Around half an hour later, Yi Qiang had gathered enough information. He had long since assessed the Four and collected knowledge on anyone else he noticed would be a challenge to fight.
Overall, the most significant obstacles in this tournament would be the Four, assuming there were no other factors for which Yi Qiang had yet to account. Unfortunately, it was extremely rare that there were no unforeseen complications in... anything; this was a lesson Yi Qiang did not need a background in killing people to know.
The archer was especially wary of Ilien and Taren. Ilien fought with magic, meaning Yi Qiang had less room to prepare for opposing him, while Taren's fighting style, from what the marksman gathered, was better suited to fight Yi Qiang's than that of the other two. After all, Yi Qiang had heard more than once about the swordsman's nickname as "The Flowing Wall". He was apparently titled so because he was impossible to hit due to the disparity in skill and agility. The skill component of that was something Yi Qiang didn't stress much about, as he had enough experience fighting against experienced fighters. However, pure agility did have the potential to become a wall Yi Qiang could not surpass. The marksman, although he had already Analyzed Taren, had no idea of his level and actual physical abilities, so he prepared for the worst.
The other two were a good match for Yi Qiang. Elias was a brute force combatant, effective, but not to Yi Qiang. If there were one thing he was confident in, it would be his attack power. If Elias couldn't dodge, the only outcome would be defeat. Brute force, as long as it was within reason, had stopped scaring Yi Qiang long ago. As for Restra, she was an even worse pair given Yi Qiang's skillset. After all, he was trained a sniper for his entire life - his senses had long since been honed to the peak, and the marksman did not lose that when he transferred to Ascend. If anything, that boon was only enhanced.
Simply put, he was an archer - sharp eyes and keen ears were a crucial part of his combat strategy. As such, the stealth that Yi Qiang had heard Restra utilized as a significant portion of her skillset was neutralized entirely. Given that she focused more on the method of approach than the approach itself, meaning she'd be slower than Taren, Yi Qiang would not give her a chance to close the distance. That left her with only one card left: her hidden weapons. Those, for the previous reasons, were useless against him as well.
Of course, all of Yi Qiang's predictions were null if his guess about their strength relative to his was incorrect. If he were vastly underestimating their prowess, the marksman's technique and all of his advantages wouldn't matter - the cliff of pure power was not one so easily scaled.
Yi Qiang was knocked out of his mullings by a clatter. Instantly, he directed his eyes to the direction the sound emanated from and immediately focused on the apparent source.
To his left, Elias and a dark-robed, red-haired man were squaring up.
Elias was someone Yi Qiang had already assessed - he was strong, no doubt. In fact, in a contest of pure strength between him and Elias, Yi Qiang held little doubt the barehanded fighter would lose out. Not only that, but the burly elf had a sturdy body, far more durable than Yi Qiang's own.
However, every fighter had a weakness on an even playing field, and Elias' was speed.
As for the man clad in dark-colored robes, Yi Qiang was less confident about his hasty analysis. He didn't want to risk using Analyze, as it was likely that the mysterious fighter was strong enough to sense his intrusion, so he had to resort to a rushed scanning with sharp eyes. Thankfully, everyone's attention was on the two, so one more pair of eyes, no matter how discerning, would be difficult to notice.
Those robes he wore were strange. Their design concealed the state of the man's body, the extra space leaving the man hard to assess. They also, mystically, blocked the feel of him, in that Yi Qiang could discern nothing from staring at him.
Judging from this unusual fact alone, Elias wasn't fighting a pushover.
This observation of Yi Qiang was confirmed when the confrontational atmosphere turned bloody in the span of an instant, the fighting intent emanated by both fighters acting as the primary contributor to this air. All of that was because the fight Yi Qiang had been expecting began.
Not terribly surprisingly, the dark-robed man landed the first blow. Even to Yi Qiang's honed eyes, the movement was almost blindingly quick; crisp, clean, and refined.
Unfortunately, Elias was not that easy to take down. He seemed almost unaffected by the rapid blow as the bulging muscles in his right arm swelled, driving a hammer fist that shattered the air.
The black-cloaked fighter swerved out of the way, his recovery just as quick as his initial strike; however, the blow was not as easy to avoid as that - the mysterious man was still snagged ever so slightly by the overpowering hit.
Despite the glancing nature of the attack's landing, the damage was considerable. A resounding, dull thump sounded out, and the figure was slammed into the ground.
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Strangely, it got up completely unimpeded despite the dent in its side, and dashed forward at Elias, dodging the overbearing jab that sought to crush the man's head by jumping to the side, landing a series of five precise blows on the martial artist's ribs.
Elias' face was as stony as ever, unaffected by the strikes, but judging by the crisp sounds that Yi Qiang picked up on with every fist that impacted his ribs, the fighter couldn't entirely shrug off the blows.
The fight continued. Yi Qiang marveled at the black-cloaked warrior's stamina and willpower, which fueled it to move unobstructed by the damage it took and just as quickly as ever. He also took note of Elias' durability and strength, which combined to form a living fortress. The man had yet to change his impassive facial expression during the fight, regardless of what happened. This was doubly terrifying when Yi Qiang considered that some of those strikes, if directed towards him, would send him to the brink of death should they fully land. Of course, in an actual fight, that would be near impossible, but the point still stood - such a hit would be fatal.
Yi Qiang was noticing a few strange things, however. Firstly, the willpower of the fighter was weird. It had started to surpass the realm of impressive or superhuman and was becoming impossible. Impossible in that even Yi Qiang would be defeated before this fighter's ability to ignore everything other than the fight.
He could tell that the black-cloaked man was maneuvering himself as if in the third-person - like he couldn't feel his body in combat.
The second thing Yi Qiang noticed was the black-cloaked man's aura. Initially, his garbs had blocked it, but through the duress of combat, that effect had been slightly weakened. Though it was slight, so minute that Yi Qiang was confident he was among the few that could sense it, he could start to feel a very distinct sensation from the man.
It was the feeling of death. And the aura was so pure that it couldn't come from someone who simply lived with death, or who manipulated it - what Yi Qiang felt wasn't something that could be gained by killing enough.
What he felt was the air of someone who lived and breathed death, someone with death as an essential part of their being.
But that existence made no sense. Yi Qiang could recognize it, but that didn't mean he had any idea as to what sort of being would emit an aura like that.
The Prince walked up to Yi Qiang's side.
"You're observing, aren't you? Take in what you can; those are both opponents you likely need to be wary of."
Yi Qiang nodded. Maybe he can tell me what it would take for such an aura.
"Second Prince. What being is most closely acquainted with death?"
The answer was immediate.
"Undead, easily."
Yi Qiang furrowed his brow. Hold on a second...
"How can you recognize undead?"
"There's always a necromancer nearby controlling them. Their aura of death is a pretty good indicator, and it's effortless to recognize them on sight."
Hearing this, Yi Qiang's suspicions began to grow stronger. The undead's distinctive appearance would explain the robe, and-
"Brother! Someone's at the door!"
Shenyu's alarming cry rang in Yi Qiang's mind. The archer could feel fear and anxiety from the hatchling, and stood there, paralyzed, for an instant before his consciousness kicked into overdrive.
What can you feel about the enemy? Are they strong?
"Yes, they're too strong to fight. There's a strong aura that smells like corpses, too!"
Corpses...?
Everything clicked for Yi Qiang at once.
There's a necromancer here. And it's targeting Shenyu.
Yi Qiang told Shenyu not to be scared, assuring his partner that he would put a stop to the trouble as soon as possible.
His sharp eyes immediately started to dart around, looking for anyone suspicious. There were a few people he had tagged as mysterious before all this danger, and his eyes were attracted there first.
Three out of the four people he dismissed immediately - his mind was working incredibly quickly driven by his panic, and it instantly pinpointed several things with each person that disqualified them from the position of the necromancer, from their stillness to their posture.
The one remaining figure drew Yi Qiang's eyes immediately. There were a few things that all but gave him away as the controller of the undead, from his slightly twitching fingers that corresponded with the puppet's movements to his moist forehead.
Yi Qiang observed for a few more precious seconds to make sure he wasn't attacking the wrong person, well aware that every second meant further danger for Shenyu. However, if he attacked the wrong person, he would immediately be restrained by whatever defenses the palace undoubtedly have, and the necromancer would still be alive.
The moment he felt sure enough to stake Shenyu and his lives on it, Yi Qiang mobilized 90% of his Qi into a single bow and 5% into an arrow.
This was the most powerful shot Yi Qiang had ever attempted to make - a bow with 990 points of Qi was terrifying even just in theory. Combined with an arrow of 55, which was likewise overkill for a single attack, this single strike could instantly kill almost anyone Yi Qiang had encountered.
But then again, there was no reason for him to spare his resources - once the initial shot was fired, even if the necromancer had a partner or belonged to a group, Yi Qiang wasn't alone either. There were plenty of formidable fighters in the crowd that would quickly react to any other danger popping up, meaning the archer didn't have to worry about defending himself after his shot was fired.
Mustering all of his strength and condensing it into that single shot, Yi Qiang pulled back the bowstring and, an instant before he released the arrow, yelled as loudly as he could, warning people of the threat's presence.
"NECROMANCER!"
The shot was even more powerful than Yi Qiang expected, tearing through the air at speeds he had never seen before. Thus, in an instant, it reached the death mage's head and blasted through it, killing him more effortlessly than Yi Qiang could hope possible.
In fact, the arrow's momentum was so overbearing that it continued, unhindered by its target, blasting into the floor and causing an explosion that sent dust into the air as well as tiny fragments of the floor, flying at speeds challenging to respond to, even for Yi Qiang.
Oh, crap. The nobles.