Chapter 1262: Scatter
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The team competition that was about to begin was the highlight of the three-day All-Stars Weekend. Everyone knew clearly that the result or the quality of this game may not be the finest, but it was definitely the most star-studded. Currently, there was no other event besides the All-Stars Weekend that allowed such a group of people to play together, whether it be alongside or against each other. This exhibition was well worth watching.'
Right now, the cheers in the crowd were directed more towards Team B, where Team Tyranny's players and characters were. However, even though this was Tyranny's home stadium, the hollering in support of Team A would not lose out much: many of the Glory Alliance's players with the most fans were all gathered on this All-Stars stage. Even though Team B had a slight home advantage, it was nowhere near enough to overwhelm Team A.
There was plenty of eye-candy prepared for this most important final match. The participating characters appeared one by one, and gave a little show for several minutes. However, no one was bored at the slightest; instead, this tease held back their energy. When the map finished loading and the match officially began, the crowd had entered a strange state of peace.
The map was specifically designed for the All-Stars match. There were mountains and rivers, trees and rocky outcrops, and street and buildings. It seemed to be an amalgamation of all the different maps used in Glory. In the very middle of the map, there was an arena made of limestone that looked thousands of years old. From an aerial view, it formed the Glory Alliance's logo as well as the number "10", to celebrate Season 10 of the Glory Alliance.
The players from both teams quickly spawned to much applause. Just seeing these famous characters form into teams was enough to get the viewers very excited.
Neither side seemed to want to beat about the bush. Since spawning, both teams charged towards the centre. Sending Zhang Xinjie to fight the group arena was a indication by team B that they wanted to fight Team A head on.
A fierce confrontation was originally the preferred strategy for Team A, who lacked a healer. But now, it was instead Team B who ditched their healer and took up this strategy. Could the players from Team A back off from a direct confrontation? Of course not! Who's afraid of who?
The match's pace was swift as soon as it commenced. Both sides rushed forward, past the scenery which became a blur in the background. Without a slow-moving healer, both sides' progress seemed very rapid. Finally, the opposition were within each other's sights.
There was no communication or command for formations, but the characters from both teams went into an arrangement that seemed to have been agreed on beforehand.
For Team A, the trio consisting of Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf, Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain and Tang Hao's Demon Subduer formed a straight line and stood in front. Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer followed behind by only a few units. Yu Wenzhou's Swoksaar brought up the rear and concealed himself behind his teammates.
For Team B, Han Wenqing's Desert Dust was the spearhead in front with Ye Xiu's Lord Grim trailing a few steps behind. After them, Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain, Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria and Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain formed a horizontal line at the back.
The two teams chose reversed formations. Team A's arrangement of three characters in front seemed to allow for more aggression. However, Team B were the first ones to start attacking. Even though there were three characters at the back for team B, they were all long ranged classes and team A entered their attack ranges first.
A maelstrom of cannon fire and magical energies erupted and rolled forward. The centre of the map where the Alliance's logo was located was immediately covered by bedazzling flashes of light.
Scatter!
The three Team A characters at the front suddenly changed directions as if it was pre-arranged. It looked like they were trying to go around the suppressive fire that was being laid down by Team B. But Team B would not let them off so easy. Their attacks closely followed the change in position, and they still managed to keep Team A out of attack range.
But as the three gave way, the second layer of Team A was suddenly at the forefront: Cloud Piercer!
Accelerate!
Cloud Piercer charged forward, guns blazing. He looked like a melee class character despite being a long-ranged Gunner class. Team A astonishingly used their three Gods at the front to draw their opponents' attention, all to allow Zhou Zekai to begin a solo assault. His attacks blanketed all the characters on Team B. The Sharpshooter's high attack speed was brought to the peak at this moment. Cloud Piercer grasped his dual pistols to begin launching his attacks, unleashing a countless flurry of bullets.
Blood splattered within Team B's formation. This wave of attacks came too quickly. It was fierce and covered a lot of ground.
But because the coverage of the attacks was wide, the bullets were spread out, so the damage output was reduced significantly. However, the higher-level skills of Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain and Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria had casting time. Even though being shot did not deal much damage, their casts would be interrupted. As both their attacks were stifled, Team B's long-range zoning seemed to have been extinguished for the moment. There was no way Dancing Rain's attacks alone could suppress the three Gods, Sun Xiang, Huang Shaotian and Tang Hao, at the same time.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
One Autumn Leaf led with an ultimate skill to forcefully break into the opponents formation. In an instant, the Samsara fans went wild: this was the teamwork they were so used to seeing. After Sun Xiang joined Samsara, his duo play-style revolved around having him wreak havoc in the enemy's midst while Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer attacked from the outside. Countless teams were scattered by just this two, with their ability to bust apart an enemy team from inside and out. Even in the current situation with the best of the best as the opponents, it looked like Samsara's duo was still extremely potent..
Shattering the Lands!
After charging in with Dragon Breaks the Ranks, One Autumn Leaf followed up with another high-level skill. His body in mid-air and Evil Annihilation in his hands channeling magical battle spirit, he carried an air of invincibility about him as his spear shot down towards the enemy, like a God descending to smite mortals.
Scatter!
Team B suddenly scattered. Unlike the three-man scatter on Team A, all five players scattered and neatly formed a circle. And right in the middle of this circle was One Autumn Leaf…
One Autumn Leaf looked like he was descending from the heavens for one moment, but in the next, after Team B scattered, he suddenly looked like he was charging directly into the abyss.
Boom!
Shattering the Lands' magic created waves in the ground. At that moment, the ground within the skill's AoE folded up. However, not a single character was caught up in it. There were only skills in the AoE - not just from Shattering the Lands...
After dodging Shattering the Lands, the three ranged characters on Team B instantly followed up with a counter-attack. Everything happened quickly and precisely. Three ranged attacks landed on One Autumn Leaf who was still in the ending animation of his skill. There was zero chance to dodge. In fact, this hasty counter-attack was even coordinated. The three attacks were not simultaneous but chained, and they landed on One Autumn Leaf one after the other.
Although the damage wouldn't be increased, the status effects' duration was prolonged by chaining the attacks. In the short time frame where One Autumn Leaf was chain-stunned by the three attacks, Desert Dust and Lord Grim approached like the wind to flank him.
Ferocious Tiger Flurry!
Han Wenqing also led with a high-level skill. Desert Dust flew forward and One Autumn Leaf was greeted by his fist. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim couldn't display this sort of momentum, because even though they could be added to the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella, they would be too low level. Thus, Ye Xiu did not choose to do so but instead charged next to One Autumn Leaf only with the intention of creating a pincer. He was also there to provide protection, since the rest of Team A wouldn't just watch and let One Autumn Leaf get surrounded and eliminated.
Zhou Zekai, the current teammate and duo partner of Sun Xiang, reacted the fastest. Cloud Piercer's attacks could also arrive the fastest. Random Firing!
Random Firing was a skill that sprayed bullets in all directions. However, under Zhou Zekai's tyrannical control, he forcefully turned the bullets into a very targeted stream. This stream of bullets flew accurately at the two characters on either side of One Autumn Leaf.
Dodge?
It was impossible to dodge this rain of bullets unless they abandoned their attack on One Autumn Leaf. However, Team B had no intentions of doing so. Han Wenqing allowed Desert Dust to continue his Ferocious Tiger Frenzy as if he didn't see the flurry of attacks from Cloud Piercer's direction. Although he and Ye Xiu were archrivals of many years, he seemed to have complete trust that Ye Xiu would deal with the current situation. Therefore, Han Wenqing simply ignored the attacks from Zhou Zekai and focused on his own attacks.
Swish!
The Myriad Manifestation Umbrella opened up and sheltered Lord Grim and Desert Dust from Cloud Piercer's hail of bullets.
"Put your back into it, get a good trade in!" Ye Xiu called.
Blocking with a shield could only negate status effects. It could not completely negate damage, which was dependant on the weight of the shield and other particular stats.
The Myriad Manifestation Umbrella's weight was very light, but its attributes were still quite substantial. The Level 70 Myriad Manifestation Umbrella in shield form provided a 61% boost in defence as well as 34% damage absorption. These two abilities would take effect as soon as the shield met any attacks. But Glory's top Gunner, Cloud Piercer, obviously wouldn't stop trying to punch through Lord Grim's defences just because of these two abilities.
Lord Grim's health was still dropping. This kind of defence was just an exchange. Lord Grim's health for One Autumn Leaf's health...
The two characters who had an unbreakable bond with Ye Xiu were currently locked in such an exchange. One of the damage dealers happened to be Ye Xiu's biggest rival of all time, Han Wenqing. This scene could only be described as somewhat ironic. Team A, however, didn't just consist of Zhou Zekai. Huang Shaotian, the biggest opportunistic player of Glory, saw a great chance. Troubling Rain quickly appeared in front of the shield form Myriad Manifestation Umbrella. Right now, the Umbrella shield was completely blocking Lord Grim's field of view. Xe Xiu couldn't do much about this. If he stuck his head out to look, Zhou Zekai's marksmanship would deliver a faceful of bullets.
Troubling Rain used the cover provided by the shield form Myriad Manifestation Umbrella to deliver some pain!
Chapter 1263: Small Details and Techniques
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Troubling Rain instantly got within melee range using the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella's shield form as cover.
"Careful!" Huang Shaotian heard Yu Wenzhou's voice. Yu Wenzhou's Swoksaar stood rather far away. From his point of view, he suddenly realized that Huang Shaotian being captured was an opportunity, but also a trap.
Huang Shaotian quickly controlled Troubling Rain to move sideways upon hearing Yu Wenzhou's warning. Since he had already gotten this far, he might as well continue attacking rather than retreat. He only needed to be careful of whatever was hidden behind the umbrella. After all, this was just a Blind Shield playstyle. If he took the initiative and moved first, how could he not dodge it?
He couldn't dodge it!
Troubling Rain had barely taken half a step when the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella closed up. Huang Shaotian didn't even have time to see the character behind the umbrella before his screen was filled by a blinding light. This attack couldn't get any closer. There was absolutely nothing he could do that could dodge an attack which was close enough to singe his eyebrows...
Laser Rifle!
Only the Best Partners Su Mucheng and Ye Xiu could achieve this kind of precision. Ye Xiu used the Blind Shield playstyle to hide Su Mucheng's long ranged attack rather than his own.
"You want to ambush me? How naive!" Ye Xiu laughed, as he watched Troubling Rain tumble away from the Laser Rifle.
"Just fight, stop talking so much trash!" Huang Shaotian yelled.
The whole stadium collectively shared a sweatdrop. Bro, you're the one saying this? Are you trying to say that you're the strong and silent type?
Huang Shaotian's ambush failed. Zhou Zekai also sacrificed dealing damage to coordinate with the ambush. Even though there was no friendly fire, shots didn't just pass through allies. Zhou Zekai couldn't have Cloud Piercer move around Troubling Rain, because that might have lead Ye Xiu to turn and reveal Huang Shaotian's position...
Huang Shaotian's ambush was ultimately fruitless. This moment was over in the blink of an eye, but it contained so many small details. Right now, the guest commentator Li Yibo, conducting the live TV broadcast, wanted to share his analysis with everyone. But who could spare the effort to listen to his explanation? The match had long left this moment behind.
The players on Team B couldn't idly watch and let Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing trade health by tanking the enemy's attacks. The moment Su Mucheng foiled Huang Shaotian's ambush, Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain had already cast Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire. It engulfed Lord Grim, One Autumn Leaf, and Desert Dust together. Tang Hao attempted to interrupt her cast, but he was intercepted by Wang Jiexi. Currently, Vaccaria and Demon Subduer were locked in a skirmish.
The viewers' eyes were in a blur. They did not know where to look. Out of the ten players on the field, it looked like Yu Wenzhou was the only one who had some free time. However, his presence couldn't be ignored.
Yu Wenzhou may have trouble keeping up with the pace of this explosive battle because of his crippled hand speed. However, he obviously had his own, slower style of play which still secured him a place as a God in the Alliance. In this kind of flashy battle, Yu Wenzhou wasn't at all useless. Rather, his crowd control skills as a Warlock was indispensable to his team and extremely disruptive to his opponents. In this game with no healer, where the fight was blood for blood, one successfully landed control skill might just cripple a character entirely.
On the other hand, Team B's five on the field plus Yu Feng as a sixth were all top damage dealers. As for crowd control, they could only rely on their observation and mechanics and share the burden. They couldn't compare to Yu Wenzhou, who could focus on observing the entire battlefield and act accordingly.
Now, Team A's strategy was pretty much on the tables. From the start, they wanted to give Yu Wenzhou plenty of space to let his Warlock control the battle. Thus, the other four characters had to handle more of the head-on fighting. However, Huang Shaotian was one of the four. This so-called expert opportunity seizer was different from a core attacker. In Blue Rain, he seldom filled the role of the spearhead attacker. It used to be Yu Feng, and now, that position was passed to the fourteen year old Lu Hanwen, not Huang Shaotian.
This didn't mean Huang Shaotian was very bad at head-on type attacks. It was just that to him, being a head-on attacker simply did not fully display his talents and capabilities. He needed a certain amount of cover and waited for an opportunity before acting
Huang Shaotian didn't manage to seize this opening. However, the match had only just begun. Being able to create this opportunity for Huang Shaotian was already remarkable. This was because he had even fiercer teammates, who could provide cover for him.
Sun Xiang, Zhou Zekai!
This duo that had only existed for half a season at Samsara could probably be called the duo with the strongest offensive capabilities within the current Glory Alliance. Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf charged in and got himself surrounded. At first, this move seemed somewhat rash. However, with the ranged support from Zhou Zekai on the outside of the encirclement, Team B's flank did not have an easy time. Even though Huang Shaotian missed his chance to sneak up, the outstanding duo's skill was fully demonstrated. Team A didn't manage to get an advantage, but the battlefield was set for Yu Wenzhou's Warlock so that no one could suppress him.
Swoksaar began casting his curse. The spell would spell trouble for Team B if no one interrupted it. Su Mucheng quickly pressed forward, and Dancing Rain's cannon aimed at Swoksaar. However, Troubling Rain's silhouette quickly darted into her field of view and blocked her line of sight with Swoksaar.
An annoying screen tactic. This wouldn't stop the attack entirely, but rather bought a few moments for the ally behind him to finish his curse. This sort of tactic was what the opportunist Huang Shaotian was particularly adept at. His little obstruction stopped Dancing Rain from attacking, giving Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer time to close the distance between them. As he ran, he attacked continuously, pressing down on her with wild firepower.
The instant Zhou Zekai switched targets, a shadow flickered out from within Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire.
"Old Ye!" It was as if Huang Shaotian's mouth would itch if he stopped talking. Sword light flew out from a Sword Draw.
Miss!
His attack was aimed according to where he thought his opponent would move to. The attack missed, and it didn't even affect Ye Xiu's rhythm. He slipped beneath the sword light from Sword Draw with a Slide Kick. The Myriad Manifestation Umbrella assumed its gun form mid-slide and aimed towards Swoksaar. A gunshot rang out.
Bang!
As the bullet flied out, Yu Wenzhou sighed helplessly. His hand speed might be slow, but his judgement and observation were top notch. He immediately knew that this bullet would arrive before his casting finished.
Yu Wenzhou cancelled the skill and moved aside to dodge. When he looked again, Lord Grim was almost in front of him..
So fast!
An unspecialized's swiftness in closing short distances was now well renowned within all of Glory. Ye Xiu had already demonstrated how troublesome this technique was in many matches. Chaining together two skills would make him seem like he was almost teleporting, as shown in the Rookie Challenge matches in day one of the All-Stars weekend. It was an astonishing sight to see.
And now, Lord Grim was able to instantly close in on Swoksaar, when he was still inside the Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire just moments before. No melee class had movement skills this strong. On top of that, the unspecialized even had ranged attacking methods, allowing him to switch targets while moving. The opponent was hard-pressed to get away.
But just before Lord Grim was right next to Swoksaar, he came to a sudden halt.
Boom!
A burst of Shadow Flames danced a step in front of Lord Grim. Clearly, the sudden halt by Lord Grim was to avoid being engulfed in the Shadow Flames.
"How scary, you almost blew me up," said Ye Xiu.
"Didn't I miss though?" Smiled Yu Wenzhou. His crippled hands would definitely put him at a disadvantage if a melee character got close. And right now, the one who came marching was none other than Lord Grim, who attacked like a hurricane. Lord Grim would be able to bury him right there. But even though Yu Wenzhou was in this predicament, he did not panic in the slightest. He held an instant cast spell like Shadow Flames and cast it at the last second. This was the most dangerous option for him, but it was also the most difficult for his opponent to deal with. In the last moments of a charge, when the target was within arm's reach, anyone's guard would drop to some extent; the player would probably be thinking about what attack to use next. Yu Wenzhou's sudden attack at this moment was very tricky to guard against.
"I wouldn't be afraid even if I was hit by this skill," Ye Xiu said. Shadow Flames inflicted a status effect, whereby the target would take damage over time. Caster classes found this skills particularly troublesome, as each tick of damage would interrupt their casting. However, an unspecialized at melee range could use an array of instant cast skills. Shadow Flames' interruptions were irrelevant. The damage alone could be tolerated. However, Ye Xiu still had Lord Grim dodge, since he couldn't tell what curse Swoksaar had thrown out.
Another instant filled with countless small details.
Just a slight pause was enough to turn the tables. Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain was already behind Lord Grim. Ye Xiu obviously couldn't just attack Swoksaar with reckless abandon. However, fighting Huang Shaotian with Yu Wenzhou right there would be very dangerous. His hand speed might be slow, but he was still extremely proficient at grasping opportunities. Ye Xiu wouldn't give him a chance to stir up trouble like that.
Lord Grim, who had just managed to get right next to Swoksaar, didn't attack even once. Instead, he quickly moved away.
Lord Grim shifted horizontally to dodge Troubling Rain's lunging sword, then turned tail and ran.
"Don't run!" Huang Shaotian yelled while chasing after him closely. On the other side, Zhou Zekai saw the situation and quickly turned to form a pincer with Huang Shaotian. However, Ye Xiu had Lord Grim dodge crazily. Various movement type skills were thrown out and comboed, to the point where even Huang Shaotian and Zhou Zekai combined couldn't suppress him momentarily.
The crowd was stunned.
Right now, Teams A and B each had a character that was the main attack target, and they happened to be One Autumn Leaf and Lord Grim. It seemed like Ye Xiu really owned characters with some interesting history.
How about the current owners of these characters? Their responses were the opposite of each other. One Autumn Leaf stood steadfast under Sun Xiang's control and welcomed the attacks head on; Lord Grim assumed deft poses and dodged attack after attack under Ye Xiu's control.
Chapter 1264: Unending Choices
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The two teams, A and B, had each relied on a single person to pin their opponents in some form. An unrelenting offense was definitely a better way to disrupt an opponent then hiding around and dodging attacks. After all, if you faced your opponents head on like that, it wouldn't just be a one way beat down. When engaging your opponent, you'd still be a threat. If the other wavered even slightly, there was the chance that you could counter and crush them. As for dodging around, that made you passive and it would become harder to stick to an opponent and disrupt them. Your opponents could easily switch targets and ignore a troublemaker who ran around.
But the problem was that the character who was currently executing this pin was Lord Grim.
Unspecialized Lord Grim not only had ranged attacks, but also those methods of unexpectedly increasing his movement speed. Whenever he began to move, Team A's members would always go on high alert. No other class was such a comprehensive threat, to the point where Team A was currently using two top Gods, Huang Shaotian and Zhou Zekai to suppress him.
But even the combination of these two top Gods was having trouble dealing with the special class backed by Ye Xiu's cunning.
The disruption Sun Xiang was achieving was costing him blood! But for Ye Xiu? He ran, leaving dust in his wake, luring away two of Team A's most powerful characters with not a scratch. If this continued, then what would be the point of Sun Xiang's disruption? It was practically like they were offering him up to Team B to beat up.
"Cover me!" Yu Wenzhou called out. Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain immediately sheathed his sword and returned to his position, standing guard at Swoksaar's side. Zhou Zekai also changed his pace in accordance. Cloud Piercer began to move faster. As a Sharpshooter, he didn't keep his distance from his opponent, but instead pulled closer to Lord Grim, clearly hoping to strengthen the effects of his firepower to suppress him. If needed, he'd probably pull even closer and engage with Gun Fu.
Swoksaar began to cast, and it seemed like he planned on finishing this cast no matter the cost. He was even using Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain as a meat shield.
Ye Xiu wasn't able to go and interrupt, what with Huang Shaotian lying in wait and Zhou Zekai advancing on him. If he persisted in trying to interrupt, he would definitely be completely trapped by these two.
It was just that, with three of Team A's characters focused on Lord Grim, two of Team B's characters became free to act. Su Mucheng and Chu Yunxiu, originally having been giving long-ranged support, turned their attacks this way upon seeing Ye Xiu stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Dancing Rain stepped forward in front of Windy Rain and whipped out a Gatling Gun, wildly spraying bullets as she covered for Windy Rain's spell.
Dancing Rain's bullets arrived, and no matter how amazing Huang Shaotian's mechanics were, he couldn't use his swordsmanship to cut down every bullet. However, if the bullets flew past him, even if just one hit, then it would interrupt Swoksaar's cast.
Thus, Troubling Rain shielded Swoksaar like a knight, taking a sturdy stance in front of the other. He dealt with what bullets he could, and if he couldn't, then he would block them with his body.
Thud thud thud!
Flowers of blood bloomed one by one on Troubling Rain's body, making him look exceptionally heroic. However… Gatling Gun was a still a low level skill. Troubling Rain did look heroic, shielding Swoksaar with his body, and there was enough blood to set the scene, but in terms of actual damage, it wasn't even worth mentioning. To make sure the cast was finished, this was completely worth it.
However, being constantly hit by bullets, Troubling Rain's movements couldn't be smoothly controlled. There was still some level of stun from being hit by a bullet. With the consecutive hits, the small stuns linked up and the victim definitely wouldn't be able to move smoothly any longer. Thus, Windy Rain's spell was purposefully released just as Troubling Rain was most difficult to control. A Piercing Lightning shot forth.
"Oh shit!" A silent stutter of the heart wasn't Huang Shaotian's style. He had to yell out directly. Windy Rain had hid behind Dancing Rain and suddenly struck with this skill, at such a time...
How could he block it? He couldn't!
Piercing Lightning prepared to fly straight through the miniscule opening that Troubling Rain left under the effects of the consecutive attacks. Swoksaar had little choice but to cancel the cast he was executing.
Team A's plan seemed to have failed, but that was when Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf suddenly broke through his pin.
Was Han Wenqing unable to suppress Sun Xiang without support?
Of course not.
Han Wenqing's attacks weren't just thrown with reckless abandon. He would cooperate with the support he was getting to perfect his offense. However, Su Mucheng and Chu Yunxiu had suddenly pulled their support away just now. One Autumn Leaf, who was fighting several on his own, immediately found an opening. Sun Xiang had grasped that opportunity and broken out through that opening.
Was it a misconderation of Su Mucheng and Chu Yunxiu's?
Evidently not.
This was yet another choice. To interrupt the Warlock's cast or to continue their support. They didn't split up and each take one choice because they knew that they wouldn't accomplish anything then. Thus, the two decided to interrupt the Warlock's skill. After all, a Warlock's CC would be crucial to changing the tides of battle.
Thus, the Warlock's skill had been interrupted, but Sun Xiang had escaped. He didn't, as people expected, immediately begin to counterattack Desert Dust, but instead chose to retreat. When Han Wenqing pursued him, he avoided the other and charged at Su Mucheng and Chu Yunxiu's characters.
These two characters were definitely not good with close combat, but if the two moved, Team B's formation would be disrupted. Team A had set trap after trap, considering all the details, and managed to back all the members of Team B into a difficult place.
What should they do?
No matter how difficult, they had to choose a choice of action immediately. Decisiveness was also one of the crucial characteristics a top level player possessed.
Dancing Rain raised her cannon and began to attack!
She didn't dodge and instead launched a direct offense at One Autumn Leaf while Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain pulled away. These two female pros chose the third option out of to retreat or not to retreat. One retreated while the other didn't. It seemed like a wishy washy decision, but it would allow them to retain their positioning with one person stalling so that One Autumn Leaf would disrupt their formation too much.
It was a very clever and daring decision, and the two did well in deciding who would play what role. But they neglected to consider the players themselves. When One Autumn Leaf charged towards her and Su Mucheng hurriedly raised her cannon to attack, what lay in her heart was reluctance.
Because that was One Autumn Leaf.
Though it was just a character, it meant much more than that to Su Mucheng.
She had never considered that, one day, she would cross cannon against spear with this character. She knew that she had to maintain a professional attitude, but attitude wasn't the same as feelings...
Su Mucheng felt very conflicted, causing her mechanics to falter somewhat. One Autumn Leaf wasn't disrupted all that much, charging forth fearlessly. Chu Yunxiu startled. This was different from what they had anticipated. She wasn't ready to provide support for her yet!
A mistake!
Su Mucheng had realized her mistake just now, too, but there was no chance to make an attempt at saving the situation. One Autumn Leaf had arrived, glittering sparks of light drifting around him like broken stardust.
This was...
Su Mucheng and Sun Xiang had both noticed the abnormality in their field of view. This definitely wasn't something either of them could produce. This was...
From the air, a broom swiftly descended.
Vaccaria, Broom Tornado activated, swung his Stardust Extermination
Chapter 1265: The So-Called Magician
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Wang Jiexi!
Don't mention the players on the field, even the audience who had the omniscient view felt that Vaccaria's sudden violent arrival was shocking and bizarre. Truly, every single confrontation on field was a dazzling blur, from the cover of Ye Xiu's Lord Grim to his charging out from a Heavenly Lightning Earthen Fire. Even the slightest change could affect everything. The players of the two teams one by one entered a chaotic exchange of attacking and defending.
The nonstop changes were dizzying for the audience to watch, and in the process of this, Wang Jiexi and Tang Hao were the two players that hadn't entered the chaotic brawl. And so, the presence of these two players was overlooked to some extent. The ones more absorbed in the fight almost forgot that these two players were still fighting, until now, when Vaccaria suddenly plunged from the sky, with an arcing trajectory that seemed to trail stardust, and a Broom Tornado came down fiercely upon One Autumn Leaf's back.
Vaccaria had arrived!
Only now did everyone remember this person's existence, and they thought of the opponent he had been tangled with just earlier.
The live audience was fortunate, as the immersive projection system made a huge difference in watching the battle live versus watching the television broadcast. They had a full aerial view of the entire battle. But this time, even they had forgotten to pay attention to that area, until now.
The audience turned their views, the television broadcast cut to a different camera, the target: Demon Subduer.
And so, in the eyes of the audience, in the camera view of the broadcast, Demon Subduer, the number one Brawler of Glory, a character that had reached the peak thanks to Tang Hao's upgrade, was currently pathetically collapsed on the ground.
What in the world had happened?
Everyone was engulfed by curiosity to the extreme, and the pain of the television broadcasters was great, for the current battle was progressing quite ferociously, and there was no way for them to cut back and show a replay.
"Show it in a small screen!" one of the senior workers shouted.
Thus, those that were watching the broadcast could now see in the lower corner of their screen a smaller display, replaying the events that had just occurred for everyone to see.
No viewer objected to this, because they too were intensely curious as to what had transpired between Wang Jiexi and Tang Hao.
As for the live viewers? They couldn't see a replay with the projection system, but the display screens didn't interfere with what was currently going on as they too showed the replay for everyone.
Everyone watched… In reality, it wasn't very long, it was just from when Lord Grim helped cover Desert Dust to when Vaccaria sent One Autumn Leaf flying. This entire process hadn't taken very long.
And during that chaotic pile of fighting, what happened between Wang Jiexi and Tang Hao was actually very simple. It could be summarized in one sentence: Tang Hao was completely crushed by Wang Jiexi.
Although this sentence was short, the amount of information it contained was truly shocking.
Early on, everyone had acknowledged that Tang Hao was standing at the summit, someone who wouldn't lose to any God at the summit, past or present. But just now, in that brief period of time, he had been crushed.
Crushed meant that he had utterly no ability to defend or parry. Something like that absolutely should not occur to a top God.
The television broadcast didn't just immediately move on after replaying it once; they continued to use the small window to display it a second time. The live screens also didn't just replay it once, they even used split-screen to replay it again and again from different angles.
This wasn't Tiny Herb's home stadium, but period of silence, the live crowd exploded with home stadium-like cheers. And this was just for a mere replay, a replay of something that had already happened.
"This is…" In the broadcast, Pan Lin and Li Yibo had given up on their commentary of the match, and were instead searching for something to say about this past.
"This is the true Magician!" Li Yibo reached this conclusion.
Indeed, the unimaginable playstyle, the trajectories impossible to capture, the rhythms and changes like magic, these were the techniques used by Wang Jiexi in the past that earned him the title of Magician, and these were the techniques that he sacrificed for the sake of Team Tiny Herb.
Now, it could be seen that Wang Jiexi had not forgotten these techniques entirely. In this All-Star Competition, in this competition where he didn't have to take up many responsibilities at all, he very casually displayed this style. And so, Tang Hao, this Season 7 debutant, someone who had never experienced the Magician style firsthand, a young player who had only seen the style in old recordings and data, was beaten down by it until he couldn't tell which way was north anymore.
People understood this point, and everyone was very clear, this wasn't a difference in skill. Tang Hao simply met something that he had never experienced before. It was just like all those players who, upon encountering Lord Grim for the first time, were thrown into confusion. In a 1v1, quite a few people had been wiped out by Ye Xiu. As of now, Tang Hao had yet to meet Lord Grim, and if he did meet him, he probably wouldn't be as helpless as many of those at the beginning of the season, since half a season had already passed, after all. However, he met Wang Jiexi here, the Magician Wang Jiexi, and although he had seen him before, he hadn't studied this style closely, because everyone knew that Wang Jiexi didn't play like this anymore. But who would have expected that in this All-Star competition, this guy suddenly revived his Magician playstyle!
Although the audience had some understanding of Tang Hao's encounter, they felt overall that this explosion of something that had been hidden for a long time was extremely refreshing. In an instant, Wang Jiexi became the star of the stage, and everyone began to pay attention to his performance.
And Tang Hao?
Of course, he was clear on why he would be beaten to this miserable extent, but with his personality, how could such a reason be acceptable enough to stabilize his heart? The instant that Demon Subduer was ultimately knocked onto the ground in a pitiful state, Tang Hao's rage was at its peak. He furiously controlled Demon Subduer to leap to his feet, turned his camera view, and saw on the other end that One Autumn Leaf had been violently hit just like him. Sun Xiang had entered the Alliance in Season 7 just like Tang Hao. The two could be said to be the brightest stars of the new generation, and at the same time were two people who had never personally experienced the Magician playstyle. The end result was unsurprising. After Vaccaria plummeted from the sky and sent One Autumn Leaf flying with a Broom Tornado, those traces of stardust continued to swirl around One Autumn Leaf's body, and very quickly, One Autumn Leaf was also sent awkwardly tumbling along the ground.
Two of Team A's Gods being knocked over like this one after another of course had a large impact on the current situation. Zhou Zekai hurriedly controlled Cloud Piercer to turn his fire, the bullets flying crazily toward Vaccaria, but they only struck the residual traces left by Stardust Extermination.
Zhou Zekai, a player from Season 5. In Season 5, Tiny Herb won the championship. At that time, Wang Jiexi had already completely shed his old style, so even Zhou Zekai hadn't personally experienced it. But he was at least closer to that era and had seen and heard more, so when Vaccaria turned and rushed toward him, Cloud Piercer wasn't instantly wiped out like Demon Subduer and One Autumn Leaf had been. Wang Jiexi's storm-like sweeping of Team A was interrupted here.
However, Zhou Zekai's situation wasn't looking too good either, as he too lacked the experience to counter this style. He could only rely on his own instincts and skill to deal with Wang Jiexi, but he couldn't change the current situation.
"Damn, Old Wang, you could just carry this battle by yourself!" Ye Xiu exclaimed. It seemed like a very ordinary statement of mocking and surprise, but those who were paying attention suddenly realized: even the viewers who had the omniscient view had overlooked Wang Jiexi crushing Tang Hao due to the intensity of the match. Ye Xiu, this man, who was currently very busy on the battlefield, had actually managed to notice all of this?
The legend of the expert with eyes that could watch six directions at once, it was actually true!
"Stop talking nonsense!" Wang Jiexi replied coldly.
His saying this was of course a thousand times more powerful than anything Huang Shaotian could say. Would Team B miss seizing this opportunity before them?
Tang Hao was still trying to take revenge on Wang Jiexi, but he was cut off by Han Wenqing's Desert Dust. After Vaccaria pulled away Cloud Piercer's firepower and reduced the pressure, Ye Xiu's Lord Grim was using all of his varied rapid-movement skills even as he complained about Wang Jiexi. One Autumn Leaf hadn't even managed to stand up when Lord Grim had already arrived in front of him and sent ferocious attacks toward this character who currently had the lowest health on the field. At the same time, echoing Lord Grim's attacks was the one who knew Ye Xiu best, Su Mucheng. Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain was also casting spells at this moment, covering Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng's offensive, sending continuous map-affecting spells toward that duo from Blue Rain.
"Countless changes in an instant," this was the only way the situation could be described. In the blink of an eye, many people had already exchanged opponents. The only change that hadn't changed was that Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf was suffering the fiercest attacks on the battlefield. And this time, it was no longer because he was forced to do this for the sake of charging forward, it was because he had become the primary target of Team B. In a situation without a healer, with the skill of these players and the strength of their characters, the damage output was truly ferocious. But Sun Xiang's luck was fairly good, as the two people who were currently attacking him happened to be the two characters who were relatively weaker according to the statistics.
Lord Grim was probably the only All-Star character whose weapon had yet to reach Level 75, and was also the one with the least Silver equipment.
Dancing Rain's weapon was Level 75, but the upgrades of her other equipment were lacking compared to the all of the other All-Stars who'd been upgrading continuously for a year now. Sun Xiang struggled, but he was still able to keep One Autumn Leaf alive.
"What a shame, your damage output's a little weak!" After Yu Wenzhou was finally able to contain Misty Rain, Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain broke through Windy Rain's blockade. He and his noise charged to Lord Grim's side.
"So damn noisy, I'll just leave this to you!" Ye Xiu shouted.
It was very clear to whom the first part of that statement was directed. Even people who didn't know the context could probably figure it out. But the second half? Leave it to you? Who was "you"?
The audience didn't understand, the commentator and honored guest were confused. But at this moment, Ye Xiu's Lord Grim suddenly escaped from his current situation, flying like the wind toward Yu Wenzhou's Swoksaar. Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria also drew a bizarre path in the air, one that even the Great Gunner's bullets had no way of chasing, as he flew toward the target: Swoksaar.
Aside from this, Dancing Rain's cannonfire and Windy Rain's spells were also targeting Swoksaar.
There seemed to be only one option left for Team B's "you."
Han Wenqing.
Desert Dust.
Another Ferocious Tiger Flurry.
Chapter 1266: The True Assassin
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Ferocious Tiger Flurry!
Fierce, fast; accurate, steady.
The first punch knocked askew Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf. The second punch forced Huang Shaotian to stop his Troubling Rain and parry instead of rescuing Swoksaar. The third punch forced Demon Subduer, chasing up from behind Desert Dust, to dodge and retreat.
Only Han Wenqing could play such a shrewd and precise Ferocious Tiger Flurry, forcing these three top Gods to instantly stop and defend, parry, dodge.
It interfered with what they had each been planning to do. Even though it was just an instant, it was enough for Team B.
Yu Wenzhou, the one with the title of "crippled hands" in this professional circle. And now, he had to face Lord Grim, the unspecialized with an incomparably rapid attack rhythm, the Magician, whose unpredictable changes were incredibly difficult to grasp, as well as the Launcher and the Elementalist, the mightiest AoE attackers…
He didn't panic, he still maintained his calm, but calm was not a panacea. Although he swiftly and clearly judged the situation on the field, this didn't necessarily mean that he had a way of solving it.
By this point, Team B's strategic planning was entirely clear. Ye Xiu was Team B's metronome. Every step he took directed Team B's attack direction and rhythm changes as a whole. And Wang Jiexi was the one who ultimately set the scene. He used his long-sealed Magician playstyle to instantly throw Team A into chaos, creating many gaps in their team coordination. At this time, Team A was full of openings to attack. If these couldn't be seized, then these people wouldn't be called the top Gods at the summit of Glory.
So at the end, the firepower transferred to Yu Wenzhou. Four attackers, two close-range, two long-range, against a Warlock, a Warlock who in terms of hand speed had absolutely no way of keeping up with anyone on the battlefield.
"You guys are too cruel…" All Yu Wenzhou could do, perhaps, was smile bitterly and raise a slight objection to these fierce players.
Han Wenqing couldn't hold off those three people forever, but just this slight delay helped his four teammates gain the opportunity to focus on one target. What kind of fury could they unleash? Adding onto the fact that Yu Wenzhou's defensive ability was a bit weak, Swoksaar's fall would only take a matter of seconds.
Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain was the first to break free of Desert Dust's interference.
Rescue!
This was his instinctive judgment and reaction to seeing Swoksaar suffering from that powerful offensive. Troubling Rain had already stepped forward, but at this moment, Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer suddenly turned fire, sending bullets toward Desert Dust.
Troubling Rain's steps suddenly stopped.
A trade!
He instantly understood Zhou Zekai's intentions. In a situation without a healer, saving Swoksaar now was already basically impossible. It would be better to focus his attacks onto Desert Dust. Whether they could besiege their opponent enough to save their own teammate, or complete the trade, both were acceptable outcomes.
Huang Shaotian immediately halted his instinctive reaction. The fact that Swoksaar was surrounded didn't cause him in the slightest to impulsively charge in. After all, he was the most brutal opportunist in Glory. From a certain standpoint, he was in reality very cold, ruthless, and tenacious, because only like someone like that could he seize the deadliest opportunities.
His sword light flashed toward Desert Dust. Team A's players instantly completed a surrounding formation toward Desert Dust. A 1v3 was impossible on this sort of beautiful stage; Han Wenqing had already performed to the best of his ability, and now, he was being counterattacked to the strongest possible degree.
But Tyranny's captain would never back down from any challenge.
One against four? So what.
Even if facing a hundred thousand enemies, he would not bend!
Desert Dust did not dodge or hide; he retaliated, he attacked.
Team B's four players didn't reveal any intent of rescuing him. This was the rhythm of completing a trade. But would this trade be successful?
A dazzling display of attacks roared forth, Swoksaar's and Desert Dust's health bars plummeted down, but which was faster? The viewers couldn't tell at first, but in an instant, the exchange was just about complete. Swoksaar's health was dropping faster!
There was nothing they could do about that.
Yu Wenzhou himself was already inferior in terms of controls, and the Warlock class had low defense and low health, as well as poor survivability against close-range attackers. This sort of situation was much more difficult for him to face. For Han Wenqing, on the other hand, the Striker class was a powerful close-range attacker, and Reinforced Iron Bones once activated could greatly increase defense. If it had to be called a little unfair, that would be the fault of Han Wenqing's stubbornness. In a situation like this, many other players would probably be a bit more flexible, more compromising.
Team B took the initiative, and their attack rhythms were faster by just that step. Team A had to be complimented for their ability to keep up so well that the speeds were difficult to distinguish. Plus, in terms of damage output, Team B had four people and had the advantage in that respect as well.
But ultimately, Swoksaar still fell first. Team A's attacks instantly became even more crazily fierce.
Fall!
The final attack landed, but a white light flashed upon Desert Dust's body. He didn't fall!
"Damn couldn't you take it a little easier do you think I'm Zhang Xinjie!!!" Ye Xiu shouted. This flash of white light had of course come from Lord Grim's instant-healing Cure skill, but like he said, he wasn't Zhang Xinjie, Lord Grim didn't have as powerful and specialized a healing ability as Immovable Rock, and he couldn't instantly bring up Desert Dust's health very far. Preventing Desert Dust from falling with that final attack was already the limit of what he could do.
The four from Team B who had taken care of Swoksaar now came to rescue. Lord Grim healed, and Vaccaria, Dancing Rain, and Windy Rain, those three powerful characters, were already firing.
Retreat for now, or force the kill?
Team A once again faced a difficult decision. Team B had surrounded them and were attacking ferociously. If they didn't retreat, this was the rhythm of everyone falling.
And so Team A chose to retreat, as after all this was a battle with no healer. Sacrificing too much health to kill a target wasn't worth it, and the remaining attacking party at low health could be swiftly defeated. Even though Team B had Lord Grim, the unspecialized's healing ability was truly just a drop in the bucket. There was no way for him to heal Desert Dust to any significant point, and under a powerful barrage of attacks, he likely couldn't even complete another life-saving heal at a critical point.
Team A's characters retreated and scattered, but these were only three characters. Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer was a Sharpshooter and had been attacking from a long-ranged position. Team B had shifted targets to save Han Wenqing from the encirclement, but their attack range couldn't catch Cloud Piercer's position. It seemed that Zhou Zekai wanted to keep attacking to deal with Han Wenqing once and for all, and that was exactly what he was doing.
And just as Cloud Piercer prepared to continue his fierce shooting, Lord Grim flashed before him.
In the end, Team B didn't let Team A squeeze through this gap. Zhou Zekai didn't have the chance to fire before he was interrupted. The rest of them immediately gave Ye Xiu a helping hand, and Cloud Piercer seemed to have become Team B's next target.
But no one, including his own teammates on Team A, expected what happened next: Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain, just after escaping from Team B, immediately turned around and charged back.
Shadow Steps!
Troubling Rain instantly split into seven images, opening the path with Triple Slash, numerous silhouettes darted forward, target: Desert Dust!
The cheers of the crowd seemed to have fallen silent…
Team B killed Swoksaar and returned to save Desert Dust. One wave of high excitement had just barely passed and they were already regrouping and preparing for the next offensive. Everyone's hearts had just barely relaxed from the nervousness when, all of a sudden, Huang Shaotian shot forward like a cold arrow.
This opportunity seized was truly… too fierce…
The silhouettes flashed, Troubling Rain's sword finally pierced through Desert Dust. That tyrannical King of Fighting, who never backed down in the face of hundreds of thousands of enemies, didn't fall under the powerful encirclement of four enemies, but fell under the cold blade of an assassin.
Huang Shaotian, Troubling Rain. Even though he wasn't of the Assassin class, he was a true assassin.
"Holy fuck!"
The viewers felt their hearts go cold, and all sorts of swears came out in the live stadium. Some were from the sheer shock of this sudden attack, some were from unhappiness at Desert Dust's fall as a result of it. This, after all, was Tyranny's home stadium, and Desert Dust was the highest God in their hearts.
But no matter what, once he fell, there was no way he would be revived. In an instant, the two teams were now equal again. It looked like the players also needed time to process all that had happened just now. Eight characters carefully moved position, facing each other, but for now none of them launched a new offensive. And so Ye Xiu, with nothing else to do, gave the four characters of Team B some Heals to let them slowly recover their health.
"Damn, are you brave enough not to use healing? Even if your stupid skills help heal they can't heal that much unless you instantly use them at a key moment, do you think that's useful at all do you do you? How much damage do you think one slash of my sword can do? It can completely ignore whatever healing you try to do did you know that? Can't you focus on attacking and not do these sort of stupid complicated cheap tricks that destroy the quality of the match and bring down the standard level of this showdown?" Huang Shaotian hollered.
In the live audience, in front of the televisions, countless people's mouths twitched.
This guy's chattiness was a huge obstacle affecting his popularity! That unexpected attack had shaken countless hearts. How many people were still engrossed in that sudden moment! The television broadcast had again split the screen for replay, and the display screens in the stadium gave the same treatment they had for Wang Jiexi's earlier performance - multi-angle replay.
But just at this moment, Huang Shaotian's own passionate voice was dubbed over, and it was all some nonsense. Everyone was thrown out of the moment okay? Everyone's moods weren't the same anymore, okay? The television broadcast will turn off your replay, okay? Can't you be cool for a bit longer, okay, okay?
No one had the strength to complain anymore. Someone like this, why did he have to have a bad habit like this? Was there truly no perfect existence in this world?
Two teams, eight people, waiting there as though they had arranged a meeting. But, in the closest player exchange area, the sixth players of the two teams had already loaded in.
Team A, Xiao Shiqin, Life Extinguisher.
Team B, Yu Feng, Blossoming Chaos.