William wasn't being arrogant; he truly possessed immense strength.
As the captain of the Special Forces Regiment from Jinling Military District, William had always demonstrated remarkable power. On the first day of the "game," his regiment didn't rely on Awakened Divinity powers at all; they used modern weapons to fend off monsters effectively.
The first stronghold mission had been a breeze for them. In fact, throughout the first week of the game, William's regiment, using their superior military equipment, easily cleared large areas of wild monsters near their base. They rescued and merged dozens of other strongholds, establishing a super-stronghold with over 500,000 people.
Even when the Prologue ended and the second phase of the game began, William and his team conquered over twenty resource points on the first day, rebuilding "Magic City" in the process.
Today, they had conquered several more resource points, bringing Magic City's total to over 200, just shy of the 300 needed to establish a main city.
Since the start of the game, William's Special Forces Regiment had encountered no challenge they couldn't overcome. Their "scorched earth" approach to wiping out monsters had left Magic City with very few creatures to face.
In fact, William had never even seen a monster nest firsthand.
With their incredible fortune and military might, they had captured numerous resource points and eliminated a staggering number of monsters, leading to rapid upgrades for their rookie city. The rewards William had reaped were enormous.
Thanks to his regiment, William controlled an enormous fortune in game credits, and now he was equipped with a full "Dragon God" set worth 30 million credits.
In Magic City, William was undeniably one of the strongest players. Even before acquiring divine gear, his SR-tier powers alone allowed him to deal over 3,000 damage. Now, equipped with the divine set, his damage output had multiplied several times. Earlier, he'd easily dealt over 10,000 damage to kill a powerful Belos monster in one strike.
And that was just his basic attack. If he used his skills, William's damage could exceed 30,000.
This was the source of William's confidence.
"I'm making my move!"
With that confidence, William displayed true grace as he warned Alex before launching his attack. Rather than taking to the skies, where he had the advantage, he chose to rush toward Alex on the ground.
Of all the opponents Alex had faced, William was undoubtedly the strongest. He wasn't just armed with divine gear; his attribute levels didn't seem much lower than Alex's. This was the first time Alex had encountered someone whose speed was difficult to track.
But this unfamiliar sensation didn't fluster Alex. Instead, it excited him. Raising his shield, he held his "Champion's Blade" at the ready, waiting to counter William's first strike.
Seeing Alex's quick response, William nodded approvingly. Alex's reflexes and combat instinct were impressive.
But, William thought to himself, even with that, his attack was not something anyone could withstand.
With years of combat experience, William didn't aim for any tricky openings in Alex's defense. Instead, he thrust his spear directly forward, intending to win the match in a way that would leave no doubt.
A golden flash accompanied the spear's trajectory. Alex quickly let go of his shield with his left hand, guiding it to intercept the spearhead while slashing his sword through the air, cutting through the erupting golden flames and striking William directly.
-12,285!
-77,500!
The massive five-digit damage numbers popped up one after another, leaving both men in shock at each other's output. William, typically calm and composed, couldn't hide his surprise. The cold expression on his face faltered with genuine shock.
But as expected from someone with significant combat experience, William quickly composed himself.
Despite being struck by Alex, the "Dragon God's Scale" armor William wore activated, emitting a crimson aura that absorbed much of the damage.
Not defeated in a single hit, William immediately activated the "Dragon God's Wing" effect, flapping his wings to send a violent gust of wind, pushing Alex back several meters. Then, without hesitation, William took to the skies, speeding up to avoid any further attacks.
Alex didn't pursue, feeling a rush of excitement from William's earlier attack.
Although William's 13,000 damage was ultimately reduced by 98.5% thanks to Alex's armor and shield defenses, leaving him with only 1 point of damage, this was the first opponent who hadn't been felled by a single blow.
Alex guessed that William's survival might have been due to the "Dragon God's Might" effect, which granted a one-time immunity to lethal damage.
Curious, Alex asked, "Did you trigger the 'Dragon God's Might' effect manually, or was it automatic?"
William's eyebrow twitched slightly, and his lips curled in a bitter smile.
It was clear now that Alex must have the full "Dragon God" set too. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known about the specifics of the "Dragon God's Might" effect, which could only be seen after successfully activating the set.
Having witnessed Alex's terrifying damage output, William now realized that Alex had been hiding his true strength all along. Still, he answered honestly, "It was automatic. The system also notified me that, in the arena, it doesn't enter cooldown. It'll refresh tomorrow."
This was exactly what Alex had expected. Since the arena space wasn't a true-life battle, even if someone died, they wouldn't truly "die" if they were in the same faction. It was more of a simulated match.
No matter what skills were used or how much damage was taken, players would return to their original state before entering the arena.
"Why is your output so high?"
Unable to hold back, William asked the burning question. Both he and Alex were SR-tier Awakened Divinities, and he was even equipped with the "Dragon God" set. Alex's "Champion" set should've been weaker, yet Alex's output was five to six times higher.
Alex casually twirled the blue sword in his hand, smiling as he explained, "I've upgraded my gear. This sword alone boosts my damage by 500%."
Hearing Alex's response, William felt a mix of understanding and disbelief.