Lord of the Sky City

When Rocky clashed passionately with Peter, there was actually another contestant on the stage—only, everyone's attention was focused on Rocky and Peter, completely overlooking the third.

But now, just as Rocky had barely eliminated Peter from the match, not even having a chance to catch his breath, this final contestant seized the opportunity for a rare sneak attack on Rocky!

No one noticed how this person had managed to creep up behind Rocky. In any case, he did, and then suddenly burst forth, slashing with the razor-sharp longsword in his hand, aiming a horizontal strike directly at Rocky's neck!

Brutal!

Too brutal!

From this single strike alone, it was clear how malicious this contestant was—he wasn't just trying to defeat Rocky, he was trying to kill him!

Facing such a sudden sneak attack, everyone in the arena let out a gasp, with many covering their mouths in shock. Some young girls even covered their eyes, daring not to watch what happened next.

Could it be, could Rocky be defeated just like that?

After delivering such an exciting duel, was he to die from a sneak attack?

Under everyone's astonished gazes, the sword from behind landed heavily on Rocky's neck...

Clang!

A light sound rang out as the longsword struck the White Demon Armor...

"Blocked! Contestant number 1021's armor blocked the sword strike!"

Realizing that his strike had failed, the announcer immediately roared, "Despicable! Absolutely despicable! Contestant Boff, in such a thrilling match, resorted to a sneak attack and even failed—shameless! What a waste!"

Idiot.

As the announcer fervently shouted, Orton and Hammerfire, the two old men, had faces full of disregard, as they both snorted simultaneously.

Joking aside, the White Demon Armor was a top-tier set forged for 300,000 Gold Coins! To accommodate the powerful Mana of the Rune, the raw materials used for the armor were on par with those of the fifth generation of Special Armor. How could it be damaged by such an ordinary sneak attack? If that had happened, Rocky's fate would be put aside for a moment, as Hammerfire would definitely be the first to take his own life.

"How... how is this possible..."

The contestant named Boff struck Rocky with his sword, found it had no effect, and was utterly dumbfounded, especially as Rocky turned around to face him, causing him to panic and stumble backwards.

But facing an opponent who sneak-attacked him, Rocky was hardly going to show mercy. Even though he was exhausted from the confrontation with Peter, dealing with this type of character was still easy for him.

With a single kick to the opponent's chest, he sent him flying. Throughout the process, Rocky quickly accelerated and caught the other's ankle before they hit the ground. Then he flew straight upward into the air, spun around twice in the air to maximize the force, and then threw the opponent out!

"Contestant Boff is eliminated!"

As Rocky threw the last opponent out of the ring, the announcer finally proclaimed with a loud voice, "Ladies and gentlemen! The final victor of this preliminary match has emerged! He is contestant number 1021!"

"Well done!"

"What an amazing match!"

"Keep it up in the future!"

As the announcer declared Rocky the ultimate winner of the preliminaries, the audience all stood up, lavishing him with the warmest applause.

Amidst the thunderous applause, Rocky slowly descended onto the stage and graciously bowed to the entire audience before hopping down and heading back to the changing room through the exit.

As he left, the audience who had watched the entire match continued to applaud, their faces showing lingering excitement. The match had indeed been thrilling, where every contestant had given their all and used every means possible—from honorable to underhanded—keeping every moment filled with suspense.

Such a match naturally made the audience remember Rocky's name, contestant 1021. Some had even made plans that the next time Rocky participated in a Rank match, they would definitely come to watch.

Actually, not only did the audience immensely enjoy the match, but Rocky was also quite satisfied with it. If he had to describe it in one word, it would be "thrilling." He had never had so much fun fighting as he did in this match, unlike the desperate battling in wars. In the arena, he didn't need to consider so many things; he only needed to enjoy the match itself. This feeling was something Rocky had never experienced before, so when the match truly ended, he felt somewhat reluctant to leave.

The problem of what to do next was easily solved because, after Rocky won the preliminary contest, he not only received the match's reward but also obtained a Combat Skill Rank. With the rank, he could participate in higher quality, richer rewarded, and more dangerous rank matches.

It's the rank matches that are the real competition in the arena, so if Rocky felt unsatisfied, there were plenty of matches he could fight in.

"Are you okay? Were you hurt?"

"Sir, let me get that for you!"

"Sir, please sit down and rest."

After Rocky changed into casual clothes in the changing room, as soon as he returned to the rest lounge, he saw Liliya and the others and was immediately surrounded by them.

Even though he enjoyed the match greatly, Liliya and the others who watched were constantly worried. Therefore, as soon as they saw Rocky return, they immediately surrounded him and started to fuss over him.

"Is contestant number 1021 here?"

Just as Rocky was engulfed by Liliya and the others, almost to the point of being carried back to Thunderhawk City, a middle-aged man around thirty walked into the rest lounge and called out his contestant number.

"Over here."

Waving his hand amid the crowd, Rocky indicated that he was still there.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man hurriedly walked up to him with a smile.

"Hello, my name is Howard, the contact person for the Arena rank matches. Contestant number 1021, congratulations on winning the preliminary contest, this is your reward."

After introducing himself to Rocky, Howard handed over a Gold Card: "Contestant number 1021, this Gold Card is the Arena's reward card. Each time you win a match, you can collect your rewards with this card. The five-thousand Gold Coin prize for the preliminary contest is ready for you, and you can collect it anytime."

"Furthermore, since you've won the preliminary contest, you've also obtained a Combat Skill Rank. Your current rank is the initial Level Fifteen, with zero points. If you continue to win rank matches, you will gain points, and the more points you have, the higher your rank will become."

"As for myself, I am your contact person. If you want to compete in rank matches in the future, you can contact me directly. If you have any requests about the match, such as time or format, you can talk to me, and I will try to make the arrangements."

"This is my Mana Communicator, you can contact me anytime."

After handing the Gold Card to Rocky, Howard told him many things, the gist of which was quite simple: if Rocky wanted to compete in the future, he could contact him directly, as he'll be the responsible person for Rocky's matches in the Arena.

This was the rule of the Arena: every contestant who obtained rank qualification would be assigned a dedicated contact person, to facilitate arranging matches for the contestants easily, saving them the trouble of queuing up to register. Howard was the contact person assigned to Rocky.

"Understood, thank you."

Rocky handed the Gold Card casually to Aileen and then said to Howard, "So, you mean if I want to fight a match in the future, I just need to contact you?"

"Exactly."

"Great, I plan to fight another match in three days. Can you arrange it for me?"

"Of course!"

As soon as Howard heard Rocky plan to continue competing, a smile instantly appeared on his face. After all, as a contact person, much like an agent, he depended on the contestants earning money. The more often his assigned contestants fought and won, the higher his income would be. Therefore, Rocky's request to continue fighting was naturally pleasing to Howard, and having watched the recent match, he had high hopes for Rocky as well.

As for Rocky himself, he felt that he was in good form in today's match and intended to keep it up to see what a real rank match was like.

But what he didn't know was that his decision, made without much thought, was going to inadvertently trigger a major conflict!

A major conflict between the new style of armors!