The match between Ryan and Aria played out just like in the original story, with no suspense at all. Aria was defeated completely and utterly.
After Aria and Ryan returned, Blake saw the look of disappointment on Aria's face. His heart filled with pity, and he quickly stepped forward to comfort her. "Zhuqing, as an agility - attack soul master, you're supposed to hide in the shadows. Assassination, scouting, and sneak attacks are your forte. If it were in a more complex terrain, Xiao San wouldn't have beaten you so easily."
"Yeah, Zhuqing, Third Brother just got the upper hand because of the terrain. Don't take it too hard." Xiao Wu chimed in beside him. Although she was over the moon that Ryan had won, as a teammate, she knew exactly what she should do at this moment to comfort Aria.
Ryan didn't say anything, but when he caught Xiao Wu's eye signal, he silently nodded towards Aria in agreement with the consolation.
However, Aria didn't pay any attention to everyone's comfort. She knew very well that a loss was a loss, and there was no such thing as fairness or unfairness. If they were on a real battlefield, wouldn't the enemy choose a terrain that was advantageous to them for an ambush?
While everyone was busy comforting Aria, only Leo remained calm as usual. He understood that what everyone said made sense, but there were always exceptions to everything.
After waiting for a while, the next match soon arrived. This time, it was the turn of Ryan and Xiao Wu's "Three - Five Team" to participate in the two - on - two match. Fortunately, there were no more of those unexpected coincidences like before.
As everyone had expected, Ryan and Xiao Wu defeated the "Iron Blood Team" composed of Tie Long and Tie Hu. Although there were some minor twists and turns during the match, it ended perfectly.
"Xiao San, Xiao Wu, you guys are awesome! On the first day of signing up for the competition, you've already won two matches in a row." When Ryan and Xiao Wu came back, Blake and the others congratulated them.
Ryan and Xiao Wu were also very happy. With bright smiles on their faces, they nodded in response. Then, they looked at Leo and said, "Next, it's your and Zhuqing's turn. Go for it!"
"Sure." Leo replied with a smile.
On the other hand, Aria remained silent. Apparently, she was still thinking about the match against Ryan just now, which made everyone feel rather helpless.
"The last match, the two - on - two match. The Silver Soul Leo, Iron Soul Fighter Aria's 'Raccoon Team' against the Silver Soul Feng Hua and Silver Soul Xue Yue's 'Wind and Snow Team'. Please get ready, both teams."
As time passed by bit by bit, the most anticipated match of the entire Great Soul Battle Arena was about to start!
"What the heck! What's the Great Soul Battle Arena playing at? Usually, the broadcast just announces the team names. Why are they calling out the players' names and their badge levels one by one this time? Are they looking down on people?" Max couldn't help but shout out when he heard this broadcast.
In the past, whether it was a two - on - two match or a team match, the broadcast never directly announced the players' detailed information. But this time, they broke the rules. What on earth were they trying to do?
Of course, it wasn't a big deal to announce it, but Aria was clearly preoccupied at the moment, and the broadcast specifically emphasized that she was an Iron Soul Fighter. Wasn't that just rubbing salt in the wound? Looking at Blake's gloomy face, Max felt even more annoyed.
Leo immediately guessed the intention of the Soul Battle Arena. They were just trying to trick those gamblers into betting on the Wind and Snow Team again to earn a huge amount of betting money.
Sure enough, those bosses who ran the Soul Battle Arena were all about making a profit. They would stop at nothing to find ways to make money.
"Leo, go for it! Zhuqing, you too!" Although everyone was dissatisfied with the broadcast content, there was nothing they could do. They could only cheer for Leo and Aria.
"Got it." Leo nodded and then glanced at Aria beside him.
Aria nodded slightly and then took the lead to walk towards the main passage. Just as Leo was about to follow, Blake looked a bit worried. With a hint of embarrassment on his face, he said, "Hey... Leo, could you look out for her?"
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, she won't get hurt." Leo replied with a smile. In his eyes, Blake was really head over heels for Aria.
While Leo and Aria went to the preparation area, Ryan and the others went to the spectator stand. As soon as they saw the huge Main Soul Battle Arena, they were all stunned.
"Wow, there are so many people! It's more than twice the size of the sub - battle arena." Xiao Wu looked at the cheering crowd in the spectator stand and the huge platform below and exclaimed.
"Yeah." Ryan smiled and nodded at Xiao Wu. Compared to this, he was more concerned about Leo's match.
"Say, do you think Leo can win? This is a two - on - two match after all." Max leaned on the chair in front of the window and asked.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Blake glaring at him with icy eyes. He was so scared that he stumbled and fell off the chair.
What he said clearly showed that he didn't have confidence in Aria and thought she would be a burden.
"I believe in Leo." Ryan said without hesitation.
Since Leo had agreed to team up with Aria for the two - on - two match, it meant he had full confidence in his own strength. Otherwise, why would he agree?
"Yeah, Brother Leo can definitely do it! Teacher Zhao has been tricked by him twice already." In Xiao Wu's eyes, everything Ryan said was right.
Watching the two of them chatting back and forth, Max rolled his eyes. "Come on, you two! You're not supposed to show off your affection like this!"
On the other side, in the preparation area, Leo looked at the silent Aria and couldn't help but say, "Don't worry too much. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. If we lose the match later, it's no big deal."
Aria didn't respond. Instead, she looked straight at Leo and asked seriously, "Leo, if you were in my place, how would you have fought against Ryan just now?"
"Uh..." Leo was taken aback. He had thought that Aria was worried about being a burden, but it turned out that this girl was still brooding over her defeat just now.
"Do you want to hear the truth or a white lie?" Leo asked helplessly.
"The truth." Aria replied without hesitation.
"The truth is, your performance just now wasn't that great. What they said has some truth to it, but it's not entirely right either." Leo first took a cautious look at Aria. Seeing that she didn't show much of an emotional reaction, he continued, "Agility - attack soul masters do have a hard time when facing control - type soul masters."
"But!" Leo's tone suddenly became more serious. "You have to understand that the strength of agility - attack soul masters lies in assassination, scouting, and sneak attacks! If the terrain is not in your favor, you have to find a way to create a favorable terrain for yourself."
"Find a way to create a favorable terrain for myself?" Aria was shocked and muttered to herself.
"That's right!" Leo nodded vigorously. "Agility - attack soul masters can't always fight in a terrain that's advantageous to them. Even if the current terrain is in your favor, the enemy won't be stupid enough to fight you directly. They will also try their best to get out of the current position and choose a terrain that's favorable to them before engaging in battle with you."
"And at that time, what should you do? Should you give up the mission directly, or should you go ahead and fight anyway?" Leo stared at Aria and continued, "But neither of those is the right thing to do. The real master's level is to make the enemy create a favorable terrain for you."
"For example, take Ryan, whom you fought against just now. His martial soul, the Blue Silver Grass, can use its vines to create a terrain that restricts your movement and then easily defeat you."
"Conversely, why can't you use the opponent's Blue Silver Grass to create a favorable terrain for yourself through your movements?"
"After all, when there are too many Blue Silver Grass vines, they can easily get entangled with each other and form a dead knot. At that time, if he wants to attack, he will definitely have to consume more soul power and release more vines. And it won't be easy for him to retract them. It's like fighting in a complex forest terrain. And for agility - attack soul masters, fighting in a forest is a favorable terrain!"
"Even if you can't form a dead knot, you can make the continuously released vines overlap with each other to create a blind spot where the opponent can't see you for a short time. And during the time when he retracts the vines, that's the perfect time for you to launch a decapitation attack!"