Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 125

125. Arena (3)

Thud!

The team member who went out for the third match knelt and collapsed.

It was a fight between rogues, but the result was devastating.

“Kuh…….”

“I guess it can’t be done.”

The three team members lowered their heads powerlessly.

They were quite knowledgeable about duels in the arena, but they were far from enough to face her.

They fell helplessly before her overwhelming skill.

On the other hand, the opponent’s remaining health was 96 percent.

Instead of properly reducing her health, all they managed to do was give her a small scratch on the cheek.

‘We’ve met a complete monster.’

Ail, who had been watching the fight closely, looked at her.

A high-level user with a level of over 170.

She wasn’t quite at the level to be a semi-ranker at this point, but she was undoubtedly a very high level.

Moreover, she was a solo user operating without belonging to a guild.

Despite being a high-level user whose hunting grounds were becoming increasingly limited, she was confident in her skills enough to operate without a guild.

“Haa, this feels amazing.”

Chloe, standing alone in the middle of the arena, grinned.

It was her first time stepping into the arena today, but she was able to adapt faster than anyone else.

Above all, the thrill of a sweep play, taking everyone down alone. She even regretted not switching to the captain’s match sooner.

‘But for some reason, the spectators are gathering.’

Chloe subtly turned her gaze.

The spectator seats in the arena, which had been empty until now, were quite full of people in this duel.

“Here, this way! It’s not over yet.”

“Why did the location suddenly change?”

Even now, users who had come from somewhere were entering and gathering one by one.

Even some recognizable celebrities were mixed in among them.

“Is it here?”

A man with dark black hair stepped inside.

Daryun of the Black Wolf.

He was the leader of the 12 Strongest Guilds.

At the same time, as the guild leader of the Black Wolf, famous for its elite members, he was also a top-tier high-ranker, ranking 13th.

“You didn’t have to come all the way here in person…….”

“I have plenty of time to spare right now anyway, so it doesn’t matter,” Daryun said indifferently to the guild member following behind him.

As the owner of 2,101 honor points, it took a lot of time to match him with a worthy opponent befitting his high score.

Once you exceed a certain score range, matching is linked to arenas across the entire continent, but even considering that, there were few targets, so it took a long time.

And Daryun had come to watch while waiting for that tedious matching time.

As he approached and sat in the audience, the surrounding users stirred, of course.

‘Daryun……? Could he be here to see me?’

Chloe, who was standing in the arena, was also shaken.

It was surprising that a high-ranker suddenly appeared on a stage where a mere 1,600-point captain’s match was being held.

‘Well, it’s not easy to reach 1,700 points straight away with 30 consecutive wins. I wonder if he’s trying to scout me… If it’s the Black Wolf guild, not any of the other 12 Strongest, it might be worth joining.’

Chloe’s mood was lifted by the fact that a famous guild leader had come to see her duel in person.

While she was thinking about the contract terms in her head.

“This is surprisingly nerve-wracking.”

Ail, whose turn it was, walked forward.

However, the team members who were watching him walk out from behind did not have even the slightest expectation.

Thanks to the fact that the opposing team also had a good team member, they were in a festive mood, as if they had already won.

On the other hand, the reaction was quite different in the audience watching him from above.

“Both sides have 29 consecutive wins. Is it possible to beat that woman, who is an excessive opponent compared to the score range? If she’s level 170, that means she has twice as many skills to acquire, but no matter how much people are talking about Ail these days…….”

“Well, we’ll have to see. This is an arena, not a field.”

It wasn’t just Daryun and his guild members.

Most of those watching knew it was a difficult situation, but they had a strange sense of anticipation for Ail.

‘The specs themselves aren’t that far behind. My equipment is actually better… The problem is the skills.’

Ail, who had entered the arena, took out his longsword and gripped it.

The difference in the number of skills was absolute in the current situation, and even the patterns she had shown while toying with her team members were few.

He could infer that she used bleeding damage linked to parrying, as well as counter-thrusts and some passives.

Even though she had defeated three people alone, she hadn’t shown many cards, and it was difficult to predict because she wasn’t a specialized class.

[The fourth duel has begun!]

“A lot of people have gathered, but it would be a shame if the ending was like this,” Chloe said with a smirk, after checking Ail’s level.

Even though the countdown was over and the duel had begun, she showed a relaxed appearance, twirling her dagger.

The previous team members were angry at her attitude and rushed at her, but Ail didn’t bother to get involved.

He simply used the Heretic Designation skill in advance.

‘It’s actually a good thing if you come out like that.’

Her skill and specs were the most difficult he had ever encountered, and she was a difficult opponent to beat unless he was careless.

He had to properly utilize the gap he showed at the beginning.

“If you don’t come, I’m going first!”

Chloe, who had taken a stance, threw the dagger in her left hand at Ail.

Ail deflected the dagger that had flown right in front of him with his longsword, and the dagger that had bounced off flew behind him.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Chloe suddenly appeared from the deflected dagger.

The effect of the skill that allows her to leap to the location of the thrown dagger.

Having caught his rear, she immediately stabbed her dagger into his back.

‘This is bad!’

Ail quickly reacted and stepped back.

However, the attack hit in the meantime, leaving a shallow wound on his back.

‘It’s quite tough……?’

Chloe tilted her head, checking her health bar.

The health decreased much less than expected.

If there was no level correction in the arena, his health would have been tattered just by being grazed by her dagger, but not here.

Ail’s arena specs, which had high-grade equipment, skills, and additional stats, were not easy to ignore even from her perspective, who had a much higher level.

‘His reaction is faster than I thought… Is he focused on defense? It’s okay to go in a little more aggressively.’

Investing a lot in defense meant that he was a good toy to play with for a long time.

Chloe fearlessly dug between Ail’s long swords, narrowing the gap, and Ail hurriedly blocked the attacks and was pushed back.

The ever-changing trajectory of the dual daggers approached right in front of his nose and was swung.

It was difficult to block with just one longsword.

However, she, who was intoxicated with her own attack, inevitably had to show a gap, and Ail waited for the moment when that gap would appear.

‘Now!’

Whoosh!

Ail’s Reverse role skill was activated along with the deeply stabbed dagger.

“What……?”

Disappointment was written on Chloe’s face as she slashed through the air.

If he had used the skill openly, she could have reacted, but Chloe’s center of gravity was currently leaning forward excessively.

Thanks to that, Ail was able to completely catch her from behind.

Kwaaaang!

A powerful sword strike and holy fire stretched out and struck Chloe head-on.

She was swept away by the flash, and Ail immediately swung his longsword and spewed out a baptism of fire.

Clang!

Chloe immediately propped herself up with her arm while flying away.

However, the range of the pouring fire was so wide that it was impossible to escape with movement alone.

Inevitably, she used the skill she had been saving until now to avoid the holy fire.

“Okay, one escape skill is gone.”

“You bastard…….”

Chloe gritted her teeth.

She admitted that she was careless, but the movement just now was definitely not at this score level.

40 percent of her health was blown away by one attack she allowed, and Ail was even able to steal some of her speed with the ‘Frost Plunderer’ effect of the longsword.

‘He doesn’t even have a proper attack power correction skill, so how… Is it not luck that he got to this score?’

Her expression hardened as she sensed that something was wrong.

Above all, the fact that she had allowed such an attack to an opponent who was far behind made her pride hurt.

“The fun’s over… I’ll finish you right away.”

‘She’s coming.’

Boom!

Chloe, who stomped her foot, swung her two swords.

Ail blocked the daggers flying in a cross shape by raising his weapon.

However, she narrowed the gap even further as if she had expected it, and lowered her body and stretched out her leg.

Bang!

The consecutive kick that hit his side.

Ail, who was greatly shocked, was about to fly backwards helplessly.

However, she did not even allow her opponent to fall away.

“Hold!”

Stab!

The shadow rose sharply and pierced Ail’s back.

‘Dagger Stab’, which deals double damage to enemies in a bound state, hit his chest, and Chloe, who twisted her body, immediately slammed down ‘Thrill Strike’.

Kwang!

The Thrill Strike, which causes a fear state upon hit.

It was a series of skills that flowed like water, and Chloe stretched out her sword to finish it.

“It’s over!”

Clang!

A heavy sound rang out and Ail was thrown away.

After rolling on the floor for a while, he struggled to get up, propping himself up on the ground.

“Damn it… I almost died.”

Ail wiped the blood flowing from his mouth.

Chloe’s ‘Heart Stab’, which was the last combo, was barely blocked by Ail, who quickly raised his longsword.

Remaining health was 15 percent.

If he had allowed the attack, he would have died without a doubt.

“How did you…….”

“The fear effect doesn’t work on me.”

The effect of the basic passive skill, Fanatical Martyr.

And it was also thanks to the speed he had plundered from her.

Whoosh!

A pure white light enveloped Ail, and the health that had fallen was slowly restored.

One of the two new skills he learned before heading to the arena.

It was the heroic-grade recovery skill, Light of Healing.

It wasn’t a skill that restored a large amount of health at once, but thanks to its continuous recovery effect, wounds could be healed little by little even during battle.

“What the hell is going on?”

“What is that level 80 doing…….”

The team members of both teams were agitated by the unexpected good fight.

And among them, there were those who noticed Ail’s identity.

“Wait a minute! That guy is also 29 wins and 0 losses! He’s on a winning streak too!”

“I thought I’d seen that face somewhere… Could it be……?”

Chloe, who was directly facing him, kicked off in anger when he used a recovery skill.

“Do you think I’ll let you!”

Clatter!

She fearlessly dug inside the gap.

It was her intention to quickly end the game before Ail could fully recover his health.

However, Ail showed off a splendid swap play, switching between daggers, greatswords, and shields according to the situation, and received all of her fierce attacks.

It was also thanks to the speed he had plundered with the effect of the longsword, but the movement of parrying itself was also improved.

“What is it? Something’s changed…….”

Daryun, who was looking at him, muttered.

A sense of incongruity felt from somewhere.

For a brief moment, a subtle light flickered in Ail’s eyes and disappeared.

[Current Synchronization Rate – 99.69%]