Zither Emperor Volume 3 Chapter 19.3

Chapter 19 – Power Shaking Heavy Cavalry (III)
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The dean of the Heavy Cavalry division was a robust man of around forty years of age. He turned towards Nina after hearing her mocking comment, but he didn’t say a word. His hard face didn’t appear to have changed in the slightest, his eyes remaining concentrated on the training field.
Ferguson smiled slightly and whispered to Nina, “Your Divine Music division entering the finals has already taken a lot of people aback. Dean Nina, you shouldn’t be too greedy!”
Competing against equal ranks, warriors were eternally not a match for mages. This was because on a battlefield, mages, without exception, possessed a magical beast. As a meat shield, a magical beast could completely hold back other equally ranked warriors. So long as a mage’s magical might could be truly brought out, a warrior’s end was something foreordained to be tragic.
The only exception to this kind of situation for a warrior was if the warrior were a Heavy Cavalryman, because Heavy Cavalrymen also possessed mounts. If their mount was strong enough, it could even contend against a mage’s magical beast, giving them a chance of victory. Divine Music mages already had a difficult time possessing powerful magical beasts, and this time, five Heavy Cavalry students had entered the battle with a Dragon Cavalry configuration.
With the Earthbound Swift Dragon’s speed and the Maginot Iron Dragon’s powerful offensive and defensive capabilities, Ferguson completely and reasonably believed that the Divine Music division would once again conduct the match through team battle. The formidable power of music simply couldn’t stand on equal footing with a Dragon Cavalrymen. Not even the Divine Celestial Protection could block the Dragon Cavalry’s attack. Although Ye Yin Zhu had his sound blades, a Heavy Cavalryman possessed their equivalent dou qi. In all aspects, the Heavy Cavalry held an unconditional advantage. This only made Ferguson feel suspense within his heart; Ye Yin Zhu was only one person. Regardless of the outcome, he still wanted to see what nice surprise Ye Yin Zhu would once again show.
Both sides now faced one another at the center of the field. The general of the Heavy Cavalry division sat upright on the Maginot Iron Dragon’s back. With the addition of his own stature, the pair already approached five meters in height. Before him, Ye Yin Zhu appeared very tiny.
“Heavy Cavalry division general. Nesta, second-year.” He took his lance out from his saddle ring and lightly held a helmet in his left hand, performing the standard cavalryman rite.
“Ye Yin Zhu, Divine Music division general, first-year.” Ye Yin Zhu placed his right hand over his heart, returning the other’s courtesy with the standard nobility rite.
Nesta’s stature was the most imposing of the five Heavy Cavalry division competitors. His bones were very large, and his hard face didn’t show even the slightest emotion. Facing the “tiny” Ye Yin Zhu, he didn’t appear to even slightly underestimate his opponent. “Please select the match style.”
“Wolfpack.” Ye Yin Zhu replied with a simple two words.
Nesta’s eyes finally displayed some surprise. “Wolfpack?”
Ye Yin Zhu nodded.
Wolfpack was the third type of competition. Different from a one-on-one battle and a team battle, a wolf pack competition was where both sides sent out one competitor to battle. The winner could continue to fight until they lose to an opponent. This was not a best three out of five match; instead, one party must prevail over all of their competitors from the other side in order to obtain the ultimate match victory.
Upon Ye Yin Zhu’s confirmation, everyone was in an uproar. In everyone’s eyes, it was already very dangerous if the Divine Music division chose a team battle. There might have been some slight chance, however. Ye Yin Zhu actually chose a wolfpack battle. In other words, every frail Divine Music mage must face the wild, ferocious attacks of the Heavy Cavalry. The match’s last trace of suspense appeared to have already disappeared.
Only, in the rostrum, Ferguson’s face exposed a praising smile. He nodded slowly and said, “Good choice. Avoiding the Heavy Cavalry’s most advantageous team charge and teamwork, perhaps Ye Yin Zhu really can give us a miracle.” In fact, the majority of the divisions didn’t know that the Heavy Cavalry was the most powerful in a team battle.
“Senior Hai Yang, are we really not going to be helping Yin Zhu?” Lan Xi, somewhat anxious, asked softly.
Hai Yang looked at her briefly. “Do you think we can even provide help to him?”
Raising her head to look towards the huge figures of the Dragon Cavalry, Lan Xi couldn’t help but become deathly pale. She lightly shook her head. The previously enraged Kong Que lowered her head.
Before the match began, Ye Yin Zhu had already identified that he would be using wolfpack match tactics, but he was the only one of the Divine Music division that would step forward. In other words, if the other side defeated him, then it was equivalent to defeating the entire Divine Music division team. If he wanted to win, he would have to defeat these five talented opponents one by one. Like everyone had believed, if the Divine Music mages confronted an assault by the Heavy Cavalry, even the most simplest of contact would cause fatal injuries. Ye Yin Zhu wanted to protect his comrades. As a result, upon entering the finals, he’d chosen wolfpack. He was responsible for everyone else, and at the same time, he also had a great deal of self-confidence.
The five students competing for the Heavy Cavalry division slowly retreated to the side. Ye Yin Zhu didn’t appear to be returning to his side of the field in order to set up his musical instrument for a performance, such was everyone’s expectations. Instead, he hugged the Moon and Tides’ Clear Brilliance zither, which had materialized after a wave of his left hand, and settled the zither in the crook of his left arm.
The match began. The first to appear from the Heavy Cavalry division was a student on an Earthbound Swift Dragon. Faint yellow dou qi glittered at the tip of his lance. The students of the Martial Arts Department within the audience increased the volume of their cheers, the sound rushing towards Ye Yin Zhu.
This was the first time Ye Yin Zhu had confronted Dragon Cavalry. Although the Earthbound Swift Dragon’s stature wasn’t very big, as its two pairs of dragon legs stepped forward, its assault power was just like that of a hurricane’s. Several hundred meters were consumed in a mere several blinks of an eye before this berserk force of wind at last reached Ye Yin Zhu.
The sharp tip of the lance emitted a faint cold light. Even if the Earthbound Swift Dragon’s speed and Intermediate Level Yellow Rank dou qi’s strength confronted a thick wall, it would still be able to completely pierce through.
Ye Yin Zhu hugged the Moon and Tides’ Clear Brilliance and stood in place, not even making a movement to dodge. Soon, the Earthbound Swift Dragon’s presence gradually grew larger, yet his expression didn’t appear to change in the slightest. A great many students of the Martial Arts Department were already silently cursing him in their hearts. ‘This Divine Music division general is already terrified.’
“Weng——” Ye Yin Zhu moved at last. As the Earthbound Swift Dragon dashed towards him, only 10 meters away, his right hand streaked across the zither strings with lightning speed. Ye Yin Zhu’s sudden sonic boom echoed out.
Sonic boom was always exceedingly more powerful the smaller the distance. Ye Yin Zhu had chosen this kind of timed release to give his opponent an attack on all sides.
A Heavy Cavalryman’s defensive power was exceedingly higher than a mage’s strength, but their spiritual defense was weaker than any mage’s. This suddenly emerging sonic boom from a Yellow Rank mage could make them briefly absent-minded, not to mention that he was just a first-year Heavy Cavalry student. His original posture during the berserk attack immediately became sluggish, his brain completely sinking into blankness.
The ten meter distance was covered by the Earthbound Swift Dragon in merely an instant, having already arrived in a flash. As Ye Yin Zhu’s right hand streaked across the Moon and Tides’ Clear Brilliance, he’d already jumped up from the ground. His entire body burst with yellow rays of light. In midair, Ye Yin Zhu’s posture was still as graceful as before. He was like a cloud as he hovered over his opponent.