Chapter 588: Individual Tournament 14

Fifteenth match winner: Killer Queen! 

This paved the way for the final fight in the round of 32 of the Individual Tournament. It was the one which featured a powerhouse and another unknown, but it would see the various titans clash against each other in the next round after it was decided. 

16th Match: Quiet Blade (Cobra) vs Young Duel! 

Cobra entered the stage from the left by jumping acrobatically and landing like a spider. Of course, with his skin-tight black attire, it highlighted the contours of his S- Rank booty, making many girls blush and men dig out their eyes. 

However, as usual, there were some fellows in the crowd who couldn't help but release bright beams of light from their eyes at this view, looking extremely moved. 

Young Duel was a more normal-looking fellow with pale skin, a height of 5"10, and a compact body. He had sharp brown eyes and curly brown hair, as well as an intense look no weaker than Noble Soul. 

He wore a set of blackish-red leather armor and a swordsman's trench coat that was aqua blue, as opposed to Panty King's gaudy white color. He was also in possession of a dark red sword that he greatly treasured as it was an item that the Lady Boss had assigned him after Umbra's first 100-man Dungeon. 

｢Shura's Sword – One-handed sword 

Rank: Rare 

Atk spd: 9 

Dmg: 190-256 

Effect: Bloodletting effect +10% damage, Bloodletting effect +10% chance｣ 

It may just be a rare weapon, but it was well suited to Young Duel's Epic Class, Swordmaster. This was a class that Draco had been offered as well due to his swordsmanship skill back when he had looked through his options during the Class Up. 

Although it was a hard one to get, Umbra's Guildmaster had ignored him for the plethora of higher-tier options. Nevertheless, Young Duel was happy enough with it. 

｢Swordmaster - Epic Class (Rank 3) 

Skills: Swordheart (Passive), Blade Mastery (Passive), Defensive Mode (Active), Offensive Style (Active), Sword Clone (Active). 

Starting Stats: Str 40, Dex 30, End 10, Int 10, Spr 10, Cha 10, Lck 10 

Exp gain rate: 120% 

Rank up difficulty: 80% 

Class weapons: Any sword. 

Class skills: Any Sword.｣ 

｢Swordheart – Passive skill 

Effect: You have connected body and soul with the sword in your hands, able to utilize its true spirit in battle. You and your sword can communicate and fight together, with each one working independently of the other.｣ 

｢Blade Mastery – Passive skill 

Effect: As a Swordmaster, you have spent years training in the ways of the sword and have achieved mastery. You can use any type of blade without any technique penalties, and your sword damage is increased by 30%.｣ 

｢Defensive Mode – Active skill 

Effect: Switch to a defensive style of swordplay that reduces your Damage by 30% but increases your Defense by 70%. 

Cooldown: None.｣ 

｢Offensive Style – Active skill 

Effect: Switch to an offensive style of swordplay that increases your Damage by 70% but decreases your Defense by 30%. 

Cooldown: None.｣ 

｢Sword Clone – Active skill 

Effect: Summon a clone made of your Sword Intent, manifesting beside you to fight alongside you. Your Sword Clone deals 30% of your damage and takes 50% more damage from attacks than you. 

Duration: 5 minutes. 

Cooldown: 10 minutes.｣ 

Young Duel greeted Cobra respectfully with a bow. Cobra too nodded and greeted his opponent graciously. There was no need to posture or act hostile, because they both represented France. 

The French crowd applauded their sportsmanship while chewing on baguettes with cheese provided by the AI. Amber came down and called for the match to begin, which it did with intensity despite the initially pleasant mood. 

After all, only one of them could advance forward and neither one wanted to be that fellow to lose here, regardless of the power difference between them. At the end of the day, they were also confident in their skills as members of Umbra. 

Young Duel immediately summoned a Sword Clone and had it enter Defensive Mode while he went into Offensive Mode. They both then charged at Cobra who was smiling plaintively. 

Cobra just spread his arms out to each side and disappeared from the view of everyone, leaving Young Duel shocked and alarmed. He understood that losing sight of Cobra meant he was as good as dead. 

｢Extreme Stealth – Passive skill 

Effect: Remain invisible to all enemies below your level. Those at your level have an 8% chance to detect you while those above you have varying chances to do so. Does not consume stamina.｣ 

Young Duel could only end his charge and hurriedly activate Defensive Mode himself while going back to back with his Sword Clone, making sure Cobra couldn't get an easy kill and free stun by stabbing him in the back. 

However, such considerations meant little in front of a Legendary Class like the Slayer. 

｢Blood Control – Passive skill 

Effect: As a Slayer, you have the ability to control the blood of others as well as your own. You can freely manipulate large volumes of dead blood to form weapons, avatars, etc. You can also slightly manipulate living blood still flowing in the veins of another, disrupting their blood flow or causing many circulatory problems to your foes.｣ 

Young Duel was looking around vigilantly when he suddenly felt terrible and spat out a thick wad of blood. He felt intense pain in his chest especially, and grimaced as he wondered what caused it. 

When he remembered Cobra's recent acquisition of the ability to manipulate the blood in people, his face changed greatly. He realized with horror that his action of spitting blood had broken his concentration, allowing Cobra to appear not behind him, but right before him. 

His Sword Clone was behind him, so it could obviously not see what he was up to and was more focused on the command he had given it to monitor its area with full alertness in order to respond to any ambush, something that was wise on paper, but had harmed Young Duel in reality. 

Cobra smiled at Young Duel who was raising his sword to defend himself, but was too slow to fight off Cobra whose main stat was obviously Dexterity. Like a snake, Cobra thrust one of his stilettos forward, which pierced into the throat of Young Duel, making his eyes widen. 

｢Sure-kill Strike – Active skill 

Effect: Thrust your blade into the core weak point of an enemy, taking their life away while you watch their soul leave their body. 

Note 1: Enemy must be at 100% HP. 

Note 2: Enemy must be within 1 Rank of yours. 

Note 3: Enemy must be unaware of your presence. 

Cooldown: 1 week.｣ 

Young Duel gasped in pain as he felt the life energy in his body fade away, the world becoming cold and dull. Before he could fall over, Cobra grabbed him and supported him even as he kept his blade in place, gazing into the eyes of the dying man with superiority. 

This chilling sight made everyone in the crowd have goosebumps as they clutched their throats and felt their blood run cold. Many fellows who had entertained the idea to 'capture' Cobra afterward and play him to death were now chastised of such thoughts. 

Eventually, Young Duel died weakly, his body fading away into pixels as Cobra stood up and gracefully left the stage. Young Duel reappeared by the side with a pale face, his breathing a bit rough as if he still didn't quite believe he had a working windpipe. 

Cobra smiled amicably at him, which made the fellow shudder and hide behind Bella, who tittered with amusement. Cobra rolled his eyes and gazed at Amber who announced his victory to the crowd. 

Sixteenth match winner: Quiet Blade (Cobra)! 

Amber clapped her hands. "And now, we move onto the round of sixteen! Here is the list of matchups for those who progressed in the previous rounds!" 

1st Match: Sublime Notion vs Essence Stalker 

2nd Match: Slim Fatty vs Silent Walker 

3rd Match: Dreary Traveler vs Alpha Male 

4th Match: Tunder Power vs Gentle Lamb 

5th Match: Rambunctious Buttlover vs Noble Soul 

6th Match: Deployed Soldier vs Gentle Flower 

7th Match: Loving Aunt vs Eye Patch 

8th Match: Killer Queen vs Quiet Blade 

Many eyes gleamed, looking forward to these next set of matches. During the round of 32, all the fellows had established their powers and skills, so now it was just going to be raw and hot battles between the truly skilled. 

The first match in the round of 16, made many have weird expressions as Sublime Notion skipped onto the stage from the left while Essence Stalker causally teleported in from the right. 

Many couldn't help but look at the adorable loli Sublime and feel sympathy in their hearts. Such a lovely-looking young miss was about to be harmed by a brute! 

As such, many eyes from various people aimed at Essence Stalker became unfriendly. However, their great mistake was not knowing that the fellow was a member of the Lucifer Lineage who even had the Dark Angel Inheritance as well. 

All that hate became intense nourishment for him, almost making the fellow quiver on stage. Soon, Amber called the match to begin and the two just stood opposite each other silently. 

Suddenly, Sublime made a cutesy expression as she widened her eyes and cowered slightly. 

"P-Please don't be harsh on me… O-Onii-chan!" Umbra's Vice-Guildmistress spoke with a sweet and high-pitched voice. 

Many fellows in the crowd howled as they stood up, solemnly swearing that they would protect Sublime at all costs. Of course, none of them saw that nefarious glint in her eyes as they did so. 

Essence scratched his head. 

"Err, as the best friend of Eva, you should know who I am and what I represent, right? So, what makes you think I care?" 

Sublime's face froze, and her cute expression got replaced with a grimace. 

"Tch, just like that big titty old hag, you have no dignity!" Sublime spat with menace. 

"Ohohoho! You sound jealous, pint-sized cowtits!" Loving Aunt countered from the side, completely disregarding Sublime's higher standing within the guild, instead letting out the famous 'ojou-sama' laugh while covering her mouth haughtily. 

Sublime gritted her teeth and shrieked like a banshee, then cast all the spatial spells she had in her arsenal. 

Spatial Seal! 

Void Cut! 

Spatial Lock! 

Space Slash! 

One by one, various abilities were launched at Essence Stalker, but the fellow simply watched them pass through his body with an expression of concern. He looked like he was looking at the world's biggest idiot, who happened to be someone he cared about, and was thinking about how to help them. 

"Didn't you watch my first match? Surely you saw what happened to the other guy? Are you sure you want to follow suit?" Essence couldn't help but ask in the end as he scratched the back of his head. 

Sublime snorted. "Hmph! You're basically hiding in a vase and thinking you have some superiority over your opponent! Why not come out and let me show you what real power is?!" 

Essence pondered this and shrugged. "Okay." 

Sublime, who hadn't expected her words to work, was shocked. So too were many in the crowd, wondering if this measly taunt had really managed to work on Essence. 

Essence, who had been floating slightly, walked forward and seemed to pass through a purple veil. It wasn't noticeable before, but Essence's body had looked a bit fake before and now that he had stepped out of his void, he looked more real, more solid. 

When he came out, Sublime did not attack. Rather, her face changed greatly as she jumped back and cast hundreds of support and buff spells on herself. 

Essence could only wring his lips and mutter. "Truly, no one in Umbra is stupid or easy to catch off-guard." 

He then manifested his red halberd and swung out, a purple line appearing through the air that blasted forward and seemed to make a horrid shrieking sound with every inch it crossed, 

Many in the crowd had to hold their ears as they felt immense pain from this. Sublime herself grimaced, but cast a fireball towards the purple slice hurtling towards her. 

It looked as if her attack had pointlessly been sliced in half and exploded, nevertheless she knew that did slightly weaken the incoming slash. When it collided with the shields she hastily put up, more than 70% of them got destroyed before the slash's momentum came to an end. 

There was only a furiously sweating Sublime left, and a slightly surprised Essence. He was convinced that the attack he had sent out should have been enough to kill her in one blow, but it seemed that he had underestimated the effect of all the buffs she had cast on herself. 

If she had tried to attack the moment he came out of his void or trash-talk him, she would have been bisected without any chance to defend herself. Fortunately for the lolitician, her first action had been to create space and defend, she had survived. 

This was why Essence had to sigh that while Umbra's members were definitely missing screws up there, they were at the same time, the sharpest razors of the lot. 

Sublime quickly began casting all her offensive spells to barrage Essence so that she could get some breathing space to think about herself and what she had to do next. 

Sublime Notion's almost endless list of spells was fired out, hurtling towards Essence one by one. The fellow simply slammed the butt of his halberd down and waved his free hand. 

Immediately, a large portal opened before him leading into a black void. All the cast spells disappeared inside, before Essence simply closed up the portal and raised his halberd once more. 

This left Sublime and the crowd speechless. 

Before such power, how was anyone supposed to win? 

Essence smiled the next moment, making Sublime feel a chill from her legs to her scalp. She quickly tried to use whatever spells she had to protect herself, but nothing could prepare her for the sight of a portal opening above her head, all the spells she had cast on Essence raining down on herself. 

"Ah…" 

Was the last thing Sublime had the time to utter as she was destroyed by hundreds of spells of different elements at once. Her side of the arena was quickly ruptured and destroyed, leaving behind a gaping portion that looked like it had been through a war. 

Amber had raised eyebrows as she declared Essence's win. As for Essence, he simply teleported off-stage without even acknowledging the damage he had caused, making Amber's lips twitch as she knew he would just deflect it again. 

Damn that shameless Lineage! 

Seventeenth match winner: Essence Stalker! 

For the second match in the Round of 16, Slim Fatty came up from the left side with a solemn expression, while Silent Walker came up from the right with a similar gait. The two faced off for a short while until Amber declared the match's beginning, to which they both made their moves. 

Silent Walker called his Shadowguards, once again bringing forth three of them. They immediately locked onto Slim Fatty but did not charge her, rather remaining next to Silent Walker. 

Slim Fatty sent her three floating swords towards Silent Walker, which were quickly intercepted by the Shadowguards. Both sides bereft of their 'extra helpers', they began their solo fight. 

Slim Fatty burst forward and slashed at Silent Walker, who casually sent an orb of Darkness Energy hurtling towards the attack coming towards him. Slim Fatty's Swordblade connected with it, and broke it apart, but it exploded with potent Darkness Energy that forced her back. 

Grimacing, she continued the attack, trying to find ways to close the distance between herself and Silent Walker, but the fellow made sure to keep her at bay. 

Neither side was in a rush to use their active skills just yet, as with Legendary Classes, they both had world-shaking actives that could yield strange effects depending on how they were used, and in a battle like this, timing was important. 

The Shadowguards were able to fend off the swords attacking them, but they were still losing health in every clash while the swords were losing durability. Silent Walker could afford to lose his Shadowguards, but Slim Fatty could not afford to lose those carefully crafted swords for her. 

As such, she paused and raised her blade upwards, white light gathering on the edge of it. Silent Walker saw this and recognized that she was about to use her World Slash skill. As such, he used Endless Night first. 

He then chained it by activating Dark Barrier and then Tendril Storm. With these skills being buffed by two of his passives and the Endless Night which increased it by 400% on its own, he was ready. 

When Slim Fatty brought her blade down, the world was cut in half for a full second as a white light tore through everything, even though Silent Walker. However, it did not break his shield, only cutting through his dark tendrils and ending the skill, before weakly passing over his shield. 

Slim Fatty grimaced heavily, but didn't plan to stop here. 

She gritted her teeth and used another skill that she had kept up her sleeves in case she met a strong foe like this. 

｢Overpowered Wave – Active skill 

Effect: Send out a wave of sword lights that attack every foe within a 3-mile radius. This deals 700% sword damage. 

Cooldown: 5 days.｣ 

Immediately, a huge white wave burst from her position and ran through the entire arena, slicing everything in its way apart. When it collided with Silent Walker's barrier, it finally created heavy cracks upon it that even made the fellow within pale slightly. 

His face became hard as he realized he couldn't stay on the receiving end against this woman who had even managed to damage Draco when he had tested the core members back then. 

As such, Silent Walker clapped his hands and forced a huge scythe of Darkness Energy that was three times taller than a human being. He then swung this scythe out, sending a huge wave of Darkness Energy hurtling toward Slim Fatty who was preparing to use another skill. 

Slim Fatty's face changed as she canceled the skill she had been about to use and swung her blade to active a sword wave that could counter the oncoming attack. 

Unfortunately, it easily shattered, allowing the wave to collide with her body, sending her flying.