These tentacles were originally transformed from Wicked Woman’s hair, naturally not a vital weakness.
The reason for savagely slashing these tentacles is because Dox found that every time a tentacle was severed, Wicked Woman would emit an extremely painful scream.
At the same time, Wicked Woman would be forced to retreat several steps.
Dox doesn’t know why cutting the tentacles causes such damage to Wicked Woman, perhaps it’s because... women care deeply about their hair?
Anyhow, as long as a way to push Wicked Woman back is found, that’s good.
Now the wicked woman can’t curse him, her body has become incredibly heavy, and even her thoughts are starting to become unclear. The simplest way to win is to push the wicked woman out of the arena to secure victory.
That’s right, Dox didn’t choose to fight to the death; he opted for victory at the least cost.
Dox really wanted to kill the wicked woman completely. This woman, who turned herself into something like a deep-sea creature, is ruthless and decisive, and her words indicate that she is also narrow-minded. If not eliminated, she will definitely be a future threat.
But even so, Dox still didn’t plan to fight to the death with the wicked woman.
He also understood clearly that trying to completely judge the wicked woman in the field would likely result in heavy injury to himself. It’s like a desperate fight, the wicked woman is barely rational, fighting purely on instinct, and the arena is only so large. If Dox wants to fight and kill her, he has to confront her head-on.
Confronting a wicked woman turned into a war machine, he cannot do so unscathed.
Once Dox is severely injured, even if he gets Restoration from the Sunlight Sanctuary, according to Angel, the effect of the Sunlight Sanctuary will be greatly reduced. By that time, trying to "sell" experience tickets would surely be undervalued.
So, even for his own "benefit," Dox can’t let himself get injured this time. Victory is enough, everything else, be it endless floods or future troubles, can be set aside.
Of course, aside from this reason, Dox also intended to reciprocate. Earlier, he sensed that the wicked woman’s ten blood spears did not target vital spots, meaning she had intentions to spare him. Since that’s the case, Dox also uses this method to reciprocate now.
However, if Vay heard this reasoning, he would likely say: this is just Dox’s self-consolation for not being able to kill the wicked woman.
Based on Vay’s understanding of Dox, the truth doesn’t deviate far from this.
...
Every severed tentacle incited a heartrending scream from the wicked woman.
The wicked woman’s agony further drove her insane; this madness, while enhancing physical toughness and strength, made her thought process even simpler and stupider.
If the wicked woman faced an opponent who fought aggressively, she might have already turned the opponent into mincemeat with her continually augmenting strength. But Dox never confronted the wicked woman directly, always dodging and seizing opportunities.
The wicked woman’s hair was abundant, and the tentacles they morphed into danced in the air, so Dox didn’t worry about how to slash or which one to cut.
As long as the sword could pierce through, he could slash freely.
The wicked woman continuously grew larger and more ferocious, yet she couldn’t do anything against him. One by one, the tentacles were severed, and the arena was filled with withered tentacles and thick, dark blood.
In the subsequent few minutes, all the spectators heard incessant screams from the arena.
Such piercing sorrow would move even the cold-hearted.
Seeing this, even Vay couldn’t help but say: "Dox is really merciless, why not just kill her with a single sword instead of tormenting the opponent like this? Was he hurt by Yuna so deeply that he has become so perverse towards women?"
Vay’s ridicule carried no restraint, directly reaching Dox’s ears.
Right now, Dox only needed to dodge and hack, effortlessly slashing tentacles, allowing him leisure to retort Vay’s ridicule: "You call this a woman? Well, I wish all the women you find in the future are like this!"
Dox’s words didn’t affect Vay but severely hit the meager intelligence left in the wicked woman.
She became even larger and more brutal.
Yet that only favored Dox. Previously, after her tentacles were slashed, the wicked woman occasionally moved side to side; now with her complete lack of intelligence, each severed tentacle made her continuously retreat.
Not just Vay got tired of listening; in truth, Dox was also sick of the wicked woman’s constant screaming. Fortunately, she was already near the edge of the arena.
On the other side, Finmore and others couldn’t bear hearing the wicked woman’s screams either. But they understood now, Vay chose not to kill the wicked woman but to push her out of the arena to win through arena rules.
This realization, though they couldn’t bear it, somewhat relieved them.
"Looks like what the White Trader said was right." The Shepherd resumed his lazy demeanor, somehow summoning a black-faced sheep, leaning back against its soft, woolly body, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Everyone understood what the Shepherd meant; before leaving with the Black Dealer, the White Trader mentioned trying to resolve issues with the intruders through communication as all signs indicated they had no malice and left some messages that potentially carried goodwill.
No one responded, they knew in their hearts that the White Trader might be right, but sometimes circumstances were beyond control.
The Shepherd chuckled, disregarding the silent air around him, patted the black-faced sheep beside him, then laid his head back and closed his eyes: "I’m going to rest for a while; there are still battles ahead."
Finmore looked at the Shepherd who dozed off in seconds, muttering softly: "You just want to sleep, don’t you?"
The Shepherd made no more sound; the black-faced sheep curled up, accompanying the Shepherd as he quietly slept.
While the Shepherd entered a deep sleep, the black-robed referee announced the end of the match with a chime from above.
As expected, the wicked woman, who lost her sanity, was forced out of the arena by Dox.
Once out of the arena, the magical creatures in the Void began to seethe, rushing towards the wicked woman.
Simultaneously, the figure of the Gray Trader vanished from the arena.
When he appeared again, he was already blocking the wicked woman’s path.
The energy aura created by the numerous Void magical creatures was terrifying, even stirring up a long gust of wind.
The Gray Trader’s clothes flapped in the wind, and the mask on his face rustled.
Facing the terrifying energy storm, the Gray Trader did not flinch, bending slightly, slowly drawing a purple long knife covered with a multitude of crystals from his waist.
He swung the blade, forming a crescent shape.
This resplendent crescent, carrying unparalleled sharp energy, swept into the energy storm.
When the energy storm created by the Void magical creatures contacted the crescent, a violent explosion occurred.
The explosion even impacted the edge of the arena, causing cracks in the solid ground.
"Damaging the arena requires compensation according to the rules."
The voice of the Wise Sovereign was swallowed by the explosion, but the Gray Trader heard it, lifted his head towards the Wise Sovereign, and nodded gently, mouthing "understood."
Then, taking advantage of the explosion’s energy shockwave, the Gray Trader dragged the bewildered wicked woman, bouncing her back onto the arena.
This action by the Gray Trader evidently angered the magical creatures in the Void, causing them to roar in fury, with some even trying to breach the arena.
However, with a cold snort from the Wise Sovereign, the magical creatures fell silent as if electrocuted.
Then, the Wise Sovereign made another declaration, this time not just with a chime but solemnly stated:
"The battle is over!"