Versatile: Alternate World

The semi-finals aren't that trivial and the enemy I got this time is a lot weaker than the previous two. He was a warrior but he was overly reliant on his equipment's stat and due to that, his actual skills are a beginner at best. It was even a miracle that he managed to reach the semi-finals without facing strong players to compete against.

Due to the result, I ended up winning without a challenge at all. As for the other two, it is not unexpected that Sigma and Kazuki won their matches and will now proceed to partake in the final battle to determine the sole winner of the tournament. They are in their own league after all and I will acknowledge that Kazuki is not just a pushover, he has the abilities to show it.

I didn't bother to listen to the emcee as the three of us went back to our respective resting rooms to prepare. Kazuki is not a problem and knowing him like the back of my hand, he is not even worth considering as a threat. The problem is none other than Sigma. I paid attention to her battle earlier and just like how I have seen her in the past timeline, she is the same as ever. Although she isn't as much invincible as in the past, she is still close to unbreakable with her defense. She defeated the enemy without much effort as she just remain to stand and walk around and didn't even bother chasing the enemy. You can say she is the human embodiment of the tank(the tank in Left4Dead).

My Versatile Weapon has properties of Defense reduction and defense penetration as well as the [Incomplete Rhongomyniad] to deal true damage but the latter one is not a good idea as it is not really stable yet and it would be a bad idea to reveal it to others since it's pretty powerful even though it is still in its incomplete state. So to mitigate the defense of Sigma, I need to increase my existing skill tree by one skill that can at least lessen her defense. A debuff skill.

I rarely buy a Debuff skill and if I did, I rarely use it. Due to the number of enemies with debuff resistances, it's much better for me to just use a skill that gives a self-buff or party buff instead of the debuffs due to the nature of most enemies. The only useful debuffs that are pretty much used are [Poison], [Paralyze], [Sleep], and [Curse] since they have a higher chance to proc compared to [Attack Down], [Defense Down] and other skills that inflicts stats reduction debuffs as they are for some unknown reason to have a low success rate to hit.

But that only applies to monsters. For some good reason, this doesn't apply to players. Unless they have a passive that blocks them or an item effect that blocks the debuff attacks, these debuffs always work all the time.

I opened the Magician skill tree. Aside from offensive skills, Magicians are not only capable of dealing with mystics and magic skills, but they are also capable of unleashing terrible [Defense Down] debuffs on other players. Besides, even though I still have a small amount of SP left behind, it is not a problem as this skill only cost one 3 SP to learn, and it's only a tier 1 skill. I don't need it to be a high-leveled one, I only need it to reduce the defense of Sigma in our battle soon.

[Defense Down]

Tier 1

Type: Active

Cost: 15 MP

Usage: Instant

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Info: Using the power of mystics and magic in the air, reduce the defensive capabilities of the enemies by 2%. Can stack 5 times.

Note: Isn't this a good way to reduce the durability of clothes too?

...

...

"Ladies and Gentlemen! After the battles of the players that participated in the very first event and opening ceremony of the Arena Colloseum's opening, we are now entering the final battle that everyone is waiting for! I applaud all of the participants of this event and even though some have lost on the way, everyone shouldn't be worried as the losers will not feel the sign of defeat due to it! Now that the best of the best were left behind, we are also going to find out who And we are going to crown as the current champion!"

The audience started to get riled up from the hype. They are too excited about the very last battle that they will all be witnessing after the emcee is done talking.

"Since we have three finalists, we decided to use this new method of combat arrangements. We will introduce a new battle system that will allow us to witness the battle of the three players! We will call it the Battle For Blood!"

The audiences are confused. It is natural they will be confused as this mechanic is not a well-known thing and it sounded like they just invented the thing on the spot.

"Are everyone confused right now? Then, I will explain things to make things simple for everyone to understand! This is a mode that only three maximum players can participate. The three are not comrades and they need to watch out against each other. After all, this is a fight to the death. The three players will fight against each other. No matter what is the result, someone should be remaining standing from the three. As for the other two, the first one to fall will automatically be the third placer and the second last player will be the second placer. So this is an elimination round and survival shoved together."

The audience seems to be still confused while some quickly understood how things work.

"If anyone is still confused, then let's show a live performance on how the Battle For Blood will happen. Finalists! Please come to the arena."

When I heard the emcee call us, I stood up and slowly walk out to the arena. Alongside me are the other two. Kazuki is looking in my direction while I am looking at Sigma. As for Sigma, she is in a neutral stance and is only staring straight ahead of her.

"We will now commence the Finals. Finalists, would you like some clarifications and another recap of what is the Battle For Blood?"

I silently shook my head in response.

"No need, the explanation earlier is fine as it is," Kazuki said.

"I don't need it."

"Huh, so the finalists already understood what it was huh? Then, without further ado, the final battle will begin! The Battle For Blood will officially commence!"

The countdown immediately started to count but this time, it is now in 5 seconds compared to the usual count of 3.

While the countdown is already ticking, I quickly take a bit of distance between myself and the other two. Although Sigma is only a threat in the melee battle, Kazuki is a bit different since he is another Magic Knight. We are rivals and I know his moves and what he is thinking in a battle so I can easily say that he will target Sigma first and move to attack me as the last.

3!

2!

1!

0!

As the countdown went to zero, my guess on who Kazuki will attack first is a spot on as he quickly charges towards Sigma who just stood there with her spiky mace in hand.

"[Fire Blade!]"

Like the usual [Wind Blade], [Fire Blade] works the same as the former, only in a different element and a much more defense penetrating magic spell. However, compared to how BlackBlaze fights with Kazuki, the latter is just pure firepower with a bit of lacking with the strategy department. He is just a pure brute force guy.

Sigma didn't move from her position and instead swing her mace.

FWOOSH!

In one swing, the [Fire Blade] was rendered useless and a small [Holy Light Shield] appeared on her body. That should be the tier 5 passive, [Shield of the Saintess], a passive that allows the user to gain three stacks of [Holy Light Shield] that can block a maximum of 3 fatal attacks. It will only activate if the user is attacked. And since he attacked her, the passive activated. If his damage output is low, we can sit here all day and she will remain in full health.

As for me, I am not going to just stand idle. My main target is Kazuki and Sigma is the one I needed to get more focus for later. She will be difficult to defeat if Kazuki were to keep interfering and she will just go and heal whenever Kazuki tried to interfere.

As Kazuki is focusing his attacks on Sigma, he didn't notice that I am already behind his back. Before he can react, a hard hammer hit his cheek squarely and sent him flying in a few meters. Kazuki gritted his teeth and stood up quickly from being sent flying but I didn't let him get up that fast and already attacked him once again using the Hook and Chain and pulled him back to me.

Kazuki didn't let himself get hooked by me and blocked it by stomping the ground and creating the [Earth Barrier], an Earth Element skill that allows the player to get a small wall of dirt to block an attack it can handle.

"You are not my target yet so don't interrupt my hunt!" Kazuki growled.

I grinned inside my mask with a crazed look on my face as I changed my weapon back to a hammer.

"I apologize but I want to break that face of yours to pieces."