Chapter 412: Tricked!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Qiao Ting stared at Zhao Jun's group of three surrounding his team member with cold eyes. Lingtian No.4 and Lingtian No.5's control skills could only be described as passable — Qiao Ting reckoned they were not from the same team before this and so had nothing much in terms of rapport. This was also why his team member had not been put at a disadvantage even though he was up against two opponents. Meanwhile, Zhao Jun was also trying to instruct them. Even though his tone was terrible, he was not taking any action, and everything he said was targeting his two teammates' mistakes.
Seeing that Zhao Jun's attention was fully engaged on the three fighting mecha, Qiao Ting knew that his opportunity had come!
Qiao Ting was confident that he could defeat Zhao Jun easily even in a frontal attack and obtain victory. However, he would need to spend more time to do so. Qiao Ting did not want to waste any time, so he chose a method which could kill the enemy in one move — while Zhao Jun was distracted and unprepared, he would launch a sneak attack and kill him instantly.
Caught off-guard, a special-class mecha would be completely unable to withstand even one attack from an ace mecha, and this was precisely the ultra-effective attack Qiao Ting was aiming for.
On the battlefield, Zhao Jun's group of three were currently completely oblivious to the incoming danger, but the spectating cadets could see very clearly that Qiao Ting had already silently drawn his beam saber and was coiled like a hunting cheetah preparing to strike.
That special-class mecha of Lingtian's was in danger! This conclusion surfaced in everyone's minds. Against an ace operator's sneak attack, they just could not see how a completely unprepared special-class mecha could survive.
It could be said that the key moment determining the ultimate outcome of this fight was about to come ...
Right at this moment, Qiao Ting's eyes lit up. Having long been prepared to attack, he suddenly burst forth from his hiding place like a hunting cheetah, the beam saber in his hands slashing right at Zhao Jun's back, aiming for the most defensively weak cockpit area.
"Ah!" Even though the spectating cadets had known this was coming, Qiao Ting's sudden action still made them cry out involuntarily. Zhao Jun had his back to Qiao Ting, and Qiao Ting's speed was already at the limits of what an ace mecha could achieve. He could truly be described to be moving as fast as thunder, as quick as lightning. It could be seen that Qiao Ting had no intentions of giving Zhao Jun any little chance of surviving. Was Zhao Jun really about to be finished off by Qiao Ting in one move?
The supporters of Lingtian could not bear to watch; they could not help but close their eyes. If Zhao Jun was kicked out of the match like this, there would be absolutely no chance for Lingtian to obtain victory after this. Everyone knew very well that Zhao Jun was the strongest one in Lingtian.
"Zng!" This was not the sound of a mecha being pierced but the sound of two energies of equal strength clashing. Those who had closed their eyes opened their eyes again in surprise, only to see incandescent sparks blooming between the two mecha, so blinding that white spots appeared in the vision of the spectating cadets. The whole scene was a bright sheet of white.
Luckily, the adaptive ability of the cadets' eyes was very strong. One to two seconds later, they had all regained their vision. Only then could they see the scene clearly.
As expected, Zhao Jun had not been killed by Qiao Ting in one blow. He still had his back to Qiao Ting, but his mecha was lowered in a half-kneel, shrinking his body height down by half. Furthermore, this action also allowed the half-drawn beam saber on Zhao Jun's back to perfectly intercept the attack Qiao Ting had launched at his cockpit.
The feedback from his mecha made Qiao Ting pause for only a moment. He knew that his attack had not succeeded as he had hoped — though he had no idea why Zhao Jun could block his strike so coincidentally, he also knew that he still had the upper hand. The opportunity could not be missed — without any hesitation, he raised his beam saber and swung it forwards viciously once more.
This attack came hard and fast — Zhao Jun, who still had not fully drawn his beam saber and had his back to Qiao Ting, had no time at all to try blocking Qiao Ting's attack with his beam saber again. Everyone thought that even if Zhao Jun did not die this time, he would certainly be heavily injured. The beam shield of a special-class mecha could not completely offset the power behind an ace mecha's beam saber. At that time, not only would Zhao Jun's mecha be damaged, but, at the same time, the intense shockwaves brought by the beam saber would also injure the operator's body.
Just as Qiao Ting's attack was about to succeed, he suddenly sensed danger. Without conscious thought, the beam saber in his hands suddenly changed directions, giving up on his attack on Zhao Jun to sweep out at his right flank ...
"Zng!" His beam saber clashed with another beam saber, once again sending out countless electrical sparks into the air. Meanwhile, Zhao Jun took this opportunity to operate his mecha to flip backwards, and after bracing his mecha with one arm on the ground, he successfully rolled out to land securely. With that, Zhao Jun was now facing Qiao Ting directly. Qiao Ting's plan to kill him in one move had failed completely.
Qiao Ting's face was stormy — he had not expected his sure-kill sneak attack to fail. This made him very unhappy. If he had known this was how things would turn out, he might as well have attacked the other directly from the front from the very start. Even if that would have required more time, he still would not be as annoyed as he was now.
Qiao Ting's frustration passed quickly. His gaze then turned swiftly to his right — it was this person's perfectly-timed attack which had allowed Zhao Jun to get away. However, after glancing over, he was taken aback. The one who had attacked him turned out to be that unimpressive Lingtian No.5. Qiao Ting had not thought much of the other two mecha with Zhao Jun, but it was precisely this inconspicuous mecha operator who had successfully taken him by surprise. The other's timing had been impeccable, giving him no choice but to give up on attacking Zhao Jun to save himself.
It should be known that even for ace mecha, the beam shield protecting the cockpit was still the weakest. As long as it was hit directly, the energy shockwaves would still leave him injured. Lingtian No.5 had been aiming straight for his cockpit in his sneak attack, which was why Qiao Ting had had no choice but to save himself.
This outstanding attack from Lingtian No.5 gave Qiao Ting the inkling that something was not right. He immediately looked towards his team member and found that the other was in a terrible situation. Against Lingtian No.4's attacks alone, his team member was reduced to pure defence with no room for counterattacking.
Right now, Lingtian No.4 was showing none of the previous clumsiness he was showing earlier. With just one glance, Qiao Ting could tell that this Lingtian No.4's strength was greater than his team member's. Qiao Ting's thoughts stirred and he instantly realised that he had been tricked.
Qiao Ting was furious that he had been set up. Tone icy, he asked Zhao Jun, "I would like to know. How did you know I was here?" They could only have set this up if they had discovered his presence.
Zhao Jun waved the beam saber in his hands, smiled, and said, "Actually, from the very moment you began following us, we already knew."
Qiao Ting's eyes turned cold. Zhao Jun's answer was clearly just humouring him; it looked like the other would not be telling him the truth. "Since you don't want to tell, then leave it. Just with the three of you, even if you've set a trap to lure me out, so what? The outcome will not change. You will all die here." Qiao Ting coolly announced his verdict for the three members of Lingtian. He had barely finished speaking when he had moved to come right up to Zhao Jun. Even though Qiao Ting was proficient in long-range offence, as Instructor Tang Yu's student, his close-combat abilities were not that weak either.
"Bring it!" Facing Qiao Ting's frontal attack, Zhao Jun hollered, raising the beam saber in his hands and moving forwards to meet the other. Zhao Jun was a close-combat mecha operator to begin with, so he had the utmost faith in his own close-combat ability. Even up against an ace operator one level higher than him, as long as his own mecha had enough power, he was not afraid.
"Zng, zng, zng ..." The two beam sabers met several times in succession, sending sparks flying everywhere. The intense bursts of light when they clashed left the eyes of many of the students watching the fight aching. Still, even so, they could not bear to turn their eyes away, because they could not know whether the fight would end in the very next second. Because anyone with eyes could see that after exchanging several blows, Qiao Ting had gained the upper hand. The power differential in mecha levels and control ability had still pushed Zhao Jun into a disadvantaged position. As the power levels of Zhao Jun's mecha drained rapidly, this disadvantage grew bigger and bigger. It was entirely possible that he would be defeated by Qiao Ting and eliminated in the very next second ...
"Beep!" The thus far silent mainframe suddenly emitted an alert once more. Qiao Ting glanced at his system notifications reflexively, and found that the section marking his battle team's numbers had gone down by one again. At present, the number of active members left on his team had become 6.
Qiao Ting's heart clenched. He quickly turned to look at where his team member had been fighting earlier. This one glance made Qiao Ting's expression change drastically.
His team member was already down on the ground, a beam saber slowly being pulled out from the team member's cockpit. The one holding the beam saber was not Lingtian No.4 but Lingtian No.5, the one who had attacked him earlier. It looked like while he had been trading blows with Zhao Jun, Lingtian No.5 had chosen to go back and combine forces with Lingtian No.4 ...
The rage in Qiao Ting's heart surged — the Lingtian battle team's persistent face-smacking fuelled abnormal hate in Qiao Ting. The powerful killing intent he felt pushed his finger-speed to rise once more, truly reaching the speed an ace operator should have. Perhaps Qiao Ting had felt that victory was at hand and had still somewhat underestimated his opponents, for he had not truly shown the standards an ace operator should have up till now. This was another reason why Zhao Jun had been able to hold out for so long.
With the increase in his control finger-speed, the beam saber in Qiao Ting's mecha's hands also began to move a level faster. It swung at Zhao Jun like a thunderstorm — this kind of wild and frenzied attacks placed several times more pressure on Zhao Jun. He could only parry desperately, hoping that he would be able to endure and survive these intense attacks.
The spectating students could only see a sea of sword-light at this point. Zhao Jun's black mecha was completely obscured by the light of the beam sabers. The students did not know what would happen; they could only open their eyes wide and wait for the light to fade to witness the final outcome.
Only several keen-eyed instructors and several powerful administrators were able to see what was happening through the light. Right then, the light representing the power behind Zhao Jun's beam saber was already extremely dim, and the beam shield on his mecha was only glowing very faintly. This meant that the power supply of Zhao Jun's mecha was about to be completely exhausted by Qiao Ting's frenzied attacks. In perhaps another two or three attacks, Zhao Jun's mecha's power would be finished — at that time, the inevitable outcome awaiting Zhao Jun was a merciless killing, defeat, and elimination.
"As expected, a special-class operator has no way of resisting against an ace operator." Some of the administrators relaxed at this point, unable to stop themselves from laughing. When they had first realised that Qiao Ting had been tricked, they had been afraid that Qiao Ting would drop the ball at this critical moment. But now, from the looks of it, their worries were unfounded. How could an ace operator be defeated by these measly small fry?