Arknights' Lock of Heaven

"The best way to destroy a knight is to destroy his dignity."

"Provocation! Provocation after provocation! The arrogance of a victor looking down on his opponent! 'Left Hand' Titus, you are truly awe-inspiring!"

Mob's excited voice echoed throughout the venue.

Heavens above! From the start of this qualifier until now, he has finally witnessed Lin Guang suffer a setback.

Every time she commentated on a match, it terrified Mob.

After all, it was always his backer who was failing, and he was afraid of saying something wrong and being dumped dead...

Now, finally, we can see her get her comeuppance, and Big Mouth Mob is about to burst into tears.

"The prize pool is now completely one-sided, with an astonishing ratio and number! This amount is probably equivalent to the total prize pool of all the arenas in Kazimierz right now!"

Upon hearing this, while Maria was still recovering, the Left-Handed Knight looked up at the prize pool.

Yes, as expected.

Instead of scolding the loudmouth Mob on the commentary stage, he let the latter do his thing.

After all, for me, the more outrageous the ratio, the better.

"..."

Maria looked at her opponent without saying a word and regrouped.

Even after being defeated multiple times, she remained calm and composed.

LOL, is that all the strength you've got?

Trying to break down one's own spirit with these things... Ha!

Does she really think this armor is omnipotent?

That Miss Skadi taught herself a valuable lesson back then.

With just a light swing of his sword, he was sent flying.

And then there's Mr. Xia Yu; I've witnessed firsthand their terrifying, irresistible power.

The left hand also requires skill to break through one's own defense.

Those two didn't need any special skills; they could just slap them across the face.

Not to mention that Mr. Xia Yu has been giving himself special training every day these days.

Having their defenses breached is commonplace.

Trying to defeat yourself with these methods? Ha!

Maria showed no sign of discouragement.

Compared to truly upright opponents who overwhelm with power, your attacks are far too weak.

Maria felt like she was just a punching bag, all she could do was get beaten up.

Compared to the others, the left-handed knight's attack was relatively mild.

After all, he could still block a few blows.

Unlike the attacks of those two, he was sent flying without even knowing what was happening.

The actual combat experience was terrible.

After being 'beaten' by Xia Yu, Maria's confidence soared as she faced the Left-Handed Knight's attack.

At the same time, the left-handed knight also sensed that something was wrong.

Why is Lin Guang getting more and more excited as the fight goes on?

214 I'm waiting for the right opportunity, what about you?

Why do they become stronger with each battle?

The left-handed knight was completely baffled.

Why was that? He pierced Maria's defenses once again with a single shot, then quietly waited for her to recover.

To outsiders, this appears to be him humiliating his opponent.

As long as he himself knows, this is just part of a plan.

But how could the youngest daughter of the Rinko family know this?

In a situation that amounts to one-sided humiliation, one must either completely collapse or lose one's temper – that's the attitude a knight who has relied on equipment to get this far should have.

But why is the light before my eyes different?

It was as if... as if all the humiliation she suffered meant nothing to her?

The left-handed knight was completely baffled.

This is a competition venue with tens of thousands of people, and several times that number are watching the live stream...

In such a situation, anyone with a slightly fragile mentality would likely either give up and forfeit the game or lose their temper and act recklessly after being repeatedly humiliated.

But the girl in front of me didn't do that. Instead, she regrouped again and again, even if she was about to be defeated by herself.

But this is for the best. If we were defeated like this, then my plan would be...

Thinking of this, he stepped forward with his left hand once again, sweeping horizontally with the force of thunder and then upward, breaking through her defense once more.

Meanwhile, Maria's side...

Faced with an attack from her left hand, she could only utterly admit her weakness!

Even if I am no match for the left-handed knight and his defenses are breached several times, so what?

Having witnessed the boundless expanse of the ocean, one will no longer boast about the vastness of a lake.

Yes, the Left-Handed Knight is indeed very strong; he is a formidable enemy that I seem unable to defeat.

But at least, it won't give me that feeling of being insurmountable obstacles.

No matter how strong she is, so what? Thinking of Senior Xia Yu's special training, Maria couldn't help but shudder.

It was supposed to be special training, but it was really just her being beaten on one side.

Get beaten up in all sorts of different ways!

Maria, who had even been defeated by a flashy attack like the Floating Nineteen Combo, couldn't help but chuckle at the calm demeanor of the Left-Handed Knight.

If Zofia hadn't stopped her, she probably could have sung many more nineteen songs while floating in the air.

Since that time she came down from the sky, Maria had never felt so good about being grounded.

Yes, I may not be able to beat you, but when it comes to getting beaten, I definitely have more to say than you.

Compared to the terrifying effect that Senior Xia Yu achieved by effortlessly beating you, you're far inferior!

Maria didn't understand why the left-handed knight in front of her, who could have ended the battle long ago, was still entangled with her.

It's said to be humiliating... but Maria doesn't think so.

There was no reason, it was just a feeling, a sense that he had ulterior motives.

"Mr. Xia Yu, can you bear to see this scene?"

Charné held a glass of red wine, glancing casually at the ring.

"You should know that although Miss Maria can suppress most mid- to low-level knights with her armor, she will only face the same result when facing a true high-level knight."

"And the high-ranking knights in the hands of the Business Federation... heh."

He looked at Xia Yu, a hint of arrogance flashing in his eyes.

“If you don’t sign, Miss Maria’s next matches will be even more challenging than they are now, and it won’t just be the high-ranking knights…”

“Those equipment manufacturers will absolutely not allow Miss Maria to enter the main competition, especially not while wearing your armor.”

As he said this, he pushed a stack of documents in his hand toward Xia Yu.

"But we are different. The company behind me does not have any business competition with you."

“Once you sign this contract, all the difficulties you and Miss Maria are currently facing will no longer be a problem.”

"She won't face such strong opponents again, her matches will return to normal, and perhaps even..."

Charne gave Xia Yu a knowing look.

But Xia Yu remained unmoved.

He didn't even have the slightest interest in glancing at the stack of contracts in front of him, which offered incredibly generous terms.

Markowitz couldn't understand it either.

He stood beside the two of them, his eyes filled with hesitation as he looked at Xia Yu.

To be honest, he had seen the contract, and the terms... were truly generous.

Those giants really went to great lengths to acquire the name "Lingguang".

This is not simply acting on impulse, and such a situation would not occur even among those giants.

This is simply a political struggle.