The Grand Duelist

Chapter 175: Gate Crashing

Protect the President.

This was a strategy that only had a single goal.

It was to protect a single player.

Now, one may say that this strategy was needlessly complicated. Was it really that hard to protect a person from a single enemy? Of course, not! It was easy to zone out a single enemy from the person you were protecting. But the problem here was that Joseph wasn't just a simple enemy.

He was the holder of the very first Mythical Class in the game.

His heavy attacks dealt a quarter of a hundred thousand in damages in just a single flick of his sleeves. That was how overpowered Joseph was. How else could he possibly dispatch most of the elite members of the three guilds in just under five seconds?

Kristian was finally taking him seriously.

Joseph's expression turned grim.

Protect the President may be a strategy that had a single simple goal, but achieving that goal was actually quite complicated.

It had a lot of variables and a lot of conditions that must be met for it to succeed.

For example, if the enemy player managed to take advantage of an opening and sweep past the attackers and attack the President...

The strategy would crumble.

If the backline couldn't dish out enough firepower to prevent the enemy from approaching the President...

The strategy would crumble.

If the President couldn't maintain the right balance between focusing on himself and helping the front-liners and the backline...

The strategy would crumble.

Protect the President required deploying an airtight defense that not even a fly could penetrate around the President. In order to achieve something like this, each member of the team, may they be a front-liner or someone from the backline must have enough technical and mechanical skills...

As well as game awareness so that this strategy could succeed.

Did these elite members of the three guilds have the skills necessary for the strategy to succeed?

Joseph didn't know the answer to that question.

Neither he had the time to think about it since his enemies were fast approaching.

Vladimir was the first one to arrive, he leaped into the air and landed behind Joseph while Ako Si Sean, the Destroyer of Crimson Guild faced Joseph in front.

The Barbarian from both Crimson and Strongest Under Heaven soon arrived as well as their Knights. With how huge and well-built the bodies of these Knights and Barbarians. Shouldn't they move slower? Why were they so fast as if they were Assassins or Tempests?

Joseph pondered, but he had no time to continue his train of thought.

Vladimir made the first move.

He stretched both of his hands out and Joseph was quick to deflect them away. However, the attacks from both Barbarians came at this moment.

"Fist of a Barbarian!"

"Soaring Swing!"

Joseph swiftly ducked his head and avoided the Fist of a Barbarian by a hair's breadth. As for the Soaring Swing, Joseph jumped sideways in order to avoid it. But the direction where he retreated was towards the bosom of the Knight from Strongest Under Heaven, Big Boss.

If one looked at this move at first glance, one would discover that Joseph's actions were incredibly stupid. He may have avoided the calamity of being sent into the air by dodging the Soaring Swing, but moving towards the direction of a Knight was basically sending yourself to the tiger's mouth.

Big Boss quickly took advantage of this opportunity as his armor shone in a brilliant dazzling light.

But before he could even launch his attacks, Joseph was even faster and a Bite of Justice interrupted him from continuing the short channeling window that every Knight required to do before being able to use their skills.

This channeling window was only about half a second at most, it was too quick to intercept, yet Joseph had done it as if he had predicted that Big Boss would attack at that moment.

Bite of Justice landed right on Big Boss's chest and it stunned him. 

William, who was also a Knight was done with his channeling and his blazing attack flew towards Joseph. 

But...

Peng!

Joseph flicked his Rapier as if it was a whip and accurately deflected the incoming attack from William. Afterwards, an Axe descended onto him from the skies as Joseph utilized [Guard]. The sudden attack from the Axe was so swift that Joseph had no time to think about how he should deflect it.

He had no choice other than to use [Guard]

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out.

Joseph was forced to several steps backward.

Vladimir reached out to him once again, but his movements were incomparably slow as if he was hesitating.

Joseph easily saw through his attack as he lifted his Rapier and moved to deflect Vladimir's hands.

However, when he thought that he had succeeded in deflecting Vladimir's attack. It was actually just a feint. It was the reason why Vladimir's attack at this moment approached Joseph in an incomparably slow manner. His true attack wasn't actually using his hands, but both of his legs.

"Roundhouse Kick!"

Vladimir turned his body around and sent a Roundhouse Kick at Joseph's chest. 

Joseph wanted to teleport and avoid damage through the use of The Grand Duelist's Dash, but a system notification gave him a grim, yet timely reminder.

[The surrounding space has been distorted and sealed. Instantaneous movements are impossible.]

"That bastard..." Joseph lifted his head and saw that there was a contemptuous smile on Kristian's face at this moment.

Yeah, go on... Keep on smiling. I'll wipe that smile off your face soon! 

Joseph inwardly thought in rage.

The attacks from the remaining elite members of the three guilds descended onto him.

[You suffered 5,602 damage!]

[You suffered 8,759 damage!]

[You suffered 6,306 damage!]

His Health swiftly dropped under thirty-percent and a system notification popped up in the air in front of Joseph.

[Conditions have been met. The skill has been unlocked for usage.]

He couldn't understand what this system notification meant at first, but when memories flashed across his mind. He suddenly remembered what they meant. 

He raised his head towards the skies in response as a roar of desperation escaped from his lips.

"Desperate Roar!"

[Desperate Roar Lv. 1]

Once your hp falls below 30% you can activate Desperate Roar.

A scream filled with desperation enough to shake those who listen to it.

Everyone who hears the scream will fall to a state of shock for three seconds. 

Skill Cost: 1/4th of your current Mana

Skill Usage Conditions: Health must be below 30%.

Skill Cooldown Time: 24 hours]

This was a skill that Joseph acquired back at that Wolf's Den. He never had the opportunity to use this skill since then, and finally at this critical moment. It proved quite handy.

[You heard a scream of desperation and your will is shaken.]

[You are now in a state of shock for three seconds.]

The battlefield abruptly turned silent.

The attackers in the middle of their frenzied attacks suddenly froze as if they had turned into statues.

Three seconds!

Three seconds couldn't be considered as a long time, but in a battle like this. Especially when the enemy had a Mythical Class that specialized in offense.

Three seconds of stun was a death sentence.

Three seconds was enough for Joseph to annihilate at least three of these attackers.

"Sharpened Eyes!" 

[The Grand Duelist's Sharpened Eyes Lv. Max]

Once activated, your eyes will turn into [ All Seeing-Eyes ]. 

* While in the state of [ All Seeing-Eyes ], nothing can escape your eyes. Every weakness or advantage of your enemies will be revealed. But it's still up to the Grand Duelist on how he could see the truth from the false. 

* Whenever a weakness revealed by Sharpened Eyes is struck, you deal damage equal to 250% of your Attack Damage, plus 5% of your enemy's current Health. Your Movement Speed is also increased by 10%, while your enemy's movement speed is reduced by the same amount. 

* Whenever an advantage is struck, the number of weaknesses increases by one.

* The effect of Sharpened Eyes automatically disappears after half a minute, or until all weaknesses are disposed of.

* Can also be activated with enough concentration.

* If you managed to destroy every weakness of a single targeted enemy, you can activate [Expunge]

Expunge Lv. Max

Detonates all remaining weaknesses for 40% of the damage dealt by the explosion of those weaknesses prior to the usage of [ Expunge ] and a certain percentage of your enemy's current Health. 

Skill Usage Conditions: The Grand Duelist

Skill Cost: None

Skill Cooldown Time: 6 hours. ]

At this moment, circles that were as big as small plates appeared all over the bodies of his enemies. 

Then, Joseph moved.

His target?

Those who had the highest DPS among the remaining elite members of the three guilds.

Joseph quickly judged which of them should be his target, and his Rapier turned into a blur.

He started out with Point, and then a Harmony, before quickly ending it all with an Expunge.

[You dealt 53,592 damage!]

[You dealt 152,602 damage!]

[You dealt 350,215 damage!]

A small explosion signaled the end of three lives from the three guilds.

In just two seconds at most, they had lost both of their Barbarians and a Destroyer.

These classes excelled at DPS, and at this moment. The three guilds lost their primary sources of damage. Kristian was the only DPS remaining on this battlefield.

"How..."

"How was that possible?"

"How did you kill them in just three seconds?"

Joseph turned to look at the incredulous William who was mumbling in disbelief.

"I didn't kill them in three seconds."

"What?" William stared at Joseph in confusion.

"I killed them in two seconds, at least be precise in your counting."

"T-Two..." William's astonishment deepened.

Big Boss furrowed his eyebrows. A serious look could be seen on his face. 

Barbarians and Destroyers may not have high Health Points compared to Knights, but they were not squishy targets.

He reckoned that even Kristian needed at least ten seconds to kill those barbarians and that Destroyer earlier.

But Joseph actually finished them all in just under two seconds? 

Even though those players had injuries in the first place. They shouldn't have died that fast!

Dying in just two seconds...

Big Boss bet that those two players shouldn't even be mad at this point. In fact, they should be impressed and awed.

Admiration flashed across Big Boss's face. He always respected strength so he couldn't help but slightly bowed his head when facing towards Joseph's general direction. But when he remembered that Joseph was their enemy. A sigh of regret escaped from his lips.

How good would it be if we were allies? I'd be glad to be able to spar with him every day!

The shock was evident on Kristian's face when he saw what happened. 

Joseph lifted a languid smile on his face.

"Do you guys still want to continue? I can kill those three in just a few seconds. Do you really think that you can survive longer than them? If I were you, I would just surrender so I can save face and save my Experience Points."

Vladimir had a dejected look on his face. He tightly clenched both of his fists and he looked like he was about to rush at Joseph.

But he decided to not be hasty.

The confidence radiating from Joseph's body at this moment made him feel like he was an insurmountable mountain.

It greatly reduced the morale in his heart, as well as William.

"Arrogant... Do you really think that you have already won? Compare yourself right now to me. I don't even think that your Health Bar is even at thirty-percent. As for me? I have already recovered. My Health is full and I am ready to fight you again to death..."

Kristian lifted a complacent smile on his face.

His words rekindled the hope of victory within the hearts of Vladimir and William.

That's right!

Why did we feel so scared against this bastard when his Health is already that low?

Wait, what if he is hiding some Health Potions?

Not possible!

We won't even let him have the time to use those Potions in the first place!

Killing intent once again surged inside Vladimir's heart.

William looked like he was raring to go, but then Joseph suddenly spoke and said. 

"So you think that you can win against me? Remember that a tired camel is still stronger than a horse! My Health may be low, but that does not mean that I can't defeat you all!" Joseph replied with gusto.

But for Kristian, his words sounded more like desperate pleas.

A light smile appeared on Kristian's face as he unsheathed his sword.

The faint glow on his sword and the dazzling light radiating from its blade was enough to conclude that his sword was a high-quality sword. It should be an Epic-Tiered sword.

The healthy glow on Kristian's cheeks made it evident that the Protect the President strategy had succeeded.

At this moment, Joseph was now about to face a player with a Legendary class at full health!

Furthermore, he also had to be careful of the attacks from the Gunners at the distance and the attacks from both Vladimir and William.

No matter what angle you looked at this scene.

The odds were stacked against Joseph.

But was he discouraged?

No!

He was even excited!

It was finally time to use that trump card of his!