Chapter 453: Scarlet’s Resolution (2 in 1)
Translator: Radiant Translations Editor: Radiant Translations
In this instant, Scarlet had revealed her brilliant shooting techniques without any restraint! Various kinds of attacks converged together in an instant like water funnelling into a stream, before rumbling out!
However, this merely caused a slight upward curl at the corner of Zhao Wuying’s mouth.
Scarlet definitely knew about the optimum range of her Kalam pistols. However, why would Zhao Wuying not know about that? Her opponent’s conservation of strength during the previous barrages of attacks wasn’t able to fool her eyes.
“I’ve merely accompanied you just to give you a little bit of hope, you stupid la.s.s.”
Just right after Scarlet had formed her bullet screen, a strange and cruel laugh rang out of Zhao Wuying as she disappeared without a trace from her original location!
Everyone had seen fast a.s.sa.s.sins before. However, other than those on the Mo’s List, wanting to achieve a speed faster than a bullet, even for an instant during a dash, is a delusional thought!
However, Zhao Wuying had done it.
Her instantaneous eruption of speed was so quick that it was difficult for people to wrap their heads around it! In an instant, her silhouette had drawn a figure of a “Z” en route towards Scarlet. There was no need for her to block any bullets or to make small adjustments to her movements! The large radius of her turns had caused all the incoming attacks to strike air!
The 30-metre distance was crossed by Zhao Wuying as easily and casually as striding across a small ditch. The bullet screen blockade unleashed by Scarlet appeared to be an immobile portrait in her eyes, with the revolutions of every bullet being clear as day!
Distance closed! In the face of this top-cla.s.s a.s.sa.s.sin, Scarlet’s distance control was practically useless. Earlier, her opponent was deliberately “restraining” herself, and it looked like Scarlet was being played with, but Scarlet still seemed to possess the capability to put up a fight. However, at this instant, when an a.s.sa.s.sin was able to suddenly close a 50-metre distance without being obstructed at all, the only feeling left in all of the Tianjing supporters was despair!
Whoos.h.!.+
A ray of chilling light flashed past. Before Scarlet could even react, a b.l.o.o.d.y gash had already appeared on her arm. The injuries caused by the sharp ends of the silvery hooks weren’t like those created by ordinary sharp weapons, but more like ripping lacerations!
“Gegegege…your bullets are too slow, little girl.” Zhao Wuying’s voice continued to ring out in Scarlet’s ears, while her azure blue silhouette appeared just like a spectre as she circled around Scarlet at high speed.
Frankly speaking, when a ranged soldier had been closed in by an a.s.sa.s.sin in such a fas.h.i.+on, they could already give up on resisting.
However, the twin pistols in Scarlet’s hands continued to fire, her feet movements remained as stable as before, while she continued to move about.
Being by w.a.n.g Zhong’s side had presented her with opportunities to learn many things, not just the constant improvements in her shooting techniques; she also improved her close combat and near body movement techniques. Frankly speaking, for a ranged soldier, Scarlet’s movements and deftness could already be considered to be pretty good. Admittedly, even though she was unable to compare to those top-cla.s.s experts, she would absolutely have the qualifications to fight for the role in the main lineup in an A rank squadron! Just like what Ruo Zhi had said, the only things she lacked when compared to top-cla.s.s ranged soldiers were the explosiveness of her Soul Power as well as the might of her attacks. Scarlet was indeed outstanding on the aspect of skills and techniques.
If she was faced against an a.s.sa.s.sin from an A rank squadron, her movements coupled with her shooting techniques might result in a brilliant show of extraordinary splendour. However, it was a pity that she was up against Zhao Wuying!
The spectre-like silhouette was travelling at speeds 2 to 3 times faster than Scarlet at the very least! At the instant when Scarlet had turned around, Zhao Wuying had already made a 360-degree loop around the former!
Whoosh Whoosh…
“Your movements are also too slow!”
Two chilling glints flashed out, this time heading for her back! Two b.l.o.o.d.y grooves appeared on her fair and spotless figure, the scarlet red wound looking exceedingly contrasting to her snow-white skin. At this moment, an interesting expression was plastered on Zhao Wuying’s face up. She really liked prey like this. Even with her status, it was extremely hard for her to find such prey. It was exceedingly obvious that this Scarlet could be considered to be a “Ms Perfect”, with her temperament and appearance being the unique traits of the parliament social cla.s.s. She was an elite, smart, had her ideals and a belief, and yearned for a miracle and new world. Being able to tear her apart in such an open fas.h.i.+on was something that Zhao Wuying took extreme pleasure in doing!
Despite her movements remaining fluid and deft, Scarlet’s face had clearly twitched when those two gashes appeared on her back. At this moment, nervousness had racked the hearts of all the Tianjing audience, as the disparity in strength was really large.
Not long later, more wounds had opened up on Scarlet’s body. Although they weren’t life-threatening, they were extremely frightening to look at. From the introductory information on Zhao Wuying, this person’s hobby was to torture people and satisfy her urges from other people’s pain. And this was precisely her chance to do so!
If Scarlet was a male, those b.l.o.o.d.y gashes on her might have actually enhanced the masculine appearance. However, being a girl, those wounds only caused people to feel pity and heartache.
At this moment, Scarlet’s movements had already turned wobbly and unstable. The insufficient explosiveness of attacks and firepower were her most fatal weaknesses. In fact, there were countless times where she had noticed an opportunity, and had in fact unleashed the most perfect attack that she could. However, her weak ice bullets didn’t even possess the power to knock Zhao Wuying’s hooks away.
Her Soul Power didn’t have the restrictive effect she was hoping for. Most importantly, she did not possess the capability to secure a win. The weak freezing effects could only reduce her opponent’s speed. Within the group battle, she had already displayed her special ability to the furthest of her ability. In fact, even if Zhao Wuying gave Scarlet the opportunity to strike her with her frost bullets, Scarlet would still not have any moves that would allow her to clinch the win.
As the number of wounds on Scarlet’s body continued to grow, splashes of her blood covered the entire stage. Nonetheless, she continued to preserve on.
Perhaps, she might not have any chance of victory. However, she had to fight on! Every member of their Tianjing squadron was fighting with their lives! Be it w.a.n.g Zhong, Grai, Barran or Hymin, everyone had improved and progressed their strengths to greater heights! Being the vice-captain, she should shoulder that same burden and responsibility, and not be timid and overcautious!
During their training sessions, she had never overlooked this problem, and had never stopped pondering about it. She definitely had access to much more to resources than others. Nonetheless, she wasn’t able to make a sufficient breakthrough in her strength. Therefore, she had personally requested to take up this duel. In the current situation, Tianjing had no more any possible move left to make other than to obtain another victory in the duelling phase to give w.a.n.g Zhong a chance to force this match into the group battle phase.
This was something that she, being the vice-captain, had never done before.
The injuries present on Scarlet’s body had already reached an unbearable state for any woman. Nonetheless, Scarlet still continued to persevere. None of her squadron members had given up, and she was no exception.
Her opponent was indeed extremely strong. However, she wasn’t without weaknesses. Her ego and ignorance towards others were both problems. Yet to Scarlet, they were the most vital factors for breaking her opponent’s defences!
Acc.u.mulation of strength? That was already more than enough! Yearning for a breakthrough? There was no one with a greater desire to so than Scarlet! The pressure from a life and death situation? Didn’t this fight count?
As Scarlet clenched her teeth, the twin pistols in her hands were still continuing her desperate struggle.
Although the hum of discussion was still present in the arena, it was considered to be extremely quiet given the tens of thousands of people present in the arena. It was extremely obvious that Zhao Wuying was toying with her opponent. In such a scenario, Scarlet could already have admitted defeat, as her continued persistence was utterly meaningless.
Finally, there were people within the Skylink and arena could not bear to see the fight being prolonged any more.
“Stop fighting already! Just give up!”
“You’ve already done enough, Scarlet! Your spirit’s splendid!”
“That woman from the Divine Dragon Academy’s utterly a pervert! There’s no need to persevere on! You’re just a lady!”
Perverted?
That word caused a faint smile to appear on Zhao Zimo’s face. He really loved sitting at the back to observe people’s characters, the reactions of the surrounding people and Skylink. The reason why he had sent Zhao Wuying up wasn’t to make her happy. Instead, with her character, she would definitely be unable to resist the thrill of toying with prey like Scarlet. When that happened, it would undoubtedly infuriate some people.
Victory was inevitable. However, Zhao Zimo was also someone who had a hobby, one which involved investigation and research. He wanted to know exactly what kind of person w.a.n.g Zhong was, and what kind of expression he would have when faced with defeat, despair and fury.
What kind of changes would happen to w.a.n.g Zhong’s heart in the face of Scarlet’s miserable state?
Zhao Zimo was observing. He really loved the feeling of being an observer. At this moment, he could clearly see the fury and unwillingness concealed within w.a.n.g Zhong’s eyes. Nonetheless, w.a.n.g Zhong was doing his best to control and suppress those emotions. Very good! It would be meaningless if he crumbled that easily! That was a talented and persistent weed, having walked all the way here through all sorts of hard work and luck, all in the hopes of climbing to the heavens one day. However, the cruel nature of reality would let him get a clear understanding of everything. Exactly what kind of effect such a transformation would do to a person like w.a.n.g Zhong?
To Zhao Zimo, w.a.n.g Zhong was an excellent guinea pig that he would be able to obtain many experiences from. This would allow him to have the confidence to deal with such “types” of people in the future.
As for the other members of the Tianjing squadron, they were already submerged in tears. The disparity of reality had caused them to get an understanding of themselves, with terror being brought forth from the despair. This caused a sliver of a sneer to curl up at the corner of Zhao Zimo’s mouth.
Not only did the Divine Dragon Academy want to obtain victory in today’s match, they also wanted to win in every aspect! Being the spiritual leader of the squadron, Zhao Yilong had to step and crush the halo hanging on the head of All Mouthy King! Regardless of whether Tianjing accepted it or wanted to make any other arrangements, Zhao Zimo would make it happen. It would be too much of a pity if he were to merely devour the guinea pig that he had already obtained.
Admittedly, he had absolute confidence in Zhao Yilong. However, his opponent was All Mouthy King after all, the person who had defeated Divian, who was as famous as Zhao Yilong, in a match within the OP. Not doing anything and just betting on his confidence in Zhao Yilong wasn’t Zhao Zimo’s style.
He wanted to infuriate w.a.n.g Zhong, and let the so-called invincible All Mouthy King lose his cool, so that he would be filled with the flames of fury when he fought against Zhao Yilong!
It wasn’t to say that he hoped for w.a.n.g Zhong’s abilities to turn subpar while being consumed by anger, as that would be underestimating him too much. Instead, Zhao Zimo knew that a person filled to the brim with anger and rage would generally tend to choose a relatively harder and fiercer way of combat. Perhaps, All Mouthy King might become stronger when enraged. However, one could never forget that Zhao Yilong was the representation of the most ferocious within the Federation, and he was least afraid of a head-on confrontation!
If w.a.n.g Zhong gave up on his unique diversification trait and chose to engage in a head-on confrontation against Zhao Yilong, the Divine Dragon Academy’s chances for victory would reach a stable 90%.
As for igniting w.a.n.g Zhong’s anger and rage, the best place to pierce through would be that Tianjing’s vice-captain whom he shared a shady relations.h.i.+p with!
Zhao Zimo was extremely relaxed and tranquil, as yet another of his schemes had succeeded in affecting many with a single move. Such a feeling was truly delightful.
A genuine intellectual would have a goal in every step and every move he made. When planning for strategies, one could determine victory even on a battlefield a thousand miles away.
Despite looking like one-sided oppression, he had viewed this match as important as Zhao Tianlong’s earlier victory over Grai. Just like how he had used pollen to deal with Grai, he did not need other people to understand. Everything he did was for his personal satisfaction and for results. This was also the style of the Zhao Family, and the reason for their path towards strength and power.
“Looks like you’ve lost too much blood! Is your head spinning? Your shooting has slowed down, and isn’t as accurate as before. Looks like it’s time to serve the dish up.” Zhao Wuying’s gurgling laughter sounded incomparably horrifying. “After slicing that beautiful face of yours, do you think your All Mouthy King will still love you?”
Scarlet was completely relying on her last breath of air and willpower to remain standing, while using her ice attribute special ability to seal up her wounds. However, at this moment, her entire body had already turned numb. She had honestly given her all, and was not afraid of losing her life just for the sake of winning this duel. Nevertheless, her opponent was too strong. Faced against the absolute disparity in power, she was simply unable to find any opportunity to grasp victory in this match.
Bang…
Scarlet’s body ate a kick from Zhao Wuying. She felt detached from her bodily sensations. Had the time to end arrived? Halfway in the air, w.a.n.g Zhong standing below the stage was the only thing that Scarlet could see. For no reason at all, thoughts seemed to flood her mind at this instant. Perhaps I really am too weak… Thinking back, I’ve never been that resolute and strong of a person. I’ve only continued to follow behind his footsteps, wanting to see how far he could walk…
It was at that instant when Scarlet finally noticed w.a.n.g Zhong’s gaze. It was filled with unwillingness, worry, anger, rage, and…trust!
In an instant, Scarlet felt a surge of heat gus.h.i.+ng forth from her ice-cold body! Radiating through her limbs, it proceeded to condense together, before rus.h.i.+ng into her soul sea. No one knew when, but the necklace that w.a.n.g Zhong gave to her had disappeared. As pure Soul Power erupted throughout her body, Scarlet seemed to feel the mad surge of a storm present in the icy plains!
Whoosh…
Zhao Wuying’s twin hooks had already come hurtling over, with their target being Scarlet’s face! This time, there was not even the time for Scarlet to surrender!
A gorgeous ice crystal formed in an instant, taking shape as a transparent wall between Zhao Wuying and Scarlet!
Bang… the curved s.h.i.+ny silver hooks smashed against the ice wall. Cracks instantly covered entire ice wall before it shattered in a loud bang a second later!
However, Scarlet, who should have been right behind the ice wall, had already retreated several metres backwards.
Roaring flames of fighting spirit lit up within her eyes, as the barrels of her pistols sparkled with ice crystals as they simultaneously aimed at Zhao Wuying.
The same pair of guns, the same person, yet a completely different aura and gaze! The feeling Scarlet now gave to Zhao Wuying was entirely different from before!
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!
Two terrifying tongues of white flames spewed out from the twin pistols, instantly intertwining to form an astonis.h.i.+ngly huge bullet screen!
Every single bullet sparkled with the glowing radiance of pure frost, and was on a completely different level from her prior attacks. Scarlet’s previous attacks only had a little bit of ice attribute special ability brought along by her Soul Power. However, at this instant, the power of her special ability contained in these bullets had increased by at least 50%. If these bullets landed, one would be slowed down by a significant extent.
If this moment could be played back in slow motion, one would be able to see how incomparably pure and transparent each bullet that left Scarlet’s pistol was! They appeared just like pieces of ice crystals! What’s more, the bullets were no longer just entirely smooth and streamlined shaped! Instead, there were snowflake-like patterns covering their entire surfaces! As they hurtled out through the air, they appear to leave ice crystals in their wake, creating such a spectacle that almost caused people to get choked up in their beauty!
This also caused joy to surge within Zhao Wuying, as such a spectacle was something that she had only heard rumours about. Never did she expect for the matter of breaking through in combat to be an actual thing. Interesting!
Scarlet’s shooting techniques were already outstanding, and was rather excellent in both her bullet path predictions and grouping capabilities to form bullet screens. It was only her weak and useless Soul Power foundation that had caused these outstanding traits of her to turn dim and pale. However, once she had dealt with the problems of her strength eruption and consumption, people were able to see the birth of a potential S rank shooter!
Seeing this, a frown appeared on Zhao Zimo’s forehead. At this moment, the Divine Dragon Academy fans had turned mute. In fact, even the Tianjing supporters, including w.a.n.g Zhong and the other squadron members, had dumbfounded looks plastered on their faces.
The entire arena had turned absolutely silent, with the only sounds ringing out being the crazy overlapping of gunfire and explosions!
Without even touching those ice crystal bullets, Zhao Wuying was already able to feel an impending threat looming up around her!
The bullet screen’s radius grew bigger, the bullets travelled faster, while the power they contained continued to rise!
Bang…
Finally, being unable to evade, Zhao Wuying started to block the incoming bullets. Nonetheless, despite being blocked, the chilling air created by them had unexpectedly started to invade through her weapons. d.a.m.n it!
Zhao Wuying finally felt the impending crisis that she was about to face. Her opponent’s special ability was no longer something she could casually break up and disregard. At the same time, with both of them being in the Casted Soul Stage, once one’s opponent had crossed through the breakpoint in their understanding of their special abilities, there was no one out there who could completely disregard their opponent anymore.
Zhao Wuying could no longer continue the pretentious stance she had adopted since the beginning of the fight.
There were already countless Tianjing Academy students that were on the brink of tears from sadness. Clenching their hands tightly, they really wanted to viciously teach that dammable fellow that was fighting their vice-captain!
However, at this moment, an earthen yellow shade suddenly appeared on Zhao Wuying’s face.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
Countless bullets instantly hit air, as Zhao Wuying’s body appeared to have melted, instantly being scattered across the ground.
“Earth Escape?!” just after relaxing his expressions, a slight change occurred on w.a.n.g Zhong’s face, as he could feel that Zhao Wuying’s aura was travelling rapidly underneath the surface of the ground.
In a flash, the aura had already crossed over the short couple of metres between her and Scarlet.
The two chilling hooks suddenly pierced towards Scarlet from behind, before appearing right before her eyes. As the chilling glints intersected, ear-piercing metallic clashes rang out, as the two hooks slashed towards her throat!