Plenty couldn't wrap his head around why the elites of the Evil Faction lost so badly to their counterparts of the Righteous Faction.
Plenty's confusion was understandable. When Nie Yan regressed to the past, he'd changed the dynamic of the two great factions. His influence on Bladelight, Sun, and the others was especially great. When Sub Legendary gear was still extremely rare in the game, they were already building towards their Legendary sets. This immense advantage only grew as time passed. When the Chaos Temple first released, Bladelight, Smoke Stub, Tang Yao, Sun, and several dozen other peak experts from Asskickers United entered with full sets of Legendary gear. While Fallen Angel was struggling to progress and continuously wiping on the temple outskirts, Asskickers United quickly slaughtered their way into the inner hall and snatched up all sorts of high quality loot. The gap grew even bigger after the release of the Sword of the War God. Because the stats of Fallen Angel's main team weren't high enough, they didn't dare to enter this new dungeon at first. Meanwhile, Asskickers United started running it on the day of release and blitzed their way straight to the inner region. By the time Fallen Angel really started running the Sword of the War God, they were more than three months behind Asskickers United.
The difference in strength continued to widen like this! Logically speaking, the peak experts from the Righteous Faction and Evil Faction should be roughly on par in strength, with the latter even being slightly stronger even because of the innate skill advantage. However, the outcome was completely out of expectation. Smoke Stub, Sun, and the others were onesidedly dominating these arrogant top experts of Fallen Angel!
It was all the more humiliating for Fallen Angel, since they were the ones to propose this showdown. If things went on like this, they'd become the laughingstocks of both great factions!
It couldn't go on like this. Plenty had no choice but to step in.
Another member was booted out of the competition. Fallen Angel only had three players left, which included Warlance, Godking, and an empty spot. That empty spot was saved for Plenty.
Warlance and Godking glanced at each other. "I'll go up," Warlance said after thinking for a moment. Godking would likely be matched up against Tang Yao while he would be facing Bladelight.
This would be Warlance's second showing. In his first fight, he abused his class advantage to beat Dark Requiem, a truly shameful act. Just thinking of it caused his face to flush red with shame. It was a pity that hadn't been enough to turn things around. Seven losses to only one win. They had three people left, Asskickers United nine.
Warlance really wanted to know how Bladelight and the others got so freakishly strong. Every single one of them were powerhouses! Previously, Fallen Angel had even reviewed the battle footage of the top experts from Asskickers United. Even if they weren't assured of victory, they believed they at least had a 50-50 chance. Who knew these guys had hidden their strength so well!
Warlance had no idea how well he would fare against Bladelight. Originally, he was quite confident. However, after seeing the people on his side lose one after the other, he started doubting his chances of victory.
If they lost this competition, Fallen Angel would truly lose all face. They would never be able to raise their heads again.
The members from Fallen Angel weren't the only ones in shock. Everyone was, even the players from Asskickers United. No one expected things to turn out this way!
"You know, I thought Fallen Angel and Asskickers United would be evenly matched, like a 50-50 toss-up on who would win. I never imagined Fallen Angel would be so much weaker!"
"Damn. I'm a fan of Asskickers United, and even I'm starting to feel bad for Fallen Angel. If the two factions go to war, Fallen Angel will just end up like Angel Corps back then, on the back foot as soon as the war begins."
...
The forums were also booming with discussion about the competition. Everyone had a new grasp on the strength of Asskickers United's peak experts. Apart from Warlance scoring a victory and Soul Feather putting up a decent fight, the rest of Fallen Angel's representatives had suffered humiliating defeats.
「I wonder if Plenty will come. If he loses too, that would be a scene.」
「Plenty is the Chairman of the Dark Council. If he does come up, it'll be hard to say who will win this competition.」
「Hard to say my ass! Even if he comes, what's the use if all his subordinates lose? He can't stop Asskickers United alone!」
…
Warlance walked onto the stage.
Bladelight smirked. "It's finally my turn to go up!"
Bladelight stepped onto the stage and took position 10 steps away from Warlance. He asked with a small grin, "So, is Plenty really not coming?"
Warlance's face flashed between anger and humiliation. He previously claimed that Plenty didn't need to bother with a competition of this level. Now, however, they would have zero chance of victory without him.
"I admit, we vastly underestimated you lot. You have my sincerest admiration. In this match, I'll give it my all. I hope we won't ever meet on the battlefield!" Warlance drew the greatsword strapped to his back. It was a white bone sword blazing with soulfire.
Warlance admitted he'd misspoken. So, Bladelight dropped the subject. He focused his full attention on the battle. No matter what, he could not lose!
Simply by standing there, Bladelight gave off a domineering aura. Warlance's pupils constricted. He knew the person before him was undoubtedly one of the strongest opponents he'd encountered so far!
"Begin!" The referee's voice rang out.
"Taste my blade!" Warlance roared. He charged forward and slashed down with his large bone sword.
Bladelight didn't bother dodging. He raised his greatshield to block and slashed out with the longsword in his other hand.
The two were quick and decisive. When it came to a battle between two powerful Warriors, petty tricks wouldn't work. Speed and unrivalled power were all that mattered! In this high-speed clash, the first one to chicken out would lose!
Both attacks landed simultaneously.
KLAANG! Both Warriors were forced back a step.
A damage value of 6,300 floated up above Bladelight's head. As for Warlance, a 9,400 floated up from his head.
Warlance didn't expect the gap to be so great right off the bat. He finally got a look at Bladelight's health pool and sucked in a breath of cold air, it was almost 300,000! This was monstrous! He was practically a raid boss! One had to know, even the tankiest Undead Warrior in Fallen Angel only had 180,000 health! Bladelight had so much more health that it was practically like facing two Warriors at once! He finally grasped the true meaning of a tank. Compared to Bladelight, all other tanks were slag! Warlance himself only had 160,000 health!
Bladelight's defense had to be equally as monstrous. Warlance normally dealt upwards of 20,000 damage with his Fury Bone Slash. Now, however, his attack only dealt 6,000 damage!
Tendon Break!
Whirlwind!
Half Moon!
Even though a battle between Warriors was one of blow for blow, there were also plenty of techniques you could employ to get in a bit of extra damage, preserve your own health, or interrupt the opponent!
Sword slashes flew out in every direction. The attacks of the two Warriors were fast and precise. Though they appeared to be evenly matched at first glance, Warlance was painfully aware of the difference in stats. The 140,000 health difference aside, even his defense and damage were below that of Bladelight. As for skills, he was offense focused while Bladelight was defense focused. So, there was no comparing the two on that front.
When Warlance faced other players, he felt like he was pretty adept at using his skills. However, when he was faced against Bladelight, it was like his every move and opening was seen through. Every time he was about to use a high damage skill, Bladelight would rush in just at the right moment with a Shield Bash. Even though it didn't deal much damage, it had an interrupt effect, causing him to waste several powerful skills.
Interrupting an opponent with Shield Bash was a show of pure skill. It required precision, awareness, speed, and so on. You only had a split second window.
To be able to interrupt so many high rank skills in a row with Shield Bash, this kind of Champion was truly a super expert!
Bladelight was like a boulder, immovable. Warlance didn't stand a chance.
Those watching the battle on video were dumbstruck, especially the Warriors. Their hearts were racing with excitement. Even though it appeared the two were simply trading blow for blow on the surface, they were well aware of the deeper skills being employed! Even the most minute action was something they couldn't replicate even after a thousand repetitions!
Both Bladelight and Warlance were amazing! All the ordinary players shared this thought. Only the true experts could tell that Bladelight was more skilled than Warlance.
This was an uneven match-up from the start!
Everyone believed that even if Warlance couldn't beat Bladelight, he would at least put up a good fight. However, after seeing Bladelight walking all over him, they couldn't help but sigh. Even if Warlance's stats were 50% higher, it might still not be enough for a win. They could fight another 10 times, the result would still be the same.
It was clear as day. Bladelight was the number one Warrior in all of Conviction.
As for number two, that was either Smoke Stub or Lei Su. Warlance wasn't even qualified to enter the top three!
Likely, at this moment, everyone was wondering the same question. Why was there such a huge discrepancy in strength between the Righteous Faction and Evil Faction?
Practically in the next instant, they all thought of one person, Nirvana Flame! All of these players had been guided by Nie Yan. From when the game was first released, Nie Yan had gathered them together and taught them all he knew.