Twenty-ninth Chapter - "Guard, Forward

Eni's brows furrowed slightly.

The other party's attitude was overly confident, giving him a sense of entitlement that was both rightful and absurd to the extreme.

"It's a bit... strange," Hubert pushed up his glasses, "the opponent must have something to rely on."

"Come on, what could a student possibly be capable of!" Hans immediately interrupted Hubert, grinning broadly, and said carelessly, "Just give the order, Eni. I want to finish off the opposition quickly and not delay the time for a perfect pass! The woman from Mizushima moves very quickly; we shouldn't fall behind her."

The odd emotions Eni initially felt gradually subsided amid the barrage of cheering support and Hans's suggestions.

Facing Su Ming'an's placid eyes, he felt an unprecedented wavering.

He shook off the strange thoughts in his mind, wanting to end the battle quickly. With a wave of his hand, he directly commanded:

"—Knight Hans, advance!"

Before entering the attack range, the Chess Piece needs to spend several turns advancing. However, for the "Knight," which has a long movement distance, one turn is enough.

Hans moved forward, his eagle-like eyes staring at Su Ming'an, waiting for the next round's attack orders.

Su Ming'an raised his long sword:

"Appoint... Cloning as 'Guard.'"

A flash of red light.

An exact replica of Su Ming'an appeared before him, clad in armor, complete with both hands holding a shield and a long sword.

"Oh?" Hans raised an eyebrow, "An interesting skill — but just means one more slash to deal with."

"Guard, attack the enemy knight," Su Ming'an ordered.

Hans's proactive advance had already brought him within the attack range of the Guard.

Hans calmly watched as the cloning raised its sword in front of him.

The game was turn-based; he had just made a "movement" action, and now it was Su Ming'an's turn. He could not make any actions, including movement or attack, but he could block the opponent's attacks, which made him not fearful at all.

He positioned his Knight's Sword, prepared to block the attack.

The next instant, he connected with the door-sized long sword from the cloning.

"Bang!"

Hans's eyes widened.

"[——HP-520!（Block! Combat Power Suppression!）]"

The health bar slid to the bottom, with death just a step away.

Sweat slowly trickled down Hans's forehead.

—How could this be!

A deathly silence fell over the chessboard.

Hans's eyes were wide, his hands trembling slightly as he gripped his sword.

...If that strike had not been successfully blocked, the damage would have probably exceeded a thousand, enough to kill two of him.

Even Eni's flame damage never reached this extent, how could the opponent possibly!

"Knight, come back," Eni also sensed something amiss and ordered him to return next turn.

A Chess Piece's death meant true death, he could not allow Hans, who was only hanging by a thread, to remain there.

Hans's legs trembled as he walked back, his face still showing fright.

The audience that had initially not expected much exploded instantly:

[Fuck, did I see that right? Five hundred damage from a block?]

[? If it broke the defense, I think I might have witnessed the highest single hit damage value currently.]

[Such a strong skill, Eni Your Majesty won't lose, right?]

[Why do I feel something is off? Su Ming'an's skill is too powerful, what exactly is his novice level rating???]

[...Don't worry, don't worry, no matter how strong the opponent is, it's just two people, and that girl has fainted. Su Ming'an is alone, he can't win.]

[You're right, but it really scared me big time.]

[Is this really just the candidate ranked one hundred? How much has he hidden???]

[...]

Su Ming'an faced Eni's eyes.

In Su Ming'an's vision, the clear combat value of the cloning was plainly visible before his eyes.

[Combat Power (Cloning):210+16*5=290]

This was never a useless skill, nor a mere playful one; it was a Red Level epic skill.

In terms of level, it was on par with Eni's Fire Control, and even stronger — for it was a noble skill from the Red Level Skill Sea, capable of evolution.

Only those rated SS in the novice stages could acquire Red Level skills, and Eni's acquisition of a Red Level skill was merely due to luck, stumbling upon an inferior Red Level skill in the Blue Level Skill Pool.

However, even an inferior Red Level skill had allowed Eni to dominate in renown until now... let alone a genuine Red Level skill.

The combat power of the cloning was directly linked to the Mentality Points.

And Su Ming'an's mentality at this time... reached 16 points.

In other words, Su Ming'an's true strength was never just himself, but rather a complete, fearless cloning that exceeded his own abilities.

However, the limitation of his spiritual power prevented him from attacking the same person simultaneously with his cloning.

The sky was slightly illuminated, marked by a bloody shade of light.

His turn.

"—Guard, advance," Su Ming'an issued his second command.