My Avatar is Becoming the Ultimate BOSS
Chapter 117 - 099 Xia Pingzhou VS Oda Takashige (Second Update, Request for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 117: Chapter 099 Xia Pingzhou VS Oda Takashige (Second Update, Request for Monthly Tickets)

At this moment, with footsteps like thunder, three Black Iron Soldiers charged forward like buffalo.

Holding shields in their left hands and swords in their right, they positioned the shields horizontally in front of them, forming a steel wall.

Oda Takashige sneered at this, lightly tapped the ground, and leaped upward. Despite his two-meter height, he was as nimble as a bird, soaring over the shield wall constructed by the soldiers.

The Black Iron Soldiers swung their swords upward, hoping to intercept him in midair, but Oda Takashige merely stepped lightly on the side of the sword blade, deftly avoiding the stabbing sword points.

Immediately, he landed behind the three Black Iron Soldiers. With a swift motion, the Shadow Sword traced a black arc, severing the necks of each soldier. The decapitated bodies slowly knelt down, releasing their shields and swords.

Simultaneously, the Shadow Demon exceeded its maximum time of existence, leaving it unable to laugh: "Ka, Ka..." Its rigid voice echoed as it slowly released the King’s statue from its tight grasp.

The King emerged from the Shadow Lake at its feet, standing motionless like a puppet holding a scepter aloft.

Oda Takashige strode towards the King’s Statue. With a swing of his sword, the King’s Statue head flew off.

Then, the King and the three Black Iron Statues transformed into chess shadows, returning to the Black and White Ring Road surrounding Xia Pingzhou.

Oda Takashige slowly turned his head and glanced sideways at Ji Minghuan.

Ji Minghuan had not moved a step since the battle began. Even more strangely, the Queen’s Statue had stayed alongside Ji Minghuan from start to finish, never leaving his side... Was there something peculiar about it?

"The King is gone. Now there’s no piece to protect him, will number 12 still not surrender?"

Oda Takashige pondered.

No matter what, all he knew was that his target was Ji Minghuan: having lost the King’s protection, no matter what happens, the Queen’s Statue can’t be faster than him.

Within one step, his sword was swifter than anyone’s!

So at this moment, Oda Takashige repeated his old trick, disappearing into the shadows beneath his feet once more. In the blink of an eye, he had burst from the shadows behind Ji Minghuan, his sword enveloped in shadow, slicing upwards towards Ji Minghuan’s back.

However, at this moment, the giant hand of the Queen’s Statue rested on Ji Minghuan’s right arm.

The Queen’s Statue’s reaction speed was indeed slower than Oda Takashige, unable to swing the dagger the instant Oda Takashige appeared to block the long sword aimed at Ji Minghuan.

But apart from physical combat, the Queen’s Statue had another unique trick, her exclusive chess species power—"Nihilization."

"Nihilization."

In that instant, Ji Minghuan silently voiced this in his mind, so the Queen’s Statue and Ji Minghuan’s body simultaneously entered a nihilized state, turning into an untouchable transparency.

Ordinarily, in just 0.5 seconds, Oda Takashige’s long sword would have pierced Ji Minghuan’s back.

But at that moment, the blade cut through nothing.

Oda Takashige slightly jolted; in his original plan, as long as he moved a step ahead of the Queen’s Statue and sliced first at Ji Minghuan, then this boring match should have ended—Miss Ayase would wrap their bodies in paper sheets to prevent them from harming each other, and then unilaterally announce his victory.

Yet, he was wrong.

Completely wrong.

The blade of the sword... had not touched Ji Minghuan’s body at all; instead, Oda Takashige’s body leaned slightly forward. His pupils constricted, realizing his form had overlapped with Xia Pingzhou’s shadow?

This sensation was as if... Xia Pingzhou had transformed into air!

At the same time, the Queen’s Statue, upon nihilizing Ji Minghuan’s body, had already swung out the short dagger.

The angle at which she swung the dagger followed Ji Minghuan’s command, representing a perfect prediction of Oda Takashige’s movement—because Oda Takashige was confident he could end the match with one strike, so when the sword cut through nothing, his body would unwittingly lean forward.

Thus at that moment, the dagger was precisely poised at Oda Takashige’s throat.

"Stop. It’s over." A girl in a reddish-brown kimono watched the two as she spoke from nearby.

I actually... lost?

Oda Takashige was stunned for a long, long time; then he lowered his eyes to gaze at the dagger at his throat. If it had been an inch closer, his neck would have been sliced, yet Ji Minghuan controlled the distance so well that not even a blood line appeared on his neck.

Oda Takashige glanced sideways, seeing the icy blue flame burning in the eye sockets of the Queen’s Statue. If it weren’t for the sovereign’s restraint, she would have struck down long ago, killing the one attempting to harm her lord.

While his attention was still on the imposing Queen’s Statue, Xia Pingzhou’s indifferent voice arrived from beside him:

"Number 4, when you’re attacking, you can’t hide your body within the shadows, can you?"

After a pause, Xia Pingzhou continued his deductions: "So to catch you, must be precisely at the moment of your attack, the evidence shows I succeeded as well."

Oda Takashige was speechless for a moment, then silently smiled. Unexpectedly, after just one battle, Xia Pingzhou’s observation of him had reached such detail.

Meeting his gaze sideways, Ji Minghuan then said: "Feels like you went easy, I don’t believe that’s all the strength you have."

Having said that, he instructed the Queen’s Statue to retract the dagger from in front of Oda Takashige’s throat, transforming them and the cannon pieces back into chess shadows, returning them to the Black and White Ring Road.

Then he put away the Celestial Driver, the sightseeing perspective and ring road disappeared together, making the abandoned building seem much more spacious suddenly.

Ayase Origami approached: "Takayama indeed hasn’t used many of his moves; perhaps he thinks teasing little kittens... needs only a few basic tricks."

"Indeed it was my oversight." Oda Takashige nodded slightly, "But misestimating an opponent’s power is also a key reason for the failure, Mr. Xia Pingzhou’s strength indeed exceeded my expectations..." He referred to Ji Minghuan by name rather than by the team number.

He sincerely praised: "Your Celestial Driver ability is very unique, giving you great advantage in one-on-one combat, surely few enemies could individually breach your heavy defenses."

After a pause, Oda Takashige sheathed his sword and calmly said:

"I lost."

Ji Minghuan contemplated for a moment, then proposed: "How about later, after my pieces recover, we fight again. Don’t hold back, show me your other moves."

"There’s no need." Ayase Origami said, "If Takayama gets serious, this building will collapse."

"Really?"

Ji Minghuan said while meeting Ayase Origami’s gaze, seeming reluctant to believe that a ninja focused on stealth and speed also possessed such power as Ayase Origami mentioned.

"Indeed." Ayase Origami said, "Little cat, rebelling... disbelieving the owner’s words."

Ji Minghuan ignored her, turned to look at Oda Takashige, "Actually, if I didn’t know your ability, I might not be able to win you in an encounter... A ninja who can suddenly appear in others’ shadows, is hard for anyone to guard against."

"No, a loss is a loss, no need to find an excuse for me." Oda Takashige shook his head, his gaze and tone suddenly softened, as if he had become a different person, "Let’s go back and prepare."

"Prepare for what?"

"Tonight, three members will arrive in Tokyo, we’ll wait for them at the café."

"What about the leader?" Ji Minghuan only cared about this.

"The leader hasn’t arrived yet." Oda Takashige replied.