Chapter 890 - The Fate-Smashing Blade (2/2)

That’s right. ‘He’ belongs in the game.

While I am the ‘reality’.

“Lize, Anne, attack! Surround him and don’t let him escape!”

A strategy came to his mind and he commanded instantly. At the same time, he swiftly retreated while Anne and Lize dashed toward the man from the left and right. But this time they didn’t go up to the man straight away because they knew that the man was as hard to deal with as Rhode. Even though he seemed rather desperate dealing with the three of them, he could easily retaliate their attacks. Anne had a hard time against him, not to mention Lize who barely learned the martial arts from Mini Bubble Gum for less than a year.

Although they couldn’t overpower the enemy, the two young ladies weren’t amateurs on the battlefields either. Shortly after, they picked up speed and stopped the man from heading further. The man revealed a helpless bitter smile, came to a halt, and raised his enormous blade.

“Ah, how reminiscent. This reminds me of the scene when people surround and treat me like the BOSS. This was a common occurrence back then…”

“Hmph!”

Rhode scoffed. He burst forward with his sword in a trail of afterimages and razor-sharp blade rays slashed from the gust of wind.

“Oh? You’re finally serious about this battle?”

The man put up a stern expression. He clutched his sword and gazed silently to the left and right. Initially, Lize and Anne had decided to coordinate with Rhode and launch their attacks together. But for some unknown reasons, they instantly sensed a dangerous vibe as soon as the man shot a look at them, which made them slow down their pace.

At the same time, the tip of Rhode’s blade arrived in his face.

Clang!

Just like before, Rhode’s attack was easily stopped by the man. But this time he didn’t back off. As their blades clashed, Rhode released a shadow clone and launched another attack! The man twitched his brow at this sight. Then, he brandished his enormous blade!

Clang! Clang!

The shadow clone disappeared to the attack and Rhode once again appeared from the shadows. But this time he had no intention of backing off. The instant his shadow clone succumbed to the attack, yet another two shadow clones emerged and struck their swords.

“Interesting. You intend to attack using this strategy? Surely you don’t think that you can defeat me with such a boring and tasteless shadow clone technique?”

The man sulked and let out a snarl. He swung his enormous, shimmering blade and eradicated the shadow clones. But Rhode didn’t give up. The moment the shadow clones were smashed into dust, two more shadow clones showed up and charged forward. Then, they were eliminated yet again.

“This is it!”

The man’s eyes glinted. He let out a loud growl and struck forth with his sword. This time, Rhode was standing right before him!

The incredibly-fast black sword broke the sound barrier and this was the first time that Rhode revealed an astonished expression. But it was too late. The moment he attempted to raise his sword in defense, the black sword slashed from above and struck his body. However… Rhode didn’t collapse. Instead, he shattered into bits and vanished to nowhere.

Sh*t!

The man was bewildered and it was too late. Before he realized it, Rhode had struck forward with his sword.

Clang!

In the blink of an eye, the man’s black sword struck off his hand.

That’s right. Rhode was waiting for this chance.

Although his other self was strong, his attributes were based on humans, after all. On the other hand, Rhode’s current bloodline and strength had surpassed the limits of all humans in the game! Even without [Self-Affirmation], Rhode could rely on his powerful bloodline and turn the situation in his favor!

Anne brandished the shield from the rear and crashed into the man’s back heavily. The immense impact caused the man to straighten his back like a prawn and it shattered his tight armor completely. But before he reacted, Lize appeared before him and mercilessly landed the ultimate punch on his chest.

“Argh!”

The man rolled on the ground desperately while a razor-sharp blade flashed and punctured his chest.

“I didn’t expect… to lose…”

The man gazed silently at Rhode and forced out a smile.

“But this is fine too. It seems like I’ve improved… But… Why did I lose?”

“It’s simple.”

Rhode said.

“Because this is only a game to you while it is a matter of life and death for me.”

That’s right. This was the crucial difference between Rhode and his other self.

There was no such thing as death for players. They could heal if their health was low and respawn if they were killed. But it was entirely different in reality. Players could sacrifice an arm or half a body to defeat the enemies. But if Rhode were to do that here, he would be seeking his own death. Therefore, his strategy now had a decisive difference—protecting himself was the top priority, followed by killing the enemy. Therefore, he had been concealing his strength and only coordinated his attacks with Anne and Lize in the last moment where he revealed his true strength to secure the win. If not, even if his constitution was stronger than most humans, he was sure that his other self would definitely know how to retaliate if he revealed it at the start.

The man was him, after all.

“I see… That’s true. This is only a game for me, after all…”

The man revealed a gentle smile and slowly shut his eyes.

“Hahaha. But don’t think that this is the end, my other self. Do you think that I’m willing to admit defeat just like this?”

“You still got something up your sleeves?”

Rhode twitched his brows. His fate image was gradually vanishing like a melted ice sculpture and this meant that he was entirely done for. Could it be that he hadn’t given up yet?

“Hahaha, do you really think that this is the end?”

His other self burst into laughter. Then, he raised his right hand and winked playfully at Rhode.

“Don’t forget, my other self; I’m the BOSS of this place. Don’t tell me that you won’t be looting my corpse? Judging from our ‘unlucky looting aura’, I sure am excited about what you’re gonna find from my corpse. Hahahaha…”

“You…”

Rhode’s proud expression instantly turned into a sulk.