On the arena, killing intent was hidden in the cold gleam of steel as the sound of clashing blades rang out continuously, shifting from left to right and back again. The spectators watched as two blurs swept past their eyes, accompanied by the howl of racing wind.
Xu Xiaoyou, wielding her two black blades, attacked at a pace more than twice as fast as before. Clotho-Lan retreated step by step, her toe tapping the ground as her figure vanished, reappearing over a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye. She unleashed a flurry of punches, shattering all the incoming fireballs.
The girl's figure tore through the curtain of flames, charging out from within.
Fire swirled around Xu Xiaoyou's blade tips as she crossed her dual blades into a cross before her chest, sweeping them out in a slash. The flaming flowers of the wheeling dance closed in on Clotho-Lan's lethal throat.
Clotho-Lan struggled to raise her arms to block the strike, her body sent flying backward. In the blink of an eye, the girl caught up with her uncontrolled body, her boot tip tapping lightly against her chest. She twisted her waist, raising both blades behind her head and slashing down with force.
The pitch-black blade light struck her chest directly, and even with a body forged through seven layers of quenched electricity, a deep bloody gash exploded forth.
Looking at her health bar, which had dropped significantly and was nearing a critical state, Clotho-Lan steadied her breathing. She had already discerned Xu Xiaoyou's plan; the sudden ferocity of her opponent's offensive wasn't entirely due to that eerie divine endowment.
Dark Gold Rose wanted a swift resolution, which was why she was so desperate to finish the fight. The opponent must have used some kind of trump card to achieve such an explosive increase in strength, even completely suppressing her at seven layers of quenched electricity.
There was only one reason for Dark Gold Rose to do this: 【Rose Life Garment】 was not a growth-type divine endowment. At the very least, in terms of sustained combat, it was definitely inferior to her 【Caged Evil Electric Raiment】. The opponent was wary of her.
As long as she could stall for three more minutes—no, just two and a half minutes—her quenched electricity layers would reach ten, and the tide of battle would surely turn in an instant.
With that thought, Clotho-Lan resolutely abandoned the idea of a head-on confrontation. She slammed her foot down, causing a massive stone wall to rise from the ground to block Xu Xiaoyou's path, then leaped into the air.
Since the opponent's melee capability was so strong, she would temporarily avoid the brunt of it.
"We can see that the situation on the field has reversed! President Clotho-Lan has lost her original dominance and is no match for Dark Gold Rose in a direct clash, choosing to evade instead!"
The host's words caused many spectators' hearts to sink. Clotho-Lan was already a president known for her frontal combat ability. If even she couldn't suppress Dark Gold Rose, who could possibly defeat her in a direct fight?
Could it be that the only real opponent for Light-Chaser Garden is Queen's Arms?
Unlike the early stages of the league, the current situation of the tournament has gradually become clear. Aside from the heavy favorite Queen's Arms, people generally believe that Light-Chaser Garden is the only team qualified to compete with Queen's Arms for the Sovereign Key. Even if another team had a moment of brilliance, they would only cause a brief stir before fading into obscurity, unnoticed by all.
In terms of raw frontal strength, there were many teams stronger than Light-Chaser Garden. But in terms of pure power, even King's Clan looked completely insignificant before Queen's Arms.
In the rankings of championship contenders, frontal strength had instead become an unimportant factor. The reason Light-Chaser Garden was given hope of winning the championship was that Dark Gold Rose, compared to other presidents or team commanders, was the only 'oddball' with the ability to create miracles.
The overall quality of Queen's Arms was strong enough to drive people to despair. Almost every match, regardless of the opponent—be it a dark horse, a galactic warship, or a championship favorite—was steamrolled by Killing God Changqing alone. The other four members rarely even had a chance to perform in the matches.
Except for an 'oddball', people couldn't imagine how to defeat such a team.
Returning to the match, seeing Clotho-Lan rushing upwards along the stone wall, Xu Xiaoyou let out a soft sound. One butler longblade vanished into thin air, replaced by a rifle intricately carved with rose patterns.
Clotho-Lan had clearly forgotten one thing: compared to her melee ability, Dark Gold Rose was even better at long-range attacks.
Long-range skill cards 【Death's Eye · Beyond】, 【Perfect Curtain Call · Beyond】, and 【Beyond-Limit Vision · Beyond】 were loaded. A scarlet electric arc flashed through the chamber as the dark gold rifle body suddenly became heavy, expanding more than twice its size, transforming into a heavy sniper rifle braced on the ground.
Xu Xiaoyou began to aim, her gaze instantly catching up with the rapidly moving Clotho-Lan above, as she pulled the bolt back with force.
A magazine filled with high-explosive rounds popped out, each one engraved with a skull emblem, emitting a heavy deathly aura.
As she pulled the trigger, the recoil forced the rifle back and the ground caved in. The high-explosive round turned into a streak of light, chasing after Clotho-Lan, while another round automatically rolled from the magazine into the chamber, completing the load.
"This is the final parting gift, President Clotho-Lan."
A sudden sense of crisis attacked from behind. The high-speed Clotho-Lan immediately felt something was wrong. In the next instant, a violent flash of fire exploded on her back, and a mechanical arm flew into the sky.
This high-explosive round collapsed the stone wall beneath her feet along with it. Stone dust erupted all the way from the top to the bottom, followed by a series of explosions.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The woman fell downward like a bird caught in a storm, her body completely out of control.
Residual flames continued to consume her flesh, burning her wings to ash. Half of Clotho-Lan's chest was scorched to charcoal. Enduring the pain, she pulled a special healing potion from her waist, flicked the cap open, and began to drink in large gulps.
Then, her eyes suddenly widened.
"You have been hit by 'Dark Gold Rose's' 'Parting Gift (High-Explosive Round)'. Maximum health reduced by 25%, healing effects reduced by 100%, duration 30s."
Before she could react, another high-explosive round shot over, precisely blowing off her left hand which was holding the healing potion. With both arms gone, she completely lost her ability to balance her body, falling straight to the ground as dust billowed up.
"President Clotho-Lan!" The members of Heterogeneous Front couldn't help but shout at this sudden turn of events.
The dust soon dispersed, and the scene before them caused their pupils to tremble. The blood-covered Clotho-Lan was still standing upright, the clinging flames eating away at her charred remains. Blood flowed into her eyes, but she was like a fierce beast in a fight, holding her proud head high and staring fixedly at Xu Xiaoyou nearby.
The eighth thunderbolt and the third Parting Gift arrived simultaneously. Surging flames and electricity swallowed her whole.
"Cough, cough."
Xu Xiaoyou was a hundred percent sure of the hit, so she didn't fire a fourth shot. She shouldered her gun and stood up, waving away the dust that swirled before her, and walked toward Clotho-Lan, calling out from a distance.
"That was quite tragic, President Clotho-Lan. Let's end this friendly match here. How about you admit defeat, so things don't get too ugly between our two guilds?"
"You damn bastard," Clotho-Lan gritted her teeth. "Don't even think about it!"
"Peace breeds wealth, after all," Xu Xiaoyou said. "Even though both your arms are broken, I admit you still have the ability to keep fighting. Maybe at twelve or thirteen layers of quenched electricity, you might have a chance to beat me..."
"President, how about we just let it go?" Florence, whose face was swollen like a pig's, said while covering his face.
"Yeah, yeah, the account is more important. The death penalty in bounty matches isn't that severe, but the loss is still significant. It might even prevent you from participating in later matches."
"Calm down, President. You have to consider the bigger picture. Think of us, we're your teammates..."
"Shut the hell up!" Clotho-Lan's face looked like a wild beast's as her roar instantly drowned out the weak voices. "A bunch of cowardly trash. You want me to compromise with someone like this? I can't bear to lose that kind of face."
"A loss is a loss. Kill me, or be killed by me, Dark Gold Rose!"
The blonde girl's lips curled into a grin. "Fine, then go ahead and die."
Xu Xiaoyou's index finger rested on the trigger, and the fourth 'Parting Gift' was loaded. Clotho-Lan seized this moment, leaping out like a dying beast in a final counterattack. Her legs swung in a whirlwind kick as flames exploded and swept around the two of them!
"President!" the crowd shouted.
"This person..." Angelina's eyes narrowed.
"Who won?" the spectators stood up one after another.
The flames dispersed, and the atmosphere was tense and oppressive. The scene on the stage became clear: Clotho-Lan's right leg was suspended right by Xu Xiaoyou's face, while the girl's raised muzzle was pressed exactly against the woman's mangled chest.
Xu Xiaoyou let out a light cough. "Let's just leave it at that, shall we?"
"President Clotho-Lan, this is the maximum concession I can make."
"But I really want to tear that pretty face of yours apart," Clotho-Lan gritted out the words through her teeth. "You can try pulling the trigger. I guarantee I can take you to hell with me."
"Alright then." Xu Xiaoyou's index finger exerted pressure, and then...
She deactivated 【Rose Life Garment】.
"If you want to win that badly, then I'll let you win?"
"It's just a bounty match. How could it be more important than the friendship between our guilds?"
"Fuck!"
Clotho-Lan cursed in frustration, decisively choosing to surrender before Xu Xiaoyou could say another word.
Seeing the woman turn around in a fit of rage and vanish into light without looking back, the spectators were bewildered.
"What's going on?"
"Who actually won just now?"
"I don't know, but no matter how you look at it, it seems like Dark Gold Rose won, right?"
"I think President Clotho-Lan won! Dark Gold Rose must have messed up at the end and, unable to lose face, used someone else's pride to force them to surrender!"
"Although Dark Gold Rose's reputation isn't great, I still have to say a fair word for her. It's obvious she was the winner. Didn't you see how she was in control the whole time? On the other hand, Clotho-Lan was so pathetic in the second half."
"How can you be so sure Dark Gold Rose's last shot would have hit? Besides, it was obvious Clotho-Lan could have taken Dark Gold Rose down with her before she died, right?"
For a moment, the stands were in an uproar.
Xu Xiaoyou listened to the people's discussion and smiled with satisfaction. She swiped her fingers in front of her, choosing to teleport away and leave the arena before the host could announce the result.
As soon as she returned to the lounge, the environment became quiet, and the noisy sounds gradually faded into the background.
"All done, time to head back."
"That doesn't seem like your style," Angelina said. "I thought you would finish Clotho-Lan off without hesitation."
"What good would killing her do us?" Xu Xiaoyou asked in return. "Heterogeneous Front isn't a threat to us, and our interests are even tied together in some matters. This isn't even a regular match."
"It could have let you show off. Don't all those people want to see you lose?"
"Then it's even more reason not to kill her," Xu Xiaoyou said. "I've been in the spotlight too much lately. This is a good chance to create some buzz and stay out of the line of fire."
"The topic of 'who is stronger, Dark Gold Rose or Clotho-Lan' is quite good. It will satisfy those guys who can't stand seeing me do well and keep them quiet for a while, while saving face for both sides."
Walking over to Tang Xin, Xu Xiaoyou added with a solemn expression, "Of course, I was a hundred percent sure I could beat her. If we kept fighting, I'd be the only one left standing."
With that, Xu Xiaoyou put her arm around Tang Xin's shoulder, resting her chin on the girl. "Am I right, my dear Little Blue Bird?"
"Childish," Tang Xin turned her head away. "So someone actually knows how many people are watching her. I thought someone was completely oblivious."
She let out a sigh, broke free from the girl's embrace, picked up her bag, and walked toward the door.
Xu Xiaoyou didn't mind, watching the blue-haired girl's receding back. "Don't forget the concert tonight~"
The sound of the door slamming shut rang out.
Angelina walked over and raised an eyebrow. "What's with her? Things have been pretty tense between you two lately, haven't they?"
"Maybe."
Xu Xiaoyou shook her head and made a phone call. While explaining the rest of the day's itinerary, she walked to a vending machine. Seeing the glowing red raccoon image on it, she quietly chose 'Honey Pomelo Tea' and clicked to buy.
A thumping sound came from inside the vending machine. The drink got stuck on the horizontal bar above the delivery port.
Xu Xiaoyou's eyelid twitched. Refusing to believe her luck, she clicked buy again.
Another series of thumps. This time, the Honey Pomelo Tea that fell hit the one before it, pressing down a bit but remaining stuck.
"Huh?" Xu Xiaoyou's eye twitched.
Looking at the drinks filling the bottom of the machine, Angelina sighed and walked over. She kicked the entire vending machine apart with one foot, picked through the collapsed machinery, and found a can of Honey Pomelo Tea that was still in good condition, handing it to Xu Xiaoyou. "Noh."
In the dim hallway, a light bulb flickering with white light swayed, occasionally making a sizzling sound.
"I really don't know what she has to be so proud of," two girls dressed in training gear walked past. "She's just relying on her status, betting that we won't dare do anything to her. Treating us like that... sooner or later, she'll get what's coming to her."
At that moment, a red-haired girl whose white training gear was soaked with sweat let out a soft breath. She walked out of the training room, stretching her muscles. She tied her long hair, which was draped over her neck, into a neat ponytail while walking toward them.
"M-Meijiu?"
The two girls looked a bit flustered as soon as they saw Akabane Tsubaki, forcing out an awkward expression to greet her.
Akabane Tsubaki squinted, responding with a bright smile. As she passed them, she stuck out her foot, tripping the girl who had been talking behind her back, sending her sprawling face-first.
"Meijiu!"
That girl covered her face and turned around fiercely, only to see Akabane Tsubaki looking down at her. Akabane Tsubaki put a finger to her lips and stuck out her tongue.
"Watch where you're going. If you run into the person who's always behind someone's back, be careful not to knock your front teeth out."
The girl lowered her head guiltily.
Akabane Tsubaki, being the bigger person, brushed herself off and turned to leave. Just then, her phone rang. She picked it up to look, and her eyes lit up.
It was Big Sister Tang calling.
Rate on N.U.
