Chapter 417: Chapter 404: Heard You’re the Number One Swordsman in the National Server? (Third Update! Vote for Monthly Tickets! Vote Vote Vote Vote Vote!!)

The supposed stabbing of Queen Mei by Thorne was fake, just a special effect.

But Thorne’s intention to kill the players before him was real!

Jiang Qiao followed the event through a foreign live broadcast. This morning, the Emperor had been brutally killed by Caramel, and the matter of Caramel cheating blew up on the internet overseas, causing an uproar.

However, the controversy was eventually quelled when Lu Wei climbed to the top of the Global Competition Arena rankings.

The coincidental presence of Lu Wei, Juan Canyun, and Caramel at the awarding ceremony attracted fans from all over the world to this intriguing coincidence.

“Is this the award ceremony for the strongest offensive player in the competition?”

“The reason why Caramel brutally killed the Emperor has been found.”

Even though Lu Wei became the top-ranked player in the competition, it did not prevent Thorne from prioritizing killing her first.

Thorne had already observed the situation in secret when he attempted to assassinate Queen Mei. He evaluated which Holy Spirit posed the greatest threat to him on this narrow platform.

Lu Wei, with her wide-range AOE blasting skills, was deadly to Thorne on this small platform.

What was even more lethal was that there was no friendly fire among the Holy Spirits and NPCs.

Therefore, Lu Wei did not need to worry about the injured Queen Mei, who lay stabbed on the ground. As soon as Thorne appeared, stabbed Queen Mei, and revealed himself as the enemy, she immediately threw a flash grenade at Thorne.

The grenade exploded mid-air, and all the players saw was a flash of light, but for hostile targets, it was sufficient to blind them.

Thorne was blinded, but this did not stop him from slaughtering Lu Wei.

The moment Thorne charged at Lu Wei, she already drew her demolition expert’s weapon…a hand crossbow.

It was common equipment among Bombardiers, but for a demolition expert, this hand crossbow turned into a makeshift grenade launcher.

The explosive arrows carried by the hand crossbow shot towards Thorne with pinpoint accuracy.

Thorne threw a small dagger from his lapel.

This swordmaster used more than just swords!

The dagger collided with Lu Wei’s arrow mid-air, and the explosion enveloped the platform in a wave of heat.

But Thorne broke through the blast and teleported in front of Lu Wei, only to find an ice ring grenade about to be detonated by her below him.

But Thorne’s sword was faster! Fast enough to preempt the speed of Lu Wei’s detonation.

The arc of light from his wooden sword swept by, and in the instant before Lu Wei could react, her health was completely depleted.

Lu Wei couldn’t hold out against Thorne for even ten seconds; this was too sudden, and the narrow space restricted her performance.

But Thorne once again turned his target to the injured Queen Mei.

“Master Thorne, why?”

Juan Canyun stood in front of Thorne. He was a very polite child, and like Caramel, always regarded Thorne as a mentor.

But why did this mentor now want to kill Queen Mei, whom all players cherished?

“Was that… Thorne? Did Thorne just stab Queen Mei?”

“Damn planners, turn off this barrier wall now!”

“Don’t panic, everyone! With Juan Canyun and the great Caramel by Queen Mei’s side, she should be safe!”

The players below burst into an uproar when they saw the Queen injured, but a barrier prevented them from getting close to Queen Mei.

The only consolation might be that Juan Canyun and Caramel were by Queen Mei’s side.

Caramel and Juan Canyun are now recognized as great masters by all Holy Spirit players in the game.

“This is none of your business.”

Thorne didn’t think so; he lunged at Juan Canyun, who swung his long spear.

Unrivaled Gun Qi and Cloud Formation were skills he deployed, but Thorne was more direct, hitting Juan Canyun’s spear with his wooden sword.

Thorne targeted the leverage point where Juan Canyun held the spear. This strike forced Juan Canyun’s attack off trajectory, but he quickly adapted, swinging the spear’s butt at Thorne.

But it was still no use… Thorne and Juan Canyun knew each other too well. Thorne had thoroughly figured out all of Juan Canyun’s moves.

Just when Thorne was about to finish off Juan Canyun, a streak of Moonlight Sword made him halt his attack.

“I’m here too!”

By the time Caramel reacted, he had already drawn his Moonlight Sword and the Shadowless Sword. It took him a second or two to realize…

The Thorne before him was the enemy! An enemy who wanted to kill Queen Mei! An enemy he must defeat!

In the past, Caramel had faced Thorne in the arena, one-on-one duels.

But now, he and Juan Canyun were experiencing something different in this battle against the Eternal.

Caramel, in his duel with Thorne, delivered a scene that made players watching the live stream and professional gamers around the world exclaim ‘monster.’

When Caramel wielded the Moonlight Sword, it burst forth with a deep green glow, while the Shadowless Sword erupted with a pale yellow glow akin to the moon.

In an instant, these two lights intertwined in Caramel’s hands, marking his use of dual-wielding… an additional skill mastered by all Swordsman players.

Without an off-hand weapon, Swordsman players wielded the Sword Energy Blade to present dual-wielding.

However, players who choose to manually swing both swords are few and far between, because in reality, mastering two longswords at once and combining their properties is something only three or four players across the server could achieve.

After all, these were moves typically only seen in films and games, and though the Eternal spirit possessed these maneuvers, it was the system that simulated them.

But every sword Caramel swung was by his own hand!

Step forward, slash diagonally, thrust, pivot to the side! In an instant, a flood of blade light completely engulfed Caramel’s forefront.

Thorne found himself enveloped by the nearly angleless ‘Phantom Sword Dance’, and his decision was to retreat…

He retreated quickly, and in an instant, Caramel had pressed him to the edge of the platform.

Caramel seized the moment to unleash the Fierce Dragon Breaking Air Slash, but Thorne suddenly stepped forward.

About to strike with his sword? Aiming for where? Caramel prepared for a change in tactics, but Thorne did not strike with his sword.

He used the sword hilt!

Thorne’s sword hilt suddenly thrust toward Caramel’s chin, striking swiftly and viciously with an incredible force.

This duel was a test of seizing opportunities, as Thorne had made clear to Caramel in their previous battles.

His swordsmanship was that there was no swordsmanship, the only reason he could win was by seizing opportunities.

But this opportunity was gained by Thorne’s rich combat experience, exceptional judgment, and speed…

The gaps in Caramel’s attacks didn’t even count as gaps to other professional gamers; to them, it was a combo, but in front of Thorne, every swing was a flaw!

Caramel was instantly knocked flying by Thorne’s sword hilt, he rolled to a stop, and immediately applied two BUFFs to himself, but the moment the two BUFFs ended, Thorne had disappeared from in front of him.

The next time he appeared was behind Caramel.

Realizing this, Caramel turned and slashed with his Shadowless Sword toward Thorne, but Thorne lightly leapt up… stepping directly atop the blade of Caramel’s Shadowless Sword before squatting down.

The next second, Thorne placed his hand on Caramel’s shoulder.

“You’re still lacking a bit,” Thorne whispered into Caramel’s ear, then suddenly pushed down on Caramel’s shoulders.

The moment Caramel reacted, he was already pinned to the ground by Thorne.

Under the gaze of professional gamers worldwide, this professional gamer, who easily defeated Baidi, lost his balance and collapsed to the ground heavily.

Just like a… hilariously slipping little duck.

Sitting on the ground, Caramel was stunned, but when he turned around he realized the atmospheric wall around the platform had disappeared.

The riotous players unleashed a barrage of AOE skills towards Thorne, creating chaos all over the area, while Thorne had already disappeared who knows where.

“Where did that guy run off to?”

“No idea!”

“Hold on!”

Caramel, spotting Thorne’s figure in the crowd, bellowed at him, but Thorne, without turning his head, vanished into the crowd.

Thorne, having fulfilled his duty, carried the puppet-like old King into an alley of Lionheart City.

But he hadn’t gone far through the alley when he was forced to halt by a Charged Thought Cannon coming straight at him, which he split in two with a swing of his sword.

“Are you serious, or are you joking?”

Zhao Mingwei emerged from the other end of the alley, watching Thorne who was holding the old King.

“Ah… what a hassle, didn’t that guy say you wouldn’t come?” Thorne scratched his head in annoyance.

But before Thorne could complain further, Zhao Mingwei appeared behind him using Instant Step and swung his fist.

Thorne blocked the punch with the hilt still sheathed in his wooden sword placed behind him.

“You really want to fight? I’ll arrange a few people to fight you in a while! But not now! Eternal!”

Thorne really didn’t want to get entangled with Zhao Mingwei at this time, as he could defeat Zhao Mingwei, but the problem was… he couldn’t defeat the entirety of Lionheart City’s Eternal!

“Arrange people?” Zhao Mingwei didn’t understand what Thorne meant.

But a beam of light descended from the sky; Zhao Mingwei reached out to grab Thorne within the beam of light but caught nothing.

The Eternal Thorne and the old King had completely disappeared from that alley.