Standing on the stage, Barran appeared just like a telephone pole, not moving even a single inch, with his gigantic shield placed right before him. The din coming from the arena was completely unable to affect him in the slightest. He had never felt this calm and cool-headed before. What other people were talking about had no importance to him, and that included his opponent too.
Badump! Badump! Badump!
The slow but forceful beating of his heart started to surge.
Hu...Hu...Hu...
His breathing drowned out all of the noises of the outside world as they gushed through his mind.
This should be his last fight in his entire life. If he lost, it would also be Tianjing's last fight in this CHF. If it was any usual day, Barran would most probably be incredibly nervous. Miraculously though, there was none of that terror or even nervousness present in his heart.
Every single fight he had fought in the past, including training sessions, were all for the sake of letting his family members lead a better life, allowing him to reach one step closer to his idol, and not make Wang Zhong and the others disappointed in him...
However, the thoughts flowing through Barran's head was somehow unrelated to all of those...
His mind was clear and empty, with none of those complicated and confusing thoughts. Instead, there was a faint trace of excitement, as well as anticipation!
Having fermented those emotions in his heart, Barran's face had now turned slightly flushed, while his hands had started to tremble slightly in excitement. That's probably due to the drug taking effort. Ma Dong had said that this drug required a bit of time for it to show its effects. If not, the resulting intense changes would be unendurable for his body. Nonetheless, Barran was not one bit worried about it. At this moment, he had already let go of everything, all for the sake of everything!
"Ha! Look at that huffing fool! There's not even an expression of anxiety on his face."
"He's scared to the point of him shaking? What a disappointment. Tianjing's really all bark and no bite, with each person they send up being worse than the previous one."
"Even their own fans are unable to continue watching on! Throughout my entire life, this is the first time I've seen fans that smash up the squadron they are supporting! Ha Ha Ha!"
Under the relaxed and carefree sounds of laughter from the Divine Dragon Academy region, Barran's opponent appeared.
"Indeed, the Divine Dragon did not choose to send Zhao Yilong up to end this match. After all, a trump card like him would have the pride of a trump card. Faced against the weakness among the main lineup of Tianjing, it would be too much of a disgrace for him to personally take action." said Wind God with a smile. "They have fielded one of the 5 mainstays, Zhao Zixin. In today's match, the Divine Dragon squadron has sent out all of the members of their main lineup. Compared to their use of their substitutes in their matches with the A rank squadrons, the Divine Dragon Academy has already given a considerable amount of respect to Tianjing."
A rather tall and sturdy figure walked onto the stage. Standing approximately 2 metres tall, with the muscular back of a tiger and the waist of a bear, the figure held two jet black whips constructed from an unknown material in his hands. Such a strange and unusual weapon could only be mastered by the people of the Zhao Family.
"Zhao Zixin, the 2nd soldier in the Divine Dragon squadron's main lineup! He wields an unusual weapon, and possesses the considerably rare lightning attribute special ability. Coupled with the lightning whips that were specially tailored to him, he possesses more than sufficient lethality!" said Ruo Zhi. "To Tianjing, Zhao Yilong not participating in this duel might be the only good piece of news for them. However, frankly speaking, taking Barran's previous performance against Bella Dean into consideration, the chances of him obtaining victory over the Divine Dragon Academy's Zhao Zixin is rather low."
"That's right! Zhao Zixin's weapons are the rarely seen middle-ranged soft weapons, dual whips, that are capable of unleashing strange and unpredictable attacks. During the elimination rounds, Zhao Zixin had taken only 38 seconds to defeat the Heroic Soul Invigilator in the test conducted in the soldier arena. As for his all-rounded capabilities, all aspects are on par, with some even exceeding the main heavy soldier of Bella Dean. Compared to Barran, this is no longer a match between equal opponents on the same standard. We can see that many of the Tianjing fans are starting to leave the arena in disappointment. On Skylink, the number of Tianjing supporters have plummeted! Now, the popularity rating for the Divine Dragon Academy has reached an astonishing 99%! Just like the legend of black horses says, they will skyrocket up, and will fall hard in defeat! Even their fans have disappeared as at record speeds." Wind God gave a sigh while speaking. "The only disappointing matter is that we're unable to get to see the heavily anticipated counter-attack of All Mouthy King! Even if it is a counterattack that results in the ending of this match! Naturally, just like many of the audience are saying, he might not be the real All Mouthy King, but merely a clown, swindler that has used the cross wheels to take advantage of the crowd! He had actually sent the pitiful Barran up to be his scapegoat, so that he can preserve his mysteriousness and undefeated record! This kind of "invincible" is an utter joke! I feel that this match won't continue for much longer!"
Holding the lightning whips in his hands, Zhao Zixin was currently sizing his opponent up. Frankly speaking, after the match against Bella Dean, Barran, who had been previously promoted as a potential strength of Tianjing and had entered the top 5 most spectacular heavy soldiers, had long become the number 1 joke of Tianjing. With his clumsy physical techniques and shaky fundamentals, he's all in all just a dull boy with a single lethal blow. In the eyes of experts, he was undoubtedly no different from a 3-year-old toddler in kindergarten.
The only reason why Divine Dragon had fielded Zhao Zixin was due to his lightning whips being able to completely counter such a type of heavy soldier.
However, at this moment, he could feel the fighting spirit and vigour radiating out from Barran's body. This is truly laughable! Is this the stubborn resistance of a weakling!
Instead of feeling any sympathy, the only thing that Zhao Zixin felt was disgust.
With a slight shake, two lightning snakes travelled down his arms before coiling around the lightning whips. With a whoosh, they submerged into the lightning whips.
When in combat, he would never treat his opponents with disregard. Even if they were trash, he would never give them even a sliver of a chance!
Ding!
The competition bell rang.
The gigantic shield was hoisted from the ground, as Barran shot forwards with a ferocious step.
The immense strength from his steps caused booming sounds to ring across the arena. Although he wasn't quick, those steps of his were filled with astonishing vigour, causing people to have the misconception that they were seeing a ferocious tiger that had just been unleashed!
The focused and earnest eyes shown on the large screen caused many of the Tianjing fans who had spewed out curses and vulgarities earlier to stop their clamouring.
Sparing the rod will spoil the child. Of those who remained in the arena, they were either penny pinchers that were unwilling to waste the entrance ticket and had to watch their fill, or were true fans of Tianjing. Barran's rush still possessed quite a few similarities to the imposing rushes from top class heavy soldiers. After all, he was a rising heavy soldier star that had obtained an S rank evaluation in offence!
"Gulp"...
Many people could not help to gulp their saliva down. Was there really no hope? Could a miracle be born?
"Barran's rush appears to be rather imposing! Faced against such a powerful opponent, he did no show any confusion or retreat! Compared to the All Mouthy King cowering behind him, he is the true, genuine soldier!" Wind God's unleashed a super high-level roast. "There's still 50 metres, 30 metres, 10 metres...in range! Zhao Zixin has unexpectedly not chosen to dodge! Looks like he wants to end this duel fast in a head-on fight! This might be Barran's opportunity to decide victory or defeat in 1 move! Will this be Tianjing's counterattack, or Divine Dragon's suppression! Barran's strength...oh, my god!"
Bang!
Sparkling with lightning snakes on their surface, the twin whips swept out in a ferocious horizontal sweep!
Zhao Zixin did not evade or dodge. On the contrary, the massive momentum of Barran's rush had unexpectedly collapsed right before him!
In a flash, the gigantic shield was covered in heart-palpitating lightning. However, the problem was that Barran was utterly unable to see the attack paths of the lightning whips! In an instant, his entire being was sent flying 7 to 8 metres back!
The entire arena turned deathly silent.
Truly worthy of an offensive-type soldier! Faced against a rush that was in-range of hitting him, Zhao Zixin had actually met it head on!
A vicious shade flashed across his eyes, before he disappeared like a spectre!
Before Barran's feet could touch the ground, Zhao Zixin's poker face had already before his face.