[On the Beginner Arena Stage]
Even after winning thirty matches in a row, Ironblood Ruthless did not underestimate his opponent just because this challenger was a girl.
He still faced this challenger with full fighting spirit: the illusion mage Zhao Ling'er, who was 2 levels lower than him.
As the system countdown ended.
BOOM!
As a dark wizard, Ironblood Ruthless swung his staff and moved first, using the same tactic as before and opening with his ultimate skill.
Dark Wizard Ultimate Skill, Soul Suppression!
Crash!
As a dark gray beam descending from the sky covered Zhao Lingyun's pet skeleton soldier and suppressed it, another identical dark gray beam immediately followed and descended toward Zhao Lingyun herself.
However, what nobody present expected was that Zhao Lingyun actually avoided Ironblood Ruthless's control skill with a light sidestep.
"What?"
The surrounding crowd was instantly shocked.
"Holy shit! How did she do that? She actually dodged the dark wizard's ultimate?"
"Wasn't the dark wizard's Soul Suppression supposed to auto-lock targets within range and be impossible to dodge?"
"Damn! So this kind of move is possible too? Learned something new today."
At the same time, Ironblood Ruthless was shaken inside.
'She actually discovered the flaw in my ultimate?'
In truth, Ironblood Ruthless had long known his ultimate had a "flaw."
The dark wizard's ultimate, Soul Suppression, could originally suppress only one enemy. Ironblood Ruthless relied on his talent's splash effect to make all his single-target attacks, including his ultimate, hit two targets at the same time.
But, only Ironblood Ruthless himself knew that all splash attacks triggered through his talent did not have a lock-on effect.
Which also meant: they could be dodged through movement and positioning.
And Zhao Lingyun had discovered this "flaw" by carefully observing match after match during the previous challengers' attempts.
So at the start of this battle, she deliberately had her pet skeleton soldier charge forward to attract Ironblood Ruthless's attention.
Because according to her guess, only the splash version of the ultimate could possibly be dodged through movement.
So she had to use her pet to take Ironblood Ruthless's main ultimate and create room for herself to maneuver.
The facts proved Zhao Lingyun's guess was completely correct.
After dodging Ironblood Ruthless's "double ultimate" control, Zhao Lingyun, as an illusion mage, swung her staff and used [Polymorph] to turn Ironblood Ruthless's pet snow wolf into a sheep before attacking Ironblood Ruthless.
Because while a dark wizard used Soul Suppression to control enemies, they themselves were also affected by the suppression and unable to move.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
-1235!
-1333!
-1411!
Zhao Lingyun really had seized the opportunity.
Unfortunately, her strength was not enough.
Illusion mages already lacked burst damage.
On top of that, Zhao Lingyun's skill grades were low and her equipment was poor.
After a full combo of skills, she only managed to take about one-third of Ironblood Ruthless's HP. It was nowhere near enough to threaten him fatally.
The moment the snow wolf recovered from its sheep state, it suddenly lunged at Zhao Lingyun.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
-3258!
-3199!
-3033!
One combo attack easily emptied Zhao Lingyun's HP bar.
Seeing this, the surrounding spectators could not help sighing in regret, "Tsk! Her awareness is pretty good. Her damage is just lacking."
"Taking away one-third of Ironblood Ruthless's HP is already unprecedented among the previous thirty challengers. This girl definitely has some skill."
"Ironblood Ruthless is still too strong! Even with his flaw exposed, he still crushes his opponent steadily! Impressive!"
———
[On the Arena]
After Zhao Lingyun was defeated, she was not teleported out by the system.
It turned out Ironblood Ruthless had activated "HP lock" mode, leaving Zhao Lingyun with 1 HP instead of dying.
At this moment, Ironblood Ruthless said to Zhao Lingyun, "My rule in games is that I don't kill female players. Just surrender."
Zhao Lingyun raised her head and looked at Ironblood Ruthless.
Her eyes were filled with refusal to give up and a desire for victory.
The next second, she suddenly lifted her staff and attacked Ironblood Ruthless again.
Boom!
Ironblood Ruthless reacted quickly and casually dodged Zhao Lingyun's attack with a simple movement.
The next second, the snow wolf pounced Zhao Lingyun to the ground and bit into her shoulder, causing blood to pour out immediately.
Even under HP lock mode, Zhao Lingyun still was not eliminated.
"I already said it. My rule is that I don't kill female players. Just surrender and stop struggling. You're not my opponent."
After the snow wolf released Zhao Lingyun under its master's command, the moment Zhao Lingyun got up from the pool of blood, she attacked Ironblood Ruthless again.
As expected, she still failed this time.
Under the snow wolf's counterattack, she fell into the blood pool again and again.
But her unyielding will made Zhao Lingyun stand back up again and again.
Even though her body was covered in wounds.
Even though she was battered all over.
Even though Divine Oracle's 100% realism let Zhao Lingyun fully feel every bit of real pain.
She still did not admit defeat.
Even the spectators outside could not bear to watch anymore.
Crowd A: "Seriously! This girl doesn't need to fight this desperately, right?"
Crowd B: "Isn't it only because it's a game that she dares to go this hard? If it were reality, you think she'd dare?"
Crowd C: "Even in a game, the pain is still 100% real, okay? Look at her body getting torn apart by the snow wolf bites! It hurts just watching!"
Crowd D: "The key point is that even if she gets chances, she still can't turn things around! Why make this kind of pointless struggle? Losing isn't even embarrassing anyway. So many experts before her lost miserably too."
Crowd E: "Ironblood Ruthless, hurry up and end the fight already! Stop torturing the girl! It hurts just watching!"
On the surface, Zhao Lingyun was still Director Zhang's girlfriend.
But seeing this scene, not only did Director Zhang feel no pity for Zhao Lingyun, he instead sneered with delight, "Hmph! Overestimating yourself."
In the end, Ironblood Ruthless still broke his own rule.
Unable to bear torturing Zhao Lingyun any longer, he turned off HP lock mode.
BOOM!
One magic orb instantly killed Zhao Lingyun, who only had 1 HP left.
To everyone else watching, this was just a PvP defeat.
But in reality, for Zhao Lingyun, this magic orb was the fatal blow that shattered all her hope and dreams and pushed her into the abyss.
[Ding~ Unfortunately, your challenge to the beginner arena has failed!]
As the system notification sounded, Zhao Lingyun was teleported back to the spectator area.
After just suffering defeat, she did not hear a single word of comfort.
Instead, Director Zhang's mocking voice sounded beside her ears, "How was it? Now you should finally see reality clearly."
"Stop always trying to prove yourself."
"A sparrow is still a sparrow. You'll never become a phoenix!"
Zhao Lingyun's eyes turned red as tears unwillingly flowed out.
A rare opportunity had finally appeared in front of her.
She hated herself for not having the ability to seize it.
At this moment, Zhao Lingyun's heart was completely dead.
Meanwhile, Director Zhang looked extremely pleased with himself.
Because he knew that after this, Zhao Lingyun would never be able to rise again.
She would forever remain under his control and become a woman belonging only to him.
And in fact, in the previous life, Zhao Lingyun really did fall into depression after experiencing this defeat and despair, completely falling under Director Zhang's control.
Until Divine Oracle descended. After receiving the "Baptism" and unlocking an SS-rank talent, the first thing Zhao Lingyun did after gaining power was personally kill Director Zhang, who had humiliated and tortured her for so long.
But, this time, there was no need to wait for Divine Oracle to descend.
Zhao Lingyun's fate would change right here, right now.
Behind Director Zhang, within the crowd, a black-clothed assassin boy stepped forward.
"President Gao."
"Golden Age Guild member Mo requests permission to fight!"
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