Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Waltzing Wave Slash, missed.
There was not a soul in sight.
The others on Happy were gratified seeing Mo Fan’s read on Jiang Botao, but this alone wouldn’t be enough to baffle him. Mo Fan had learned to make decisions according to the opponent’s class. How could an even more experienced player like Jiang Botao not be able to either?
Deception was a Ninja. Ninjas could use their ninjato to climb up walls, and no pro player would ever overlook this ability when playing against a Ninja. Because Empty Waves was a certain distance away from the stalactite, he could see the majority of it. When he moved to the side to take a look from a different angle, he also moved forward, which allowed him to see the entire height of the stalactite.
But there was nothing below or above.
Jiang Botao reacted at lightning speed. Empty Waves immediately went back to his previous position.
Deception was instantly exposed. Empty Waves slashed upwards, sending a Light Wave Slash towards him. The slash came out at the speed of light, tearing through Deception. Poof!
“It’s a Shadow Clone Technique!!” Pan Lin shouted as if he were crying out in surprise in place of Jiang Botao. In reality, with their omniscient view over the battle, they had already known this would happen. As Mo Fan’s Deception circled around to prevent Empty Waves from seeing him, he also used a Shadow Clone Technique. The shadow clone remained hanging on the stalactite, while the real body dropped to the ground and then disappeared.
Underground Tunneling Technique!
Deception had used Underground Tunneling Technique to hide and then strike at the right opportunity.
Hua!
Deception drilled out of the ground, earth still crumbling away from him, as he aimed straight for Empty Waves’ throat.
But by this time, Empty Waves had retracted his Divine Chains, Guard!
Ding!
Their weapons collided. Empty Waves used the impact to slide backwards. He was even able to react to such a sudden Underground Tunneling Technique?
Earthquake Sword!
Empty Waves threw out an Earth Wave Slash. It was too close, too fast, and this time, Mo Fan wasn’t able to react in time. Deception was hit by the attack.
It wasn’t that Jiang Botao’s reaction speed had been godly, but rather that he had been ready. He had seen through Mo Fan’s plans. The Light Wave Slash had simply been a bait.
After Earth, Fire and Ice! Two successive wave slashes one after the other. However, when the ice crystals swept over, all that was frozen was a straw dummy.
Substitution Technique!
Mo Fan had used a Ninja skill to escape this combo. This was why the “Three Fold Wave” was always “Light, Fire, Ice” in that order. Otherwise, the combo could be broken. Earth Wave Slash didn’t have the same speed as Light Wave Slash. As a result, there was an opening between the following Fire and Ice Wave Slashs, which Mo Fan seized, using a Substitution Technique to escape.
Substitution Technique teleported the user to a random location, so Mo Fan didn’t know where he would end up at himself. It would naturally be even more difficult for the opponent to follow since there was no logic behind it.
Mo Fan had taken advantage of this randomness multiple times in the group arena against Tyranny. He gambled again and again, and in the end, he was able to beat Tyranny’s Qin Muyun.
That fight had left a deep impression on many people. And now that Mo Fan had used Substitution Technique again, their first thought was that it wasn’t to escape but rather to attack!
Jiang Botao also realized this point. Empty Waves didn’t just stand there stupidly. He looked all around him, swinging his sword in a circle.
Magic burst from his blade, covering all of Empty Waves.
Nebula Wave Slash, the Level 75 Spellblade skill.When used, the magic would be shaped randomly. But the magic could also be controlled by the user. One way was to have it spread around 360 degrees. This skill was extremely flexible, allowing the user to use it in surprising ways. After this skill came out, it became hugely popular among Spellblade players. Spellblades mainly added points into their Wave Slashs or Wave Formations. However, the Nebula Wave Slash was so fun and useful that even players who specialized in Wave Formations would spend their skill points to learn and level it.
Pro players obviously wouldn’t learn it just because it was fun. Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves specialized in Wave Slashs. As a result, he had spent a lot of effort coming up with ways to use this skill.
Mo Fan really had used the Substitution Technique to attack. He didn’t want to repeat the same strategy as before, but he simply realized the fact that the Substitution Technique’s random teleport could catch the opponent off guard. He was just taking advantage of it right now.
He threw a Storm Shuriken towards Empty Waves and rushed forward to close in. But then, he saw Empty Waves turn in a circle, creating a protective barrier around him with a Nebula Wave Slash.
Shua!
The fast and powerful Storm Shuriken was blocked by the Nebula Wave Slash and deflected to the side. The priority of Nebula Wave Slash wasn’t low, having properties of both offense and defense. For a moment, Mo Fan wasn’t able to find any openings.
When Jiang Botao turned and used Nebula Wave Slash, he had located Deception. The Nebula Wave Slash appeared to be a complete circle, but after Jiang Botao found Deception, he immediately made some slight adjustments. In the end, the Nebular Wave Slash formed a large crescent moon. His shortsword, Divine Chains, swung towards Deception. Instead of spreading outwards, the magic swept towards that direction.
The AoE covered at least five or six body lengths. The magic wave was neither concentrated nor dispersed. It was like a wall that was pushing towards Deception.
Dodge?
Dodge where?
Up? Down? Left? Right?
In the end, Jiang Botao was able to turn the Nebula Wave Slash into a gigantic AoE attack. Deception’s escape routes had been sealed, and his escape tools, Shadow Clone Technique and Substitution Technique were on cooldown.
But Mo Fan didn’t just sit there doing nothing. Deception immediately retreated backwards. The Nebula Wave Slash was shaped like a crescent moon, which meant that there was more room to escape from the sides. Deception wanted to take advantage of this point.
But as the Nebula Wave Slash expanded, it quickly patched up these openings on the side. The magic was densely weaved together with no openings. This time, Mo Fan was helpless. The retreating Deception was swallowed by the Nebula Wave Slash…
Everyone looked towards Deception’s health… but they discovered that the powerful Nebula Wave Slash didn’t deal as much damage as everyone had expected.
This Level 75 skill had a very high base damage, but because of how spread out it was, the damage was reduced considerably.
Loud thunder, but only small drops of rain…
That was the feeling this attack gave off. Some people felt disappointed. Some people saw this attack as nothing more than the start of a combo.
Empty Waves got up and gave chase, sending out Wave Slash after Wave Slash, magic slash after magic slash striking Deception. The combo meter soared as Deception’s health plummeted. There was unexpectedly nothing Mo Fan could do. Empty Waves didn’t only include the unbreakable “Three Fold Wave”, but also many other Wave Slash skill. Even so, Mo Fan wasn’t able to find an opening to escape?
Escaping was what Mo Fan was best at. In terms of escaping, Mo Fan was number one even in the pro scene.
But right now, his Deception had unexpectedly been completely locked into place by Empty Waves.
By Empty Waves, a Spellblade!
This was worthy of astonishment.
Although Spellblades were Swordsman, they were considered a mid-ranged magic class. There were two ways to play Spellblades. The first was to specialize in Wave Formations, larger AoEs and strong CC. The other way was to specialize in Wave Slashs, stronger DPS but weaker CC. Their mid-range meant that they didn’t have the same oppressiveness as close-ranged classes.
However, Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves had linked together his Wave Slashs so tightly that not even a master at escaping like Mo Fan was able to get away.
How is he doing it?
Those familiar with Spellblades were in awe. They couldn’t see the reason. They could only be in awe at Jiang Botao’s skil. No wonder he was the number one Spellblade. He could do what others couldn’t.
As for the pro players, they quickly discovered the secret.
Prediction and positioning!
Whenever Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves used a Wave Slash, he would never be in the same spot. He was fully putting to use the characteristics of every Wave Slash, searching for the most suitable position to send his attack where he wanted it to go, striking Deception and continuing the combo.
Every attack was a read. This was because Mo Fan wasn’t just doing nothing. He was trying to find an opening, and ever struggle from Deception was read perfectly by Jiang Botao.
“No, he isn’t just reading him…” Ye Xiu said.
“He’s constantly putting out bait. Every attack he makes leaves what seems like an opening, but this opening will quickly be patched up by his next attack. Mo Fan is too sharp. His reactions are too fast. The moment he sees the opening, he immediately goes for it. However, by then, Jiang Botao has already patched it with another attack, which then leaves another opening… it’s a strategy that works against Mo Fan specifically. He’s taking advantage of Mo Fan’s strengths, rather than his weaknesses. That guy’s quite terrifying.” Ye Xiu said.
“It never feels like he’s that great of a player though…” Chen Guo said.
“Because he’s too calm.” Ye Xiu said.
