...

"Hey, Fractured Anatomy, stop fooling around and kill this girlie! She doesn't even have her summoned beast with her!" Joker yelled in a slightly annoyed tone.

​​

At the moment, both he and Fractured Anatomy were locked in their fight against Meng Jiang. So much so that the two of them could not afford the luxury of looking away and did not notice the light out of their vision.

"Shut up! I don't see you doing anything useful, you bastard!" Fractured Anatomy snapped back as he gripped the chain in his hand tightly before swinging it down full force at Meng Jiang.

Swoosh! Zeeeeut!

Meng Jiang vanished just as the sickle at the end of the chain was about to reach her and appeared five meters away from where she was previously positioned.

The instant she arrived at her new location, a burst of concentrated mana sped towards Fractured Anatomy.

Bang!

Fractured Anatomy received the attack head-on as it slammed into his body before dispersing in every direction.

Although the attack did not cause much damage, it was enough to disrupt Fractured Anatomy's continuous stream of attacks before it could even begin.

"Damn...! That's already the ninth time! How many times can she use that skill?! I refuse to believe that she can use it without end!" Fractured Anatomy muttered under his breath in annoyance.

The reason he and Joker struggled to land a solid blow against Meng Jiang was because of that annoying skill that allowed her to constantly escape danger!

Once, twice—even three times was at least somewhat understandable and tolerable. However, Meng Jiang's use of the skill made it seem like its cooldown time was virtually nonexistent!

"Useful? You- Do you think you would be able to fight so recklessly if not for the traps I laid out?!" Joker scoffed.

Joker's class, Trickster, was a rogue-type magic-based class that specialized in traps and deception.

Typically, this combination of traps and deception-type skills enabled Joker to control how his enemy moved and drain their mental fatigue. As the battle went on, the enemy would eventually grow impatient and tired, which often led to their deaths.

But, Meng Jiang was different from the enemies he faced up until now.

Not only did his mental games of deception seemed to not affect Meng Jiang, but she always managed to avoid the traps he secretly placed within the vicinity. It was almost as if she knew precisely where each trap was hidden!

"Is there a need to argue over something so trivial? I hate to see comrades fight amongst themselves, so allow me to settle the argument as an outside party—the two of you are equally useless." Meng Jiang said with a lovely smile.

Her words enraged Joker and Fractured Anatomy as their eyes burned with killing intent; however, Meng Jiang did not flinch.

At the moment, Meng Jiang controlled the entire flow of battle.

She used a skill called Blink that allowed her to teleport five meters in a straight line in nearly every direction.

However, Blink was only a B-rank skill, and despite Meng Jiang's constant use of it, the skill did indeed have a cooldown. But, with the uchiwa feather fan in her hand, Meng Jiang was able to ignore this cooldown, as well as the ones for other A-rank and below skills!

Of course, this had its limits and restrictions. For one, every time Meng Jiang used the effects of the uchiwa feather fan, the cost of that skill would continue to increase by its original value with every use.

For example, Blink originally cost Meng Jiang 200 mana to execute. However, with the uchiwa feather fan, the second cast cost her 400 mana, and the one after that, 600 mana.

Currently, Meng Jiang had just used Blink for the ninth time at the cost of 1,800 mana!

This effect would continue to stack indefinitely and would not reset until 24 hours passed from the first cast using the uchiwa feather fan.

As for other restrictions, the item's effects could not be used on manaless, buff, or debuff skills.

In addition, all offensive skills used with its effect would have their damage reduced by 50% and crowd control effects cut by 80%.

Meng Jiang also used the C-rank skill, Mana Burst, as her main form of attack to ease the drain on her mana pool.

Without Acogu'An by her side, Meng Jiang's overall offensive power was cut down drastically.

However, Mana Burst was good for slowly chipping away at one's opponents while also disrupting their chain of attacks. With a low mana cost of 40, a two-second cooldown, and a cast time of 0.1 seconds, it paired well with the mana-hungry effects of the uchiwa feather fan.

When it came to the traps that Joker set around the battlefield, Meng Jiang avoided stepping in their activation range with the assistance of her passive skill, Nature's Flow.

Nature's Flow enabled Meng Jiang to see the unique mana signatures hidden in the earth that belonged to Joker and keep away from them.

It resembled Izroth's Energy Vision Sense in its most basic form; however, it was limited solely to mana and did not grant a nearly as in-depth look. Not to mention, the range it covered did not come close to Izroth's Energy Vision Sense at its maximum distance.

"You're starting to get on my nerves!" Joker said coldly as he accessed his inventory.

He removed a rough black sphere with a line running around its center.

When Fractured Anatomy saw the object in Joker's hand, he abruptly halted his follow-up charge towards Meng Jiang and immediately retreated!

"You crazy bastard! Are you trying to kill all of us?!" Fractured Anatomy yelled angrily as he rushed to get as far away as possible.

Meng Jiang calmly examined the item in Joker's hand using Nature's Flow; however, there was not a single drop of mana coming from it.

"It's not a magic item. Then- Hm?" Meng Jiang internalized, but her thoughts were interrupted as she seemed to realize something.

"I wanted to play with you for a little while longer, but you brought this upon yourself, girlie!" The sphere in Joker's hand flashed red and began to split open from its center.

Swoosh!

All of a sudden, Joker was hoisted off his feet and sailed far into the air!

"Wha-" Joker looked down as he flew upward uncontrollably; however, he was shocked by what entered his sights.

"King Crown! That son of a-!"

...BOOOOOOOM!

A thunderous explosion rang throughout the battlefield as a bright light appeared in the sky before dying down a few moments later.

When the light dissolved, there were no traces of Joker that remained.

Meng Jiang smiled and said, "You did well, Acogu'An."

Acogu'An moved to Meng Jiang's side and circled her protectively as she reached her hand out and gently brushed the top of its head.

Acogu'An, who was supposed to be fighting against King Crown, had returned Meng Jiang's side.

As for King Crown...

King Crown had a battered appearance and was down on one knee as he struggled to stand to his feet.

"You will not escape my wrath..! Wherever you hide; I will-"

Phhtk!

A sword pierced through King Crown's neck as his body shattered into countless particles.

"If you have the power to do so, I welcome you to take your revenge. However, you should prepare yourself for the consequences should you fail in your attempt." Izroth said calmly.

The next moment, King Crown's figure fully dissipated, and just like that, the player who ranked 4th among the Headhunter Syndicate's Twelve Banes had been eliminated!

'These numbers are somewhat troublesome to take care of one at a time. Since Great Storm is still on cooldown, then... I suppose I still have some Essence left to spare.'

Izroth quickened his steps as he relocated to the heart of the battlefield.

'I should be able to keep it active for a few seconds and not risk falling into Soul Weakness.'

In less than a breath, Izroth poured out an overflowing amount of Essence as it swept over the battlefield.

Out of nowhere, every player from the Headhunter Syndicate felt an overbearing force crush down upon them as they were overcome with a feeling of suffocation.

Several players instantly shattered into particles under the pressure and perished, while those who were more "fortunate" entered a frenzied state and even started to attack their own allies!

This was the result of Izroth's Soul Pressure.