Chapter 1200: Death’s Door Opens Wide
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Shadow Flames dealt primarily dark element damage, with supporting fire element damage. However, no one would focus on the damage for Warlock skills. The control skills, and status effects inflicted by Warlocks were the most uncomfortable to deal with.
Shadow Flames was no different. Apart from the first wave of health this skill seared off, it would inflict a six second long Flames effect, a damaging status that did damage every two seconds. This status damage also interrupted chants. The Wave Swords of Spellblades were instant, but Wave Formations were chanted. With Shadow Flames, a Spellblade's rhythm would be heavily disrupted.
But when was this Shadow Flame unleashed?
Everyone was so focused on Halis' Wave Swords and Wave Formations that no one ever noticed.
Xiang Yuanwei was also shocked, suddenly afraid of being too reckless. But if he didn't charge, Wei Chen wouldn't let this chance go. An explosion of Curse Arrows shot out from the flower bush, clearly having been charged for a long time.
Shadow Flame didn't affect the character's movement, so Xiang Yuanwei hurriedly had Halis dodge, hoping to throw his own attack back as he did, but that was when he realized that, out of all the instant cast Wave Swords, only Waltzing Wave Sword was available.
Waltzing Wave Sword, as the name implied, didn't strike in a straight line. In a team competition, it could often create unexpected effects, but right now it was a 1v1 fight with just a single target. No matter what arc the attack made, the destination was the same. Apart from being able to use it to ambush others in specific situations, Waltzing Wave Sword would just be giving the opponent ample time to dodge when fighting face to face.
However, apart from this Sword, the other Wave Sword skills were all in cooldown.
Xiang Yuanwei immediately realized that he had most likely fell into a rather terrifying trap. His Wave Sword skills were almost all on cooldown, and his Wave Formations were under restriction from Shadow Flames. These six seconds were purposefully created by his opponent, so how could the other let him go so easily?
Even as he struggled with himself for this split second, Waltzing Wave Sword was still sent out. With the attack, flowers and grass flew everywhere, and it left a clear arc across the ground. If you couldn't dodge that, then you really didn't have any right to stand on this stage. Xiang Yuanwei really had no choice. He didn't have the time to adjust himself, so he could only strike back like that to give his opponent a little pressure, even if it was miniscule.
And then, retreat...
Xiang Yuanwei hurriedly had Halis back away, wanting to get some distance. He knew that danger could come from anywhere around him. His opponent didn't just hide his character, but used such a simple action to lure him into action and strategically beat him down.
Sly old fox!
Xiang Yuanwei commented on Wei Chen as he had his character escape. Speaking of which, he had thought that his opponent would be Ye Xiu and his head was filled with the strange ever-changing style of the Unspecialized! Yet he had ended up meeting a Warlock, and an endlessly shameless Warlock, too.
Halis was continuously moving backwards and Xiang Yuanwei didn't dare have his character turn. He still had to keep an eye on what this shameless Warlock would do to try and disrupt him. Yet, what was most surprising, was that the other didn't do anything. The flora was completely silent, as if Windward Formation had suddenly disappeared.
What was this about?
After jumping back twice again, Xiang Yuanwei had Halis stop his retreat, confused.
The audience wanted to cry.
Xiang Yuanwei couldn't see what Windward Formation was doing in the bushes, but they could! Windward Formation, this shameless Warlock, was currently flat on the ground, charging up a spell. Players familiar with with Warlock class immediately recognized the endlessly gathering energy. Death's Door, this was the Warlock's level 70 ultimate, Death's Door!
Using the cover from the terrain as well as a psychological understanding of his opponent, Wei Chen fearlessly and directly started chanting a time and mana consuming skill, Death's Door.
"Attack already!!!"
Many members of the audience was already shouting desperately, even the members of Miracle, Xiang Yuanwei's teammates, had stood up, fists clenched.
However, Xiang Yuanwei had his Halis carefully, cautiously observe his surroundings as he inched forwards towards the bushes Windward Formation was hiding in, sword raised.
Caution was good, but caution at a time like this just made the audience so desperate they wanted to curse.
It was only until the bushes Windward Formation was hiding in were no longer sufficient to cover up the miasma gathering at the tip of Death's Hand that Xiang Yuanwei realized something was wrong. If he still didn't know what this was by then, then he couldn't be called a pro player at all.
Run?
Too late!
Death's Door had a very wide area of effect, in addition, Windward Formation was a Warlock with a terrifying attack range. This Death's Door wouldn't give him any chance to run.
He'd have to go for it!
Xiang Yuanwei was quick at coming to a decision. If he couldn't run, then he would advance and find a way to interrupt the skill. Death's Door was a skill that had to be maintained even after being activated. They could be interrupted any time from when they began chanting to the end of the skill.
GO!!!
The audience roared as one. They all felt that at this distance, with the Spellblade's attack range, there really wasn't anything to be afraid of.
Xiang Yuanwei thought the same.
Halis charged forwards, magic pulsing around his blade.
Attack!
The short sword swung out!
Boom!
A thunderous noise that seemed to pierce dimensions boomed.
A black, spinning door that led to another world rotated slowly, set up directly in front of Halis.
Holy crap!!
Countless audience members fell out of their seats.
This Death's Door was actually placed between the two.
This way, if Xiang Yuanwei had realized what was happening and turned to run like a noob, then he might really be able to run out of Death's Door's range.
However, he was a pro player, and his experience told him that running was impossible, so he tried to close in to interrupt and ran directly into the door of death.
The Death's Door was probably delighted and surprised. It probably never had such easy prey before in its life. Its miasma tentacles barely stretched out of the door and were already at Halis' shoulders.
Xiang Yuanwei didn't even have the time to attempt a dodge before he was caught by the tentacles of miasma. Then, he was easily pulled into the door.
Death's Door came quickly and left quickly, too. In a 1v1, Death's Door was primarily focused on damage. As for its control abilities, Warlocks had to continuously maintain Death's Door so even if they trapped their target, they couldn't send out other attacks.
However, Death's Door's attack, coming from another, demonic dimension, wasn't anything easy to deal with. Apart from the damage, the target would be thrown about and disoriented.
Chaotic Rain, Hexagram Prison, Grasping Phantoms...
Wei Chen very calmly, with a not all that fast hand speed, sent out the skills he had long since prepared one by one.
Halis was inflicted with countless negative status effects. He was sometimes confused, sometimes bound, sometimes controlled, sometimes imprisoned...
Wei Chen had a very good rhythm to his attacks. If a veteran like him couldn't even control his own rhythm, then there was no point in him continuing to fight on the pro scene. No matter how experienced, he wouldn't be able to utilize it.
Xiang Yuanwei refused to give up, but his struggles never managed to turn the tides. Halis still fell in the end.
Wei Chen won and Xiang Yuanwei left the stage, depressed.
His heart was filled with what ifs. If he did this… if he only did that...
However, there were no ifs in competition. These ifs could all be turned into experience and help the player grow.
Wei Chen was naturally delighted when he came back. He took the boos from the audience as cheers, walking as if he was ten years younger.
"What other result could you expect with me at the helm?" After returning to the bench, he accepted everyone's praises and complemented himself without any semblance of modesty.
"Amazing!" Ye Xiu didn't even send him one word of mockery.
"What's up today? How come you're being so nice to each other?" Chen Guo was surprised. It was downright unnatural that Ye Xiu and Wei Chen didn't mock each other.
"Hahaha…" Ye Xiu chucked, but didn't explain.
Hearing these praises, Wei Chen took his fill of boasting and, when he had enough, he shook his head. "I'm going to go to the bathroom."
"Hm?"
Gazing at his retreating form, everyone was stunned. Something like that was something everyone should've dealt with before the match! Only one individual battle had gone by, it hadn't been long.
"He… didn't win as easily as it might seem," Ye Xiu suddenly said.
"Ah?" Chen Guo was confused.
"He didn't say a single taunt for the entire match," Ye Xiu sighed.
Chen Guo continued to be stunned. Gazing at Wei Chen's retreating figure, Chen Guo felt as though she saw a well-hidden exhaustion in his form, despite the arrogance he had came off stage with.
As for over here...
"I'm going up, then!" Su Mucheng stood. She was the second player to go up on Happy's side.
"Good luck," everyone said.
"It's Su Mucheng." Over at Miracle, the unlucky three looked to their former teammate's name, flashing across the screen, and then saw Su Mucheng walk towards the stage.
"Leave it to me." Wang Ze seemed very confident. He had been arranged in the individual competition and had hoped to be set against Su Mucheng.
"Good luck, the time to prove yourself has come!" He Ming said to Wang Ze.
When Wang Ze was in Excellent Era, he couldn't count as a core player. Pros in his position all had the desire to prove themselves.
However, Excellent Era was no longer here, and he didn't have to fight for his position in the team anymore. Instead, he had to prove himself to the entire pro circle. The All-Star level ex-teammate of his, Su Mucheng, was the best opponent he could ask for.
It was because this sort of clash gave people something to talk about and was very eye-catching.
"I have an ace up my sleeve!" Wang Ze went up, full of confidence.
Chapter 1201: An Ace That Isn’t Cool at All
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Wang Ze hadn't been a senior player during his time at Excellent Era. When Ye Xiu was still there, he had been a rookie, appearing a few times as a sub starting season 8, before following Excellent Era to relegations.
Team Excellent Era's players were rather sought after, but at that time, the relegated Excellent Era hadn't given up yet. Drawing in Thunderclap's Xiao Shiqin steadied their hearts, and as a result, the vast majority of Team Excellent Era's players chose to stay.
Wang Ze was one of them. However, unlike his other teammates who had the choice to accept an invite or stay with the team, he had no choices because no one had showed any interest in him.
To Wang Ze, this was a slap to his face. Even though he didn't feel like he was particularly amazing, he still had confidence in his own skill, yet no one was interested in him?
Wang Ze cared quite a lot about this issue. At that time, he had been in the competitive scene for two years, but he failed to attract enough attention in his few appearances on stage. He very much wanted to be acknowledged.
But in the third season of his professional career, what made him even more depressed was that the powerhouse Excellent Era had actually lost to the Internet cafe team Happy in the Challenger League.
That moment had been a dark one for everyone in Team Excellent Era. After Excellent Era disbanded and the team members parted ways, Wang Ze had been quite terrified because he hadn't received any invites when Excellent Era had been relegated the previous season. And in their last season, Excellent Era had been playing in the Challenger League. The attention towards them had been limited, and he had truly feared that no one would be interested in him.
Wang Ze had hoped for an invite, but none came. He had watched as his teammates left him one after the other, watched as Excellent Era collapsed, and watched as someone took over.
At that time, the players who had yet to leave all received invites from the new boss, who called for them to hang on for one more year and return to the Pro League anew.
Wang Ze remembered clearly that Qiu Fei, who had just been promoted from the training camp, decisively chose to stay.
Idiot...
Wang Ze had thought to himself. That season, if there was one person who was particularly eye-catching in Excellent Era, it would be the new rookie Qiu Fei. He was a youth with a bright future ahead of him. He didn't need to worry that he would have nowhere to go. However, Qiu Fei had actually believed in the new investor's plans and chose to stay.
But what did the new Excellent Era have?
Su Mucheng had left along with her Dancing Rain. Sun Xiang and One Autumn Leaf had left. Xiao Shiqin and Life Extinguisher had returned to their mother team.
The remaining Excellent Era was no longer a powerhouse. How could breezing through the Challenger League be so easy?
Wang Ze had already wasted a year. He had no intentions of wasting away in the Challenger League. Unfortunately, he still hadn't received any invites. Staying was at least one path that would let him continue as a pro player.
Wang Ze wasn't willing, but he also didn't want to resort to this last straw. Luckily, Team Miracle came around and showed interest in him. Wang Ze didn't hesitate to pick his new team. In his eyes, being able to remain in the Pro League was better than anything else.
Thus, Wang Ze joined Team Miracle. Afterwards, Shen Jian joined too, cursing and swearing after wandering around in a circle. Shen Jian's situation had been better than his. He had received invites from the start, but he wasn't able to negotiate well enough with any of them, leaving Team Miracle as his only choice left. Along with feelings of helplessness for not getting recognized for his talents, he and Wang Ze were packaged together and sent to Team Miracle. Over there, He Ming was waiting for them with his status as the core player, after being traded away for Xiao Shiqin when Excellent Era relegated and fighting in the Pro League for a year.
The three were former teammates, who had gathered together again at Team Miracle. No one had been delighted at that. Instead, a feeling of being cheated had sprung up in their hearts.
But they had already fallen into the hole. If they wanted to get out, they'd have to rely upon themselves. Each carrying their own thoughts and hopes, the three began their journey with Team Miracle. Wang Ze hoped that he would be able to get recognition for his skill this season. Even if Team Miracle was relegated in the end, he would at least have invites waiting for him.
His opponent this round was Su Mucheng, an All-Star. If he could beat her, it would be definitive proof of his skill. And towards this former teammate of his, he felt like he knew the key to winning.
After the five second countdown, the match began.
Map: Desolate Town 7.
Desolate Town was a series of maps. If all 17 maps were put together, the map would be a complete town. But in reality, especially in a 1v1, the complete town was too big, so it was split into 17 parts. These 17 parts were of different sizes. Desolate Town 7 was the smallest among them, suitable for a 1v1.
As former teammates, the three from Miracle knew which maps Su Mucheng favored. Wang Ze mainly wanted to bump into Su Mucheng today, so he had prepared a map specifically for her. Desolate Town 7 was a map that Su Mucheng was good at, and as her former teammate, he knew how Su Mucheng liked to play in this map. This was why Wang Ze had chosen it. He wasn't hoping his opponent was unfamiliar with the map, but rather familiar with it. That way he would have a greater understanding of his opponent.
The two characters headed towards each other from their spawn corners. Wang Ze's Sharpshooter was called Kashiben, a character provided by Team Miracle. It was worse than his former Team Excellent Era character, and he had spent a lot of effort to adjust it to his preferences and habits.
Kashiben moved forward quickly, looking far into the distance onto the clock tower in the town.
The clock tower was this map's highest point. By seizing the high ground, one would have nearly complete coverage of the map. Desolate Town 7 was the desolate map with the most narrow and winding alleys, which wasn't too favorable for long-ranged gunners. Su Mucheng had been forced to be good at this map because too many opponents wanted to utilize this map to restrict the Alliance's Number One Launcher. As a result, Su Mucheng had to specifically practice and study this map until it actually became one of her best maps.
The clock tower was a location that Su Mucheng frequently occupied. She had the high ground there, allowing her to easily catch her opponent's position. Then, she could utilize her long-ranged capabilities to attack from afar. It was one of her most used tactics.
But… not today!
Wang Ze thought to himself. Their relationship as teammates was mutual. Since he had chosen this map, Su Mucheng wouldn't be so stupid as to go to it. She would intentionally avoid the spot she liked the most because her teammate knew about it.
Once she gave up on her usual plan, what would she do?
According to her habits and preferences, Wang Ze bravely made a prediction. He was currently heading over to verify it. He believed that his prediction should be correct. As a gunner class too, Wang Ze trusted that his understanding of Su Mucheng's thought process was very thorough.
Kashiben traveled through the small alleyway. Wang Ze's strategy was very clear. But from time to time, he would still take a glance at the clock tower. After all, it was possible that Su Mucheng would be stubborn. However, Wang Ze would be even happier if that were the case. The route he chose was a dead spot for the clock tower. If Su Mucheng went to the clock tower, he would give her a big surprise.
A flawless plan! Wang Ze felt satisfied with himself.
But at this moment, Su Mucheng appeared.
Utilizing Aerial Launcher, with a few ups and downs, she landed on the clock tower. Thinking that she wouldn't go over there, Wang Ze nearly exposed himself. Luckily, Wang Ze noticed her actions in time and hastily rolled to a dead angle in the clock tower's view.
So she actually went there.
Wang Ze calculated the time. For Dancing Rain to make it onto the clock tower right now, she had to have taken a straight line to there, not wasting any time.
Was she not afraid that he would take advantage of that location?
Wang Ze was confident, but he didn't think Su Mucheng was stupid. As a result, when he saw Su Mucheng suddenly make what seemed to be a brainless move, Wang Ze stopped to think about it.
If Su Mucheng understood his intentions for picking this map but still made this choice, what was she plotting?
There were two possibilities.
First, she didn't think much of Wang Ze's strength, so she did as she always did.
Second, she guessed how Wang Ze would respond, so she had set up a trap and was intentionally luring the snake out of its hole.
Su Mucheng wasn't stupid nor was she an arrogant person, so it was most likely the second possibility.
Setting up a trap and luring him out.
Wang Ze smirked. This was the Su Mucheng that he knew.
It was just that this time, he wouldn't fall for it.
Su Mucheng perhaps knew where the dead angles were from this clock tower, but did she know which of these dead angles allowed for direct attacks to the clock tower?
Wang Ze didn't think Su Mucheng knew.
Because only long-ranged classes had the range to reach her from those spots, and very few long-ranged players would choose this map. As for Su Mucheng, she had never encountered a long-ranged opponent on this map. This wasn't Wang Ze guessing. He had looked through all of Su Mucheng's data on this map.
Detailed and thorough analysis, understanding, and preparation. These were Wang Ze's trump cards. Perhaps they weren't very cool, but they were practical.
Dancing Rain was still looking around from up on the clock tower, or perhaps she was guessing where Wang Ze would attack from.
No need!
Wang Ze smiled. He swiped his mouse, and Kashiben readied for a Thunder Snipe.
Sharpshooters had lower range than Launchers. Only Thunder Snipe was the exception. However, Wang Ze didn't want to attack from too far away in this situation, otherwise Su Mucheng would have time to react and dodge it.
The sniping spot he had chosen was the perfect distance.
At this range, if she didn't know ahead of time, by the time she heard the sound of the trigger, it would be too late to dodge. Even more so in a situation where Su Mucheng couldn't even see where it was coming from. Trying to react just based on sound was even more impossible.
Dancing Rain's forehead and long hair could be seen clearly through the ten-fold magnified sniper scope.
Gunshot!
A spurt of fresh blood flowed out from that forehead, instantly covering his scoped view with red.
"Tsk tsk, this type of attack should just instant kill her." Wang Ze sighed. After using the skill, he retracted his sniper rifle.
"Huh? What's that?" Wang Ze saw a bright flame in the sky spiraling towards him.