One strike, it only took one strike, and Cordova directly ended the match.
No one knew what he did in the last two seconds; everyone only saw Cordova take down the long staff from his back, then charge towards Kang Lan with unbelievable speed, and with a casual strike, he collapsed about a fifth of the arena, and then there was nothing more…
Xiao Kang instantly went from high-spirited to evaporating on the spot, and then reappeared in the room, disoriented, a second later.
“So powerful…”
Yu Cheng’s small mouth formed a perfect O, and she couldn’t help but exclaim softly, “Xiao Yu is really amazing!”
Mo Tan nodded in agreement, “Strongly agree.”
“Did you guys notice? He still had about thirty percent of his health left at the very end.” Yi Dong leaned back in his chair, dumbfounded, staring at the light screen showing the battle information. “Kang Lan fought for a full five minutes and only managed to chip away sixty percent of his health. Is that defense even human?!”
Huo Yan Yang gave a dry laugh. “He’s not human in this game anyway, is he? Have you ever seen a humanoid creature that can spray steam from the back of its neck?”
Kang Lan, who had just reacted, shivered violently and subconsciously looked down at his hands. “This is the level of the second-ranked individual combat power… Is the gap really that big?”
Xiao Kang, who had always prided himself on being an elite player, was clearly severely Strike by this.
Ji Xiaoge flapped her wings twice and mumbled, “If this isn’t strong enough, then how on earth will Lu Wei be satisfied…?”
Throughout, only Ji Xiaodao maintained a considerable degree of composure. She simply stood quietly behind her sister, and even when Cordova suddenly attacked, she merely raised an eyebrow slightly, showing no surprise whatsoever.
The reason was simple: the girl had, from the beginning, discerned Kang Lan’s skill level from his few sets of abilities, and after putting herself in his shoes, she had concluded, ‘I can cut him down in two moves.’ Given that, it wasn’t so rare for Cordova, who ranked one spot higher than her, to achieve a one-shot kill.
“But I still can’t beat him now…”
Ji Xiaodao narrowed her eyes slightly, a hint of gloom flashing in her dark red pupils. She felt that she was much stronger now than during the Battle of Bansercity, but when she saw Cordova’s astonishing final strike, she still had no idea how to evade or counter it.
Terrifying movement speed!
Terrifying damage numbers!
Terrifying attack range!
The Dark Elf girl, whose combat prowess and talent had been praised by Garros more than once, gently clenched her fist. She simulated countless scenarios in her mind, yet still couldn’t find the slightest chance of victory.
She had tried her best, yet the final result was only barely preventing the gap from widening?
Even though it was just a game, she still felt an indescribable sense of frustration…
“But I’ve long since grown accustomed to frustration.”
Ji Xiaodao quietly pouted. She was quite open-minded now, after all, the distance between herself and Cordova, though great, still offered a glimmer of hope. However, in front of that undisputed??? top ranker, Cordova, ranked second, wasn't even worth a glance.
Hmm, maybe he could solo a summoned creature summoned by Mo Tan…
“Xiao Dao?” Ji Xiaoge tilted her head and suddenly hugged her. “You’re not happy, are you~?”
“Still so perceptive…”
“Hmm, it’s nothing.” Pushing her sister away gently and somewhat helplessly, the Dark Elf girl, dressed as a spellcaster, shook her head slightly, then turned to glance at the arena outside the room. “It’s just seeing him showing off over there, it feels a bit annoying.”
Ji Xiaoge looked back at Cordova, who was striking a pose in the pit, and couldn’t help but laugh. “When I met Xiao Yu in the game before, he was always like this. Sometimes he’s really asking for a beating~”
“Hmm.”
Ji Xiaodao nodded, a faint smile on her face. “So, sister, you don’t need to worry.”
Ten seconds later, Cordova, who had been dawdling in the arena for quite a while, was finally forcibly teleported back to the room by the system. He chuckled, holding his punisher staff M2K, and winked at Kang Lan: “Feel good?”
“Get lost, you monster!” Kang Lan, in a state of self-isolation, glared at him irritably and gave him the middle finger. “You’re not human, I admit defeat!”
Cordova smacked his lips. “Do you know what it means to have someone better than you, kid? You should go back and practice hard. A random girl I met before could fight me for a good while, much more impressive than you.”
Kang Lan rolled his eyes. “A random girl is stronger than me? I just don’t believe it.”
“Believe it or not.” Cordova leaned against the wall casually, arms crossed, and chuckled, “Have you seen the overall strength rankings? We have two girls in the top ten here. How come I didn’t see you?”
Kang Lan was stunned. “Really?!”
Huo Yan Yang and Yi Dong were also startled. “Holy crap, no way?!”
“It’s true.” Mo Tan shrugged and spread his hands. “I saw it too. Xiao Yu is not wrong.”
Kang Lan was utterly shocked, widening his eyes as he scrutinized the three girls present. “Who? Which two great gods?”
“You know too much.” Ji Xiaoge glared at Cordova, then scratched her cheek, rather helplessly. “I don’t know why either, I just ranked tenth in that overall list.”
Yu Cheng shrank her neck. “I’m fifth…”
Kang Lan’s face was ashen.
Huo Yan Yang’s face was ashen.
Mo Tan glanced at the relatively calm Yi Dong, and, adhering to the principle of sharing good news with everyone, secretly sent him a friend message: ‘My Tan Mo character is ranked seventeenth on the overall list.’
One second later, Yi Dong’s face was ashen.
“Now you know, right~ Real powerhouses never show off.” Cordova patted Kang Lan’s shoulder, grinning. “We only instant-kill people.”
Kang Lan was silent for half a second, then suddenly looked at Yu Cheng. “Want to fight?”
Yu Cheng: “Huh?”
“Aren’t you ranked fifth in overall strength, big sister? I want to fight you.” Kang Lan bowed on the spot, saying with unusual solemnity, “I want to learn how to fight!”
Yu Cheng quickly waved her hands, shaking her head like a rattle-drum. “I… I’m a priest, I don’t know how to fight…”
Kang Lan immediately smiled. “It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll record this one. If you lose, I can go out and brag.”
Everyone: “…”
Ji Xiaodao snorted softly. “Shameless.”
The well-behaved Yu Cheng naturally didn’t want to fight, but just as she was making a pained face and about to refuse, someone pulled her from the side.
“Agree to him.” Mo Tan cleared his throat and whispered next to Yu Cheng, “It’s fine, you have a good chance of winning.”
Yu Cheng widened her eyes. “Eh?”
“Check your friend messages…”
“Oh~”
Kang Lan looked at the two suspiciously. “What are you whispering about?”
Mo Tan gave him a zero-information look and chuckled, “I’m persuading her to agree to fight you~”
“Oh, oh!”
...
Two minutes later
Yu Cheng, who had been in a ‘dazed’ state, regained clarity in her eyes, then turned to Kang Lan and nodded gently, whispering, “Alright then… I’ll Try.”
The latter immediately beamed. “Alright! I’ll adjust the battle settings, we’ll start right away!”
Ji Xiaoge looked at the little Holy Maiden in her priest robes with some concern. “Yu Cheng, are you sure? You’re a priest, it’s really unfair, isn’t it! Just ignore him!”
“Exactly.” Ji Xiaodao also nodded slightly from the side, glancing at Kang Lan and Cordova with extreme disdain. “Too lewd.”
Huo Yan Yang, enjoying the show, added, “Exactly, exactly, how shameless!”
Yu Cheng smiled timidly. “Mo Tan said there’s no harm in experiencing this kind of battle atmosphere occasionally, so I’ll Try…”
Yi Dong, who was about to say something, immediately shut his mouth and sent a message to Mo Tan: ‘You’re up to no good again?!’
‘What are you talking about? How am I up to no good? Just offering some advice.’
‘Does Kang Lan have a good chance of winning?’
‘Not really…’
‘Holy crap, 666!’
Mo Tan ignored Yi Dong and just whispered to Yu Cheng, “Why don’t you also turn on that ‘Minor Sensory Protection’?”
“No need~” Yu Cheng shook her head, covering her mouth with a laugh. “I’m not as delicate as Xiao Yu.”
A moment later
Yu Cheng and Kang Lan were teleported onto the arena, which had been restored to its original state.
“I won’t hold back, Holy Maiden~” Kang Lan swiftly raised his longbow, grinning at the girl a dozen meters away. “That was a joke earlier, even if I win, I won’t go around bragging~ You can rest assured.”
The girl, holding a large holy book, nodded nervously, beginning to recall the words Mo Tan had reminded her of earlier…
‘Kang Lan’s fighting style is mainly suppressive. Although it’s difficult to deal with, his destructive power shouldn’t be too high. With your healing level, you can definitely maintain a safe health line for a long time.’
The air wall silently dissipated, and the match began!
“Enhanced Recovery Prayer.”
Yu Cheng immediately opened the holy book in her hands, and a shimmering white light quietly bloomed, then transformed into specks of starlight that merged into her body.
“Phoenix Devour.”
A ball of explosive flame erupted from Kang Lan’s bowstring, then transformed into a crimson torrent that engulfed Yu Cheng, just like the start of the previous match.
On the light screen in the room, Chen Wangyu’s health instantly dropped from 100% to 76%. This arrow had cleanly removed a quarter of her health.
“He’s going all out from the start!” Huo Yan Yang gasped, exclaiming, “This guy has no intention of holding back at all! It’s too much!”
Yi Dong, Cordova, and Ji Xiaoge all nodded vigorously in agreement, while only Ji Xiaodao and Mo Tan remained calm.
“Judging by that subconscious half-step, she must have noticed it. Not dodging just now was intentional…”
Ji Xiaodao watched the figure in the flames with interest, pressing her lips together with a smile. She suddenly felt that Yu Cheng wouldn’t lose so easily.
And Mo Tan watched calmly; he had long anticipated this scene…
...
‘He likes to use that set of skills centered around stacking fire debuffs. The cooldowns of those three skills should be similar. It appeared twice when he fought Cordova earlier, and the stacked damage is very high, plus it has a strong slowing effect. But it’s okay, you can totally tank the first hit. What you need to be careful of is the subsequent combo. First, get out of that burning area. Don’t worry about your health; just let Recovery Prayer slowly heal it…’
Yu Cheng, enveloped in flames, felt a bit suffocated. Although the surrounding temperature was nowhere near that of real flames in reality, it still made her very uncomfortable. Her priestess robe also emitted faint flames, and the 【Burning】 status had been successfully applied to her.
But this discomfort was nothing. It wasn’t that Yu Cheng was strong, but rather that the pain feedback, after being adjusted by the system, was indeed greatly weakened. A normal person, as long as they weren’t too delicate, could generally endure it.
She quickly rushed out of the three-meter-diameter burning area, and then saw a crimson arrow descending from the sky.
Repeating the trick—【Volley】 + 【Spider Web Arrow】 + 【Fire Spider Arrow】
A shimmering, crystal-clear net with specks of red light descended from above!
The girl, about to be caught in the net, smiled reassuringly, clasped her hands slightly, and closed her eyes.
A pale golden cross appeared behind her, instantly extinguishing the flames on Yu Cheng’s body—【Greater Purify】
‘He previously revealed that the toughness and strength of that fire spider silk aren’t very good, but it becomes extremely lethal when heated to high temperatures. So, as long as you immediately dispel the negative effects on your body after leaving the burning area, that spider web-like thing will be completely harmless. As for the remaining slowing effect…’
“Dawn Nova.”
Yu Cheng raised her slender hand, and a circular golden halo burst open around her, effortlessly blowing away the not-so-tough fire spider web.
Enhanced Recovery Prayer was still in effect, and Yu Cheng’s health had already returned to over 90% in just a few short seconds, while Kang Lan’s most damaging set of skills had already been used.
The spectators were all stunned.
“Holy crap! That strong?!” Xiao Kang was also very surprised, but his offensive didn’t show any signs of stopping. He quickly swapped his longbow for two short crossbows and, without a word, unleashed dozens of arrow shadows!
The two priests, one outside and one inside the arena, smiled simultaneously.
‘Given that the burning debuff can’t be stacked, he probably won’t choose to continue using priest-Department binding skills to restrain you, as that would only give you more opportunities to fully restore your health. So, Kang Lan will most likely choose to continue his strong offensive, dealing damage while trying to prevent you from casting spells. Don’t hesitate, just instant cast…’
“Enhanced Holy Healing.”
After enduring a barrage of arrows like a sudden storm, Yu Cheng unhesitatingly unleashed one of her few instant healing spells, and with the 【Dawn’s Divine Favor】 talent triggered, she instantly restored her health to full…
Her health was full…
Full…
Full…
Full…
Kang Lan, who couldn’t see his opponent’s health, was fine, but Huo Yan Yang and Cordova, watching from the room, nearly popped their eyeballs out. The two exchanged glances and let out a long sigh in unison: “Now *that’s* a true support…”
Mo Tan, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief. Yu Cheng being able to withstand Kang Lan’s two strong attacks without taking damage reassured him quite a bit.
Now, only one opportunity remained…
Chapter 234: End