"We will be the ones entering the loser's bracket."
The ice-colored sword energy suddenly dispersed between the two people who were confronting each other, blowing out a large amount of expanding air in the hot and desolate valley. The ferocious face at the center of the explosion point that had not yet dissipated also followed this wave. The breath flew away and disappeared in front of all the spectators, with their shocked eyeballs separated to both sides. Looking at the other party with the same shocked eyes, Lou Tingyu, who was at the end of the ice-blue bone sword, covered the injury on his chest and kept retreating. Finally, in a state of serious injury and bleeding, he staggered and sat down on the ground. :"you you……"
"...I don't mean to disrespect you." He slowly put away his long sword and stood in the middle of the mountain stream. His cold eyes were projected from under the silver mask on his face: " I just...have some personal grudges that need to be resolved."
"Wha, what do you mean?"
"We, Wings of Freedom, won this competition... Do you have any objections to this?"
Taking two steps forward with the clear sound of iron boots, Xueling Huanbing came to Lou Tingyu again: "Although I really want to chop off your head, this will send you to the loser group. If you are unlucky, you may emerge from hell again and become our opponents again..."
"I have no interest in meeting you again, but... that Dawn of Glory seems to be weaker than you." When she said this, there was an increasingly dead look in her eyes: "In order to prevent That guy deliberately lost to you to avoid my challenge again, so I decided to deal with him now."
"You, do you want to..."
"It seems you understand."
A cold smile emerged from the corner of his mouth, and Xueling Huanbing placed the long sword in front of his proud neck: "Now that you understand, then..."
"I will temporarily lend you the winning quota this time."
Splashing blood appeared in front of Lou Tingyu as the long sword decisively slashed across his neck. At the same time, there was a ruthless prompt from the system announcing victory. The exclamations from the audience outside the venue only made him stunned. His expression broke, sending him and the entire arena to the arena outside the competition map. The figures belonging to a large group of fans, spectators and reporters then quickly gathered around the exit position of the two sides of the competition, surrounding the teams of Wings of Freedom and Tingyulou with a watertight seal, but the questions they raised one after another were far away. My own teammates without Wings of Freedom only raised questions: "Sister Xue, what are you doing?"
"Sister Xue, why did you commit suicide?"
"Although the possibility of qualifying has not been ruined yet, if we just surrender and admit defeat..."
"You actually...will surrender?"
In the eyes of countless onlookers as if they were watching a show, two figures belonging to Free Flying and Yan Dong gradually emerged from the gaps in the crowd: "Don't you want to be the head of your family?"
"..."
As if he didn't want to pay attention to the other party, Snow Spirit Huanbing, who was surrounded by everyone, still maintained an iceberg-like appearance, and the smile that originally hung on Free Flying's face gradually disappeared and was replaced by It was a warning with a livid face: "Humph, no matter what you are thinking about now, I must warn you..."
"Don't try to challenge our IQ." He sneered uncontrollably: "Otherwise... you will become the last fool."
"When you're done talking nonsense, leave now."
Slightly blocking the woman's body, the berserker named Huanhai Kuangxing then looked away from Free Flying: "At this point, do you still want to continue to dictate the games of our Free Snow team?"
"Ha, I'm afraid you've already been eliminated before it's my turn to say anything, right?"
Looking back at the left and right sides of the arena, Freefly let out a burst of laughter: "Re-examine you guys who dare to do the following with the attitude of a winner... I am looking forward to that moment, hahahaha!"
As the laughter gradually faded away, the figure belonging to Free Flying and others also gradually walked back to the road they came from, leaving only the echo of his demonstration that had not disappeared, and the surrounding reporters who had smelled the new big news. The expression of excitement that could not be concealed afterwards. After filtering out the countless chatter around him, Xueling Huanbing, who took the lead, then took the lead in breaking through the siege of reporters and onlookers, and then after a period of forward movement, he led the team to Douji Outside the court: "Have you left already? Damn it..."
"Why are you……"
Slowly speaking out her voice, Liangchen Meiyu, who had been silent since just now, finally raised her head: "Why did you..."
"No reason, I just like it."
Without looking back, he cut off the opponent's words. Xue Ling Huan Bing, who was stroking his mask, replied in advance with a cold voice: "Anyway, as long as you win all the next games, it will be fine, right? Is this difficult for you? ?”
"You know that's not what I mean." Liangchen Meiyu's voice became deeper and deeper: "Why... why did you..."
"Why did you kill me?"
Amid the increasingly surprised gazes of several team members around him, he looked at the ice-colored woman's face with a livid face: "How dare you kill me?"
"..."
The steps forward paused slightly, and the cold voice of Xueling Huanbing who was walking in front became much softer: "The reason... As I said before, if other accidents happen, I will never be like this again. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
"I know you will also have other criticisms, but the accident that happened during this competition... you all saw it." Her eyes gradually moved away from Liangchen Miyu's gaze that was staring at her, and her eyes flickered. Put it on others: "Complete the challenge I issued to that man, and then defeat all remaining enemies..."
“Isn’t this ending a more perfect ending?”
In the silent atmosphere where no one responded, she stood quietly for a while, and then when Liangchen Meiyu stopped questioning her, she turned around and walked in the direction of the teleportation array outside the arena. The helpless sighs from Huanhai Kuangxing and Fengqiao Tingyu before leaving also echoed on the roadside filled with sea breeze. What followed was Nan Xiaowu's uneasy eyes looking at Liangchen Meiyu, who just looked towards where the thieves were. The direction waved his hand, and then punched the ground after the other party left: "How dare she..."
How dare she attack me?
Take action against... me as the master?
Just for such a strange reason?
Hadn't she reached the level of control those people mentioned?
Her body trembled involuntarily. Liangchen Meiyu, who was standing alone, covered her face with her hands and became more and more distorted. Her heavy breathing slowly followed the appearance of an expression like her eyes were about to burst. The ground echoed around this area: "It seems that I need to increase the dose, hehehehe..."
"What is a person dreaming about here?"
A deeper voice then interrupted his thoughts, and at the same time, a figure of a player covering his body in a black cloak appeared gradually approaching: "Are you still sad about what happened before, kid?"
"...Don't interfere in my affairs." Still covering her face with her right hand, Liangchen Meiyu turned sideways and looked back at where the other party appeared: "I'm not in a good mood right now."
"I'm not interested in meddling in your business." The black-robed player replied in a low voice: "It's just... you may not have time to mind your own business now."
"The new order has arrived, you'd better go offline and check it now."
He left the last words, and then left this place as silently as when he came, leaving only the sluggish movements of Liangtatsu Miyu standing there, and her face that became cloudy and uncertain again. He hesitated and then followed the road to the teleportation array that left the competition server. In agitated mood, he finally clicked the offline button, and then teleported himself back to Tianxiang Company with his still furious consciousness. In the professional player hall: "...Hello, sir."
"...Yes, we have fallen into the loser group for the time being, but it doesn't matter, this will not affect your plan...eh?"
"The plan...is advanced? Why?"
"But, but we haven't yet - please wait! That woman is still under my control! I can guarantee... Hello, hello?"
"……hateful."
Shooting the light screen in front of her into fragments all over the sky, Liangchen Meiyu angrily jumped out of her game cabin. After a while, she gradually put away her furious expression under the surprised gazes of several staff members around her: "In that case..."
"Then we have to make secondary preparations first."
Forcing himself to calm down, he stood there and pondered for a while. Finally, after glancing at the game cabin in a corner on the other side of the hall, he slowly walked towards the door: "...Hey, my dear, you Where? I have some small things I want to discuss with you."
"Can you find a folder for me?"
His footsteps stopped in front of the game cabin in the corner for a moment, and his eyes finally became decisive. Then he held his communication ball and walked towards the Tianxiang Company building outside the door.
****************************
"……you're awake?"
Some time later, in the underground prison of Zaraha City in the free world, a questioning voice appeared in front of Duan Qing who had just woken up, gradually awakening his still hazy consciousness after going online: "I couldn't scream no matter what I called just now. Wake you up, I even thought you were dead."
"...Ah, that's right."
As if remembering his situation in the free world, Duan Qing's scarred face gradually showed a helpless smile: "Is it... General Bernard? Now it's you who will interrogate me in person?"
"The person standing in front of you now is not a general of the Empire, but an ordinary Imperial person."
With his hands still behind his back, Bernard, who was neatly dressed in military uniform, glanced at the empty prison around him; "What is being conducted now is not an interrogation, but... an ordinary question and answer, adventurer."
"Ordinary questions and answers?" Duan Qing answered him with a puzzled expression: "You? Me? In this place? In this situation?"
Clang.
A loud metal collision then appeared behind Duan Qing, and the iron chain that was originally tied to the pillar was suddenly broken. Bernard, who looked calm, then put away the hand that he suddenly raised from behind. , looking down at Duan Qing who fell to the ground because he was loosened from his bindings: "Okay, can we have a frank talk now?"
"You let me go so easily... aren't you afraid that I'll run away?"
"I have admired your courage from the moment you started going against our empire, so...you can give it a try now."
"……All right."
Bernard, whose eyes vaguely revealed the majestic momentum, looked around, and Duan Qing finally sat down on the blood-stained prison floor: "Please go first, General."
"...I know you know some of the secrets of this city."
Bending slightly, Bernard's gaze slowly fell on Duan Qing's head, who was rubbing his wrist: "I also understand your current situation... In order to escape some unknown dangers, you have to In that case, you would fall into the empire’s trap, right?”
"...That's right." Duan Qing replied casually: "Now...how long has it been?"
"It's been two days." Bernard said in a low voice, "You still have one day."
"One day later, all the problems will be solved..." Then Duan Qing raised his head: "Is this your plan?"
"It's impossible for the empire not to discover the shadows lurking in this city. After all, we are the ones who even expelled the Shadow Society."
Standing upright again, Bernard turned and looked at the entrance of the prison: "The reason why they can still create such a threat under such circumstances... except that they are stronger than the empire. Otherwise, there is only one explanation left.”
"There are people from them in our team." He took two steps forward, then turned back and looked at Duan Qing's face: "Isn't that right?"
"It may also be your own delusion." Duan Qing replied nonchalantly: "Of course it is also possible... both."
"I have some understanding of your identity and strength as the child of destiny." Bernard said expressionlessly: "Looking at your current fate... the latter should be more likely, right?"
"...Why, are you scared?" Then Duan Qing grinned and said: "General Bernard, the commander of the Imperial Goshawk Army, is actually starting to worry about himself?"
"Of course I'm not worried about my own safety, but I'm worried about the empire's interests being harmed." Bernard shook his head and said: "In an imminent situation... there is a high possibility that the empire will suffer a loss in the end, adventurer. "
"So... you are going to use this reason to kill me?"
"We're not talking about eating or killing."
The voices of two people were reflected in the dim cell under the setting sun, and the smile gradually appeared on Bernard's face: "What we are talking about now is..."
"cooperate."
