Even some of the spectators nearby couldn’t help but roll their eyes at the match-up.
“How the heck did a necromancer even make it into the Hundred Cities League?”
“At least give us a rare class or something, come on.”
“What’s wrong with necromancers, dammit? You guys forget about that mysterious Necromancer big shot?”
“That Mystic Armor Berserker on the other side is way too cocky!”
“Bro, we’ve got your back—pummel that Mystic Armor Berserker!”
“Even if we lose, it doesn’t matter—he’s got the type disadvantage anyway!”
…
In that moment, there were actually quite a few spectators rooting for Lu Ran.
Hearing all that, Wang Yan didn’t feel embarrassed at all. If anything, he shot a smug raise of his brow and said arrogantly to Lu Ran, “Luck is part of strength, you know!”
“Oh.” Lu Ran replied casually.
And then—the three-minute countdown ended.
The host bellowed, “Time’s up! The match… begins!”
Instantly, on every platform, the contestants sprang into action, all trying to seize the early advantage!
Platform six, however, was oddly quiet.
As a Mystic Armor Berserker, Wang Yan wasn’t in a rush to pick a fight with Lu Ran. Instead, he stood there confidently, his Mystic Armor buff active as several golden shields swirled around him. He shot Lu Ran a smug look.
With Mystic Armor active, his magic resistance was already through the roof. And the buff didn’t operate on a time limit—it had its own damage threshold. Even if he had to tank hits, magic-class opponents couldn’t really do much to him.
Lu Ran, seeing the match begin, reached out casually.
Swish~
A blood spear materialized in the air, slowly taking form.
“A blood spear? Looks like you pre-charged it for about eight seconds. Not bad, not bad. Leading with your strongest single-target attack—at least you’ve got some brains. But what about your undead minions? Aren’t you gonna send them out—”
Wang Yan was critiquing, mid-sentence, when—
Whoosh~
The blood spear shot from his hand.
Wang Yan’s lips curled into a smirk.
Thump!
He let the spear strike his body without even trying to dodge.
He grinned triumphantly at Lu Ran and taunted, “Take a look at that damage yourself! See what a Mystic Armor Berserker can do now? You drew me this match, so you might as well call it bad lu—”
Before he could finish—
The host’s voice rang through the arena, tinged with surprise and slightly delayed: “Platform six match concluded! The winner: Blackfire City—Lu Ran!”
That announcement instantly drew everyone’s attention.
Wang Yan froze. He instinctively glanced down at his health bar. But… it was empty!
This wasn’t even about damage numbers anymore. It was one blood spear—and I’m gone?
“Whoa, where the hell did my health bar go?!” Wang Yan gawked at Lu Ran across the platform.
Lu Ran, however, couldn’t be bothered with him. He stepped off the stage, walked up to Su Ting, and asked, “Sister Tingting, since the match is done, when’s the next one?”
“Ah!” Su Ting snapped back to reality and swallowed hard. “Th-the next match isn’t until the afternoon. Right now… right now we head backstage…”
She was just as stunned! She hadn’t even processed what happened. Barely a second after it started, Lu Ran just threw one blood spear—and that was it? Where was the technique? The thrilling back-and-forth? What in the world was this?!
And more importantly—how did Lu Ran pull that off?!
To be honest, Lu Ran had even overdone it. That blood spear had been charging for quite a while. Using it on Wang Yan, a Mystic Armor Berserker, could’ve one-shot a hundred of him, no problem!
Everyone around platform six was dumbfounded. They had seen the whole process—but they didn’t understand it at all. The match had just started, and the opponent was instantly deleted!
All across the arena, spectators started turning their heads to look. Too bad the fight was already over—they were destined to miss whatever had just happened.
“Uh… what the heck just went down?”
“It’s over already? Did the opponent forfeit?”
“Whoa, who the heck is this Lu Ran guy?”
“Dammit, I’m too far away—I can’t see anything!”
…
At the Cong family seats, Cong Yu shot up with excitement and let out a cheer—only to be tugged back down by Cong Jixian, who told her to sit properly.
“A young lady like you—what kind of behavior is that?” he scolded. But his eyes also darted toward platform six. This friend of Cong Yu’s… was something else!
“See? I told you Lu Ran would definitely win! I just don’t know how he won—it was way too fast!” Cong Yu said, a bit bewildered. Even though she’d been watching him, she was too far away, and in one blink, the fight was already over.
Just then, the servant she’d sent to monitor platform six returned. Cong Jixian also looked at the servant, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
“How did the fight go?” Cong Yu asked.
“Well… I’m not really sure. I didn’t expect it to end so fast—maybe I missed something? From what I saw, as soon as the match started, that Lu Ran threw a blood spear, and then—the opponent’s health bar was gone. Match over.” The servant stammered.
Because it was so bizarre, he concluded he must have missed some crucial detail.
Hearing that, Cong Jixian was completely baffled. A necromancer’s blood spear—only eight seconds of charge—how much damage could it possibly do? And against a Mystic Armor Berserker, no less. How could he possibly be one-shot by a single blood spear?
He instinctively looked at his daughter Cong Yu. But she was just as clueless! How was she supposed to know Lu Ran had that kind of trick up his sleeve? She thought he’d be relying on the Titan Python to fight!
Even Cong Shuang on platform twenty-six was distracted. Already finding the whole thing strange, when she heard the news that Lu Ran had won, she wondered if she was hearing things! She’d just started casting her first skill, and over there, the match was already over!
But her own fight demanded her focus—she shook her head and went all out!
Behind Cong Shuang, a full moon materialized, surrounded by shifting starlight. Her skill casting speed and damage output were beyond most people’s comprehension. Across from her, the young man had planned to take a gamble—after all, if he could somehow beat Cong Shuang, his reputation would skyrocket!
Too bad things didn’t go his way. Cong Shuang’s strength wasn’t just talk. He couldn’t even get close—her relentless assault had him scrambling in panic!
Before he could mount any real counterattack, his health was drained to one percent, knocking him into the loser’s bracket.
“Platform twenty-six match concluded! The winner: Imperial Capital—Cong Shuang!”
After winning, Cong Shuang still had to head backstage and wait until all the matches finished before she could leave. She stepped off the platform, glanced toward platform six, then looked up—just in time to see Lu Ran and Su Ting heading through the backstage doors.
She started walking over to follow them.
But just then, the servant she had previously asked Cong Jixian to send out hurried over.
“Miss, we’ve got the results of that investigation you asked for—about Lu Ran’s prospective guild,” the servant said, his expression odd.
“Oh? Is it the Heavenly Alliance?” Cong Shuang raised an eyebrow and asked. Although she already had an answer in mind—Su Ting’s presence was proof enough. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it she didn’t know. After all, the four guild presidents had also shown up at this year’s Hundred Cities League for no obvious reason.
The servant paused and said, “Not entirely.”
Cong Shuang blinked.
It either is or it isn’t. What the hell does “not entirely” mean?
