Atiya

Stacy had intended to take the opportunity to test his thoughts, but remembering her bet with Chloe, she decided against it.

"What kind of person is Atiya?" Su Ming suddenly asked her.

Stacy paused for a moment to recall, "Hmm... she's a very willful person, and lives a very unrestrained life." She considered her words carefully, "She always has all sorts of ideas in her head, and she'll definitely put them into action, and no one can stop her."

"Because you can't beat her?"

"That's right, that's the value of being called the 'ceiling of combat power in this world'!" Stacy nodded. "For example, even though she's human, she resolutely joined the elves and unicorns of Silver Moon Forest. Because she believed that if her power remained in the human camp, it would only be used to start wars, so she proactively chose the relatively weaker side to maintain balance."

"Very decisive," Su Ming agreed.

"For example, when the Temple of Light wanted to monopolize the Golden Route on the Midsummer Island side, she directly rode a giant dragon to plunder the Temple of Light's transport fleet, forcing the Pope to declare that sea area a permanent public shipping route."

"Amazing!" Su Ming exclaimed sincerely.

"And, as you know, due to the constraints of Magic Power, even dragons in this world can only fly to a height of about two thousand meters," Stacy continued. "Atiya wanted to know what it was like above the higher skies, so she had the wild idea of modifying her Divine Favor weapon into a flight device to break through this height barrier."

"Divine Favor weapon, can it have this function?" Su Ming asked in surprise.

"Of course not!" Stacy said. "Atiya's Divine Favor weapon form is a longsword called ' Unyielding Blade,' which refused to be forcibly broken into a winged form by its master. Atiya caused quite a commotion and even came to me, who was nearby at the time, asking me to investigate it together."

"Uh, what are you researching?" Su Ming pressed.

"I'm researching how to appease and coax the will of this plane, which is furious at being forcibly torn in two," Stacy sighed. "Otherwise, how do you think I know how to communicate with the will of a plane?"

"An indestructible Divine Favor weapon, how on earth could Atiya have destroyed it!" Su Ming thought to himself. And considering how "mischievous" Zijin was as a child, it really was hereditary!

But Su Ming immediately thought of a crucial question, "Atiya was so powerful, how could she have been attacked and killed?"

"This is indeed something difficult to understand," Stacy said. "None of the other Saint Rank experts are her match."

Although there is no clear and accurate ranking of combat power among the top experts, Atiya has been the undisputed pinnacle for two hundred years.

"What if the enemy has a sufficient numerical advantage?" Su Ming posed the hypothetical question.

"That's impossible!" Stacy said decisively. "Saint Rank individuals are already incredibly rare, and besides, if we were to fight Atiya, casualties would be inevitable—could those proud and self-serving Saint Rank individuals truly cooperate seamlessly?"

This is indeed a crucial issue. Moreover, as a Saint Rank warrior-type combatant, Atiya is extremely difficult to be surrounded and killed. She is not alone either; if the operation fails, she will inevitably face fierce retaliation from the allied forces of dragons, elves, and unicorns.

Moreover, there are huge differences in strength among Saint Rank. For example, even if three of the former Saint Rank Ranger Leoni joined forces, they might not be a match for Atiya.

If we're talking about those who come close to Atiya's level, perhaps only the former Dwarf King and that mysterious Wave Hermit.

However, the Dwarf King had died two years ago, even before Atiya. And the Wave Hermit, upon closer reflection, did not seem to be in a good position either. Although he was always elusive, there were always occasional reports of him appearing in some place or leaving behind anecdotes.

But now, two whole years have passed, and there has been absolutely no trace or news about the Wave Hermit.

"So that means an enemy even more powerful than Atiya has appeared?" Su Ming muttered to himself.

"That possibility certainly exists," Stacy said, "But if such a powerful enemy existed, the world would probably have changed drastically long ago—such a person couldn't remain unknown forever."

"That's true." Su Ming nodded.

****

On the third day, Su Ming stood on the podium in front of the large relief sculpture that made him feel quite embarrassed because it depicted him as too heroic, and officially announced the opening of the sports meet!

The deck erupted in cheers. The participants began to compete in pairs, following the group draw and the competition order arranged by the organizing committee.

The first round of the tournament has begun. Su Ming also walked through the crowd with great interest, ready to watch his first sports meet in this other world.

On the volleyball court, the players from both sides were in position: on one side was the POW camp team dressed in black and white zebra striped prison uniforms, and on the other side was the third training camp team.

Su Ming surveyed the two sides' formations: the POW camp consisted mostly of burly warriors, whose physical advantage was indeed obvious compared to the slightly thinner necromancers on the other side.

The POW camp kicked off first. The necromancer team's first pass was inaccurate, but the setter reacted quickly, making a diving save in mid-air to return the ball to the opponent's court.

The POW camp players were almost caught off guard by this lob shot, but fortunately, a teammate made a desperate save, managing to retrieve the ball just before it hit the ground. The setter quickly adjusted, and then the outside hitter leaped high, raising his hand—and pulled out a warhammer!

With a powerful swing of his hammer, the soldier caused the volleyball to deform violently and hurtle towards the other side with tremendous force.

Boom! The necromancer team's front-line members hastily summoned a bone shield to try and block the ball, but failed. That "volleyball," made of some unknown material, actually smashed right through the bone shield!

Su Ming was then shocked to realize that the players were actually bringing weapons onto the field! Staffs, warhammers, shields... all sorts of weapons!

Wait, this is a volleyball match! Are you guys here to play League of Legends?

At that moment, the necromancer team's setter raised his staff and lifted the volleyball before it hit the ground. Suddenly, the referee blew his whistle, signaling that the POW camp team had scored.

The stands in the POW camp immediately erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

"The rule is reiterated: offensive weapons are only permitted when the main attacker is in a front-row position!" The referee emphasized again to both teams, "Remember this next time!"

The necromancer team's coach immediately requested a substitution, replacing the player who had violated the rule by using a staff with a defensive player wielding a prism-like defensive weapon.

The match resumed, and both sides continued their contest with meticulous precision.

"Fine, whatever makes you happy!" Su Ming sighed inwardly.