"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"
Zhao Long stared at the glaring words "Second Place" on the light screen and suddenly let out an uncontrolled low roar, his voice hoarse and filled with disbelief.
He staggered back a step, his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white from the force, veins bulging across the backs of his hands. His entire face went from deathly pale to flushed red, then to ashen blue, his expression completely twisted.
He only felt his mind buzzing, his whole self sinking into doubt, to the point where he even began doubting his life.
From the start of the Qualifying Round to the end, he had gone all out the entire time. The instant each wave of vicious beasts refreshed out of the void, he attacked at once, using fire spells to kill them in a single move. There had not been the slightest delay throughout, not even half a second wasted.
He believed his execution had been perfect, his battle power overwhelming. First place should have been in the bag—how could he possibly have fallen to second!
Zhao Long's eyes were bloodshot as he frantically replayed the entire battle in his mind. Every movement, every attack flashed past at high speed.
All at once, he froze, remembering the scene when he killed the ninth-stage Star Core Realm vicious beast at the very end!
At the time, in order to show off the tyranny of his EX3-level Fire Ability, and to look cool on the virtual battlefield, he had deliberately given up an instant-cast skill and instead chosen a killing ultimate that required several seconds of charging. It was those few short seconds of charge time that had become the fatal gap!
"Could it be... because of those few seconds?!"
Zhao Long abruptly narrowed his