Chapter 1098: Delivered On A Silver Platter
[System Alert: The second round will commence between Player Izroth and Player Peaceful Chaos in 1 minute. Score: [Izroth: 1] [Peaceful Chaos: 0][]
When Peaceful Chaos heard the sound of the system alerts sounding off in his head, an empty feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. Since it was just their stats that were limited, he was able to follow all of Izroth's movements without a problem. However, with his base agility set to 100 points, he could not react to that last strike.
"How is this possible? Without items or at least an S-rank movement skill, how can he still move so fast? Plus, that attack just now-it felt like it went right through me. Is that really the power of a skill below S-rank? Am I going to lose this helplessly in front of my own guild members?" Peaceful Chaos thought to himself as he tried to maintain his composure.
"No, he just caught me off guard with his speed. That attack must have a pretty high cooldown if it's capable of doing that kind of damage with stats this limited. I won't fall for the same trick twice. This time-I'll go all out from the start." Peaceful Chaos convinced himself as he looked at Izroth with a cold gaze.
Izroth had already returned to his previous position and calmly awaited the countdown for the next round's start.
'In terms of attack power, when it strikes a vital point, the seventh sword form is comparable to an S- ranked attack skill. Still, to think he would succumb to such an attack. Did I overestimate him? It would seem that there is quite a considerable gap even among the core players of top guilds.'
Izroth had sparred with Niflheim on several occasions. While Niflheim had not won a single time, during their first duel, he managed to block Izroth's Seventh Sword Form: Motionless Killing Stroke while he had Flickering Steps active.
Furthermore, their stats and items were not limited during those duels. This meant that Niflheim would have been at an even greater disadvantage in terms of agility when it came to facing Izroth.
[System Alert: Warning! The second round of the duel is about to begin! A 10-second countdown has been initiated!
"I'll admit, I underestimated you. However, this time--I won't make the same mistake." Peaceful Chaos said as he locked his gaze onto Izroth.
"I will try not to be disappointed," Izroth stated in a carefree manner as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
3...
2...
1...
[System Alert: Duel has commenced!
Woosh!
Izroth kicked off his back foot. At the same time, he activated Light Feather Footwork, causing him to shoot forward at an even greater speed than the last round.
Light Feather Footwork increased Izroth's movement speed by 250% for two seconds. When paired with the agility and movement speed boosts from the Gift of Divine Speed title, it made it so, for a brief moment, Izroth was practically moving at the same speed as someone with 3,000 agility!
"Protective Bulwark!" Peaceful Chaos roared as a thin layer of protective aura encompassed him.
This time around, he wasted no time and immediately used a defensive skill.
"As long as I can survive the first blow, I can land a counterattack." Peaceful Chaos thought to himself.
Based on the previous round, Peaceful Chaos deducted that Izroth was a player who specialized in speed-blitzing his opponents with a single powerful strike. However, it was common knowledge that such attacks could not be done repeatedly. It was also not uncommon for such attacks to leave their users with an opening. Therefore, Peaceful Chaos believed that as long as he managed to survive Izroth's first blow, he could quickly turn the tides of the battle in his favor.
Protective Bulwark was an A-rank defensive skill that created a damage reduction barrier around Peaceful Chaos. While it was active, all damage he received would be cut in half. Additionally, he would regenerate a portion of his health every second.
Of course, Peaceful Chaos knew that this was not enough to withstand Izroth's attack if it was anything like the last one he launched. After all, it dealt more than 2,600 damage with a critical hit. If Izroth was able to land another critical hit, even with Protective Bulwark in place, it would still be enough to one-shot him with the stat restrictions.
A part of Peaceful Chaos regretted placing the stat restrictions; however, another part of him was grateful that he did so. If this was Izroth's speed with the stat restrictions in place, Peaceful Chaos could only imagine how frustrating it would have been to face him without the stat restrictions.
"Mythical Conjure: Great Sage Turtle." Peaceful Chaos chanted as the aura around him shifted.
Oooom!
In the blink of an eye, a green barrier formed of multiple hexagons of mana surrounded Peaceful Chaos.
Ding! Boom!
Right as the barrier formed, Izroth's sword collided with it, creating a small explosion. 'Oh? I suppose a core player should be capable of at least this much.'
A smirk formed on Peaceful Chaos' face as he successfully blocked Izroth's first strike. Mythical Conjure: Great Sage Turtle-this was a skill unique to his class, Mythic Champion. It imbued his body with the energy of the Great Sage Turtle, making it so that all harmful attacks below a certain threshold were expelled.
While his Protective Bulwark alone was incapable of negating Izroth's attack, it was more than capable enough to reduce its damage to the point where the Great Sage Turtle was able to take effect. The only downside was that Peaceful Chaos was unable to attack or take action for the 45 seconds that the Great Sage Turtle was in effect.
"There is a reason why I chose one minute as the time limit for the duel. With Protective Bulwark and Great Sage Turtle, I can bait out all of his powerful attacks. Then, when the effect ends, I can land a solid strike or two with the remaining fifteen seconds and win by having more HP remaining when the time runs out. I don't care if people call me shameless for doing things this way. I'll win this duel even if I have to roll around on the ground like a dog!" Peaceful Chaos thought to himself.
Peaceful Chaos knew that there was too much at stake for him and Blue Oasis. The future of his guild rested in his hands. If he emerged victorious here, Blue Oasis would receive several benefits that would make them hail him as a hero. His position in the guild would become even more solidified. And, if he played his cards right, it was even possible that he could carve a path to being the new vice guild leader. No, with the way Asgard had been handling things ever since the incident with the Guild Order, maybe even becoming the guild leader was
possible!
"What are you daydreaming about in the middle of a duel?" Izroth's voice sounded, snapping Peaceful Chaos out of his thoughts.
"Even if I want to stand here and daydream, so what? It's not like you can do anything about it." Peaceful Chaos scoffed.
"As long as my Protective Bulwark and Great Sage Turtle are protecting me, if it's not at least an S-ranked skill, it's impossible for him to harm me." Peaceful Chaos thought to himself.
Peaceful Chaos wanted to lure Izroth into wasting all his strong attack skills in a prideful attempt to break past his defenses.
Izroth briefly examined the barrier formed by Peaceful Chaos' Great Sage Turtle.
'I see. If it's like that, then-isn't this basically delivering one's self on a silver platter?' Izroth could not help but inwardly shake his head as he returned his sword to its sheath. Just now, he used Deep Insight to inspect the green barrier set up by Peaceful Chaos. Since Unique* skills greatly varied in power within RML, the system did not consider it to be above A-rank. As a result, Izroth was still capable of using Deep Insight.
Peaceful Chaos frowned as he witnessed Izroth's actions. Could it be that he figured out what
he had planned?
"What's the matter? Giving up already? I guess first place on the event leaderboards is all just
for show." Peaceful Chaos taunted.
Without warning, Izroth casually tapped his foot on the ground, executing Behemoth's Quake, as strong tremors echoed out from his location every second.
-200
When the first tremor reached Peaceful Chaos, and he watched a chunk of his HP be shaved away, he was surprised. But, after the second tremor hit him, a sudden realization sunk in as a look of despair filled his eyes. Since he was unable to take action, naturally, that also meant deactivating the skill. Therefore, all Peaceful Chaos could see was stand there helplessly and watch as his HP fell before his eyes.
-200
-200
-200
-200
[System Alert: The duel has ended! Winner: Player Izroth
System Alert: As a winner has already been determined, round three will not proceed.
[System Alert: Final Score [Izroth: 2] [Peaceful Chaos: 0] Winner: Player Izroth [System Alert: [1] Flaws have been discovered in >! [System Alert: Flaw [1]: Attacks from below are outside of the barrier's area of influence.