The Grand Duelist

Chapter 176: Gate Crashing[2]

Kristian now had confidence that he could win this battle.

Having the Legendary Class, Absolute Monarch. What's more, in a fully healed state with a hundred percent of his Health Bar available for usage. Kristian was sure that he would be able to win. If he still couldn't win in this battle despite these conditions.

He would probably take a long rest from the world of Victory...

His guild was named Strongest Under Heaven.

Being the Guild Leader of Guild Strongest Under Heaven.

Kristian possessed sufficient strength to back up his claims that his guild was indeed strongest under heaven.

However, in the face of this player that had the first Mythical Class.

Kristian realized that the common sense he knew regarding the world of Victory was crumbling.

Twenty-four elite players with high-quality equipment and items as well as rare classes. The players from the three guilds that were indeed elites, yet a single player managed to push them all to this extent?

Kristian wasn't willing!

He wasn't willing to believe that a single player, even though that player had a Mythical Class could easily defeat players at their caliber!

If that was true then the equilibrium of Victory would surely be broken!

Yes, Kristian didn't believe this assumption at first.

But now that the truth was laid out bare in front of him.

Kristian realized that he couldn't ignore Joseph at all.

Regret flashed across Kristian's face. He actually wanted to befriend this Mythical Class Player, but who told Joseph to be so arrogant? If Joseph accepted his invitation back then, then the two of them could've been friends at this moment instead of trying to battle each other to death!

Unfortunately, it was too late.

There was no use crying over spilled milk so Kristian could only move forward.

"There are six known primary elements in the world of Victory. I'm sure that you know about it already. However, among those elements and their combinations. What do you think is the sharpest?"

Kristian calmly walked towards Joseph's direction, he started talking as if Joseph wasn't in the middle of a battle against Vladimir, William, and the two Gunners at the back.

Joseph rolled forwards and avoided a Stun Grenade.

He then turned his head to look at Kristian and said: "What is it?"

"Don't you dare turn your head away from us!"

Vladimir's anger exploded.

They were having a life and death battle here, yet Joseph actually had the leeway to be distracted?

This is unacceptable!

Vladimir's attack became even more rigorous.

Joseph wanted to say something but he was instantly drowned by the attacks of his enemies.

He was forced to devote all of his attention on deflecting as many attacks as humanly possible.

Among the remaining players that were attacking him right now...

Vladimir was the most dangerous.

Even though his Class wasn't directly categorized as DPS.

If he managed to land consecutive attacks on Joseph, it would be quite serious.

After all, Joseph didn't have any Health Potions with him.

Joseph hurriedly retreated, but William stuck close to him like gum.

"Fuck off!"

Irritated, Joseph sent a Roundhouse Kick at William's direction.

"Heh..."

William lunged forwards, acting like a Grappler.

He held Joseph's feet in place and was about to twist his ankles, when...

"Pierce Blossom!"

Illusory Rapiers flew in all directions, turning William who was the nearest to Joseph into a porcupine.

William swiftly retreated. 

Joseph pursued him but was blocked by Vladimir.

"Where the hell are you going?"

Vladimir's fist came descending down onto Joseph's face.

"Persistent bastard!"

Joseph allowed Vladimir's fist to land onto his face, but almost immediately after it landed.

Joseph's Rapier flew like a snake and pierced through Vladimir's chest.

Furthermore, it also pierced through William's body who was standing behind Vladimir and was currently chugging his own stash of Health Potions!

"Just Counter!"

[Just Counter]

Quickly stabs at an enemy immediately after taking damage.

Deals 110% of your Attack Damage.

*Due to the nature of your weapon. Stabbing attacks will go through objects and units.

Skill Usage Conditions: The Grand Duelist, Rapier Type Weapon Equipped.

Skill Cost: 15 Divinity Stat

Skill Cooldown: 4 Seconds.]

William coughed a mouthful of blood. His body trembled and his face became flushed with crimson. This was a sign that William's health was at critical levels. A single attack from Joseph could possibly end his life. 

The Gunners, Look At Me and MartyrNoble saw what was happening and they hurriedly directed their gunfire towards William's direction.

But why were they attacking William instead of directly sending their bullets towards Joseph?

Well, it was because they planned on creating an encirclement of bullets around William.

Was this effective?

Of course, not!

Since these rapid-firing bullets didn't have the properties of knocking back enemies upon a successful hit. Joseph could just dive into the hail of bullets and kill William. In other words, it wasn't quite effective.

However, it was actually useful. 

If Joseph decided to enter the encirclement of bullets.

He may be able to kill William, but he would also lose a few hundred Health Points.

With Joseph's current Health Points, losing a few hundred health points was a gamble.

Joseph would definitely not take such a gamble.

He would play safe, conserve as much Health as he could until he faced Kristian in a decisive battle.

But...

Contrary to the expectations of the Gunners, what happened was the opposite.

Joseph actually rushed through the rain of bullets!

Carrying with him his Rapier shining in a blinding light. A whisper came out of his mouth, "Point!"

Guah!

William coughed a mouthful of blood.

Joseph's Rapier pierced through his heart, ensuring his death.

"You..."

"You bastard..."

"You actually dared to rush me..." 

"Don't you care about your Health Points at all?" 

William helplessly uttered as his consciousness darkened.

The last scene that he saw before his death was Vladimir's frenzied attacks.

"I'll kill you!" Vladimir's eyes went bloodshot.

His fists transformed into a tempest that thoroughly battered Joseph's body.

Joseph deflected some of his attacks before retaliating with his own.

"Bite of Justice!"

His Rapier lunged like a snake, yet Vladimir actually managed to avoid it!

A simple sway of his head to the sides made him avoid the incoming attack.

Joseph was quick to adapt as he leaped backward.

However, Vladimir pounced forwards.

It was clear that he didn't plan on giving Joseph any time to breathe.

But he was bound to be disappointed for Joseph had drawn a clear line of demarcation on the ground.

"Dividing Line!"

A line shining in a divine light was carved onto the ground. Vladimir's movements paused.

As far as he could remember, if one crossed this line, they would suffer damage.

In that case, Vladimir could just go around!

Vladimir leaped sidewards and went around the demarcation line.

His movements were swift and he was once again standing in front of Joseph in just under five seconds. However, the three seconds that took him to return to Joseph's side was enough for Joseph to formulate some plans as he inwardly chuckled.

"Reveal Vitals!"

Vladimir instantly felt that he was naked as soon as Joseph uttered these words.

His expression went pale, yet his anger triumphed against his instincts.

A roar came out of his mouth, seemingly encouraging himself to attack.

Peng!

A dull sound rang out as Joseph deflected his first attack.

Vladimir suddenly fell flat onto the ground, his feet became like a broom as it swept towards Joseph's feet.

"Sweeping Kick!"

Joseph saw Vladimir's attack so he jumped upwards in order to avoid the Sweeping Kick. However, as soon as Joseph leaped into the air. A cold ray of light flashed across his eyes before it pierced his chest and went through his heart.

[You suffered 10,582 damage!]

"Heat-Seeking Bullet!"

MartyrNoble wore a smile on his face. He looked proud that his attack succeeded.

Look At Me turned towards him and revealed a smile of praise. Look At Me was the type of person who admired those that had sufficient skills or abilities.

Seeing MartyrNoble's display of skills...

He instantly regarded him as one of his friends.

But even though he was inwardly praising MartyrNoble.

He didn't stop attacking. As soon as MartyrNoble's bullet pierced through Joseph's heart, he flew backwards due to the impact.

At that moment, a purple grenade from Look At Me landed in between Vladimir and Joseph.

"Gravity Flux Grenade!"

Vladimir's movements came to a halt.

A Gravity Flux Grenade would drag enemies around it to the center of the explosion.

In other words, he didn't need to go after Joseph.

Joseph was the one who would go to him.

Boom!

A resonant boom rang out, the Gravity Flux Grenade exploded and turned into a mini-black hole that sucked everything around it into its center.

"There it is!"

Vladimir's eyes widened in excitement. His fists were already trembling. 

As expected, the moment the Gravity Flux Grenade exploded.

Joseph was swiftly sucked towards the center of the explosion.

However, instead of fighting the gravitational pull of the grenade. Joseph even leaped towards the black hole, further increasing his speed and messing up Vladimir's rhythm.

"Fuck! This shameless bastard! He actually delivered himself to the black hole instead of retreating!"

Sweat formed on Vladimir's forehead, he canceled the powerful attack that he was channeling since he was sure that he wouldn't be able to hit Joseph with it since his rhythm had been messed up.

He swiftly changed his attack into a simpler one, but Joseph was even faster.

Augmented by the gravitational pull of the Gravity Flux Grenade.

Joseph reached Vladimir in a blink of an eye. His Rapier shining in the divine light of the Grand Duelist as Joseph whispered into the air.

"Point!"

His Rapier pierced through Vladimir's heart.

But this wasn't the end of it all.

"Plus, Harmony!"

Joseph added Harmony as a cherry on top and instantly annihilated Vladimir's Health Bar.

"Bastard..." Vladimir's legs weakened and he directly collapsed onto his knees. He felt incredibly humiliated kneeling like this in front of his enemy, yet there was nothing that he could do.

His body wasn't responding to his inputs anymore as his consciousness slowly darkened.

Vladimir then died with great indignance and frustration.

MartryNoble saw that his Gravity Flux Grenade helped his enemy on killing his Guild Leader and cold sweat instantly drenched his back.

Look At Me turned towards MartyrNoble's direction. He didn't know what to say.

Joseph was far daring than everyone had expected.

Instead of retreating from a Gravity Flux Grenade, he actually used it against his advantage!

Fighting against an eccentric enemy like Joseph who often broke the common sense of fighting in Victory...

Look At Me felt pity for MartyrNoble.

But since the two of them belonged to different guilds. He didn't say any words of comfort, he just kept his silence. He knew that any words that he would say to him at this moment would definitely be misunderstood by MartyrNoble as sarcasm. This was why he wasn't willing to comfort him.

"What are you trying to do?" Joseph turned to look at Kristian with suspicions.

"What?"

"Still playing dumb? Aren't you in an alliance with those two earlier? Why did you not help them?" 

"Help them? It's not necessary. We used the Protect the President strategy so they know why I didn't help them in the battle." 

"What do you mean?" Joseph raised an eyebrow. He couldn't understand Kristian's thought process.

"If you can't spare even a brain cell to think about what I meant, then you don't have to worry about it." Kristian's expression turned serious, a menacing light radiated from his eyes as he continued: "You are about to die anyway, so what's the use of knowing such things?"

"Heh... You really are such a hypocrite. You said that I was arrogant, yet you're even more arrogant than me!" Joseph's words became as sharp as knives.

Kristian was taken aback for a moment before he chuckled: "My arrogance isn't blind arrogance."

"Your arrogance isn't blind arrogance? Stop joking, what you are trying to do right now is being blind itself!"

"What are you talking about?" Kristian's pupils constricted.

"If you can't even spare a brain cell to think about what I just meant, then you don't have to worry about it. You are about to die anyway, so what's the use of knowing such things?" Joseph returned Kristian's words at him.

"You..."

"Arrogant bastard!" Kristian's anger surged.

But Joseph didn't pay any attention to him anymore as he turned towards the two Gunners at the back.

"Both of you, do you guys still want to fight? Your guild leaders are already dead, and I don't think that you two would be willing to work with a guy that didn't even help your guild leaders earlier, right?" Joseph's words rang loud and clear. 

MartyrNoble and Look At Me hesitated, but when they turned to look at Kristian.

It was clear that Kristian didn't even care.

He didn't care if these Gunners would lend him some help or not.

"He... He really is arrogant." MartyrNoble coldly scoffed.

Look At Me bitterly smiled and nodded: "Yeah... What are you going to do? Are you going to help that bastard?"

MartyrNoble turned to look at him for a moment before he replied, "Of course not! That bastard isn't even from our guild, why should I help him? I'm a member of Guild Crimson, I move, only for the sake of the guild!"

Look At Me was astonished by MartyrNoble's words. But his expression revealed that he was apparently convinced as he placed his weapons down and squatted on the ledge of the pillar that they were standing on.

"I'm the same as you. I would help anyone save for that arrogant bastard!"

Look At Me softly whispered.

MartyrNoble smiled and sat beside him. Afterwards, the two actually started talking about their favorite hobbies and some other miscellaneous topics. From their leisurely expressions, it was as if they weren't even a part of this battle in the first place.

"Heh..." Joseph scoffed.

"Your comrades abandoned you due to your arrogance. Now, tell me. Which is more arrogant? Is it you, or me?" He didn't let this opportunity pass.

His words stabbed deep into Kristian's heart.

"Hmmph! As if I care about trashes like them! There are a lot of players at their caliber here in the world of Victory. Or what? Did you actually think that they were special? Hahaha, I'm sorry but they are nothing." Kristian coldly snorted and even mocked Joseph due to what he had said.

Amusement could be seen within the depths of Joseph's eyes.

Kristian didn't speak anymore, as well as Joseph.

The two slowly approached each other.

Their nerves stretched tautly as every step they took sent them one step closer to their enemy.

Finally, when the two were about twenty meters away from each other.

They moved!

Joseph's movements were fast, but Kristian wasn't slower.

In a blink of an eye, the two met in mid-air, and their weapons fiercely clashed!

Boom!