Chapter 400 - A Strange Blow
After the system revealed the first set of opponents, Zhao Yueru and Cao Chenghua promptly entered the arena.
Zhao Yueru was an Elementalist, while Cao Chenghua was a Berserker. In terms of levels and equipment, both were evenly matched. Though Cao Chenghua was slightly superior to Zhao Yueru regarding techniques, Zhao Yueru had the class advantage in this matchup. Hence, the victor was not apparent at first glance. Yet, Nimble Snake and the others revealed playful smiles as if victory was already in their grasp.
Seeing these reactions, Gentle Snow grew slightly confused.
Gentle Snow had a fair grasp on Cao Chenghua’s strength and ability. Although his techniques were slightly superior to Zhao Yueru’s, there was a limit to how much of an advantage that could bring him. At most, it would help him bridge the gap between classes. Hence, it would not be easy for Cao Chenghua to obtain a victory.
Yet, why were Nimble Snake and the others behaving so confidently?
“Yueru, be careful. Cao Chenghua seems odd today. Don’t let him approach you, no matter what,” Gentle Snow secretly sent a whisper to Zhao Yueru.
“Mhm, I understand. Don’t worry. For the competition, I prepared and completed a high-level quest, obtaining a powerful skill. I will definitely make Cao Chenghua suffer,” Zhao Yueru replied with a carefree smile.
Although Zhao Yueru appeared relaxed at the moment, inwardly, she was on full alert.
Although her match was only the first in this five-round competition, it was also a crucial fight. If she won, then their chances at winning this entire competition would increase beyond 50%.
“Big Brother Ye Feng, is that Cao Chenghua an amazing expert?” Violet Cloud asked when she saw the confident Cao Chenghua.
“He is an expert. However, he doesn’t have what it takes to defeat Zhao Yueru with a 100% certainty. After all, other than mentality, there are other factors that can contribute to the result of a battle.” Shi Feng shook his head.
In the past, Cao Chenghua had been the Guild Leader of Ouroboros. Meanwhile, Ouroboros had been a Guild that mainly focused its development in Star-Moon Kingdom. Hence, as the Guild Leader of Shadow back then, Shi Feng had collected plenty of information on Cao Chenghua, and he had an acute understanding of Cao Chenghua’s strength.
While Shi Feng and Violet Cloud secretly conversed, the battle at the arena had begun.
The moment the battle started, Cao Chenghua held nothing back and immediately activated Flame Charge, followed by a Violent Strike. Cao Chenghua was like a violent beast, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.
Naturally, Zhao Yueru would not give Cao Chenghua a chance to close in on her. Chanting an incantation, one of her hands waved the staff it held while the other swiftly traced lines of divine runes in the air. When Cao Chenghua was only 20 yards away from Zhao Yueru, an Ice Sphere appeared, blocking his path. If the Ice Sphere struck him, the damage would only be a secondary problem. The main problem was the Movement Speed Reduction of the spell.
After all, Berserkers were not exactly known for their mobility.
Hence, when Elementalists fought Berserkers, kiting was their basic strategy.
Responding quickly, Cao Chenghua turned sharply and circled the Ice Sphere from the right. However, immediately after he dodged the Ice Sphere, multiple Frost Arrows flew towards him. Cao Chenghua smiled disdainfully at this sight. Swinging the Dark-Gold ranked Iron Cutter, he smashed and shattered the Frost Arrows coming at him before renewing his charge once more.
However, as if she had expected this outcome, Zhao Yueru waved her staff once more and cast Ice Dragon Blast, sending a large serpentine dragon at Cao Chenghua. She then cast Ice Wall to seal off the Berserker’s surroundings.
“Shatter!” Cao Chenghua gripped his sword with both hands and swung the weapon at the ice dragon, activating Horizontal Slash.
However, the instant the ice dragon shattered, a layer of frost appeared on Cao Chenghua’s body, reducing his Movement Speed sharply. Zhao Yueru immediately followed up with three Ice Spears. Although Cao Chenghua wanted to block the incoming attacks, the frost covering his body drastically slowed his movements. In the end, he only managed to block one of the spears, allowing the remaining to reach their mark.
-215, -221.
Two damages appeared above Cao Chenghua’s head.
However, at Level 24, Cao Chenghua possessed 3,320 HP, so these two attacks only managed to decrease his HP by slightly over 10%.
At this moment, Cao Chenghua frowned. He had clearly shattered the ice dragon, yet, why had the Freezing effect still taken hold?
“It seems the effect of this new skill is quite powerful after all.” Zhao Yueru was very satisfied with her previous attack. Ice Dragon Blast was the Advanced Skill Zhao Yueru had recently learned.
Opponents could defend against ordinary spells. However, Ice Dragon Blast was slightly different. Even if her opponent blocked the attack it, although it would not deal any damage, it would still inflict a speed reduction effect lasting 5 seconds. When used against classes with low mobility like the Berserker, it was extremely useful.
Now that Cao Chenghua’s speed had fallen, Zhao Yueru would take advantage of it. First, she cast Frozen Circle, freezing the slowed Cao Chenghua. A magic array then appeared by Zhao Yueru’s side, and five fireballs the size of washbasins circled the Elementalist.
“Go!”
Zhao Yueru cast Flame Barrage and bombarded Cao Chenghua with attacks.
Ice Spear was a fast attack spell. It possessed speed, but not power. Hence, the two previous attacks had merely been a scratch to Cao Chenghua. However, Flame Barrage was different. If all five fireballs struck the Guild Leader, he would lose over half of his HP.
At this moment, Cao Chenghua was still frozen in place, unable to move. He could not dodge the bombardment of the five incoming Great Fireballs.
“Good! We’ve won!” Fierce Snake shouted excitedly.
Just before the five Great Fireballs struck Cao Chenghua, however, the Berserker’s skin suddenly flushed red, and his body seemed to grow. The layer of frost binding his legs instantly shattered. Nobody would have thought that Cao Chenghua had learned a control removal skill.
In the next moment, Cao Chenghua released a thundering roar. He then brandished his greatsword with both hands as he charged at the nearest Great Fireball. With a slash of his sword, Cao Chenghua split the spell in half. Meanwhile, the remaining four Great Fireballs merely rubbed past Cao Chenghua’s body, each dealing slightly over -100 damage.
After breaking through Zhao Yueru’s Flame Barrage, the distance between Cao Chenghua and Zhao Yueru was only eight yards. Launching himself into the air, Cao Chenghua activated Death Leap and arrived by Zhao Yueru’s side. He followed up with a Thunderclap before twisting his body and using Cleave. In a panic, Zhao Yueru hurriedly used Blink. However, she was too late. Not only had Thunderclap reduced her speed, but she also took the full brunt of Cao Chenghua’s Cleave.
Instantly, Zhao Yueru’s HP of over 2,600 points fell to around 1,700 points. Fortunately, Zhao Yueru had kept Magic Shield active, absorbing a certain amount of damage. Otherwise, Cao Chenghua’s Cleave would have destroyed at least half of her HP.
However, just after Zhao Yueru used Blink to pull a distance of 15 yards between Cao Chenghua and herself, the Berserker used Charge for the second time, approaching the Elementalist at high speeds.
Zhao Yueru waved her staff, sending out multiple Ice Spears. Facing these attacks, Cao Chenghua had no choice but to defend himself with his greatsword, slowing him down. Meanwhile, Zhao Yueru took this chance to widen the gap between them further, not forgetting to use control skills like Ice Wall and Ice Sphere while she made her escape.
However, due to the debuff from Thunderclap, Zhao Yueru’s Movement Speed had greatly reduced.
Meanwhile, ever since Cao Chenghua’s body had increased in size, he had been able to shrug off control effects. After fending off Zhao Yueru’s attacks, he charged at the Elementalist and activated Trisecting Slash. Three crescent-shaped blades of light flew at Zhao Yueru. Zhao Yueru used Frost Shield to block the attacks, taking the chance to jump away and dodge Cao Chenghua’s Trisecting Slash.
However, as if he had predicted what Zhao Yueru would do, Cao Chenghua charged towards her new position, swinging his greatsword violently.
Horizontal Slash!
Zhao Yueru knew that she could not avoid this attack. Blink was still on Cooldown; she needed a little more time before she could use it again. With no other choice, she could only block the attack with her staff.
Although mages had low Strength, they could still use their weapons to block attacks, reducing the damage received. Not to mention, she still had Magic Shield. As long as she endured a few hits, she could use Blink to escape. Normally, control skills like the one Cao Chenghua had used did not possess a very long duration.
Moreover, Zhao Yueru had already seen through the trajectory of Cao Chenghua’s attack. She could easily angle her staff to utilize the force of the impact to pull away from Cao Chenghua.
However, after Cao Chenghua’s Iron Cutter landed on her staff, Zhao Yueru did not feel any force transmitted to her hands.
Instead, the greatsword appeared at Zhao Yueru’s side. Cao Chenghua’s attack shattered the Magic Shield and struck Zhao Yueru viciously.