Chapter 1117: Catching Dark Forest
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
"Hurry and give chase!" Han Wenqing ordered. Royal Style's three players let out a breath for it seemed like they were saved. They could wait for Tyranny and Happy to fight it out, and maybe it'd be another devastating battle, providing them with an opportunity.
But soon enough, the three realized that they had misunderstood.
The "hurry" in Tyranny's statement included killing them.
Then again, it made sense. Tian Sen admitted that their shard had already been stolen by Happy, but Tyranny had no way of verifying that this was the truth unless they killed all three of them to see if any of them were still holding a shard. They had already been fighting for so long that it wouldn't take very long for them to kill three players.
Royal Style thought that they could relax, but ended up being the first victims of Tyranny's rage at Happy.
Tian Sen was helpless, Chen Wanhe was helpless, He Weitang was helpless. The three players fell, and Royal Style was officially wiped out.
Tian Sen had been telling the truth when he said that they didn't have a shard. Their shard was indeed on Gentle Angel, who had dropped it to Happy.
To this, Tyranny was somewhat regretful, but they weren't annoyed. Royal Style had already been beaten down, but letting them go free would definitely have come back to bite them. Killing them now prevented that possibility from happening in the future.
Now, it was time to chase after Happy.
Happy had claimed they were going to kill Misty Rain, but Tyranny now knew that it was just as likely they had just used the opportunity to escape. Although they didn't know who on Misty Rain held the shard, just from looking at Happy's attack pattern, they were able to guess that Windy Rain had held it. Now that Happy had their shard as well, would they continue to cause trouble for Misty Rain?
Happy wouldn't, but on the other hand, Misty Rain probably wouldn't just let Happy go. Misty Rain couldn't fight against the Tyranny-Happy alliance, but if it were just Happy, Misty Rain had a better chance. Just because they lost a player didn't mean that they couldn't fight. If that were true, then they might as well just withdraw from the game altogether.
Tyranny had been duped, but that was only because they lacked information. Once they understood how the event worked, the logic was as simple as one plus one. After taking care of Royal Style, they would chase in the direction that Happy and Misty Rain had fled. They would hope that these two would fight bitterly, leaving a chance for them to defeat them and take the shards.
Tyranny's thought process was entirely logical.
Misty Rain ran, Happy pursued. After Misty Rain discovered that Happy was the only team chasing them, they suddenly changed their course of thought. Happy had taken quite a bit of damage when killing Gentle Angel and Windy Rain. It was the same situation as when they had killed Tang Hao's Demon Subduer.
It was unfortunate that Misty Rain didn't have a healer, so it was very difficult to recover health during battle. Happy didn't either, but they had Ye Xiu's Lord Grim, who could serve as a healer in a pinch. It would be more disadvantageous for Misty Rain to drag this out longer.
So Misty Rain suddenly stopped running. They turned and began charging back the way they had come.
But this didn't catch Happy by surprise. They entered battle mode smoothly.
"Attack Dark Forest." Ye Xiu had already issued orders in the team channel, so Happy's five members focused all of their attacks onto Dark Forest without holding back.
"They figured it out?" Seeing how he was clearly singled out as the target of attack, Li Hua's heart beat faster.
Yes, Ye Xiu had figured it out. On Misty Rain's side, Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain hadn't been the only player with a shard. Li Hua's Dark Forest held one as well. Misty Rain had already obtained two shards, which also explained why Tyranny had been unable to find one. There were only five shards, and they were all claimed by four teams. How could there be any left over for Tyranny?
Dark Forest had a shard? Ye Xiu couldn't be a hundred percent certain, of course, but after careful evaluation of battle, he made this judgment, and now, it was time to test his theory.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
Soft Mist was the fastest, separating from the others as she launched her attack. Li Hua frantically controlled Dark Forest to dodge, but unexpectedly, the target of Soft Mist's attack wasn't himself. She travelled right past him with her attack, landing in the midst of the three Sharpshooters. Happy was focusing their attacks on Dark Forest, but they couldn't ignore the three Sharpshooters completely. They still had to give them the necessary attention to stop them.
Steamed Bun accompanied Soft Mist on her path of attack.
Although Tang Rou's forcefulness and Steamed Bun's strangeness weren't enough to directly take down the three Sharpshooters, the chaos they caused was definitely too much for the Sharpshooters to quickly break free. While the two Happy players kept the Sharpshooters busy, Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, and Mo Fan surrounded and prepared to take down Dark Forest.
Ninjas specialized in assassinations and sneak attacks, so they were normally relatively difficult to catch. But it was a shame, for Happy also had a Ninja on their side.
Mo Fan's technique might not be as polished as Li Hua's, but his scrap-picking experience made him particularly skilled in several areas. For example, when tracking a target, not only was he incredibly patient, he was able to focus all of his attention, make good decisions, and maintain precise control of his actions.
Tracking someone while scrap-picking required picking them out from the midst of a chaotic crowd. Right now, however, it was just one opponent to track, and this was an incredibly simple task for Mo Fan.
Li Hua was the number one Ninja in Glory, so he quickly sensed Mo Fan's skill, and didn't underestimate him just because he was a rookie. And then there were the other two opponents, Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng, the most highly-skilled partners in Glory. Li Hua didn't dare take them lightly; he wanted to withdraw.
This… was perhaps the greatest criticism the Glory world had toward Team Misty Rain: when facing difficult situations, they didn't have the fierce spirit to keep pushing, they would always reveal a thread of weakness. This had become an iconic characteristic of their team.
Ninjas had many escape techniques, and as the number one Ninja, Li Hua's skill in this area was unquestionable. Immediately, Dark Forest tossed a Smoke Bomb, releasing a thick cloud of purple smoke everywhere. Dark Forest vanished in its midst, but he wasn't finished yet. The opponent could no longer direct catch him, but Li Hua didn't rely on his own movements to change coordinates and escape. Instead, using the smoke cover, he simply used a Shadow Clone Technique, hiding his false body in the smoke, while his real body…
His real body was also in a cloud of purple smoke.
Li Hua wanted to cry. This cloud of purple smoke wasn't his, this was the smoke from a Smoke Bomb dropped by Deception. Li Hua couldn't tell where it was dropped, he only knew that he was swallowed within. Originally intended as a technique for escape, this time it was used as a technique to prevent the opponent's escape. Right now, Li Hua had no idea what his surroundings were, and he didn't dare to randomly move around. What if he took two steps out and fell right into Lord Grim's arms?
However, this was also only temporary.
As the number one Ninja, after the Smoke Bomb finished exploding, Li Hua was able to judge from the smoke's thickness where exactly the bomb had been placed. From that, he knew which direction would be the fastest way to travel out of the cloud of smoke.
But, this could all too easily be a trap. Taking the shortest path, Li Hua felt that he was bound to be caught by Happy.
Walk in the opposite direction, then? But what if it was reverse psychology?
Fine! There were more than two directions, so he would take neither the shortest nor the longest, but instead a direction chosen at random - Happy couldn't predict randomness, could they?
Indeed, Happy had no way of predicting a randomly chosen path. After Deception tossed the Smoke Bomb, they surrounded the cloud entirely, the five characters forming a circle. No matter where Dark Forest exited, they could immediately attack him. Although it wouldn't be enough firepower to directly kill him, it would at least prevent his escape.
So when Dark Forest finally emerged from the smoke, a sword was already flashing toward him.
Your defense isn't enough!
This was Li Hua's immediate judgment. If he was only being attacked from one angle, even if it were Ye Xiu, he believed that he could escape. Unfortunately, just as the sword was about to land, Li Hua heard an explosion above him. Lifting his head, he saw a Stinger explode in the air, sending countless bits of shrapnel raining down towards him.
Dancing Rain.
Su Mucheng.
Su Mucheng of course was not the only Launcher in the Alliance, but she was absolutely the best at executing this type of supportive attack. Her timing and control were outstanding, resulting in this surprise effect.
Su Mucheng was a true expert of restriction. She restricted not just the actions of one player in particular, but the entire battlefield. Her playstyle took full advantage of the Launcher's excellent range.
If the player's skill wasn't up to par, then even if the playstyle were the same, the demonstrated power and efficacy would of course differ. Su Mucheng was the number one in Glory at this Screen Cannon style.
Excellent Era had been relegated this year, and the Pro Alliance had almost forgotten the power of this Screen Cannon. In fact, shortly after Ye Xiu retired, it seemed as though Su Mucheng had weakened greatly. Those who didn't understand thought that Ye Xiu's retirement had affected Su Mucheng's state of mind, but those who understood knew that this restriction style, meant as a coordination with one's teammates, also in turn required the teammates to coordinate with the restriction, seizing the opportunity to kill.
Su Mucheng could coordinate with her teammates, but the return coordination she received was lacking. Because of this, it naturally seemed as though her power was lacking.
This sort of perfect partnership and coordination, how long had it been since they'd seen this? Li Hua didn't have time to consider this question, because he was about to be played to death by this partnership.
The partnership between one close and one far successfully immobilized him, and a second later, Mo Fan's Deception arrived as well. In a 1v3 situation, Li Hua couldn't find an escape route, and it wasn't Misty Rain's habit to explode with power in the face of struggle. The three Sharpshooters tried to help, but Happy already had Li Hua firmly under their control, and didn't mind suffering some damage.
Kill!
At this moment, Tang Rou and Steamed Bun both turned their attacks on Dark Forest as well. Misty Rain lacked a healer, and Ninjas weren't a durable class, and there was no escape route, and there was no way to pull off a sudden explosive turnaround. At last, Dark Forest fell, and, as Ye Xiu predicted, he dropped a shard.
"Retreat!"
Happy had obtained all five shards, so they had no reason to continue fighting with Misty Rain's three remaining Sharpshooters. Ye Xiu immediately directed his team to withdraw.
Chapter 1118: Split Up
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Happy wanted to run. That was their current goal, but Misty Rain still had three players left and they weren't easy to escape from. Fortunately, there was a bit of internal conflict going on outside the game between the three remaining Misty Rain players.
Lu Yining had been crowned season eight's Best Sixth Player. He was a very dependable player, but right now, his position in Misty Rain was somewhat awkward. He was likely to leave this summer. And the ones to push him into this situation were Shu Keyi and Shu Kexin, the two sisters.
It wasn't possible for Lu Yinning to not have any opinions about this matter. Not only were Shu Keyi and She Kexin new rookies, they were also quite arrogant. It could be said that Lu Yining didn't have any good feelings towards them.
At the moment, Misty Rain was fighting to improve their team's hardware. Lu Yining was about to leave. His participation in this event had been forced to begin with. He just didn't want his emotions to ruin his reputation. Misty Rain was in a difficult situation right now, but hoping for Lu Yining to cooperate with Shu Keyi and Shu Kexin to turn this situation around was quite optimistic.
When Happy retreated, Shu Keyi and Shu Kexin tried their best, shooting at them as they chased. For these sisters, a defeat in this dungeon and to Happy at that felt like deja vu. In last year's Christmas event, the two sisters had planned on using the leaderboards to make a name for themselves. Unfortunately, they were defeated by Ye Xiu multiple times in succession. In the end, even though they had been noticed by the pro scene, the results didn't meet their expectations.
This time, they had come out to strengthen their team. Misty Rain's luck was quite good. They encountered two minibosses and obtained two shards, making them the team in the lead. However, they were once again thwarted by Happy.
They only had three players right now. Besides Happy, there was also a powerful opponent like Tyranny glaring at them like a tiger watching its prey. The two sisters had been a part of pro scene for half a year now. They knew how powerful the pro teams were and no longer had the naive confidence in thinking that they could challenge Tyranny by themselves. They didn't have any confidence in challenging Happy either, but they couldn't swallow their anger. They had to at least try.
Bullets flew.
The two Sharpshooters fired their guns as they chased after Happy. Lu Yining was in no mood to fight, but he had to at least show a bit of effort. As a result, he also shot at Happy as he ran, but he clearly wasn't being very diligent about it.
The two sisters quickly noticed his listless attacks.
"Can't you try harder!" Shu Keyi expressed her dissatisfaction.
"Hmph." Lu Yining replied with his nose. Sure enough, he tried harder. He tried even harder to sandbag.
The two sisters saw this. He was deliberately opposing them! There was nothing they could do though. They had heard the rumors going around in their club and knew Lu Yining definitely didn't have any favorable opinions towards them. The two were helpless. They hadn't specifically joined Misty Rain to kick Lu Yining from his position. Everyone played the same class, so it would be hard to avoid competition between them. Someone's spot had to be taken, so someone would naturally have to leave. The two sisters felt like Lu Yining's dislike for them was unprofessional.
The two obviously weren't going to compromise. With their personalities, it would only serve to make them work even harder to let the team know that they had made the correct decision. Shu Keyi complained to Lu Yining, but all it did was make that guy respond even more negatively, so she stopped talking.
Ignore him! We'll do it ourselves!
The two sisters abandoned Lu Yining and attacked Happy even more fiercely. As for Happy, under Ye Xiu's lead, they continued to run while constantly harassing Misty Rain's players.
For them, Misty Rain was no longer a threat. Their only threat was the biggest threat in this dungeon, Team Tyranny, who were probably going after them right now.
Tyranny's misfortune had been Happy's fortune. Because of their good luck, they were able to avoid fighting their biggest threat. Their luck was gone now though. Tyranny must have figured it out by now. Even if they didn't, after beating Royal Style, Tyranny would still chase after them.
So they couldn't stop. They had to keep running!
As for Misty Rain at the rear, Ye Xiu didn't care about them at all because they weren't running from Misty Rain in the first place. Misty Rain just had to have three Sharpshooters though. It was very annoying. The sounds of their gunfire echoed in this underground cavern. If Tyranny wanted to chase after them, they could do so just by following the sound of gunfire.
In the end, Happy had to guard against Tyranny, only Tyranny.
Thus, as Happy ran, Ye Xiu took any opportunities that came up to counterattack. If these three tails could be removed, then it'd be best to remove them.
However, the Shu sisters weren't stupid. They realized the crux of the issue. The two had a much clearer understanding of their skill now. Trying to steal the shards with just the two of them would be like trying to steal the sky. In this situation, they needed to rely on Tyranny's help and fish in troubled waters. Happy was running away as fast as possible not because of their fear for the two sisters and that cheerleader, but because of their fear for Tyranny.
The more scared their opponent was of something, the more they needed to help that something. The sisters immediately adjusted their plans. They stopped chasing Happy as closely as before and started being more on the defensive. However, they weren't going to let Happy escape from them either.
Ye Xiu immediately saw through this change. As a result, he promptly made a decision: "Steamed Bun and I will stay. You three go find the Ghost King. Hurry!"
Team Happy split up.
Su Mucheng led Tang Rou and Mo Fan along with the five shards to figure out how to find the Ghost King. Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun stayed behind to block off the passage.
Fortunately, the underground passage was narrow, which made sealing it off that much easier. Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun took the initiative to attack the two sisters.
The two sisters were surprised. They clearly hadn't expected Happy to split up. Even though their side had three players, this underground passage was narrow, making it very difficult for anyone to circle around them. What's more, Lu Yininig was still being very uncooperative with them. The two sisters had almost forgotten that their side had three people.
"Steamed Bun, you take the left. I'll take the right." Ye Xiu instructed. With his sinister eyes, he had noticed that Lu Yining was intentionally sandbagging. Even if Team Misty Rain frequently dropped the ball in tense situations, it wouldn't so bad that anyone would sandbag. Ye Xiu thought about it and guessed that it was probably unrelated to in-game matters and rather some sort of conflict in the team. As a result, Ye Xiu didn't pay much attention to Lu Yining. Their priorities should be the two sisters. The synergy between those two sisters was quite impressive. There were even people in the scene that predicted these two sisters to be Glory's future Best Partners. Truthfully speaking, Ye Xiu agreed with this view too.
Steamed Bun followed orders. He immediately charged out, while also chatting with Ye Xiu: "Their names seem very familiar."
"They should feel familiar to you." Ye Xiu said.
"Really? Bro, have we met before?" Steamed Bun asked excitedly as he charged towards his opponent --- Shu Kexin's None Dare Attack.
Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack were two male characters. The two sisters had never attempted to hide their genders. Who would have thought that Steamed Bun would forget about them so cleanly. His impression of the two of them were practically zero.
Shu Kexin completely ignored Steamed Bun and attacked him fiercely.
Steamed Bun might be talking, but his playing wasn't weak. Steamed Bun Invasion twisted and turned. He dodged two shots and suddenly attacked with a Powerful Knee Strike, striking at None Dare Attack.
Ye Xiu wasn't slow either. Lord Grim had started attacking from afar using his umbrella's Gun Form. Mid-range and close-range skills poured out endlessly. Shu Keyi's situation was clearly more difficult than Shu Kexin's.
In these consecutive intense battles without any healers, potions were Misty Rain's only way to heal. But better potions had longer cooldowns. In a pro-level confrontation, relying on potions wasn't reliable. Misty Rain's three players didn't have much health left. And Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun were no longer escaping and instead attacking them proactively. Happy had a cheerleader healer Lord Grim, so their situation was slightly better. In this battle, Happy had the advantage. Lu Yining had to face an opponent now and he responded relatively seriously. It was just that their situation wasn't good. He wasn't able to turn the situation around. As he fought and fought, he concluded that it was impossible to win, so he turned around and ran. However, he still gave out a warning and shouted "I'm retreating."
This was clearly a formality. He wasn't being targeted, so if he wanted to retreat, he could just retreat. But those two sisters had their throats gripped by Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun and were being beaten up! Lu Yining quickly retreated, not even attempting to help protect his teammates.
The two sisters nearly died from anger, but they weren't the types to blame the gods and accuse others. The two tried hard, struggling to break free from their opponent's attacks.
In the end, Steamed Bun wasn't always the most reliable. He messed up and Shu Kexin's none Dare Attack escaped. But unfortunately for Shu Keyi, trying to escape from Ye Xiu and trying to escape from Steamed Bun were two entirely different matters. Shu Kexin obviously wasn't Lu Yining, who ran away on his own. After escaping from Steamed Bun's clutches, she tried to save her sister. But Shu Keyi, who was fighting Lord Grim, knew better how difficult it would be and decisively rejected it: "Forget about me! Run away first and look for an opportunity later!"
Even though the two were sisters, they neatly broke away. There was none of that cheesy drama like "If you're going to die, I'll die with you." After hearing her sister's opinion, she didn't hesitate to turn and run. Ye Xiu obviously wasn't going to let Lower Your Head go and killed her.
"Ya ya ya ya!!" Steamed Bun let None Dare Attack go accidentally. He felt very ashamed and wanted to redeem himself.
"Recover first." Ye Xiu yelled for him to stop.
Lu Yining escaped. Shu Kexin escaped. But she didn't go find Lu Yining. She wasn't placing any hopes on this guy no matter what.
The two characters ran one behind the other. They kept on running around randomly. They turned around and saw that Lord Grim and Steamed Bun Invasion wasn't chasing after them, but there were people ahead of them. Tyranny's five had finally arrived. Lu Yining was running at the front. Before he could greet them, he heard someone from Tyranny say with a voice filled with gratitude: "Over here!"
And then he was killed.
Tyranny was a very decisive team!
Chapter end
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