Martial Online.

Chapter 457 The Power of Muscle Defense

Moriarty appeared in a world of black that had no end in sight. He was still lying on the ground with his hands hiding his face.

"God damn it…"

He was too ashamed to show his face and too broken to even look up.

This was his end—the start of his downfall.

At least, that's what he thought.

But, at that moment, a flash of light appeared, and a holographic screen appeared.

At first, he thought it was Ambrose, following in his footsteps in disqualification, but when he peeked through his fingers, he saw a scene displaying on the screen.

"W-what's happening?"

He wiped the tears and slowly stood up, trying to make sense of the surreal scenes unfolding before him.

It showed Ambrose surrounded by the members of Zahhak.

However, the strange part was that he was still alive!

"H-how?"

He couldn't understand it, but soon he started to connect the dots, and his eyes widened in shock.

"I-its different from the first round? B-both team members have to be eliminated?!"

After realizing that, he dug his fingers into his palm as he realized that there might be a very small chance of survival.

"Ambrose, come on, run away! You cannot beat them!"

He shouted, even though he knew no one would be hearing him. However, he was desperate and ashamed.

He was so occupied by Arsenal that he foolishly ignored his surroundings, and he was ambushed in the end.

"Run away, damn it…" Moriarty clenched his fists, and frustration filled every part of him.

'Never again. I'll never feel this humiliation again.'

…

In the Rothsmith Estate.

It was so silent that one could hear the faintest sound of a pin drop.

Jack's and Anna's eyes were peeled on the flat-screen television as they watched with bated breath.

"Brother…" Emma looked at the television, her heart pounding in her chest.

"How unlucky…" Jack whispered and massaged his temples. "He encountered teamers."

Teamers, a term used to refer to players who worked with players that were supposed to be opponents. It was a common occurrence to give themselves better odds of survival.

"He could still run away, right?" Anna said with a hint of hope in her voice. "I've seen him run, and he is fast."

"I believe that lady with the bow will shoot him in the back if he does so." Jack said with a sigh. "If he wants to survive, he has to kill the archer, then run away."

"Please, brother, defeat them!" Emma cheered loudly, but she was too nervous to look at the television as she didn't want to witness his defeat.

…

"Patriarch!"

"I can see it." Mark said coldly and looked at the screen with a frown.

'Do not humiliate yourself, brat. You are carrying the name Rothsmith, and it is your duty to uphold its honor!'

The members of the Rothsmith family put their gazes on the screen and waited for the confrontation to begin.

However, none of them expected him to survive and just wanted him to die, at least with honor, or at least run away.

No one would blame him for running away after meeting teamers.

…

In Moriarty's Community Chat.

[Kerma: Oh no…]

[Caly: Moriarty died, right? I think we saw only a brief glimpse of him!]

[Kyoko-san: This cannot be happening! Ambrose, run away!]

[Rei-Kun: Fucking teamers. They should be disqualified; this is so unfair!]

[Kamne: It's game over unless Ambrose manages to run away. I think I recognize these players, and they are part of Zahhak!]

[Nobo: Zahhak… It's game over, I fear so. They are powerful alone, but there are four of them. It's going to be impossible to survive]

[Kyoko-san: What is he doing? He should run away immediately and try to escape into the jungle!]

[Nobo: They'll never let him…]

[Rei-Kun: Game over…]

…

Ambrose grabbed the wooden sword with both hands and stood in the middle of the encirclement. He was surrounded, like a lone warrior ready to face his fate.

"This shall be the end of you." Arsenal put the twisted blade into an attacking stance. "Prepare to meet your demise."

"Hihi." AnarchyCat twirled the knife in his hand and grinned. "If you plan on running away, I suggest you put that notion down. You cannot outrun me."

SweetieHell put an arrow in the bow and pulled the string back, aiming it straight at Ambrose's head. A playful smile played on her lips.

Andromeda pulled out two knives from her belt and twirled them skillfully between her fingers.

She didn't speak a word, but her eyes spoke volumes. She wasn't that into humiliating others, and if there was a chance, she would end his life immediately, which could be considered a merciful death.

Ambrose silently eyed them, and his thoughts were unusually quiet. He wasn't thinking anything at all.

It was as if he worked on autopilot, his mind void of any conscious thought.

He let his instincts take over, trusting that they would guide him in the right direction.

In his mind and in the world of souls, he had fought against members of Zahhak and the Inquisitors thousands, maybe millions of times.

He had done it so many times that he had lost count.

The times he had lost were too numerous to tally.

However, this was one moment where losing was not an option.

Ambrose slowly moved his feet forward, putting all the weight into that one step, and tightened his grip on the wooden sword.

The images of his millions of fights flashed through his mind like a movie reel.

SweetieHell's hand trembled as she tried to hold the arrow between her fingers. She wasn't an archer but instead a spearswoman, but this was the only weapon she managed to find.

At last, the arrow slipped between her fingers and launched towards Ambrose like a homing missile.

Ambrose put his arm in the way, which suddenly expanded, and all the muscles in his arm bulged like they were about to burst out of his skin.

The arrow stabbed into his muscle, but it snapped in half and fell harmlessly to the ground. It couldn't penetrate through his defenses!

"The Arm Muscle Defense." Ambrose whispered coldly.

It was still the same skill: Muscle Defense. However, he learned to modify the skill slightly to use it in one part at a time, like he did now with the arm.

It allowed him to get incredible defense in one part of his body but also still move freely.

Arsenal shot forward like an arrow and drove his twisted blade towards Ambrose with all the force he could muster.

Ambrose glanced at him briefly and tossed his wooden sword from his right hand, which was still swollen by all the muscles, to his left hand, deflecting the twisted blade with a swift and graceful parry.

AnarchyCat slid across the ground and slashed towards Ambrose's exposed leg with the tiny knife.

"The Leg Muscle Defense!"

Ambrose shouted, and his legs suddenly swelled by the muscle to an enormous size, providing a formidable barrier against AnarchyCat's attack.

The knife bounced off harmlessly, as if it were trying to break through solid steel.

"What in the world…" AnarchyCat whispered.

At that moment, Ambrose smashed the sword through AnarchyCat's chest, sending him flying across the street until he crashed into a pile of crates between two buildings.

AnarchyCat protected himself as well as he could, but his health still dropped a significant amount.

[-20 HP]

[AnarchyCat: 5/100 HP]

Andromeda twirled the two knives between her fingers and hurled them towards Ambrose.

Ambrose saw the two knives approach him from his side, but before he could do anything, Arsenal also launched another stabbing attack.

"The Muscle Defense!"

At that moment, his entire body swelled with muscles, making him look like a bodybuilder with veins popping out everywhere.

The two knives bounced off him, and the twisted blade created a shallow cut on the shoulder, but it barely penetrated his skin.

"…" Arsenal stayed quiet during the ordeal, acting rather calm.

"Whoo…" Ambrose returned to his normal state and smashed the sword into the twisted blade.

"Your blade is no match for mine." Arsenal said, and the twisted blade slowly cut through the wooden sword like a hot knife through butter.

"…" However, Ambrose didn't react and instead smashed his fist through Arsenal's face with a devastating force.

Boom!

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