Chapter 1158: Pincer
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Hundred Blossoms's negligence had only been for an instant. With the continuous pointless harassment from Goblins, a sudden accurate attack made every Hundred Blossoms player instinctively take a look in that direction. It was simply human nature.
However, this human nature became an opening in this battle. Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, Qiao Yifan, and An Wenyi, who had circled around behind them, started their assault.
Qiao Yifan first laid down his ghost boundary.
Sword Boundary increased both Intelligence and Strength. It was an extremely powerful supportive buff for any class. Dancing Rain, Boundless Sea, and Little Cold Hands were already standing inside this Sword Boundary's range. Dancing Rain, who had the longest range out of them, was the first to initiate the fight. Of Hundred Blossoms's five characters, four of them were completely exposed to her. A huge opening in their rear had appeared.
Heat-Seeking Missile!
A target landed where Dancing Rain pointed her finger, and a missile flew towards this target in an arc. Right when Hundred Blossoms's players turned back around, they suddenly saw four Happy players pop up out of nowhere. As they turned pale with fright, the Heat-Seeking Missile descended from the sky and crashed into the target. A mini-mushroom cloud erupted in the middle of three of Hundred Blossoms's players. It didn't directly hit any of them, but the shockwaves from the explosion was enough to make them suffer. The three affected players dodged, disrupting the carefully arranged ambush formation set up by Team Hundred Blossoms.
Bang! Bang!
Two consecutive gunshots rang. As Team Hundred Blossoms's ranged attacker, Zou Yuan's Bright Blossoms counterattacked. On Happy's side, Boundless Sea's two hands formed a circle and then pushed out. A net of light instantly enveloped the four Happy players in the rear. It was the Qi Master's defensive skill, Qi Guard, which absorbed all damage for its duration.
Qi Guard lasted 30 seconds, but with enough damage, the QI Guard could be broken ahead of time. It was similar to a summon. Qi Guard had its own health too.
But at the moment, only Bright Blossoms's attacks could reach them. A single character's DPS wouldn't be able to break through Qi Guard so easily.
The others in Hundred Blossoms started counterattacking too. Several summoning circles flashed, and Zhu Xiaoping summoned several creatures, which rushed out as their shields. But on Happy's side, One Inch Ash flicked his blade and laid down an Ice Boundary, which restricted the movements and lowered the defense of any enemies within it. Launcher and Qi Master came out and started throwing out AoE attacks, instantly decimating the summons and rampaging onwards towards Hundred Blossoms.
Ghostblade, Launcher, Qi Master.
These three classes had powerful AoE abilities. In this narrow stone forest, their attacks covered the entire area. Happy's ambush from behind had come with ample preparation, methodically utilizing the terrain. It was absolutely the result of professional practice.
Hundred Blossoms was caught off guard and hastily made adjustments. Trying to break through Happy's firepower directly would cost them too much. Zhou Guangyi's gaze finally landed on the sides of the stone forest. There were no lack of footholds on these stones. With the Assassin's Air Leap, he could hop over and open up the situation with an ambush.
As soon as he thought of this, Zhou Guangyi immediately had Cold Seasons jump over. Teammates had their own tacit understanding with each other. They didn't need to communicate every single of their actions. The others noticed Cold Seasons's movements and understood Zhou Guangyi's intentions. They started a full-front assault to break through in coordination with Zhou Guangyi.
Right when Cold Seasons jumped towards the first foothold, Zhou Guangyi saw Blossoming Chaos type in chat: "Careful!!"
Who are you talking to?
A thread of doubt flashed through Zhou Guangyi's mind. He looked downwards. It didn't like any of the others had encountered any dangers! Just at this moment, a cold light silently slit across Cold Season's throat. Blood splattered into the air and rained down.
Cut Throat!
How could Zhou Guangyi not recognize this Assassin skill? It wasn't until now did he realize that Yu Feng had been warning him. The only one who could have executed this move was Lord Grim. He was able to silently approach me from behind and complete a Cut Throat?
In this instant, Zhou Guangyi really felt like his throat had been slit. After being hit by this attack, Cold Seasons had been stopped mid-jump. However, the attacks weren't over yet. Lord Grim didn't wait for him to turn around. Lord Grim used Eagle Stamp, stepping on Cold Seasons as the two fell towards the ground.
Yu Feng's Berserker Blossoming Chaos was on the ground waiting. Observing how the two would land, he flew out with a Collapsing Mountain.
Lord Grim wasn't greedy. As soon as he saw Blossoming Chaos leaping towards him, he utilized Eagle Stamp's momentum to shoot backwards, allowing him to just narrowly dodge Blossoming Chaos's blade.
The others in Hundred Blossoms provided ample support. Bright Blossoms fired several shots in the air. Wind Carving summoned several more creatures and commanded them to surround where Lord Grim would land. Their Cleric Arrogant Flowers casted a Sacred Fire in the air for Lord Grim to run into.
Then, they saw Lord Grim pull out his sword and release a Falling Light Blade. He switched directions in mid-air, evading Bright Blossoms's gunshots and Arrogant Flowers's Sacred Fire. His sword returned to the sheath, and his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella opened up. It didn't turn into a spear or a shield. The front umbrella ribs bunched together and formed an arc, transforming into an Exorcist's sickle. This sickle swung in a circle, and a blue light floated into the air, surrounding Wind Carving's summons.
Rising Emblem!
Lord Grim safely landed on the ground, while the summons were sent into the air. Hundred Blossoms's players were dumbstruck. This string of different skills had been performed with such freedom and ease. When had they ever seen such a thing before? Even if they had seen an unspecialized before, without the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, it was impossible to complete such a fluid chain of skills.
The crowd exploded with excitement at this combo. All sorts of cheers and shrieks clamored in the venue. But for Hundred Blossoms, failing to block Lord Grim was secondary. In order to intercept Lord Grim, their formation had been messed up again. On the other end, the other four Happy players broke through an opening and their AoE attacks swallowed up Zou Yuan's and Mo Chuchen's two characters.
Being pincered like this was no good, but which way should they break out?
As the captain, Yu Feng realized that he wasn't able to come to a firm decision. To their rear, the four from Happy had heavy firepower. Breaking through the rear would result in heavy losses. But to their front, Ye Xiu's unspecialized was all sorts of weird. Even if they had the numbers advantage, he felt like they would be unable to break free from him. That would allow the four from the rear to approach them and provide support for Lord Grim, leaving Hundred Blossoms with even less room to maneuver.
Yu Feng was hesitating. On the other hand, after Zhou Guangyi's Cold Seasons landed back on the ground and rolled, he directly sliced towards Lord Grim with a Shining Cut.
As a player from Tyranny, his enmity towards Ye Xiu was especially natural. What's more, he was the successor to Cold Seasons, which had once instant killed Ye Xiu with one strike. He had also been Cut Throat by Ye Xiu as an Assassin.
New enmity and old enmity formed a never ending circle. His side had four people and the other side had one, it was simple math. As a result, Zhou Guangyi didn't hesitate to charge at Lord Grim.
I guess that's what we're doing...
Yu Feng saw Zhou Guangyi make his move already, so he stopped hesitating. Blossoming Chaos immediately opened the way with a Triple Slash and slashed towards Lord Grim. The two characters arrived at the same time, instantly forming a pincer onto Lord Grim. Lord Grim didn't seem to be in a fluster though. He fished out something from his umbrella and threw it down towards the ground.
Boom!
Purple smoke spread through the air. Lord Grim had thrown a Ninja tool, Smoke Bomb.
Under the cover of the purple smoke, Yu Feng and Zhou Guangyi weren't able to find Lord Grim's whereabouts. The two could only have their characters wave their weapons and hope to hit him. Then, a dark shadow flew out from the purple smoke. The two didn't notice it due to the purple smoke. Blossoming Chaos and Cold Seasons were suddenly wrapped around by the dark shadow. The dark shadow retracted and the two characters were bound together.
Witch skill: Night Cloak.
Afterwards, a hand extended out from the purple smoke and slammed into the two of them. With a bang, Falling Flower Palm sent the two flying away back to the AoE bombardment from the other four Happy players.
At the rear, Zou Yuan and Mo Chuchen were finally able to escape from the bombardment with the help of Zhu Xiaoping's summons, but then they saw Lord Grim slap their two teammates back to them. They couldn't break through from this side, and they couldn't break through from that side either. Hundred Blossoms was suddenly in chaos. Everyone was thinking of what they should do.
Flash Bullet, Smoke Bullet!
Zou Yuan stood out. His Bright Blossoms threw two grenades and then let out a flurry of skills. Light layered on top of each other, producing Zhang Jiale's famous Hundred Blossoms style. He planned on using this light cover to let the team escape.
This sort of strategy was no stranger to Hundred Blossoms. Even if Yu Feng and Zhou Guangyi hadn't come from Hundred Blossoms and had only been with the team for a year, when they first arrived, they had started by adapting to the core playstyle. It was only after they started gradually adjusting to their personal styles and strengths did they stop copying these former strategies.
And now, Zou Yuan had come out with Hundred Blossom's signature style. The team disappeared within the light. Seizing the opportunity provided by Flash Bullet and Smoke Bullet, they pounced towards the entrance guarded by the lone Lord Grim and got out smoothly.
This scene gave all sorts of mixed feelings towards the Hundred Blossoms viewers.
What did this Hundred Blossoms Style mean to Team Hundred Blossoms? The fans had originally thought that the team had turned a new page, but in this crucial moment, this disdained Hundred Blossoms style left behind by Zhang Jiale had helped them win a chance to turn this battle around.
The fans of Hundred Blossoms felt a mix of emotions well up in their hearts. However, the players on stage didn't have time to think about all that. They had broken out, but Happy was chasing after them. Su Mucheng's Launcher and Ye Xiu's unspecialized had extremely long-ranged attacks. The Qi Master's Cloud Grasping Fist and the Ghostblade's ghost boundaries could force them to stay if they weren't careful.
The battle wasn't over yet. It was just a new situation laid out in front of them now.
Chapter 1159: What Shouldn't Be Here
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
By getting out of Happy's pincer attack, Hundred Blossoms had escaped from their biggest crisis. Even though they were running away, they weren't rushed or muddled, and their speed wasn't that fast either. They had no intentions of completely shrugging off Happy.
Team Hundred Blossoms clearly had a plan in mind.
In their team's class composition, Yu Feng's Berserker and Zhou Guangyi's Assassin were close-ranged combatants. As for Happy? Their unspecialized, Launcher, and Qi Master had mid-ranged and long-ranged capabilities. Ghostblades had a slightly shorter range, but Ghostblades still had superior range compared to Berserkers and Assassins. Ghost boundaries could be placed up to 13 units away.
If Hundred Blossoms insisted on breaking away from Happy, they would suffer quite a few losses even if they succeeded. After breaking away, if Yu Feng and Zhou Guangyi wanted to go on the offensive, breaking through the enemy side's long-ranged blockade would be an issue.
However, since they had just gotten out of the pincer, the distance between the two sides wasn't too far, so their Berserker and Assassin could quickly become threats if needed.
Team Hundred Blossoms looked to be running away, but in actuality, they were waiting.
They were adjusting their formation and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.
Everyone was focused, waiting for that moment to appear.
It's here!
With a glance at their surroundings, everyone in Hundred Blossoms immediately became understood that their opportunity had arrived.
"Turn!" Yu Feng didn't miss this timing and gave out an order in the chat. Zou Yuan's Bright Blossoms was the first to turn. His gunfire poured down onto Happy. Mo Chuchen's Cleric, Arrogant Flowers, rolled behind an enormous rock to the side and readied himself to provide healing and support to his team. Zhu Xiaoping's Wind Carving stood behind Bright Blossoms. He summoned an Undead Knight as a shield for them and followed with a Demon World Flower.
Yu Feng and Zhou Guangyi, the two close-combat classes, needed to utilize the cover from their allies to enter the enemy ranks.
Blossoming Chaos and Cold Seasons, one on the left, the other on the right, a Triple Slash, a Shining Cut, to rapidly dash forward. However, they were met with two rays of light. One from a Launcher's Laser Beam, the other from a Qi Master's Sky-Piercing Strike, one on the left, the other on the right, to welcome these two.
The two were startled. Triple Slash could at least switch directions. Blossoming Chaos immediately slashed again to the side, letting him just narrowly dodge the Laser Beam. Cold Seasons, on the other hand, was out of luck. Shining Cut could not turn midway through. Forcefully cancelling it and then moving wasn't as fast as Triple Slash, which let the user turn as a built-in ability. Sky-Piercing Strike connected squarely with Cold Seasons, creating a huge qi wave. Shining Cut didn't need to be forcefully cancelled as it was interrupted. Cold Seasons was thrown into the Broken River. There was no way to Quick Recover on the water, so Cold Seasons dropped in with a splash.
Bright Blossom's attacks failed to make enough of a disturbance?
Lord Grim's huge umbrella, which was far larger than a normal shield, gave them their answer. It didn't need to be open for long. It just needed to shield at the crucial moment to allow Dancing Rain and Boundless Sea to get their skills off in time.
Everyone in Hundred Blossoms was depressed.
Using a shield to provide cover? It was such an ordinary tactic, but unfortunately, they neglected it because the other team didn't have a Knight. Even though they had studied Lord Grim's unspecialized, without practical experience fighting against him, it was hard to fully bring what was in their mind into reality. In that quick change of pace, they had overlooked this point. But by the time they realized it, the error had been made. Bright Blossom's attacks were ineffective, thus, the assault by Yu Feng and Zhou Guangyi was completely countered.
Zhou Guangyi's Cold Seasons was thrown into the river, and so there was no need to talk about the completeness of Hundred Blossom's offensive right now. Zhu Xiaoping immediately had his Undead Knight push forward to be a shield for them, when everyone suddenly noticed something from the corner of their eyes. They took a glance and saw a Satellite Beam descending from the sky, directly towards Arrogant Flower, who was hiding behind a rock. Arrogant Flower staggered out; half of his body had been burnt black.
A mess! It's a complete mess!
They hadn't noticed Dancing Rain's attack at all. Lord Grim's umbrella was just that big. It had completely blocked their line of sight towards Dancing Rain.
Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash also leaped out at this moment. A ghostly light dropped from the tip of his sword, and an Ice Boundary formed. The edge of it just happened to sweep past the Demon World Flower. The Demon World Flower was incapable of moving, so it could only take on the persistent damage from Ice Boundary. Not long afterwards, it was frozen into an ice cube. Suddenly, Lord Grim charged out! In the previous second, he had been holding his shield up. In the next second, he became a close-combat attacker that Happy didn't originally have.
Dragon Tooth, Falling Flower Palm!
The Battle Mage two-hit combo landed on the Undead Knight. The Undead Knight was naturally hardy though. A Dragon Breaks the Ranks only made it slide back. The stun and knockback effect from these two low-level skills were simply unable to move it. However, Lord Grim closed in another step and wrapped his arms around it, lifting the heavy Undead Knight into the air.
There were situations where a Grappler's grab failed, but the Undead Knight was not one of them. With a Back Throw, the Undead Knight slammed into the ground. The instant that heavy body hit the ground, a loud sound boomed. The resulting shockwave was twice as large as a normal target, and it just happened to reach the frozen Demon World Flower, instantly shattering it.
Lord Grim charged forward again. Yu Feng's Blossoming Chaos moved forward to block him, but Dancing Rain's support immediately arrived. After Ye Xiu changed classes, the synergy between the Best Partners hadn't lessened. Yu Feng also had teammates, but the level of coordination between them couldn't compared to that between Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng. When they tried to help, it felt like they couldn't keep up with the pace.
I can't rely on other people helping. I'm the core of the team!
Yu Feng was unwilling to back down. Blossoming Chaos's two eyes suddenly turned scarlet-red. Despite being under the enemy's suppression, he activated Berserk to forcefully make a counterattack!
Soul-Devouring Crimson Grip!
After activating Berserk, Blossoming Chaos's speed increased dramatically. His left hand grabbed towards Lord Grim. But as soon as his hand touched, Lord Grim was unable to endure this grab and poofed into smoke.
Shadow Clone Technique?!
Even though Shadow Clone Technique was a low-level skill and had a quick hand seal, a hand seal still had to be formed. When did Ye Xiu form it? Yu Feng discovered that he didn't know.
Where did Lord Grim go?
Yu Feng immediately had Blossoming Chaos turn around. He saw Lord Grim's true body run towards Wind Carving and use his close-combat capabilities to bully the weak Summoner.
Blossoming Chaos immediately raised his sword and was about to rush over, when a force suddenly pulled at him from behind. His body involuntarily flew backwards.
Fuck!
Yu Feng cursed inwardly. At the same time, he saw Ye Xiu's Lord Grim turn around decisively, leaving Bright Blossoms's explosive attacks behind him.
Cloud Grasping Fist!
Yu Feng didn't need to turn around to know that this was Fang Rui's doing.
What just happened?
In the previous second, he was struggling to break the suppression from Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng. But by the time he acted, Ye Xiu suddenly switched targets to their Summoner. As a result, Yu Feng reacted instantly by chasing after him, but then, Fang Rui sneakily made his move, pulling Hundred Blossoms's core into their ranks.
After being pulled into the enemy ranks, what would the result be? Every pro player knew all too well. They would become the target of their attacks. That was the only possibility.
In front of Boundless Sea, Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash had stacked up several ghost boundaries, ones that lowered enemy defenses, ones that dealt damage, one that buffed allies. The instant Blossoming Chaos landed, before he could even turn around, Boundless Sea jabbed at him with his finger and then with another finger. It was the Qi Master's Level 75 skill, Pulse Break: Break Intelligence, Break Strength. At the same time, Little Cold Hand's Holy Commandment landed, immersing him inside its light...
That wasn't all. Blossoming Chaos was still inside his Berserk mode. His defenses were already drastically weakened.
The rest of Hundred Blossoms obviously wasn't going to just sit there and watch. Cold Seasons had just gotten out of he water and went to rescue Blossoming Chaos, disregarding everything else. A boom sounded. Zhou Guangyi, who had been solely focused on rescuing, didn't notice Dancing Rain's cannon pointing at him. She predicted his movements and shot a missile towards him. Splash! Cold Seasons fell into the water again.
As for Bright Blossoms's gunfire and Wind Carving's summons, Happy completely ignored them.
Kill!
The debuffs and buffs from the ghost boundaries, the Qi Master's Pulse Break, the Cleric's Holy Commandment, and Blossoming Chaos's own Berserk piled on top of each other. Finally, Happy's frenzy of attacks arrived.
Blossoming Chaos, Team Hundred Blossom's core, the former number one Berserker that had become number one again after Yu Feng inherited it, was instantly killed.
Nothing could be worse for Hundred Blossoms than their core character meeting its end and in such a short instant too.
Blossoming Chaos was already gone from the shores of Broken River. For that instant kill, Happy had attacked with everything they had, leaving the ground full of scars.
"Attack!!!" Yu Feng was no longer there. Thus, as the vice-captain, Zou Yuan immediately took lead. He could see that even though Happy's wave of attacks had killed Blossoming Chaos, they had messed up their rhythm to achieve it. Nearly all of them had used high-level skills and were in the middle of their ending animation. It was an opportunity for Hundred Blossoms to stage a counterattack.
After giving out the order, Bright Blossoms stepped forward.
Bang bang bang bang bang....
The noise wasn't from gunfire, but the crisp sounds of ice colliding. Bright Blossoms, WInd Carving, and Arrogant Flower had frozen into ice, immovable blocks of ice.
There was only one skill that had 100% chance of instantly freezing the targets hit.
The Elementalist's Ice Line!
A skill, which wasn't in accordance with the present class compositions, had appeared. It had been cast without any of them knowing either. As a result, as soon as the three moved, they immediately went into contact with Ice Line and instantly became frozen.