Chapter 177 The Duel Starts

The duel between Kaizen and Taznaar was not only being watched by the thousands of spectators in the Arena's audience, but also by millions of people around the world. Some of the people in the stands at the venue were streaming live to various platforms, and there were many different angles of the fight.

Many people in trains, buses, cars, and shopping malls, in all parts of the earth, were watching the duel anxiously, wanting to know who would be the winner.

Kaizen had no idea of the proportions this duel had taken on.

On television, the channels focused on Rise Online provided complete live coverage, complete with analytical data, interviews, E-sports experts, narrators, casters, and everything that a major event is entitled to.

In a large room somewhere in Europe, a man was glued to the television, watching the beginning of this duel. He was strong, with black braided hair and black skin. His eyes sparkled as he watched. This man was called Zukas.

Beside the sofa where Zukas was sitting, a young man with long white hair and very white skin comes out of a white technological capsule and, with a sleepy look on his face, asks:

"Brother, what are you watching?" He then yawns.

Zukas was so focused that he unconsciously ignored his own brother, so what was playing on the television catches the attention of Gieneno, the big-haired boy.

'A fight?' He assumes, not being able to see very well.

He gropes around the table next to the capsule and picks up his square glasses. When Gieneno looks at the television again, he raises his eyebrows, surprised.

"Who is this guy fighting so sparingly Ricroar?" Gieneno asked aloud, standing up.

"Some guy named Kaizen."

"An evolved one?"

"I don't think so, but he doesn't make any wrong decisions. It seems he can see what's going to happen before it actually happens."

To the surprise of many, when the duel between Taznaar's trio and Kaizen's had its start enacted, it was not the two leaders who began to fight.

As if he had taken the lead of his trio, Ricroar charged at Kaizen, pressing forward with his impressive speed for his size, as an element of surprise.

Perplexed, Kaizen did his best to dodge each of the punches and tsunami of fast blows delivered by Ricroar.

Even Psyker himself didn't imagine that he would have to fight Ricroar, because Taznaar was the typical person with a huge ego who would try to prove to the world that he is better than Kaizen. Furthermore, Kaizen thought that Taznaar would summon Leohorn, not an even stronger Viking man, so he had worried about putting together a single individual strategy, which was to take Taznaar down.

Even in the face of such adversity, Kaizen did not let himself be pressured. He knew that despite everything that took him by surprise, his only goal was to win and for this it didn't matter how it would be or who he would have to defeat.

'If this guy wants to be the first to be defeated, I don't care! Fare that!'

Ricroar's movements were fast, very fast, and there was a golden aura enveloping his entire body, just as the irises of his eyes glowed with the same color. Since this man in the white suit was using nothing to attack Kaizen other than his own fists and legs, it was easy for Psyker to deduce that this was a physical buff skill.

Kaizen was excited, because if Ricroar was using a buff skill and still not being able to hit him, this meant that they had a very similar amount of attributes and that PR was what was making the difference, so the Psyker decided to take a look at his opponent's stats, using <Analyzer Eye>.

[Player: Ricroar

Level: 72 | Race: Drow | Gender: Male | Class: Tank

Profession: Merchant

HP: 800 | MP: 280

Attack: 91 | Defense: 83 | Speed: 70

Strength: 101 | Wisdom: 67 | Endurance: 74

Abilities:

- Commanding.

- Physical Impartiality.

- Blessing of the Moon.

- Predator.

- Midnight Beast]

All of Ricroar's abilities looked very good and their names were exciting to say the least. Kaizen really wanted to be able to copy each one of them. However, he needed to wait to use his most powerful skill, the <Apograph of Skills>, at the most opportune moment because the cooldown of this skill was long.

When Ricroar tried to hit Psyker's face with a right punch, for the first time in this fight Kaizen felt he didn't have to dodge, allowing himself to risk a little more, because he knew Ricroar couldn't kill him with a single blow.

So Kaizen raised his left arm to block the big man's punch.

*BOOM!

The force of the punch made Kaizen stagger backwards, but it wasn't as bad as he had expected.

When Kaizen looked at his own left arm, he saw that his armor had not broken and was not even cracked.

'Hehe! As I thought, I'm a great blacksmith!' As he looked at his left arm that cruel smile of Kaizen's appeared.

To strike back Ricroar's blow, Kaizen took advantage that his hand was free, as well as that his opponent was in the middle of an attacking movement, to strike Ricroar's stomach with his right fist. The masked man's blow was swift and hit precisely the mouth of his opponent's stomach, causing Ricroar to expel some saliva.

The blow that Kaizen gave Ricroar was so strong that people could feel his pain. Moreover, the punch was strong enough to throw him far away. However, Kaizen was not the kind of player who would let his opponent take a breather after he had gained the upper hand.

[Activating Class Skill, <Telekinesis>.]

As he flew away, Ricroar was pulled back by an invisible force. Zonzo, he thought:

'What the fuck is going on?'

As the body of the big guy in the suit approached Kaizen once again, another punch was landed by the Psyker, this time in the middle of Ricroar's face, hurling him against the ground. The impact was enormous, rocking the entire floor of the Arena.

Many spectators screamed and bawled at the violence of the punch, while others were elated to see Kaizen's opponent being so easily overpowered in a matter of seconds.

"Wow, that was brutal!"

"Looks like Kaizen is really strong."

"I think Ricroar underestimated his opponent."

"Of course he underestimated, he didn't even realize how strong Kaizen really is!"

Many doubted Kaizen's strength, but at that moment it was clear that his fame was not a coincidence and that he did not pull a fight with Taznaar without thinking he could win.

Seeing his enemy stunned on the ground, Kaizen didn't think he should stop attacking. This was a unique chance for a combo. But suddenly he heard a loud sound, which echoed throughout the arena, leaving it silent.

*POW!

The sound was like a loud pop. A gunshot.

When everyone looked at the source of the sound, they saw the caramel-haired woman with a musket in her hand.

Firearms were extremely rare, expensive, and difficult to obtain in Rise Online for a reason. The shot from these weapons was faster than most archers could shoot and faster than anyone could dodge.

The tip of Lara's musket was pointed at Kaizen, and when everyone looked at him, they saw that his mask was slightly down. Luckily, the shot hit the Guardian's helmet, missing Kaizen's skin, and the wooden mask almost fell off his face.

To everyone's amazement, even after someone had shot at him, Kaizen was smiling.

Then the Psyker stretched out his left hand towards Lara, and she felt a huge force pulling the musket from her hand. Lara tried to fight against this force, hugging her musket. She was dragged forward a few inches, but could not hold on to the musket, which flew in Kaizen's direction.

Just as the musket was about to reach the black-haired boy's hand, Ricroar recovered from his daze and stood up, using the <Commander> ability, which made his skin completely impenetrable for a few seconds.

Kaizen was caught by surprise and tried to jump back, but Ricroar caught him by the collar of his armor before he could retreat.

The musket fell to the ground halfway down.

Gritting his teeth, Ricroar was about to punch Kaizen with his full force. However, Ravastine totally ignored Taznaar and attacked the giant with a shoulder thrust. Despite being physically much smaller than Ricroar, the second princess' strength was phenomenal, managing to push Ricroar off and preventing Kaizen from being hit.

Taznaar was shocked as he watched the scene. 'She ignored me to go help that shit...? By the way, when did she leave here? I could swear she was trying to attack me a second ago.... She was focused on me and her companion at the same time?' He was dumbfounded.

'Tsk! I missed once, I won't miss again." Lara reached for her musket and, on her knees, pulled the lock on the gun, which in a second was already ready to fire again.

This time, Lara moved her aim a little to the left, positioning Ravastine in her iron sights.

When she pulled the trigger of the musket, the recoil of the gun threw her back a little, only she was sure that this time she would get the shot right.

*POW!*

The iron bullet flew at a frightening speed and when it was inches from Ravastine's neck, Kaizen pulled the princess a little closer by the waist and, with his left hand, stopped the bullet using <Telekinesis>. Still in the air, the bullet whirled around until it lost momentum and became static, finally falling to the ground.

This scene made the Arena and the entire webnet go crazy.

*

[Item: Draconate's Armor (+8)

This armor follows the diagram that attempts to copy the unmatched strength of a Draconate's skin. Forged by an apprentice blacksmith named Kaizen, this armor's strength exists thanks to a rare blend of steel and Blue Desert Lizard scales.

Class: Mutant

Item Level: 2 of 3

Attack: 20 (+80)

Defense: 180 (+80)

Physical Fitness Level Required: 50.]

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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