This was a long and thrilling tug-of-war.
For ten whole minutes, Feizuan launched a furious assault on Jie Geng, orange-red flames falling like rain, yet unable to harm Jie Geng in the slightest.
Even though, based on magic attributes, Jie Geng was at an absolute disadvantage, Feizuan’s attacks simply could not break through the wall woven from vines.
The originally lively audience seating fell dead silent, everyone staring intently at the screen, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.
At the commentary booth, the two people who had been crouching both stood up, their eyes practically glued to the monitor screen.
“It’s here–Genius Player X’s signature skill, ‘Absolute Defense’!”
“This time, Player 1’s proud offense doesn’t seem to be working–could the strongest spear be about to lose to the strongest shield?”
In the corner, Xia Che put down his phone; like everyone else, he was immersed in this battle.
Now that the match had reached this point, his support wouldn’t do much–it might even interfere with Hui Jin.
From here on, it was all up to Hui Jin herself.
Feizuan’s advantage was her enormous magic capacity, and with Hui Jin’s precise control over magic, she indeed had the capital to squander magic like that–but even she couldn’t withstand such consumption…
“Hang in there… Hui Jin,” Xia Che said softly.
“Huff… hah… hah…!”
Just as Xia Che had analyzed, after ten minutes of pouring out firepower, Feizuan’s magic had bottomed out.
The girl with fiery red hair gasped for breath in big gulps, wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her hand, and took two steps back.
‘Is this game really this realistic? Even though it consumes virtual magic, I actually feel genuinely exhausted.’
“What’s wrong? Your attack frequency has slowed down–looks like your magic is almost depleted…”
Genius Player X said softly through Jie Geng’s mouth, “Then, it should be my turn now, right?”
She merely raised her hand slightly, and several thick vines burst from the ground, interweaving with a crackling sound as a lifelike wooden dragon head took shape!
“Tch!”
Hui Jin controlled Feizuan to retreat rapidly, narrowly dodging the attack.
Whatever stood in the wooden dragon’s path–walls and ground alike–was crushed to dust.
“Wood Dragon Technique!” Colonel Guan shouted excitedly.
“Good thing she dodged, otherwise things would look pretty grim right now,” Xiao Mi added.
Hui Jin looked at the large hole in the ground, then raised her head to the girl standing atop the wooden dragon’s head.
At this moment, Jie Geng’s aura underwent an earth-shattering change.
Her originally gentle, reserved magic became flamboyant and aggressive; abundant emerald-green magic filled Jie Geng’s surroundings, stirring her hair and skirt.
“It’s not over yet.”
Jie Geng pressed her palms together, and four wooden dragons burst from the ground!
The dragon eyes, adorned with magic, swept over Feizuan, and she immediately felt a strong pressure, a desire to flee rising in her heart.
But she quickly suppressed that feeling.
‘Four wooden dragons!?’
‘How on earth did she…’
Feizuan’s eyes widened.
After all, in SHS, hero strength is based on reality; heroes in the game can hardly exert power beyond their original selves.
But a game is still a game–there are other means to gain enhancements.
For example, “Blazing Forge,” which the real-world Feizuan is still learning–Hui Jin can master it first through her proficient fire control, but it still fundamentally belongs to Feizuan’s own power.
Jie Geng is no exception, even if the one controlling her right now is Genius Player X.
Magical Girl Kikyou’s magic basically all requires charging to use, but in the battle just now, she used magic as if she had no MP bar–almost all of it was instant cast.
‘Why on earth is that?’
There was no time for Feizuan to keep thinking–the four wooden dragons came at her in an overwhelming torrent!
This time, Feizuan didn’t choose to run; instead, she charged straight at the wooden dragons.
Just as she was about to be bitten by a wooden dragon, the girl kicked off the ground and leaped, landing nimbly on a dragon’s head and running along its body!
She was like a nimble cat, agile and sure-footed, running on the twisting wooden dragons as if on flat ground.
“This is the last one… Fireball!”
Feizuan raised her wand, aimed at Jie Geng, and almost all her magic was poured into the gem.
At the tip of the wand, orange-red magic rapidly expanded, like a brilliant sun.
“Oh?”
Jie Geng raised an eyebrow, slowly lifted her hand, and almost simultaneously, the vines behind her transformed into sharp wooden spikes that shot toward the girl in front of her.
Immediately after, three wooden dragons turned back and closed in on Feizuan from three directions!
“It’s over,” Jie Geng lowered her hand.
“Not yet!”
The instant the fireball was unleashed, Feizuan hurled the dagger in her hand into it!
In an instant, the ruby-formed dagger was torn into countless fragments by the raging magic, but those fragments also split apart the magic that had been gathered into one mass, so the magic scattered in all directions.
Like a detonating white phosphorus bomb, the falling sun burst into a sky full of fire rain, illuminating the cheeks of the two girls.
Jie Geng froze for only an instant before reacting; the wooden dragons that had been heading straight for Feizuan all moved to shield her front.
Her reasoning was very clear.
Feizuan’s magic was powerful, but this move was a case of dealing 10,000 damage to the enemy while suffering 8,000 yourself.
As long as she survived, she would face a Feizuan whose magic was completely exhausted.
By then, the winner would definitely be her!
“What a fool,” she said softly.
Compared to those so-called experts, this person was a bit more interesting, but that was all.
“Really?”
A cheerful voice sounded by Jie Geng’s ear, and a chill climbed up her spine.
She whipped her head around and met Feizuan’s brilliant smile.
“Fire-type spirits have fire resistance–isn’t that only natural?”
The girl teased:
“You don’t even know that much common sense–don’t tell me you’ve never played Pokemon… Genius Player X?”
As she spoke, a new wooden dragon burst from the ground, roaring as it attacked Feizuan’s back.
At the same time, Feizuan gave a crisp snap of her fingers, and a terrifying flame leaped from her fingertips.
“Wha… you still have magic!?”
For the first time, panic appeared in Jie Geng’s voice.
The red-haired girl pulled down her eyelid, stuck out her tongue, and said playfully:
“Sorry, I lied!”
With that, she clenched her flame-wreathed fist, smiled slightly, and then suddenly smashed it toward Jie Geng’s nose!
“Take my Flame Fist!”
Jie Geng’s eyes widened, and what she saw was a fire fist trailing a tail of flame, like a meteor falling into the atmosphere.
Behind the smiling girl, the wooden dragon opened its massive jaws–at such close range, even its teeth were clearly visible.
‘Too late!’
‘I’m going to lose…!’
Genius Player X made her judgment and lowered her eyes.
“Aaaah–!!!”
At that very moment, a shrill scream suddenly pierced the night and echoed through the venue.
The commentator’s voice happened to stop, and the audience seating was very quiet, so that scream could be heard clearly even from the stage.
Feizuan visibly froze for a moment, and because of that, her movement was half a beat slow.
Before her fist could smash Jie Geng’s nose, the wooden dragon bit her to pieces first.
[YOU DEAD!]
A line of red text appeared before Hui Jin’s eyes, but she had no time to care;
She quickly disconnected from the game, stood up, and looked toward the audience.
With just one glance, she noticed Xia Che’s figure in the corner.
Xia Che was also looking at her; their eyes met, and they nodded to each other.
Then Hui Jin saw Xia Che say something, and almost simultaneously, a steady male voice sounded by her ear.
“The sound came from backstage–it’s very likely a staff member or a contestant.”
“I’ll go take a look.”
Hui Jin turned and rushed backstage.
“Be careful; I’ll be right there.”
After sending an emergency rescue message to the Special Task Bureau, Xia Che rushed from the outer side of the stands toward backstage.