When Did You Start Thinking I Could Only Fight at Close Range?

Silence. Deathly silence.

Yun Meng stared at Tiandao, who had regained his footing, and the Coral Knight, who was slowly climbing out of the crater.

Her red lips parted slightly, her eyes full of astonishment.

As a veteran Rank 2 Star Envoy, Yun Meng knew perfectly well just how enormous the gap was between a Rank 2 Star Envoy and a Rank 1 Star Envoy.

Although "Rank 2" only meant that a Star Envoy's base Star Energy had surpassed 1,000 points and their Star Source had completed its "first awakening," and could not fully represent their true strength.

The Coral Knight was a standard combat-type Star Envoy.

Not only did his maximum Star Energy Value reach a full 2,100 points, but his Star Source, Sea Thorn Coral, was also a standard combat-type Star Source.

As such, his strength was definitely not weak among Rank 2 Star Envoys.

Yet such a formidable Rank 2 Star Envoy was now being completely, indisputably suppressed by Tiandao, a Rank 1 Star Envoy.

Little Tiandao, why is it that whenever I think I already understand you completely, you always bring me another unexpected surprise?

Is it because you have always been holding something back from me, or has your rate of improvement already become so fast that I can no longer keep up?

For the moment, Yun Meng had no answer to that question.

At the same time Yun Meng was deeply shaken, the Coral Knight, who had partially recovered, was equally shocked by the strength Tiandao had displayed.

He looked at Tiandao in the distance and instinctively touched his chest.

At that spot, the Coral Armor he had been so proud of bore a clear dent from Tiandao's blow.

And that was not what surprised him the most.

What truly shocked him was Tiandao's first attack.

Tiandao's first elbow strike had actually penetrated the protection of his Coral Armor and directly inflicted severe damage on his body.

As for that second, seemingly earthshaking axe kick.

It had not caused him much harm. The attack had largely been negated by the Coral Armor.

Thinking back on the difference between the two attacks, the Coral Knight had already vaguely guessed the reason.

"Tiandao, if I'm not mistaken, your Vector Control can only extend to less than one centimeter away at most, right?"

Faced with the Coral Knight's guess, Tiandao had no intention of concealing it.

"Yes. More precisely, only nine millimeters."

"No wonder."

Upon hearing that, the Coral Knight suddenly understood.

The reason Tiandao's first attack had been able to penetrate his armor and injure him was entirely because his armor had only been ten millimeters thick at the time.

And for Tiandao, who could activate Vector Control from as far as nine millimeters away.

The Coral Armor that appeared to be ten millimeters thick had an effective defensive range of only one millimeter.

By the same logic, the reason Tiandao's second attack had been negated by his Coral Armor.

Was because when he faced Tiandao's second attack, he had used the fifty-millimeter-thick Deep Blue Flow Armor.

This prevented Tiandao's Vector Control from fully penetrating it.

At this thought, the Coral Knight quickly felt that he had found a way to counter Tiandao's Vector Control.

He straightened up, and the Fist Gauntlet on his right hand began shrinking at a visible rate.

In its place, the coral covering his body as a whole began growing thicker and heavier.

At the same time, the Spear Gauntlet on his left hand lengthened once more and became more flexible.

It made the Spear Gauntlet look more like the tail stinger of some marine creature, greatly increasing his attack range.

Seeing the Coral Knight's stance, Tiandao understood his thoughts at a glance.

"Looks like you think that as long as you keep your distance from me, my Vector Control won't be able to threaten you. But..."

As Tiandao spoke, he slowly raised his hand.

The next second, a pitch-black energy sphere, as dark and abyssal as a black hole, slowly gathered at his fingertips.

This was Tiandao's signature Star Energy Technique, Black Azure.

Sensing the terrifying fluctuations radiating from the black sphere at Tiandao's fingertips, the expression beneath the Coral Knight's helmet instantly darkened.

Because in that single instant, he had felt an immense threat from the strange black sphere.

As though it was not a black sphere at all, but Death's summons.

Once Black Azure at Tiandao's fingertips had fully condensed, he finished the latter half of his sentence.

"...Uncle, when exactly did you start thinking I could only fight at close range?"

As his words fell, the Black Azure in Tiandao's hand flew forth under the Coral Knight's grave gaze.

Not only was Black Azure incredibly fast, but the terrifying rotational speed and powerful pull contained within it directly whipped up a vortex in the air, like the one produced by a flying missile.

In no more than the blink of an eye, Tiandao's Black Azure became a black arc and arrived before the Coral Knight.

Staring at the black energy sphere, no larger than a ping-pong ball, the Coral Knight instantly faced it as though confronting a formidable enemy.

He crossed his arms, and the Purple Coral over his body erupted in wild growth once more, quickly covering his entire body.

Deep Blue Flow Armor!

But this time, the Coral Armor that had protected him from harm before was utterly incapable of stopping Black Azure's terrifying penetration.

There were no especially dazzling effects or dramatic sounds. When Tiandao's Black Azure struck the Coral Knight's Coral Armor.

The thick, hard Coral Armor instantly split with countless exaggerated, spiderweb-like cracks. Amid a burst of blinding sparks and the teeth-grinding sound of cutting, Black Azure completely burrowed into the Coral Armor.

Not long after, a burst of kinetic energy, possessing immense penetration and impact, traveled from the spot where the Coral Knight had been struck by Black Azure, all the way into his body and even his internal organs.

Bang!

A ring-shaped bulge suddenly rose from the Coral Knight's back, as though something invisible had passed through his body and exited from behind him.

"Pfft!"

The Coral Knight dropped heavily to one knee, blood spraying from his mouth.

The scarlet blood slowly flowing from the gaps in his helmet fell upon the cracked concrete floor, forming fleeting, bleakly beautiful dark-red flowers of blood.

Drip. Drip.

Inside the silent parking garage, the sound of blood droplets striking the ground was not only exceptionally clear, but exceptionally piercing.

Not far away, Yun Meng's pupils contracted slightly as she looked at the Coral Knight, who no longer had the strength to fight.

Behind the Coral Knight, a five-meter-long trail had been left on the ground.

This trail had been caused by the residual shockwave left behind after Black Azure's impact had pierced through the Coral Knight's body.

A mere residual shockwave could cause such devastation.

There was no need to say what had become of the Coral Knight, who had taken Black Azure head-on.

Under Yun Meng's complicated gaze, Tiandao slowly walked up to the Coral Knight, who had lost most of his fighting strength and was kneeling miserably on the ground.

He calmly asked, "Well, Uncle, do you still want to continue?"

Hearing Tiandao's words, the Coral Knight, who had taken a long while to recover, slowly raised his head.

He looked at Tiandao standing before him, then silently removed his helmet, revealing beneath it a weathered square face.

"No. Because... there is no need to continue."

With that, the Coral Knight dispersed his Coral Armor and put away the fish spear and large shell shield in his hands.

Without the Coral Armor, dressed suddenly in a black suit.

He no longer possessed the roughness and ferocity he had displayed in battle.

He looked like an elderly middle-aged butler, every bit polite and elegant.

Although he had already admitted defeat, when he recalled Tiandao's final Black Azure strike and where it had landed.

The Coral Knight could not help asking, "Kid, did you happen to strike one of my old injuries just now, or had you been deliberately aiming for that spot from the start?"

Faced with this question, Tiandao replied noncommittally, "Does that matter?"

The Coral Knight froze, then shook his head with a bitter smile. "Indeed, it doesn't matter anymore. Because the truly dead... cannot speak."

The Coral Knight's words were calm, but the information they revealed was anything but.

Because he was effectively saying that if Tiandao had not held back just now.

Then he would already be dead.