Above the mage

Chapter 764 Liu Ying is angry

Feng Lin and Cedric are both suffering from blood poisoning and cannot be cured in a short time, so it is certain that they will not be able to participate in the subsequent competitions.

Fritz stood at the front of the team, his brow furrowed, forcing himself to calmly review the lineup and comeback strategies for the remaining three games.

The match consisted of five games, and now the doubles match has ended in defeat, putting them down 0-2 in the overall score.

There are three matches remaining: a gauntlet, a team deathmatch, and a final one-on-one duel.

Ellie Warwick only has one chance to play, while their ace, Streamfire, still has two full appearances.

Given the current situation, theoretically, only by having Streamfire accurately position itself and match Ellie's number of appearances in battle, forcibly clashing with her and directly suppressing Ellie Warwick, can they have a chance to win.

Liu Ying must participate in the gauntlet battle; this is the most cost-effective match for an ace player, ensuring their strength isn't wasted.

Moreover, they are already down 0-2 and cannot afford to lose. If Liu Ying doesn't play, she might not get a chance to play at all.

Following normal tactical logic, the opponent must understand this as well.

Therefore, Ellie Warwick will definitely not be playing in this game.

This game should be a sure win for us.

That leaves only team battles and one-on-one duels.

From a tactical cost-effectiveness perspective, having the Ace Streamer participate in a deathmatch is still the optimal solution.

But precisely because everyone can see this advantage and disadvantage, the Holy Empire can also predict its deployment logic.

As long as the Empire deliberately targets her, it can still prevent Ellie from fighting and save her for the final one-on-one duel.

Even if they win this round, in the final round, with Liu Ying unable to play, which of their remaining four teammates can directly confront Ellie?

So, should we put Liu Ying in the final one-on-one duel?

It still didn't work.

Cedric and Feng Lin are suffering from blood poisoning and are no longer able to participate in the subsequent matches.

There are only five members in the team who can participate in the battle.

In this fourth round of team deathmatch, Liu Ying has to participate no matter what, otherwise they won't even be able to gather enough participants.

It's a dead end!

As Fritz sorted out his thoughts, his heart sank to the bottom.

No wonder the Empire arranged for Ellie to appear in the two-person competition. In addition to using her strength to defeat the weak and eliminating the main combat force, there was also a third layer of strategy, namely, to lock down the appearance of Flowing Fire.

Ellie's blood poison and Viola's enchantment magic, the two sets of abilities worked perfectly together, not only securing the victory in the match, but also cutting off the Golden Flower's tactical margin for error with legal means in the arena, forcing him into a dilemma.

"It was my misjudgment..."

'

Fritz muttered to himself, his mind filled with gloom.

His biggest mistake was ignoring the Empire's tactical variations before the match.

He did not expect that his opponent would dare to bring out their top-tier combat power in the first place, using a seemingly ordinary two-player match to lay the groundwork for the decisive victory of the entire tournament.

But... Fritz frowned, a question arising in his mind.

In the pre-match tactical meeting, he clearly emphasized the following:

The dominance of Liu Ying has been exposed. If the Holy Empire wants to win the game, the best solution is to avoid its sharp edge, rather than confronting it head-on like Cui Si of Linhai City and getting wiped out.

At that time, he had already considered the Empire's possible strategies, so all the battle rosters were only preliminary plans.

On the day of the finals, he will flexibly adjust Liu Ying's appearances on the field, and will definitely not lock in a rotation strategy or a team fight to the death.

It was clearly taken into consideration beforehand...

How come I didn't even consider sending Liu Ying to compete when we were finalizing the pairings for the doubles match?

It was as if my mind went blank, and the option of "Liu Ying playing in a two-player game" simply didn't exist in my mind.

No, it wasn't a blank... but rather, deep in my mind, there seemed to be a voice telling me that the Holy Empire could not possibly choose to give up the battles in which Flowing Light participated.

If the Empire deliberately avoids battle, its margin for error is too low; its ace mage is proud and arrogant, and would never back down before the fight even begins; furthermore, the battlefield arrangements are constantly changing, and rashly avoiding battle could still result in running into Liu Ying, which would be a greater loss than gain...

These were all thoughts that popped into his mind in an instant, and together they formed a seemingly airtight logical deduction that made him abandon the idea of ​​Liu Ying playing in the two-player game.

Looking at it now, every deduction is full of loopholes and cannot be scrutinized.

The empire's desire for victory far outweighs the so-called arrogance of mages. To lower themselves and avoid battle in order to achieve victory is the most reasonable tactic.

With such terrifying combat power, the Empire will inevitably lose if it does not avoid battle. The best solution is to avoid direct confrontation and aim for victory in the other three rounds. So how can the claim that the margin for error has decreased?

Avoiding battle rashly still carries the risk of encountering fireflies, but not avoiding battle guarantees an encounter with them.

"How could I have suddenly lost my mind..."

'

Fritz murmured to himself, his mind filled with confusion and bewilderment.

He has always been meticulous, calm, and thoughtful, and has never made such a basic oversight, which is why he was entrusted with the important task of leading the team as a mage.

Fritz's recent rigid thinking and inaccurate judgment made him wonder if he was possessed.

Fritz felt increasingly uneasy, and even felt that this unease was vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly. Now that the situation has collapsed, when I look back and review it, I'm essentially an bystander, so naturally I see many flaws. But as someone directly involved, my thinking was definitely limited..."

"Losing the first game already puts pressure on you, and it's normal for your judgment to decline under such pressure."

Moreover, although I anticipated the Empire's possible strategy, I wasn't entirely certain of it, and I underestimated the opponent's unconventional and daring approach. Ultimately, it was my underestimation of the enemy that led to this mistake, and I shouldn't make any more excuses.

"In the battle against Linhai City, we revealed all our trump cards, exposing too much of what we had, which gave the Empire room to maneuver. Sigh..."

..."

Fritz shook his head, dismissing the idea of ​​"passing the buck."

The current predicament is ultimately caused by my own misjudgment as the team leader mage; I have no one to blame but myself.

Since things have already come to this, stop making excuses for yourself and stop putting pressure on your teammates.

"Next round will be a gauntlet match. Liu Ying, Gao De, Gareth, and Evan will be playing. Now that things have come to this, just play well and don't put too much pressure on yourselves," Fritz said, his chaotic thoughts gradually calming down.

Fritz saw the dead end, and the other team members naturally saw it too.

A 0-2 deficit and two key players sidelined for the match.

Gao De, Gareth, and Evan each lowered their eyes in deep thought, mentally calculating the most likely outcome of the match.

If no one on their team can stop Ellie Warwick in the final one-on-one duel, they will lose the entire competition.

They were thinking about how they could win if they faced Ellie Warwick.

Gareth and Evan quickly frowned.

Ellie certainly didn't go all out just now, but even that glimpse of her strength was enough to make them realize they were somewhat outmatched...

Even though she held back the whole time, she still completely overwhelmed Cedric and Feng Lin, leaving them no chance to fight back.

To be honest, if it weren't for Liu Ying, Ellie would be the dominant mage in this year's Unparalleled Magic Tournament.

This is a dead end!

Gao De also frowned.

However, the reason he frowned was different from Gareth and Evan.

[North Wind] must not be exposed, [Misfortune]... it's best to avoid using it altogether.

Sigh, my mage level is still too low. To beat Ellie, who's in the mid-fourth ring, I basically have to reveal all my spells to have any hope of winning...

But putting aside the honors and such, he didn't want to give up the championship reward alone.

After the Holy Empire further increased the rewards, the champion's prize was so enticing that even noble mages like Feng Lin and Cedric were very interested, let alone Gao De. Only Liu Ying remained indifferent.

"There's still a chance to win." In the slightly somber atmosphere, a glint of light flashed in the girl's clear golden eyes as she spoke softly.

Fritz turned his head in surprise, staring blankly at the most special member of the team.

"And me." Facing everyone's gaze, Liu Ying affirmed, "What she can do, I can do too."

Fritz was startled.

Liu Ying spoke again, her tone soft yet powerful: "Let me go first this round."

A moment later, the team leaders stepped forward one by one to report the complete list of players participating in the third round of the gauntlet battle to the referee.

As expected, the Holy Empire deliberately avoided war, and Ellie Warwick did not appear on the list for this round.

Their lineup consisted of: Ben Nord, Conrad, Viola, and Reginald.

Since they had no hope of winning this game, the order of the Imperial players was quite random, with Bai Nuode, who was a substitute, being the first to play.

The first mage to fight in the Golden Finch Flower event was naturally Liu Ying.

The draw for the venue for this round of gauntlet battles also ended quickly, and the final battlefield was locked in the barren rock field.

Of course, for Liu Ying, the venue has almost no impact on the outcome of the game.

"The first-round players from both sides, please take your places!"

As the referee's clear announcement faded, Liu Ying gracefully walked out of the players' area.

His robes fluttered gently in the breeze of the arena, his golden eyes remained clear and calm, just like any other participating mage.

But everyone present knew what terrifying combat power was hidden beneath her seemingly slender body.

It is precisely this contrast that makes Liu Ying even more popular.

The cheers and shouts from the audience reached their highest point since the start of the competition.

Fortunately, the Dragonspine Arena is an open-air venue; otherwise, the dome might very well have been blown off by the shouts.

On the opposite side, Bai Nuode also quickly stepped forward.

Although he knew the odds of winning were slim, he showed no fear or cowardice whatsoever.

In fact, Bai Nold volunteered to play in the first round.

Because he was an extremely competitive person, after witnessing Liu Ying's performance, he knew that he was no match for her, but he still wanted to experience firsthand just how big the gap was.

The two entered the fighting arena and faced off from a distance.

The match is about to begin.

At this moment, a very rare and faint chill quietly rose in Liu Ying's clear eyes.

No one knew that she was actually angry.

Liu Ying's idea was pure and simple:

She is the captain, and Cedric and Feng Lin are her teammates.

The captain's job is to protect the team members and stand up for them.

Ellie used that method to inoculate her team members with blood poison; she couldn't tolerate it.

Since you didn't play this round, I can't directly take revenge on you for the time being.

The way you treat my team members, that's how I'll treat your team members.

The showdown is about to begin.

Without any further probing, the moment the battle began, a clear and holy white light suddenly shone from Liu Ying's slender palm.

The white light, neither blazing nor violent, hung quietly at her fingertips.

Bai Nuode, on the other side, looked solemn. Facing Liu Ying, he was completely on high alert, not daring to relax or underestimate her in the slightest.

He was well aware of the disparity in combat strength between the two sides, and there was no room for him to hold back.

At the start of the battle, he immediately unleashed all his knowledge and his core killing move.

His staff crackled with electricity, and a series of sharp, thunderous cracks suddenly tore through the air.

The blue-purple, raging lightning elements surged rapidly along the patterns on the staff.

[Lightning Beam] is formed instantly, with no extra casting animation, and precisely locks onto the shimmering light.

A thick, blinding bolt of lightning shot through the air, carrying domineering penetrating lightning damage, heading straight for Liu Ying's vitals.

Not only that, White Nord's spellcasting pace is extremely fast.

Before the lightning bolt activated by his right-hand staff had even reached its halfway point, his free left hand had already deftly formed an electric claw with its five fingers flying.

The fine, swift blue-purple arcs of electricity perfectly filled the blind spots of single-target lightning attacks, forming a dual lightning voltage suppression effect at both near and far ranges.

Faced with this well-coordinated offensive, Liu Ying slightly raised her hand, and the white light in her palm transformed into several slender, refined, and translucent beams of light that shot out from her fingertips.

The slender beam of light struck precisely the robust core of the [Lightning Beam].

A loud crack suddenly rang out, and the blue-purple lightning dissipated layer by layer, turning into countless tiny lightning sparks that drifted to the ground.

It then collided with the subsequent [electric claw], and the powerful light and heat instantly melted away the tiny lightning bolts.

White Nord's combined spell attack was easily thwarted by several beams of light.

Even after the offensive was thwarted, the power of the Radiant Ray was not completely exhausted.

They continued forward at great speed, instantly landing on White Nord's torso and skin, emitting a soft, sizzling burning sound.

Radiant Ray is only a low-level spell and its damage is not high.

Although it was transformed into something extraordinary in Liu Ying's hands, possessing remarkable power, its remaining power was ultimately much weaker after dismantling Bai Nuo De's offensive.

The damage wasn't fatal, let alone triggering the protective magic circle.

But the instantaneous, sharp, burning pain still densely covered Bai Nuode's wound, piercing his skin and flesh, relentlessly.

But Bainord's mental fortitude far surpasses that of ordinary mages; he is extremely resilient.

He gritted his teeth, straightened his shoulders and back, and forcibly suppressed the discomfort throughout his body. His expression remained calm, without the slightest intention of backing down.

It's just some minor injury; it can be treated after the match. As long as it doesn't affect my current spellcasting, I can still fight.

Even though his first attempt failed, Bai Nuode was not discouraged.

He quickly activated the spell inscribed on the staff.

[Thunderstorm Spell]!

Fragments of lightning gathered in mid-air to form small thunderstorm clouds, which then blasted downwards.

Dense, fine electric arcs continuously bombarded the area where the fluorescent light was located.

With high-frequency, multi-stage, and continuous damage, it continuously depletes Liuying's mana and focus.

More importantly, as a continuous area-of-effect spell, [Thunderstorm] can also help him briefly create a high-lightning-elemental field, increasing the damage and power of subsequent lightning-elemental spells.

At the same time, he waved his staff, reconstructing the spell model.

The lightning suddenly surged, and a thick bolt of lightning blasted out, instantly splitting into seven or eight branching arcs that spread out in a net-like pattern in all directions.

However, there is actually only one goal:

Liu Ying.

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