210: Chapter 210 Sorry, I won.

Another round of combat concluded.

Horn retreated several steps, his chest heaving violently.

The hand gripping his giant blade trembled slightly; the webbing between his thumb and forefinger had split, and blood was trickling down the hilt.

He raised his head to look at Noel not far away, his vision already starting to blur.

It wasn't that he couldn't see clearly, but rather a fatigue originating from deep within his body that caused his vision to go black in waves.

"Do you have any trump cards left? If this continues, we're going to lose."

Noel's figure faltered slightly.

Well, he couldn't understand what Horn was saying.

But seeing the other's state and considering the current situation, he could guess the general meaning.

He nodded.

Without any unnecessary words, in the next second, his body—composed of energy—began to change, radiating a layer of dazzling white light from the inside out that grew brighter and more blinding.

Seeing that he was getting serious, Horn stopped holding back as well.

He took a deep breath, letting out a low growl from his throat. Immediately after, his entire face turned red, his skin resembling a piece of glowing red-hot iron. His muscles began to swell, his bones emitted crisp cracking sounds, and his stature grew visibly taller.

The auras of both men surged significantly.

Then, they charged toward Gu Changming once more.

Among them, Noel's speed was nearly double what it was before, and Horn's blade energy was now accompanied by scorching heat waves.

However...

Even under such an attack, Gu Changming still held his ground.

Aside from a few occasional moves that were truly impossible to dodge, he only sustained minor injuries...

There was no startling twist.

Their burst of power did not bring about the miracle of a desperate counterattack as they had imagined.

The battle continued.

They were still being pulled along by their opponent.

Just like before.

They could only watch helplessly as the final outcome of defeat drew closer bit by bit.

As their auras passed their peak and began to decline...

At the instant another of Noel's attacks missed, Gu Changming launched his counterattack.

With a stepping collapsing punch, that strike was both fast and ruthless. Noel had no time to react at all before he was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.

Following that, Gu Changming set his sights on the now 'isolated' Horn. Exerting force through his feet, he became like a bolt of black lightning, instantly closing the distance to Horn's front.

A flash of blade-light.

Horn's right arm was severed cleanly at the elbow. Half an forearm, along with the giant blade, flew out as blood erupted like a fountain.

Before Horn could even react, he felt a chill in his chest.

Gu Changming's long sword had already completely pierced through his heart.

Subsequently, Horn fell backward stiffly like a log, crashing onto the ground and completely losing the ability to resist.

Noel had just steadied himself when he saw Horn lying in a pool of blood, and his figure immediately froze.

In that moment of distraction, Gu Changming was already before him.

A flash of blade-light passed.

Noel's energy-composed body completely collapsed. When it forcibly coalesced again, he was like Horn—heavily injured and no longer able to move.

After both had fallen to the ground with heavy injuries...

They gave up struggling, simply staring at Gu Changming, who was controlling the Thousand Silk Shuttle and aiming it at them.

At this moment, their gazes were somewhat complex—so complex it was hard to say exactly what emotions were there.

Sorrow, resentment, and a refusal to believe...

Was it going to end in defeat just like this?

Gu Changming was also looking at them. He raised his hand and made a light beckoning motion.

The Thousand Silk Shuttle floating around him began to flow, condensing in his palm into two silver needles the thickness of chopsticks. The needle tips were aimed at the two men on the ground.

"My apologies, I won," Gu Changming said in a flat tone.

Hearing this, Horn's eyes flickered a few times.

He looked at the silver needle pointed at him and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then, he closed his eyes.

There was no struggle, nor any begging for mercy.

A loss was a loss.

At this point, he accepted it.

Noel was also looking at the silver needle, his eyes flickering. He wasn't unwilling to accept the loss, but he still spoke up.

"A win is a win. There's no need for such posturing or saying such nauseating things."

Hearing this, Gu Changming's movements paused slightly.

He turned his head to look at Noel.

Seeing Gu Changming look over, the anger in Noel's heart could no longer be suppressed.

"Since you have such great strength, why did you need to hide it?" he said, unable to suppress his emotions.

"Do you just enjoy toying with us? You won, yet you still say 'my apologies.' It's nauseating."

He truly hated him.

He hated this human.

If he had shown such strength from the beginning, they might have resigned themselves to their fate. Why would his clansmen, Seta and the others, have needed to fuse?

They could have lived.

Gu Changming listened quietly without interrupting or refuting, waiting for Noel to finish speaking.

Only then did he slowly speak:

"I'm sorry. For everything before, including the 'my apologies' just now."

Noel was stunned.

Horn also opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him.

Gu Changming's hand holding the two silver needles didn't move; the needle tips were still aimed at them.

"Everyone is working hard for the survival of their own race, so I don't look down on you."

"I never intended to toy with you. Hiding my strength and guiding you to kill each other was only to ensure a higher win rate."

Gu Changming spoke calmly, and everything he said was the truth.

He didn't understand these two races, nor did he know the strength of their strongest members or what their trump cards were, so naturally, he couldn't expose himself so early.

For example, with Noel's Star-Gazing Clan, he didn't know the opponent had a talent skill like Fusion.

If he had exposed himself earlier, perhaps all twenty-plus of them would have fused. At that time, their combat power would have been even stronger.

The probability of him failing would have been higher, and that wasn't something he wanted to see.

To be honest, these two A-ranks working together had already put considerable pressure on him. In the second round when he faced the Lesser Demon above his level, he hadn't even been injured.

But in the battle against these two, he had quite a few wounds on his body—not the kind he had intentionally allowed before, but ones he truly couldn't avoid and had to tank.

Therefore, if he had truly been arrogant and let the opponents know in advance, and they had started making arrangements in the earlier matches, then there might have been a real risk of being defeated in this Assessment match.

"It was just a strategy," Gu Changming said slowly. "The goal was to win this Assessment."

"So, my apologies. You did your best, but we humans won this Assessment. That is what I meant to express."

Noel fell silent after hearing this.

He lay slumped on the ground, his dimmed and nearly transparent energy body no longer fluctuating, just lying there quietly.

He looked at Gu Changming for several seconds.

Finally, he closed his eyes.

"Do it."

Horn curled his lip and said nothing. When he lost, he had already accepted this outcome long ago.

He had struggled, and he had fought with his life on the line.

He still couldn't win, so so be it.

Gu Changming nodded, raised his hand, and gave a light wave.

The silver needles floating in mid-air turned into two streaks of silver light, sweeping past the two of them.

In the next second, Horn and Noel's figures were simultaneously enveloped by a burst of white light and disappeared from the arena.