Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 353 - 151 Peggy’s Combat Deficiencies

Chapter 353: Chapter 151 Peggy’s Combat Deficiencies

Not only Mia, but even the girls watching from the sidelines noticed the same problem.

"Is there an issue with the Extraordinary Swordsmanship itself?" Eleanor mused, "So, does each Undead Illusion Sword’s illusion require divided attention for control?"

"To be precise, it’s actually a matter of detail," said Thira, who had learned swordsmanship from Peggy for a while, "To my knowledge, the illusions that Peggy creates have the most basic intelligence. For example, if the body gives the thought ’attack the target,’ the illusion can immediately launch a corresponding attack."

"The problem is, such an attack is entirely instinctual, so it’s impossible for the actions to be complex, limited to simple Slashes or Straight Stabs at best. For Mia, these simple attack movements pose no threat at all."

"And in order to precisely control the illusion, performing complex actions like tactical feints or combo attacks, one must divert their thoughts to give more detailed commands."

"So, it becomes a problem of doing two things at once. Look, whenever Peggy creates an illusion, Mia increases the frequency of her frontal attacks. This pressure tactic forces Peggy to focus more on addressing the dangers faced by her body, resulting in a rapid decline in her ability to manipulate the illusion clone."

"It’s not that the Extraordinary Swordsmanship itself is flawed, but rather Peggy’s current use of swordsmanship has shortcomings, which Mia has noticed and is deliberately targeting."

"Have you noticed something else?" Sigrdrifa also spoke up solemnly.

"What’s the problem?" Thira asked.

"In Peggy’s tactical system, the Extraordinary Swordsmanship and Extraordinary Ability are disjointed," Sigrdrifa said.

Eleanor thought about it and realized that was indeed the case.

The best current integration of Extraordinary Ability with one’s combat skills is probably Sigrdrifa and Miel.

The former, whether it is Frost or Thunder, and the Giant’s power amplification, can flexibly cast them while wielding the Battle Axe, causing strong damage, restraint, and diminishment to the enemy in regular attacks;

The latter strengthens Firearms technology itself with all her abilities, Visual, Intuition, even Luck, all pushing her own gunfire reaction speed, lethality, and accuracy to new heights.

Apart from these two, for example, Eleanor and Aske, most Extraordinary Abilities are focused on enhancing the physical hard power of their own bodies.

And then there are Medea, Nora, and Thira, which on the contrary, emphasize the use of Extraordinary Abilities—if their own combat power is removed, it’s practically zero, which is another extreme.

Only Mia and Peggy, these two people’s integration of Extraordinary Abilities with their own combat skills, are somewhat weak.

Mia chose the "Shadow Dancer" Bloodline, which focuses on the use of the elusive Shadow Ability and the style of delivering lethal blows aimed at Weaknesses. Relatively speaking, the situation is somewhat better; after all, there are already established professional tactics available. Under Aske’s subsequent guidance, she just needs to slowly move in that direction.

Peggy’s Bloodline is the "Lord of Filth," which from the Sequence characteristics, seems similar to a strong Control and grinding blood approach. However, she also possesses another Extraordinary Swordsmanship, the "Undead Illusion Sword," which emphasizes ’mobbing’ and ’Strong Kill’...

"Can this successfully combine?" Eleanor expressed doubt, "When Alexander and the others designed this set of swordsmanship, did they consider it could adapt to the Bloodline of the Lord of Filth?"

"Of course not." Medea said, "Alexander himself has an Arcane System’s ’Meteor Fire Rain’ Bloodline, which emphasizes a face-to-face bombardment style like a mobile artillery position. The design of the Illusion Sword is merely to double the output on the battlefield to match his own Arcane Ability."

"So Hannibal had to improve this set of swordsmanship," Thira chimed in, "Hannibal has a Death System Bloodline, manipulating Undead Spirits and Spiritual Bodies to mob the enemy, so reducing the strength of the split illusions and greatly increasing their numbers is also to better coordinate with his usual siege Tactics."

"The swordsmanship that Peggy now masters is closer to Hannibal’s version of the Undead Illusion Sword, right?" Sigrdrifa began to come up with whimsical ideas, "What do you think, if she were to improve the swordsmanship again, what would it be called? Blood Clan Illusion Sword? Maiden Illusion Sword? Peggy Illusion Sword?"

Everyone tacitly ignored her foolish statement and continued the discussion:

"Actually, it’s not impossible to combine the two, but first, the swordsmanship must be remodeled; the illusions can’t collapse with just a hit like the Undead Illusion Sword does."

"Hannibal’s method is to interweave the illusions amidst the vast army of Death Spirits, and since Peggy doesn’t have the Ability to revive Undead Spirits, she must strengthen the Life Force of the illusions themselves."

"Peggy didn’t need to create just one illusion like Alexander did; I think 3-4 would be more appropriate," someone suggested. "Maintain a surrounding assault, don’t reveal the true body’s location for a short time, then use plague and toxin abilities to continuously weaken the enemy."

Everyone outside the arena was involved in various analyses and discussions. But Nora, standing nearby, listened with considerable confusion: Huh, hadn’t Aske said that Mia was certain to lose? So why did it sound like it was Peggy who found herself at a disadvantage now?

She sneaked a glance at Aske using her peripheral vision and saw that the squad leader still had a calm expression, showing no signs of surprise. Meanwhile, Peggy in the arena seemed to be fighting so hard that she was about to break into a cold sweat.

What kind of bizarre fighting style was this Mia using!

The Dual Sword Assassination Skill, despite its rather unrefined-sounding name, was fully capable of sending chills down the spine of anyone who faced it.

Whether one attempted to attack, block, or parry, the counter moves were so unconventional they could overturn anyone’s understanding of swordsmanship.

Steel clashed once again, Peggy’s short sword pressed against the other’s dagger, only to feel the force against her blade suddenly disappear.

Mia’s dagger, initially held in a reverse grip, was braced against Peggy’s short sword. In an instant, she turned sideways, simultaneously twisting the dagger hilt in her palm in a flashy maneuver to switch to an orthodox grip.

During the handle’s rotation, the blade cleverly circled around the short sword, causing Peggy’s weapon to instantly lose its target. Mia’s evasive sidestep left the short sword slicing through empty air next to her.

Seizing the moment, Mia lowered her stance and surged forward quickly. Peggy had no choice but to hastily retreat to maintain distance, swinging the short sword down once more.

This slash was meant to force the opponent into a block or evasion, thereby halting her forward momentum. Of course, considering Mia could change her move at any moment, Peggy was also prepared to pull back the force of her slash.

As it turned out, Mia’s left hand rose, steadying her dagger against the downward swing of the short sword, while her right hand thrust the other dagger forward with force.

This was driving Peggy nearly to depression.

The essence of the tactic across from her was, in plain terms, "variation."

You anticipate an attack block, only for the actual move to turn into an illusion, abruptly shifting from a parry to an evasion. The next moment, when you expect an illusion, the opponent actually delivers a solid block.

The key lay in the opponent’s rapid change of moves. Reversing grip, shifting between reality and illusion, the shifts took place in the blink of an eye—this was all thanks to the special techniques of the Dual Sword Assassination Skill.

"No, this won’t do!" Peggy suddenly realized the crux of her current problem.

A one-on-one duel was Mia’s strongest domain; how could she herself get dragged into the rhythm best suited for the opponent?

Being up close with an assassin, whether outmatched in swordplay or finding the Undead Illusion Sword countered, both were natural results under the pressure of being suppressed.

She had to create distance! Besides, wasn’t evasion and maintaining distance the domain where the Lord of Filth excelled?

Sorry, although I thought about not resorting to shameless tactics before, I’ve changed my mind now.

In the moment Mia’s dagger struck, Peggy’s form collapsed again, transforming into numerous bats scattering in all directions.

Before the bats even had time to take flight, their shadows projected on the ground suddenly burst forth, turning into sharp black spikes that lunged upwards, impaling all the bat bodies.

"Huh?" Mia was surprised for a moment. Peggy seemed to fall for the trap too easily, didn’t she?

No, that couldn’t be right!

She quickly retreated and then saw the carcasses of bats on the black spikes suddenly explode, turning into filthy blood that splattered everywhere.