Chapter 75: Duan Chenfeng versus the Death Mantis!

075 Morning Breeze vs. Death Mantis!

In the past, Morning Breeze had crossed paths with Death Mantis seven times, losing five and fleeing twice. It could be said that Morning Breeze had never once truly defeated Death Mantis. Back then, Morning Breeze’s attributes genuinely fell short compared to Death Mantis, and factoring in the gear disparity, he could never have fought on equal footing without his Metal Control and Soul Split abilities. But now, Morning Breeze possessed the Blood Dragon avatar. Although its raw stats still didn't quite match the beast form of the Steel-Armored Mantis, the gap was negligible.

"Blood Dragon, do you really think you alone can challenge our entire Japan Region?" As soon as they entered the duel barrier, Death Mantis immediately transformed into a emerald-green Steel-Armored Mantis. This humanoid beast form stood a full 2.3 meters tall, wielding a pair of exceptionally sharp sickle blades for hands, complete with a pair of back wings that enabled low-altitude flight and high-leaping maneuvers.

Morning Breeze had already observed earlier that Death Mantis's two one-handed swords were of Epic tier. Enhanced by the Steel-Armored Mantis transformation, their damage output undoubtedly reached the Legendary tier, though whether it scraped the absolute limit remained questionable. Do not be fooled simply because Death Mantis was originally a combat Rogue; transformed into the Steel-Armored Mantis, he possessed higher defense and health points than a Tank.

The attribute enhancements of the Steel-Armored Mantis were comprehensive. Weapon stats were elevated across tiers, defense and health surpassed those of Tanks, speed received a significant boost, and the creature possessed high-speed leaping and low-altitude flight capabilities—advantages that the Blood Dragon avatar simply could not rival. The beast form core of a Legendary Beast God was inherently that overpowered; anyone who possessed the strength could acquire one. However, Morning Breeze recalled that acquiring the Steel-Armored Mantis had cost the Acid Rain Guild the majority of their manpower and resources, hunting it for a full week after its descent, and hiring countless professional players just to secure the kill.

"Oh? You actually think turning into a little mantis is enough to deal with me?" At present, Morning Breeze was fully equipped to fight Death Mantis head-on. At the very least, his attributes were no longer vastly inferior. If Morning Breeze utilized the Gravity Magnetization Ring, the Magic Ring, and Frostmourne, he would undoubtedly hold the advantage over the Steel-Armored Mantis. Yet, facing Death Mantis now, he still felt the familiar, overwhelming pressure that left him slightly breathless.

Even when trapped in a disadvantageous position, one's momentum must never falter! This was Morning Breeze's creed.

"Isn't that the Legendary Beast God Steel-Armored Mantis? Incredible, someone actually managed to kill a Legendary Beast God. Death Mantis, slaughter this arrogant Chinaman and let them witness the true power of our Japan Region players!" Legendary Beast Gods roamed dynamically across the entire game, appearing in both national territories and the open world. Once they manifested, it essentially spelled disaster. The appearance of the Steel-Armored Mantis in the Japan Region had caused quite a sensation; even a guild numbering in the tens of thousands had failed to bring down this mighty Legendary Beast God. Now, seeing that the Steel-Armored Mantis had indeed been slain, the local players were certain that Death Mantis would easily crush Morning Breeze.

"The Blood Dragon's winning streak comes to an end here. Once this tribal siege concludes, we'll head out to the open map and wipe out those Chinese dogs to show them our might!" The Japan Region had undoubtedly lost all face today. Even if Death Mantis succeeded in killing Morning Breeze, having over a hundred of their elite players humiliated by a single man was deeply shameful.

...

The Japan Region players roared with excitement, desperate for Death Mantis to strike down Morning Breeze instantly and reclaim their lost pride. Not even in the Olympic Games had their region suffered such ignominy. If Morning Breeze walked away victorious, this joke would forever be enshrined in the gaming museum, making the humiliation all the more profound.

Stealth! Vanish!

Death Mantis was a Rogue, granting him access to Stealth. Imagine the sheer advantage of wielding the attack power of a Berserker, the defense of a Shield Warrior, combined with the stealth and ambush capabilities of a Rogue—that was Death Mantis. Since Death Mantis had entered Stealth, Morning Breeze likewise activated his Concealment state. According to arena rules, if both combatants possessed stealth effects, they remained mutually visible.

Rampage!

Heroic Strike!

Morning Breeze did not charge forward. Instead, he abruptly triggered Rampage, suddenly raising dual two-handed axes and bringing them down in a ferocious frontal cleave. Most bizarrely, Death Mantis materialized directly in front of Morning Breeze. Originally intending to launch a surprise attack, Death Mantis found himself forced to hurriedly raise his mantis sickles to block the incoming blow as Morning Breeze launched his preemptive strike.

The passive effect of the Steel-Armored Mantis granted it an immunity to 50% of physical damage once every 10 seconds, a defense that required intercepting attacks with its mantis sickles. Morning Breeze had executed a sudden Heroic Strike because he knew that a Steel-Armored Mantis entering Stealth would invariably maneuver directly in front of its target to ambush them. Having previously caught sight of Death Mantis's foot twitch, Morning Breeze had anticipated the activation of a high-tier ultimate ability aimed at obliterating him.

The Heroic Strike dealt a mere 800-plus damage, the lowest Morning Breeze had ever witnessed. Yet he knew this output wouldn't be high; his sole objective was to show Death Mantis that he was unafraid and capable of dictating the flow of combat!

During Death Mantis's transformation sequence, Morning Breeze had already triggered Battle Shout to generate 20 Rage, while Rampage provided an additional 10 Rage. Thirty points of Rage were entirely sufficient for Morning Breeze to initiate his assault.

Shockwave!

Executing Shockwave at point-blank range dealt over 200 damage, though the expected stun effect failed to trigger. Legendary Beast Gods historically possessed immense resistance; Morning Breeze had merely been gambling on whether he could crowd-control his opponent to maximize his burst window.

Intimidating Shout!

Since Shockwave failed to stun, Morning Breeze immediately followed up with the fear skill Intimidating Shout. This time, his luck truly held. The Legendary Beast God's resistance was high, but not to the extent of total immunity; Death Mantis was successfully feared.

"No way?!" Ordinarily, a Rogue possessed the advantage of the initiative, which, combined with the Steel-Armored Mantis's ambush talent, should have secured the first strike. Yet now, Morning Breeze had seized absolute control of the battlefield. This sequence played out entirely differently from anything before: no charge, no wild rush. A sudden Heroic Strike had shattered Death Mantis's ambush setup, immediately followed by a desperate gamble using two consecutive crowd-control skills. Abruptly, the Japan Region players felt a sense of vertigo—could Death Mantis truly defeat Morning Breeze?

No one could have anticipated the mechanics of the Steel-Armored Mantis's ambush; Death Mantis had never showcased this hidden mechanic before others. So how had Morning Breeze predicted it? Because Morning Breeze's counter-ambush had completely disrupted his opponent's rhythm, and that initial shock had allowed Morning Breeze to seamlessly chain two crowd-control skills, leaving Death Mantis at a distinct disadvantage.

Colossus Smash!

All 30 points of Rage were funneled into Colossus Smash, causing Morning Breeze to ignore 50% of Death Mantis's armor for the next 6 seconds. Noticing that Death Mantis had not triggered Every Man for Himself to remove the fear, Morning Breeze's first offensive skill was Bloodthirst. His primary objective now was generating Rage to sustain Tiger Strikes. Had Morning Breeze used Heroic Strike as his opening move, he would have lacked the Rage required for Tiger Strikes.

Bloodthirst failed to crit, dealing 520 damage, while Tiger Strike added 230 damage. Swift auto-attacks contributed another 200 damage. Within a single second, Morning Breeze had racked up nearly 950 damage. (Under the Blood Dragon state, the global cooldown was reduced by 0.5 seconds.)

Heroic Strike! This time the off-hand weapon critted, inflicting over 1,900 damage, supplemented by auto-attacks for another 200-plus. By the second second of the fear, Morning Breeze had dealt over 3,150 damage. Combined with the initial 1,000 damage, Death Mantis's health pool had already dropped by more than 4,150. However, Death Mantis possessed a total of 15,340 health points—surpassing Morning Breeze by over 3,000.

Heroic Strike! The off-hand critted yet again, dealing over 2,400 damage, which, along with auto-attacks, brought the total to 2,700. By the third second, Death Mantis's health had plummeted by 6,850. Fueled by the critical strike of the Heroic Strike, Morning Breeze earned another chance to use the skill.

Heroic Strike! The fourth-second Heroic Strike failed to crit, dealing only 1,700-plus damage, which combined with auto-attacks and Tiger Strike totaled 2,300 damage. Death Mantis's health had now plummeted by 9,150 points.

Intimidating Shout lasted a mere 5 seconds. Morning Breeze had not landed a single primary critical strike during this span, and having exhausted his Heroic Strike opportunities, he was forced to fill the gap with Bloodthirst. Surprisingly, the Bloodthirst—enhanced by a 50% increased critical strike chance—landed a crit, granting Morning Breeze yet another Heroic Strike proc, alongside the coveted free Flurry Strike he desired most.

Within a single second, Morning Breeze unleashed a rapid succession of three Flurry Strikes, a compounding chain that instantly sheared away another 2,450-plus health from Death Mantis. Over the 5-second duration of the fear, Morning Breeze had dealt a staggering 11,600 damage, instantly reducing Death Mantis to critical health. Had the stun lasted a single second longer, Morning Breeze's upcoming Heroic Strike would have translated into a five-fold critical multiplier, virtually guaranteeing an instant kill. Alas, the moment the fear expired, Death Mantis immediately triggered Vanish, fading entirely from Morning Breeze's field of vision.

Morning Breeze did not activate Concealment's passive stealth; even if he dropped combat, he wouldn't enter a true stealth state, making it somewhat difficult to unearth Death Mantis right now. Having sliced over 10,000 health off his opponent in the opening exchange, Morning Breeze felt immensely satisfied. If he had triggered God Mode at that exact juncture, Death Mantis undoubtedly would have utilized Every Man for Himself to cleanse the fear and escape, ultimately wasting the crowd-control window.

Shockwave possessed a 40-second cooldown, and Intimidating Shout required 1.5 minutes—wait he could not. Activating God Mode could indeed secure kills, but the real question was whether the enemy would simply stand still and wait to be slaughtered. Death Mantis harbored supreme confidence in his attributes, believing that even if controlled, Morning Breeze lacked the damage output to threaten him. Yet he had been gravely mistaken; Morning Breeze had dealt an unexpectedly catastrophic amount of damage.

The Japanese players, who had fully expected Morning Breeze's defeat, watched in stunned silence as Death Mantis was counter-ambushed at the start and stripped of over 10,000 health. Their cheers died instantly in their throats. Abruptly, they realized the Blood Dragon was far more formidable than they had imagined, possessing an uncanny knack for weaponizing psychological warfare against his opponents. Normally, once an enemy was locked down, if they failed to use a racial trait or PvP trinket, Morning Breeze would invariably resort to God Mode—yet this time, he hadn't. He had simply utilized standard rotation damage to reduce Death Mantis to a sliver of health.

"The Legendary Beast God Steel-Armored Mantis—I recall it being overwhelmingly powerful. How did it become such utter trash in the hands of a Japanese player?" With no one stepping up to trade verbal blows with him, Morning Breeze simply spoke to himself: "To possess a beast form as potent as the Steel-Armored Mantis and still play this pathetically... if I played a Rogue as poorly as you, I'd have deleted my character long ago! What pathetic mechanics, losing most of your health right at the start. If you plan to cower in a corner like a stray dog to regenerate health, there's nothing I can do to stop you!"

When direct confrontation stalled, Morning Breeze resorted to verbal assault. In the arena, psychological warfare was a refined discipline; wielded effectively, it could dictate the turning point of a victory. In professional league matches and even the Olympic Games, verbal sparring had repeatedly proven its efficacy. Now holding a massive advantage, Morning Breeze intended to leverage psychological pressure to its absolute limit.

No one stepped forward? It seemed Death Mantis possessed decent mental fortitude, but Morning Breeze knew he had a fatal vulnerability. He raised his voice: "A bastard seed, an abandoned bastard seed always acts just like this—absolute trash..."