After the public enemy and the troublemaker left the stage, the scene of the duel entered a white-hot phase. Because the remaining players had some mutual restraining relationships, they could fight to a stalemate.
First, Bucky's high-frequency attack suppresses Greed's channeling skills. This kind of all-out bombardment makes it impossible for Greed to stand still and channel. Similarly, for Pikachu, it also forces him to lose a good output position, having to run himself ragged.
However, Steve also summoned the mecha, the one Stark had previously fixed. Stark isn't very good at controlling a cyborg's body, but he can control the mecha, and the mecha can help him filter excessive information, bringing him back to his area of expertise.
And Steve knows Bucky too well. As soon as Bucky raises his hand, Steve knows where he wants to shoot. Constantly throwing out shields to interfere, Bucky doesn't have the space to output.
However, because Steve's physical defense is strong, he lacks mental defense, and after Gray mist executes a special move, it can reduce the blue bar with indiscriminate mental strikes. They are wary and need to stop to use supplies.
In short, the perfect cycle was formed among these people, where no one could kill each other, but anyone could kill at any moment. So the situation eventually turned into a battle of attrition. Whoever had more supplies could stand longer.
Pikachu was the first to not hold up. They didn't have escape skills, didn't search extensively enough, and hadn't boarded the spaceship to fetch a lot of supplies, so consumables like bandages ran out quickly.
"No, I'm nearly out of health," Pikachu said, taking a deep breath, "I can still use 100,000 volts once more, at least take someone down with me."
"Steve's definitely not an option, he has a shield, you can't take him out in one hit. Attacking Doctor Shiller is relatively easier, but he still has health and a lot of items. If you don't kill him, his health will quickly recover. Seems like using it on Winter Soldier is the best option."
"Alright, I'll try." Pikachu took a deep breath. First, he curled his body up, trying to minimize his presence. Being small has its benefits, as Pikachu is only knee-high to anyone, and with spaceship wreckage everywhere, he quickly darted to Bucky's side.
Bucky was busy dealing with Steve and didn't notice his presence. Pikachu leapt out from cover, dashed over with a shout, "100,000 volts!!!"
A thick bolt of lightning struck directly at Bucky's face. Bucky sighed helplessly. He had noticed Pikachu, but was unable to deal with him. If he went to attack Pikachu, Steve would surely attack him. Either way, he would die, might as well take someone with him.
Because many of Bucky's attacks were area attacks, they were hard to dodge. Everyone on the field had a bit of poison on them. Bucky hugged Pikachu, completely draining the remaining bit of Pikachu's health. Both of them turned into white light, entering the rap battle phase.
Of course, during their verbal duel, it was Pikachu and Natasha dishing out damage, while the other two tried to mediate. Pikachu's rapping skills were as great as ever, Natasha couldn't outargue him in English, so she switched to Russian, but Pikachu didn't understand, thus Bucky stood between them translating. The result was pleasing neither party and getting showered with saliva from both sides.
And now, only Greed and Steve were left in the arena. Stark pressed a button on the mecha and shouted, "This time I'm sure to win!!!"
The gigantic mecha took off and smashed towards Greed. He immediately dissipated into gray mist, appearing to evade the attack, but actually still losing health. Then it was a chase, with the mecha on the attack and Greed on the run.
"You have to admit, putting on an iron shell really gives you a sense of security," Steve said, "I'd even dare hit Shiller now."
Stark rolled his eyes and said, "Don't you think there's something off about operating a mecha to throw a shield?"
"What's off? I think you should also get a shield to use as a long-range weapon with the mecha; it's much more useful than cannons."
"Hmph." Stark snorted coldly. It's not that he didn't want to use it; it's that he couldn't! Although he's a maestro with the mecha, even without it, he wouldn't know how to throw a shield. Throwing it requires extremely professional skills, not just brute force.
If anyone could casually throw a shield far and accurately, everyone would be an Olympic discus champion. It looks simple but is actually complex, and with Steve using this thing as a weapon, it can only be said it's his innate talent. Those who lack such special talents should stick with guns.
"What do we do? It seems like we can't catch up with him," Steve said, "at this rate, it's not going to work."
"So what? It's not like we can't afford it."
"I suspect they have a lot of supplies," Steve said, "They entered the spaceship and probably looted quite a bit. Plus, you know Doctor Shiller's luck, he might not find good stuff, but he'll certainly find a pile of junk. I reckon he's loaded with bandages and hot soup..."
"How did I forget this," Stark couldn't help but want to smack his forehead, "I didn't expect that in the final showdown, this pile of junk would really come in handy."
They did search for supplies, but relatively less, and later, as parts piled up, they discarded some items taking up slots, which led to insufficient endurance now.
And Greed's strategy of attacking while retreating was mainly to drag out skill cooldowns. Gray mist's ultimate move reduces everyone's blue bar, but such a powerful skill surely has cooldown. Even with reduced cooldowns now, there's still a waiting period to use it again. So, even getting hit and losing health, he still runs. After all, with plenty of supplies, he can drag others to death.
As they ran, the skill was available again. The gray mist unleashed another big move, depleting 60% of Steve's blue bar, leaving only a sliver.
Steve had to stop for supplies. But as soon as he stopped, Greed was chanting. Though it couldn't stack many layers in such a short time, every additional layer increased the chance of failure.
Sure enough, after being afflicted with an abnormal status, Steve's attack accuracy significantly decreased. Chasing Greed while attacking resulted in almost no damage to the opponent. Meanwhile, the opponent could unleash a big move periodically, leaving him with no blood. When he stopped to heal, more abnormal states were inflicted on him, making Stark exclaim in frustration.
"Shiller!! You damn bastard!!! Can't you duel fairly?!!"
"Watch your language," Steve sighed, "Besides, you keep repeating the same few words and can't outcurse him, so why bother?"
"I am dueling you fairly!" Greed shouted back while running, "If I wanted to play dirty, I could record your game screen and send it to Little Morgan!"
Stark was instantly flustered, swallowing back the curse that almost escaped his lips. Steve tried to comfort him, saying, "It's okay, even if we lose, we're still the runners-up. That's not embarrassing."
Stark was even more enraged.
"Can't you have some ambition?!" Stark said, "No one remembers the runner-up! Little Morgan should have a champion father!"
"Alright, then let's..."
At that moment, the abnormal mental status over their heads had already transformed into a distress state, and Greed directly settled it, depleting their health bars to the bottom and unleashing a long-impending big move. Steve couldn't use any consumables in time; both red and blue bars hit rock bottom, and he left the battlefield as a beam of white light.
"Phew, finally won." Greed and the gray mist cheered.
They thought they would soon be transported away, but unexpectedly, no victory prompt sounded. Instead, a multitude of soul forms floated in mid-air.
"Congratulations! You've achieved victory in the 'New Earth-Snowfield' hero attack duel mode. Next, prepare for the final duel arena, where you'll face winners from the 'Rainforest', 'Forest', 'Deep Sea', 'Desert', and 'Moon'. Get ready, transmission will commence shortly..."
"What the heck?!!" Greed shouted, "Weren't we supposed to win? Why is there more?!"
The smiles didn't fade; they merely shifted. Now it was the floating souls in mid-air who erupted in laughter.
"Hahaha, I knew it wouldn't be this simple!" Stark laughed the hardest, saying, "No wonder this competition is held on New Earth, so many people were competing with us."
"This event just started and will have many participants matching. The victor who can defeat everyone in that region must be strong," Bucky said, "I wonder if the Doctor can beat them."
"I doubt it. His skill set has significant flaws and he hasn't found a good exclusive equipment. Oh wait, didn't he have anti-armor before? What happened to it?" Natasha wondered aloud.
Everyone's eyes turned to Selina. By now, everyone was familiar with each other's skills, and they all knew where the missing items had gone.
Selina stuck out her tongue and said, "I had no idea there'd be a final duel. Besides, if I hadn't stolen that thing, our entire region might have been wiped out."
One had to acknowledge she had a point; that anti-armor was indeed tricky. With anti-armor out, everyone took equal damage, and no one would escape; the final result might be everyone's demise together.
"Can I return this thing to him?" Selina pondered aloud, "It's not just for fun, but I also think Shiller's skill set is a bit weak and needs this equipment."
Unfortunately, Greed had already disappeared into the light of transmission, and all the souls were simultaneously transported to the seats in the dueling field. They re-acquired solid form but couldn't leave their seats.
The dueling field resembled the Ancient Roman Colosseum, only with more of a sci-fi flair. The circular seats floated in mid-air, filled with spectators, many of whom didn't look like contestants and possibly just bought tickets. Familiar faces could be spotted, like Batman, along with some unfamiliar ones who appeared to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Above the dueling field, a small floating island hovered. The Transcendent stood on the island, a beam of light shining down on his head. He raised his microphone and shouted:
"Welcome to the Hero Attack—Final Duel!!!"