Yu Cheng’s strategy against Kang Lan was undoubtedly provided by Mo Tan. His motive was simple: he just thought it wouldn't be a bad thing for her to accumulate more practical experience. After all, the identity of a Saintess was too sensitive; despite its many benefits, it also meant Yu Cheng would hardly get any combat opportunities, which wasn't a good thing for a player.
Moreover, Mo Tan also felt that Yu Cheng was not without a chance of winning, as long as she used the right method…
If a typical Priest were to duel a Forest Ranger of the same level, they would naturally have no chance of winning, especially against a relatively high-level player like Kang Lan. After all, a healing class is a healing class; even Sun Priests and Justice Priests, who have many combat skills, would be suppressed to death, let alone a Dawn Sect Priest with almost no offensive divine spells.
But Yu Cheng was not an ordinary Priest; she was a God-blessed one with the Saintess profession.
And she was a dual God-blessed one of the Dawn Goddess and the Darkness Goddess!
As long as she carefully considered the opponent's psychology and prepared countermeasures in advance, Yu Cheng would definitely not be a soft persimmon to be easily manipulated, even in a duel!
Mo Tan had already gained a sufficient understanding of Kang Lan during the previous two gatherings, and the sparring match of just over five minutes had also given him a preliminary grasp of the latter's fighting style…
Although he didn't have the incredible instant reaction speed of his ‘lawful good’ personality, nor the cunning strategies of his ‘chaotic neutral’ personality, with the information from both, Mo Tan at this moment could devise a highly successful plan.
From the current battle situation, the rhythm was very good!
However, the others didn't think so; everyone was a little worried about Yu Cheng…
“The situation isn't looking good.” Cordova said gravely, his arms crossed, staring at the light screen displaying both their stats. “Although Yu Cheng’s recovery ability is strong, she probably won’t last much longer at this rate.”
Huo Yan Yang also nodded in agreement: “Exactly, the main problem is her attack ability is too weak. That bright light arrow barely does any damage; even if Kang Lan doesn't dodge, he won't lose much health. On the other hand, if Yu Cheng continues to exchange mana for health like this, she’ll run out very soon…”
Ji Xiaoge flapped a wing and made him stumble: “What are you saying?!”
“Uh, I mean, out of mana, out of mana!” Huo Yan Yang chuckled awkwardly, spreading his hands: “Healing spells restore health, but mana consumption is real. Yu Cheng has no way to control her mana under such intense, continuous attacks.”
Yi Dong shared the same view as the others, but he didn't step forward to state his position, because Mo Tan still maintained his calm demeanor.
Ji Xiaodao also remained silent, only frowning slightly in thought. She didn't even glance at Kang Lan, observing Yu Cheng the entire time. Although the latter's current situation wasn't optimistic, she showed no sign of discouragement and continued to heal herself in an orderly fashion.
In less than two minutes, Yu Cheng’s health had been pushed down to 65%, and her mana was only 50% remaining. She had maximized the effectiveness of all her skills as much as possible, and so far, there had been no instances of overhealing or skill cooldown gaps. From a healing perspective, she was flawless.
But a match isn’t just about healing…
Kang Lan’s health was still at 90%, and his agility and mana consumption were both less than half.
【I can win, as long as I drag this out until Yu Cheng’s mana reaches zero or her skill cooldowns can't keep up!】
Kang Lan thought to himself while moving at high speed in an erratic pattern. He drew his longbow to a full moon, and another Sound-Tracking Arrow struck Yu Cheng’s slender shoulder.
Although everyone knew that the pain in the game wasn't severe, the blooming blood spatters in mid-air still made Ji Xiaoge and Cordova instinctively close their eyes for a moment.
Mo Tan didn't close his eyes, and he finally saw the scene he had been waiting for.
Yu Cheng, whose health had dropped below 50%, suddenly smiled…
Yi Dong and Ji Xiaodao, who had already felt that the girl might have a chance to turn the tables, immediately perked up.
And Kang Lan, who was in the Arena, seemed to sense something. He quickly put away his longbow, activated the Split Light Step which had just finished its cooldown, and as he became semi-transparent, he quickly widened the distance between himself and Yu Cheng.
He had an extremely ominous Premonition!
Unfortunately, Kang Lan's Premonition was correct.
Two seconds ago, a crisp system notification sounded in Yu Cheng’s ear — 【You have triggered: Dark Interference】
Two seconds later, a pillar of light wreathed in golden holy radiance descended from the sky, precisely striking Kang Lan!
The spectators felt a blur before their eyes, and then they saw Kang Lan's health bar on the light screen rapidly plummeting, completing the terrifying sequence of 90%, 50%, 30%, 10%, 0% in just one second.
This time, besides Mo Tan, everyone, including Ji Xiaodao, was dumbfounded, completely unable to believe what they were seeing, and struggled to comprehend what that dazzling, surging, suddenly appearing, sacred-aura-filled pillar of light above the Arena was!?
Huo Yan Yang stared wide-eyed at Mo Tan: “You Priests have such heaven-defying skills?!”
The latter shook his head slightly, smiling without a word. After all, a skill like Dawn Wish was not something ordinary Priests could learn. His denial was not wrong, but…
【That thing probably has nothing to do with Dawn Wish~】
Mo Tan turned his head to look at the un-dissipated pillar of light on the Arena, feeling a bit surprised himself. Although he thought the Dawn Wish skill would be incredibly powerful when Dark Interference was triggered, the impact of Kang Lan being instantly killed was indeed a bit strong…
His guess was not wrong; the divine spell Yu Cheng just cast was indeed not Dawn Wish.
Let’s take a peek from a God's-eye view…
【Dark Apocalypse】 (Brilliant Holy Radiance Activated)
Shadow Active Skill
Requirements: God-blessed one of Darkness Goddess 'Diliya'
Cost/Restriction: 30% Max Mana, 30% Max Faith, 30% Max Stamina
Effect: Summons Dark Apocalypse in the designated area, dealing massive shadow damage to all units within that area and reducing all their attributes by 25%, movement speed by 10%, and all resistances by 5% for the next five minutes. Dark Apocalypse has a 100/80/60/40/20/1% chance to dispel 1/2/3/4/5 or all buff effects on the hit unit and convert them into 【Ode to Shadow】. Each stack of 【Ode to Shadow】 will deal a small amount of shadow damage to the unit after a short delay, with a maximum of 5 stacks bursting simultaneously. Deals an additional 20% damage to followers of Dawn Goddess Pakesi. Cooldown: 300 minutes.
【Note: Hello, the deity you are calling is God knows if they are in service area, but because you have activated the ‘God-blessed one’ advanced VVVVVIP service, you can still successfully cast this spell. Thank you for your payment, enjoy your game. PS: If the mall system were activated, we'd be rolling in money! I'm not convinced, ah ah ah ah — Finance Director's final note. (PS of PS: How can any player see the notes for two God-blessed one exclusive skills simultaneously! Then wouldn't our conspiracy to copy-paste and pad the word count be exposed! Are you joking, being blessed by multiple deities!? *Slam!*)】
Indeed, this 【Dark Apocalypse】 was the Dawn Wish skill twisted by the Inconstant Divinity talent. Its effect was extremely powerful and overbearing, so powerful that Kang Lan was directly annihilated before he even had a chance to suffer the secondary damage from 【Ode to Shadow】!
This was not something unimaginable. Firstly, although Yu Cheng did not have (fixed) damaging spells, her intelligence attribute and equipment were real, plus her numerous extra bonuses as a God-blessed one, the divine spells she cast were all very powerful. And there were two more points…
First, the 300-minute cooldown time alone shows how strong Dark Apocalypse is.
Second, Yu Cheng only used this skill after triggering 【Dark Interference】!
Let's review —
【Inconstant Divinity】
Passive Talent
Trait 1: When you cast a Holy Light spell, there is a 50% chance to trigger Dawn Divinity, increasing the effect of your next Holy Light spell by 100% and reducing its cooldown by 50%. There is a 25% chance to trigger Dark Interference, causing the effect of your next Holy Light spell to mutate, increasing its effect by 100% and reducing its cooldown by 50%.
Trait 2: Omitted
【Note: They are high above, they love (crossed out) kill each other, they are at loggerheads… But they all dote on you.】
Do you see that line ‘effect increased by 100%, cooldown reduced by 50%’?
Kang Lan truly died without injustice. Among the people present, besides Cordova and the Shadow-affinity Ji Xiaodao, anyone hit by that thing would instantly perish.
If this skill were controllable, Yu Cheng could probably rank high on the personal combat power list with just this one skill, 【Dark Apocalypse】.
In short, a thousand words boil down to four…
【You have been defeated】
Less than nine minutes later, Xiao Kang once again heard this system prompt, and then he was transmitted back to the room with an incredibly resentful expression.
Yu Cheng also didn't strike a pose for half a minute like Cordova; after securing the victory, she immediately chose to leave the Arena.
“Congratulations! Congratulations, congratulations!!” Huo Yan Yang immediately gave Kang Lan a warm hug, patting his back with a chuckle: “You finally got your wish and met a true strong one!”
Kang Lan kicked him: “Get lost!”
Yu Cheng, meanwhile, scurried over to Mo Tan, extending her small hand with a beaming smile: “Amazing! I won~”
“Excellent instant kill!” Mo Tan immediately understood, extended his hand, and lightly high-fived Yu Cheng, praising: “You played wonderfully, not a single problem.”
“Hehe~”
Yu Cheng scratched her hair, revealing a rare, innocent smile: “If Mo Tan hadn't given me ideas, I definitely would have been defeated by Kang Lan right away.”
Xiao Kang, dishevelled, crestfallen, ashen-faced, and speechless, looked back at the two of them and muttered softly: “I lost, I lost from every angle. Why am I always the one who gets hurt? Why am I so unlucky…”
“Your mental fortitude is too weak.” Cordova, leaning against the nearby wall, curled his lips: “This is nothing.”
“Yu Cheng is so amazing!” Ji Xiaoge fluttered her wings and flew (from behind) into a hug with Yu Cheng, rubbing her face vigorously against the latter’s: “You really brought honor to us girls! God-blessed ones are so cool!”
Yi Dong shivered a little from not far away, muttering softly: “If it were me, ten lives wouldn't be enough to survive that last hit…”
As an Eternal Clan Necromancer, he had some self-awareness, but that Dark Apocalypse with the added light effect wouldn't cause him any extra damage; in fact, due to the nature of the power, its lethality would even decrease. Of course, it would still be enough to instantly kill him.
“Ahem.” At this moment, Cordova walked over with a serious expression and smiled at Yu Cheng, who was struggling in Ji Xiaoge's embrace: “How about we, the winners, have a spar too?”
Yu Cheng froze for a moment, then instinctively looked at Mo Tan.
The latter immediately shook his head so fast it became a blur…
Are you kidding? Kang Lan's oppressive, control-oriented playstyle was fine, but if it were Cordova, that monster, fighting Yu Cheng, it would be a simple matter of him just smacking her down.
“Hmm, let’s not fight.” Yu Cheng immediately shook her head agreeably, whispering: “I definitely can't beat Xiao Yu.”
Cordova didn’t give up: “Just try! I’ll let you hit me for a while first!”
Yu Cheng continued to shake her head: “No, no, I just got lucky earlier…”
Cordova's mischievous intent persisted: “Just one match! Just one! It’s my first time playing in the Arena, and just smashing Kang Lan isn’t satisfying enough~”
But Ji Xiaoge immediately disagreed. She glared fiercely at Cordova: “What? You mean you want to try smashing our Yu Cheng to death too?”
“Uh, that’s not what I meant.” Cordova was startled by her aura and instinctively took half a step back, chuckling awkwardly: “I just want to play a couple more matches. The others are too weak. Look, I’m ranked second on the overall leaderboard, and Yu Cheng is fifth, not much difference, right…?”
Ji Xiaoge waved her small hand: “Stop talking nonsense. Yu Cheng said she doesn’t want to fight, so you’re not allowed to bully her!”
Cordova shrunk his neck: “Oh.”
“But you know~”
Ji Xiaoge suddenly changed her tone and said to him with a cheerful smile: “If you don’t mind me, the eighth-ranked on the overall leaderboard, being too weak, I can certainly spar with you~”
Cordova was overjoyed: “Great, great!!”
“Sister?” Ji Xiaodao, who had been in deep thought, immediately looked up, somewhat bewildered, at Ji Xiaoge: “You’re going to fight this guy?”
Ji Xiaoge flapped her wings and flew up lightly, her ankle-length hair gently swaying in the air, a radiant smile on her pretty face: “Yep! I’m going to beat him to death!”
“Haha~” Cordova chuckled, clapping his hands: “Alright! It’s settled then!”
Yi Dong knew that Mo Tan’s ‘lawful good’ character was very familiar with Ji Xiaoge, so he shot him a look that asked, “Can she win too?”
Mo Tan rested his chin on his hand and paused for half a second, then suddenly chuckled and gave Yi Dong a look back.
‘Yep, she’s definitely winning.’
Yi Dong: “?!”
Chapter 235: End
