The Dragon's Gambit
The ten Chinese players began closing in on their encirclement, spaced unevenly apart.
“Master, what do we do now?”
“What do you mean, what do we do.”
“Even if we die, we’ll revive after sixty minutes, but we need to take that crystal if raiding the village is going to mean anything.”
“So we go back.”
This guy’s mindset was completely off.
We should be fighting with the assumption that we’ll return. How could anyone fight while already assuming defeat?
“On the contrary, this is perfect.”
“This situation?”
“Ping Lei showed up right in front of us.”
“Ugh.”
Lee Jiyoung let out a low groan.
—Heh heh, your disciple seems to lack faith.
Nyx muttered, resting her chin on her hand.
The goddess had been quite worried about me as well, hadn’t she?
Thud. Thud.
“Kuk kuk, you bread guys actually crawled all the way here without fear.”
Ping Lei. China’s rising star, and in the previous timeline the overlord who had dominated the continent’s underworld, now stood before me.
Wow. Jiyoung was one thing, but seeing that guy in his younger form felt strangely nostalgic.
I stared at Ping Lei with eyes full of sentiment.
“Ppangjeu, are you so scared you can’t even speak?”
The guy spat out nonsense.
“Lucky for me. Even though he looks young, the way he talks is exactly how I remember.”
“What the hell are you saying?”
“That you’re just ordinary trash that can’t be recycled.”
“This…… arrogant Ppangjeu bastard!!!”
“Is ‘Ppangjeu’ the only word you know?”
I raised my right hand and wiggled my fingers.
“Fighting isn’t done with your mouth.”
“Good. This body will personally inflict pain upon you!”
Ping Lei’s face flushed bright red.
He fell for cheap provocations so easily.
“This is my fight. No one interfere!”
Ping Lei kicked off the ground.
His body blurred, and in the blink of an eye he split into three.
Double Hand Gourd
Mantis Sword & Scorching Heat Sword
—Quite realistic illusions.
“No. They all have physical form.”
Ping Lei’s unique ability: Clone.
It consumed stamina and mana to create afterimages with one-third the specs of the original.
Ping Lei closed the distance while holding two swords of different lengths in each hand.
Twitch— My heart, nape, and face all stung at once.
A warning from my sixth sense.
The three Ping Leis swung their swords in perfect unison.
Each clone possessed only one-third the stats of the original. Their attack speed was slower, but Ping Lei used that to his advantage, trying to restrict my movements.
I deliberately exposed my vital points—nape and heart—where instant death was possible.
I took one step forward.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Four blades struck the Spiked Carapace covering my vitals. Sparks flew from the friction, but the carapace only gained a few cracks and remained intact.
Thud! Instead, the spikes on the carapace pierced the arms and thighs of the three Ping Leis.
“You blocked my attack with your bare body?!”
“With that much power, you couldn’t even swat a fly.”
A black blade surged up from my toes.
A sharp sword forged from the power of Polar Night deflected Ping Lei’s (original) attack to the side.
“Damn it! Do you think the great martial arts of the Middle Kingdom will lose to some demonic art?!”
“Who said the martial arts that came from the Tower belong to China?”
At the same time, my left arm bent at an unnatural angle.
Blood Claw Technique, Fourth Form.
The Tiger Tail Claw slipped between the sword trajectories and drove toward Ping Lei’s nape.
Just as my elongated claws were about to pierce him, Ping Lei’s body twisted in an impossibly grotesque manner.
A movement impossible for human anatomy.
Like a boneless mollusk, his body bent and slipped past the Tiger Tail Claw.
Without hesitation, I unleashed the First Form of the Blood Claw Technique.
My claws slashed diagonally.
Unable to dodge an attack that spread in a line rather than a point, a long gash was carved into the fabric covering Ping Lei’s chest.
“That hand movement…… You! Did you learn martial arts?”
“You should have realized it from the first exchange.”
“A mere Ppangjeu could never wield the martial arts of the Chinese people!”
“I keep telling you, those martial arts aren’t yours.”
He really couldn’t understand a word.
Using my left leg as an axis, I spun 270 degrees and swung my right arm wide.
Blood Claw Technique, Third Form.
Blood Tiger Storm Claw.
Ping Lei crossed his dual swords into an X and thrust them forward.
As expected, he lacked experience.
Even though he had learned a skill like Double Hand Gourd, when cornered he couldn’t use it properly.
Look at that—his inner energy was only infused into the right sword.
At best it was second-rate to first-rate. As a skill, it was 3-star grade, but using it with one hand meant it couldn’t display its full power.
Dual swords were never meant to reach 200% power; at most they could manage 140–150%.
Clang!
The moment my claws met his swords, Ping Lei’s body was pushed backward.
His arms trembled—he hadn’t been able to fully deflect the force behind the Blood Tiger Storm Claw.
“To think I’d be pushed back in a direct clash……”
“Why? Something not going your way?”
Flame Ring — Internal Skill: Fireball
A blazing fireball shot straight toward me.
With a loud explosion, acrid smoke billowed upward.
Ping Lei slipped through the black currents with an odd gait and closed the distance once more.
“Uwaaaah!”
This time Ping Lei split into five.
But even if they looked the same, they couldn’t fool my eyes.
Thousand Eyes
The skill created by combining an eagle’s eye with an observation eye.
Though only the lowest grade, it had stepped into the realm of demonic eyes.
Each clone possessed one-third the specs of the original.
Even the eagle’s eye, which distinguished strength and weakness, was enough to identify the real body.
I rearranged my mana.
Earth Spike
The ground trembled.
Sharp stone pillars surged toward the real Ping Lei among the five figures.
Ping Lei’s face turned ashen.
“Clones, block it!”
The clones that had been running at the same speed threw themselves at the stone pillars, but even their inner-energy-infused sword strikes couldn’t stop the Earth Spike.
It was a channeling skill that continuously supplied mana.
Thanks to Dragon’s Heart, my mana was overflowing.
The Earth Spike maintained its power and targeted Ping Lei’s real body.
Tatatat— Ping Lei’s feet moved in a dazzling pattern as he was pushed far backward.
Footprints etched into the ground.
He had even used light-body technique to dodge the Earth Spike.
“Creating distance was a mistake.”
After cutting off the mana supply, I immediately kicked off the ground and charged forward.
Fierce Charge
Thanks to him retreating, a ten-meter gap had opened up.
The distance closed in an instant.
Ping Lei’s pale face came clearly into view.
“H-Help me!”
A tearing scream rang out.
Light burst from Ping Lei’s body and he swapped places with a distant tanker.
It was the skill I had seen before—Castling.
The moment my tightly clenched fist smashed into the tanker’s face, his entire body trembled from the stun effect.
The tanker, unable to activate any defensive skills, took the full brunt of Fierce Charge.
Two seconds were enough.
When I used Four-Headed Claw to target the gaps in his armor and strike his vitals, the tanker’s body turned to dust.
“To think Kwon Yeong-mun would fall in one hit.”
“More importantly, Ping Lei is being pushed back.”
—Those people are surprised by the obvious.
Hearing Nyx’s indifferent words, Ping Lei’s face turned bright red.
“Don’t let those Korean bastards escape alive!”
“I knew it would come to this.”
One-on-one? What a joke.
The moment his own shortcomings were exposed, he showed his true colors.
“Master!”
“Focus on defense.”
Ten versus two.
This was perfect for a warm-up.
I had already fought the Grand Mall and now Ping Lei, yet my body still felt under-warmed.
“Goddess.”
—I have been waiting.
Blessing of the Night has been bestowed upon your body.
All stats increased by 40%.
Polar Night recovery rate maximized.
Now let’s really enjoy ourselves.
* * *
Ping Lei kept blinking rapidly.
This is a nightmare.
He closed and opened his eyes, but reality remained unchanged.
And how could it not……
“Aaaagh!”
One of the Chinese players turned to dust with a dying scream.
They were players carefully selected for the promotion match.
They were unmatched among the Unranked, yet before Jinho they couldn’t even use their strength.
Exposed to Roar.
Strength and Agility decreased by 10%. Duration: 20 seconds.
Entered Mud Trap range.
Strength and Agility decreased by 30%.
Various debuffs.
The sound-based Roar was impossible to avoid.
The Mud Trap that turned part of the ground into a swamp could be dodged if seen, but Jinho never missed the moment they broke formation to escape the debuffs and pressed the attack.
“Flame Wind!”
A fire-element magic with the same mechanism as Earth Spike.
As the Flame Wind soared several meters high, Jinho extended his left hand.
The swirling flames were absorbed into the ring.
Mana Absorb.
“Hot and tasty.”
Jinho grinned and activated the Flame Ring on his right hand once more.
An exploding fireball.
Several Chinese players were caught in the Fireball.
“Kuaaagh!”
“Healer! Healer!”
The players screamed, having avoided death.
No—perhaps death would have been mercy for them.
“Call Lightning!”
Lightning fell from the sky.
Instead of activating Devourer’s Maw, Jinho took one step back.
Crash! The lightning grazed past Jinho by a hair’s breadth and blackened the ground.
Ping Lei caught the scene and shouted.
“His magic absorption isn’t infinite either. Push him!”
He had the insight to see through the weakness of Devourer’s Maw. It was no coincidence that he was considered China’s rising star.
It was just that his opponent was too strong.
“Aren’t you underestimating me too much?”
Vibration Barrier × 2
Lee Jiyoung hadn’t been standing around watching either.
She used one barrier to protect herself and actively employed the other two as offensive tools.
The vibrations amplified when stacked.
The vibrations, now dozens of times stronger, literally pulverized the players caught between them.
“Uwa……※§￠∂!”
The Chinese players turned into finely minced meat.
Even the tankers who had learned defense-related skills and wore heavy armor were no exception.
It was only because Jinho’s overwhelming performance overshadowed her that she didn’t stand out.
Jiyoung freely unleashed the ability that had been called the Wall of Lamentation in the previous timeline.
‘I can’t lose like this.’
Ping Lei glared at Jinho with bloodshot eyes.
This was an opportunity he had personally proposed to Zhang Wufei, the leader of the Nine Dragons Syndicate.
If he lost on this stage……
Ping Lei’s future would plummet into the abyss.
‘The organization does not tolerate failure.’
Grind. His teeth clenched hard.
There was no longer any room to hesitate!
Ping Lei began circulating his inner energy in secret.
A hidden trump card unknown to the outside world.
Even if he had to use that demonic art, he had to defeat Jinho.
Revive after sixty minutes?
That no longer mattered.
He needed to confirm whether his trump card would work on Jinho or if it was just a futile struggle, so he could prepare countermeasures.
Blood-Reversing Qi Art
Inner energy spinning in reverse.
Dark blue veins bulged visibly on Ping Lei’s skin.