Chapter 54: Teammate Sacrifice

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Teammate Sacrifice

The Grandmasters were already locked in battle with the Little Demons.

The monsters created by the black dragon were swift and agile, but they lacked the ability to self-heal with Demon Qi. Their attacks were even driven by animal instinct.

The Grandmasters took down several of them right at the start of the engagement.

After all, the Grandmasters forged on the soccer field were enhanced by Demon Qi. On top of that, these guys had been thrashed by Li Ye in every single match, causing their Inner Strength to multiply countless times. Their combat prowess far exceeded that of the Grandmasters Li Ye had first encountered. Every last one of them was a Grandmaster-plus.

Li Ye had been cultivating them for so long. Now, they were finally proving to be useful.

The Divine Dragon had eyes only for Li Ye. Annoyance flashed in its enormous eyes after being struck by the ball. It spun around, and a massive dragon claw descended upon Li Ye.

The moment the claw descended, the very air around Li Ye seemed to freeze in place.

But Li Ye also possessed dense Demon Qi. With a slight exertion, he broke free of the claw’s hold. He dribbled the ball out from under the claw and even landed a kick on it for good measure.

A Dragon Scale was immediately sent flying.

The black dragon shrieked and turned to bite Li Ye. Its massive teeth were half a meter long, and its open mouth released a foul stench.

Facing the enormous maw, Li Ye didn’t dodge. Instead, he booted the soccer ball straight down its throat.

BANG!

A muffled thud echoed.

The rapidly spinning soccer ball embedded itself in its throat, and a shower of blood instantly erupted from the wound.

The Giant Dragon writhed in pain, its body slamming heavily into the hillside.

With a tremendous RUMBLE, half the mountain collapsed.

Li Ye dodged out of the way.

The Giant Dragon turned its head and glared at Li Ye. It coughed, and the soccer ball lodged in its throat shot out toward him, propelled by a gale of wind and blood.

Amidst the gale, Li Ye extended his foot to forcibly intercept the ball.

But the ball slammed into his leg, sending him tumbling over ten meters away. He crashed hard into the rubble on the hillside. Where the Dragon Blood had splattered onto him, his clothes and skin sizzled, a large patch corroding away in moments.

Fortunately, the black dragon’s blood didn’t carry the Unhealing Wound effect. Once Li Ye forced the Dragon Blood out, the wound healed quickly.

’That’s right!’

’Most demons can’t be eaten directly. Even the edible ones don’t provide much benefit. The thing that truly makes them powerful is Demon Qi.’

’Li Ye had been lying to them from the very beginning.’

’But whether he was killed by the dragon or he killed the dragon, no one would hold him accountable. It was a well-intentioned lie.’

BOOM!

The black dragon swiped its claw at him again.

Li Ye scrambled to dodge. The soccer ball was nowhere to be seen. Now, he was dribbling a rock with his feet.

Shi Xiang and the others were busy intercepting the Little Demons and had no time to pass him a ball.

But Li Ye no longer needed a soccer ball. Anything he could kick would serve as one—just like that unlucky bastard’s head back then.

After taking that projectile head-on, Li Ye had gotten a taste of the black dragon’s power.

The beast’s strength was countless times his own; he absolutely could not afford to clash with it head-on.

A single swipe of its claws or one bite, and he’d be finished, nine times out of ten.

However, Li Ye also realized that the black dragon’s immense size was actually a disadvantage in the narrow valley.

It might be immensely powerful, but its massive frame was too clumsy to turn quickly. As long as his Body Technique was agile enough, he could use the dragon as a living punching bag, whittling it down bit by bit.

...

Dodging the black dragon’s gaze, Li Ye moved like a bolt of lightning, zipping back and forth across the hillside. One after another, he kicked rocks at his feet, sending them tearing through the curtain of rain to bombard the black dragon like cannonballs.

Scales shattered and Dragon Blood sprayed.

The black dragon’s enormous body twisted and thrashed, and the mountain rumbled as it crumbled under the impacts.

In no time at all, rubble and mud had completely filled the soccer field, flowing out of the valley as the rain washed it away. ℴℴ𝘮

The black dragon also realized the disadvantage of its immense size. It threw its head back and roared. As Li Ye watched, its massive body rapidly shrank, transforming into a monster with a dragon’s head and a human’s body.

It glared angrily at Li Ye and smoothed over the wounds where its scales had been stripped away. "Die!"

In the next instant, it was in front of Li Ye, its claws plunging into his chest.

Excruciating pain shot through him. Li Ye hooked the rock at his feet and rapidly retreated, dodging the black dragon’s second strike. But he wasn’t fast enough; a dragon claw raked across his arm, leaving it a bloody mess.

’Fuck!’

’This thing can transform? How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!’

After the black dragon assumed its humanoid form, the dark clouds in the sky scattered, and the downpour abruptly ceased.

Li Ye dribbled a stone, desperately evading the black dragon’s relentless attacks. He had no way to fight back; the dragon was always just a fraction faster than him.

Before long, his body was covered in wounds.

"Hui, think of something! This thing is too fast," Li Ye yelled frantically.

"I don’t have any ideas either!" the Team Emblem sounded even more frantic than Li Ye. "Non-living demon entities are inherently weaker than living ones. Besides, it’s been in this world for three years. My Demon Qi reserves are nothing compared to its. The fact that you’ve held out this long is already incredible."

’Shit!’

Li Ye cursed inwardly, a wave of despair washing over him.

’If I’d known the Team Emblem was this useless, I should’ve listened to Yang Feng and picked a demon with an Attack Skill. But no, the two Derived Skills I awakened are each more useless than the last.’

The black dragon was dead set on killing him and wouldn’t even entertain the "balls" he passed its way. There was no chance of Pulling People Down.

The only thing he could use now was his first Derived Skill.

But in this situation, even thrashing his teammates again would only increase his Inner Strength, which wouldn’t be of much use in this fight. Even those Grandmasters, with their doubled combat power, probably couldn’t withstand a single slap from this dragon.

’Struggle, Unity, Progress, Glory...’

’None of the Attributes that fit the Team Emblem were useful in a fight.’

After Li Ye barely dodged another one of the dragon’s attempts to tear out his heart, the Team Emblem’s voice suddenly sounded in his mind. "There is one other way."

"What is it?" Li Ye asked.

"I take control of your body and start killing," the Team Emblem said. "But if we do that, we’ll never be able to separate. And I can’t ever go back, because if I did, the Demon Suppression Tower would detect me immediately..."

’Shit!’

Li Ye cursed under his breath. ’Have I struggled and fought in this world for so many days just to end up like this?’

’What was it all for?!’

"No," Li Ye refused flatly. "Isn’t there any other way?"

"There isn’t," the Team Emblem said. "Li Ye, you’d better figure out how to deal with this stupid dragon, and fast. If you really can’t handle it, I’ll take control of your body by force. I barely managed to escape the Demon Suppression Tower; I don’t want to die in this world..."

"Just give me a minute, I’ll figure something out," Li Ye said hastily. "Besides, you can kill people, but so can it, can’t it? It’s a dragon. It can kill a lot faster than you can."

"..." The Team Emblem fell silent.

...

’A soccer club’s Team Emblem.’

’Unity, Progress, Struggle, Soccer, Club, Glory, League...’

’Thrashing my teammates, Pulling People Down...’

Everything that had happened since he arrived in this world flashed through Li Ye’s mind as he searched for a way out of this deadlock.

’Unity, Glory!’

’Glory!’

’It feels like I’ve overlooked something!’

A sharp pain flared in his back. Li Ye staggered; it felt like the black dragon’s claw had shattered his shoulder blade.

’Sacrifice!’

’That’s it!’

’Sacrifice!’

’After I came to this world, the Fun People Club has had it easy. I’ve carried them the entire time. Even winning the Planet Cup was something everyone just took for granted.’

’Every single member of the Fun People Club has just been enjoying the ride, getting carried by me. Almost none of them have truly had to fight for anything.’

’I was always the one to Charge at the very front, whether it was against Murong Kaixin or Xiangli. My teammates were only responsible for providing backup from the sidelines and passing the ball.’

’Even now, I’m the one fighting the black dragon alone while they’re all busy with the weaker Little Demons. And even though I’m in this miserable state, not a single one has come to help...’

’It’s as if the roles were just naturally assigned this way!’

’But why?!’

’I’m just a visitor in this world!’

’What kind of team is this?!’

Li Ye took a deep breath and looked toward Liu Guangsheng. "Old Liu, are you willing to risk your life for Lord Li?"

"Of course!" Liu Guangsheng shouted back.

"Willing to give your life for victory, without hesitation?" Li Ye asked.

"Without hesitation," Liu Guangsheng replied instantly. In his mind, Li Ye was a good man; whatever he did was right. After all, hadn’t being thrashed on the field ultimately increased his Skill Level?

"Good. Block the black dragon for me," Li Ye said. "Just for a moment."

As he spoke, Li Ye led the black dragon to Liu Guangsheng’s side, then dodged behind him. On his way, he landed a quick strike on one of Liu Guangsheng’s vital points to give him a boost in combat power.

BANG!

The black dragon was too fast.

Before Liu Guangsheng could even react, the black dragon’s claws had plunged into his heart.

Liu Guangsheng’s eyes widened in disbelief as he collapsed to the ground. Even in his last moments, he couldn’t believe that Lord Li had actually used him as a shield.

The moment Liu Guangsheng died, Li Ye felt his stagnant power suddenly surge.

At the same time, a new Derived Skill appeared in his mind:

Teammate Sacrifice, Boundless Magical Power: When a teammate dies because of you, your power in the current battle will surge beyond its limits, growing without an upper bound. You will be left extremely weak afterward.