"Swoosh!"
Just as the colossal iron hammer was about to descend upon Fang Li's body, Fang Li's figure suddenly shot upward, closing the gap between him and Ardi.
"What?" Ardi was astonished when he saw this scene.
Perhaps this puppet believed that victory was assured as long as he could disarm Fang Li of his weapon. However, Fang Li had said the same words countless times before.
"Losing a weapon doesn't mean you can't fight!" Fang Li spoke as dense Prana gathered beneath Fang Li's feet, emitting a dazzling starlight.
"Flashing Dash-One Deer!"
With a foot radiating a brilliant starlight, it surged forward as if carrying the force of thunder, making a sound no less formidable than when the colossal hammer had swung down. Heavily, it landed on Ardi's body.
"Boom!"
A thunderous explosion, like a lightning strike, resounded in the surrounding area as a powerful shockwave emanated from the point of impact, shaking the air and expanding outward.
Ardi's enormous figure, as if hit by a truck, was sent flying under the tremendous impact. Like a projectile, he slammed into the stage's wall amid the sharp sound of space breaking.
The stage's wall instantly shattered, releasing a thick cloud of dust, burying Ardi's body beneath a pile of rubble.
"Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhh!"
Cheers erupted from the surrounding audience seats.
"Well done!"
"Tsk…!"
Cecily and Rimsy, who had been engaged in a battle of lightning and artillery, stopped in their tracks. One applauded loudly, while the other remained expressionless, both moving away from each other.
Even people in the live broadcast started with an excited tone.
"Oooh! Ardi, who has been famous for his absolute defense, was actually kicked away by Fang Li! It's truly amazing!"
"Indeed, Contestant Fang's strength is extraordinary, hidden deep within! His power is beyond imagination!"
The entire audience's cheers surged towards the stage, and even though the commotion on the stage had quieted down, the enthusiasm in the arena showed no signs of abating.
After the playback of the intense battle through the suspended space window above the stage was deliberately slowed down, everyone understood the fierce combat that had taken place between Fang Li and Ardi.
In this battle, Fang Li ultimately gained the upper hand.
His deeply hidden, never-revealed strength had ignited the enthusiasm of all the spectators, turning Fang Li into the center of attention, greeted by wave after wave of applause.
However, Fang Li furrowed his brows tightly, raised his head, and looked forward.
There, Ardi's colossal figure had already risen from the pile of rocks, carrying the giant hammer, with his eyes gleaming.
His entire body remained unscathed.
Seeing this, Fang Li mumbled lowly.
"It's not going to be that easy after all, huh?"
After all, his opponent was not human; it was a machine.
If it had been a human bearing the full force of Fang Li's kick, they probably wouldn't have been able to get back up.
But Ardi had naturally endured this level of power, as his entire body was made of metal, which was true in this sense.
"What a splendid kick!" Ardi laughed loudly and said, "I've never experienced an attack like that before. Fortunately, I'm a machine!"
"Rare to see your pile of scrap metal come in handy," Rimsy floated down from mid-air, speaking rather coldly. "You should be grateful to Master for giving you a body like this."
Just like Rimsy, Cecily had returned to Fang Li's side.
"With this turn of events, we need to start over," Cecily tossed the dagger she had just picked up to Fang Li and looked ahead, speaking in a low voice. "Little Junior Brother, what should we do next?"
Up to this point, the battle had all been part of Fang Li's prearranged plan. He knew that Ardi and Rimsy would, as usual, make a one-minute declaration at the beginning of the match, giving their opponents a chance to attack.
Therefore, well before the match began, Fang Li had discussed with Cecily, deciding that he would launch a surprise assault when the opponent made a careless one-minute declaration.
With Fang Li's speed, there was a good chance he could directly seize the opponent's emblem and eliminate Ardi first.
If that failed, Cecily would initiate a wide-ranging attack, allowing Fang Li to engage Ardi while she kept Rimsy occupied, looking for an opportunity to eliminate one of them.
So, up to this point, everything had gone according to Fang Li and Cecily's plan. However, now Ardi and Rimsy were both unscathed.
As Cecily had said, they had to start over completely.
"These two opponents are indeed not to be underestimated," Cecily sighed. "In terms of strength alone, neither of them seems weaker than us, right?"
The official tournament had just begun, with the top 16 yet to be decided. Running into opponents of this caliber at this stage could either be considered lucky or unlucky for Fang Li and Cecily.
Of course, the same held true for their opponents.
"It seems that to win against you, we can't rely solely on our current strength," Ardi puffed out his chest and said imposingly to Rimsy, "Rimsy, it looks like it's time to use 'That,' even if it's against my wishes."
Ardi's words were clearly heard by everyone.
"'That'?" Cecily was taken aback.
"'That'?" The two commentators in the broadcast booth also reacted with surprise.
Even the spectators in the audience couldn't help but express their astonishment and started discussing it one after another.
Only Fang Li raised his head forcefully, looking at Ardi and Rimsy.
In this situation, Rimsy remained silent for a while and then said unemotionally, "Although it's not my intention, since our opponent is someone even Master specially warned us to be cautious of and given their level of strength, there's no other choice."
With those words, Rimsy suddenly spread his arms, and his entire body emitted the brilliance of Manadyte.
"ACM Equipment, first external armor, and various Lux systems transfer maximum control authority."
The armor that covered Rimsy's entire body, accompanied by mechanical-sounding effects, detached one by one from his body, carrying several large gun-shaped Lux, and flew into the air.
"Oooh! Here it comes! Get ready to connect!"
Ardi's entire body then emitted laser-like guiding lights that connected to the Equipment flying in mid-air. These equipments, as if guided by these lights, flew over and embedded themselves into various parts of his body.
"Clang!"
A burst of blue light suddenly erupted from Ardi's body.
A highly concentrated Mana response emanated from his body, casting the entire stage in a brilliant blue, exceptionally bright.
...
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