A stone—a stone falling from hundreds of meters in the air.
Trailing a long plume of exhaust behind it, it looked like a meteorite falling from outer space, chilling anyone who saw it to the bone.
Hoger wasn't sure exactly how large the object was, but he knew one thing.
This thing was huge!
Large enough that it seemed capable of covering the entire arena.
The corner! Only the corner could save him now!
He had no idea how the witch Lan Qingyou had managed to make it so large, but now was not the time for questions.
The stone in the sky was howling as it plummeted.
Hoger sprinted toward the nearest corner of the arena at the fastest speed he had ever achieved in his life.
Boom!
The stone smashed into the arena, making the entire stage shake as if an earthquake had struck.
Hoger reached the corner at the very last second, barely managing to avoid being hit by the stone.
And even then, he only made it because he had ditched his shield during the sprint.
Otherwise, he might have been flattened by now.
“That witch really shows no mercy,” Hoger muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He hadn't heard Lan Qingyou’s warning earlier.
No...
It wasn't just a lack of mercy; her methods were incredibly ruthless!
He reached out to touch the stone right in front of him. The cold sensation that traveled up his hand confirmed its reality.
He could be certain that he wasn't under some illusion; this was the real deal.
This was bad. With a stone this large, how was he supposed to get out?
After all, if he couldn't get out, he couldn't even fight.
Honestly...
He had originally intended to stall for a victory, but she had simply flipped the table and refused to play along?
Wait!
Where exactly did the witch get such a massive stone?
The answer was obvious: a card!
Flying into the sky and then releasing a stone from a card to achieve the effect of crushing someone—it was a remarkably simple tactic.
But the thing about tactics is that the simpler they are, the fewer flaws they often have.
Having found a potential solution, Hoger painstakingly fished out a card from inside his plate armor, intending to store the stone.
Storing the stone was simple; it was just a matter of pressing the card against it.
The action was completed in an instant.
Fortunately, he had emptied the contents of his cards before coming out, carrying only supplies like potions.
Otherwise, he might not have had a free slot.
It seemed he needed to make a habit of keeping at least one slot open from now on.
That way, he would have a backup plan for any sudden emergencies.
However, before Hoger could celebrate his success, the sky was once again shrouded in shadow.
Hoger looked up and couldn't help but curse loudly.
“Is there no end to this?! How am I supposed to fight like this?!”
Indeed, another stone was crashing down from above.
“Just surrender. If you surrender, all of this stops.”
The stone hadn't fallen yet, giving Lan Qingyou and Hoger a brief moment to communicate.
While this playstyle was undeniably shameless, the fact that the transparent announcer hadn't intervened meant she wasn't breaking any rules.
But as for surrendering... Hoger was still somewhat reluctant.
The problem was, what else could he do if he didn't surrender?
It seemed virtually impossible for him to continue the fight now.
Setting aside the fact that his attack range was insufficient, the way she was relentlessly dropping stones meant he would likely be trapped to death in this corner eventually.
It was so frustrating!
To have a battle reach this point was nothing short of humiliating.
Hoger swore that as a knight, he would find a flying mount in the future to prevent such a “tragedy” from ever happening again.
No! The entire Spade Knight Order needed flying mounts!
Not only would they become Sky Knights, but they would also be able to support every battlefield to a much greater extent.
Unfortunately, he had failed his mission objective of reaching the top four, and he had lost face in front of so many people.
It seemed he would need to carefully rethink his plan for building the knight order's reputation.
Forget it, just surrender. There’s no point in wasting more time; that would only look worse.
“I surrender.”
Having thought it through, Hoger finally raised his hand and spoke those two words.
【Surrender! He surrendered!】
【Famine Knight Hoger has unexpectedly surrendered!】
【Why? Was it because he was pinned in a corner? We don't know!】
【But for now, let us congratulate the Witch of the High Tower, Lan Qingyou, for winning the fourth match and securing the final spot in the semi-finals!】
The moment Hoger surrendered, the transparent person spoke into the microphone, loudly announcing Lan Qingyou’s victory.
To be honest, even the announcer didn't know what they were doing there anymore.
They would step onto the stage to say “Let the battle begin,” and before they could even take a sip of water, they had to say “congratulations.” They were like a human parrot.
No, even worse than a parrot!
And yet they had to pretend to be happy. This was the “blessing” that corporate slaves and beasts of burden deserved.
Victory?
No, there were still the semi-finals and the grand finals to determine the first-place winner.
It would surely be even more exciting.
While Hoger, as a participant, was acutely aware of the terrifying impact of those stones falling from the sky, the audience watching from multiple angles found Lan Qingyou’s stone-dropping trick to be more of a spectacular shock.
“Does anyone know what magic this is? I’m not being weird, I just genuinely want to learn it.”
“In your dreams.”
“Actually, it doesn't seem that impressive. She just flies high and releases stored boulders from a card.”
“True. I saw the witch take out a card too, even if it was small on the screen.”
“I agree. It’s just a simple, easy-to-learn case of brute force flight.”
“...Then may I ask how you fly?”
“And how do you precisely control the landing point after dropping the stone?”
“Well... isn't there a magic broom? Just buy one from the witches. Once you can fly, leave the rest to the world consciousness.”
“Nonsense. Do you think the witches will sell them?”
“Why wouldn't they? Come on, it’s flight! It’s a magic tool so many people dream of. They might even turn it into an industry in the future.”
“Tsk tsk, I really wonder what that knight commander went through in those short thirty seconds.”
“No kidding. That suffocating feeling of meteorites falling one after another... I’d probably stop breathing if it were me.”
“Someone! Get the commander a new pair of pants!”
“Haha, you’re wicked.”
As the crowd discussed the match, the announcer’s voice rang out again.
【First, congratulations to the four advancing contestants. Secondly...】
【Considering that everyone has engaged in high-intensity battles all day, the remaining matches will be held tomorrow.】
【The specific schedule is as follows: the semi-finals will take place at 10:00 AM tomorrow;】
【The grand finals and the third-place match will take place at 3:00 PM tomorrow.】
【So, contestants, please rest well. Audience, stay tuned. We’ll see you tomorrow!】
Rate on N.U.
