Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
After the individual competitions, Happy temporarily held a 3-2 lead. But Wang Jiexi's performance during the group arena had completely changed the atmosphere of the entire stadium. Even if Team Tiny Herb had a 5-0 lead, the fans might not be as excited as they were now.
This kind of atmosphere once again put Chen Guo in a bad mood.
Clearly, Happy was still in the lead, and clearly, the team competition had yet to be played, but the fans of Tiny Herb looked as though they had already won the final victorymatch.
Was this because of Wang Jiexi?
Looking at the Tiny Herb fans around her, Chen Guo noticed that their gazes were indeed fixated on one point - their team's captain, Wang Jiexi. Because Wang Jiexi had appeared in the group arena, and because Wang Jiexi would definitely appear in the team competition, they immediately had a different level of confidence in their team. To Chen Guo, this was a kind of blind faith. Tiny Herb performed very well during the group arena, but it wasn't certain how strong their performance would be during the team competition.
With such a ruckus in the crowd, the downside was that it filled the entire break between the individual rounds and the group competition, making it extremely difficult for Team Happy's members to communicate. If this was always the case, it would almost be a necessity for the teams to have a seperate room to prepare in.
"These guys are acting like they've already won, we need to make them shut up!" Fang Rui expressed, with everyone understanding what he was referring to.
"There's no need to be influenced by the atmosphere, think about how calm we were when playing at Tyranny's home stadium," Ye Xiu said.
"Do you have to say these kinds of things on our behalf?" Chen Guo said.
"It's an objective matter of fact! Isn't it the same no matter who says it?" Ye Xiu asked.
"But now that you say that, there's no motivation for anyone to learn. If you don't believe me, just ask them," Chen Guo said.
"None at all," Fang Rui replied.
"Haha," Tang Rou laughed.
"Steamed Bun you shut up!" Seeing that Steamed Bun was about to say something, Chen Guo hurriedly stopped him.
"Alright then, since everyone is so unhappy about their arrogance, let's strike them a ruthless blow during the team competition! We'll focus on Wang Jiexi," Ye Xiu replied.
"Have you also lost all your rationality!" Chen Guo yelled.
At this moment, Qiao Yifan meekly raised his hand and asked, "When we were preparing for this round, didn't we practice to focus on Wang Jiexi in the first place?"
"Ah?" Chen Guo was startled and realized that she had been tricked once again…...
"Let's get ready to go onstage!" Ye Xiu called.
Team Happy's away game against Team Tiny Herb had finally reached the deciding tiebreaker round. The participants in the team competition walked onto the stage in succession.
Team Happy: Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, Tang Rou, An Wenyi, Qiao Yifan.
Team Tiny Herb: Wang Jiexi, Xu Bin, Gao Yingjie, Liu Xiaobie, Yuan Baiqing, Liang Fang.
"Ah, it seems that the lineup for both teams haven't changed very much, it's still the usual lineup for the team competition," commentator Pan Lin explained after seeing the list of names for both teams.
"Happy did make one change, Tang Rou is part of the original lineup, while Qiao Yifan is the sixth player," Li Yibo replied.
"This should indicate that they want to play a more aggressive style!" Pan Lin replied.
"It does seem to be the case," Li Yibo nodded his head.
"Hahaha, playing an aggressive style in their away game, how bold," Ruan Cheng laughed, but anyone could hear the mockery in his laughter, looking down on Happy for not knowing their own limits.
"On the side of Team Tiny Herb, Yuan Baiqing is playing his Cleric, Aweto, this should also mean that they want to play a more aggressive game!" Pan Lin said. Team Tiny Herb's healer was very unique, their player could play two different characters and could choose to use either the Cleric or the Paladin in different competitions, and from this decision, one could roughly tell what Tiny Herb wanted to do in the team battle.
"Tiny Herb is playing a home game, there's no reason for them to focus on defense." Ruan Cheng replied.
"Yes, it looks like this is going to be a very intense fight. I'm looking forward to it," Pan Lin said.
While the commentators were discussing, the players had already exchanged greetings, entered the player booths, and the timer was ticking down to the start of the team competition.
"Let's see what map Tiny Herb has picked for the team battle," Pan Lin remarked.
"Sky Arena!" Li Yibo was momentarily stunned when he saw the map that the players eventually loaded into.
"Selecting this map during the team battle... is really very rare!" Pan Lin was also shocked.
Sky Arena was a map that could be considered extremely simple for use in the team battle. The only change in terrain in the whole map were the stairs. At the outermost regions of the map were terraces that looked down on the stage from above, in the middle was the stage itself, which in turn was surrounded by steps.
"This map... there shouldn't be too many complex ways to use the map features strategically," Li Yibo said.
"Would Tiny Herb have put any special effort into researching how to use the height difference from the steps?" Pan Lin said.
"This..." Li Yibo searched his mind for the details of Tiny Herb's past matches, but for a while couldn't give a definite answer.
"It seems that Tiny Herb has been very thorough in their aggressive stance!" Ruan Cheng said.
"Let's take a look and see how they're going to play aggressively," Li Yibo said, obviously favouring Ruan Cheng's opinion in this case.
Very quickly, the characters from both sides finished loading in, each standing at opposite ends of the arena. Because of the high stage in the center of the map, the two teams couldn't see each other, but in reality, they were more or less at an equal distance from the stage, a special feature of the team battle.
"Sky Arena, hm, why don't we just go on the stage and determine the winner?" Ye Xiu asked in the global channel, but none of Happy's characters made any immediate moves.
"Or how about you just come up, Old Wang, and the two of us can fight it out, whoever loses will just have their whole team GG?" Seeing that there was no response from the other side, Ye Xiu provoked them once again.
Team Tiny Herb still had no reaction, but the entire stadium was already in uproar because of Ye Xiu's unbridled arrogance.
"I think I'm beginning to understand the hate that Tyranny has for him," Tang Rou said to the others with her. Losing three times in a row to Ye Xiu and Excellent Era was still bearable, but the crux of the issue was that they still lost after all the provocation and ridicule, making it truly unbearable. This kind of unbridled arrogance was something that was usually displayed by the villain, and afterwards, the hero would go and defeat him, slapping his face. But now, the hero couldn't win, instead losing to this kind of villain, how disgusted would the viewers be? And on top of that, this had happened for three years straight, Team Tyranny's hatred was indeed very scientific.
It looked as if the Team Tiny Herb fans in the crowd were already going insane, but the players in the field looked pretty calm, with no one bothering to respond in the global channel. Instead, the characters from Team Tiny Herb all followed their established paths and advanced tactically.
"It can't be that you want me to let you have the first move?" Ye Xiu was still talking.
"That's enough, what's the point of talking so much rubbish?" Wang Jiexi replied at long last, disapproving of Ye Xiu's trash talk.
At this time, Ye Xiu sent a "sigh of relief" emoticon and said, "And here I thought that all of you weren't here!"
"We're here!" Wang Jiexi once again replied and informed him. At this time, Tiny Herb's five players had already appeared at the edge of the stage, looking down from above and meeting Team Happy's five players face-to-face.
"No one move, let them come down here!" Ye Xiu simply issued his orders in the global channel.
Tiny Herb didn't hesitate and immediately charging down the flight of stairs from the stage.
"Damn, they really came, let's retreat!" Ye Xiu once again shouted in the global channel.
As such, Happy's characters started to turn around and ascend the stairs to the viewing terraces behind them, and the team that occupied the high ground abruptly changed again.
"Let's open fire!" As Ye Xiu issued his command, Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain launched the first attack of the match.
The artillery shells spat tongues of flame as they flew, but Tiny Herb's five members all scattered, with none of them being hit by the attack. But by their team composition, Team Tiny Herb didn't have any long-ranged attackers, with no one being able to directly engage in a firefight with a Launcher. Team Happy, who were now occupying the high ground, seemed to be in a superior position at the moment.
"Possessing the high ground means having a definite advantage. If we were to use control of the high ground as the deciding factor in victory, then this map could be considered very complex. Each set of stairs has many layers, and the map is filled with them, so to make use of the high ground requires awareness of the details of the entire map, unlike many other maps where controlling one focal point means establishing an absolute advantage," Li Yibo began discussing the current circumstances in the match.
'That's true, for now, Happy has the height advantage, but looking at the map, Tiny Herb could just change their position and climb to the same height as Happy," Pan Lin replied.
"So in this map, the battles that occur won't be the vertical battles centered around the stairs, but instead horizontal battles," Li Yibo said.
"You're right, Tiny Herb has already made such arrangements. It seems that they aren't too worried about Happy's temporary control of the high ground."
"The lowground is the inner circle of the map, with a smaller circumference, so it's not possible for Happy to occupy a high position and continually suppress Tiny Herb," Li Yibo said.
"That's right, Tiny Herb has moved around the inner circle, and gained horizontal distance from Happy."
"Yes, with this position, they can more or less start their advance."
"Alright! Tiny Herb is advancing! When the two teams face off horizontally on the stairs, the difference in height created by each step will affect many minor details. Tiny Herb must have done some special practice in this area, which is probably why they picked this map. Tiny Herb has charged up! Fuck!" Li Yibo was excitedly explaining, but at the end, he let his mouth run for a moment, uttering a vulgarity during the broadcast and leaving the broadcasting team completely flustered. It was only one word, and it was too late now that it had been said, so Li Yibo had already covered his mouth.
Tiny Herb charged up the stairs, but Happy's members once again descended the stairs…...
And from the directions given out in Happy's team chat, everyone could see what Happy's intention was.
The stage in the center!
"The stage in the center... If we're talking about controlling the high ground, this would be the most appropriate spot. The difference with the viewing terraces on the edge of the map is that here, the inner circle is the high ground, while the outer circle is the low ground, so if they have the high ground here, Tiny Herb can't just pull away horizontally and create a breakthrough point that way," Pan Lin exclaimed.
"Ah! Tiny Herb has also reacted very quickly, they've immediately turned around and come down."
"The two sides have the same intentions! They're both rushing towards the stage now."
"Is this really going to be where the match is decided? The steps here aren't as numerous as at the viewing platforms, but it's still enough for ten people to battle it out."
"Oh! Without reaching the stage, the two sides have already started attacking!"
"This isn't just a race, the two sides are using their attacks to control and restrict their opponent's movements!"
The two teams finally began to fight in earnest.
Chapter 1329: Happy’s Primary TargetTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Boom! Boom!
As always, Dancing Rain struck first with her longest attack range. However, the cannonfire did nothing to stop Tiny Herb's advance.
Xu Bin, Angelica, the Alliance's Number One Knight, with the so-called strongest shield Wall of Sigh, blocked Dancing Rain's line-of-sight cannonfire.
Team Tiny Herb advanced as a whole and soon enough, two star cards rose from behind the Wall of Sigh, one high, one low. Tiny Herb had two Witches in their midst.
Star Ray!
The two star cards cracked, releasing two rays of light right at Happy's formation.
However...
Myriad Manifestations Umbrella shield!
Lord Grim came to the head of the formation and opened up is Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, blocking the attacks like Xu Bin's Angelica.
The two sides were now at mid-range of one another.
Stringer, Sky Piercing Strike!
Happy's Dancing Rain and Boundless Sea launched attacks simultaneously. This was clearly an AoE attack that Xu Bin's Angelica alone didn't have the ability to block. As for Tiny Herb? The two Witches once again struck as one.
Lava Flask, Acid Rain Flask!
The two flasks had only just been tossed when, with two bangs, Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations had already switched to gun form, smoke rising from the muzzle. The two flasks had barely gone anywhere before they were smashed, lava and acid rain spraying across Tiny Herb's formation. Naturally, it wouldn't harm them, but this skill was clearly useless against Happy too. Instead, Happy's Stinger had arrived above their heads.
Scatter!
Team Tiny Herb's characters scattered in all directions. Just as they dodged the Stinger, Gao Yingjie's Kind Tree was already charging up the stairs towards the arena. Their offensive might've been stopped, but utilizing their need to dodge Happy's offensive, they could gain the higher ground first.
Plus, on these steps, Happy didn't have anyone who could move as swiftly as a Witch, thus they had to attack to prevent this.
Laser Cannon!
A beam of light came roaring out from Dancing Rain's cannon, but it wasn't headed for Kind Tree.
Vaccaria!
Dancing Rain's target was, shockingly, Vaccaria. As they scattered to avoid the Stinger, Tiny Herb's members lost Xu Bin's Angelica's protection. Dancing Rain's attack was surprisingly sent towards Vaccaria.
What sort of decision was this?
Wasn't the crux of the current battle fighting for the high ground? Happy wasn't going to try and stop Kind Tree? Did they have other plans?
The three in the broadcasting room were puzzled. However, the pace of the battle didn't give them time to consider this problem carefully.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
Soft Mist charged out from Happy's formation, yet her target was also Vaccaria.
Boundless Sea, Lord Grim, all of Happy's characters had begun to attack, but their targets were all clear as day.
Wang Jiexi, Vaccaria.
Tiny Herb's best player, Tiny Herb's most powerful character. Happy actually decided to charge straight at this wall from the beginning of the match. They ignored Kind Tree who had charged towards the arena to gain the higher ground. Happy didn't seem to have any intentions to fight over this with Tiny Herb.
"No way! Happy's main target is Wang Jiexi?" Pan Lin yelled.
"Heh, what a joke," Ruan Cheng sneered.
"This…" Li Yibo fell silent, not sure what to think of this. He felt that Happy's strategy was irrational, so there must be something else to happy's plans. He'd wait before judging.
So this is your plan?
Wang Jiexi gazed at the attacks headed for him. Vaccaria side stepped the Laser Cannon, jumping on his broom and circling in the air, causing Soft Mist's Dragon Breaks the Ranks to miss and leaving her five body units behind. Wang Jiexi ignored these obvious attacks, attention fixed on the other two who were charging over. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim and Fang Rui's Boundless Sea. What were these two planning to do?
Wang Jiexi had seen through Happy's intentions, but he didn't try to avoid them, instead heading straight at them.
Qi Blade!
Boundless Sea struck first, sending out a knife-hand that escaped almost everyone's notice. However, it didn't escape Wang Jiexi's gaze. Vaccaria once again spun himself as he flew, dodging the wave of qi from the Qi Blade with alarming precision. Lord Grim and Boundless Sea were now right in front of him and he quickly gave them a Disperse Powder. However, there was no chance that these two would be struck so easily. One left and one right, they jumped to the side to avoid it.
Shadow Cloak!
Lord Grim flung a hand forwards, sending a grasping shadow at Vaccaria. Vaccaria swerved at an incredibly strange angle in midair, managing to dart out of the shadow.
Shadow Cloak!
Vaccaria used the exact same skill in response. Lord Grim jumped back, but the Shadow Cloak continued to advance, unwilling to let him go. However, just as it was about to catch him, the shadows seemed to split and a figure darted through.
Dragon Tooth!
Lord Grim had went right through Vaccaria's Shadow Cloak with a Dragon Tooth. What bold judgement and mechanics!
Would countering be possible if they waited for their opponent to make the first move? Too many people were unable to make such a judgement, buty Wang Jiexi could. He could detect these miniscule timings, so he couldn't let Ye Xiu do as he wished. Vaccaria immediately retreated, dodging the attack, but tightly following this, a flash of cold light appeared in his view. Lord Grim had darted to his side with a Shining Cut.
Swerve!
Vaccaria once again swerved through the air, dodging Lord Grim's attack. His swift flight speed allowed him to pull away from Lord Grim by a full two body units. The other members of Tiny Herb didn't just stand and watch their captain get ganged up on. At a time like this, with Wang Jiexi luring in the opponent's offensive, the others did what any core player of a powerhouse team would do and took the chance to find opportunities to attack.
Charge!
As Vaccaria swerved elegantly through the air, Xu Bin's Angelica was already charging over.
Triple Slash!
Liu Xiaobie's Flying Swords had also rapidly approached Fang Rui's Boundless Sea, interrupting the attack he was about to launch at Vaccaria.
It was just that Gao Yingjie's Kind Tree seemed to be a little out of sync with the rest of the team. With Happy's strategic intentions exposed, his position made him seem like he had been lured away. However, was Happy really trying to take out Vaccaria? Were they really going to kick this wall of Tiny Herb's from the get go? Gao Yingjie was suspicious. Should he really give up such a good position?
Shattering the Lands!
Gao Yingjie had yet to make a decision when Soft Mist, after her unsuccessful Dragon Breaks the Ranks, had already charged back. This level 75 skill had been thrown rampantly towards the three Tiny Herb members over there.
Boom!
The magical energy seeped through the cracks into the ground. Liu Xiaobie dodged nimbly. On the other hand, Xu Bin used Angelica's impressive defense to tank the hit and quickly headed towards Soft Mist, who was stuck in her ending lag. Vaccaria was even more elegant. The moment Shattering the Lands struck, he had sped out of range, and the moment the magical energy began to disperse, he was already back, launching an offensive on Soft Mist with Xu Bin's Angelica.
Satellite Beam!
That was when the Launcher's high-level skill descended from the skies, covering Soft Mist. The smaller beams whirled out from the center, aiming to strike at the two. However, Angelica raised his shield, catching the beam that crashed down on him and breaking through with brute force. Vaccaria, on the other hand, gave a display of impressive agility, darting through the gaps between the beams without a scratch.
The broom swung up, but, noticing an attack coming from the side, Wang Jiexi had to have Vaccaria dodge once more. Lord Grim had already arrived in front of him.
"Yingjie, keep an eye on Boundless Sea. Xiaobie go after the healer."
In the Tiny Herb team chat, Wang Jiexi calmly made strategic arrangements. Against Happy's strategy, Tiny Herb was finally making arrangements to counter.
Boundless Sea? After hesitating for a moment, Gao Yingjie, having already decided to give up this vantage point, began to search for the Qi Master's form with orders from his captain.
Because the player was Fang Rui, the Master of Dirty Play, his presence and intentions could become a major threat to Tiny Herb at any time. Tiny Herb did not dare underestimate him, even having someone go to keep an eye on him.
Whoosh!
Kind Tree flew down from the arena, advancing straight towards Boundless Sea. Fang Rui had already noticed, but wasn't willing to give up on the attack he was prepping.
Seismic Throw!
Boundless Sea slammed his palms onto the ground and qi rushed at Angelica and Vaccaria, who were advancing on Soft Mist.
Soft Mist had managed to get out of her ending lag by then and used the opening Boundless Sea's Seismic Throw created, Tyrant's Destruction!
Retreat!
Angelica and Vaccaria had to back away to dodge the sweep attack, and Soft Mist then sent forth a Sky Strike, the angle of it pulling them both in range. But Angelica threw his shield forth and turned, knocking the blow to one side. Vaccaria then advanced, Sweeping Soft Mist into the air.
However, this knockup skill of Witches was the worst of all 24 classes. The knockup height was very limited. Usually, Witches would fly up and use their broom and their other special methods of attack to send the target higher and higher. However, Vaccaria wasn't given that opportunity. Lord Grim's attacks once again came down on him.
Clang!
Vaccaria's Stardust Extermination parried Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella and a figure flashed by behind Vaccaria.
Kind Tree!
Though Wang Jiexi had told him to keep an eye on Boundless Sea, the situation on the battlefield was ever changing. Orders shouldn't be ignored, but often times, players had to judge the situation and make decisions on their own. Seeing that Vaccaria needed a helping hand with continuing his offensive and that Kind Tree was close enough, Gao Yingjie immediately flew over to continue the attack that had been blocked by Lord Grim.
Chapter 1330: Joint AttackTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Could Kind Tree hit Soft Mist?
Everyone was nervously watching for this, but then heard, with a shlink, a blade of sword energy unsheath and arc through the air.
"Sword Draw? This close?!" Li Yibo exclaimed in shock.
Yes, Lord Grim and Vaccaria stood so close, and at such a distance, Sword Draw shouldn't have had a chance to be used. Before the sword even came out of the sheathed, it would've probably already been suppressed.
However, right now, Lord Grim's Sword Draw successfully arced through the air in a circle. Not only did Wang Jiexi not block the attack, but he was jumping back to dodge as well, and Kind Tree, behind him, was instantly exposed to the sword energy of this Sword Draw. Gao Yingjie wasn't slow, but it was too late now. Blood splashed into the air, and his advance had been pushed back by Lord Grim's Sword Draw.
How did this Sword Draw find its way out?
Everything had happened too quickly, and no one had been paying attention to that moment. Playback? During such an intense moment, how could they have time to watch a playback? It was unfortunate, but probably only Wang Jiexi was the only other person who understood why Sword Draw was successful. It was because… Lord Grim's weapon was the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella!
The ribs of the umbrella at the top flipped up into spear form had stopped Stardust Extermination's attack. At the same time, the bottom of the shaft was unsheathed into sword form in a Sword Draw, allowing Lord Grim to successfully use this skill at such a distance. For any normal Blade Master, it would be impossible to parry another's attacks and use Sword Draw at the same time. In other words, this was a pace that was unique to unspecialized Lord Grim, the unspecialized blitz that no one had been able to counter yet.
If you didn't experience it personally, then it really was hard to notice!
Wang Jiexi thought to himself, already back on the offensive after dodging Sword Draw's sword energy.
"Xiaobie, behind you!" At the same time, he sent this message.
Shlink!
Sword Draw appeared once more on the field. Liu Xiaobie didn't even look. His Flying Swords turned half way and sent out a wave of sword energy. Behind him, Boundless Sea was charging over. Fang Rui naturally couldn't see Wang Jiexi's warning and this attack came abruptly to him. It was just unfortunate that this wasn't the best distance for such an attack. Wang Jiexi was in an intense battle himself, after all. A warning was already good enough; there was no way he could help Liu Xiaobie calculate the timing, too.
His relatively far distance gave Fang Rui enough time to react. Boundless Sea jumped backwards, avoiding the strike, but Liu Xiaobie couldn't just ignore Boundless Sea and continue attacking Little Cold Hands. He immediately made a decision to advance on Boundless Sea.
That was when Little Cold Hands raised his cross and began to cast, a holy white light shining like a flame on the cross.
"Xiaobie, behind you!" On the field, Tiny Herb's five members had different views of the field, and it was natural for them to warn others of these sneak attacks when they saw it. Right then, it was Tiny Herb's healer, Yuan Baiqing, that saw Little Cold Hands casting. He realized, with a single glance, that Little Cold Hands wasn't aiming to heal, but to attack. This was a Sacred Fire.
Seeing another warning, Liu Xiaobie knew who was behind him. Striking wouldn't be able to interrupt the other this time. He could only dodge!
Move, turn! Flying Swords rapidly dodged to one side. Now, he didn't dare let either Boundless Sea nor Little Cold Hands out of his sight. He was trying to find a good vantage point now. As for Little Cold Hand's attack, he must've dodged it, right?
Indeed, he had dodged it and the Sacred Fire didn't even touch Flying Swords. Just as the holy white flame jumped, Little Cold Hands turned and Yuan Baiqing realized that something was wrong.
"Captain!" He never would've thought that Little Cold Hands' Sacred Fire wasn't directed at Liu Xiaobie's Flying Swords, but at Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria.
His incorrect warning not only interrupted the offensive Flying Swords who was charging at Boundless Sea, but also made Wang Jiexi let his guard down.
Damn it!
Yuan Baiqing was frustrated with himself. However, even if he could go back and redo things, what should he do? Little Cold Hands had such precise control over the timing of skills, able to finishing adjusting his aim at the very last moment of his casting. Even if he had realized that Vaccaria was being targeted and gave such a warning, Little Cold Hands would probably adjust Sacred Fire so that it was aimed at Flying Swords instead.
The other acted in accordance to Tiny Herb's actions. He couldn't not warn, but doing so didn't do them any good. The only way would have been to interrupt the skill. Unfortunately, it was too late now. The holy white Sacred Fire flared, and Wang Jiexi, facing off against the unspecialized blitz, was oblivious to the danger. An Wenyi's judgement was precise, and the Sacred Fire vanished practically the moment it flared, but everyone could see how this holy white flame latched itself onto Vaccaria's form.
Not bad at all!
Vaccaria's view clearly turned towards Little Cold Hands for a moment, seeming to have glanced towards the young player over there.
However, how much use would it be?
Wang Jiexi didn't panic at all and didn't make any extra actions apart from the glance he gave Little Cold Hands. He didn't stop either. Vaccaria was still doing whatever he had been doing before. Sacred Fire's three seconds of silence could be fatal, but for a Witch, they used all sorts of magic tools to strengthen their brooms in close combat. They had little to no skills which were directly used to attack. Using tools to strengthen their broom, in the end, the effects were only displayed through normal attacks.
In the next three seconds, Vaccaria had merely lost the enhancements from his magic tools, weakening his attacks. To a Witch, this wasn't a fatal blow. In fact, he didn't even need to stop his offensive. Normal attacks, Vaccaria had already been using normal attacks originally!
Stardust Extermination continued to sweep forth and Lord Grim swung his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, parry!
However, in the moment he parried Stardust Extermination, Lord Grim's figure suddenly swayed.
A seemingly useless action, but like that, a bloom of light appeared in front of Wang Jiexi's eyes.
Heat-Seeking Missiles!
Sweep it away? Stardust Extermination had just been knocked to the side by the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella. It was too late.
Dodge it? Heat Seeking Missile's AoE wasn't small, and he was also under the silencing effect of Sacred Fire and was thus unable to fly on his broom.
The other member of his team wouldn't be able to get there in time to help, so Wang Jiexi could only watch as the missile plummeted towards him, boosted by the flames it spat and splitting the air with a piercing howl.
Boom!
The immense mushroom cloud enveloped Vaccaria's form at once and the other members of Tiny Herb could only watch, unable to help. They even had to be careful that they themselves weren't caught up in the shockwave.
The three seconds of Sacred Fire's silence also ended then, but all of Happy's members launched attacks at that swaying, but still present figure in the smoke.
Flash Burst!
Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart!
X-1 Extruder!
Three characters, three directions, in addition to Lord Grim who stuck to Vaccaria's side. Their attacks disregarded all else. Tiny Herb didn't just have Wang Jiexi, after all, they still had Xu Bin, still had Gao Yingjie, still had Liu Xiaobie, but Happy completely ignored these three attackers, even if attacks came towards them.
They might not be able to stop these attacks, but they could disrupt them. So long as there was an opening in the opponent's formation, Wang Jiexi would be able to get Vaccaria out. All of Tiny Herb's members were infinitely confident in that, so they each chose their quickest attacks.
Star Refraction! Gao Yingjie's Kind Tree cast out a star card.
Roar! Xu Bin's Angelica bellowed, releasing the Knight's AoE taunt skill.
Shadow Steps! Liu Xiaobie's Flying Swords immediately split into eight, all swarming forwards to disrupt Happy's offensive.
Even Yuan Baiqing's Aweto, seeing that he was being ignored, silently began to cast a Hypnosis.
Whose skill would be faster?
After Star Refraction's star card cracked open, Star Ray shot out, striking each of Happy's members. However, Dancing Rain's X-1 Extruder had already been released, and attacking the character wouldn't knock the X-1 Extruder off course.
Knocked by the refraction, Soft Mist swayed to the side, but Dancing Fire Flowing Flame in her hand remained on course under her mechanics.
Fang Rui once again displayed his cunning as a Master of Dirty Play. Before the Star Refraction hit, he purposefully turned Boundless Sea slightly, and thus, the attack knocked Boundless Sea back to his original position.
Lord Grim, well, his actions were even more simple. Myriad Manifestations Umbrella opened up and he just ignored everything behind him.
As for Angelica's Roar?
The Knight's aggro-pulling skill was the ultimate counter to this sort of focused attack, but Xu Bin wasn't so optimistic. He had a Knight's Roar, but his opponents weren't bereft of a method to stop it.
Calm and Composed!
Fang Rui's Boundless Sea immediately stopped his Flash Burst when Angelica used Roar, releasing a Calm and Composed instead. All characters in range would be cleared of fear, taunts, and other such statuses.
Knowing that the opponent had a Qi Master, Xu Bin had already expected this, However, this at least interrupted Boundless Sea's Flash Burst, and that would at least give Vaccaria an opening, right?
In the yet to disperse smoke, Vaccaria's form charged in Boundless Sea's direction as expected, but in the next moment, Lord Grim had darted in front of him.
Swerve!
Vaccaria, flicked the handle of his broom, changing direction in midair and flying low with the body bowed.
Shining Cut!
With a flash of cold light, Lord Grim once again flashed in front of Vaccaria.
Swerve again!
Vaccaria turned a full right angle.
Charge, Lord Grim skidding in front of him.
Swerve again!
This time, Vaccaria shot upwards towards the sky.
There was a humming sound, and Wang Jiexi recognized it as the sound of Rotor Wings. Lord Grim had flown up as well.
Too slow! Watching Lord Grim use that skill in an attempt to fly up and block him, Wang Jiexi felt rather incredulous.
"Captain, behind you!" However, he soon saw such a warning in the team chat, four such warnings, one from each player.
Too late.
Furious Dragon Strikes the Heart pierced through his chest.
Chapter 1331: ForcefulTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Blood sprayed into the air. Everyone could clearly see the way Soft Mist's dDancing Fire Flowing Flame impaled Vaccaria.
How could it be?
The crowd stared, dumbstruck with gasps of shock.
First consumed by a Heat-Seeking Missile, then pierced through the chest by Soft Mist's spear. This was theirat most reliable captain, Wang Jiexi, and their most powerful character of their team, Vaccaria! Yet now he was hanging from the spear of that disgrace who had promised to 1v3, like helpless prey. What a joke… How could this happen?
This couldn't be real!
The audience in the stadium couldn't accept what was happening before their eyes, but the match wouldn't wait for them. Soft mMist retracted her spear and Vaccaria's Stardust Extermination seemed like it was about to fly up again, but before he could do so, Lord Grim arrived from above and crashed down.
Eagle Stamp!
Vaccaria was sent to the ground.
Qi Blast!
Boundless Sea had readied a high-level skill, and the turmoulous qi energy was blasted into Vaccaria's body. His magic robes swelled up and blood seemed to spray once more from where Soft Mist had impaled him.
The qi energy silently broke Vaccaria down from the inside out, and Dancing Rain's X-1 Extruder arrived. Vaccaria was pulled in, unable to resist.
Liu Xiaobie's Shadow Step clones flashed in and out, but from beginning to end, no one evenr really paid the clones any mind. Happy seemed to only see Vaccaria. The only attacks they went to deal with were the ones that would disrupt their offensive on Vaccaria. For example, Lord Grim landed once more and turned, suddenly shooting a bullet behind him. The bullet flew, heading directly for their Cleric, Aweto. He had been so close to finishing that long cast for Hypnosis, but in the final moments, Lord Grim had struck him...
Boom!
The X-1 Extruder finally exploded, and Vaccaria was once more consumed by light and fire. The audience couldn't keep watching, and nor could the members of Tiny Herb, on or off stage.
This was their captain, the one that had always led them forth. How could he be toyed with by Happy like that?
Formless Phantom Blade!
Liu Xiaobie's Flying Swords threw forth a wave of sword-light wildly and crazily, cutting through the fire and light. Gao Yingjie's Kind Tree also darted into the sky with a Broom Tornado and then dropped down swiftly. Knight's Spirit! Xu Bin activated Angelica's Awakening skill and Angelica, under Knight's Spirit, used a Fair Heroic Leap, leaping to the other end with an earth-shaking landing.
Tiny Herb's three members stood steady around their captain, protecting him. But...
Charged Artillery!
Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow!
That was when Dancing Rain and Boundless Sea simultaneously launched attacks, both using charged AoEs in a pincer attack. Even Angelica's Sighing Wall wouldn't be able to block these two attacks completely.
These were the awakening skills of Dancing Rain and Boundless Sea, their specialty being that they could both be charged. After charging, their power was immense. No matter if it was the explosion that Charged Artillery created or the eruption of qi from Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow, neither of these were something that a shield could block completely.
Dodging was a priority, but what about their captain? Would he have the time to dodge this wave of attacks?
"Dodge!"
In the Team Tiny Herb chat, an order appeared from their captain, clear as crystal.
Everyone was mentally jolted back to clarity, and the Tiny Herb fans in the stadium began to cheer once more, and this was just an order. Tiny Herb hadn't even done anything yet!
However, if that's what the captain wanted, then they had to dodge!
Xu Bin, Gao Yingjie and Liu Xiaobie all scattered in their own direction and prepared to counterattack in accordance with their own observations and judgements. Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria had also raised his Stardust Extermination.
"Happy really is bold…" In the broadcasting room, Pan Lin's comment was thus after he had finished admiring Happy's performance, wide eyed in surprise.
Directly choosing Wang Jiexi as their main target was a bold enough strategy from Happy, but what was shocking was that they were carrying it out pretty well.
"It's rare to see someone who can place Wang Jiexi at such a disadvantage," Pan Lin noted.
"Perhaps, he's the only one…" Li Yibo replied.
Pan Lin naturally knew who the "he" Li Yibo was talking was was. Ye Xiu, there was only Ye Xiu, the Ye Xiu that had been at the peak of Glory when Wang Jiexi had only just joined the alliance. Compared to the legend of three consecutive championships, Wang Jiexi was a mere Best Rookie in season three. It was impressive that he didn't hit Rookie's Block, but faced with the one who erected a dynasty of three consecutive championships, it was nothing.
One, an ultimate god that had dominated the heavens like the sun, and the other, simply the most talented of a bunch of newbies. Against Wang Jiexi, what did Ye Xiu have to fear or worry about?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
Happy could execute such a bold plan of attack, because this member of Team Happy wasn't someone who feared and respected Wang Jiexi like most players.
Attack, only relentless attack.
When Xu Bin and the other two scattered, Wang Jiexi noticed that Happy's characters didn't react. They continued to fixate on the center of the pincer attack, on Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria.
Wasn't this a little too stubborn of them?
Wang Jiexi was surprised. Happy seemed to have set killing him as their ultimate goal . Were they not going to consider the result of this team competition any longer? Otherwise, why would they play in such an unbalanced waystyle? Why would they be so relentlessly stubborn in focusing their offense on him, even at such risks?
Their attacks might be successful, but they'd pay a higher price to do so. Had they not thought of that? Or, perhaps, had they thought of it, but were ignoring it?
Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria had already hopped onto Stardust Extermination, prepared to escape the terrifying attack Happy had was launchinged. However, that was when Ye Xiu Lord Grim and Tang Rou's Soft Mist charged over.
They had done nothing when Xu Bin and co had escaped, but when Vaccaria moved, they immediately acted.
This wasn't a good situation at all! If they came back to save him, then they would be hit by the two awakening skills. If they didn't, then there'd be little chance he could throw the both of them off, and those two skills were about to arrive. Was having the three of them dodge a bad judgementcall? Should they have gathered their strength to break through one side?
In that moment, many thoughts flashed through Wang Jiexi's mind. This match, the simple map, had come to a situation that was rather complicated. The practice they had put into using this map's terrain to their own advantage had been for naught. The battle had erupted here. If they purposefully went to use the strategy they had originally planned with the steps, it might just have the opposite effect.
But at least, they had to figure out their opponent's strategic intentions!
Boom!
The explosive power of the Charged Artillery was immense, and the thunderous boom blanketed everything. Meanwhile, Boundless Sea's Spirit Reaches to the Rainbow seemed to have been charged until it became tangible, finally blasting Vaccaria as well. This time, he failed to escape. Happy's members were more or less completely ignoring the other three members of Tiny Herb, fixated on Wang Jiexi. This definitely wasn't normal for any match. But this time, Happy had finally paid the price for such an unbalanced arrangement. Xu Bin and co, realizing that they had been ignored, turned back to counterattack and more or less repaid them for the damage Happy had dealt to Vaccaria in full.
"Isn't Happy being a little too bull-headed?" Pan Lin called out, unable to comprehend their thought process.
At first, their encirclement of Wang jJiexi really was very spectacular and successful, but this time, this was clearly an unequal trade. However, Happy still stubbornly tried to take out Vaccaria first, and what they traded for that, was the advantage they had worked so hard to build up.
"Happy is truly too naive if they think it'll be so easy to defeat Tiny Herb's ace!" Ruan Cheng laughed, as if having completely forgotten how his soul had practically left his body when Wang Jiexi had been beaten down.
"Happy is really being very forceful today," Li Yibo noted.
"Heh. So this style is called being forceful? Maybe we could use a different adjective, like reckless?" Ruan Cheng's brain, particularly clever when it came to hating on Happy, once again got to work.
"Have you two noticed Fang Rui's performance today?" Li Yibo said.
"Fang Rui? Boundless Sea?" The two were both deep in thought.
"Don't you two think that today's Fang Rui is particularly not Fang Rui? He hasn't done any dirty sneaking around, ambushes or strange tricks… Today, he hasn't used the style he's used to. Today, he's fighting openly and directly like a normal Qi Master!" Li Yibo explained.
"Is he perhaps planning on changing styles again?" Ruan Cheng considered.
"I don't think so. I think it's just because their offensive strategy today requires him to play such a role," Li Yibo analyzed.
"Offensive strategy? What offensive strategy?" Ruan Cheng laughed.
"Risk everything to wipe Wang Jiexi out," Li Yibo replied.
"Heh," Ruan Cheng laughed again. "Too bad that this is a team competition. Defeating one person doesn't mean defeating a the whole team, no? No matter how central to the team. With this recklessness, I'm really curious how many of them will be left when they finish executing this 'offensive strategy' of theirs."
How many will be left?
It almost seemed like Happy really didn't care about this.
Attack, relentlessly, furiously attack. Anything that didn't affect their offensive against Vaccaria, they ignored it, even if it would harm their characters or send them into a danger zone.
Rising Dragon Soars the Sky!
Flash Burst!
The last time. This was the last time.
Boundless Sea sent his qi energy into Vaccaria's body, and then the dragon condensed from the magical energy of Rising Dragon Soars the Sky roared as it crushed Vaccaria between its jaws.
A net of sword energy instantly unleashed itself onto Boundless Sea. Fang Rui didn't seem to care about his own life, simply turning around for the last time. He saw Xu Bin's sword slam down against Soft Mist's head. The magical energy swirling around her instantly dispersed. He saw the ground approach rapidly, but he could no longer Quick Recover. He saw Vaccaria, far off, encircled by the magical energy of Rising Dragon Soars the Sky, which exploded along with the qi energy that had injected through Flash Burst.