With a thud, the bio-beast collapsed heavily to the ground, spitting out green liquid, its muscles twitching involuntarily.
Lancelot slowly retracted his right leg, his neck cracking from side to side. The thought involuntarily flashed through his mind, "I haven't even exerted myself, and you've already collapsed?"
"Awesome!!!"
"Iron Fist is awesome!!"
"Holy crap, this is invincible! This is the first time I've ever seen such a clean and decisive battle. It's so awesome!"
"Why did his fist turn completely black? Is that his Ability Energy? I'm so envious, I want to have it!"
The audience erupted in frenzy. Whether it was their first time watching Battle of Transcendence or not, Lancelot's fight had left a deep impression on them.
Savage, brutal, Berserk!
At the betting station, Lancelot's odds are divided into four levels, each with its own set of bets.
The odds of winning the first battle are 1:1.45, while the odds of losing are 1:1.3, with even higher odds for winning, proving that the arena doesn't actually favor Lancelot to win.
This is understandable. Faced with the death pressure of bio-beasts, newcomers will almost always fall into a state of tension, at a loss, and their combat power will decline accordingly.
Even if someone has greater raw strength, it's all in vain if they can't fully utilize it.
At the window, two distinct groups of people from Leite City and Heisen City waited for the Sade Arena to announce the outcome of the first match of the Battle of Transcendence!
When the news of the victory was announced by the staff, the people of Leite City were overjoyed; they had all bet on Lancelot to win and made another fortune.
In contrast, the people of Heisen City were all dejected, like wilted eggplants, except for one chubby young man whose rosy face showed an excited smile.
Seeing this, his companion asked in confusion, "Bobby, why are you so happy even though you've lost money?"
"What do you mean, 'lost money'? I won!" Bobby asked, puzzled.
"You didn't bet on Lancelot losing?" His companion was shocked, his voice rising involuntarily.
"No, I bet on winning!" Bobby shrugged.
"You traitor!" his companion sneered through gritted teeth, though inwardly he was incredibly envious. He regretted following Bobby and betting on Lancelot to win the first match.
The other Hesse people also looked disgusted, but their envy was something they couldn't tell Human Dao.
"Tch, there's no rule against betting on winning, and besides, we're not enemies with Leite City, so how can you call me a traitor?" Bobby scoffed.
"So, are you still betting on him to win the next round?" his companion asked.
"Hmm..." Bobby frowned.
The difficulty of Battle of Transcendence a level two is far greater than that of transcending a level one.
Otherwise, the reward for victory wouldn't have been multiplied by 8.
However, Bobby was prepared to lose money; he was more interested in the thrill of gambling.
Thinking this, Bobby gritted his teeth and said, "I'm still betting on Lancelot to win, using my stake from the last round plus my bet!"
His companion quickly advised, "Take it easy. Lancelot's odds of winning his second match are a whopping 1:3, while his odds of losing are 1:1.1. The difference is so huge; you can imagine how little the arena values him."
"Take a gamble and you might win big! You have to fight to win, and besides, I can afford to lose this little bit of money!" Bobby waved his hand and placed another bet.
Seeing that he couldn't dissuade him, his companion stopped talking, took out 30,000 Crimson Notes, and bet on Lancelot's second loss. The other Hesse followed suit.
The people of Leite City hesitated upon seeing this.
Most of them actually wanted to bet on Lancelot to lose, as that would increase their chances of winning.
But because of saving face, he became conflicted.
Seeing this, Cole's eyes flickered, he chuckled, and said loudly, "Everyone is free to bet. Don't worry about what others think. It's just for fun. Bet whatever you want."
After saying that, he placed a bet of 10,000 Crimson Notes on Lancelot, but lost.
Seeing that all the members of Lancelot's team had defeated Lancelot, the others breathed a sigh of relief and stopped worrying about it.
Apart from a few individuals like Windsor, the vast majority of Leite City residents bet against Lancelot and lost, which relieved the residents of Heisen City, who felt confident that the situation was under control.
Surely it can't be wrong if our own people bet on failure?
Over here, after Cole placed his bet, he returned and secretly transferred 200,000 Crimson Notes to Burke, asking him to bet on Lancelot's victory.
The previous 10,000 Crimson Notes was a way to save face for the other trainees; this 200,000 dollars represents Cole's true intentions.
As teammates, they know Lancelot's true strength best. If the probability of winning the second game isn't 100%, they're at least 70-80% certain.
Windsor, on the other hand, had been thoroughly ravaged and was quite aware of Lancelot's inhuman combat prowess.
As for the other training camp members, Cole didn't bother to explain. He was already being quite generous by giving them a way out. As Transcendent, they should be responsible for their actions; that's the kind of awareness they should have.
Since you don't trust Lancelot, then don't make this money. Isn't that fair?
Arena 125.
Inside the octagonal cage.
The five-minute interval ended quickly, and Lancelot took a short rest before facing his second opponent.
The reason why the Battle of Transcendence is becoming increasingly difficult is not only because there are more opponents of higher levels, but also because the rest time in between is very short.
The players' condition could hardly be restored properly, and their condition worsened as the competition progressed.
However, Lancelot played very quickly in the first match, without expending much energy, which was equivalent to a warm-up, and he was in peak condition.
As the metal gate reopened, a new bio-beast came into view.
It is about 3.5 meters tall, with a human body on top and a beast body on the bottom, resembling a centaur. It holds a five-meter-long bone spike, and there are rings of red energy circuits on its chest, radiating a scorching aura.
Unlike the first purely melee-focused bio-beast, this bio-beast clearly possesses considerable energy attributes. Its lower-middle -Tier Three rating indicates that its combat power is roughly between 150 and 170, and perhaps even higher.
Lancelot's standard combat strength is slightly below this level, but he has many trump cards and his combat strength fluctuates considerably, so taking down this bio-beast should not be a problem.
The red electronic numbers slowly returned to zero, and the centaur bio-beast was awakened by bioelectricity.
Just like the previous bio-beast, it quickly locked onto its target, then raised the bone spikes in its hand and charged straight at it.
Four legs are faster than two legs. In the blink of an eye, the tip of the bone spike in the centaur bio-beast's hand was only half a meter away from Lancelot's chest.
Lancelot activated Flow Method, turning his fists pure black.
Immediately afterwards, he unleashed his full power from his waist and abdomen, his entire body resembling a drawn bow, his fists like arrows, tearing through the air as he struck out.
Raise your left fist to block the bone spur.
With a powerful right Strong Fist, he struck the centaur bio-beast in the abdomen.
The centaur bio-beast, however, paid no heed to the attack, enduring Lancelot's punch head-on. The fiery red markings on its chest suddenly glowed, and its skin cracked, revealing a chitinous structure resembling a cannon barrel.
At the cannon's muzzle, a flaming missile instantly materialized and shot towards Lancelot's head.
If a normal Second-Tier Transcendent being were hit like that, their head would definitely explode into a mushy mess, and they would definitely try to dodge at all costs.
But Lancelot chose to be stubborn.
Yes, it's being stubborn in the physical sense.
He frowned, and his entire head turned pure black, transforming him into a true iron-headed kid.
After doing all this, Lancelot's head, like a battering ram and his neck like a whip, first tilted back to accumulate kinetic energy, and then he delivered a powerful headbutt.
Boom!
He rammed his forehead into the flame missile, causing it to explode in a burst of sparks.
In an instant, his already dark head became charred black, especially his forehead, where wisps of black smoke even rose.
Lancelot shook his somewhat dazed head and grinned.
Of course, it's hard to catch his expression, since his entire head is now pure black, including his teeth...
If this happened at night, it would probably unlock the 'invisibility' skill directly.