Chapter 481: The Fall of the South Town Master, and the Reappearance of the Qin Family's Secret Manual
The MAX Qi Storm, accelerated by the Burst Qi, had already torn apart Bazett's leg reinforcement runes, genuinely damaging her leg muscles and bones.
However, the moment the Reversal Blade bypassed the Qi Storm's attack path and successfully pierced Geese's heart, Bazett's leg injuries vanished as if they had never existed, as if the scene had rewound several seconds.
Correspondingly, Geese's health bar, which had been nearly 60%, was instantly emptied.
Under normal circumstances, the Reversal Blade's Noble Phantasm rank was only D to C, with very average attack power, usable only as a regular short sword.
But if the opponent used a high-damage attack, and she seized the opportunity to precisely activate the Reversal Blade's "Preemptive Strike" effect, then its damage would be limitless.
The stronger the opponent's attack, the stronger the Reversal Blade's Preemptive Strike would be. Furthermore, when the Reversal Blade triggered the Preemptive Strike effect and successfully counter-killed the target, it would further satisfy the "Causality Reversal" effect.
By using the 'effect' of killing the target, it would reverse the 'cause' of the target unleashing the attack, thereby erasing the fact that the opponent had ever attacked from a causal level.
In simpler terms, as long as an opponent could be counter-killed with the Reversal Blade, their previous attacks would be forcibly erased. Bazett's leg injuries, which should have remained, disappeared due to the causality reversal of "the opponent never unleashed a MAX Qi Storm."
It wasn't time reversal, nor high-speed regeneration; it was as if the Qi Storm had never appeared.
This Reversal Blade, crafted from Kleria Ore, had an increased counter multiplier of 1.5 times compared to the one Bazett had previously made herself, up from the original 1.1 times. All of this 1.5 times MAX Qi Storm power was poured into Geese's heart through the Reversal Blade as a medium!
A gaping hole, large enough to see straight through, appeared in Geese's chest.
Judging by this penetrating wound, it was clearly not just his heart; it seemed even his bones… *Pfft!*
*Bang!*
With a gush of blood, Geese collapsed weakly to the ground.
The formidable physical constitution of a martial artist, somewhat unreasonably, allowed his brain to maintain some semblance of thought, but the fountain-like bleeding from his mouth and chest already sealed his fate.
And this time, there wasn't a tall enough building for him to fall from and feign death.
Geese struggled to raise his hand, gurgling blood bubbles as he tried to say something, but the fading of his life clearly wouldn't allow him to make any more movements.
Finally, Geese's hand dropped powerlessly, and he remained in a kneeling position, eyes wide open in death.
"The outcome is decided!"
"The victor! Bazett!!!"
As the sunglasses-wearing man with the small mustache announced the winner, the arena erupted in deafening cheers.
Bazett's name, unprecedentedly, was simultaneously shouted by thousands of people, then rhythmically repeated for a full twenty to thirty seconds, finally converging into a single "Oh oh oh oh oh!" sound, accompanied by a cacophony of whistles, horns, and bottle-clanking.
Having endured many throws and counter-attacks, Bazett, bruised beneath her suit, finally completed her target kill. She let out a long breath, then turned to look at Cheng Tian, like a large dog that had completed its hunting task and was waiting for its master's affirmation.
Cheng Tian also raised his right hand in response, giving a big thumbs-up.
Bazett's smile was brighter than ever before—
Eileen, Fina, big crisis!
As seen, Bazett wasn't angry because she had been underestimated, but because Geese had issued a death threat to Cheng Tian, which sparked her killing intent and directly led to her actions.
Perhaps out of a contract, or perhaps simply from her straightforward nature, in Bazett's mind, matters concerning Cheng Tian had already taken precedence over her own well-being.
However, at this moment, some also noticed that World had been summoned by Cheng Tian at some point, and it delivered a powerful punch to the empty air, then returned to Cheng Tian's side as if carrying something.
Cheng Tian then flipped his wrist, and a uniquely shaped Ogre Gauntlet appeared on his arm.
As an equipment derived from the Game Expert talent, the Ogre Gauntlet successfully bypassed the challenge rules' "equipment ban" effect.
In fact, Cheng Tian should have realized this earlier, as his Hammond Laboratory, also derived from his talent, clearly hadn't been sealed due to the "item ban."
The Ogre Eye, now in the form of a Tai Chi True Eye, spun rapidly, then sucked something in, and a new figure appeared in the internal soul space.
"Your tournament teammate / contracted Heroic Spirit 'Bazett' has killed the South Town Master 'Geese Howard'."
"You used World and the Ogre Gauntlet to capture the 'Unwilling Spirit of Geese'."
"Your extra skill 『Soul Salvation』's innocent soul storage limit +100, currently 399."
"The 'Unwilling Spirit of Geese' matches the 'Egregious Sinner' characteristic.
Egregious Sinner soul collection progress — 2 / 36."
"Due to your contracted Heroic Spirit killing the South Town Master Geese on a global live broadcast, the personal reputation of you and your teammates with relevant South Town factions has reverted to the 'Indifferent' stage.
Geese's death has left the relevant factions leaderless. The Howard family will enter a phase of internal power struggles and will be unable to concern themselves with you, but it's not ruled out that a new family head or other relatives of Geese's bloodline might, after taking power, choose to redirect their hostility towards you, the killers of the previous family head, in order to consolidate power."
"Bazett has picked up a 'Golden Chest'."
"Since your death match was completed under the witness of the organizers, you will not be subjected to dungeon modifier penalties."
Yes, World had just beaten the escaping spirit of Geese, which Cheng Tian then forcibly restrained.
It was now in the Ogre Gauntlet, glaring at two other male spirits.
Beyond expectations but within reason, Geese's spirit was also an egregious sinner; the things he did in his domain in South Town were no cleaner than Shadow Law's actions.
It was just a little regrettable that, despite killing a faction leader, he didn't gain plundering rights, which meant that Geese, as the South Town Master, didn't have a sub-base in Tokyo to raid.
But a treasure chest was enough.
Cheng Tian, who eagerly went down to greet his Heroic Spirit, was very impolite, and also very cunningly found a corner where other players couldn't see him, and directly opened the chest.
A very ancient-looking bamboo slip popped out of the chest and landed in Cheng Tian's hand.
"This is… Great Qin Small Seal Script?"
Cheng Tian painstakingly identified the characters on the bamboo slip, then tried to read them aloud.
"Qin's Secret Transmission Scroll, Volume Two… It seems to be Krauser's martial arts book."
Cheng Tian flicked the bamboo slip and, with a straight face, said to Bazett.