Chapter 827: Core Members Tournament 5
"This is going to be tough." Uno muttered to himself.
Still, he hefted up his shield and smacked it with his bell hammer, then readied himself. Armonia saw that his opponent had truly dug in this time, so he would no longer take the initiative. As such, Intellectual Monkey dove forward from atop his somersault cloud and clapped his hands together when he got close.
What followed was a shockwave that would even make the Hulk proud, and Uno roared as he was forced to defend against it. The Vanguard managed to stay in his position without getting blown away, but he certainly paled when Armonia directed a punch right onto his shield.
Uno knew that he could no longer hold back and activated his skill, Deflect!
The moment Armonia's punch connected with his shield, Uno roared and flung his arm upward, deflecting the force of the punch and knocking back a surprised Intellectual Monkey. The force ended up going into the sky and out of the arena.
Armonia gathered himself and acknowledged that Uno was the guild's main tank for a good reason. Simply whaling on him and holding back would not be enough, so he took a deep breath and held his Ruyi Staff in attack position.
Gazing at the weapon, Uno began to sweat because he could tell that Armonia's power with that staff in hand would be many times greater than his basic punch, which was why he hadn't used it in the first place.
Uno didn't wait for him to strike out, but immediately cast his clutch active skill, All-Out Defense!
With a roar, a giant barrier enveloped the area around Uno, and it sported 20 million HP and a damage reduction of 80%! This was the Vanguard's trump card in all engagements, whether small or large!
Armonia's strike met the shield... and to the shock of the masses it immediately shattered it as if it had been made of papermache!
A Legendary Shield, Cracked!
1 million Durability gone in an instant!
This was on top of Uno's Legendary Class which endlessly stacked many buffs that boosted defense passively, so much that it allowed even glass cannon mages that were in a party with him to double as Off Tanks.
Uno was dumbfounded, especially since the staff stopped short of him. Armonia pulled back and entered a battle stance once more, having concentrated all his power into shattering Uno's shield, as it would be the biggest hurdle towards defeating his foe.
Now, one would say that Armonia should have just struck the man and let the force pass through the shield, but Armonia was not a fighter, but a researcher and intellectual. His way of handling things was obviously different from us plebs.
For example, plebeian gamers like us, when playing a Pokemon game, have a single goal in battle, which is to reduce the enemy Pokemon's HP to zero. As such, we collect the strongest Pokemon with the best moves to that end, sacrificing shit like Growl, Leer and Tackle for Fire Blast, Flamethrower and Flame Wheel.
However, Armonia was clearly the type of person who used X Accuracy, X Speed and the like in battle, things that a pleb gamer would ignore or sell for cash at the pokemart.
Uno simply gazed at his broken shield and sighed. It was obviously not gone forever and would be restored after the battle, but to have it shattered while he was actually fucking wielding it... was there a better demonstration as to how powerful his foe was?
"Well, they did say the Great Sage has Divine Strength…" Uno muttered, only slightly disheartened.
Unlike Xingtian who was an avatar of the Undying King Inheritance of Pangu (the regeneration/defense one) and Houyi who was likely of the Primogenitor Inheritance (The Elemental one), Uno would bet his sweet bippy that Wukong fell under all three given his legends.
Divine Strength, Endless Regeneration and the ability to use spells and talismans…
Uno smartly decided to forfeit.
5h Battle: Armonia Pendragon wins!
6th Battle: Bella vs Nightwalker, begin!
This one was an interesting one.
The sexy Bella came on stage with her usual ninja wear that was a bit too loose and frivolous. With her assets that were at the peak of the A Grade - which was the limit non-Lineage women could reach - she was already someone whose casual picture on social media could receive millions of likes from simps and chads alike.
After all, liking sexy was not wrong, it was honorable. It was only the actions one took in pursuing that sexiness that would divide them into the two categories.
Then there was her newest… 'follower' Nightwalker. He had even been lured into entering Umbra because the woman of his dreams was a member.
And yet, he had never approached her before now because he had been busy observing her. After all, one could have the godliest body, but the brains and personality too mattered, unless one wanted endless trouble.
Nightwalker was disappointed when he realized she was vain, caustic, arrogant and also incestuous without good reason. He immediately dropped his pursuit and decided to focus on his job in the guild and for Draco.
… it wasn't until Loving Aunt jokingly told Cobra that his sister might have a pursuer in Nightwalker that the fellow had dropped everything in order to kneel for 7 days and nights before Nightwalker's manor to beg the God Serpent Inheritor to take his sister away.
Cobra couldn't even keep any of his fucking male boyfriends in the manor because his damn sister kept throwing them out. Most of them would be killed behind his back, making Cobra so furious that he wanted to strangle her... alas, she fucking enjoyed that shit!!!
Vano was lucky he was Roma's brother and was considered Draco's family, so Bella didn't dare to go too far, or he too would have likely ended up in a ditch somewhere.
Cobra was losing his mind, and he saw hope in Henry. When Henry caved in and heard the brother's story, he immediately became serious.
… Jesus Christ, this bitch was like a red flag command center. Anyone who dared to indulge in her would suffer untold misery and wish they were dead.
Henry couldn't help but lick his lips. Such a problematic woman would be a challenge like never before. This was like Shakespeare's 'Taming the Shrew', but on Nightmare difficulty. Henry decided to take up this task for righteousness, valor and the sanctity of Brother Cobra's mind!
Even Jormungandr was interested in this conquest.
In recent days, Henry had not approached Bella with any romantic interest. In fact, he had once set up an altercation with her - based on her personality - and slapped her in public coldly. Bella had flown into a rage only to be defeated by Henry and humbled in public, sparking her hate for him.
And every time they met, Henry would provoke her into a rage and suppress her until she could only cry in frustration. As of now, she didn't even have time to deal with Cobra, her every thought revolving around how to capture Henry and refine him into a doll so that she could stomp on him.
This time was no different. Henry rode the manifestation of Jormungandr onto the stage, looking down on Bella from high up. This act alone made her fly into a rage, and she immediately used her Shadow Stalk Justu to appear behind him.
Nightwalker simply desummoned Jormungandr and casually avoided the attack. Bella did not stop there as she continually struck forward using adept martial techniques taught by her family, each one aiming for fatal points with the accuracy of a marksman.
Nightwalker simply avoided or blocked them all, a slight smile on his face which infuriated Bella. This was always how their battles had gone down. If Nightwalker used his nloodline to beat her, she could at least comfort herself that he was being oppressive.
However, he never did.
They always fought using technique only, and how could Bella stand a chance against one of the few S Rank fixers in the world?
Nightwalker had lived longer and fought more harrowing battles than Bella could ever dream of, so there was no way she could match up to him.
Even though both parties had access to Control at this time, the gap between them was still present. If anything, the gap had widened since Bella was at Tier 3 while Henry was easily at the peak of Tier 4.
Before we continue, we would like to hear PSA from the World Council. (Editor's Note: Endure a bit longer, for soon we shall strike him where it hurts, dear readers!)
?Calamity King - Divine Class (Rank 4)
Skills:
Rank 1: Destroyer (Passive), Calamity Source (Passive), Collection (Active), Apocalypse (Active)
Rank 2: Generate (Active), Multiply (Active)
Rank 3: Absolve (Passive), Protect (Passive)
Rank 4: Absorption (Active), Destruction (Active)
Exp gain rate: 0.5%
Rank up difficulty: 50%
Class weapons: None.
Class skills: Partial Destruction.?
?Generate – Active skill
Effect: Using your innate Destruction Force, generate a batch of new Apocalypses that can be used in any situation as if they were present in your Calamity Source.
Cooldown: 10 minutes.?
?Multiply – Active skill
Effect: Bathe any selected Apocalypse type into your unique Destruction Force to split it into equally powerful copies that can either be stored or cast out.
Cooldown: 3 days.?
?Absolve – Passive skill
Effect: You can select a target, both living or non-living, and absolve them from the direct effects of any Apocalypse you release. This includes planets, continents, worlds, or even simple insects.?
?Protect – Passive skill
Effect: Just as the Calamity King can bring untold destruction and suffering through the end times, so too can he bring peace and prosperity. All allies in the area of an Apocalypse generated or cast out by the Calamity King gain full immunity to all effects, be they physical or otherwise, and gain 50% boost to all stats as the harbingers of doom.?
?Absorption – Active skill
Effect: When your generated or cast out Apocalypses raze your targets down, you can absorb the ambient Destruction Force left behind by the hard work of the Apocalypse and increase your stores of this unique concept.
Cooldown: 1 day.?
?Destruction – Active skill
Effect: An Apocalypse does not rend an existence from reality but simply tears all things down into their most basic form. However, you can now imbue an Apocalypse with Destruction Force, thereby leaving everything it encounters throughly destroyed from reality.
Cooldown: 7 days.?
(Author's Note: Destruction Force is not the same as Destruction Energy.)
?Ninja - Legendary Class (Rank 4)
Skills:
Rank 1: Chakra Awakeneing (Passive), Chakra Control (Passive), Substitution Technique (Active), Clone Technique (Active)
Rank 2: Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Active), Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Active),
Rank 3: All Element Control (Passive), Ninja Eyes (Passive),
Rank 4: Fūton: Reppūshō (Active), Raidori: Chidori (Active)
Starting Stats: Str 10, Dex 50, End 10, Int 10, Spr 40, Cha 10, Lck 30
Exp gain rate: 90%
Rank up difficulty: 70%
Class weapons: Any small
Class skills: Any Rogue, Ninja, Chakra.?
?Chakra Awakening – Passive skill
Effect: A special energy (Chakra) courses through your body, specifically your meridians, that prolongs your life, increases your overall power and connects you to the essence of the world.?
?Ninjutsu – Passive skill
Effect: The User is able to mold Chakra into the form of anything through the use of hand signs, and these adaptations are called Ninjutsu.?
?Substitution Technique – Active skill
Effect: Substitute yourself with a piece of wood when attacked, teleporting 3 meters away from your current location. You can use this up to 4 times in a row before the cooldown begins.
Cooldown: 1 minute.?
?Bunshin no Jutsu – Active skill
Effect: Manifest an ethereal clone of yourself and have it mimic your actions. You can make up to 5 clones and can control them to do anything remotely.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cooldown: 1 minute.?
?Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu – Active skill
Effect: The user kneads Chakra in their body and turns it into fire, which they then expel from their mouth. The more Chakra you use, the more flames are produced. This deals 300% fire damage.
Cooldown: 10 seconds.?
?Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Active skill
Effect: This jutsu allows the user to create one or more copies of themselves. The user's Chakra is evenly divided between themselves and their clones. Creating one clone will give it half the user's Chakra, creating two clones will give each a third of the user's chakra, and so on.
Duration: 1 hour
Cooldown: 3 hours.?
?All Element control – Passive skill
Effect: You have access to all the elements. Your elemental control is perfect and you can use all types Ninjutsu.?
?Ninja Eyes – Passive skill
Effect: You possess the special eyes of a ninja, able to see the truth of reality and the nature of all attacks. At Rank 4, you can see techniques and copy them, see the flow of Worldly Energy in attacks and predict all movements.?
?Fūton: Reppūshō – Active skill
Effect: A Wind Release technique where the user either increases their velocity, or by the user clasping their hands together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale, which has enough force to knock over a person. This deals 150% wind damage.
Cooldown: 4 seconds.?
?Raidori: Chidori – Active skill
Effect: The user first gathers lightning to their hand. Once the Chakra is gathered, users charge at their target and thrust the Chidori into them, piercing them and typically causing fatal damage. This deals 500% lightning damage.
Cooldown: 20 seconds.?