Chapter 625: Advancing to the Finals (2 in 1)
Translator: Radiant Translations Editor: Radiant Translations
Knocked out!
This…
Everyone watching was stunned by what had just happened, while the countless experts present in the viewing galleries didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
This fellow, Noriba, was so cutely naive! An overbearing move like the Overlord’s Heaven’s Raising Chop would require a good grasp of timing for it to be useful, as it required one to gather their strength without obstruction. Noriba had previously demonstrated his capabilities, as he had displayed it during his duel against Karkel, where he had unleashed his invincible Heaven’s Raising Axe before stopping right above the latter’s head!
However, his mental state had been affected by the fiery Heaven’s Raising Axe w.a.n.g Zhong had used earlier to defeated Vladimir. Subconsciously, he felt that his Heaven’s Raising Chop was not as powerful as w.a.n.g Zhong’s attack. This made him s.h.i.+ft his focus towards the acc.u.mulation of power, and away from control. He wanted to smash and defeat w.a.n.g Zhong in a head-on fight. It was a good plan, although the increase in strength resulted in a correspondingly ma.s.sive decrease in bodily control.
This was where the main problem appeared. Why did he a.s.sume that w.a.n.g Zhong would choose to meet him head-on?
Could Noriba really not know who he was facing? One of the 2 greatest soldiers of the CHF, possessing the greatest combat techniques, w.a.n.g Zhong! Unless w.a.n.g Zhong wished for it, no one would be able to force him into a head-on fight! What seemed like Noriba’s life-risking all-out strike was full of mistakes! He had basically been seeking death…
He had lost control of himself; the pressure of facing w.a.n.g Zhong had caused him to crack. Frankly speaking, strength had already become less important in the match, being replaced by willpower and spirit. Within the Vasilyevich squadron, Pomo managed to remain the most calm of them all. A soldier’s maturity was the reflection of their background and experiences, and it was exceedingly important to remain cool-headed and patient in combat. Nevertheless, he was unable to restrain that pig of a squadron member. That idiot, Noriba! So much for the reminder before the group battle! With the 2 of them working in tandem, they would have been able to make Tianjing pay a really high price for victory. Although Heaven’s Fate would reap the benefits from it, Pomo did not want Vasilyevich’s dignity to suffer too much from this match.
Despite that, he had overlooked the fact that Noriba was really too young and inexperienced. Being the youngest soldier of their squadron, he hadn’t experienced any kind of setback in his life!
With their only spear being destroyed, Pomo could not help but sigh in response, while the soldiers beside him started to lose heart in the group battle. On the contrary, Tianjing’s fighting intent skyrocketed like a rainbow. In the beginning, all of them were extremely messy and hasty with their combat. However, upon seeing that w.a.n.g Zhong had recovered at least 50-60% of his strength, as well as seeing that this level of strength was more than sufficient to deal with Noriba, all of them had managed to calm down.
There was no need to summon his Tundra Bear. Frankly speaking, Pomo could feel that Vladimir did not manage to force w.a.n.g Zhong to use all of his trump cards or to bet his life! w.a.n.g Zhong had left those trump cards for Mo Wen! Just from this, their Vasilyevich squadron had lost.
Having given up on victory, the entire Vasilyevich lineup switched into a defensive stance, causing them to be besieged by Tianjing. In fact, nearing the end of the fight, even Colby had started to switch to an offensive position, before finally eliminating one of the Vasilyevich members, De Gea. Upon obtaining victory, Colby was dazed by his success. Did he actually manage to defeat someone?
Scarlet and Milami’s combination fire also managed to obtain dazzling results. In the end, Pomo did not even summon his Tundra Bear before Vasilyevich was completely defeated.
An unimaginable start, with an unimaginable outcome!
Naturally, it was an outcome that had destroyed all of the predictions made by the specialists out there!
Tianjing, victory!
They were heading into the finals!
Ma Dong and the others waiting by the stage could no longer control their emotions. At the instant when the referee announced the results, all of them rushed up the stage, with Hymin supporting Barran, and Ma Dong supporting Grai.
“A miracle! What a great miracle! An unprecedented miracle that cannot be replicated again!” Ruo Zhai was already going mad with his casting. “Tianjing had entered the finals! Do all of you dare to believe it! Oh my G.o.d! Today, I’ve seen your brilliance, Tianjing!”
Shouts for Tianjing and w.a.n.g Zhong rang continuously throughout the stadium, before many of the fans started to sing the lyrics of the “King’s Path” music video that was all the hype in the past few weeks,
…
“Persevering through defeat, smiling through ridicule,
This is the light of fighter’s light,
please call me All Mouthy King!
Breaking out from the silence, honour and glory among the madness,
This is my king’s path,
please call me Tianjing’s w.a.n.g Zhong!
You’re our one and only king!
Warm tears started to form within everyone’s eyes as they were unable to control the surge of emotions gus.h.i.+ng out from their hearts! Everyone was using all of their might to sing with the voice coming from their hearts. Tianjing had finally done it! This inconceivable black horse, which had barely qualified for this CHF, had stumbled and tripped their way in the qualifying stages, and finally unleashed their heroic spirits in the official compet.i.tion stage! They had now become legends!
Now, the legends had entered the finals!
The entire stadium descended into berserk celebrations. One could only imagine how many Tianjing and brother King supporters were present in this Stuart City! Not only that, even the audience present outside of the stadium had caused the atmosphere to turn even more crazed. To the vast majority of the Federation citizens, the aristocratic families weren’t exactly very appealing to them. To those aristocratic families, the wors.h.i.+p and support they received from the commoners was rather insignificant, and was just adding a little bit more to something that was already perfect. However, with regards to their support for Tianjing, every single step Tianjing took in this CHF was akin to their own, while every single victory Tianjing accomplished felt like their own victory. Perhaps, they might never be able to accomplish such feats in their entire lifetimes, yet this made them more optimistic and positive in their att.i.tudes towards their lives.
The King’s Path song, w.a.n.g Zhong’s name, and All Mouthy King’s name were shouted out by people at the top of their lungs. Everything was due to one legendary man! The fellow currently being tossed into the air by people! That’s right! He had turned to impossible into reality!
A similar scene was present in the Skylink, as it has been an extremely long time since the people of the Federation had anything resembling a hero appear before them! Under the governance of the 10 great families, ordinary citizens could only go about with their ordinary, pre-ordained lives. Although mankind had already walked out from the Dark Era, the majority of the citizens still faced various kinds of limitations and restraints on their actions. Therefore, w.a.n.g Zhong’s appearance was an extremely ma.s.sive release, and hope for them.
As w.a.n.g Zhong brought Tianjing to victory, the viewers.h.i.+p of the Skylink stream for the match had already broken the 300 million mark! This was a miracle in itself! Countless people were screaming crazily in the chat, with this probably being the first time the Federation had seen such traffic on their Skylink system. Due to its ma.s.sive propagation through the younger generation, the absolute majority of the Federation citizens were paying attention to this CHF. The ability to purchase a Skylink was a sign of status in the Federation. Now, people of all ages had purchased a Skylink of their own, just to see this person!
疯狂无法停止,现场和天讯的狂热持续了半个小时依然没有衰减的情况,这个时候交手的双方雷帝和天京已经进入休息室,但是现场依然没有散的意思,选手区的人此时真是百味杂陈,这都可以.
It was impossible to stop the madness, and it did not stop even after going on for half an hour within the stadium and Skylink. By then, the Tianjing and Vasilyevich squadrons had already gone back to their respective resting rooms. Nevertheless, the audience in the stadium still had no intentions of leaving, and emotions were still running strong in the hearts of the people in the partic.i.p.ant viewing gallery.
It really came true! Something akin to a daydream, had actually been accomplished!
Ruo Zhi’s voice continued to reverberate throughout the stadium: “…They will be facing against the strongest squadron in history, the Heaven’s Fate squadron! As well as the terrifying G.o.d of war, Mo Wen!”
“It’s already a miracle for one soldier like that to appear in an era. Most of the time, they will always be solitary, as no one will be capable of catching up to them.”
“They are fortunate to have been born in the same era. With both of them being on the same realm, they would no longer be lonely! That’s because there are 2 such soldiers! One by the name of w.a.n.g Zhong! The other by the name of Mo Wen!”
“In 5 days, they will meet in combat, and finally decide the number one youth expert of the Federation!”
“Let us wait, let us antic.i.p.ate, let us turn high, and let us grow mad for them! For the greatest showdown to decide the strongest Casted Soul Stage in history! Let’s give our all to cheer for these 2 legendary soldiers!”
……
The semi-finals had come to an end, but the feverish atmosphere showed no signs of cooling down. The fire that was lit by the match rapidly spread throughout the Federation. In the past, Carolyn, with her Heart’s Sword, or Vladimir, with his near G.o.d-like control over his Ice Dominion, would definitely become existences wors.h.i.+pped by everyone. After all, they were people that were able to create history in the CHF!
Without talking about them, even people on the level of Gui Hao would possess sufficient strength sweep through the past CHFs.
However, in this current CHF, all of them had sunk into obscurity, as though they had stood in quicksand. In this CHF, 2 frightening legends had descended, the miraculous w.a.n.g Zhong, and the tyrannical Mo Wen.
Power and influence had been robbed straight out of Carolyn and Vladimir’s hands. One of them represented the peak of the aristocratic family might, while the other represented the inconceivable legend of the commoners.
Without a doubt, this was the strongest CHF in the annals of history! As for their showdown, not only was the entire Federation paying attention to it, even the Empires, even the entire world, was paying attention!
The CHF officials had started to take advantage of this to announce some of the honourable positions, increasing the scope of public opinion for this CHF. Seemingly everyone had casted their votes for the number one a.s.sa.s.sin of this CHF, with Napier Mo obtaining this t.i.tle without any contest.
With his natural superiority coupled with his invincible combat results in this CHF, he had stood out among all of the big named a.s.sa.s.sins, especially those on the Mo’s List. Compared to him, everyone else had suffered defeat in one way or another. This had subtly caused Napier Mo to stand out.
Naturally, he was also the uncontested number one in terms of genuine strength. His powerful a.s.sa.s.sin fundamentals were already sufficient to let him make him a top-notch a.s.sa.s.sin, while his speed and skills with the dagger brought him to the apex. Furthermore, his ability to use both Dimensional and Spiritual Soul combat techniques, especially the killing move created by fusing them together, brought him even higher, to the point of leading to a qualitative change in his combat abilities. During his fight against Wu Li, the Shadow Dance combat technique he had displayed showed the entire world what the true Napier Mo was. Hidden behind that cheeky smile and clown-like persona, was a person possessing the heart of being the king of a.s.sa.s.sins.
He was, undoubtedly, the number one a.s.sa.s.sin of this CHF!
Compared to the lack of suspense towards Napier Mo being voted as the number one a.s.sa.s.sin, the selection for the number one heavy soldier was considerably more confusing. Regardless of the 5 great Mo’s List rankers, or the new people that had defied the heavens and emerged during the compet.i.tion, like Barran, all of them possessed some slight defects of their own. In terms of offensive power, Noriba clearly possessed the advantage. However, for defensive capabilities, Zhao Tianlong with his Indestructible Body was a pretty good choice. As for special abilities, Jormungar had given a powerful display of his special ability. As for Heaven’s Fate, they did not have any members who could be cla.s.sified as a genuine heavy soldier. Therefore, when a comprehensive judgement of will power, support capabilities, as well as offence and defence, Pomo emerged as the final victor. He was a genuinely orthodox heavy soldier, a relatively rare sight in this CHF, and had adhered to what a genuine heavy soldier should do, which was to be a defensive line for the squadron. In a group battle, there would be no one that would be as useful in all aspects as compared to what Pomo could bring to the table.
Other than that, the number one Soul-Beast Master and the number one Ranged Soldier were slightly easier to decide on.
The number one Soul-Beast Master, Mo Ling, had only one other compet.i.tor in the form of Bobo Torres. Compared to him, Bobo’s path as a Soul-Beast Master was more orthodox and conventional. Furthermore, his perfect collaboration with his Dimensional Beast had filled countless people with awe. However, in terms of combat strength, Mo Ling was more dominant in this aspect. This Mo Family soldier was plain and simple, yet brought about despair just due to his combat fundamentals, while possessing an unstoppable fighting strength. Therefore, everyone still felt that Mo Ling was the stronger, and more stable Soul-Beast Master.
The glory of being the number one Ranged Soldier was a showdown between Alasi Torres and Karkel.
This was a selection that raised quite a lot of controversy. In terms of strength, Alasi’s Mogren’s Guns were incredibly powerful. However, those people who had crossed hands with him would still feel lingering fear when his name was mentioned. The existence of his Giant Void Mouth was more than enough to counter those close combat soldiers who did not have Dimensional Combat Techniques in their a.r.s.enal.
As for Karkel, his control over the entire fight, his shooting techniques, as well as his positional awareness which was well-known to be at the apex of orthodox ranged soldiers… these 2 people were equally matched. In fact, their combat results were also comparable. After all, Alasi had defeated Grai in a duel, while Karkel had defeated the Mo’s List ranker, Oli in a duel.
However, Alasi’s keen eyesight and judgement for his squadron were pluses for him. In the end, the t.i.tle of number one ranged soldier was given to captain Alasi of the Torres squadron.
The number one a.s.sa.s.sin, number one heavy soldier, number one Soul-Beast master and number one ranged soldier. Without a doubt, these 4 people would be exceedingly famous for a period of time, becoming the objects of wors.h.i.+p and pride for countless soldiers in the younger generation of the Federation. They had obtained sufficient honour and glory from this.
Although their names had been announced, the prizes they obtained had yet to be distributed, as the most important t.i.tle, the number one soldier, has yet to be decided. Although it was still a number one t.i.tle, everyone else knew exactly how terrifying this last number one t.i.tle was. Even they were unable to predict exactly how the showdown in the finals would turn out.
For the sake of this final match, the Stuart Dimensional Stadium had been completely renovated, while its defensive barrier being raised even further. The 2 super freaks of the finalists, w.a.n.g Zhong and Mo Wen, possessed power that exceeded that of the Casted Soul Stage. Even many of the Heroic Soul Stage soldiers were not a match for them! They were super soldiers that were able to unleash their Soul Power to their very extreme! At this point in time, no one knew exactly what their limits were!
Heaven’s Fate squadron, so strong that they possessed no weaknesses at all!
Tianjing squadron, specialising in taking down those powerhouse squadrons without weaknesses!
An apex collision, an apex showdown!
Regardless of the eventual victor, this hundred-year celebration of the CHF would be immortalised in the history books!
Over at the Tianjing squadron villa, it had become extremely difficult for them to enter a preparatory phase for the finals, with the number of people coming forth to congratulate them. Nevertheless, everyone knew that the upcoming match was the most important thing they had to focus on. Gaining the qualifications to grace the highest stage in the Federation was something that Tianjing had never dreamed of achieving. Furthermore, they were able to face the strongest squadron in the history of the CHF, the Heaven’s Fate squadron!
Frankly speaking, other than betting all of their hopes on w.a.n.g Zhong and Grai, everyone else had more or less adopted a mentality of “let’s see how it goes” and was aiming to enjoy the compet.i.tion, cheers, honour and glory. To them, winning or losing had already become much less important. In fact, none of them really had much hope for Tianjing to continue creating miracles in this CHF.
Nevertheless, having walked all the way to the climax of this CHF, the silver of ambition hidden in the depths of their hearts had finally been teased out from hiding.
Having walked all the way to here, and entering the finals, who would wish for their own defeat?
Even those unconfident people had their logical reasoning turned numb by the successive miracles Tianjing had managed to pull out from their hats. Even though their minds had deduced that it was impossible for them to obtain victory, or that all of the information presented had shown how far the Heaven’s Fate squadron was ahead in terms of strength, the hope for victory still surfaced out in their hearts.
However, so what about it?
If they weren’t able to bring about a spirit of compet.i.tiveness and a desire for victory in a match like that, they would be the ones to carry regret at the very end. After all, there was only a 1-place difference between champion and runner-up. However, after a generation, or even 100 years later, people would only remember the champions, not the runner-ups!