, wielded his battle-axe so fast it was a blur. Although it was just simple attacks like chopping, hacking, slicing, and cleaving, it still possessed immense destructive power.
“Are all these kids so powerful now…?”
Mo Tan parried the attacks with great effort, his hands gradually numbing under the system’s incredibly realistic virtual feedback. The Self-Destructing Sheep beneath him also retreated continuously, and for a moment, he was completely suppressed by the child in front of him.
However, this did not mean he was much weaker than A Zhi. If one disregarded levels and attributes, Mo Tan was far superior in terms of reaction speed and judgment. But…
“Yeah, this kind of head-on clash is fun!” A Zhi swung his axe again, a smile spreading across his slightly childish face. He didn't care how Mo Tan parried, nor did he try to bypass the longsword that always appeared in time. He just kept smashing his axe, blow after blow, against Mo Tan’s defense: “If you dodge, I’ll chop the big sister behind you!”
Whether he hit a sword or a neck didn't matter; in A Zhi’s eyes, as long as there was something to chop, it was enough!
To be honest, this child was quite simple-minded.
But Mo Tan was currently unable to react appropriately. Although the opponent's seemingly torrential offensive actually contained many flaws in his eyes—if he were to intentionally dodge, the opponent might not hit even once after a dozen axe swings—the problem was, Mo Tan couldn't dodge now!
“【This chop has too wide a range; I can dodge by moving left, but… I can only take it head-on!】”
Mo Tan leaned back slightly, and after gaining a brief moment of distance, he quickly swung his sword three times in succession to barely withstand the opponent's heavy chop.
“Again!”
A Zhi retreated half a step with the momentum, and the battle-axe he held high in his hand came straight down again.
“【Another straight chop; if I let it pass, it’ll be a good opportunity to get behind him, but…】”
Mo Tan raised his sword to meet it, his health, already below 50%, dropping another small notch.
“Again!” A Zhi’s stamina was depleting rapidly, but he was still incredibly excited.
“【So troublesome…】”
Mo Tan continued to take the hits. He couldn't help but take them because Ji Xiaoge was right behind him. Just as A Zhi had said, if his dodge was even slightly too wide, his teammate would likely be in danger.
Ji Xiaoge was also very anxious at this moment. Although she was also using throwing dishes like flying cakes and steamed buns to assist Mo Tan in attacking A Zhi, she was constantly hampered by the angle. Meanwhile, the opponent’s young Ranger could attack Mo Tan without any reservations.
If she left cover, she would inevitably be focused-fired by A Zhi and A Mao. If she flew into the sky with the alloy cutting board, she wouldn't be able to assist in the attack, and there was no 100% guarantee she wouldn't be shot by the Ranger. But at this moment, the Wang Wang Team was at a huge disadvantage in terms of front-line health exchange.
A Mao had not sustained any damage so far. Although A Zhi had suffered greatly from the 【Heavy Storm】 earlier, Mo Tan’s health was dropping even faster. If this continued…
“【I must find a way!】”
The young girl's eyes sharpened. After throwing her last two steamed buns at A Zhi, she was about to say something to Mo Tan, but the latter spoke first…
“His speed is slowing down!” Mo Tan, while using the Tiger Spear, which had just cooled down, to force A Zhi back half a step, turned his head and shouted to Ji Xiaoge: “You go distract that Ranger. I’ll find a way to defeat this Axe Kid and get over there before you die.”
“【Great, I wasn’t treated as a vase!】”
The girl nodded, smiled back at Mo Tan, and then once again brought out the alloy cutting board. Flapping her wings, she flew into the air and glided towards A Mao.
“Who are you calling a big-headed kid, you bastard!” A Zhi was furious, waving his axe and yelling as he chopped at Mo Tan: “Eat my big axe!”
Mo Tan chuckled dryly. With no worries behind him, he easily turned the Sheep around and dodged the axe, then activated Falcon Strike to create some distance from A Zhi: “I said axe…”
“Who’s the big-headed kid with an axe?!” A Zhi, whose head was indeed a size larger than a normal child’s, raised his battle-axe and shouted fiercely: “Do you think I can’t hit you if you create distance?!”
Mo Tan smiled bitterly: “I said axe…”
“A head as big as an axe, is that it?! You’ve gone too far!” A Zhi inexplicably flared up, roaring loudly: “Eat my Exploding Anus Chop again!!”
A surging, pale red shockwave roared towards Mo Tan, who looked pained.
“It’s Crimson Steel Chop, isn’t it…” A Mao muttered as he drew his longbow and fired three arrows in a triangular formation at Ji Xiaoge, sighing: “I always feel like becoming friends with him will be a stain on my life…”
The next second,
“Ugh!” A Zhi, who was posing, suddenly took half a step back, his face turning pale: “So painful.”
Mo Tan, who was charging back on his Sheep, wasn't doing any better. With a muffled grunt, he almost fell off the Sheep’s back, but a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: “You like clashing head-on, huh? Then let’s go!”
Mo Tan, in 【Thorn Charge】 state, fiercely crashed into A Zhi, who had just reflected some damage.
“Trading damage?” The young man, who had long seen that the opponent had no advantage in attributes, spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered: “Come on!”
“Come on!”
The sharp sword lunged out, the battle-axe spun, and the two once again engaged in battle!
However, Ji Xiaoge had no time to pay attention to Mo Tan at this moment. A Mao’s attack frequency had suddenly increased by a level within a few seconds. The switching between his longbow and short crossbow was fluid, and streaks of arrows constantly forced Ji Xiaoge to keep moving. Meanwhile, he stood still, conserving his energy, his stamina consumption significantly lower than hers.
“How much longer can you last, big sister?” A Mao narrowed his eyes slightly, constantly tracking the young girl’s figure in mid-air. As he fired crossbow bolts, he murmured to himself: “Two minutes? Or three minutes?”
He stood there calmly, not at all worried about any danger. After all, the big sister opposite him could only barely defend against his attacks with that round shield. If she intended to put down her shield and attack him with those strange things, she would definitely be shot down and crippled first.
“【As for that idiot A Zhi…】”
A Mao glanced at his companion, who was locked in a fierce battle with Mo Tan in the distance. After a brief calculation, he came to the conclusion that ‘even the worst outcome is a mutual annihilation.’
“There’s nothing to worry about.” The young man continued to deplete Ji Xiaoge’s stamina and health, while calmly setting up a flag.
…
And so, three minutes later,
A Mao watched Ji Xiaoge’s increasingly sluggish movements. Just as a smile began to appear on his lips, he heard…
“【Your teammate: A Zhi has been eliminated】”
!?
The young man froze. He turned in shock to where A Zhi and Mo Tan had been fighting, only to find his companion had disappeared, leaving only a blood-soaked Sheep Knight smiling at him.
“【Impossible, I shouldn’t have miscalculated. Logically, that guy’s health shouldn’t have lasted long enough to take down A Zhi first!】”
A Mao stopped suppressing Ji Xiaoge, turned warily to face Mo Tan, and slowly raised his longbow. His previous lazy expression had vanished.
The fact that Mo Tan had directly defeated A Zhi had made this young man a little flustered…
“Excellent!” Meanwhile, Ji Xiaoge cautiously peeked out from behind her shield in mid-air. Seeing A Zhi leave the field, she immediately waved at Mo Tan and whistled: “You’re so cool!”
Mo Tan shrugged, then looked at his remaining 14% health and 3% stamina, letting out a long sigh. In fact, until the second before A Zhi was teleported out, he hadn't known if he had made the right gamble.
But now it seemed he had…
“【Steel Spirit】”
Passive Talent
Effect: When health is below 30%, gain additional defense bonus, specific value depends on lost stamina.
“【Note: Don’t know why, but from ancient times to present, whether heroes or BOSSes, when they have only a tiny bit of health left and are exhausted, they always feel the hardest to defeat. This is utterly unscientific!】”
This talent was one of Mo Tan’s initial talents, but it hadn't been particularly outstanding before. Although he could feel it was working, its damage reduction effect could only be described as mediocre.
But this time was different. Because Mo Tan had forcibly endured attacks while covering Ji Xiaoge earlier, his stamina had depleted rapidly, almost running out when his health was still around 40%.
So, after the effect of 【Bloodthirsty Roar】 ended, he let Ji Xiaoge fly up alone to draw fire, creating a one-on-one situation with A Zhi for himself, and had used Thorn Charge in advance to deplete A Zhi’s powerful Crimson Steel Chop.
Ultimately, he defeated the opponent in a head-on clash.
“【And then it’s…】”
Whoosh!
A crossbow bolt flew through the air, hitting Mo Tan squarely in the chest.
“Very good~” Mo Tan nodded slightly, then rode his Sheep and charged towards A Mao. He felt that with his current defense bonus, he should be able to take down the opponent after closing the distance.
But the strange sense of unease in his heart was also becoming more and more severe…
A Mao drew his bow and fired again, but Ji Xiaoge, descending from the air with her shield, blocked it.
“Don’t ignore me, you know.” The young girl stood between Mo Tan and A Mao with a grin, using the latter’s own words against him in a taunt.
A Mao quickly rolled to the side, trying to create an attack angle, but Ji Xiaoge’s movements were no slower than his. That large round shield became particularly dazzling in the young man's eyes.
“【Trouble…】”
The moment these three words appeared in A Mao’s mind, the figure high on the Sheep's back had already appeared before him. Around the longsword, which extended with a faint glow, air currents subtly swirled.
Knight Skill — Tiger Spear + Falcon Strike!
And A Mao no longer had time to activate any skill to evade.
Pfft!
Blood splattered, accompanied by a three-inch gash on his shoulder. The Ranger youth’s health instantly dropped by 20%.
Ji Xiaoge also flew into the sky again, and two heavy steamed cakes, like bricks, whistled towards him.
“【Am I going to lose the first battle?】”
A Mao sighed. While rolling to dodge the two bricks, he put away his longbow and took out a smaller, lighter short crossbow, firing at Mo Tan.
He felt he should at least struggle a bit…
But in the next two short minutes, A Mao’s attacks did not cause much damage to the Sheep Knight. Instead, his own health had already dropped by more than half.
“I can’t take it.” The young man, whose displacement and acceleration skills were all on cooldown, took a sword hit from Mo Tan, feeling a bit down.
However, just then, he noticed Ji Xiaoge in mid-air appearing in a position that was extremely convenient for him to attack!
“【At least take one down!】”
The young man gritted his teeth, enduring the pain in his shoulder (which wasn't actually too bad), and once again picked up his longbow, pointing it directly at Ji Xiaoge. A scorching crimson flame suddenly appeared on the string.
At the same time, a silver glow lit up in his eyes.
“【Blazing Arrow】”
Bow and Crossbow Active Skill
Mastery Requirements: Possess the ‘Ranger’ profession, have mana.
Cost/Restriction: 150 Mana, 150 Agility, requires a bow-type weapon equipped.
Usage: Fire a magic arrow condensed from fire elements at the target, dealing moderate damage, and has a certain chance to apply the 【Burn】 effect. Cooldown: 20 minutes.
Characteristics: Scorching, no arrow required.
“【Note: Can be used with wooden arrows for skewers and grilling.】”
“【Apprentice Sniping】”
Bow and Crossbow Active Skill
Mastery Requirements: Possess the ‘Ranger’ profession, Bow and Crossbow Mastery Level 4.
Cost/Restriction: 50 Agility, requires a bow-type weapon equipped.
Usage: Increase your line of sight, and make your next bow and crossbow active skill have piercing attribute, dealing 10% increased damage to flying units and stationary units. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
“【Note: Slurp… Peeping is impossible, never in this life will I peep, slurp… I’m such a proper Ranger… Brother, could you hand me a tissue…?】”
Mo Tan, in close combat, had never given A Mao this opportunity, and Ji Xiaoge, holding her shield earlier, might not have been killed by this skill combination. But if it were now…
A Mao smiled slightly. He had a feeling that this arrow would definitely kill that bird-person sister!
Afterwards, even if he was chopped to death by the Sheep Knight, it didn't matter. At least he was stronger than A Zhi.
However, just a second before the Blazing Arrow in his hand was about to be fired…
A strong sense of discomfort and detachment suddenly rose in Mo Tan’s heart. Compared to the previous two times, this feeling was particularly intense at this moment!
“【Wait, could this be!】”
He widened his eyes, finally guessing where this feeling might be coming from. Then, in the nick of time, he stomped hard on the ground, and his entire body actually diagonally blocked in front of A Mao…
The next second,
A strong burning sensation erupted in Mo Tan’s chest, and then…
“【You have been eliminated】”
…
“【You have been emergency disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect】”
…
Chapter 166: End