BECAUSE Winged Tassel was too surprised by his sudden inability to use his wings, he almost didn’t notice the two daggers that were about to slice his neck and cut his head off. He barely dodged the daggers. If he was just a second late, his head would have probably flown off just now.

  Seeing this, he heard Noctis clicking his tongue. Obviously disappointed that he managed to dodge at the very last second. If those daggers even scratched him, he knew that it would be detrimental.

  He had watched the other’s last two matches like a hawk watching his prey. Because of his desire to fight the other, or rather, his desire to fight the kitsune, he didn’t miss any details of Noctis’ matches.

  Of course, the first match didn’t count that much since that was fought by the kitsune. The second one was a different matter though. He didn’t remove his eyes from the match from start to finish. Engraving every tiny details he could in his mind.

  Since that fight lasted for quite some time, he gathered quite a few important information. Amongst those, there were two that in his opinion were the most important. One, the fact that Noctis had control over shadows, he could even travel through it. And two, that those daggers had some kind of special debuff.

  He observed how when Razor was slashed by those daggers, the other was suddenly unable to move. It’s like his whole body just froze. In that short moment of time that Razor was frozen, Noctis could have easily defeated him. That was probably what should have happened. Unfortunately for Noctis, Razor did something to negate it.

  He didn’t know what Razor had used to be able to do that. But he had a feeling that it must be a skill that was related to the other’s race. Sadly, for Winged Tassel, he didn’t have the same skill set. So, he had to be inventive and think of another way in order to counter that debuff.

  Thankfully, he managed to find an item that could do what he needed during the short break between the quarterfinals and semi-finals. The only problem was its effect could only be used once. But could he still complain? It’s already a miracle that he found such an item.

  This means that he still had to do his best to not be slashed by those daggers. At least until the right moment.

  Regarding the shadows, he thought that it could easily be solved by flying. But Noctis cut that off by giving him this handicap. The other had probably thought about that that’s why he made that kind of handicap.

  If Winged Tassel knew that he would end up in a situation where he wouldn’t be able to get any benefit at all, he would have chosen to fight that gnome instead. Again, he could only blame himself. Because of his impatience, he ended up in this situation, fighting this elf who seemed hell bent in annoying him to death.

  Luo Yan indeed wanted to annoy the hell out of the other. At least until this guy told him why he was so bent on having Eclipse in this match. But considering how tightlipped this Winged Tassel was, the other might not tell it to him until the end.

  He shrugged. That’s just fine. Now that he knew that Winged Tassel was targeting Eclipse, he would be prepared for anything. Although, truthfully, he already had a guess on what this guy needed.

  If the other was not a furry, then, he must have seen something on Eclipse that made him want to target the little fox. Something that was on Eclipse that couldn’t be found with any other NPCs. There’s really only one answer at that moment – the Elementum.

  As what Shirayuki had told him before, the blue gem was a powerful object that had an infinite amount of Mana and mastery of all the elements. Anyone who knew what it was and what it could do would definitely feel greedy to have it. Especially those players who were looking for items that could make them even stronger.

  He wasn’t sure how Winged Tassel knew about the Elementum. But considering how the other’s race was also based on Japanese mythology, it wasn’t really that unbelievable for him to know about it. Maybe his race had some kind of legend about the Elementum.

  No matter the case, it still wouldn’t change what Luo Yan needed to do – he had to protect Eclipse from the other’s evil clutches.

  He continued to attack the other using [8th Movement Dance]. He noticed that Winged Tassel was a bit sluggish in his movement. Probably due to the shock the other received after realizing that he couldn’t use his wings.

  Luo Yan smiled. "What do you think of my small gift? Since I couldn’t fly, it’s only natural that I also prevent you from flying, right? How unfair it would be for me if you’re up there in the sky while I’m down here on the ground. As someone who advocates for equality, I should eliminate your advantage so we could fight on equal grounds. You won’t hate me for it, right?"

  Winged Tassel felt his virtual blood pressure rising up again. What equality? What fighting on equal grounds? If that’s the case, then you should have also gotten rid of your ability to enter shadows! – he almost shouted that out. But he had a feeling that this guy would only enjoy his disgruntled expression if he did. So, he stopped himself on time.

  While blocking Noctis’ attacks, he took back his wings. Since he couldn’t use it, it would only be a decorative nuisance. With his wings gone, he also started to counter every attack that his opponent threw at him.

  When Luo Yan noticed that the other had put out his wings, he smiled inwardly. According to his deal with the duke, Winged Tassel couldn’t use his wings for 15 minutes.

  But that didn’t mean he couldn’t make it appear like it would last for the whole match, right?