This Grai was very strong. However, Yingren should still be able to obtain victory. This defeat showed that he was not vicious enough and did not treat his opponent with sufficient regard. Since this was the final competition, one should always go all out in every match, and should never, ever become lax. This was the creed of an assassin.
Now, the Bierlia side was actually forced to make the first choice. This was something that they had honestly not expected.
In a duelling phase of the match, the order for selection for the match-ups was essential, as different occupations possessed specific counters to other occupations. If this advantage was given to one’s opponent, it’s extremely common for a 4:0 or 4:1 result to occur between 2 equally matched squadrons. Therefore, under such competition rules, clinching the first victory in the duel phase was utterly critical for both squadrons. Whoever manages to do so would gain the advantage of making a selection after their opponent makes theirs. Now, the advantage was in Tianjing’s hands.
“Dan Dong” Without even the need to think, Eddie made his choice for the next duel in a rather straightforward manner.
Dan Dong was the mainstay heavy soldier for the Bierlia squadron. A heavy soldier is an occupation that is considered hard to counter against. Ranged soldiers were the only occupation that was a counter to them, abet a soft one. As for the other occupations, they could only maintain an equal playing field. With Tianjing’s ranged soldiers being rather lacking in firepower, Eddie’s choice had reduced the possibility of being counter to the lowest degree. Despite Dan Dong’s abilities being absolutely useless against ranged soldiers, this was the best choice he could make. With Grai already appearing in the 1st duel, the only one that could threaten Dan Dong was Emily. However, a heavy soldier was the best counter against an assassin! This was the strength of their Bierlia squadron!
As for Tianjing’s heavy soldier by the name of Ba-something…he’s a complete noob. Although he possesses an almost defence level of strength, Dan Dong wasn’t going to be a stationary target waiting to get hit. With that weak mind of his, that Ba-something will become a piece of trash in the battlefield. Since the beginning, Eddie did not even give a care about the former. What’s more, from a mental aspect, how could his opponent be willing to give up the advantage they had to obtain after that much difficulty!
“Okay! Bierlia has chosen to send out their mainstay heavy soldier, Dan Dong, for the 2nd duel!” announced Wind God as he wiped the cold sweat off his brow. He was almost unable to continue his job after the earlier bout of embarrassing actions he had made. “In the current situation, sending a heavy soldier out for the duelling phase is undoubtedly a considerably sound choice. It’s now Tianjing’s turn to make their selection. Having brought to us such an upset in the 1st duel to gain this advantage, the Tianjing squadron will definitely not waste it. I can boldly predict that Tianjing would select to send up a range soldier of theirs. When facing a heavy soldier,…cough cough…”
Before the host, Wind God could finish his prediction, the Tianjing squadron had already made their selection.
They had chosen their heavy soldier Barran Gestalt to participate in the 2nd duel. This caused Wind God’s face to turn black with anger. “Those bastards really want to walk the untrodden path, huh!” When the news of this decision was broadcasted on the Skylink, a lot of people immediately guffawed in laughter.
Nonetheless, the host was already fuming. After being embarrassed by the outcome of the first duel, his face had long turned black with anger. Now, he wanted to find a way out of this predicament he was in!
“Looks like the Tianjing squadron’s really “arrogant”, huh. They r6
eally don’t value to advantage they had gained after so much difficulty. Instead of sending out a ranged soldier to counter their opponent’s heavy soldier, they have actually sent out their own mainstay heavy soldier! Who’s an extremely young freshman!” all of a sudden, Wind God felt that brother Ruo Zhi’s spirit had entered his body, causing his thoughts to flow out freely.
“What a horrible and intelligent choice! They’ve not held on tightly to the advantage they’ve gotten, and have instead betted on the second coming of a miracle? Are they leaving their fate up to the heavens? I’ve heard that the Tianjing squadron’s captain, Wang Zhong, had gotten full marks for the theoretical test in the 2nd elimination round. However, from the looks of their choice of selection, I’ve got to say that he too much of an armchair strategist! With such completely daydreaming captain, that’s why they were evaluated to only be of C rank, even with a soldier like Grai in their ranks! I personally feel that there will be no suspense at all in this duel between heavy soldiers! Without even talking about experience and fame and just looking at their results from the elimination rounds, Barran’s score was a mere B-, while Dan Dong obtained an A-, and is also ranked 37th among all of the 4 competition zones! A considerably astonishing result! By taking the next duel, the Bierlia squadron still has the chance to defeat Tianjing with a score of 4:1!”
Standing on the announcement podium, Wind God sent his spittle flying in all directions, his emotions soared through the roof as he loudly proclaimed his standing. At this moment, the supporter of the Bierlia squadron started to reclaim their lost territory on the Skylink live broadcast chat. However, Tianjing’s counter-attack now possessed some force behind them. Regardless of what the Bierlia squadron supporters were sprouting, Tianjing had cleanly won the first duel. This caused their supports to have some confidence to lead a counterattack. What’s more, those students who had seen Barran face off against Adolf were now brimming with anticipation. The latter had already created a miracle during that time. Who’s going to say that it won’t happen for the 2nd and 3rd time!
On the Skylink live broadcast chat, the supporters of Bierlia Academy finally regained their life back.
“Isn’t that the eastern region’s brother nervous from the TOP5 laughs?”
“The 7-second real man!”
“Don’t be too fast to beat him down. That heavy soldier had an astonishing performance in the offense test in the heavy soldier arena. His offensive strength is very outstanding.”
“So what if he has an outstanding offensive strength if he can’t defend against his opponent’s attacks! His opponent would have pummeled him with 10 punches before he can even return a single punch! He’s just a live target! No matter how powerful his attacks are, it’s just a decoration!”
“Go go senior Dan Dong! Stand up, Bierlia Academy! Don’t give that weakling squadron any more chances!”
“4:1! 4:1!”
tage, Dan Dong had already locked all of his focus on the seemingly young and immature heavy soldier standing before him.
He was not Yingren, and did not possess any terrifyingly ridiculous talent. However, he was the definitely the centre pillar of the Bierlia squadron, possessing a solid and sturdy heavy soldier foundation and outstanding stability. This was the reason why even Eddie would feel relieved to trust his back to the former. Regardless of his opponent, a man that could make others feel at ease would absolutely not underestimate anyone.
Yesterday, after confirming that Tianjing would be their opponents for the first round, he had already started to analyze in detail on the member line up of the Tianjing squadron. While doing so, this heavy soldier Barran had left an especially deep impression in him.
From the footage of the elimination round, he had taken notice of the S rank performance his opponent had made in the offense test. What’s more, he had only relied on a shoulder slam. As for his other aspects, they were frankly extremely ordinary. Despite it being undeniable that he had lost his calm due to nervousness in the defense test, a heavy soldier that didn’t even have any defensive skills wouldn’t be able to use the excuse of nervousness to plug all of his weaknesses.
Being all too clear about heavy soldiers, Dan Dong knew that the various aspects of his opponent’s physique all did not point to him being an outstanding heavy soldier. What’s more, his strength also wasn’t stable. Such a degree of undulation wasn’t normal. Therefore, all of this evidence pointed to him being weak as a whole. Wanting to unleash the might of his shoulder slam might be a result of him possessing some kind of explosive special ability. However, special abilities like that were considered to be of the fanciful tyle. Therefore, if Dan Dong could block a strike from his opponent, that would equate to the latter having exhausted all of his abilities.
Although Dan Dong appeared to be casually hoisting a heavy runic shield, one that wasn’t large, about half the size of a tower shield. However, it was more suitable towards defending against explosive types of incisive heavy smashes.
“Come.” said Dan Dong in an indifferent tone, sounding as though he was giving advice to a junior. With his opponent being an emotional tyle, setting himself as the lead would be extremely beneficial for him on the mental standpoint.
However, Barran had a resolute expression on his face, appearing completely unlike his embarrassingly childish and nervous self during the elimination round. Having gained quite a experiences in his journey of this CHF competition, he was no longer constantly nervous about everything he was about to do. Nonetheless, the pressure from the impending fight was still present
As he prepared to walk onto the stage, Wang Zhong suddenly shouted out. “Disregard the shield, and put your all into this fight!”
In the aspect of defense, Barran’s standard could be considered to be the absolute weakest amongst the heavy soldiers within the CHF final competition. In such a scenario, focusing on offense was the only way that he could obtain victory. Barran’s unique advantages were in group battle defense and an offensive orientated physique. Although emotional type heavy soldiers don’t possess stability in their strength, it was good enough to attempt for the creation of a miracle.
Having reached this stage, there was already no need for Wang Zhong to continue his training of Barran. What he required the latter to do now was to show his strength for the world to see.
Upon seeing Barran ditching his shield before walking straight up the stage, it had immediately caused an intense wave of debates to rise from the audience gallery. At his moment, the Skylink live broadcast chat feed had exploded in naked ridiculement. One had to know that his opponent, Dan Dong, was one of the TOP 40 heavy soldiers in the federation! That was the tried and tested rankings!
“Please give advice!” for some unknown reason, after placing his shield down, Barran suddenly felt that everything before him had turned clear.
Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Grai, who was sitting beside Wang Zhong. One had to use simple methods to deal with simple people. That was the specialty of Wang Zhong.
At this moment, there was no one else present in the eyes of the 2 heavy soldiers, with their entire focus and attention being given to each other. Heavy soldier VS heavy soldier. Unlike other occupations, a mirror matchup of heavy soldiers won’t have as many detailed changes in the flow of the fight. There was no need to complicate the 2 extremes of offense and defense, which would cause all kinds of small tricks and schemes to become insignificant. Attacking equates to offense, while defending equates to defense! The factors that hold the greatest significance in determining the victor were absolute strength as well as absolute vigor! Petty tricks and moves? Those small attacks would be hard to strike one’s opponent down. Instead, it would affect one’s vigor, giving one’s opponent an opportunity to cascade down the path to victory!
As their eyes locked on to one another, a heavy aura started to radiate out from the 2 heavy soldiers. Forming what seemed like an invisible wall between the 2, the caused the entire atmosphere within the stage to turn solemn and dignified.
“Looks like the 2 contestants are extremely spirited and ready to go! Victory would be obtained by the braver one! Although the level of one’s strength determines the fight between heavy soldiers, I have to say that defensive techniques play and more crucial role. Anything other than that would be useless. All in all, the heavy soldier from Tianjing is still considerably young and immature.”
Dan Dong took a deep breath. With the loss in the first duel, snatching victory in this duel would help their Bierlia squadron regain the advantage for the duelling phase of the match. That would result in them having another shot at eliminating their opponent in a 4:1 manner.
Ding! The bell rang out, and the duel had started!
Dan Dong immediately flexed all of the muscles across his body, causing the already bulky armor he was wearing to swell out a notch. At the same time, appearing like an armored vehicle, he shot forward at a high speed!
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!
His steps caused the entire stage to shudder!
Like a terrifying giant beast, his footsteps rumbled across the entire stage! Nonetheless, his terrifying rush was completely ineffective in affecting or scaring his opponent.
Frankly speaking, compared to him, Barran appeared just like a noob. Yes, he did not know many of the skills and techniques a heavy soldier should know. What’s more, he was extremely poor in the control of his muscles. Regardless of which angle you look, Barran would appear just like a freshman newbie. However, for some inconceivable reason, such a person was now standing on the stage of the final competition, something that seemed to come straight out of a dream.
Barran gave a subconscious squeeze of his empty hands for an instant, before snapping into attention. At this very moment, he had only one path to take, and that was to smash against his opponent!
His dense and burly body thundered across the stage, creating a rushing noise not one bit inferior to take of Dan Dong’s!
If Dan Dong was equated to a gigantic bear-like beast, the dashing Barran would be a thoroughbred Tutankhamun Golden Rhinoceros! Although he didn’t appear to be as large as Dan Dong, the vigor and rush he possessed were no less than the former!
The entire stage trembled and shuttered. Even a layman of heavy soldiers was able to feel exactly how terrifying the momentum of the 2 was!
Anxious and nervous feelings filled the audience gallery and Skylink chat once again. Even though the absolute majority of the audience favoured Dan Dong, whose score and rankings in the elimination round far outstripped Barran, they were equally shocked upon seeing Barran’s momentum with their own eyes. From the looks of it, the latter possessed the vigor and strength of a top class heavy soldier!
“Both parties have started their dash!” Wind God’s play by play analysis was right on point : “The victor of heavy soldier matchups are normally decided in split second! A full power rush, a 2nd declining rush, and a final 3rd rush! During the first exchange, both party’s physical strength, power, skills, special abilities, and various other aspects would be at their peak! This 1st exchange is extremely crucial, as it directly affects the chances of victory for both parties! Wait a minute! Dan Dong has unexpectedly come to a stop?!”
He had suddenly come to an emergency halt halfway through his high-speed dash???
A wave of speechlessness shook through the audience. That was such a stupid thing to do during a head-on collision between heavy soldiers! Why did Dan Dong do it?
On the contrary to the audience’s reaction, a resolute expression of self-confidence appeared on Dan Dong’s face. For him, that forward dash was just a feint. With his opponent forsaking his defense, he had also forsaken the basics of being a heavy soldier. Therefore, there was no more need for Dan Dong to clash head-on with Barran. As long as he could defend against his opponent’s attack, what else could that Barran fellow do?
Seeing this, Eddie gave a faint nod of approval. This was the move of an intelligent soldier. The weaknesses of Barran were exceptionally clear, and he had clearly wanted to put all of his eggs in one basket to let himself explode through. God knows if he had any killer moves up his sleeves. A strong and solid defense would eliminate all of those possibilities!
Once Barran’s attack fails, his weaknesses will be completely exposed!
This is combat! The process isn’t important! The result is!
That was Dan Dong’s plan. The first step was to disrupt Barran’s rhythm. This was a game on the mental and skill level. Indeed, Barran was extremely young and immature in those aspects, as he did not spot the conservation of strength Dan Dong did during his initial rush.
At this moment, his opponent’s dash rhythm has been disrupted. At best, Barran can only maintain 80% of his peak strength output. At 80% of his maximum output, even if Barran was an S rank heavy soldier, Dan Dong was 200% confident that he would be able to defend through the attack!
Once a heavy soldier focuses all of his strength on defense and made preparations for a counter attack, a brainless rush like what Barran was currently doing was tantamount to seeking death!
Regardless of how stupid he was, Barran should have already caught wind of his opponent’s plan. However, at this very moment, there was already no way left for him to get out of this situation. The only thing he could do was to carry one forward! If not, he will be smashed!
Ever since arriving at Tianjing, he had smashed, and smashed, for every single day. Every single training he did have continuously add on to his confidence! Let’s fight with no regrets and complaints!
ROAR~~~
A massive impact smashed furiously against Dan Dong’s defensively runic heavy shield, causing an ear shattering bang to ring out! A shockwave visible to the naked eye rippled out from the point of impact, propagating out rapidly, appearing just like a surging tsunami!
Despite having the runic shield to defense against the brunt of the impact, Dan Dong felt a terrifying force smashing into his body. Although it he the 1st impact was manageable, the hidden 2nd wave almost caused him to spurt out blood. Fortunately, due to his rich experience in combat, he was able to tell that his opponent’s attack wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
He was the shield of Bierlia Academy! He had to resist!
As the force of the impact rippled out, Dan Dong clenched his teeth. It was finally his turn! The only attack his opponent had was dispelled by him! Now, he wanted to properly teach this naive brat what a real heavy soldier should be like!
Almost everyone watching took a breath of cold air, with some secretly voicing their pity out. That Barran possessed the strength of mindless brute. Even though the might of his smash was able to penetrate through the runic shield, he did not possess a brain at all. Now, the fight’s over for him.
The students of Tianjing Academy were wringing their hands in pity, as all of them had hoped for Barran to create a miracle. However, who would have guessed that Barran that readable and too easy to be countered. Frankly speaking, his opponent would just need to pay a bit of attention to be able to deal with him.
However, just as Dan Dong was preparing to unleash his counter-attack, a foreboding feeling appeared in him. Boom Boom…