Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Thunder exploded as Old Zhou, carrying the force of ten thousand thunderbolts, tore through the hurricane. He activated the [Blinking Magic Stone] and appeared right in front of Nicholas in an instant, his twin tonfas swinging heavily down toward Nicholas’s body.

“Boom!”

This strike landed solidly on Nicholas’s forearms—although Nicholas reacted quickly, blocking with his forearms, Old Zhou’s strength was too overwhelming. With that single blow, he sent Nicholas stumbling backward several steps.

The white-bearded old man’s forearms quickly swelled up, clearly with at least a few cracked bones from the impact.

“Blocked it, huh? Looks like you were always wary of me coming back!”

Old Zhou looked at his opponent and landed on the ground.

Nicholas laughed. “Ho ho, after all, the referee didn’t start counting down, so you definitely hadn’t lost consciousness!”

Old Zhou chuckled too.

“I see. You’re truly a worthy opponent. It’s not in vain that I activated this [Exclusive Item]!”

His figure blurred again as arcs of lightning danced across his skin, crackling and snapping.

“Whoosh!”

Old Zhou dodged and activated the [Blinking Magic Stone] again—an ability that normally had an extremely long cooldown—instantly appearing behind Nicholas. Then, his tonfas rained down blows in rapid succession, striking more than ten times in just a few seconds.

Nicholas swayed from the hits but managed to turn around, letting out a low grunt as he tried to grab Old Zhou with both hands.

But Old Zhou was covered in electric arcs. The moment Nicholas grabbed him, the searing pain caused a momentary daze. Old Zhou immediately activated the [Blinking Magic Stone] again, pulling distance between them once more.

Under Old Zhou’s relentless assault, Nicholas quickly fell into a disadvantage—the scene almost became a one-sided beating.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Soon, Nicholas was drenched in blood, causing the Order members watching to feel deeply worried.

“Fucking hell, is that Free Alliance bastard cheating or what? He was just about dead after falling into that hurricane, so how the fuck is he bouncing around like this now?!”

Good Night said indignantly.

High Mountain and Li Hua watched Nicholas’s brutal state and furrowed their brows slightly.

“Things aren’t looking good. It seems like ‘Prisoner’ activated some high-cost [Item] that not only brought him back to peak condition but also seems to have removed the cooldown on his [Items].”

Li Hua pushed up his glasses and analyzed calmly.

“Damn it, so what do we do?”

High Mountain asked anxiously.

“This kind of ‘extreme state’ usually has heavy limitations and a limited duration,” Paper Kite said, her eyes fixed on Prisoner. “But… how long? Three minutes? Fifteen minutes? Does it consume physical strength or mental energy?”

“But Nicholas clearly can’t hold out much longer.”

Li Hua sighed.

After all, Nicholas’s current state was even worse than Prisoner’s had been moments ago. His figure was swaying unsteadily, covered in blood, with black scorch marks all over his skin.

If the God of Fairness and Judgement hadn’t promised that no one would die in this match, everyone might have been worried that Nicholas would actually die on this arena!

“Boom!”

On the stage, Old Zhou kicked Nicholas into another tornado again. What should have been a small, easily escapable whirlwind took Nicholas several seconds to break free from.

And the moment he got out, Nicholas was met with another three consecutive strikes from Old Zhou.

“Thud! Thud! Thud!”

The tonfas struck Nicholas hard on the chin, and the blood that sprayed out stained most of his beard red.

It looked like Old Zhou was deliberately beating him just to vent his anger.

But…

Only Old Zhou knew he wasn’t!

Three minutes had already passed since he activated the [Path of Redemption and Freedom]!

Right now, Old Zhou was in the over-limit state of the “War Drum Battle Method,” a human combat technique originating from the Black Marsh world, created by a human warrior. It harnesses lightning to temper the body, unleashing immense power.

So, each of Old Zhou’s strikes was now several times heavier than before.

But…

“Why the hell hasn’t this old man fallen yet?!”

Within the Third Tier, ever since he got the [Path of Redemption and Freedom], Old Zhou had never met anyone who could keep tanking his hits!

What’s more, Nicholas didn’t even have a weapon anymore—he couldn’t even use his [Exclusive Item]!

Four minutes now!

Old Zhou struck again with his tonfa, and Nicholas finally staggered and fell to the ground. But soon… he performed a kip-up and got right back on his feet.

“Ho ho, come again!”

Nicholas’s voice was already trembling slightly, but he still assumed a fighting stance.

Even though time was precious, Old Zhou couldn’t help but ask the question out loud.

“How are you still standing?”

“It’s not like I’m going to die anyway!”

Nicholas growled and lunged at Old Zhou.

“Bam!”

This time, his movements had slowed considerably. Old Zhou didn’t even need to activate the [Blinking Magic Stone]—just a simple sidestep was enough to dodge the attack and land a tonfa strike on Nicholas’s thigh.

Nicholas stumbled. Old Zhou frowned.

“It’s just a Second Tier [Item]. Why are you fighting this hard for it?”

“Then let me ask you,” Nicholas spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with teeth, “you’re using a pretty precious [Item] right now too, aren’t you? Why use it on a fight this insignificant?”

“Because using my own strength to defeat all strong enemies and achieve true freedom—that is my belief and my pursuit,” Old Zhou said firmly and proudly. “And because you’re strong enough, I’ll bring out my [Exclusive Item].”

Nicholas looked at Old Zhou and laughed again. “Ho ho… I see.”

Old Zhou stared at Nicholas. “You still haven’t answered my question!”

“Well, about that…”

“Bam!”

Nicholas shot off like a cannonball. Whether it was from that brief rest or something else, his speed suddenly returned to its peak!

Old Zhou immediately activated the [Blinking Magic Stone], but found that the moment he retreated, Nicholas was right on his tail.

“Crash!”

The two collided, and Nicholas burst out laughing.

“Ho ho, ‘Order,’ the representative of justice, and Santa Claus, the symbol of hope and fantasy—how could I possibly lose so easily on this stage in front of so many watching eyes!”

“Your yearning for freedom is admirable, but… justice always prevails!”

As he spoke, Nicholas grabbed Old Zhou tightly, refusing to let go even as the tonfas slammed into his body again and again.

Then, he shouted loudly once more.

“Merry Christmas again! Mr. Prisoner! Ho ho ho!”

The next moment, more than a dozen metal balls rolled out from Nicholas’s body, emitting rapid “beep beep” sounds.

Then…

“Boom!”

A massive explosion of white light engulfed the entire arena.

After the white light dissipated, both of them lay on the ground.

Nicholas was barely breathing, while Old Zhou’s body was constantly flickering with various colors of light—while the [Path of Redemption and Freedom] was still active, he was rapidly using various [Recovery Items] on himself.

And because of that, after a few moments, Old Zhou staggered to his feet.

He looked down at Nicholas on the ground, his eyes full of respect.

“Nicholas… what a terrifying opponent!”

And at that moment, the host, Earl of Blazing Flames, finally spoke up.

“Contestant ‘Nicholas’ has lost consciousness for more than 10 seconds—the winner of this match is… ‘Prisoner’!!!”