Chapter 275 Warm-up Match 14 (1/2)
Although the situation was bad, Hubert did not give up. To the contrary, he quickly calmed down and focused on guarding his own back. Soon, Hubert suddenly stepped forward and waved his sword to block Joey's sudden attack.
I failed again!
Once again, Joey's attack had been seen through by Hubert, which made Joey quite disappointed. He had learned his lesson from before and immediately chose to attack Hubert first, but was he that gullible? Joey had suffered once under his hand; obviously, he could guess that Joey would certainly attack him once he disappeared, so he stayed vigilant. However, when Hubert thought he finally found another chance to attack, Joey suddenly swung his dagger forward and winded it towards Hubert's sword. Followed by this action, Joey suddenly turned his body around and flashed through Hubert.
Hubert finally realized that he was on the edge of the ring!
Bad!
At this moment, Hubert was already feeling very frightened, but before he could come up with a better idea, Joey had already flown forward and heavily kicked Hubert's butt. Hubert was unable to block the kick and fell from the ring embarrassingly. Naturally, it was counted as his loss.
After taking care of Hubert, Joey seemed to gain some courage and this time, he didn't hide anymore and directly charged towards the enemy like a fighter.
Seeing Hubert's loss, that person fell into panic and didn't know how to react when facing Joey's attack. In the end, Joey also kicked him out of the ring and ended the battle.
The outcome turned out to be good, but when Joey came down from the ring, he wore an awkward smile on his face.
Even though he managed to escape by seizing opportunities in the previously chaotic situation and defeated the remaining two, but his performance was still very pitiful. Randolf and the others wanted to comfort him, but they couldn't. Because everyone could see the scene from before; although he managed to win the fight, it was obvious that he made several mistakes because of his indecisiveness. Rhode was clear from the beginning to the end; if Joey didn't make an opportunity that led to Hubert's mistake, he would have lost. Rhode was sure that if Joey fought once again, the result wouldn't be as good as now.
”Leader, I… I passed right?”
Perhaps Joey noticed his own mistake; after going down from the stage, he immediately rubbed his hands and smiled. However, hearing his question, Rhode didn't say anything and only waved his hands.
”Don't try to find an excuse.”
Upon hearing this, Joey's face turned gloomy. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Then, he sighed and sat down. At this time, Lapis had already prepared some potions and bandages and was about to bandage his wounds. The voices around him were no longer as unified as before; the feedback was mixed. Some were cheering and some were mocking him, and it was unusually noisy around them. It was no wonder that most of the spectators felt that way. They expected a lot after watching the first battle. Although Lize's battle was somewhat inexplicable, seeing that she was a beautiful, innocent girl, they didn't make things difficult for her. However, Joey was different; he wasn't handsome or strong. Although he still won, his pitiful performance from before still made them subconsciously think that Starlight had barely won. They needed to fight perfectly or else the spectators wouldn't be satisfied.
”Starlight is just so-so.”
”He fought so poorly. As expected of a Thief; no courage at all. The girls are far stronger! What's the point of hiding all day?”
”Just look at his face…”
These words could be heard everywhere. Joey lowered his head and his expression couldn't be seen. It was clear that he couldn't accept such an evaluation. Indeed, he didn't fight perfectly, but he still won, right? Was there anything more important than winning? Wasn't the fact that he could defeat five elites at the same time enough to prove his strength?
Joey's heart was full of grievances, and he wanted to refute those sarcastic words, but he also didn't know what to say. In the end, he said nothing and chose to remain silent.
Because in his opinion, there was no point in saying anything right now.
That being the case, then it would be better to say nothing.
Rhode didn't even look at Joey as if he were a loser, not a winner. He didn't even turn his head and just stretched out his hand and made a hand gesture towards Randolf. Soon, Randolf stood up. Although he wanted to say something to Rhode, after seeing Rhode's expression, he decided not to say anything. But from the looks of it, Rhode didn't care about that. After Randolf stood in front of him, Rhode nodded at him.
”It's your turn.”
After listening to his words, Randolf didn't prepare anything and stepped into the ring. However, this time, the situation was a bit unexpected.
Even though Hubert had lost, the remaining two teams used the same method as him. At this moment, there were three mercenaries on the stage. Just like Hubert, they said that they weren't a match against Starlight, so they wanted to fight together. They also thought that it was very difficult to win against Starlight single-handedly. Although the spectators thought that Joey's performance was pitiful and embarrassing, the fact that it was a 5 vs. 1 battle couldn't change. That's why these elites decided to throw their original discomfort and pride. They began to accept the gap between them and Starlight and play shamelessly.
In their opinion, even if they lost, there were others who would share the same mockery. At least, it was better than fighting alone pitifully and getting mocked by everyone.
Also, by fighting this way, the odds were greater. Just look at Hubert—didn't he nearly succeed?
However, these elites didn't have the ability to command five people at the same time like Hubert. So after they discussed it, they decided to let the three weaker mercenaries to go first, while the stronger two were responsible for suppressing the opponent from both sides. Seeing their attitude, Rhode didn't seem to have any protests. If it were just a regular match, then it would be strictly limited to a 1 on 1 battle. However, the challenge match was relatively loose, and as long as both sides agreed, then even 1 vs. 10 was allowed. Now, Randolf's opponents would be the three of them. Clearly, the situation was somewhat unfavorable for him. Randolf didn't mean to have stage fright, but he hesitated for a while. In the end, he still agreed and walked towards the ring.
”L-leader, is it really okay like this?”
Lapis looked at the ring with a worried expression. Although they were not siblings by blood, Lapis had always regarded Randolf as her brother. Naturally, she was worried for him now.
However, Rhode didn't answer Lapis's question and continued to focus on the ring.
The fourth match finally began. 1 vs. 3 was very unfavorable for a Ranger because Rangers were similar to Thieves. They were better at long-range attacks than melee attacks. If a Thief was like an Assassin, then a Ranger was like a sniper lurking in the forest, hiding in the dense jungle and aiming from afar. An arrow that suddenly appeared from nowhere was enough to scare off most enemies. No matter how strong the enemy was, they were not so strong when a Ranger was in the forest. Many times, even if they tried their best, it was still difficult to find the Ranger.
However, the current situation was different. In this ring, there was no place to cover him up, and the magical cloak that was able to change color based on environment was already given to Joey. That was why it would be very difficult for him to face the enemy. Not to mention, to avoid any accidents in the ring, he had already turned all his arrow shafts before the battle, making it less lethal and reducing the danger for the enemy. If the opponent forcefully went up against those arrows to come into close contact with the Ranger, then the situation would be really bad. Those mercenaries were obviously aware of this. Randolf noticed that they were wearing standard mercenary clothing. They held a shield in their left hand and a sword in their right. If they got close to him, then they would greatly suppress him.