"As everyone knows, the most despairing thing when fighting a boss is when you're just about to win, only for the boss to suddenly pop an absurdly thick shield, refill their health to full right in front of you, and make you fight them all over again. What's even more horrifying is that you have no idea how many more phases of this mechanic you'll have to sit through."
Lanqi sat in the spectator seats, spouting baffling remarks.
Yet Boss Cat, resting in his lap, found itself inexplicably able to empathize with Dean's inner breakdown.
No wonder Dean had roared in fury at Lanqi outside the ring just moments ago.
This monster was the very person who had created such a hellish mechanic to torment Dean.
"Gameplay where you can't even tell how many health bars are left really does mess with your mental state. Any normal person in that situation would just want to give up,"
Side agreed, nodding.
Having chatted with Lanqi so much, her phrasing was gradually beginning to align with his.
Apart from his average stamina growth, Xiaya's other three core attributes had fairly balanced and exceptional growth potential. His most outstanding trait was his extraordinarily high affinity for mental-type and telekinetic magic, allowing him to learn countless spells directly.
Lanqi had completely discarded Xiaya's previous card build, which had resembled that of a magic-based rogue. Instead of letting him remain a trickster, Lanqi had transformed him into a berserker boasting extreme mobility and high sustain, instantly elevating his combat prowess by several tiers.
As the two casually chatted, Viscount Laiwen Chinston's eyelids twitched beside them.
Though they spoke so lightly of it, he could hardly fathom the sheer agony the young Xiaya must have endured over those three days to undergo such a complete metamorphosis.
For a romance between young boys and girls, this felt a bit too brutal and iron-blooded.
Down in the arena.
Dean, who had now entered the second round of combat, was nowhere near as fierce as before. Clearly, his mental state had become severely unsettled.
Dean's frame appeared exceptionally tall beneath his heavy armor. Beneath bloodshot eyes, he snarled and bellowed continuously, sweeping his blade with wind-like speed in an attempt to sever Xiaya at the waist.
Yet Xiaya reacted with lightning speed, performing a side flip to effortlessly evade the lethal blow.
The instant he slipped close to Dean's flank, he counterattacked immediately, driving a willow-leaf throwing knife deep into a seam of Dean's armor. Amidst a spray of blood and Dean's agonized shriek, Dean wildly swung his sword, kicking up another violent blast of wind.
Panting heavily, Dean temporarily drove Xiaya back, seemingly landing a glancing blow, yet he found himself growing increasingly dizzy.
When Xiaya's silhouette reappeared in his sight ahead, several new bloody gashes marked his leather armor. Yet he stood proud and unyielding, looking down at Dean as though incapable of feeling the slightest pain.
"Aaaaargh!"
Dean roared with a trembling voice. Somewhere along the way, his absolute certainty of victory had devolved into frantic, seething fury; he simply could not accept this jarring reversal.
Xiaya, on the other hand, still showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever, maintaining an absolute, icy murderous intent.
This simple shift in mentality was enough to tip the scales of the battle drastically.
Even Dean failed to notice that ever since earlier, Xiaya had kept that transparent umbrella resting against his shoulder. From beginning to end, no matter how the rain of blood showered down, not a single droplet had touched him.
As the duel continued...
Even the laymen among the residents in the stands could see that the battle had turned entirely one-sided.
Dean's guaranteed victory had evaporated, leaving his chances completely shattered. Watching this, Viscount Blake Bourne's mustache quivered in sheer rage. He struck his cane heavily against the stone floor of the stands and turned to the figure beside him.
"Professor Meiqi, didn't you claim Dean would win?!"
"...The opponent is relying far too heavily on underhanded heresy. I recommend conducting a strict post-match investigation,"
Meiqi could only struggle to maintain his composure as he replied,
"In any case, win or lose... aren't you supposed to assume office as governor today?"
Even with this evasive reply, Viscount Blake Bourne could hardly quell his burning fury. Watching Dean grow increasingly flustered and battered on the stage, he finally could not restrain himself and stood up.
"Xiaya Candice! If you have the guts, face Dean head-on like a man! Winning an engagement through such despicable tricks—do you honestly think Lilith will respect you?!"
Viscount Blake Bourne bellowed at Xiaya from the spectator stands.
"Don't listen to him, Xiaya!"
On the other side of the stands, Viscount Laiwen Chinston also rose to his feet immediately and shouted.
His worthy nephew would win if he simply kept fighting as he was. If he were provoked by the despicable Viscount Blake Bourne, the tide might turn against him!
The difference in strength between the two was actually not very large. A single momentary blunder could throw away all his accumulated advantages!
Xiaya offered a rare, faint smile.
As if wanting to grant Dean an opportunity, he pulled back slightly to create some distance.
"Earlier, you said... whom did you want to kill?"
Xiaya's gaze was chillingly cold, imbued with an elegant yet wild madness.
"That beast in the stands... he won't walk out of Chinston City alive today! If you surrender right now, I might still persuade my father to spare him!"
With disheveled strands of hair dangling over his forehead, Dean swayed on his feet and shouted at Xiaya with bitter, gnawing hatred, his hand already gripping his hilt tightly.
"Phew..."
Xiaya let out a long breath. With a crisp clatter of metal against stone, he dropped his willow-leaf knives and folded up the umbrella.
"Your father asked for this,"
he said calmly.
"Heh."
You're going to die too!
Giving Xiaya no time to react, Dean's face twisted into an ecstatic sneer. Marshalling the full strength of every muscle in his body, he dove straight at Xiaya to deliver a fatal strike to the guardless youth!
Yet the next moment...
Xiaya dropped into a boxing stance.
"Who are you to yell at that beautiful personage?!"
A rare flicker of fury surfaced in Xiaya's expression. Dodging the thrust with a sidestep, he lunged forward, his driving punch burying his knuckles savagely into Dean's throat!
With a loud clatter, Dean's longsword slipped from his grasp and crashed to the floor. Clutching his throat in utter disbelief, he stumbled backward, drool and tears of agony streaming down his contorted face, completely unable to utter a sound.
"Allow me to introduce you to the lethal fist technique of my seniors. That punch just now is called Friendly Communication."
Xiaya gave an icy sneer.
"Ugh... aah..."
Dean whimpered. He knew he had lost, and genuine terror seized him. But he now realized the worst part of all: he couldn't even voice his surrender!
Just as Dean, having discarded his weapon, frantically tried to use hand gestures to signal the referee—
"Before that personage, this is Basic Etiquette!"
Before he could run, Xiaya's deathly voice rang out directly behind him. Feeling as though his legs had gone numb, Dean took a heavy, whipping low kick directly to the back of his knee, sending him crashing to the ground in a dizzying spin.
"Have the honor of experiencing Radiant Virtue and Wonderful Notes!"
Before Dean could even process the humiliation, a rush of air and a sharp sonic boom closed in abruptly. Xiaya's lunge punch followed by a flanking palm strike sent stars exploding before Dean's eyes. His ears went deaf to the clamor of the arena, and he hovered on the brink of unconsciousness.
"Building upon them, I have even comprehended a fifth form..."
In the span of an electric spark...
Facing Dean, who knelt dazed and battered on the ground, Xiaya had already wound up into a midair whip kick.
"This final kick is called Family Bliss!"
Xiaya's armored boot connected squarely with Dean's groin, launching him through the air in several midair flips before he slammed into the ground, eyes rolling back, unconscious and teetering between life and death.
Quite a few men in the audience felt a fierce wave of phantom pain between their legs.
With that kick, Dean probably wouldn't be ruining any more young ladies for the rest of his life.
Viscount Blake Bourne would likely need to hurry and roll a new account as well.
On one side of the stands...
"You don't actually have a card called Family Bliss, do you?"
Boss Cat was thoroughly terrified now, dreading that Lanqi had been hiding some overly vicious card all along without ever using it.
'Family bliss' usually referred to the joy of a family reunion, but knowing the way Lanqi named things, one could never be too sure...
"Who knows,"
Lanqi merely continued petting Boss Cat, murmuring to himself.
Meanwhile, Side, who had been watching the spectacle all along, suddenly clutched her forehead.
"It's over... You overtrained Xiaya after all. He's obviously going to terrify Miss Lilith."
Side suddenly realized where the real problem lay.
Hadn't the original goal been a lighthearted romantic comedy between a young boy and girl...?
She had helped Lanqi train Xiaya for three straight days, and in the heat of training, she had completely forgotten about that.
Yet this time, even Boss Cat fell silent.
Puzzled, Side followed Boss Cat's gaze and looked up.
Far off on the high balcony, Miss Lilith's cheeks were flushed with a faint, breathless crimson. Her body slumped weakly against the railing as her lips whispered, "It really is him..."
"...That works too?"
Side stared with a face full of existential doubt.
Did they seriously pull this off?
Were the prompts she had given flawed, or was this particular style of romance script actually what was in fashion these days?
"Side, are you satisfied now, meow...?"
Boss Cat asked with tears streaming down its face, questioning Side, who had once sworn to it that 'it wouldn't stray too far off course.'
"Nothing to do with me,"
Side whistled, looking away.
Even so...
Even though she considered herself someone with exceptionally high tolerance...
She never wanted to see another romantic comedy featuring Lanqi ever again.
Chapter 319