BOOM.
Fear was sustenance for so — and a death knell for others.
Cheng Shi gave Jiang Chi no chance at all. The instant his fear beca sustenance, the knell was already ringing.
Before Jiang Chi could even react, before terror had ti to surface in his eyes, a deafening explosion tore through the Rosna Recruitnt Square.
Roaring plasma swallowed the silhouette before Cheng Shi in an instant. The blinding bolt of lightning struck and scattered. The thunderclap didn't shatter the blizzard, but it left behind a charred corpse in the square.
"I told you to keep so dignity. You chose not to. In that case..."
Without another word, Cheng Shi drove the door key into Jiang Chi's chest. Countless blood-slick bones erupted outward, spiraling skyward before cascading down — coalescing instantly into a bone-patterned gate before him.
He didn't step through. He simply nodded with satisfaction, then blasted the remaining flesh into fine dust with another Lightning Punishnt.
As for which person on the field had provided the fear-charge for that bolt...
Hard to say. Because the instant Jiang Chi died, Cheng Shi's ring... was fully charged.
One of the five charges was, of course, his own contribution — a self-offering the mont he'd realized he was inside a Ti Battlefield at the start.
But the other four...
'Thank you, [Ti], for making this trial's "opening" so smooth.'
Cheng Shi smiled. Turning his back to everyone, he quietly donned a warrior's mask over his own face.
'Thank you again, [Ti]. This opening was simply too perfect — the Hero of Today's power had returned thanks to the ti reset.'
Perfect indeed — but only for Cheng Shi. For every other player in this trial, the opening was nothing short of hellish.
After all, from their perspective, one teammate had just erected a gate to hell in the middle of the square and used it to send another teammate packing.
Who could have imagined? A peak-tier match, and soone was already dead before the first blink.
After the twin thunderclaps, not a soul on the square dared move.
The most excited was Gongyang Jiao behind Cheng Shi. The Screaming Earl had not only sensed an enormous concentration of fear but had caught, on Cheng Shi's person, an aura of exquisite compatibility with his own nature.
To a Screaming Earl, that scent was like the world's most exquisite dish wafted before a gourmand — too fragrant, too rich, too pure.
'What kind of treasure was this!?'
His gaze locked onto Cheng Shi's fingers, eyes glittering, face painted with undisguised greed.
The most stunned was Da Yi. Eyes bulging, brain scrambled to pudding. He was trying to figure out how he'd failed to match with Old Hu and sohow matched with Cheng Shi instead.
'Fine — a twist of fate had brought Cheng Shi. But what kind of monster was this Cheng Shi?'
'Wasn't he supposed to be a Fate Weaver?'
'Was this how Fate Weavers nded destiny? Opening the match by shredding a teammate's fate?'
'This wasn't a Fate Weaver. This was a deranged fate tailor!'
'How was he this strong? That thunder would probably overwhelm even . Who the hell was this Cheng Shi?'
'And who was the dead teammate? Da Yi hadn't even seen the man's face!'
He didn't know. Soone did.
Poison had started smiling the mont she spotted Cheng Shi. But when her partner-to-be was atomized in a single exchange, every trace of that smile froze solid.
She stared at Cheng Shi in disbelief, eyes flickering with complex emotion.
'Was this still the little priest she knew?'
'Had he changed classes?'
'Elental mage?'
'Why had he killed her partner? Did he have a grudge against Jiang Chi?'
'This was bad. Gongyang Jiao was here, and she'd just lost her helper. This round was going to be rough.'
Poison bit down on her silver teeth, retreated half a step, and quietly raised her guard toward Gongyang Jiao's direction. But then — her jaw dropped again.
Cheng Shi turned with a smile, rolling his shoulders loose, and called out to Gongyang Jiao:
"I know what you want. Co on — kill
and the ring is yours."
Gongyang Jiao froze. Then a savage grin tore across his face: "Wonderful! Truly wonderful! You an it?"
Cheng Shi snorted: "More genuine than your loyalty."
"?"
Gongyang Jiao blinked — clearly not following — but then Cheng Shi spoke again. This ti, not to him, but to the Chaleon concealed in the distance.
"If I were you, I'd stand still. Sotis staying neutral wins you everything. Chaleon, my friend — if you want an audience with a god, counting on this guy won't cut it."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The hidden Chaleon's expression shifted. Da Yi and Poison turned in surprise — neither had realized soone was concealed there.
Gongyang Jiao's eye twitched. The "this guy" in Cheng Shi's mouth was obviously him.
"Fine, fine, fine. So before the main course, there's an appetizer.
"Thank this fellow, bitch. His appearance just bought you a little more ti. After I eat him, I'll take my sweet ti swallowing you alive."
With a piercing scream, Gongyang Jiao charged without hesitation.
Fanatics knew no fear. Even witnessing one teammate annihilated in an instant, he'd never shrink from a fight until he'd tested the man himself.
And so, predictably, two warriors collided once again.
Gongyang Jiao — fanatically wild. The Hero of Today — burning with fury. The mont they clashed, neither held back. Every strike was a killing blow.
The death match from the Rosna Court replayed itself. Neither combatant feared death — only feared the other might survive. Exchanges accelerated. Blows grew more vicious. Within minutes, the square's white snow was strewn with blood and shredded flesh, horrifying to behold.
As the fight raged, Gongyang Jiao's swagger faded. His torso had been whittled nearly to a skeleton. His opponent's face, neck, waist, and back weren't much prettier, but still—
'This man could fight too well!'
'No wonder he was this arrogant. He'd rolled a perfect score!'
'This was an unknown high-tier Hero of Today!!'
It wasn't just Gongyang Jiao. Everyone more or less realized it — only a max-rolled Hero of Today could fight like this. What they couldn't understand was: heroes of today should still fear death. But this one...
'Was he insane?'
'Insane!'
Cheng Shi's madness rooted everyone else in place. Faced with this dramatic, absurd opening, they had no choice but to wait. Whether to start the trial or do anything else, they first needed to figure out what this lunatic wanted. Otherwise, the entire round was unplayable.
Da Yi watched with grave intensity, visibly reassessing Cheng Shi's power. The Chaleon, called out dead-on, weighed his options for a long ti and never drew his bow. Poison looked delighted — sure, Cheng Shi had killed her partner on sight, but wasn't he now also pounding her enemy?
'The little priest got stronger. Good for him. As for poor Jiang Chi...'
'Dead was dead. What could you do? All the hopes she'd placed in Jiang Chi would just have to transfer to the little priest.'
Thinking this through, Poison actually laughed out loud.
"Little priest! Mr. Ram is quite formidable, you know. Do you...
"Need help?"
Cheng Shi fought and laughed. He didn't look at Poison, but between clashes, he called back loudly:
"Stand still. This round — I'll speed-run it for you."
The instant those words landed, the [Corruption] Chosen's eyes lit up like stars.
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