area51novel Chapter 222 The Post-Match Horror
Chapter 222 The Post-Match Horror
To be honest, at this very moment, the vast majority of viewers who were loyal to Shrek Academy were on edge. The firepower unleashed by the two members of the Sun and Moon Team was simply terrifying. Anyone with common sense knows that trying to create that much smoke on a flat stone arena would likely result in the entire arena being dismantled.
Even though the Star Luo Empire had specially reinforced the arena for today's match, this level of firepower finally brought it down after a series of bombardments.
As the smoke cleared, what appeared before the audience was the competition platform that had crumbled into pieces, and a steel giant whose size far exceeded everyone's imagination.
"Holy crap! Luckily I reacted a step too slow, otherwise even if I had gone to heaven or earth, I would have lost half my life as long as I was still within the competition area!"
"Those two on the other side, are you really going for a one-shot kill? But after this burst of power, what will you have left?"
Whether he was genuinely startled or intentionally trying to annoy the other side, when the audience saw the massive body of Cherno Alpha (the product of the fusion of two soul-guided power mechs), Long You turned the volume of the soul-guided megaphone on Cherno Alpha to the maximum and started taunting them.
Although it's meant to be sarcastic, what Long You is saying is basically based on facts judged by common sense.
The attack launched by Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen was indeed very powerful. If Long You hadn't been clever enough to stay put, even if they were driving the Chernobog, they would have been badly injured.
He might not get injured, but his soul power reserves would definitely drop significantly. If that really happened, Long You would definitely feel a great deal of unease.
Just as some people absolutely cannot tolerate their phone battery dropping below 50%, Long You also dislikes his soul power reserves falling below half; it makes him feel very insecure. This lack of security is definitely not because Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen appear unaffected on the surface—absolutely not! No!
Okay, Long You is indeed a little panicked now. Mainly because this situation just doesn't seem right no matter how you look at it.
The previous matches all took place in full view of the public, and Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen were indeed seriously injured.
Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy are old rivals. Shrek Academy knows exactly what kind of healing methods the Sun Moon team can use. Unless Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy produces someone with a cheat-like ability like Long You, they simply don't have the ability to fully recover Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen's injuries in such a short time.
But just now, Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen undeniably launched an attack powerful enough to destroy the arena. Even if both of them were at their peak, that kind of attack should have rendered them practically incapacitated. Let alone two individuals whose condition wasn't even good to begin with. But what actually happened?
Standing amidst the ruins of the arena, Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen now resembled red-eyed demons. There was no weakness, no wavering, only attack, attack, and more attack. Perhaps due to insufficient charging time, their attacks didn't unleash the same power as before, but the barrage of attacks was no joke.
Okay, back to the main point. At this point, anyone who's dwelling on the reasons is a fool. The only thing Long You needs to do is quickly retaliate, or rather, interrupt the actions of the two from the Sun and Moon Team. If Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen are allowed to continue attacking while simultaneously charging up their power, who knows what might happen?
Since all signs indicate that this match is being played under abnormal circumstances, Long You absolutely cannot predict the outcome of the match based on normal circumstances.
It was unnecessary to unleash a powerful attack right away, but considering the difference in size and the unknown reason why Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen had such abundant soul power, Long You abandoned his usual ranged attacks and instead adopted a strategy of approaching them head-on.
The dilapidated arena was indeed a significant obstacle to their progress, but those small stones were nothing beneath the feet of the giant metal robot, which was over three stories tall. Although the soul-guided propulsion engine wasn't activated, the approximately 100-meter distance of the arena was indeed limited for Cherno Alpha.
Inside the cockpit of the Soul-Guided Mech, Long You could see attack prompts flashing on the screen in front of him, but he didn't care. Of all the imposing mech names in Pacific Rim from his previous life, the reason Long You chose "Cherno Alpha" was simply because this generation's fusion mech was a true tank-like meat shield. As long as Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen didn't unleash attacks of the same intensity as at the beginning, Long You dared to say that none of them could penetrate its defenses.
After taking about three steps forward, Long You, controlling the Cherno Alpha, launched the first wave of attack. Well, it wasn't anything too impressive; it was just an enlarged quicksand trap followed by a sandstorm.
Simply put, Long You used the power of the Soul Guiding Mech to amplify his ability to manipulate earth elements in his Soul Skill, and incidentally took advantage of the rubble scattered on the competition field.
After a series of attacks, the entire arena beneath Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen's feet vanished. However, it's safe to say that Long You's attack didn't cause them much damage. In short, after the dust settled once again, the only change on the arena was that Long You now held a laser chain blade (a variant of the one held by the Dangerous Wanderer).
The power of the soul-guided laser sword is reliable, but just look at Ma Rulong's condition. This kind of melee weapon without a physical form relies entirely on energy for damage. Someone ruthless enough could completely ignore damage to non-vital parts through sheer willpower. Dai Yueheng's soul-guided powered armor is limited by its size and can only be made of pure energy. How could such a large soul-guided powered mech on Longyou's side possibly use pure energy weapons?
There's no need to think anymore; just go for it. Long You currently has an absolute advantage in strength. Ma Rulong can't activate his level eight soul tool, and Xiao Hongchen's attempt to use his metal manipulation abilities to hinder Long You's Cherno Alpha was also neutralized by Long You's pre-prepared energy defense network.
Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen did indeed use some methods that weren't entirely in line with the spirit of the competition, temporarily suppressing their injuries and even overdrawing their strength to maintain their ability to fight against Long You. However, even overdrawing has its limits. After Long You dodged their initial attack, Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen were already at their limit.
After struggling to hold on for a while, even though Long You had focused most of his energy on preventing a possible outburst from the two and hadn't used his full offensive power, Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen couldn't hold on any longer. Although their eyes were still full of fighting spirit and hatred, the abnormally rosy complexion on their faces was visibly turning pale.
A white towel was thrown into the playing area from a short distance away; the Sun and Moon Team had conceded defeat. If Long You had been slightly more aggressive, Team Leader Hong might have persisted a little longer, knowing that Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen still had a final burst of energy. However, seeing that Long You had made up his mind to secure a victory through underhanded means, their last hope vanished.
Old Hong was well aware of the upper limit of the attack power that Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen could unleash. Judging from the defensive power previously displayed by this full-body soul-guided battle armor, which was larger than he had imagined, as long as Long You did not relax his investment in defense in order to attack, there was no hope of breaking through its defense.
The moment the white towel was tossed onto the stage, Long You's AI assistant, Bourne, alerted him. However, given that the Heavenly Fiend Douluo hadn't arrived yet, Long You, while halting his attacks, remained fully prepared. If it weren't for the fact that invincible shields were far too expensive and Long You didn't have one, he would have gladly donned one immediately.
For no other reason than the fact that the usually lazy and motionless Pearl of Imagination had suddenly started to spin, Long You knew that a major crisis was definitely brewing. The only thing to be concerned about was, where did this crisis come from? Neither of the two people in front of him seemed like the kind of crisis that would warrant the Pearl of Imagination spinning!
In fact, although today's two-on-two battle can hardly be considered normal by any standard, the most basic physical rules still exist and operate in this world.
Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen did indeed want to ignore the towels thrown up from below the arena, and they did indeed rush forward as if carrying a bomb. However, Tian Sha Douluo was still very dutiful. With just a slight wave of his hand, Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen closed their scarlet eyes, swayed slightly, and were about to collapse to the ground.
The ignorant Long You had no idea what was going on between Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen, but the knowledgeable Tian Sha Douluo certainly did! He could have dealt with it directly and addressed the root of the problem.
Out of humanitarian considerations, before announcing the match results, Tian Sha Douluo took a few steps and carried the unconscious Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen to the Sun Moon Team's waiting area. At that moment, an unexpected turn of events occurred. A thick mist of blood suddenly enveloped the entire arena, and an arrogant, manic, terrifying, and dark aura directly surrounded Long You and He Caitou, who were piloting the Cherno Alpha.
To be honest, Long You felt like he was going crazy. What kind of luck did he have to run into a madman who dared to attack the contestants on the final stage of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament?
Long You was somewhat familiar with the blood mist surrounding Cherno Alpha. He knew it was the method of an evil soul master, and a rather high-level one at that. But so far, Long You wasn't panicked.
Although the evil soul master acted arrogantly, Long You realized from the fact that he only attacked when the Heavenly Fiend Douluo temporarily left the arena that this guy was just arrogant, not completely brainless. In other words, Long You didn't need to worry about this guy actually engaging in a war of attrition, or descending in his true form to do something to him. As long as he could hold out for this short period, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo and Elder Xuan, who were right next to the arena, as well as the other powerful figures from the Star Luo Empire's tournament organizers, would definitely respond.
The constantly spinning Imagination Pearl calmed Long You's mind. The blood mist that could bring extreme pressure to normal people and even cause some unknown martial soul mutations had no other adverse effects except that it made Long You afraid to act for the time being.
In truth, someone on this site should still be affected. Although He Caitou concealed some details about his background and was of considerable status, he wasn't inherently a cheat-like character. However, since He Caitou, when piloting the Chernobog, was essentially a humanoid psycho-energy cell, he lacked any independent consciousness!
Well, it's not fair to say that He Caitou wasn't affected at all. After all, their consciousnesses are now linked, and the ripples caused by the rotation of the Illusion Pearl still had a significant impact on He Caitou. Because Long You's martial soul is essentially one with the Illusion Pearl, the information that Xiao Yan usually analyzes is actually stored in the Illusion Pearl, and each rotation of the Illusion Pearl creates waves of information in his sea of consciousness.
Long You was naturally used to this information overload, but this was the first time He Caitou had experienced it. The feeling of having completely disorganized information crammed into his brain was extremely unpleasant. It was only because He Caitou's independent consciousness was currently suppressed that he was able to stand up and beat Long You up long ago.
Even in this completely unconscious state, with so much chaotic information suddenly crammed into his unguarded brain, He Caitou's life instincts still made him subconsciously begin to resist.
This put Long You in a difficult position. Once the mismatch between He Caitou's consciousness and his own reached a certain limit, Cherno Alpha would automatically disintegrate. After disintegration, Long You and He Caitou would be essentially defenseless.