Chapter 263 - 198: Assault Without Speed
Enraged, Left Leaf summoned its Flower Spirit Blade again, attempting to overwhelm her technique with brute force, hoping a more ferocious assault would disrupt Lilith’s rhythm.
To Left Leaf’s despair, however, the battle was not unfolding as it had anticipated.
No matter how swift its slashes or how piercing its attacks, Lilith always maintained her slow pace with ease. In fact, every single one of her counterattacks threw Left Leaf into further disarray!
Once again, the battle took a turn that shocked the students.
"The White Flame Battle Spirit is doing surprisingly well! I thought we were going to fast-forward to the two of them ganging up on the Wave White..."
"That’s weird. Isn’t that White Flame Battle Spirit injured?"
"She definitely seems injured. See how slow and deliberate her movements are? She never tries to speed up. But the Flower Demon still can’t beat her... It’s ridiculous..."
"But she looks so ordinary, she’s barely even using any Skills. I’m starting to get the feeling that even I could take her..."
"Is this that whole ’redirect and strike’ thing? Using softness to overcome brute force?"
"Can’t break through, huh? Better know your place!"
The chatter never stopped, but everyone was completely baffled. They simply couldn’t understand how the situation had turned out like this.
It wasn’t until Ke Yan slowly began to speak. "Lilith is using a ’slow against fast’ tactic."
"I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but most Pet Beasts, especially Strong Attack Types or mobile types, will try to seize control of the offense at the start of a match to maintain the initiative."
"Yeah, that’s normal, right?" the students murmured in agreement.
Ke Yan continued, "Correct. Speed does make it easier to seize the initiative. But that doesn’t mean slowing down automatically costs you the initiative. In fact, in some fights, slowing down has considerable advantages."
"Look. If this were a high-speed clash, Left Leaf might have been able to maintain a consistent offense, watching Lilith’s moves closely to adjust its own rhythm."
"Instead, Lilith ceded the initiative to Left Leaf, letting it attack freely and only dodging at the very last second. This leaves Left Leaf with no room to change its approach."
"In this battle, Left Leaf has tried to accelerate and break free multiple times, but Lilith’s perfectly-timed dodges and counters have forced it to slow back down. It’s at a complete disadvantage, whether in terms of energy consumption, offensive pressure, or even morale."
"This style isn’t necessarily better than a rapid-fire assault, but for Lilith, with her injured Nether Flame Body, a deliberate, speedless attack is the most suitable approach. You could say it’s the very key to this fight."
"Holy shit... so that’s what’s going on..."
"That actually sounds way harder! With a fast assault, you just use your speed to steamroll everything. But with ’slow against fast,’ you need precise control over the rhythm. One mistake and you’re toast..."
"I can’t imagine how much she must have suffered to master this fighting style. And she’s even injured..."
’Yeah, just how much had she suffered to master this style?’
Ke Yan wanted to know, too, but that was a question only the White Flame Battle Spirit herself could answer.
Just then, another student raised their hand. "But if the Super Flower Demon figures out Lilith’s strategy, won’t it adapt? Like, switch to a long-range attrition strategy or something!"
"And this kind of fighting style requires incredible concentration and reaction speed. It’s fine for a few dozen seconds, but over a longer period, her reactions will definitely start to fail..."
"Everything you’ve said is correct. But this is a doubles match."
Ke Yan looked at the arena with emotion. "Creating the conditions for Lilith to maintain her fighting style—that’s what Cotton has been doing this whole time."
That’s right. That was what Cotton had been doing all along.
"SHING—"
The White Flame Soldier’s Blade sliced through the air, once again perfectly interrupting Left Leaf’s rhythm.
Left Leaf barely managed to dodge, feeling frustrated as hell. From the beginning of the match until now, it hadn’t found its rhythm once. Even when fighting Pet Beasts stronger than Lilith, it had never felt this oppressed.
In truth, Left Leaf wasn’t unaware of Lilith’s tactic.
Even at a disadvantage, it had been desperately holding on, just waiting for the moment Lilith’s stamina would drop and she could no longer maintain her style, creating an opening for a counterattack.
But as it held onto this hope, Left Leaf discovered to its despair that Lilith showed no signs of fatigue at all. In fact, her performance was only getting more stable!
"SHING—"
The White Flame Soldier’s Blade slashed out again.
Left Leaf could no longer keep up with Lilith’s rhythm. Not only was its Flower Spirit Blade shattered, but most of the vines and leaves on one side of its body were severed.
This time, Left Leaf finally noticed the faint Golden Light and water droplets swirling around Lilith’s body. Lilith was clearly a Fire Element Pet Beast, yet those droplets circled her miraculously, even showing signs of being absorbed.
Left Leaf’s eyes shot wide open.
Sunmark Wave White’s Core Skill: Blessing of the Thousand Dews of Dawn.
It condenses one thousand water droplets, each containing a specially processed, high-density sphere of Light Energy. It can replenish the energy of a Pet Beast of any Attribute while also greatly boosting their spiritual state.
Lilith had a portable charger plugged in the whole time. Of course she wasn’t out of battery!
With a desperate cry, Left Leaf barely parried Lilith’s assault and turned to Right Leaf for help.
’Fucking save me! Don’t just stand there stunned, do something!’
"Chirp!"
Right Leaf felt wronged. It wasn’t as if it hadn’t tried to help Left Leaf.
But no matter what Skills it used, Cotton would intercept them just moments before they could hit Lilith.
Whether it was physical attacks, pollen invasions, or a Mental Shock... Cotton always absorbed the blows flawlessly, not letting a single one affect Lilith.
The Sunmark Wave White might lack offensive power, but its defense and sustain were terrifyingly famous. To date, the only one to have ever broken through Cotton’s defense was Yu Bao... er, no, one dog.
This match might have looked like Lilith’s solo performance, with Cotton having no presence at all, but the reality was the exact opposite.
It was precisely because Cotton provided such powerful support that Lilith was able to exert her offensive power to its fullest!
Seeing Left Leaf losing ground, a vicious look appeared in Right Leaf’s eyes. It too flung out a Flower Spirit Blade and lunged at Lilith.
’There’s no way you can maintain this rhythm in a two-on-one!’
Yet, the instant Right Leaf made its move, Lilith suddenly accelerated and struck Left Leaf down in a flash. Where was the pretense of an evenly matched fight now?
Right Leaf froze, not even having time to fall back to a defensive position before a flash of white light filled its vision—
"SHING—"
Amidst a wild flurry of shredded leaves, Lilith calmly dismissed her White Flame Soldier’s Blade, like a samurai sheathing their sword.
Behind her, Right Leaf slowly collapsed, unable to get up again.
The watching students were completely dumbfounded, their minds buzzing.
’So let me get this straight: Lilith is injured, so she used a ’slow against fast’ tactic, and so she... she just wiped out both Pet Beasts??’
Only Instructor Ke Yan seemed to remain composed, his back still looking as calm as ever.
From the front—
Ke Yan wore a look of utter bafflement.
’What the hell? Aren’t you supposed to be injured?’
’What’s with this "weak girl" who has A-rank strength and speed??’
Oh, right. Lilith’s Nether Flame Body had already been healed with Yu Bao’s help. She could go back to her assault-based style whenever she wanted... Su Zhi chuckled, at a loss for words.
Lilith had been acting so slow and deliberate that even he, who knew the truth, had forgotten all about it.
"Chirp!"
Lilith excitedly winked at Yu Bao.
’Is this that "playing weak to ambush the strong" thing you were talking about? It feels amazing!’
"Woof." Yu Bao, who had put on sunglasses at some point, gave Lilith a cool nod of approval.
’Of course. You forget who you’re talking to.’
Team Match, second round. A complete victory for Fang Yuan and Cao Mingyu’s team!
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Dreamed about the Great Emperor last night, hehehe~