CHAPTER 689: DUELS; VS. THE OVERSEER (II)

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The Overseer got his moniker because of his real-life job.

He works as an overseer for a large-scale mining company, and under his rule, no workers could get away with any schemes or any form of cheating they could think of, simply because he would know right away, and he’s not known to show mercy.

With the Overseer sitting at the helm of operations, the company displayed unprecedented efficiency in their operations, and that’s what propelled him to his current status.

In the Virtual Arena, the Overseer knows how to pick his battles. If someone were to dig into his match history in a very detailed manner, they’d see that The Overseer never fought anybody that’s way stronger than he is. He doesn’t go much on random queue; he sends out duel invitations instead.

But this doesn’t mean that he cheated his way through his rank. The Overseer was strong; there’s no doubt about that. He’s just unfair most of the time because of his eye technique; that’s the key behind his stellar arena record.

However, everybody now knows how that went against Dawnbringer. So, if there’s time for The Overseer to be creative, it would be now, or else he will really lose this match.

And the one thing that arrogant and prideful people like him don’t want to happen is to lose, especially publicly.

With a grunt, dozens of ghastly shapes emerged from the Overseer’s shadow.

These were his ghost slaves. They took on the form of many shapes and variants, and they were his undyingly loyal minions that helped him whip his subordinates to obey him.

The Overseer himself didn’t plan on staying idle. He summoned a chain whip that danced maliciously around him, slithering like a snake and hissing at the enemy.

With a mental command, the ghost slaves charged, pouncing on Dawnbringer without any regard to their safety.

Even though there were only a few of them, each of these ghost slaves was strong and cunning. They took full advantage of their ghostly bodies to phase in and out of form, extracting maximum efficiency in dragging the enemy to their clutches so that they could present him to their master.

The chain whip in the overseer’s hands also moved through his mental command. It burrowed into the ground, multiplied into several links, and formed a prison that prevented the enemy from escaping. The runes engraved on its body glowed with a soft radiance, fortifying its effects.

This caused a spatial blockade and sealed the entire area, preventing Dawnbringer from going anywhere.

If the Overseer’s eye took effect on top of this, it’s easy to understand how he managed to sit on this current rank.

Unluckily for the Overseer, he’s not facing some greenhorn Immortal. He’s facing a really strong one.

Shing!

The Overseer watched as Dawnbringer brandished his sword, which emitted a sharp whistling sound, followed by a prickling sensation. This was a sign that his sword intent had manifested.

As the ghost slaves pounced on him, the sword flew out of his grasp, turning into a streak of light that pierced through the ghosts at a blistering speed that left them unable to react.

By the time the sword returned to Dawnbringer’s hand, every single ghost slave had been pierced, leaving a gaping hole in their bodies that left them writhing on the floor just like what happened to their master earlier.

Typically, this wouldn’t have worked. The ghost could freely switch between material and immaterial form at will; their reaction speed wasn’t bad either. And even if they were pierced, they will immediately regenerate through their connection with their master. So long as the Overseer was alive, they were immortal as well.

But Dawnbringer wasn’t a simple guy. He obviously knew how to deal with ghosts like this.

First of all, sure, the ghost’s reaction speed wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t nearly fast enough to react to the speed of the sword’s flight. Obviously, they can’t defend against something they couldn’t react to, so their ability to switch between solid and ethereal form was rendered useless. By the time they realized that they should phase out, they were already too slow; the sword had already pierced them.

As for regeneration, their false immortality was simply laughable under Dawnbringer’s sword intent, which could cut through anything he wants to cut regardless of what it is.

This sword intent could sever conceptual laws themselves; how could it not cut some ghastly and resentful ghosts?

And as for the chain whip prison he found himself in, well...what about it?

Did the Overseer really think that he trapped him in here? Oh no! That’s not the case. The Overseer trapped himself in here with Dawnbringer, not the other way around.

The overseer was now realizing this as he saw his ghost slaves writhing on the floor, unable to muster up any strength to stand up despite his angry demands.

To retaliate, somehow, the Overseer yanked his chain whip fiercely. It slithered venomously in attempts to shred Dawnbringer to pieces with its jagged and sharp edges, all while some parts of it took the writhing ghost slaves back to their master so that he could erase the sword intent that’s causing them so much agony and preventing them from regaining their strength.

Dawnbringer could’ve stopped that from happening, but where’s the fun in that? The Overseer obviously realized that too, and it irked him to the bone.

As for the chain whip’s attack, it’s not even as lethal as the ghosts. Dawnbringer did one casual parry to it, sending it vibrating back to its original state, coiled into its user’s hand. The impact extended to the overseer’s hand, causing him to wince ever-so-slightly, but he defiantly kept it all in, refusing to show any more signs of weakness.

He also attempted to rescue his ghost slaves, doing his absolute best to get rid of the lingering sword intent on their wounds so that they could regenerate and regain their strength.

The Overseer knows that this was a futile attempt because he saw how fast and how easily Dawnbringer achieved this, and there was no doubt he could replicate that just as easily as the first time. But he still had to do it because he refused to give up in the fight.

Hell would freeze over first before he admits that he kicked an iron plate barefooted this time.

But forget about all that, for he wasn’t even capable of removing the lingering sword intent on his ghost slaves. He was nowhere near strong enough to do that. The only way was to ask Dawnbringer himself to remove it, nicely. And the Overseer doesn’t do nice.

And Dawnbringer, well...he could’ve used that lingering sword intent to shred the ghost slaves into pieces, truly. They’re not too far away from him; it’s within a distance where he could remotely impose his will on his sword intent and do whatever he wants with it.

Hell, he could even gather all of that sword intent to kill the Overseer from this distance. It would happen just as fast as he dealt with the ghosts.

He just chose not to do any of it for some reason, the main one being that he’s waiting. Because surely, the 15th place in the Immortal League rankings has more to show than this...sad and, quite honestly, pathetic display so far, right?

Surely, this isn’t the full extent of his capabilities? There’s no way he had gotten this far with just this?

Because, yes, the giant eye earlier was unique and all, but it has limitations. There’s no way the Overseer relied on it completely to gain his position in the Immortal League Rankings, right?

So, Dawnbringer waited patiently. He didn’t even say anything as he watched how the Overseer desperately tried to erase his sword intent without asking him first, like that’s ever going to work.

Steven, who’s watching all of this unfold, felt endlessly vindicated by the poor and pathetic form of the Overseer. Call him a bitter loser and all that, but he sure was having a great time seeing this arrogant fool finally be put in his proper place. Even better when it was done by whom The Overseer thought was just another idiot that’s beneath him.

It’s almost poetic, truly.

Steven could also sense the disappointment of the other spectators so far. He didn’t need to see them to know what they’re feeling. It’s quite understandable for them to expect something grander than this. After all, the Overseer was a high-ranker, while Dawnbringer wasn’t.

But, much to everybody’s dismay...

Once the Overseer realized that he couldn’t erase Dawnbringer’s lingering sword intent on his ghost slaves, he retrieved them to his shadows, stood up, gave one final defiant glare at the enemy, and forfeited the match.

"No fucking way! He ran!? Just like that?" Steven was gobsmacked. And so were the other spectators, he assumed.

Even Dawnbringer was shocked, evident by his ajar and speechless mouth. Then, a mirthless chuckle escaped from his lips before they all heard him say,

"What an utter disappointment."

And just like that, Dawnbringer’s first day of accepting duel invitations came to an end.