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Chapter 4248 The Uneven Arena
Chapter 4248 The Uneven Arena
The outer hall.
The rabbit girl was still a little dazed when she emerged from the white halo. Even when she saw Angor in the main hall, she was still in a daze.
How did it pass so easily?
According to her previous predictions, shouldn't there be another tough battle ahead?
"Don't forget, you're only participating in a test of your knowledge base," Angell teased, seemingly sensing the rabbit girl's thoughts.
The rabbit girl was dazed for a moment, then slowly came to her senses.
Thinking about it carefully, Angell is right. The test she participated in was ultimately not a combat test. Since it was a test of knowledge, it must have focused primarily on knowledge.
Unless she makes the wrong choice in the trials presented in the three oil paintings, she will not face the trolls.
This is somewhat similar to the "map recognition" challenge that Angel faced before; either you need unparalleled combat power or unparalleled wisdom.
If you are powerful enough, you don't even need to go to those three oil paintings; you can just go straight for the wizard-level troll.
But if you lack the strength, then choose to win by wisdom. Take one gem from each painting. If you can find three fire gems perfectly, you can kill the troll instantly.
Just like the twelve cage worlds that Angel faced, if he didn't recognize them, even if he was only wrong about one, he would have to go to the arena to fight.
But once everyone is recognized, the arena becomes just a decoration and doesn't need to be bothered with at all.
Similarly, for the bunny girl, the troll could be a target, but it could also be... the background of the story.
"Looking at it this way, knowledge-based tests are quite similar, and there's more than one way to solve them." The rabbit girl pondered softly, "You can go all out, but if you choose to go all out, the price you pay will be higher than for combat-based tests. The optimal solution is still to use knowledge to solve them."
Angell nodded in agreement.
If subsequent knowledge tests continue in this manner, it will actually be very advantageous for them. Although there may appear to be only two solutions, they actually possess more than two possibilities.
Just like this time, after the bunny girl obtained two gems, the troll's attributes were weakened to the apprentice level. At this point, even if she didn't go looking for the third gem, she could still defeat the troll.
Similarly, if it were his previous test, even if he misidentified one or two worlds, he would at most be matched with one or two "little pets," which would be much simpler than answering twelve questions wrong and being ganged up on by twelve of them.
It's not necessary to go to either extreme; moderation is also an option.
In the brief moment of the rabbit girl's reflection, a bright light suddenly flashed before her eyes. She turned around in confusion and saw that a luminous phantom, two or three meters tall, had somehow appeared in the white circle she had just successfully conquered.
A young man dressed in exquisite and elegant attire is holding a quill pen and writing something rapidly. His expression is extremely devout, as if he is recording a decree he has heard from the gods.
The rabbit girl recognized the young man at a glance.
It was the same young man who had asked her to choose three books in the study earlier!
Above his head hung a row of glowing characters, the very proverb the rabbit girl had brought in earlier—
"I inscribe words to trace the marks He left behind."
Not only did she see a similar phantom in the white halo around her, but she also noticed a similar phantom appearing above a white halo in the center of the hall.
A cloaked man knelt on the ground, his hands clasped in devout prayer, and above his head appeared a line of proverbs—
"I anchored the sickle in order to imitate His penetrating legacy."
She vividly remembered that Angell had obtained this proverb on the third floor.
Thinking of this, she seemed to realize something: "Was the test you just passed inside that circle of light?"
Angell nodded.
"So, each time you pass a test, a projection appears at the corresponding test location?" The rabbit girl stared at the two phantoms, lost in thought. "It seems the people in the projections are all devout believers?"
Angell: "That's right, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they are all followers of the cruel scholar."
"Furthermore, haven't you noticed? The direction that the two illusory figures are currently worshipping is actually..."
"The light cocoon right in the middle!" the rabbit girl immediately replied.
And sealed within this cocoon of light is a wisp of divine thought from the cruel scholar.
Therefore, it is almost certain that the phantom is a follower of the Cruel Scholar.
"But why are these phantoms appearing?" she frowned again, muttering in confusion.
Angell pondered for a moment: "Judging from the 'faith anchoring' that the book fairy mentioned before, this should be the concrete manifestation of faith anchoring."
For believers, the essence of their relationship with the devil is to anchor themselves to him.
The phantom constructs an illusory believer and presents the Book Demon's maxims to anchor the cruel scholar's wisp of divine thought.
When all nine faith anchors are activated, it constitutes a basic seal for that wisp of demonic divine thought.
This is also the sealing effect that the powers of the fairy realm originally sought.
The rabbit girl nodded thoughtfully. Although she had heard the book fairy mention the anchor of faith and the corresponding method of anchoring and sealing, seeing it in person was better than hearing about it.
The phantoms appeared to be illusions, but their devout expressions and the proverbs above their heads made it clear at a glance that they were believers.
Even more so, one could faintly sense the power of faith surging within.
The floating waves slowly surged toward the cocoon of light at the very center of the hall.
If we compare the cocoon of light to an island and the power of faith to the ocean tide, then the cocoon of light at this moment is an isolated island surrounded by an endless ocean.
Those who collect faith are trapped by faith itself.
The rabbit girl witnessed this scene firsthand...
Just as the rabbit girl was marveling at the phantom, a huge, luminous phantom suddenly rose from a black halo around the outer perimeter of the hall.
It was a sexy succubus standing in the center of a pale gold magic circle. Judging from her appearance, she was the Blood Fragrance Succubus that Gabriel had fought before.
At this moment, however, she had lost all the captivating charm she possessed during battle. She stood quietly with her head down, her face mirroring the previous two phantoms, filled with an almost humble devotion.
The appearance of the phantom made the "Sea of Faith" surrounding the cocoon of light even more turbulent.
But the cocoon of light did not react at all.
This is normal, after all, for the demon god's consciousness within the cocoon of light, the power of faith from the outside world is its spiritual sustenance. Who would be picky about their spiritual sustenance?
As the phantom of the Blood Fragrance Succubus rose, Gabriel also appeared in the hall.
When it saw that Angel and the rabbit girl were still inside the hall, it was stunned for a moment, full of surprise.
However, after seeing the three illusory figures in the main hall and hearing the rabbit girl's explanation, it realized that the two of them had actually passed a knowledge test and were simply reuniting in the outside world.
Gabriel was startled.
It was a huge blow to the fact that it had entered the test first, but was overtaken by the leader and Angel one after another.
What made it even more restless was that when its gaze swept across the "live broadcast room" of the shimmering disc, it saw that Gray Porcelain was still fighting. The situation seemed to be clear, and as long as Gray Porcelain could find the right time to attack, it might be able to end the battle at any moment.
Gabriel didn't want to be mocked by Gray Porcelain after it came out.
Its heart tightened instantly: "No, I can't waste any more time, I have to go and challenge another one right away!"
Gabriel had originally planned to rest, but he couldn't care less now. He took the Proverb and went directly to another black circle on the outer edge to enter the second battle test.
Seeing Gabriel's battle livestream rising again from the shimmering disc, Angor pondered, "It's time for me to take on my second challenge."
After all, he and Gabriel were the only two in the team who had to take on three challenges.
Gabriel presents three combat challenges, while Angor presents three knowledge challenges.
The rabbit girl knew time was of the essence, so she nodded and said, "Go ahead, I'll take a look at your questions outside. If you need any help, just let me know."
She only had two challenges left, and she has already completed one, leaving only the final one.
With over an hour left in the countdown, she had plenty of time. Therefore, she chose to observe first before taking on her challenge.
……
the other side.
After recovering from weightlessness, Angell found himself in the familiar challenge space.
It was still a black space, still dimly lit, still the arena...
Huh? !
Wait, why is it still a fighting ring?
Not to mention Angell, even the rabbit girl looking at the shimmering disc was a little confused.
In the very center of the pitch-black space, an oval-shaped arena was slowly rising from the ground. The arena's design was somewhat similar to the inverted arena that had appeared during the "map recognition" exercise.
Several stone pillars gleaming with a cold white light surrounded the edge of the arena. Fine particles of light flowed through the patterns on the pillars, illuminating the entire arena so brightly that even the dust in the cracks of the surface was clearly visible.
The area outside the arena, however, was much dimmer.
The light from the stone pillars seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, only spreading out in a shallow halo around the arena, beyond which was an impenetrable darkness, which in turn highlighted the brightness of the arena... like a glowing millstone floating in the void.
"The arena isn't unusual, but this one looks more like a fighting arena than a real arena..." Angel muttered to himself.
It's supposed to be a knowledge-based challenge, so why did it end up in a combat arena twice in a row?
Angel shook his head, guessing that this arena would be similar to a "map recognition" competition, with both combat and knowledge tests.
With that in mind, Angell prepared to walk toward the arena.
But just as he was about to move, he realized that he was completely unable to move.
He was a little confused at first, but when he saw a figure slowly appear in the center of the arena, Angel understood... the entrance animation wasn't over yet.
Just like when Gabriel faced the Blood Fragrance Succubus, the entrance animation was part of the mandatory plot; you had to watch it all before the animation could start.
Angell raised his head and looked at the figure on the arena.
It was a tall figure dressed in a well-fitting black tuxedo, with a white ceramic mask covering his face, which was so smooth that it reflected the blurry light and shadow around the arena.
It has no clear gender characteristics, and it is difficult to distinguish between male and female based on its physical appearance alone; it is more like a carefully crafted doll.
Its entrance was calm, like a silent scene change. The moment Angel blinked, it stood quietly and straight in the center of the ring, as if it had been there from the very beginning.
With its official debut, Angell also discovered that the rules that had restricted his movement had been loosened.
Without hesitation, he strode quickly toward the arena.
As Angell approached the ring, an invisible wall blocked his path.
Just as we encountered the invisible wall, the text bar, which had been silent for a long time, finally popped up with new information.
"How should I address you?"
"Why can't I get into the ring?"
Angell: "..."
Okay, it's another pre-set dialogue.
Angel didn't dwell on the choices. His previous experience told him that the choices weren't important; they were just necessary steps to lead into the subsequent plot.
Angel: "Why can't I get into the ring?"
The masked man standing in the center of the arena slowly walked to the edge of the arena, near Angel, and gave an elegant bow.
"My name is not important. You just need to know that I am the referee of the 'Disparity Arena'."
"As for you, why can't you step onto the ring?" The masked referee turned around, spreading his fingers to point to the ring behind him: "Because you are not a participant in this event..."
The masked referee then perfectly fulfilled his role as a competent quest guide NPC, explaining the rules of the arena one by one.
This arena is called the "Disparity Arena".
What constitutes a significant disparity?
The two sides are not even in the same league in terms of scale, meaning there is a huge disparity.
The masked judge gave an example: an ordinary human facing a low-level demon—that's a battle of unequal strength.
Even if a demon is of a low level, it is still a demon. It can completely crush a wizard apprentice, let alone an ordinary human.
From this perspective, it seems that the weaker side in a one-sided battle has almost no power to resist, and their chance of winning is almost zero.
But the masked referee said, "Do you think the audience likes to watch matches with no chance of winning?"
"of course not."
"The reason why a lopsided arena can continue to exist is because it has its own significance. The weaker side also has a chance to turn the tide, although the probability is very low. But as long as there is a possibility, it will drive gamblers... no, I mean the audience crazy."
Angell: "...?"
Gambler? Spectator?
He seemed to have heard some key words.
So, is this a subtle way of revealing the background story of the unequal arena?
"As for how the weaker side can win, that depends on how you, as a participant, direct them."
Angell pointed to himself: Me? Commander?
He wanted to ask, but unfortunately, no dialogue option popped up in the text box, so he could only remain silent and continue listening to the masked judge's story...
As the masked referee further explained the rules of the ring, a hint of surprise appeared on Angel's expression.
Because these rules were surprisingly similar to a book spirit trial he had experienced before.
Both the dominant and the submissive sides possess all their own attributes and the standard talents of their respective races.
However, there is one difference: the stronger party comes with the negative effect of "amplifying weaknesses," while the weaker party receives neither benefit nor harm.
As for the negative debuff "weakness amplification", it's actually the same as the challenge Angor encountered with the Ghost Fang Orcs.
Weaknesses are magnified hundreds of times, and as long as these weaknesses can be effectively attacked, it is possible to achieve victory against overwhelming odds.
In other words, the stronger party has become a "mechanical monster" with weaknesses!
However, there is one difference between this and the previous test by the Ghost Fang Orcs.
Angell cannot take the field himself this time; he needs to command the weaker side in this lopsided battle!