“Let us clude this mortal battle-” A raspy demonic voice resounded across the area.

  It was totally uhe usual heroie of the Knight, but both versions were equally reizable because both started with the words “let us”. This much was enough to set off Ronald’s arms.

  Here es the taunt! Ronald stopped his offense and celed into a Dodge Roll. However, he didn’t roll away from his foe.

  Honorable Duel was slow enough to be reacted to, but even oion, it was a little tricky to properly roll it. This dang skill targeted everybody in a e in front of it, so rolling away to either side was usually a bad call.

  Instead, I’m gonna rht into you! Ronald grinned as he rolled toward the enemy’s right fnk. No matter how many times he pulled this trick, every siime felt like an episode of Mission Impossible. The stress was real!

  I’m toast if I mess this up, even by a little. Ronald gulped. But, I’m too good at this game to screw up like this! Ha, take that! Made it! Ronald breathed in relief as he recovered from the roll and stood ba his feet.

  “- is of hell!” the demoniight had finally finished shouting his nerdy phrase but his words fell on deaf ears. By the time bruh finished dropping his long-ass one-liner, Ronald was already on the enemy’s right side, ready to tinue his offense!

  Actually nah, I think I’m good for now. Ronald g his HP. He lost over 25% HP in that exge. These little minion bruhs sure hit him hard while he was whag Bckhole.

  Time to rex and foot it. Ronald activated Rexing Exhale, erasing the remains of his Rage meter in exge for HP recovery and buffs. It restored 10% of his HP and granted him the Movement Speed he o quickly GTFO.

  And so, Ronald’s first 1v1 exge with Bckhole came to an end. Both pyers retreated to their respective sides of the ne and safely farmed the rest of the minions from there. They didn’t engage in any further fights, at least for now.

  But, I’ll totally do this agai wave if you don’t show me you have an answer for this. Ronald grinned fidently. Who knows, maybe I’ll even go Berserk in the fight.

  Admittedly, that whole exge was high-risk high-reward. Fortunately, Ronald only lost about 15% HP there, but things could’ve easily gone south if his oppo was more petent.

  So, what did Ronald gain in exge for all that risk? Well, everything! He reduced his oppo’s HP by a whopping 30%, just like that! That Barbarian Sm into a flurry of strikes was hel smooth!

  At first, since Ronald aggro’d the enemy minions, he lost almost as much HP as Bckhole did. But, that’s where Rexing Exhale came to save the day and give Ronald the edge. If not for that bad boy, then Ronald wouldn’t have bothered with such a reckless py. There was a method to his madness.

  Knight is a fia css and all, but it doesn’t have HP regen. Ronald thought. So that’s the one advantage I gonna abuse against you!

  Ronald had a clear-cut pn for how to deal with his ne oppo going forward. But, what about InformationBckhole? Did the dude have any aces up his sleeve?

  “Such a brutal exge,” Vi ented. “His offense seemed so reckless and dangerous at first, yet he came on top in every possible aspe the end. It was a brilliant dispy of skill!”

  "Yes, it was a strong py," Yuel agreed. "I assume he snuck up to you while you were using Shield Bash?"

  "That he did! I did not see it ing at all!” Vi hyperventited. “To think that he could close the distan such a short amount of time and also charge up a Barbarian Sm on top of that! Truly, it was nothing short of masterful execution! I did not expect him to be capable of such feats!"

  "We've seen him py Top before," Yuel reminded. "You should’ve known that he's a dangerous oppo."

  "Indeed, I did. But, to be ho, all his ne oppos submitted far too easily during the previous scrimmages. As such, it was difficult to estimate just how strong Challenger really is."

  "That's also true," Yuel ceded. "This py made me realize he's pag more than I expected. I'll have to revise my evaluation of him."

  "Likewise." Vi nodded. "So, in light of these revetions, what is our pn?"

  "It's not like we have many options here. You'll have to borrow Luke's help if we clude that you 't deal with the Berserker by yourself, but it's too early for that."

  "True, true."

  "So, for the wave, try to farm normally. But this time, keep an eye on the Berserker so he doesn't surprise you again."

  "Uood. I shall challehis challenger once again!"

  For once, Vi didn’t have any bombastiiames to attach to a pyer. The best he could do was to joke about Challenger being… well, a challenger.

  Truth be told, I 't quite pinpoint what sort of special powers this mighty warrior possesses Vi shook his head. Is he the “Herald of Aggression”? The “Bloodthirsty Duelist”? Nay, none of these sound right.

  There was no denying that AbsoluteChallenger was "strong" in Top, but that’s about it. Vi couldn’t derive anything more specifi watg the repys.

  The maed his oppos in a ving manner, overwhelming them through superb meical skill. It was undoubtedly a strong dispy of skill, but that's all it was. In the rge scheme of things, it didn’t stand out that much because the Leopards dominated all these games as a whole.

  I suspect that, as his name implies, he's a "challenger". Perhaps his true strength will only reveal itself when he faces suffitly hard petition that pushes him to the limit!

  There wasn't any hard evidence for that cim just yet, but Vi's senses were tingling. The more he observed Challehe more it felt like this spe's performance depended on how tough the petition was.

  I suppose it falls oo unmask Challenger's full potential for the first time on the petitive se! Or, perhaps I think too highly of myself.

  Was Vi really strong enough to force Challenger's hand? So far, their exges were rather one-sided.

  Truth be told, I'm most likely the weakest link of this team, I'm aware of that much myself. Vi smiled wryly. It wouldn't be strao see myself repced by Ben in the uping months.

  As a man cursed with the power to analyze everybody's special abilities, Vi could tell that his own ability didn’t quite measure up to the rest of the team. His observation skills and game knowledge were top-notch, but these alone didn’t suffice to win games. He also had to put all these tools to great use during the game itself, which wasn't always the easiest thing to achieve.

  So, against a small fry like Vi, will Challenger bother to unveil his true power? Most likely not. It'll take more than just Vi aloo draw out Challenger's true might, assuming there was any such hidden might to draw out in the first pce.

  I assume Challenger came at me sly not because he siders me specifically a mighty foe, but because he sees Stratus as a worthy oppo as a whole. Vi reasoned. After all, we’re the team that has delivered the Leopards to their first defeat of the year. This has surely hurt their pride, hence Challenger’s increased aggression.

  The moment Stratus registered as a threat, Challenger's bestial instincts must have kicked in and powered him up beyond the level he had shown in previous games. And, the enemy's wounds will likely stay fresh for quite some time after that shog defeat, so Challenger will keep going strong for a while longer.

  I feel like a Lv. 10 pyer who’s taking on a Lv. 60 raid boss. This is both thrilling and terrifying.

  While all these thoughts were cirg in Vi’s head, the third wave had arrived. Though, in Vi’s case, this was only the sed wave he got to clear in the ne.

  And so, it was time to front AbsoluteChallenger once more...

  DarkestCymore