CHAPTER 411: CHAPTER 26 STAR AND SWORDSMANSHIP

Some year, some month, some day, Earth, H City.

The famous eSports club "Star," located in the Uptown District of H City, often attracts game enthusiasts from all over who come to take photos with the club’s sign as if on a pilgrimage.

Star Club currently ventures into several online eSports games, such as "Primordial Immortal Sword," "Star Sea Conquest," and so on. But their most famous achievement is undoubtedly the first World Championship they secured in the globally hottest "Song of Iron and Fire" game.

It’s said that the golden sign at the entrance was personally awarded by the Sports Administration.

At this moment, in the club’s training room, a row of neatly arranged holographic gaming pods stood against the wall. Players lay inside the pods, while their consciousness trained in a virtual environment set up on a private server.

The team coach stood in front of a large screen, watching the players practice, while also monitoring the data flow on the screen, including their heartbeat, pulse, brainwave intensity, and more, ensuring the players’ bodies are always in optimal condition.

However, the coach couldn’t help but occasionally glance at the gaming pod in the very center.

That was the exclusive gaming pod for the captain of the Star team.

And it was empty at the moment.

"Hey, Coach Ye!" a semi-transparent figure inside the big screen suddenly greeted the coach from outside, "Speaking of which, has the captain been found yet?"

"No," the coach frowned, "the police can only file a case after someone’s been missing for 24 hours. For now, you guys just keep training; maybe he’ll show up at the club later."

"I’m just worried about him," said the player cheekily, "He didn’t ask for leave and isn’t coming to work; doesn’t that count as absenteeism? If the boss fires him over this, wouldn’t our Star team be done for?"

"Our team can’t fall apart without anyone!" the coach corrected him seriously, "Speaking of Deceit, didn’t you leave work with him yesterday? How could you not know where he went?"

"I really have no idea!" the player known as Deceit protested at once, "Last night, I was planning to take the captain to a street stall for a meal. But coach, you know the captain’s family situation; coming from a single-parent home, it’s inconvenient. If he comes home late, his mother will worry."

"I’ve already asked his mother," the coach said, "he didn’t go home at all last night."

"Now that’s strange," Deceit wondered, "Coach Ye, a damsel in distress might get abducted walking alone at night, but what could possibly happen to our captain, a solid steel straight man? Is it possible that he really was followed and knocked out by a crazed female fan, planning some sort of unauthorized enlightenment?"

"Cut the crap, this isn’t a competition," the coach responded to his off-color joke speechlessly, "Don’t be a bad influence on your teammates."

Within the game, Deceit chuckled mischievously and ran over to the nearest teammate—an adolescent boy with a youthful face, seemingly only about twelve or thirteen, a product of the training camp, and a Weapon Master in the game who was being groomed to take on the role of captain.

"Little Zhao!" Deceit slapped his back, "Still practicing Star Nine Forms, huh? Take a break."

"Senior Deceit," the kid, Little Zhao, was obviously more polite, "Do you want to give me some pointers?"

"Pointers? I don’t know anything about the sword moves of Star Nine Forms," Deceit said with a dismissive grin, "Wait for the captain to come back and teach you."

"Why didn’t the captain come today?" Little Zhao also curiously asked.

"Maybe last night on his way home, he was knocked out by a female fan and dragged off to a basement for breeding or something," Deceit quipped casually.

Little Zhao: ......

I’m just an innocent boy, okay? How am I supposed to respond to that trash talk, senior?

"Um..." Little Zhao hesitated, "If the captain really does go missing, will our club go bankrupt?"

"Definitely," Deceit patted his head, "What’s the name of our team, huh?"

"The Star Team," Xiao Zhao said honestly.

"Why is it called the Star Team? It’s because at its inception, the captain was such a freak of nature, mastering the Star Nine Forms to perfection. He could assassinate a demigod before even reaching Lv.20," Deceit said with a chuckle. "In the hands of others, the Star Nine Forms are just sword moves; they need to calculate and prepare for a long time to use one or two strikes, only as a last resort."

"In the captain’s hands, that’s what you call true extraordinary swordsmanship! The Sky Jumping Four Stab, every stab breaks through the enemy’s sharpness; the Whirling Moon Slash, simultaneously shattering souls 360 degrees, slicing through all surrounding spells; and incorporating Burning Heart into his attack blocks. When the enemy slashes down with a sword, he blocks and wipes out the very thought of their attack. Can this really be explained by sheer talent? That’s just hacking! The captain uses the four great extraordinary swords techniques so smoothly, he’s like a human cheat!"

"If we didn’t have the captain, our team wouldn’t necessarily collapse, but we’d certainly suffer a huge loss in strength. Think about how we usually play in matches. The captain, this human cheat, rushes to the front, scattering the enemy’s formation, and then we coordinate to reap the isolated ones. If the captain’s gone, we’d have to change our tactics, wouldn’t we? And our way of fighting. And after changes, there’d have to be an adjustment period, wouldn’t there? So what’s the point of fighting in this tournament..."

"Deceit!" The coach’s roar echoed through the space, "Have you rested enough? Get your ass back to training!"

So Deceit could only curse and walk away, while Xiao Zhao stood there in a daze, recalling the captain’s replays he’d always watched at the training camp, and couldn’t help but feel the aspiration rise within him again.

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In the year 242 of the Sixth Epoch, on the North Continent of the planet Helel, in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in the slums of the Venice City State.

Tiberius and Gaius, these two demigods, were also of the Lord of Filth bloodline. Their combat style focused on the "Devouring" law from the Flesh Sequence, taking an aggressive, straightforward killing path.

Those bright, shining claws with an indigo sheen were actually coated with digestive fluids. Upon striking most materials, they could immediately corrode and devour them entirely.

Aske casually swung his Dragon Bone Longsword, and with a clean, crisp sound, the claws were chopped in two.

"Eh?" The demigod hopped back half a step, his arms shaking slightly. The wrists that were cut in half just grew back, "What material is your weapon made of?"

It had resisted his law’s devouring digestive fluids and additionally snapped the claws, which had a hardness on par with steel.

Aske did not answer but instead lifted his sword and charged forward again. Half Moon Slash!

The Frankish swordsmanship, combined with the heavy quality of the Dragon Bone Longsword, was fierce and vigorous when it slashed down.

The demigod sensed something amiss and didn’t dare to meet it head-on. Instead, he intended to disperse his body into filthy blood to achieve evasion. Unexpectedly, just as the thought arose, his spirituality faltered, and his ability seemed to fail in that instant.

Star Nine Forms. Spirit Shattering cut off his spirituality.

For a demigod with an immense spirituality, this "cut" only lasted less than half a second.

However, in that lightning-quick half-second, Aske’s Dragon Bone Longsword had already cleaved solidly into his opponent’s body.

Being a demigod who primarily condensed laws related to the Flesh Sequence, he naturally didn’t fear such purely physical attacks... Wait! Something’s wrong with this attack!

He suddenly realized that his spirituality was rapidly depleting.

"Agrippina’s toxin!" The demigod fell into panic, transforming into a bat and exploding apart, then reconstituting his form in the distance, his face having turned a sickly green.

He used his own Lord of Filth bloodline’s toxic ability to suppress the toxin on the Dragon Bone Longsword from Agrippina.

Although the Dragon Bone Longsword had been used many times, and the potency of the toxins was not as strong as before, it still put considerable pressure on the demigod.

Before he could catch his breath, Aske was already charging forward again, the Dragon Bone Longsword stabbing diagonally towards the opponent’s legs.

The demigod had to hop back again, but as the Dragon Bone Longsword collided with the ground, the tip inexplicably bounced upwards, lunging swiftly towards his chest again.

Caucasus Assassination Swordsmanship. Sand Sword.