Chương 157: B3 Chapter 13 - Clash Of Gods Part One

In less than a second, Dragrath proved that [Shadow Dash] was one of the most intricate, high-skill overpowered abilities in the game. The slash into dash technique had been invented long ago by SoulShadow: initiate a thrust, dash in the middle of it, and have the attack go through on the other end. SoulShadow used to only use it with thrusts, as a full swing was considered way too precise to pull off, especially with older VR hardware.

Dragrath's stance was as accurate as a grandmaster's in Art Of Steel, the maximum amount of weight going into his sword before the dash. The particles of his shadow shot like a missile to the tree branch, where his katana split the air before VeilShot's head. The rank one archer blocked with the limb of his bow, only to be blown backward uncontrollably. His back slammed into the ground. Dragrath tossed his dagger, landing it to VeilShot's leg to apply [Fracture], health bar plummeting to 24%.

[Flame Wall] appeared between the two while Dragrath was still falling. He couldn't dodge it mid-air and crashed against the wall of unrealistically solid flames. He pushed with his feet to avoid scraping the wall on the way down, minimizing the burns, yet he still dropped to 54% health. The wall disappeared, and VeilShot fired a [Phoenix Arrow], which CinderLight [Enkindled]. Dragrath side-stepped expertly, avoiding the tip of the arrow, but the AoE of the flames caught his clothes, applying [Burn].

Being an assassin without resistance rings, he lost health rapidly. For a moment, he ran behind a tree, dodging ranged attacks, while burning down. When [Shadow Dash] came off of cooldown, he shot straight to VeilShot once again. I knew he would have loved to save the dash, but he was forced to use it to prevent [Burn]. He turned to a shadow, leaving the flames with nothing to cling to, and he stopped losing health. Another insane swing of his katana came, but VeilShot had already grappled onto a branch, dodging.

Dragrath threw a shuriken, landing it cleanly on VeilShot's shoulders. His health fell to 11%. Once again, Dragrath found himself with the same problem: dash on cooldown, VeilShot's bow being drawn in front of him with CinderLight and Lrekk approaching from behind. MoonTurtle finally got a [Greater Wisp Of Healing] through, and VeilShot's health rose to 61%.

"He lost," I said.

"It's unwinnable."

"He's Dragrath," Veyra said.

"He'll make a miracle." The casters were thinking the same, Rebecca saying, " Is the rank one assassin going to go down, just like that?" CinderLight began channeling a fire mage's best ultimate, [Funeral Sun], and VeilShot fired [Scatterbolt], the same shotgun-like arrow I'd failed to dodge even though I'd known full well it was coming. Dragrath lunged out of the way, avoiding every single shard of the scattered arrow, but his dash wasn't ready yet.

When CinderLight knew where Dragrath would move, he had an easy time targeting [Funeral Sun] right underneath. The ground rumbled, and moments later, the geyser of flames erupted from the soil with enough damage to burn any assassin to the bones. A classic strategy. Shoot one attack first, forcing an opponent to dodge. When they did, shoot a second attack in the direction they dodged for a more predictable shot. Dragrath almost managed to slip out of the flames regardless, but no miracles came.

A slash came as Dragrath burned to ashes.

"No way," Veyra said.

"He didn't even get one?"

"Close one," I said. She batted an eye at me.

"How was that close?"

"The whole battle relied on Dragrath's first ambush. He did everything he could to try and get rid of Veil first. He got him to 11%. If Veil fell, Dragrath would have had a good chance." I bit my lip.

"That said, though… Veil also missplayed. There's no way he should have taken that much damage."

"Hm," Veyra said.

"VeilShot really likes his flank. I rarely see him in his backline. You think he'll do that against us?"

"If he does, we should win," I said.

"I can duel him if you can stop his team from helping him."

"No, I was thinking I'd be the one dueling him," Veyra said.

"Can you keep everyone else occupied?" I glanced at her, surprised.

"I can keep them occupied, sure. I don't think I can kill any of them alone, though." She nodded.

"That'll be enough. If Veil goes for his flank strategy, we'll win. I'll need one minute alone with him while you're stopping CinderLight from shooting at me. If you're still alive by the time I'm done, we'll win." I grinned at her confidence.

"Alright, sure. Let's watch what Dragrath does first, though." Everyone loaded in for the second round. I began to believe this was looking like a win for VeilShot. Dragrath was good, but the assassin class had limitations. I wouldn't have been able to beat three of Eon Covenant's best players alone no matter how well I played, let alone with a support mage and a tank included.

Dragrath was still better than me—that much I could admit—but he simply lacked the tools to deal with all the spells and arrows Eon Covenant could throw at him. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"If he sends his apprentices as distractions, maybe he can do it," I said. Except, when the match started, SwordShiba and Hibana ran in first, with their master standing still, just like in the match he lost prior. He once again sacrificed his apprentices for practice." Cinder is not casting a single spell!

"Tasteful said." Could it be—oh yes it is, Eon Covenant is sending forth Lrekk and Duke for a duel!"

"The fuck?" Veyra asked.

"Dragrath, come on, what's this? Are you even trying to win?" I laughed, already knowing this would lead to controversy on the forums. The goal of a tournament was to win, not to train apprentices.

"I swear, Dragrath has bet on himself losing or something," Veyra said.

"Is he not just breaking the tournament rules?"

"Maybe he has a plan." Just as I said that, the camera panned to Dragrath's face watching his apprentices fight from the side, seeming not one bit interested in joining the battle. SwordShiba and Hibana were faring surprisingly well, avoiding damage while landing hits, yet the level difference was just too high. All it took was one hit from Lrekk, and SwordShiba died, while Hibana ran out of stamina as Duke crushed his block. Veyra had her feet on the couch, hugging her knees while she frowned at the match.

The master was alone against five once again. This time, Dragrath didn't dash. He ran toward the woods.

"That won't work, right?" Veyra said.

"He'll just get comboed down again." Veyra was right. CinderLight began casting [Infernal Blast]. The spell circle filled its runes slowly, as Cinder deliberately cast it carefully to focus on aim. An arrow shot from the forest at the perfect time, forcing Dragrath to dodge predictably straight to Cinder's flames. The flames hit Dragrath perfectly. His shadow, that was, as he [Shadow Dashed] to Lrekk. I expected Lrekk to die quickly.

I'd fought him before, and while he was an expert swordsman, he wasn't a match for me, let alone Dragrath. Lrekk lifted his sword for a calm block and stayed in a defensive stance, his eyes locked in. Dragrath recovered, tossed his [Fracture] dagger to his foot, and threw another violent attack. Lrekk once again blocked, but his defence was utterly pierced, and the power of his blocks was next to none. Dragrath's katana knocked him out of his stance as Lrekk lost his footing.

"No wonder he always wins the 1v1 tourney," I said. He needed one more attack to finish Lrekk. That was when [Funeral Sun] blasted the ground under him. The flames killed Lrekk through friendly fire. Dragrath jumped back, barely avoiding it, only to be met with [Arrow Of The Thunder God]. He swung at it with his katana, cutting the arrow perfectly in half. Blocking the thunder ultimate was never a good idea. The skies rumbled as a lightning strike zapped Dragrath's katana like an undodgeable smite.

The impact [Stunned] him for just a second, which was enough for a follow-up arrow to finish him.

"Jesus," I said.

"Eon Covenant actually prepared for this match, or what?" Veyra took a long breath in. Then she exhaled with an annoyed groan.

"Veil will be so cocky after this, I already know. Congrats for ganging up on one player, asshole!"

"I guess it's still Dragrath's fault for not taking this seriously. He'll lose ranking." Veyra kept frowning.

"Surely he'll actually try to win the final match, right?" The livestream showed the audience. Dragrath wasn't one to ever sell merch, but he still had a decent following of fans with signs. Those signs were not held high, with concerned faces lining seats. VeilShot's fans, on the other hand, were grinning wide, waving their arrow plushies or whatever merch Eon Covenant sold in the air." The third, and possibly, final match is about to begin!

"Rebecca said." I cannot remember the last time Dragrath has lost a match in this regard, and I can't imagine he's going to give up the title so easily."" It's looking grim, Rebecca, but let's not forget that Dragrath has only filled four out of nine available item slots. He is known to take things seriously at match point. Let's see if he decides to do so for what might be the final battle of this match!"

Veyra watched intently as Dragrath loaded into the new arena—this time a flat and circular floating island of heavenly marble and gold with a steep fall off of the edge—and his gearset was shown to the audience. All nine slots were filled. Veyra let out a long exhale.

"Alright. We might have a serious battle. Finally."" Oh, yes he has!" Tasteful said." Dragrath has equipped his full set, ladies and gentlemen! And these are not bad items at all! As expected, Dragrath is always hoarding the best items available in the Wilderness!" Ring Of The Ashen King Item Type: Legendary Unique Event Ring Required Character Level: 313 Stats: +100 Elemental Resistances +500 Fire Resistance Abilities: The Throne Of Ash (Passive): All attacks deal 35% extra damage when the wearer is burning.

Increase to 50% if the flames are enkindled. Tormented Gloves Item Type: Legendary Unique Event Gloves Required Character Level: 339 Stats: +1000 Attack Power +200 Defence +15% Lifesteal Abilities: Tormented Bloodline (Passive): Resist torture. Reduces all damage taken by 30%, storing it as excess. All excess damage is dealt over three seconds as burn damage. Revenge Of Torment (Active): Increase lifesteal by 300% for the next attack. Cooldown: 300 seconds.

"Oh wow, I could use that combo," I said. How did Dragrath have every single item I wanted? That was not including his mythic katana, known as one of the best items in the game.

Moonlight Katana Item Type: Mythic Sword Required Character Level: 298 Stats: +5600 Attack Power +300 Pure Defense Penetration +30% Critical Strike Chance +100% Critical Strike Damage Abilities: Weaver Of The Night Sky (Active): For 60 seconds, the Moonlight Katana's blade turns into a reflective starscape, gaining immunity to durability loss and reducing weight by 30%. Critical Strikes deal an additional 25% dark damage. Cooldown: 180 seconds.

Saturation Of Moonlight (Passive): The Moonlight Katana deals 75% extra damage to targets with 0 or negative defence. His spirits were also revealed, including the ridiculous one that split his sword to three, which essentially doubled his damage and made his weapon wider. Greater Spirit Of Dual Wielding Greater Dual Wielding: Split the wielder's primary weapon into three. The two phantom blades follow the primary weapon's trajectory. If one blade is blocked, all others lose momentum alongside.

The phantom blades deal 50% less damage, and apply all effects of the primary weapon. I didn't have time to read the rest, as the arena opened up and all three of Suburi's members dashed toward their opponents.