Chapter 2727: Chapter 2728: Predestined Finale

The Sunlight Sanctuary will ward off external evils, but it won’t stop Dox from leaving.

Once Dox, free from the influence of the curse and restored to the peak of his power, even with his inspiration ability heightened to the highest point, stepped out from the Sanctuary’s protection, although the sensation of complete comfort vanished, his confidence reached its zenith.

At this moment, Dox even felt he could challenge Gray Merchant.

In truth, merely "challenging" Gray Merchant is indeed possible; but the final result, win or lose, is another matter. However, with Dox’s inspiration ability fully enhanced, if he genuinely were to fight Gray Merchant, there’s a slim chance to win, and even if he loses, he can certainly hold out much longer than before.

After all, Gray Merchant’s bloodline naturally restrains Dox—a land dragon versus a sandworm—this level of suppression can even make Dox exert less than half of his power, even if his bloodline is activated.

But Wicked Woman is different; without bloodline suppression and being at the peak state, Dox is entirely unafraid.

With countless sword thrusts in tow, Dox charged straight toward Wicked Woman.

...

"He came out of that cover, Lady Wicked should have a chance to win now, right?" On the other side, Pink Jasmine’s eyes lit up upon seeing Dox leave the Sunlight Sanctuary.

In her mind, the appearance of that light cover was what added variables to the battle; otherwise, Lady Wicked would have won long ago. Now that Dox has left the light cover, it’s as if he’s cut off his retreat, Lady Wicked should be able to win... right?

Gray Merchant pondered for a moment but still shook his head: "My conclusion remains the same, Wicked Woman has already lost. Now it’s just a matter of... "

Pink Jasmine: "Just a matter of what?"

Gray Merchant sighed lightly: "Just a matter of whether Dox wants victory or ... to fight to the death."

Gray Merchant’s lament was clearly tinged with worry. Now, Wicked Woman, with her bloodline fully opened, is almost entirely occupied by bloodline instincts, and can’t even actively concede.

This is also the flaw of the transformation lineage; they rarely open their bloodlines fully because mixed bloodlines cause a certain level of cognitive chaos. Even with spells for improvement, rationality isn’t as agile as usual.

Only after becoming a Legend can they eliminate this flaw with new blood fusion techniques.

But how difficult is it to become a Legend?

Currently, there isn’t a single Legend in the Southern Domain. So, among the transformation lineage, almost everyone achieves the "reduced intellect" accomplishment during full-fledged combat, which is why blood origin wizards disdain their fellow wizards who become fools once they start fighting. Coupled with differing philosophies, blood origin wizards look down on the transformation wizards even more.

Pureblood wizards are similar to blood origin wizards; even if their bloodlines are fully opened, they won’t engage in reduced intellect behavior.

Based on this, Gray Merchant doesn’t believe Wicked Woman could surpass Dox.

Wicked Woman has now completely surrendered herself to instincts; such strength derived from conceding intellect to battle instincts is indeed formidable. But without intellect to control, everything is just for the win; battle instincts will actively push the fighter to all limits.

Wicked Woman might not be defeated by Dox, but dragged to death by her battle instincts. Even if victorious, she might lose further potential due to excessive consumption.

Pink Jasmine: "Gray Merchant, is there any difference between the two?"

Gray Merchant: "Of course there is, a significant difference. If Dox seeks victory alone, he can utilize arena rules to knock Wicked Woman out. Even surrounded by void creatures outside, we still have a chance to rescue her."

"But if Dox decides to fight to the death, Wicked Woman can’t possibly concede, the final result would likely be... Dox barely winning, while Wicked Woman perishes."

To kill a wizard with a fully opened bloodline, even Dox must pay a heavy price.

At this moment, Shepherd spoke softly: "In the master’s case, would he choose victory alone or fight to the death?"

Gray Merchant looked at Shepherd; among all his apprentices, Shepherd’s thoughts were the most profound. Although he appears lazy, his gaze becomes exceedingly sharp in critical moments, and he can swiftly pinpoint vital points with a speed not less than an official wizard’s.

Shepherd certainly harbors secrets, and perhaps these secrets aren’t on his body but in his heart, or even soul.

Gray Merchant isn’t afraid of those with secrets, as long as Shepherd remains loyal, what harm does having secrets do?

Gray Merchant: "If before, standing in Dox’s position, I would probably choose victory alone, avoiding a death battle. But now, I would choose to fight to the death."

Shepherd flicked the green hair hanging over his eyelids softly: "Is it because of that protective cover?"

Gray Merchant nodded: "With the shelter to swiftly heal wounds, even if the result of the death battle is a narrow victory, Dox can still receive treatment in that shelter."

We can say, the existence of that shelter thoroughly changed the battle dynamics.

It broke Wicked Woman’s curse, even backfiring on her, making it impossible for her to use curse techniques again shortly.

It defended against Wicked Woman’s strongest attack and consumed her blood energy.

It provided Dox with comprehensive restoration effects, becoming the strongest backing.

Without it, Wicked Woman’s winning chance would be high, but now it’s too late.

Gray Merchant is now even wondering how to respond if faced with Dox, who possesses the shelter, in the next match?

"Then we can’t save Lady Wicked?" Pink Jasmine asked somewhat excitedly.

Gray Merchant glanced at her faintly: "Did you see anyone on the opposite side move when Dox was cursed and pierced by the Blood Spear just now?"

Pink Jasmine: "But, but..."

"You’re thinking, Dox has cards up his sleeves, right? This duel doesn’t forbid your methods, indeed Mirror Bearer wants them to reveal their cards." Gray Merchant murmured softly: "The people on the opposing side have a unique background. To easily give the Mysterious Parchment to Dox, if it were me, it wouldn’t be possible."

Not to mention it wouldn’t be possible, knowing there is a sliver of life, Gray Merchant would never use the Mysterious Parchment.

"Just watch; no matter the outcome, it’s a bitter fruit we need to swallow."

Gray Merchant wishes to save Wicked Woman, but the rules are established. The black-robed referee is overseeing from the sky; under such circumstances, he can’t do anything.

The only thing they can do is... watch. To see what decision Dox will ultimately make?

...

What choice will Dox make? Actually, he has known in his heart for a long time—

Countless piercing swords followed Dox’s movements, and every time Dox manipulated the swords, he madly slashed at the hooked spikes of Wicked Woman’s long tentacles.

These tentacles were originally transformed from Wicked Woman’s hair, naturally not a vital weakness.

The reason for savagely slashing these tentacles is because Dox found that every time a tentacle was severed, Wicked Woman would emit an extremely painful scream.

At the same time, Wicked Woman would be forced to retreat several steps.

Dox doesn’t know why cutting the tentacles causes such damage to Wicked Woman, perhaps it’s because... women care deeply about their hair?

Anyhow, as long as a way to push Wicked Woman back is found, that’s good.

Now the wicked woman can’t curse him, her body has become incredibly heavy, and even her thoughts are starting to become unclear. The simplest way to win is to push the wicked woman out of the arena to secure victory.

That’s right, Dox didn’t choose to fight to the death; he opted for victory at the least cost.

Dox really wanted to kill the wicked woman completely. This woman, who turned herself into something like a deep-sea creature, is ruthless and decisive, and her words indicate that she is also narrow-minded. If not eliminated, she will definitely be a future threat.

But even so, Dox still didn’t plan to fight to the death with the wicked woman.

He also understood clearly that trying to completely judge the wicked woman in the field would likely result in heavy injury to himself. It’s like a desperate fight, the wicked woman is barely rational, fighting purely on instinct, and the arena is only so large. If Dox wants to fight and kill her, he has to confront her head-on.

Confronting a wicked woman turned into a war machine, he cannot do so unscathed.

Once Dox is severely injured, even if he gets Restoration from the Sunlight Sanctuary, according to Angel, the effect of the Sunlight Sanctuary will be greatly reduced. By that time, trying to "sell" experience tickets would surely be undervalued.

So, even for his own "benefit," Dox can’t let himself get injured this time. Victory is enough, everything else, be it endless floods or future troubles, can be set aside.

Of course, aside from this reason, Dox also intended to reciprocate. Earlier, he sensed that the wicked woman’s ten blood spears did not target vital spots, meaning she had intentions to spare him. Since that’s the case, Dox also uses this method to reciprocate now.

However, if Vay heard this reasoning, he would likely say: this is just Dox’s self-consolation for not being able to kill the wicked woman.

Based on Vay’s understanding of Dox, the truth doesn’t deviate far from this.

...

Every severed tentacle incited a heartrending scream from the wicked woman.

The wicked woman’s agony further drove her insane; this madness, while enhancing physical toughness and strength, made her thought process even simpler and stupider.

If the wicked woman faced an opponent who fought aggressively, she might have already turned the opponent into mincemeat with her continually augmenting strength. But Dox never confronted the wicked woman directly, always dodging and seizing opportunities.

The wicked woman’s hair was abundant, and the tentacles they morphed into danced in the air, so Dox didn’t worry about how to slash or which one to cut.

As long as the sword could pierce through, he could slash freely.

The wicked woman continuously grew larger and more ferocious, yet she couldn’t do anything against him. One by one, the tentacles were severed, and the arena was filled with withered tentacles and thick, dark blood.

In the subsequent few minutes, all the spectators heard incessant screams from the arena.

Such piercing sorrow would move even the cold-hearted.

Seeing this, even Vay couldn’t help but say: "Dox is really merciless, why not just kill her with a single sword instead of tormenting the opponent like this? Was he hurt by Yuna so deeply that he has become so perverse towards women?"

Vay’s ridicule carried no restraint, directly reaching Dox’s ears.

Right now, Dox only needed to dodge and hack, effortlessly slashing tentacles, allowing him leisure to retort Vay’s ridicule: "You call this a woman? Well, I wish all the women you find in the future are like this!"

Dox’s words didn’t affect Vay but severely hit the meager intelligence left in the wicked woman.

She became even larger and more brutal.

Yet that only favored Dox. Previously, after her tentacles were slashed, the wicked woman occasionally moved side to side; now with her complete lack of intelligence, each severed tentacle made her continuously retreat.

Not just Vay got tired of listening; in truth, Dox was also sick of the wicked woman’s constant screaming. Fortunately, she was already near the edge of the arena.

On the other side, Finmore and others couldn’t bear hearing the wicked woman’s screams either. But they understood now, Vay chose not to kill the wicked woman but to push her out of the arena to win through arena rules.

This realization, though they couldn’t bear it, somewhat relieved them.

"Looks like what the White Trader said was right." The Shepherd resumed his lazy demeanor, somehow summoning a black-faced sheep, leaning back against its soft, woolly body, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Everyone understood what the Shepherd meant; before leaving with the Black Dealer, the White Trader mentioned trying to resolve issues with the intruders through communication as all signs indicated they had no malice and left some messages that potentially carried goodwill.

No one responded, they knew in their hearts that the White Trader might be right, but sometimes circumstances were beyond control.

The Shepherd chuckled, disregarding the silent air around him, patted the black-faced sheep beside him, then laid his head back and closed his eyes: "I’m going to rest for a while; there are still battles ahead."

Finmore looked at the Shepherd who dozed off in seconds, muttering softly: "You just want to sleep, don’t you?"

The Shepherd made no more sound; the black-faced sheep curled up, accompanying the Shepherd as he quietly slept.

While the Shepherd entered a deep sleep, the black-robed referee announced the end of the match with a chime from above.

As expected, the wicked woman, who lost her sanity, was forced out of the arena by Dox.

Once out of the arena, the magical creatures in the Void began to seethe, rushing towards the wicked woman.

Simultaneously, the figure of the Gray Trader vanished from the arena.

When he appeared again, he was already blocking the wicked woman’s path.

The energy aura created by the numerous Void magical creatures was terrifying, even stirring up a long gust of wind.

The Gray Trader’s clothes flapped in the wind, and the mask on his face rustled.

Facing the terrifying energy storm, the Gray Trader did not flinch, bending slightly, slowly drawing a purple long knife covered with a multitude of crystals from his waist.

He swung the blade, forming a crescent shape.

This resplendent crescent, carrying unparalleled sharp energy, swept into the energy storm.

When the energy storm created by the Void magical creatures contacted the crescent, a violent explosion occurred.

The explosion even impacted the edge of the arena, causing cracks in the solid ground.

"Damaging the arena requires compensation according to the rules."

The voice of the Wise Sovereign was swallowed by the explosion, but the Gray Trader heard it, lifted his head towards the Wise Sovereign, and nodded gently, mouthing "understood."

Then, taking advantage of the explosion’s energy shockwave, the Gray Trader dragged the bewildered wicked woman, bouncing her back onto the arena.

This action by the Gray Trader evidently angered the magical creatures in the Void, causing them to roar in fury, with some even trying to breach the arena.

However, with a cold snort from the Wise Sovereign, the magical creatures fell silent as if electrocuted.

Then, the Wise Sovereign made another declaration, this time not just with a chime but solemnly stated:

"The battle is over!"

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