Chapter 284 - Deathmatch
Chapter 284: Deathmatch
Soon, both of them came to the challenge site, standing in front of a magic circle.
A magic cage was pushed in. In the magic cage, it was a huge monster that was about three meters tall. It had a grisly appearance, muscular, two sharp horns on its head, blood-red eyes, sharp fangs and covered with purple skin.
There were armor-like scales growing on its shoulders, chest, abdomen and outside of the thighs. Its tail was thick and long with barbs on it. The most terrifying thing was its right arm. It was humongous, and its palm had turned into giant claws.
That was the mad beast. In [Analytical Eyes], the race was shown as “Unknown”. The comprehensive strength assessment had reached B+, the peak of Great Demon King. Its stats were: Physique: B+, Strength: A-, Spirit: C, Agility: B.
It seemed that it was a terrifying highly offensive monster with a terrifying value of A- in strength. The only weakness was its spirit which was the reason why it could be controlled. With the strength of this monster, even Norris couldn’t stand it. Therefore, from a certain perspective, the conditions on both sides were equal.
“Wait a minute.” Norris said, “Arthur is a mechanic master, so he must have a lot of magic items. To be fair, I ask that no items can be used for this deathmatch.”
Sabrina sneered, “If you want the so-called fairness, then why don’t you first confine your strength to early stage of the Demon King level?”
Izola surely wouldn’t agree. She immediately refuted, “That’s impossible. This challenge was proposed by you, so Norris should decide the rules.”
“Didn’t he already decide the mad beast rule? Why don’t we change the content of the challenge? What about magic circles?” Sabrina knew that Chen Rui had specially created a “magic item” in preparation for the challenge. If she let go, the preparation would be wasted, so she obviously wouldn’t let go of that advantage.
“Stop it!” The judge, crystal dragon spoke, “Both parties can use any magic equipment or items. Start now, hurry up!”
After Jacob said so, no one dared to have any objections. There was no other way. Strength was the greatest rule.
Norris wasn’t unprepared. Immediately after his “proposal” was rejected, he put on a ring and a necklace, and took out a skull-shaped wand. He secretly thought that these should make his mind control more powerful.
However, when he saw Chen Rui’s equipment, the sense of superiority suddenly disappeared. Chen Rui wore a set of metal armor, helmet, shin guards, leather gloves, rings, and cape. He was fully equipped and armed to his teeth. The most annoying part was that he was even holding a huge buckler. He looked just like a mobile equipment storage.
There wasn’t a shortage of mechanic masters present, so they naturally could tell that the quality of these equipment were extraordinary. They were likely to be quasi-legendary grades or even legendary grades. Is it all made by him? Trio-specialized. It’s really enviable!
In reality, most of these things were from Paglio’s treasures. The matching of equipment was a profound knowledge. The final attributes of the wearer weren’t as simple as adding up each piece of equipment. Some equipment could complement each other whereas some couldn’t be layered, and they might even restrain each other. Although Chen Rui’s current set wasn’t all legendary grade equipment, the overall coordination was quite good, especially his defense had reached a very high level. The main function of the entire set of equipment was just to cover up.
“Master Arthur actually has such equipment.” Jacob’s eyes lit up, and his eyes fell onto the buckler. His overwhelming greed was showing on his face, “That shield… is it an artifact?”
Artifact! As soon as the crystal dragon said that, a sudden commotion was raised around. Norris felt like crying. That’s just bullying. Legendary grade equipment is still fine, but he even has an… artifact?
Izola and Sabrina were both surprised. Sabrina had already recognized the shield and said movingly, “Illusive Demon Shield… Demon Shield?”
There were more whispers around: Illusive Demon Shield? One of the highest grade seven artifacts in the Demon Realm? The strongest shield?
Isn’t that the Leviathan Royal Family’s artifact? Why is it with Arthur? Did Madam Sabrina give it to him?
“This was lent to me by Sir Manu a few days ago for research.” Chen Rui answered himself, “Unfortunately, I still have no clue until now. However, even if I can’t exert the power of the artifact, it should be fine to block as a usual shield. I hope I won’t break it.”
Many people showed their contempt for the riches – Breaking the strongest armor in the Demon Realm? Not to mention the mad beast, even Demon Overlords can’t break it!
Izola’s face suddenly became gloomy, and her heart was doomed. It wasn’t only because of Chen Rui’s equipment or the Illusive Demon Shield, (outsiders only know Illusive Demon Shield, but they don’t know that IIlusive Shield and Demon Shield can be separated) but also because Manu actually gave the Illusive Demon Shield to “Arthur”. This showed the degree of his importance. If “Arthur” died here, Manu would definitely retaliate madly.
The one with the worst mood wasn’t Izola but Norris. Even if he took out all his possessions, it wasn’t comparable to the value of the shield. Arthur has a full set of superb equipment and the support of Sir Manu and Sir Jacob. How am I supposed to compare?
Now, Norris didn’t know whether he should win or lose. However, losing the deathmatch was equivalent to suiciding, so it was obviously impossible. He was just hoping that the crystal dragon could save “Arthur” in time, then judge him as the winner.
After making up his mind, Norris calmed his mind and put all the distractions behind him. He strode into the magic circle and Chen Rui followed him with a full set of equipment.
After the two walked in, the magic circle began to light up. The magic circle acted like a seal, which could prohibit entry and exit, and prevent the audience from being injured.
The door of the magic cage slowly opened. The mad beast that had been previously isolated by the cage suddenly exuded a horrifying breath that mixed with a bloody and rotten smell. It sent chills down their spine. Chen Rui tried to communicate with [Analytical Eyes] when he first went in, but he could only feel the madness and violent killing breath. There was no rational consciousness at all. This was similar to the demonic flies he encountered at Mountain Xilang. However, those demonic flies were created by the bloodline talents of the Beelzebub Royal Family; whereas the mad beast had its own consciousness, but this consciousness simply couldn’t control or communicate.
The mad beast had been imprisoned and tested. Now that he was free from the cage, he immediately transferred his anger to the two people outside. He roared loudly and pounced toward Norris, who was the closest. The mad beast’s speed was rated B which was weaker as relative to its strength and physique. However, it was still the level of Great Demon King. It was quite scary. Norris’ reason for getting close to the beast wasn’t to suicide but to control it within the effective range of mind control. After all, he had the previous experience so he seemed calm.
At the moment that the mad beast pounced, Norris’s eyes flashed as a powerful spirit surged out. The huge body of the beast suddenly stagnated. When it was only two meters away from Norris, its action actually froze in mid-air.
Chen Rui once saw this kind of [Psychokinesis] from Snowden. It could be offensive and defensive, and it can be used at will. It was very good. Norris’ [Psychokinesis] was obviously better than Snowden by a lot to actually confine the mad beast at the peak of Great Demon King.
The mad beast’s strength erupted and broke away from the imprisonment of [Psychokinesis]. Yet, it didn’t attack Norris who was in front of it. Instead, it set its bloody eyes onto Chen Rui who was far away. It turned out that Norris knew that he couldn’t confine the mad beast for a long time, so he immediately switched the power of his spirit. He used a dark magic called [Hatred Transfer] to transfer the mad beast’s hatred onto Chen Rui.
Chen Rui had prepared for a long time. Before the beast attacked, he took out an item and threw it to the ground. It suddenly emitted a strong dazzling light. Even the audience outside the magic circle was blinded by the strong light and couldn’t open their eyes. The only one unaffected was the crystal dragon, Jacob while Sabrina and Izola with strong spirit also quickly adjusted to the sudden change. There were a few people left that could see the situation in the field clearly.
The most “damaged” were clearly the mad beast and Norris in the magic circle. Their eyes were aching like being stung by needles. They couldn’t see anything at all.
The mad beast with stinging eyes was angered. He felt that his target’s breath (Chen Rui) disappeared instantly, even his smell was gone. He seemed to have left this place. Due to his anger and blinded eyes, he began to swing his giant claws out of fury.
The moment Norris was blinded, he knew something was wrong. He quickly released the defensive magic [Magic Shield] that he had prepared just in case. His decision was right. As soon as Norris released the magic shield, he felt a violent tremor and his entire body was knocked out. Fortunately, with the magic shield, he wasn’t damaged, but his grim face had already looked pale.
Despite the increase in spirit with his equipment and the greatly strengthened defense of the magic shield, it could only block one of that terrifying blow. After landing, the defensive magic suddenly collapsed. The sound of the landing caused the mad beast to rush toward him again. At that time, Norris had desperately used some spirit to restore some vision. He vaguely saw the mad beast running toward him, and he was suddenly taken aback. It was too late to cast a magic shield, so he had to cast [Psychokinesis] again to confine the movement of the mad beast.
That [Psychokinesis] was very exhausting, especially if the target was too powerful. The difficulty was high. Norris’ face was full of cold sweat, but his means were far more than that. Waves of energy radiated from his pupils and the beast’s tightly closed eyes opened involuntarily. Its bloody pupil gradually turned dull as if it was no longer affected by the blinding effect, and it turned its head to look at Chen Rui.
Chen Rui frowned. The beast seemed to be hypnotized. In this case, it would be useless to use the “flash bomb” technique again.
Before he thought of a plan, the beast suddenly accelerated. It appeared in front him instantly and swung its claws. Chen Rui had no time to think and could only raise the Demon Shield to defend. At present, he could only use his Demon King strength. Besides, the mad beast was extraordinarily terrifying. “Klang!” and Chen Rui flew backward for seven to eight meters while the Demon Shield also fell to the ground. Although the mirror-like buckler had no damage, he seemed unable to lift it up anymore.
The beast rushed over again. The crystal dragon, Jacob frowned. He was ready to rescue at any time. Chen Rui’s eyes flashed and the beast’s momentum suddenly slowed down. Simultaneously, a huge earth wall appeared, stopping the mad beast’s path.
Earth Magic: [Decelerate]! [Earth Wall]!
The crystal dragon nodded secretly. Although he took a long time, being able to launch two different magic at once. This showed that his potential was quite good.
In a blink of an eye, a large area of cracks appeared on the earth wall. Immediately after, the giant claws of the mad beast penetrated. With a scratch, the earth wall collapsed. At that moment, Chen Rui had fled, but he didn’t have time to pick up the Demon Shield on the ground.
Chen Rui fled in the direction of Norris. The mad beast that had torn the [Earth Wall] rushed toward his side. Chen Rui pretended to be chanting, then he suddenly waved his hand. The speed of the mad beast suddenly slowed down. At the same time, Norris also felt that his body was several times heavier. It couldn’t move for a while: [Gravity]!
Since Chen Rui waved his hand toward the mad beast and [Gravity] was an AoE magic, so it wasn’t a foul. Norris was a mage, so he felt extremely strenuous in the gravity field. He secretly scolded his opponent for being cunning. He had a thought and raised his wand strenuously. His target was also the mad beast. A black mist spread gradually.
“[Dark Sky]!”
It was large AoE dark magic that could confuse an opponent’s vision. The stage was suddenly enveloped by black mist and the audience’s vision outside was disrupted again. They were unable to see the scene inside.
Norris smiled creepily and cast another magic. A large number of arms emerged from the ground, grabbing the mad beast and preventing it from moving. They looked very ghastly and scary. Surely, not just the beast but Chen Rui and himself were caught and unable to move.
Norris understood that [Dark Sky] might not be able to block the sight of powerhouses like the crystal dragon and Sabrina, so he dared not break the rule. He was just playing on the edge like Chen Rui by using two AoE magic to stop the mad beast and also limit Chen Rui’s actions and vision at the same time.
This magic wasn’t directly affecting the body, so the characteristic of [Anti-Magic] wasn’t triggered. Besides, Chen Rui was at Demon King-level strength, so he couldn’t get rid of those “ghost hands”. The scene seemed a little like a horror movie. He even had goosebumps at once.
Outside the field, the crystal dragon’s eyes were radiating a clear light. He looked through the [Dark Sky]. He could see that the mad beast had broken free from the ground and was getting closer and closer. Now, both Chen Rui and Norris couldn’t move so it was obviously the final moment to decide the victory.
This kind of deathmatch, whether it was spirit or items, couldn’t be used recklessly. A misstep could mean life and death. However, with the equipment of “Master Arthur”, as long as there wasn’t any huge accident, even if he lost, the crystal dragon should be able to save him.
The distance between Norris and Chen Rui were very close; it was less than two meters. As a mage, Norris wasn’t affected by the dark sky, so he controlled the mad beast as he approached. His target was obviously Chen Rui aside from him.
Chen Rui learned the movement of the mad beast with [Analytical Eyes]. Knowing that it was the final moment, he couldn’t be hiding anymore. The ring on his hand suddenly emitted a dark blue light to cover up the string of black gas appearing from the tip of his fingers. The black gas mixed into the [Dark Sky] and drifted toward the beast. The gas actually penetrated into its head. The mad beast’s figure suddenly paused, and it changed its direction slowly to Norris.
Norris was taken aback. He didn’t expect that his opponent actually wasn’t affected by [Dark Sky], and he could even use item to counterattack. He felt that his spirit that was controlling the beast seemed to have fallen into a quagmire. He immediately activated his secret technique, accompanied with his talent in mind control to strengthen his spirit output. He was in a tug-of-war with Chen Rui. Both of them were at a stalemate.
Although the mad beast was powerful, it was weak in spirit. Suddenly, his brain was confused as if two controllers were issuing opposite commands at the same time. It didn’t know who to obey.
Both Sabrina and Izola looked serious at the same time. Whoever could win the final victory of this tug-of-war would become the winner of this deathmatch!
That is why you don’t drag the time with your enemy. Defeat him in one shot if you have to. 🔫