Chapter 17: Your Imaginations Are Too Shallow

  This weapon can change its length!?

  What a scam, Kai thought. There wasn’t a single mention of this mechanic in the item description. It was only because he paid close attention during battle that he noticed: every time he scrolled the middle mouse wheel, the length of the spear would shift slightly.

  The base length of Zearth’Kai was around 2 meters, with a spiraled grip. The spearhead itself was quite long. When the shaft was shortened, it transformed into something akin to a double-edged sword with a long hilt, about 1.4 meters in total.

  In this form, Kai could comfortably use the Dual Sword style. Two blades whirling through close combat, black steel glinting under a halo of holy light, dancing wildly across the battlefield.

  "Dual Sword!" — Still co-streaming the intense battle via Estapha’s official channel, Helen exclaimed. "Unlike Henry’s heavy twin Long Swords, the traditional Dual Sword style is much faster. This mysterious player Kai—I honestly don’t know whether to call him a Lancer or a Swordsman—his Dual Sword technique is incredibly fluid. With how skillfully he’s controlling his left hand, he’s clearly using two mice, and his APM probably isn’t any lower than Henry’s."

  “Is this guy really a newbie?”

  “Some high-level player smurfing with a new account?”

  “Is there any way to bypass the new account rules?”

  “There’s never been one.”

  “Even if it’s a new account, someone this OP would’ve been famous already.”

  “Can’t think of anyone.”

  “Ignis Flamma?”

  “Don’t be dumb. Why would Ignis Flamma make a new account just to sabotage his own boss?”

  “Still, this newbie knows every trick in Valia. Insane.”

  CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

  Kai had been on the scene for barely five minutes, but those five minutes were some of the most intense in Valia’s entire history. A fresh character with zero hesitation was going toe-to-toe with a legendary boss. His fragile HP bar flirted with death multiple times, leaving viewers holding their breath—yet his attacks never slowed. If anything, they only grew fiercer.

  “Kai has a massive one-time-only advantage, and he’s maximizing it,” Helen analyzed sharply. “First, there’s Lafieii’s newbie buff—obviously. It blocks all negative effects, including Drarkarr’s passive Eclipse Mark. The second advantage? That absolutely broken level-up speed! Drarkarr hasn’t even had time to adjust to this bizarre playstyle, and Kai’s stats and skills just keep skyrocketing, leaving the Emperor reeling. And after one more clash—Kai has hit level 50!”

  Level 50!

  In just five minutes, Kai had turned Drarkarr into an EXP farm and shot up to level fifty! Just as Helen said, the gap between level 1 and 50 was astronomical. From Drarkarr’s perspective, it felt like his opponent just kept getting stronger, faster, more relentless. No—faster, to the point of absurdity, even for a level 50.

  “Don’t overthink it,” Ignis’s voice rang coldly in his ear. “He dumped all his points into Speed and Attack Speed. That’s it. And his Deter Cheat isn’t complete yet. Don’t let it psych you out.”

  As always, Ignis Flamma remained calm and collected. Maybe the situation wasn’t as dire as Drarkarr feared? Right—he was still the supreme Emperor, holding unmatched power in Valia. The other guy was just a fresh character with no gear. That power imbalance couldn’t just disappear.

  So this was just mind games? Bluffing like in poker, trying to throw him off balance? Drarkarr got it now. He needed to calm down. The opponent had no damage, no defense, and poured everything into speed—just to match his speed. The kid couldn’t deal real damage, but he was annoying. Like a buzzing fly in his ear.

  Should he ignore the fly and go after Elenora behind him? The thought crossed his mind. But Ignis hadn’t said anything about that. If he ignored the pest to attack Elenora, he’d be dealing with a raid boss while being harassed constantly. The fly’s lightning rod skill was clearly meant to bait him into that exact trap. No—the only solution was to take down that damned lightning rod.

  Was Ignis serious when he said the opponent’s Deter Cheat wasn’t complete? That made sense. Someone who just stepped into Valia couldn’t have mastered such an advanced skill—a skill even Ignis had needed time to hone.

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  Steady attacks. Focus. Steady attacks. If this was a bluff, consistency would reveal a crack in the illusion.

  Drarkarr took a deep breath. He shifted his mindset, no longer seeking explosive reactions or rapid combos, and abandoned the urge to finish his opponent quickly. Instead, he adopted his usual combat style, using the full power of his Emperor character to face a level 50 opponent.

  Sure enough, after Ignis’s reminder cleared his thoughts, he realized his opponent’s attacks were nothing more than a grasshopper trying to stop a carriage.

  "You’re quite the show-off," Drarkarr said with a smirk while casually deflecting blows, "but you’re still far from seeing through things like Ignis can."

  Yes, after all, this was “just” a level 50 dual-wielding character.

  Pfff!

  Unexpectedly, the opponent sneered.

  Clang!!!

  Kai thrust his left sword forward. Ignis blocked. Kai instantly canceled the move, jumped into the air, spun, and swung down with his right sword.

  Heroic Judgment?

  It was a flashy move, but due to Kai’s extreme speed—boosted by Elenora’s buff—and the close distance after using Deter Cheat, Drarkarr couldn’t counter in time. Even so, the obvious nature of the move made it easy for Drarkarr to step back and dodge the impact zone.

  Whoosh!

  Just then, the sword extended into a spear, slashing down his shoulder, spraying blood.

  "Ignis Flamma, huh?" Kai chuckled. "You too—your imagination is far too shallow!"

  As soon as his feet touched the ground, Kai leapt forward again, his left-hand spear stretching out in a thrust.

  Drarkarr regained his posture and retaliated with a sweeping strike aimed at the spear’s shaft. His scythe had a hooking feature—treated like a Hook skill when landed properly, increasing its precision. If it hooked an enemy’s weapon, it practically nullified any Deter Cheat attempt. Dodging a single freeze frame was one thing, but could Kai really free his weapon from the scythe’s hook?

  Just then, the spear retracted back into a sword. The hook sliced through thin air. Drarkarr, caught mid-action, couldn’t cancel the move. He had to follow through with the full swing, while Kai didn’t slow down. Seizing the tempo mismatch, Kai twisted his body and slashed upward.

  Rising Slash!

  As the blade swung up, Zearth’Kai suddenly extended again, shocking Drarkarr. The black spearhead whipped past his vision—and blood followed. Drarkarr barely dodged in time, but the spear still tore through one side of his face.

  "You—!!"

  The screen turned red once more. Rage surged inside Drarkarr. His opponent’s emotionless face appeared right before him. He gripped his scythe with both hands and brought it crashing down.

  Thunk!!!

  The scythe struck nothing but air—and Drarkarr was hit again. His opponent had used Shadow Step to fade into the void, simultaneously thrusting the spear forward. It was the same combo Drarkarr had used earlier—except this time, it landed.

  "You bastard—!!!"

  Drarkarr kept swinging. His attacks came faster and harder than before.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  His crimson scythe clashed violently against two black blades. The sound of their collisions had become familiar. No one knew how many times Kai had used Deter Cheat to seize the advantage after every clash.

  “How long can he keep this up?”—that was the question on everyone’s mind. Deter Cheat wasn’t a move you could spam at will. You had to land a clean hit, time the cancel frame, input a new command to overwrite the old one—it was a demanding cycle requiring perfect control and intense concentration.

  Unlike the battle between equals like Ignis and Henry—where a few failed Deter Cheats weren’t devastating—any failed attempt from a rookie challenging the Emperor could mean instant death.

  Everyone was counting silently. Ten times. Ten successful times in a row!

  Ten consecutive Deter Cheats—was this skill or luck? But more importantly, how long could this streak continue?

  CLAAANNNGGGG!!!

  Hearts skipped a beat. On the 11th clash, the miracle ended. Kai failed to Deter Cheat, and his right-hand spear was knocked clean out of his hand by Drarkarr’s overwhelming strength.

  “Oh no!”—a collective gasp of regret.

  "No! That’s not it!" Helen shouted.

  If you failed a weapon clash, immediately letting go of your weapon meant your character wouldn't get stunned by recoil. This principle was far simpler than Deter Cheat.

  Helen didn’t have time to finish her sentence—Kai had already proven her right. He dared to drop his weapon because, for him, weapons were the one thing he had in excess.

  The moment he dropped the spear, his right hand reached behind his back and drew another. Maintaining his reverse grip, he twisted his body and slashed across Drarkarr’s waist.

  "As I said—your imagination is too shallow."

  "Arggggghhhhh!!!!!"

  Drarkarr swung downward, but Kai had already vanished.

  Triple Slash! The last strike wasn’t just a regular slash—it was Triple Slash. He could dash and slash three times. The first hit connected, while the other two helped him widen the distance. Oh, and Kai canceled the third strike, rolling away just in time!

  Rolling on the ground, Kai narrowly dodged a deep crimson Crimson Eclipse that swept past him. From the ground, he leapt backward, raising a spear in one hand to shoulder level.

  Piercing Throw!

  The spear cut through the wind, stabbing directly into Drarkarr—who had just finished his failed Crimson Eclipse.

  The world erupted in cheers.

  From start to finish, Kai hadn’t dealt much damage to Drarkarr. In fact, the boss had burned more of his own health than he had taken. But no one cared about that. All they saw was a performance beyond brilliant—a creative, inspired playstyle, a miracle descending from the heavens.

  Not just players who had once played Valia, but even those who had never cared, never heard of it—were now completely drawn into this battle. In just a few short minutes, Valia became the most talked-about topic worldwide.

  And there were those who had waited for this moment. Or perhaps, there was never any guarantee this miracle would happen—but when it did, a rare few were there to witness it.

  ===

  "Let’s go back, Drarkarr," Ignis’s cold voice rang out again.

  "What? No way! Victory is just within arm’s reach!" Drarkarr stared at the fragile-looking rookie, who seemed like he could be crushed at any moment—yet still stood there, protecting a nearly bloodless, mana-drained Elenora. He couldn’t accept this.

  "That arm’s length is now a bottomless abyss. Turn on the news. A new nation has just been born."