Chapter 61: Witch Ghosts

However, for "Plum Blossom in Snow," an Asura-type Qi Master swordsman, this route itself was a rather unconventional build. The player who created it had discovered it by sheer coincidence, yet it never quite ascended to the sacred pantheon of top-tier metas. Relatively speaking, it was a class meant for wealthy players to play around with, and its viability suited battlefields just shy of the absolute pinnacle occupied by the gods of the arena.

"I hear you're the fellow who pulled off a one-v-three against them earlier, am I right?"

The voice of Plum Blossom in Snow sounded calm, yet it lacked no trace of iciness, exuding a faint aura of arrogance that clearly stemmed from absolute self-confidence in his own strength. From what he had learned from his predecessors, this eight-man squad's currently displayed combat prowess sat at the absolute peak of the rookie server, easily rivaling experts from the legacy servers. However, because legacy server experts varied wildly in caliber, Plum Blossom in Snow believed they were merely being overrated.

"It seems you aren't one of those guys. Looks like they swapped players out. Lacking confidence much? And seriously, do you have to be so petty? We merely won by a fluke. Is it really just about saving face?"

Cup of Wine Traps Hero slightly raised an eyebrow and said with a hint of mockery.

Plum Blossom in Snow had no intention of answering, prompting Cup of Wine Traps Hero to continue, "Anyway, you guys don't have much face left to speak of today anyway. If you go down as well, I'm afraid you'll lose face all the way back to your ancestors' graves! Besides, you guys even chose your main accounts, didn't you?"

"You aren't wrong about that. You people are genuinely annoying," Plum Blossom in Snow said indifferently, though a palpable murderous intent was already evident in his tone, heavy and unmistakable.

"Thinking you're hot stuff just because you hold back your ultimate skills—such an arrogant disposition. Today, I'm going to make you see clearly whether you choose to lose the match right here or continue keeping your skills hidden."

The very instant Plum Blossom in Snow's voice fell, the longsword flashing with a purple halo in his hand revealed a razor-sharp aura.

Whoosh—

Plum Blossom in Snow moved in a flash, shooting forward like a bolt of lightning to close in on Cup of Wine Traps Hero's position. His intersecting sword strikes launched a barrage of attacks, weaving a blindingly chaotic flurry of afterimages. Cup of Wine Traps Hero frowned slightly as he noticed the sword shadows ultimately locking onto the center of his chest.

In a split second, Cup of Wine Traps Hero's figure dissolved directly into a shroud of black mist, dodging Plum Blossom in Snow's astonishing opening strike. Taking advantage of his mist form, Cup of Wine Traps Hero instantly widened the distance between them, dodging back and forth as he retorted, "Don't talk as if you aren't here to test out our skills yourself."

"And when all is said and done, what kind of club RG Club actually is—I think someone like you knows that better than we do. Am I right?"

Cup of Wine Traps Hero's voice sounded slightly low, yet the fighting spirit kindling in his eyes grew increasingly intense.

Plum Blossom in Snow neither confirmed nor denied it, merely replying coldly, "With a squad of eight like yours, your combat power is decent, but to defeat RG Club, you're still far from qualified. Even if your first player on the Guardian-type class is indeed quite impressive—even if I were the one stepping onto the stage, it would still be a fifty-fifty match—you need to understand just who you're up against: RG Club!"

Cup of Wine Traps Hero shrugged with a cold chuckle and spread his arms. Instantly, black flames surged furiously from within his body, enveloping him in the blink of an eye. Once the flame armor had fully manifested over his form, the shadow domain on the ground expanded once more.

Upon seeing this, Plum Blossom in Snow could not help but freeze for a brief moment. Witnessing Cup of Wine Traps Hero deploy a brand-new skill right at the start inevitably came as a slight surprise, but he quickly snapped back to his senses. Hastily brandishing his sword, he shot directly toward Cup of Wine Traps Hero's location, closing the distance in a single blink and launching an immediate assault with a triple-slash technique.

The exact moment Plum Blossom in Snow's longsword pierced through Cup of Wine Traps Hero, the target's surroundings suddenly dissolved into a patch of black flames that instantly dissipated. These same black flames swiftly coiled around Plum Blossom in Snow's hands and feet, inflicting continuous indirect damage with their persistent burn. Meanwhile, Cup of Wine Traps Hero's figure slowly materialized behind Plum Blossom in Snow, reaching out to instantly draw the gathered black flames back into his own body, as if the black flames were swallowing Cup of Wine Traps Hero whole.

This time, however, the black flames did not reforge themselves into armor upon Cup of Wine Traps Hero's body. Instead, the armor broke down completely, transforming into a noble black robe that exuded an abyssal, suffocating aura. The robe flickered with faint, burning flames, and three distinct black flames even materialized and danced about Cup of Wine Traps Hero's periphery.

"Since that's how it is, I'll let you witness my skill. Let's see how many more of my abilities you can force out before you buckle under this one."

Cup of Wine Traps Hero's lips curved into an arrogant arc. Playing an offensive Witch-type class naturally came with its own pride; even if his opponent was an expert hailing from the legacy servers, it could never suppress his proud heart. In combat, his usual scatterbrained demeanor completely vanished, replaced entirely by that of a battle maniac.

Upon witnessing Cup of Wine Traps Hero in this state, Night Feather looked slightly startled and remarked, "I honestly didn't expect this guy to have more than one form—he actually has a second combat form as well. It seems his skill tree is far more complex than I originally guessed."

"Let me introduce you to myself in the Witch Ghost Form."

As his voice trailed off, Cup of Wine Traps Hero spread his arms wide, an ancient rune materializing on the palm of each hand. Immediately afterward, the shadow domain on the ground expanded to cover half of the entire arena, its surface rippling and writhing as though countless entities were scurrying underneath.

"Witch Ghost Legion."

Suddenly, pitch-black figures rose one after another from within the shadow domain, the shifting shadows gradually taking on the grotesque, ferocious forms of various specters and demons.

The first to emerge were blazing streams of black fire. Unlike the black flames lingering around Cup of Wine Traps Hero, these fires appeared utterly freezing, radiating an intensely suffocating sensation resembling hellfire.

Next, a sudden gust of whirlwind swept forth from the shadow domain. As the gale brushed past, Plum Blossom in Snow abruptly noticed faint, razor-thin lacerations appearing across his hands and feet. Though extremely minor, the realization sent a jolt of shock through him.

"This is... Kamaitachi?!"

Plum Blossom in Snow frowned slightly, then suddenly lifted his gaze to meet Cup of Wine Traps Hero's coldly smiling face, saying in a deep voice.

The Kamaitachi was a demonic spirit endowed with magic, possessing claws as razor-sharp as terrifying scythes. It could move faster than the wind itself, rendering it entirely invisible to the naked eye of a player. The Kamaitachi's movements were blindingly swift, capable of inflicting horrific damage upon players. While each individual strike might seem to shave off only an ordinary amount of HP, the sheer frequency of its rapid, crisscrossing assaults accumulated into an alarmingly devastating loss of health.

There were also several other specters whose exact appearances the players failed to register clearly, yet their presence alone suggested immense terror. However, they were still not difficult enough to overwhelm Plum Blossom in Snow, leaving him maintaining a thoroughly confident demeanor.

Two glowing black fireballs suddenly materialized and hovered behind Cup of Wine Traps Hero, transforming into a pair of fire hounds that lunged at Plum Blossom in Snow upon a silent cue from their master. Plum Blossom in Snow responded with a graceful sweep of his longsword, striking both hounds squarely. While the impact reduced their HP very little, it successfully inflicted a negative status effect that slowed their movement speed.

Plum Blossom in Snow then blinked past the fire hounds, hurtling straight toward Cup of Wine Traps Hero. In response, Cup of Wine Traps Hero took a slight step backward as two heavy-weapon-wielding specters materialized in front of him, moving in a coordinated sequence to fiercely intercept and attack the oncoming swordsman.

"If you think you can rely purely on summoned phantoms to fight me, aren't you taking this far too lightly?"

Plum Blossom in Snow sneered as the purple lightning flashing along his right-hand sword suddenly intensified into a crackling tempest. The surrounding bolts of purple lightning rapidly transformed into sword shadows that assailed the two heavy-weapon-wielding specters. The barrage pierced straight through their bodies, saturating them with purple electricity before they violently shuddered for a moment and crashed heavily to the ground.

With another flash, Plum Blossom in Snow materialized once more, his grip tightening on his longsword as he shot straight toward Cup of Wine Traps Hero's chest.

In the arena, relying primarily on summoning methods was generally discouraged because such builds were easily countered by opponents. As a result, summons were typically better suited for dealing with mobs and monsters; no matter how powerful a summoned phantom might be, it came at the cost of weakening the summoner's own base attributes, making the player exceptionally fragile.

Within an arena setting, Plum Blossom in Snow's primary objective naturally boiled down to simply hunting down and dealing with Cup of Wine Traps Hero directly—simple, yet highly efficient.

"Have you been miscalculating everything from the very beginning?" Cup of Wine Traps Hero wore an exceptionally sinister smile, brimming with obvious mockery, as if ridiculing Plum Blossom in Snow for being completely, utterly wrong from start to finish!

Plum Blossom in Snow's brow furrowed abruptly. Clearly sensing a deeper meaning behind Cup of Wine Traps Hero's words, a creeping sense of unease welled up in his heart.

In his drive to close the distance to Cup of Wine Traps Hero, Plum Blossom in Snow had relentlessly cut down a countless number of specters, leaving their lifeless carcasses strewn across the ground.

However...

At that exact moment, Cup of Wine Traps Hero spread his arms wide once more. Instantly, all the fallen specter corpses within the shadow domain were swallowed whole by the shadows, which then surged skyward, transforming into beams of black light that shot directly into Cup of Wine Traps Hero's body.

Following this, a black flame materialized on Cup of Wine Traps Hero's right hand—yet this flame exhibited a terrifying halo unlike anything seen before. Within that dark halo lurked a destructive force whose core flickered with a hue resembling both gold and crimson red.

Without missing a beat, Cup of Wine Traps Hero raised his right hand, his palm wreathed in black flames, and collided head-on with the incoming longsword. The black flames erupted outward in concentric rings, but Plum Blossom in Snow was once again subjected to their persistent burning effect. Remembering the previous exchange, Plum Blossom in Snow immediately opted to retreat in a rapid backpedal.

"These Witch Ghost legions were only ever meant for sacrifice. Their primary purpose was to elevate my overall attributes in every aspect."

Enveloped in swirling black flames, Cup of Wine Traps Hero resembled a demon crawling straight out of the abyss. As he spoke, fresh specters materialized once more across the shadow domain.

These phantoms let out piercing, soul-shattering shrieks as they locked their glowing eyes onto Plum Blossom in Snow.

"My children, go get him!"

Cup of Wine Traps Hero slowly raised his left hand, pointing his index finger at Plum Blossom in Snow while his lips curled into an icy, mocking arc.

As Cup of Wine Traps Hero steadily closed in on the retreating Plum Blossom in Snow, the swordsman quickly calmed the shock in his heart. Sidestepping two lunging specters, he blinked past a cluster of others, then flashed directly through the massive frames of several more, his longsword locked immovably onto Cup of Wine Traps Hero.

Seeing this, Cup of Wine Traps Hero once again dissolved his entire body into black flames, dodging Plum Blossom in Snow's assault. As the black flames dissipated from behind him, a specter leaped forward, pouncing directly at Plum Blossom in Snow.

Meanwhile, the black flames pooled within the palm of Cup of Wine Traps Hero's right hand continued to release a deeply unsettling pulse of energy.

Having missed his thrust, Plum Blossom in Snow executed a swift backflip toward the ground. The moment his feet touched the earth, a storm of sword shadows erupted in all directions, kicking up a cloud of dust that violently batted away the closing specters. This time, Plum Blossom in Snow had no intention of killing the phantoms, successfully avoiding giving Cup another stat boost.

Yet, fully aware that this would happen, Cup of Wine Traps Hero seemed to have anticipated the maneuver all along. Moving with sudden resolve, he took the initiative, rocketing toward Plum Blossom in Snow's position. With a light, fluid swing of his right arm, black flames instantly engulfed his entire limb. Curling his five fingers into a tight fist, he unleashed a punch directly at Plum Blossom in Snow!