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| ← Ch.192 | Ch.194 → |
Chapter 193
Chapter 193 - WRYYYYY
'Seriously, a Musou attack at this time?' Tong cracked a joke in his mind.
'Oh well, Regen... No, I won't! I may be stupid, but I won't disgrace this fight with cheats!'
Tong stopped using regen at the critical moment because he desired an honest duel with this legendary general. He had cheated enough to the point that he was ashamed. Deep down inside his heart and his chunnibyou spirit, Tong wanted to win without relying on the system cheats. He wanted to use the power that he acquired by his own hands, not from the help of the system.
~your [pride]="" has="" 5. 50%="" chance="" to="" take="" over="" your="" body=""~>
'I won't use my [Time Stop]. I won't use my regeneration!'
~your [pride]="" has="" 3%="" chance="" to="" take="" over="" your="" body=""~>
'I won't even use my sword and rely on my [Sword Mastery]!'
~your [pride]="" has="" 1%="" chance="" to="" take="" over="" your="" body=""~>
'Those guns and bullets are also no good! They are my byproducts of my [Firearms Creation]!'
'I'll only use my body, my brain, and my soul in this fight!'
~your [pride]="" has="" 0%="" chance="" to="" take="" over="" your="" body=""~>
~if you="" went="" against="" your="" [pride]="" two="" more="" times, ="" your="" [pride]="" will="" be="" deleted=""~>
~your [soul="" of="" sloth]="" has="" recovered=""~>
With blurred vision, Tong he could not read the messages from the auto-message system. However, he could sense that a residual soul inside him could be summoned again.
'I may be a hypocrite. I may be stupid. However, I'll rely on my soul. Come out [Sloth]!'
The soul in a brown police uniform appeared behind Tong's back. Its face was tranquil despite the urgent situation. The back of Tong revealed two black tentacle wings, and they grew two inches longer than the last time.
Fortunately, Huang Zhong could not see the wings on Tong's back, but he still witnessed the soul behind Tong.
'Whether you have a guardian spirit or you have a helper, I will be the victor!'
Huang Zhong took another ten arrows from another quiver. He fired five of them at a time, two times in a row.
By the time the archer general fired the last ten arrows, the first fifty arrows which he had launched toward the sky had started to fall to earth. The location where they are falling was the spot where Tong was standing.
Fifty arrows from above, and ten arrows from the front, this was Huang Zhong last card!
Tong's true body could not move anymore, but his [Sloth] could still see and move around. Tong switched his body control to [Sloth], and he could sense his surroundings again.
'I lacked practice, but I should be able to do this. '
The sensitivity and Tong's instinct from Sloth Soul was the same as Tong's overclock mode in full power, but the [Double Accel] that Tong had used still had better performance.
The fifty arrows and the ten from the front came at the same time as if they were calculated.
'I won't give up!'
"MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!"
Tong shouted the iconic warcry while his [Sloth] threw punches at the incoming arrows, leaving dozens of afterimages.
One punch for one arrow.
Five punches for five arrows.
Ten arrows.
Twenty arrows.
*DONK*
One of the twenty arrows fell and knocked off Tong's helmet.
Thirty arrows.
Forty arrows.
*SOEK*
*SOEK*
Two of the arrows from the front pierced Tong center chest through the armor, digging into his flesh and stuck at his ribcage.
Fifty arrows.
*SOEK*
*SOEK*
One arrow from the above landed on Tong's right shoulder. The other cut the side of Tong's right forehead above his left eye. That arrow ricocheted with Tong's armor and fell on the ground.
Sixty arrows.
*SOEK*
The last arrow that slipped through the parrying of [Sloth] went through his left chest, piercing through his lung and missed the heart by a couple of centimeters.
[Sloth] returned into Tong's body as he had not mastered controlling two bodies at the same time yet. Once the soul reentered the body, Tong's vision became clear again.
He swallowed his pain and staggered toward Huang Zhong with five arrows embedded into his body.
Meanwhile, Huang Zhong stared at Tong as if he saw a monster. The thing just now had parried most of his arrows. Had the guardian spirit not existed, his opponent would have already turned into a porcupine.
Even though Tong walked toward Huang Zhong one step at a time without defending himself, the archer general did not follow up with another attack. He had already promised that if Tong survived his attacks, Huang Zhong would resign. He wanted to honor that oath.
"Hansheng! What are you doing!? Kill him!" Huang Zu shouted. He did not understand what Huang Zhong was thinking.
Xu Huang did not speak anything. He only kept his eyes on Huang Zu, getting ready to charge at this onlooker any time.
Tong's slow walking took him to the front of Huang Zhong. His face was covered with blood from the cut on his forehead. Both his eyes were dark red, and his nose was dripping blood. Despite all that, Tong smiled at the general and slowly pointed his gun at Huang Zhong's face.
"I survived. It's my win, right?"
Huang Zhong chuckled at this young lord."Indeed. This is my defeat."
Tong lowered his gun."I hope you can fulfill our bet, general."
"Of course." Answered Huang Zhong as he continued giving Tong a bitter smile. This archer general was satisfied, but he was worried about Tong's condition. From the looks of it, Tong would die soon.
'Zhang Tong, son of Zhang Jiao. I'll remember your name. '
Huang Zhong thought that Tong sacrificed his life to get the victory in this duel so that his men would not have to fight in this war. If this young lord could go this far for his soldiers, how could he be the cold-blooded rebel as the Emperor said in the edict? He felt guilty and ashamed for fighting for the corrupted Emperor and killed this chivalrous young lord.
He felt pity for Tong's future.
'A good person always dies young. '
Huang Zhong bit his lower lips as he stared into the eyes of Tong. He wanted to engrave Tong's face into his memories as the face of a hero.
"The victor can ask the loser anything. What do you want me to do?" Huang Zhong asked.
"The victor is not decided yet! Hansheng, what are you doing!?" Huang Zu protested.
"Noisy!"
Huang Zhong shouted back and locked his killing intend on his comrade. The pressure of this archer general was on the same level as Lu Bu, which weaken Huang Zu's legs and made his horse neighed in a panic.
The intimidation of Huang Zhong was effective. However, Huang Zu was stubborn. He drew his bow and fired at Tong before anyone could react.
"You!" Huang Zhong wanted to block the arrow, but he was too late. The arrow passed him.
'Regen! Time Stop!'
With two activations at the same time, Tong blinked and reappeared behind as he stood on the back of his horse, with a gun pointing on Huang Zu's head. All wound on his body and the arrows, which embedded onto his body, disappeared.
"You know, if it weren't for him and the bet agreement, I would have killed you."
Huang Zhong, Xu Huang, and Huang Zu were shocked. This sorcery was too miraculous that their logic could not comprehend it.
(Author's note: too many Huang. I cringed. )
Staring at Tong for a while, Huang Zhong realized something. The dying sign on Tong was no more. Also, he did not use those sorceries during the duel.
"Zhang Tong, if you had used those sorceries on me from the beginning, you would have won easily. Why didn't you do it?" Huang Zhong asked.
"This is a gentlemen's duel. Why should I use my power in a fight between mortals? Will you use a sharp-edged weapon when your opponent uses a wooden stick in a competition of skills?"
Hearing Tong's answer, Huang Zhong burst into laughter while Xu Huang had a wry smile on his face while he thought, 'You said you didn't use your power, but what in the heaven was that guardian spirit? You still cheated, my lord. '
Huang Zhong swiped his tears from the laugh.
"Indeed. That was fun. Well, what do you want me to do? You won, I lost. I have to follow your order."
Tong pondered while he still stood on the horse behind Huang Zu.
'Can I ask him to join me right away?'
'No, that won't work. Huang Zhong has a family back in Xiangyang. If he defects right now, his family members will be killed by Liu Biao. '
'I have to delay the invitation for now. Recruiting legends are troublesome. Oh, wait! I can still use that trick. '
An idea popped up inside Tong's brain. He smiled at Huang Zhong and said.
"For now, please be my hostage until the Imperial troops withdraw from Liyang territory."
Huang Zhong shrugged as he did not mind it."Alright, but get me a good physician to treat my wounds. I still want to have another rematch with you."
"Not a problem. I'm also a physician apprentice. I can look at your wounds."
While the two laidback duelists chatted in a friendly manner, Xu Huang and Huang Zu observed them with an awkward smile.
'They were killing each other a few minutes ago. How could they get along so fast!?'
...
...
Tong and Xu Huang guided Huang Zhong to Liyang City while Huang Zu returned to Liu Biao with bad news.
When Liu Biao heard the news about Huang Zhong's defeat and that general became Tong's hostage, he shook his head.
"A golden opportunity, yet a shocking discovery. I don't blame him for losing to that sorcerer Zhang Tong."
Liu Biao did not get angry at Huang Zu or Huang Zhong. The opponent was too mysterious and powerful. Losing to him in a fair duel and this war was justified. Besides, Liu Biao was not a harsh warlord. He often forgave his subordinates for mistakes and blunders if the reason was acceptable.
As Liu Biao was about to open his mouth and order the army to retreat to Luo Yang, a messenger rushed in with an urgent report.
"Report! Our granaries at the camp are on fire! An unknown army raid our camp while we're here!"
The corner of Liu Biao's eyebrows twitched. That raid was unnecessary as he was planning to back away from this battlefield.
"Haiz, I know. Give my order to everyone. We'll withdraw back to Luo Yang."
"Y-Yes, general!"~/your~~/if~~/your~~/your~~/your~~/your~
| ← Ch. 192 | Ch. 194 → |