Chapter 468: The First Clash
"A fair and just duel..."
Hearing this, Earth Horse had no choice but to calm himself and focus on the problem at hand.
No matter how the venue had been transformed, and regardless of whether anyone would hold him accountable afterward, his only option was to find a way to deal with this group of participants first. If this game ended with all the facilities destroyed and the participants escaping unscathed, that would truly be an impossible situation to explain.
"The mechanisms weren't lost by me... I'm sure Vermilion Bird will forgive me..." Earth Horse slowly moved his fingers, pulling a second ball from the bamboo tube at his side. "As long as I kill everyone as usual... he will certainly forgive me."
From a distance, the ball in Earth Horse's hand appeared to be made of ordinary material—just a common wooden ball.
The group exchanged glances. Now that there were no mechanisms left around the track, as long as they could withstand Earth Horse's next "ball," this game would be won.
But who on the field could actually withstand the "ball" thrown by Earth Horse?
Once again, everyone's gaze instinctively turned toward Qiao Jiajin.
"I'll do it." Qiao Jiajin narrowed his eyes slightly and gestured to the people behind him. "But that big horse woman has only attacked once, I haven't fully adapted yet..."
"Meaning you'll be able to adapt eventually." Bai Jiu nodded. "Then I'm relieved."
"Ha..." Qiao Jiajin let out a bitter laugh. "Let's hope so."
The surviving participants had now placed all their bets on Qiao Jiajin.
If he could block it, everyone would survive. If he couldn't, according to the rules, everyone would face "sanctions."
Earth Horse weighed the wooden ball in his hand, then slowly raised it above his head and abruptly swung his arm toward the group.
*Boom!*
What no one expected was that Qiao Jiajin raised his hand almost simultaneously with Earth Horse. Before the wooden ball had even left Earth Horse's palm, he had already swung his club.
Based on Earth Horse's throwing motion, Qiao Jiajin did his best to predict where the ball would land. Since the wooden ball was moving at an incredible speed, if he couldn't start swinging the bat in advance, there was no way he could block it.
He felt as if he were a goalkeeper waiting for a penalty kick, where luck played a far greater role than skill.
Fortunately, Earth Horse was a complete amateur when it came to throwing. She had no feints or deceptive movements, nor did she use her full body strength to increase the power of her throw. She simply tossed the ball like she was throwing away trash.
But even so, the ball was still fast—too fast, beyond the limits of human perception.
Qiao Jiajin tilted his body to the right in advance and swung his bat toward his lower right.
To everyone's surprise, the wooden ball seemed to be flying directly toward Qiao Jiajin's lower right. If luck was on his side, he would be able to block it just in time.
But how could he predict it so accurately?
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and swung the bat. He couldn't see the ball's trajectory at all; this attack was pure gambling.
*Crack!*
In the blink of an eye, Qiao Jiajin's bat collided with the wooden ball. The impact between wood and the metal bat even sent faint black smoke flying.
Everyone assumed the ball had been blocked, but only Qiao Jiajin knew he hadn't hit it squarely—he had only grazed the edge of the wooden ball.
But for something traveling at such a high speed, even a slight deflection would completely change its direction.
*Boom!!!*
A thunderous roar rang in everyone's ears. The wooden ball had crashed straight into the ground far away from the "wooden ox and flowing horse" mechanism. In an instant, the ice surface was shattered with a massive crack, and the wooden ball itself broke into flying splinters.
Only when the sound fully subsided did many of those nearby gradually come to their senses.
In that split second, Qiao Jiajin had actually used his own body to deflect an attack from a Di-level opponent.
This was likely unprecedented in all of the "End of Days."
"Jo... Joe..." Bai Jiu stared at him in disbelief. "You... adapted?"
Qiao Jiajin let out a cold laugh, then looked up at Earth Horse and said, "Just as I predicted... first you attack the astrologer girl, then the flash girl. You damn monster, you only go after the wounded, right?"
It was only then that everyone noticed—if Qiao Jiajin hadn't deflected that wooden ball, it would have pierced straight through Feng Shiqi, who had a leg injury.
"Ha." Earth Horse laughed from a distance. "So what? These injured people are dead weight to any team. I'm being generous, helping you get rid of the burdens."
"What...?" Qiao Jiajin clenched his teeth. "Who told you that comrades fighting side by side are burdens?"
"Take off your mask." Earth Horse shook her head. "Every single one of you thinks the same way inside, you just can't say it out loud. After all, telling the truth goes against the 'humanity' you cling to. So I'm really helping you here."
Hearing this, Qiao Jiajin slowly took three steps forward, closing the distance to Earth Horse.
"I'm very glad now that I liberated 'Wuqu' in your venue." Qiao Jiajin said. "Now I can no longer hear that star's lament."
Earth Horse frowned as she looked at Qiao Jiajin, wondering why he dared to keep advancing under these circumstances.
She thought for a moment, then glanced at the club in Qiao Jiajin's hand and noticed something was off.
A stream of crimson blood was slowly flowing from Qiao Jiajin's palm, creeping up the base of the metal bat toward the top, splitting it into two colors—gray and red.
"Heh..." Earth Horse pulled a crystal-clear ice ball from her bamboo tube. "Faking bravado..."
Qiao Jiajin knew that both of his tiger's mouth areas had split open. The force of that ball was simply too fierce; catching it without any injury would have been pure fantasy.
He reached out with his left hand, pulled at his collar, and ripped his shirt apart with a violent tug. Then, like bandaging, he wrapped it around the metal rod, binding it tightly to his right hand. Finally, he bit down on the cloth strip and tied a tight knot with his teeth.
Now, even if his hand broke, the weapon would never slip from his grip.
Earth Horse tossed the ice ball in her hand a few times, looking at Qiao Jiajin with a hint of mockery.
This situation was practically a battle of humans against gods, yet the man before her had chosen to respond with a street brawl—wasn't that the same as asking for death?
Qiao Jiajin gripped the metal bat with both hands, doing his best to steady his breathing.
He had gambled correctly on the landing of the wooden ball just now. But what about this time?
At that moment, Saturday slowly walked over and sat down. Luo Shiyi, Wang Ba, Qiu Shiliu, and others followed suit, finding broken boulders to sit on.
"Qiao Jiajin." Saturday called out. "This time, whether you succeed or not, 'Cat' will give you a funeral with the highest honors. You are already a warrior recognized by us."
"Not very auspicious." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "If I succeed, I don't need a funeral. I just need you to get me a good bottle of wine. If I fail, I still don't want a funeral. Just let me rot in the streets."