Chapter 2609 – Breaking Through the Limits
Upon sensing the powerful torrent of Mana spilling forth from Violet Cloud’s body, let alone the peanut gallery, even s.h.i.+ Feng, who had been sitting calmly in the spectator stands all this time, revealed a look of astonishment on his face.
“Mana Burst?! Violet actually broke through the limit so quickly?!” s.h.i.+ Feng muttered to himself in shock as he gazed at Violet Cloud, his shock much greater than what anyone else present in the arena felt.
“Breakthrough? Guild Leader, what did Violet break through?” Aqua Rose, who had overheard s.h.i.+ Feng’s mutterings, could not help asking. From s.h.i.+ Feng’s reaction, she deduced that he knew what Violet Cloud had done to become so powerful.
At this moment, Aqua Rose wasn’t the only person curious about this situation. The other Zero Wing members also turned to s.h.i.+ Feng with eyes wide with interest. They all wished to know what Violet Cloud had done to boost the density of her Mana to such an extent—surpa.s.sing even that of ordinary Tier 4 NPCs.
Violet broke through the shackles of the Mana Body, surpa.s.sing the 100% limit and entering a new realm,” s.h.i.+ Feng explained when he saw the looks of antic.i.p.ation everyone was giving him.
Breaking through the limits of the Mana Body was something he longed to accomplish. It would improve his chances of completing his Tier 4 Promotion Quest and the Divine Dragon’s trial.
However, he never thought that Violet Cloud would actually beat him to it. He also had to admit that Violet Cloud was truly talented. Her reaching Tier 6 in the past had definitely not been a fluke. She was far more talented than the expert players who had reached Tier 6 with the help of a Guild.
“Guild Leader, doesn’t the Mana Body reach perfection after hitting 100% potential? How can it go beyond 100%?” Fire Dance asked in astonishment.
After her Mana Body reached 100% potential, Fire Dance had gotten a sense of perfection from it. When she manipulated her Mana Body and used Skills and Spells with it, she felt that there was no longer any room for improvement. Hence, she found it truly hard to imagine that she could break through such a state.
At this moment, aside from Fire Dance, Gentle Snow, Alluring Summer, Shadow Sword, Cola, and the others were also puzzled.
Their Mana Bodies should’ve achieved perfection after reaching 100% potential. Even if the Mana Bodies could still improve, that should only happen after they had broken through the Tier 3 bottleneck and reached Tier 4.
“I believe some of you have achieved a Completion Rate beyond 100% when using Skills and Spells. Similarly, 100% potential is not the end for the Mana Body, but a new beginning. Only, the difficulty of unlocking a Mana Body past the 100% threshold is much greater. You can say that not even one player out of 10,000 Tier 3 experts is capable of it,” s.h.i.+ Feng explained as he gazed at Violet Cloud with some yearning. “Although I don’t know how far beyond the limit Violet managed to go, it seems this fight is over.”
“Over? Can Violet win this match?” Aqua Rose asked. When she heard s.h.i.+ Feng saying so, she returned her attention to the stage Violet Cloud and Sinful Flame stood on.
At this moment, the suppression from Violet Cloud’s Domain Skill had reduced the number of phantoms Sinful Flame created from 12 to eight. This meant a 30% decline in Sinful Flame’s combat power, at the very least. Even so, Violet Cloud’s chances of winning still weren’t good.
After all, she still had to deal with a considerable number of phantoms. She might be able to slow down Sinful Flame’s approach, but she wouldn’t be able to stop him from reaching her.
Meanwhile, so long as a magical cla.s.s allowed a melee cla.s.s to get within attacking range of them, the battle would be as good as over.
It might be a different story if Violet Cloud’s opponent weren’t a melee player but a magical-cla.s.s player instead. In that case, victory would definitely be possible. After all, the Mana Violet Cloud currently exuded was incredibly frightening. With such Mana, she could exert a powerful influence over the ambient Mana around her, making it difficult for nearby magical-cla.s.s players to wield the ambient Mana. She would have an overwhelming advantage over her opponent.
Unfortunately, not only was Sinful Flame a melee player, but his cla.s.s was the Peak Hidden Cla.s.s, Shadow Knight.
The Shadow Knight cla.s.s was like a fusion of the a.s.sa.s.sin, Berserker, and Guardian Knight cla.s.ses. It possessed the Agility of a.s.sa.s.sins, the Strength of Berserkers, and the Defense of Guardian Knights. To top it all off, Sinful Flame also had incredibly high combat standards. These were the reasons why Sinful Flame was publicly acknowledged as the strongest player in the Azure Chamber of Commerce.
With such an opponent, Aqua Rose found it inconceivable that Violet Cloud could win. After all, stronger Mana simply made Violet Cloud’s Skills and Spells more powerful. However, Skills and Spells that couldn’t land on their targets were useless.
At this moment, Aqua Rose wasn’t the only person with such thoughts. Everyone spectating this fight shared similar thoughts. After all, this was common sense in G.o.d’s Domain. While having powerful Mana was indeed helpful to players, this advantage came into play mainly when dealing with monsters.
“Amazing! You are actually capable of elevating your combat power that much! With just this move, you can confidently seat yourself among the top three of G.o.d’s Domain’s younger generation!” Sinful Flame praised when he saw the eruption of Mana from Violet Cloud. However, he did not stop his actions in the slightest. On the contrary, he further sharpened them instead.
When Sinful Flame got within 10 yards of Violet Cloud, he split his greatsword into two longswords again and brandished them to create over two dozen phantom snakes. Not only was every phantom snake incredibly nimble, but they also accurately struck at Violet Cloud’s blind spots and vital points, leaving her no room to dodge or block at all.
Tier 3 Skill, Shadow a.s.sault!
Advanced Combat Technique, Phantom Snakes!
Sinful Flame had perfectly integrated his Tier 3 Skill with his Advanced Combat Technique, his attack making it seem as if more than two dozen Grand Lords were attacking Violet Cloud simultaneously. Upon seeing this, everyone could not help but gasp.
“Is he still human? He’s actually capable of launching over two dozen attacks rivaling the power of a Grand Lord simultaneously. Who could possibly stop that?”
“So, this is Sinful Flame’s trademark move, Technique Integration? If I could learn even a portion of this technique, I would be unbeatable in a kingdom.”
“But that girl from Zero Wing really is amazing. She’s forced Sinful Flame to reveal his trademark move time after time. Even if she loses, she’ll still rank at the top among G.o.d’s Domain’s younger players.”
Although the members of the various spectating powers were in awe of Sinful Flame’s techniques, they also felt admiration and envy for Violet Cloud. After all, despite her youth, Violet Cloud was pressuring a legendary individual like Sinful Flame.
With such talent, Violet Cloud’s future would definitely be dazzlingly bright. Given a few more years, she might become a legendary individual herself in the virtual gaming world.
Meanwhile, when the two dozen or so phantom snakes arrived within one yard of Violet Cloud, the Cleric finally made a move.
“Disappear!” Violet Cloud commanded in a low tone. Every phantom snake trying to attack her instantly vanished.
Before anyone could react to the situation, the dense Mana surrounding Violet Cloud transformed into shadow blades once more. This time, however, Violet Cloud had summoned 36 shadow blades. Moreover, every shadow blade left behind a pitch-black wake as they rotated around Violet Cloud.
“Spatial tears?!”
“Impossible!”
Everyone was stunned at the sight of the shadow blades rotating around Violet Cloud.
The power of the shadow blades Violet Cloud summoned previously had merely rivaled that of Grand Lords. Only when she executed a Bronze Combat Technique using the shadow blades had she exhibited power at the Tier 4 standard. However, executing Bronze Combat Techniques consumed a lot of Concentration. Hence, Violet Cloud couldn’t execute Tier 4 attacks any time she wanted. She had to wait for an opportunity to land a decisive blow.
Now, however, every one of her shadow blades carried power at the Tier 4 standard. The increase to her combat power was simply unfathomable.
In other words, even without resorting to a combat technique, Violet Cloud could casually unleash attacks at the Tier 4 standard. Moreover, she now had 36 shadow blades under her command.
At this moment, let alone the spectating audience, even Sinful Flame himself could not help being stunned by this situation.
During the brief instant Sinful Flame was dazed, the 36 shadow blades surrounded him and stopped just an inch away from him. Now, any strange movement on his part would bring his body into contact with the shadow blades, subjecting him to a Tier 4 attack.
However, Violet Cloud did not do anything more. She simply restrained Sinful Flame at his current position and looked at him quietly.
“Hah… You really hid your strength deeply, little girl. Alright, I admit defeat,” Sinful Flame sighed when he saw that sneaking out of the shadow blades’ encirclement was impossible.
Previously, Violet Cloud could execute only one Tier 4 attack at a time, so he could still put up a fight. Now, however, the young lady controlled 36 shadow blades carrying power at the Tier 4 standard. Moreover, judging by the girl’s complexion, controlling the blades apparently did not require much Concentration. With this, he really had no way to continue fighting.
As soon as Sinful Flame admitted defeat, the stage bell rang, signifying the end of the match. Violet Cloud’s name was displayed above the stage, along with the word “Winner.” The entire arena fell silent as everyone stared at Violet Cloud.