Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Phantom Demon! One Inch Ash!
Even though the live audience had the projections in the center of the stadium, giving them a comprehensive overview of the battlefield, many of them had still overlooked Qiao Yifan. No one had expected that from Ye Xiu to Tang Rou, both of them had only been trying to get the enemy’s attention. The one to complete the attack was Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash.
And One Inch Ash’s attack target clearly wasn’t to interrupt, but to trade.
The Lightning Wave Formation that Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves placed down was primarily for defense. It was to stop Happy from getting close to them.
In this sense, Samsara had succeeded. Neither Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim nor Tang Rou’s Soft Mist could get close. After Tang Rou cancelled Dragon Breaks the Ranks, she quickly moved away. Instead of trying to force her way in through another opening like everyone thought she would do, she ran as fast as she could out of the Lightning Wave Formation’s range.
Then, there was Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash. He didn’t get close. He didn’t need to get close. While Ye Xiu and Tang Rou attempted to interrupt Jiang Botao’s cast, he hid himself and quietly began casting his own spell. Whether the interrupt succeeded or failed, Samsara’s attention would be drawn away from him. By the time One Inch Ash appeared, he would be done casting, and it would be too late for Samsara to try and interrupt him.
Dark Boundary!
Darkness descended. The screens of four of Samsara’s players went black as if the power had been cut off.
The crowd went into an uproar.
The battle had just begun. After only a single clash, the kings, Samsara, had suffered a huge loss. There were only five of them on the field, and four of the five had been caught in the Darkness Boundary. It was truly a rare sight.
Samsara had overlooked Qiao Yifan’s existence. This was absolutely a mistake on their part. However, at the same time, Happy’s ingenious ploy had to be given credit as well.
Because of how uneven it felt!
An unevenness in skill between players was a common issue in new teams. Happy was a new team. There was Ye Xiu, one of the greatest players of all time, leading the way. Then, there was Su Mucheng and Fang Rui, two All-Stars. After that, there was just a bunch of rookies. This unevenness was extremely apparent. An Wenyi was considered Happy’s weakness precisely because of this disparity in skill.
However, Happy took advantage of this problem, creating a lot of strategies revolving around it. In this match, they once again utilized it.
Compared to An Wenyi, Qiao Yifan had never been viewed as Happy’s weak point. In fact, he was looked upon quite highly. Many Tiny Herb fans criticized the team for letting of such an outstanding player.
Qiao Yifan shouldn’t have been overlooked. The gap in skill between him and the top players on the team shouldn’t have been so apparent. However, Happy set their own pace, creating this false image.
First, Ye Xu’s Lord Grim charged out. Samsara had to focus their attention on him and answer back.
Next, Tang Rou’s Soft Mist charged out like a fierce tiger. Tang Rou had just achieved a 1v3 against them. Samsara obviously couldn’t relax against her.
The two of them quickly drew in all of Samsara’s attention. In front of their imposing presence, Qiao Yifan seemed to be invisible. It was almost inevitable.
Qiao Yifan didn’t disappoint. He seized this opportunity well. There hadn’t been any communication in Happy’s chat during this time, but each of them seemed to naturally know what to do. The pro players, who paid attention to the details, also noticed that An Wenyi’s Little Cold Hands had drawn in the attention of Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer. Su Mucheng’s Dancing Rain couldn’t be ignored by him either. Not only were An Wenyi and Su Mucheng defending against Zhou Zekai’s one-man assault, they were also taking away his attention. They had lured him to a position, where he wouldn’t be able to see One Inch Ash unless he turned his head back.
It seemed to just be a mistake from Samsara, but how could it be so easy for such a low-level mistake to happen to Samsara?
This was a match between the two top teams in the Alliance. Most of the time, mistakes didn’t just happen. The opposing team made the mistakes happen.
Happy had successfully set up a situation that led to Samsara making a mistake. Now, four of Samsara’s players were blinded.
“Don’t leave anyone out!” Fang Minghua reminded everyone in the team chat. Although the four of them had been blinded, they could still use the team chat.
“Everyone, forward!!” Jiang Botao shouted.
Forward? Which way was forward?
Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer was forward.
It seemed to be a fairly vague order, but everyone on Samsara immediately understood. The ones who hadn’t been facing forward turned around. Despite being blinded, they were pretty close.
Afterwards, move.
No disorder could be seen. The team moved together as one. Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves swung his sword again.
Nebula Wave Slash!
He unexpectedly went with this Level 75 skill. It could be considered as quite wasteful just for defense, but wastefulness had its value. Tang Rou had originally been planning on rushing into the Lightning Wave Formation to attack them, but she had no choice but to change her mind. Although Jiang Botao was blinded, he was able to create a powerful barrier around the four of them with Nebula Wave Sword.
However, moving together as one wasn’t exactly the wisest choice to escape from a ghost boundary. This was because the enemy Ghostblade could just set up another ghost boundary wherever they were going towards, catching them in another net.
Samsara did it anyways because they had one person who had not been caught.
Zhou Zekai, Cloud Piercer.
After seeing his teammates’ movements, he immediately started assisting them. His first task was to stop Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash from placing down another ghost boundary.
Turn fire!
The bullets flying towards Little Cold Hands instantly shifted towards One Inch Ash. However, Cloud Piercer couldn’t actually see One Inch Ash from his position. Even so, with the help from his teammates, he could get a rough approximation of One Inch Ash’s location. His attacks might all miss, but they would still seal off the areas where ghost boundaries could be placed.
One step, two steps…
Samsara’s four players stayed together, and it looked like they would soon exit the range of the Darkness Boundary. Zhou Zekai didn’t need to protect them for long.
Su Mucheng’s Dancing Rain fired artillery shells at him to interfere. Tang Rou’s Soft Mist dashed over. It looked like she wanted to body block Cloud Piercer’s bullets.
Troublesome!
Zhou Zekai immediately had Cloud Piercer move. No matter what, he needed to stop One Inch Ash from placing down another ghost boundary. This moment was crucial!
It’s coming!
One Inch Ash stopped moving. Only a tiny bit of it peeked out. He had a clear view, and he was positioned at the right angle. He had finished casting his ghost boundary. He just needed to set it down. He swung his tachi, and Soft Mist was just about to reach him.
A gunshot. The ghost soul’s power began to spread from One Inch Ash’s blade.
It’s impossible!
The stadium screens and the broadcast showed Cloud Piercer’s perspective. There was no One Inch Ash in his line of sight. Tang Rou’s Soft Mist had covered him completely. This bullet would definitely be blocked.
Pu!
A hit.
Blood spurted into the air from the bullet wound. Tang Rou didn’t feel Soft Mist get hit, but then, the ghost god’s power began to fade from One Inch Ash’s weapon.
It hit?
Qiao Yifan himself couldn’t believe it, but the wound on One Inch Ash was real. The damage wasn’t much, but his ghost boundary had been interrupted.
Where did the bullet come from? Qiao Yifan was puzzled. Tang Rou was clearer than him. The bullet had gotten past Soft Mist, yet Soft Mist and One Inch Ash had been perfectly lined up.
Curve Firing…
The stadium screens put on a slow-motion replay. Cloud Piercer had activated Curve Firing. The curve of the bullet had been extremely small. The extra time that it took for the bullet to curve was short enough that it could still reach One Inch Ash in time. If he had acted slightly slower, One Inch Ash wouldn’t have been interrupted.
Fortune had come!
Even Zhou Zekai couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. He had dealt with this predicament.
The final step!
Samsara’s four characters finally rushed out from One Inch Ash’s Darkness Boundary. Their eyes finally saw the light of day, when their screens suddenly turned black again.
What?
In that instant, the four on Samsara were wondering if their computers really had lost power. They had clearly seen the light. How could it have turned dark immediately afterwards? Even if One Inch Ash’s ghost boundary hadn’t been interrupted, it couldn’t have been another Darkness Boundary. He had cooldowns.
Wait, Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash couldn’t use Darkness Boundary again, which meant it had to be…
Ye Xiu! Lord Grim!
Their screens had been dark, so how could they know what Ye Xiu was doing? And by the time Zhou Zekai noticed it, it was too late. Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim had patched up the gap, placing down his own Darkness Boundary.
Samsara had overlooked another person, and this time, it was Ye Xiu, the person who they should never overlook.
But the pro players could completely understand. No matter how amazing Zhou Zekai was, he was only one person. Happy had put up a nearly impenetrable defense for One Inch Ash. He had miraculously interrupted him with a Curved Firing. There hadn’t been any time for him to look at Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim even if just a glance.
That bastard was simply too shameless. He had added a ghost boundary to his umbrella: Darkness Boundary.
Dual Linking Ghost Boundaries!
The pro players looked towards Team Void’s two Ghostblades. Because this was exactly like Team Void’s signature move, including the unexpectedness of it.
Of Team Void’s Ghostblade Duo, Li Xuan’s Crying Devil was a standard Phantom Demon, primarily using ghost boundaries. On the other hand, Wu Yuce’s Carved Ghost was a hybrid class. What ghost boundaries he used were a mystery in every match.
In the pro scene, Wu Yuce’s Carved Ghost was absolutely the craziest about resetting his skill tree. Every single match, he would reset his skill tree. No one knew which ghost boundaries he would coordinate with Li Xuan in their Dual Linking Ghost Boundaries.
Wasn’t this sort of unexpectedness the same as what Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim was giving to Samsara?
Right after exiting a Darkness Boundary, Samsara’s four had entered another Darkness Boundary…
