Chapter 295 - Roland’s Saber Arts are Strong Too
Roland and the others were also in full-body armor, even wearing helmets.
After all, full-body armor was not very convenient to wear, and to be able to participate in the competition in a moment, they usually put it on and didn’t take it off until the competition was over.
Meanwhile, the netizens in the livestream howled when they saw how Roland and the others looked after putting on the armor.
“The second team is essentially the replacement team. Take a look at the difference in physique between the first and second team—there’s even less hope.”
“And do you see what weapons they’re using, two with a sword and shield, and three with long tachi? Is this a national team or a Japanese team.”
“Is this a team in Monster Hunter Online going to hunt Lunastra?”
“Wake up, Monster Hunter Online is long gone.”
“A bunch of ignorant ones, that’s a miaodao. A pure domestic weapon.”
“Don’t mention the miaodao, even the Green Dragon Crescent Blade is not good enough to use in a full-armor combat competition. When the national team first competed in the full-armor combat, didn’t they use the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and get their brains beaten out?”
“There’s no chance anyway, the second team is obviously just a stopgap. But that’s normal, full-armor combat is too non-mainstream. Many of our countrymen don’t want to participate—there are too few talents. Can’t you guys see that there’s not even enough people to make up the third team?”
The female streamer also noticed the gloomy atmosphere in the livestream, she laughed dryly and said, “Don’t be so pessimistic, there might be a miracle! One has to look on the bright side, right?”
In reality, even the female streamer herself didn’t think highly of Roland and the others.
It was just that she was officially paid to promote full-armor combat; otherwise, she, a female streamer with nearly a million followers, would only have come to such a stinky acid-smelling place to livestream if she had gotten sick in the head... Wouldn’t it be much better to stay in a cute house, sell her adorableness, and sing songs just to gain countless accolades?
But it couldn’t be helped; the officials offered a price that she could not refuse.
After the female streamer finished speaking, there was another wave of bullet-screen comments; there were those who were discouraged, those who were jesting, and those who thought there might be a miracle—of course, just a very small number.
The main team left the tournament area dejectedly. Lin Zhaotong immediately greeted them and said, “It doesn’t matter if you lost, you guys met a strong team after all. It’s good that you performed this well.”
A certain player on the main team looked at Roland and the others and said helplessly, “This time it’s another single-match trip. I wasn’t seeking first place, but at least getting third place—at least there was hope, but unfortunately, we ran into the Russian team right off the bat.”
historical
The other players of the main team sighed deeply.
The other matches were soon over.
There was quite a big difference in strength in full-armor combat competitions, and generally, the stronger ones like the Russian and German teams were big and powerful.
The small team battles didn’t take much time.
Soon the second round of matches would start, so Roland and the others moved quickly to the seventh arena.
The female streamer held her phone and followed them.
Under the guidance of the staff, Roland and the others entered the arena from the right side. Their opponents also entered the arena.
Three opponents had swords and shields, and two had long two-handed axes.
Judging from the flag carved on their chests, they were from some small South Asian country.
The people in that region weren’t very tall and were similar to the people from southern China, so on the surface, both sides seemed to be evenly matched.
The female streamer pointed her camera at the arena, sweeping it left and right two times slowly, and then said into the Bluetooth mic, “Although the second team doesn’t look as strong as the first, they seem to have good luck—the other team doesn’t look very strong. There’s a chance of winning.”
There was a similar atmosphere in the livestream.
“Not bad, this small South Asian country is very average, even the second team can beat them, I think.”
“At least it won’t be as ugly as getting a shaved head.”
“This world is always balanced, the strong meets the stronger, the average versus the average.”
“If they’re lucky, they might even be able to get into the top five. The strength of the full-armor combat teams is average except for three or four strong teams. In reality, our main team is quite strong, just unlucky to have bumped into the Russians.”
At this moment, Qi Shaoqiu was also looking at the livestream and the bullet-screen comments on there. Qi Shaoqiu smiled affectedly, like some basketball superstar[1] from an emoji bundle.
Lin Zhaotong, who was standing at the side, was stunned to see such an odd smile from Qi Shaoqiu. He leaned over and looked at the bullet-screen comments on the phone, also immediately revealing an affected Kazuo Hirai[2] smile.
The referee arrived on the scene, and after first confirming the number of people on both sides, and whether the weapons used were within limits, he signaled for the two sides to begin.
The five players from the small country of South Asia were lined up in a row, all of them with their hands open, bellowing as they walked forward.
On the other hand, Roland’s side didn’t say anything and just held their weapons and slowly stepped forward.
There were immediately more bullet-screen comments in the livestream.
“Look at that, the other side’s imposing manner, and then look at our side, one can immediately tell who is the better. I think there’s not much of a chance this time.”
“That’s right, it doesn’t matter if you’re not strong, you should at least have an imposing manner. Cold warfare is all about being formidable.”
“Sigh, it’s the second team, after all, be lenient.”
At the scene, the other party was still about three meters away from Roland and the others, and they continued to roar because based on experience, the opponents could not attack at this distance.
But Roland, Brazil, and Schuck moved at the same time.
The three of them took two steps at the same time and then used the stepping frontal slash at the same time, so uniformly as if they had rehearsed it.
The length of the miaodao was about one and a half meters, and with the length of the arms, it was a full two meters of reach.
Stepping and leaning forward, one could get almost another meter of distance, so three meters was almost the limit attack range for the miaodao.
The blade struck downward, directly at the other’s head.
The players from the small South Asian country were still roaring to bolster their imposing manner.
As a result, none of them had enough reaction speed to avoid this slash, and although they had shielded upward in a protective action, they were still too late.
The end of the miaodao struck directly on the opponent’s helmet, leaving a short dent after a clang.
If it was an edged weapon, it could really split this helmet in half.
But without an edged blade, it just couldn’t break the defense.
But even so, the other side still didn’t feel good.
To an outsider, it sounded like a crisp clang, but to the attacked, it was a loud thud.
Somewhat dizzy from the shock, the player who was attacked by Roland made a move with his shield to protect his head as he retreated.
Roland switched feet again to step forward, but this time it was no longer a vertical chop, but a diagonal upward slash.
This player had to raise his left arm to protect his head, which exposed his armpit.
The upward slash directly hit him on the armpit, also making a clanging sound.
The full-body armor also shielded this area, but the defense would be lower.
If there was no protection, Roland’s miaodao could still injure his opponent’s shoulder joint even without an edged blade.
The small South Asian player felt numb under his armpit at this moment, and his left hand went a little soft, so he was even more frightened into stepping back.
Roland took one more step forward, quickly retracted the miaodao onto his shoulder, then turned around sharply and used the most powerful turning horizontal slash amongst the miaodao stances.
In the process of turning around, Roland suddenly noticed that the surroundings seemed to slow down for a moment, and he seemed to have cut through something.
Like white lightning, the miaodao then slashed at the opponent’s helmet—the position of the temple.
The saber sliced through the air with a whistling sound that was quick and sharp.
The end of the miaodao blade swept through the opponent’s helmet, and the small South Asian contestant’s entire body was knocked down to Roland’s right.
On the side, Qi Shaoqiu stood up abruptly, a look of disbelief in his eyes.
[1] Yao Ming Face
[2] Sony’s former CEO, who is also famous for his smile