Chapter 656: Surrender? Victory

After a storm of attacks from Wu Yan’s Dual Blades, his attacks which exceeded Heathcliff’s defense shaved Heathcliff’s HP down to a level where another attack, even a blocked attack would make him hit the Yellow Zone (50%).

Once that happens, Heathcliff will lose…

Granted, Heathcliff still has administrator privileges, Hence, he can fix his HP bar at 51%. Wu Yan wouldn’t be able to win even if he somehow had the stamina to continue attacking until the next day.

However, Heathcliff will have to be very careful when he wants to use this move.

In front of so many prying eyes, it’s clear that something would seem odd to the players if Wu Yan’s hit couldn’t reduce him to the yellow zone when the previous attacks worked to reduce his HP. In front of more astute players, his cover might even be blown.

Without fixing his HP gauge, he has no doubts that he would enter the Yellow Zone after another attack, that would be his loss…

So, Heathcliff is left with two options.

First, he can try to reduce Wu Yan’s HP to 50% before he gets hit. This would make Heathcliff the winner.

Practically speaking, this would be impossible. Wu Yan’s HP gauge is at 100%, he is also stronger in strength, speed, and other stats. It’s doubtful if he can even land a clean hit. Wu Yan can also choose to take the hit and counter Heathcliff, winning the duel.

Secondly, he can keep dodging and shave Wu Yan’s HP off.

The question is, with inferior speed, can Heathcliff reliably dodge Wu Yan’s attacks?

These two methods are not feasible, which means, he has no idea how he can come out on top.

Heathcliff can also abuse his administrator privileges to modify his ATK and AGI stats. In this manner, he can obtain the power to one-hit-KO Wu Yan, and/or, exceed his speed. However, these two methods are also rendered ineffective by high risk.

Can evenly-matched opponents on the same level and similar equipment do away with more than 50% of the fighter’s HP in one hit?

Would any player buy that?

It’s risky because players might catch on to his real identity.

Wu Yan already proved that he had higher speed than him, he also had superior equipment. It would raise a lot of eyebrows if he suddenly became faster than Wu Yan.

With administrator privileges backing him up, there are many other ways he can win this duel. But, using those methods will all inevitably leave evidence or trails that might lead back to his real identity.

To win while preserving his identity, in truth, there’s no feasibly way to achieve this.

Heathcliff never thought a player could force him into a corner like this.

He felt like Wu Yan is driving him up the wall, he’s very frustrated!

Heathcliff doesn’t want his cover blown so soon. Even if there would be little suspicion, given enough scrutiny and attention, his true identity will be revealed.

The opponent Heathcliff is facing isn’t an idiot. Once he uses one cheat too many, he will surely catch on. It wouldn’t be hard to connect the dots when he drops too many hints. Heathcliff didn’t want this to happen.

Heathcliff wasn’t aware that Wu Yan already knew about his identity from the start of this whole shebang.

Nobody thought Heathcliff stood a chance, from the performance of both fighters and the factors that were stacked against them. Full HP vs barely >50% HP, the favor is overwhelmingly in Wu Yan’s favor, his Dual Blades further enhanced his chances of winning.

Even the KoBs didn’t think their own guild master would win this round. The other unbiased players thought even more so.

The audience watched with silence as the fighters stared off at each other.

They are waiting for Heathcliff to somehow turn this situation around. They are hoping that maybe Heathcliff had another trump card hidden up his sleeve or something.

Wu Yan watched with Heaven Gazer ready to strike at any moment. The moment Heathcliff moves to attack, he will resume his offense.

Heathcliff continued staring at Wu Yan with wavering eyes. Then…

“Ugh…”

Heathcliff sighed and he got out of his stance. He sheathed his sword back into his shield.

“Dual Blades, very formidable indeed…”

Heathcliff shook his head as he laughed heartily.

“If Wu Yan-kun’s weapon had better durability, I am sure I would have lost by now…”

“You’re selling yourself short, guild master…”

Wu Yan shrugged.

“Your Holy Sword is also a Unique Skill, had my stats been on a similar level as yours, well, who knows what might have happened. I guess my superior equipment gave him the edge in this duel…”

Wu Yan is obviously lying. His STR and AGI far surpassed the top players although it isn’t to the extent of breaking the game’s balance. Most importantly, his Eternal Arms Mastery allowed him to bring out the full potential offered by his current stats.

Without Eternal Arms Mastery, he would be superior to both Heathcliff and Kirito by only a bit. Aside from Unique Skills, the other features of this game had been designed with balance and fairness in mind.

Wu Yan is just saying this for Heathcliff to have a way out of this duel. Heathcliff already stored away his weapon so he is probably going to…

He turned around and he announced out loud.

“The Fae Swordsman Wu Yan isn’t the strongest player for nothing!”

“This duel is my loss!”

The victor banner appeared above Wu Yan’s head, telling everyone who won this duel.

“Ooohhh!!!”

The other players emitted deafening roars and cheers for the victor of this duel. He was famous for being mysterious, now, everyone saw the skills to back up the rumors and stories. The Fae Swordsman’s name is now more deeply embedded in everyone’s heart.

The strongest player ascended in fame.

Without relying on his Unique Skills, he pressed Heathcliff into a corner. With a brief reveal of his Dual Blades, he defeated Heathcliff.

The whole world of SAO is probably still busy discussing the appearance of a second Unique Skill user.

Wu Yan strapped Heaven Gazer back on his back and he started heading towards the exit. The players in his way immediately gave way to him. They continued cheering and lauding Wu Yan for his brilliant victory.

Heathcliff watched as Wu Yan exited the place. He rubbed his sword and shield and he mumbled in a tone audible only to him.

“I am looking forward to our real duel in the future…”

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