The Esports Little Demon King Is a Sweet and Fierce Omega - Chapter 19.2

“Heavens! He dodged Meng Ruoruo’s freezing skill! But it’s too late. Zhuang Ke has already closed in behind him while invisible!”

Tian Jiu felt a premonition and ducked; the cold gleam of a dagger swept over the top of his head.

Zhuang Ke was fast, but after witnessing Feng Wu’s movements, Tian Jiu didn’t think much of average Assassins. Furthermore, after sparring with Mecha Zero’s advanced attack modes, his reaction speed and combat intuition were exponentially stronger than when he started.

Ducking beneath the strike, Tian Jiu instinctively delivered a powerful elbow thrust to the opponent’s abdomen. The tall Alpha Assassin was sent flying by the impact, his invisibility shattered. He slammed heavily into a low wall, collapsing into the rubble and dust alongside it. His health bar plummeted to the brink of zero.

Meng Ruoruo gasped. He swung his magic staff repeatedly, launching one ice sphere after another. These were accompanied by a chilling gale infused with pheromones that transformed into dense, needle-like ice blades, permeating every available gap.

No matter how agile Tian Jiu was, it was impossible to emerge unscathed from such an onslaught. He dodged the ice spheres as best he could, but the pheromone-infused ice blades were unavoidable. They sliced into him relentlessly.

Tian Jiu’s outfit was shredded, and two thin streaks of blood appeared on his cheeks.

As Meng Ruoruo attacked, he retreated, his mana bar draining rapidly. He was terrible at close combat and couldn’t afford a physical brawl; his only hope was to stall for time until Zhuang Ke could recover and assist him.

Seeing through the intent, Tian Jiu ignored the damage and charged straight at him. Meng Ruoruo’s eyes widened in horror as Tian Jiu reached him and snatched the staff right out of his hands. With a simple, casual snap, the staff who’s cast from high-density data, broke in two and rendered as complete junk.

“You—” Meng Ruoruo turned pale. Before he could say another word, he felt weightless as he was hoisted into the air.

Tian Jiu swung him around with one hand and hurled him directly at Zhuang Ke.

Zhuang Ke had just finished two bottles of nutrient solution and was preparing to move when he saw his boyfriend flying toward him. He caught Meng Ruoruo in his arms, but the momentum was too great. He stumbled back several steps, tripped on a stone, and sat down hard in the ruins. Meng Ruoruo’s Mage crown fell off, landing squarely on Zhuang Ke’s face.

“Pfft!” Meng Ruoruo actually laughed.

Tian Jiu shouldered his cannon again and said apologetically to Meng Ruoruo, “I’m sorry. You were too good, so I had to break your staff.”

The two of them sat up in the ruins, covered in dust, staring at Tian Jiu.

“I’ve guessed who you are,” Meng Ruoruo said excitedly. “You’re the Omega Shadow has been looking for, aren’t you?”

“Which one?” Zhuang Ke asked curiously.

“The one who crushed Shadow’s twin pistols! He can swing me around and snap my staff. It’s definitely him!”

Tian Jiu suddenly felt a chill on his back. He looked back to see the blue-green toxic mist slowly closing in.

“!”

Gosh, I got so caught up in the fight I forgot to run from the zone!

Tian Jiu didn’t stay to chat. He sent them both out of the game with a single shell, pocketed the four bottles of nutrients they dropped, and bolted. He drank the nutrients as he ran, restoring his health and mana.

The dusty little red panda swayed its big tail, its alert ears twitching, as it sprinted toward the safe zone. Behind him, the mist chased closer and closer. He glanced up, only three survivors remained!

The Junkyard was right in front of him, but the mist had caught up. Tian Jiu felt his health ticking down point by point.

Help!

Tian Jiu ran even faster. Ahead, he saw another figure scrambling for their life at the other end of the Junkyard. It looked a lot like Shadow. They were both in a pathetic state. They caught sight of each other but didn’t bother attacking; surviving the zone was the priority.

Suddenly, Tian Jiu realized with horror that standing atop a high “mountain” of scrap metal was a sniper in a black athletic suit with white stripes. The man stood leisurely, sniper rifle in hand, looking at Tian Jiu and Shadow with a half-smile.

He looked very elegant.

It’s over.

Tian Jiu watched him raise the rifle and aim it at Shadow.

“Damn it! Don’t be so wicked!” Shadow roared.

Okishima Kazutoshi gave a light snort and pulled the trigger. Shadow rolled forward; the bullet clipped his arm. He let out a pained yelp but finally reached the safe zone, immediately vanishing into the labyrinth of scrap metal.

Okishima frowned and turned his sights toward Tian Jiu.

Wait… where is he?

Okishima lowered his gun and scrambled down the “mountain.” Almost the moment he jumped down a section, Tian Jiu’s shell exploded behind him. The scrap mountain buckled, sending debris flying. A mechanical prosthetic limb slammed into Okishima’s back, knocking him off the slope. He rolled to the ground in a heap.

He didn’t lose much health, but he lost a lot of face.

Fei Erfeng shouted excitedly, “Heavens! Our top three have emerged! They are all long-range players, and they have no nutrients left! In this maze of scrap, the match is reaching its peak!”

******

The three players were nearly at full health and mana, but in this cluttered junkyard, no one knew where the others were. They moved with silent steps, eyes scanning every corner.

Shadow saw a half-broken marble in the corner of his eye. He picked it up and tossed it into the distance. It hit a piece of scrap metal with a clack, causing the plate to slide.

Tian Jiu: “…” That sounded like a classic distraction. How amateur.

Okishima clearly thought so too; no battle erupted. Shadow frowned and continued to circle slowly. The audience was both frustrated and amused because the Junkyard was massive, making the three players look like tiny specs. They were miles apart. Unless the circle shrank again, they wouldn’t meet.

Tian Jiu paused for a moment. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he began noisily climbing the nearest scrap mountain. He made no effort to be quiet; the clattering of metal was jarring in the silent factory.

Shadow and Okishima were too cautious to move impulsively, but they stopped wandering aimlessly and began heading toward the sound. Tian Jiu reached the peak. Looking down, he still couldn’t see the others. The area was simply too vast. He puffed out his cheeks, his round face looking incredibly “rua-able.”

Suddenly, the siren blared. A new circle was refreshing, right in the center of the triangle formed by the three of them. It was perfectly fair. At the center of the safe zone was a small metal hill, an ideal dueling ground with plenty of cover.

With a ten-second countdown, Shadow and Okishima sprinted for the zone. Tian Jiu stood tall on his little mountain, cannon leveled at the safe zone.

At five seconds, Okishima’s silhouette darted past a corner. At three seconds, Shadow entered the zone from the other side. Shadow looked up at Tian Jiu, only to be met by a mischievous smile.

A shell packed with fire and smoke blasted toward him. Shadow scrambled behind a mound, but the shockwave still shaved off a chunk of his health. Tian Jiu fired again, predicting Okishima’s location. The wide blast radius clipped him as well.

Damn, Cannoneers have such an advantage here! It was true; in this terrain, a Cannoneer was much easier to play than a Sniper or a Gunner.

The countdown ended. The toxic mist contracted rapidly. Tian Jiu slid down his hill and ran, but instead of taking the flat ground, he jumped from one mound to another.

“What is he doing? He’s wasting time!”

“The final circle closes fast. He shouldn’t waste stamina climbing!”

The audience was on edge. “What do you think?” Zhou Funian asked Feng Wu.

Feng Wu went silent for a moment. “He’s very smart.”

Tian Jiu wasn’t afraid of being sniped; he was seizing the high ground for a 1v2. With the mist behind him and two experts ahead, he should have been terrified, but he felt an exhilarating rush. His heart thundered. The wind whistling in his ears and the clatter of scrap metal under his feet felt like a war-time symphony. His adrenaline was through the roof.

He had calculated the distance: he needed to cross five mounds to reach the target hill. He was now on the fourth. If he was right, the other two were waiting at the base of the final hill. They wouldn’t cooperate; they would be watching each other.

Sweat rolled down Tian Jiu’s face, leaving trails through the dust. The cuts on his face stung from the salt.

Almost there!

Tian Jiu reached the final summit. He planted his cannon in front of him. The massive barrel shielded his upper body. A sniper bullet hit the metal with a ping, leaving a small dent. Tian Jiu caught a glimpse of a shadow at the base and fired.

A heavy explosion followed. Survivors: 2.

Tian Jiu swung the heavy cannon forward toward the final peak and let the momentum pull him. Shadow’s twin pistols fired relentlessly; a bullet hit Tian Jiu’s left leg. He landed on the summit but his leg gave out, forcing him into a kneel. He shouldered the cannon and fired back at Shadow.

The close-range blast made Tian Jiu’s ears ring. He only had mana left for maybe three more shells. His health was at a quarter; not much better than Shadow’s. Shadow was buried under some debris from the blast, his health dropping to a fifth. He scrambled out, leaning against the scrap, gasping for air, his hands shaking as he gripped his pistols.

Tian Jiu slid down into the safe zone just before the mist arrived. His leg wound throbbed, blood soaking his leg. He limped to the only scrap mountain in the zone and leaned back, wiping his eyes. He sniffed, finally realizing how much a gunshot hurt.

He knew Shadow was on the other side. One of them had to fall. He stroked his cannon. One more time, Cannon. Let’s win this!

Shadow finally rose, clutching his chest. He moved toward the back of the hill. Nearly two hours had passed; it was time to end this. He felt a strange sense of destiny. Two weeks ago, they met and Tian Jiu broke his gun. Now, they were here to decide it once and for all.

Tian Jiu closed his eyes. He lightened his breathing until he heard the faint sound of footsteps. Shadow was coming from the left.

Tian Jiu raised the muzzle to the left. The footsteps paused. Tian Jiu snapped his eyes open, pivoted the cannon toward the upper left, and fired. Shadow had used a scrap car as a springboard to leap into the air, firing every remaining bullet.

Several bullets hit Tian Jiu, but the shell caught Shadow square in the chest.

Both health bars plummeted. Tian Jiu collapsed to his knees. Before his health could hit zero, brilliant fireworks erupted over the Ruined City.

He lay on his back, blood seeping from his chest, but his dark eyes were bright and clear, reflecting a smile.

[32nd Selection Trials Champion: Tian Jiu!]

“Congratulations to our little red panda, Tian Jiu! He is the undisputed winner!” Fei Erfeng’s voice cracked. “Applause for the first Omega champion in historyand an Omega without pheromones!”

The stadium erupted. Everyone stood. Cheers nearly shook the sky.

Feng Wu stood and clapped. He watched the blood-stained Tian Jiu on the screen and thought he looked like a delicate rose growing out of the iron ruins; striking, fragile, and mysterious. Zhou Funian looked at Feng Wu and froze. For the first time in years, he saw a glimmer of human emotion in Feng Wu’s eyes.

******

The Ji couple was ecstatic. They were jumping and hugging each other. “Our son has really made it!” Mrs. Ji cried. “We’ll go get him right after the ceremony. We’ll bring him home.” They genuinely believed Tian Jiu would be desperate to return to the Ji family now that he had glory to share.

Luo Yuan was also swept up in the pride. This champion was his childhood friend, the one who had pursued him for years. He completely forgot about Ji Kaile beside him. He wanted everyone to see that Tian Jiu belonged to him.

Ji Kaile sat frozen. Tian Jiu’s smile was a blade cutting through his world. No, this can’t happen! He gripped his fists, eyes red with malice. I’ll get him to sign with AS. We don’t need Cannoneers; he’ll never get to start. I’ll crush his confidence just like I did for nineteen years.

*****

Tian Jiu closed his eyes. “Master, you’ve exited. Quit Hallworth?” Erguotou asked.

“Quit,” Tian Jiu said weakly. The pain was real, and two hours of high tension had left him drained.

He opened his eyes and jumped. His gaming pod was surrounded by three layers of people. The most familiar faces were Okishima, the Mage-Assassin couple, and Ding Sa.

“You’re awake,” Meng Ruoruo said, leaning in. “Do you really not have pheromones? How are you so strong?”

Zhuang Ke pulled him back. “Don’t scare him.”

“Congratulations,” Okishima smiled. “That last move was cool.”

“Glad you won,” Ding Sa added. “If I got knocked out by a cannon toss and you lost, I’d never hear the end of it.”

These were his peers. The peers he would soon be competing with in the big leagues.

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