Chapter 1690: The Warrior Shining Like a Shooting Star
Translator:Nomyummi
Editor:Nomyummi
Whoever controlled the enemy healer, controlled the battle.
These words were a common saying in Glory. The team competition revolved around attacking and defending the healer. Compared to fighting for wild bosses in the game, even more strategic and tactical complexities were involved. The difficulty of wild bosses was mainly due to the sheer number of players involved. However, on the pro stage, everything needed to be far more precise.
In this team competition, both sides had taken unconventional routes. Happy chose to target Jiang Botao's Empty Waves. They didn't seem to show any particular attention towards Fang Minghua's Laughing Song. As for Samsara? Their attack towards Happy's healer wasn't tactical; it was psychological. For a time, their method had been effective. However, An Wenyi was quickly brought back by Ye Xiu. Then, he violated everything a healer should do, and brought Happy back from a disadvantage.
However, the price he paid was completely exposing himself to Zhou Zekai and Cloud Piercer's dual guns.
With the enemy healer sitting right there out in the open, Zhou Zekai didn't mind changing the team's original strategy of ignoring him to killing him. Strategy and tactics had to be adjusted according to the circumstances.
An Wenyi had predicted this outcome when he took the risk. He obviously tried to run, but Zhou Zekai didn't give him a chance. Once Cloud Piercer failed to interrupt One Inch Ash, he immediately shifted his attention to An Wenyi's Little Cold Hands.
As he attacked Little Cold Hands, he didn't forget to be wary of One Inch Ash behind him. At the same time, he also checked how the rest of his team was doing.
Tang Rou's Soft Mist rushed forward, ready for a 1v2. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim pulled away and turned around.
He's coming!
Zhou Zekai saw everything clearly. He had predicted that Happy wasn't going to give up on their healer so easily. From the looks of it, the rescue would be coming from Happy's strongest force.
If Ye Xiu's Lord Grim got close to him, not only would Little Cold Hands be saved, his control over One Inch Ash would drop drastically. By then, Lord Grim and One Inch Ash would form a team, and he would be the one in a predicament.
Fortunately, while Happy had sent aid for Little Cold Hands, Samsara didn't leave Zhou Zekai alone to fend for himself.
Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf had been slowed by the Ice Boundary, but he was able to leave the Ice Boundary in the end. Because of Zhou Zekai's interference, Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash wasn't able to set up any other ghost boundaries.
After walking out from the Ice Boundary, One Autumn Leaf's movements were back to normal. However, it was no longer possible for him to continue shutting down Dancing Rain. Much of the success for the BOX-1 was because of Wu Qi's help. The two of them had teamed together to quickly shut down Su Mucheng.
Now, Wu Qi was no longer there to help. With just Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf alone, it wasn't easy for him to seal off Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain. Su Mucheng was very experienced with these sorts of situations. Sending just one player alone to deal with her would likely end up with Su Mucheng kiting, while she continued to support the rest of the team.
Sun Xiang knew how challenging it would be to face Su Mucheng, and given the present situation, he couldn't waste any more time.
Charge!
This time, One Autumn Leaf didn't target his former partner, but rather his former owner.
Ye Xiu, Lord Grim!
Sun Xiang wanted to stop Ye Xiu from interfering with Zhou Zekai. If he could stall long enough for Zhou Zekai to finish off Happy's healer, victory was theirs.
But Lord Grim turned around and switched targets!
Lord Grim had been rushing to Little Cold Hands' aid. But as soon as he saw One Autumn Leaf running towards him, he immediately gave up on his original plan and ran away towards a different direction.
Swish swish...
Two movement skills came out in quick succession. Countless peoples' eyes were still on the afterimages left behind by Lord Grim. However, for Fang Minghua, in front of him was the real Lord Grim.
Laughing Song had previously gone to fight against Little Cold Hands, but he had been sent flying by Little Cold Hands' Charge.
By the time he steadied himself, Little Cold Hands had sent Cloud Piercer tumbling along the ground. But similar to Zhou Zekai, Fang Minghua didn't let this scene cloud his judgement. He also didn't feel much threat from Little Cold Hands. The attack had indeed been impactful, though. The entire flow of the match could potentially reset.
What came after was as he expected. Starting from when Cloud Piercer failed to interrupt One Inch Ash's Ice Boundary, the situation changed. Su Mucheng was finally able to escape from the BOX-1. Jiang Botao and Wu Qi had their tempos disrupted from One Inch Ash's feint.
But... the key to the match is still in our hands!
Fang Minghua had also noticed Little Cold Hands. That attack had helped Happy change the situation, but at the same time, he was now a lamb in a tiger's den.
Whoever controlled the enemy healer, controlled the battle!
Fang Minghua trusted that Zhou Zekai wouldn't forget such a critical point in the heat of the moment. Even though he was at the top of Glory, he would never forget about the fundamentals.
Zhou Zekai didn't let him down. His reaction was even faster than he had hoped. He only fired at One Inch Ash once before focusing on Little Cold Hands. Fang Minghua could see that Little Cold Hands' back was already dyed with blood.
This is how it should be.
Fang Minghua felt much calmer. He immediately began doing what he was supposed to do. But then, he saw Lord Grim.
Lord Grim had originally rushed over to Little Cold Hands' aid, but when One Autumn Leaf also rushed over to intercept him, he suddenly changed directions.
Fang Minghua faintly realized something as Laughing Song began to run. But Lord Grim was too quick. In the blink of an eye, Lord Grim sealed off his escape route.
So that was his true aim!
Fang Minghua felt a shudder in his heart. Rescue Little Cold Hands? No! Ye Xiu's goal had been him from the very beginning. Little Cold Hands was bait to lure away Zhou Zekai and Sun Xiang.
Who did Laughing Song have to protect him?
No one.
Jiang Botao, Wu Qi, Sun Xiang, none of them could help him. The only one who could help was Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer.
However, Little Cold Hands was stuck by his side. He couldn't contend against Cloud Piercer, but by sticking to his side, even just sticking his hands out and waving them around would be a form of interference.
This is... a trade?
Fang Minghua discovered that An Wenyi had already given up on himself. He had no plans on surviving.
He had barely healed anyone. Instead, he used this simple and crude method to cling onto Cloud Piercer.
Happy's weakest to stop Samsara's strongest? Was that Happy's strategy? Was this Tian Ji's horse race?
Then, by using the opportunity that An Wenyi opened up, Happy would attack Laughing Song, and both healers would be eliminated?
Fang Minghua knew that Happy was more than willing to trade healers. He wasn't being conceited. He was no doubt superior to An Wenyi as a healer. He had this confidence. In fact, every pro healer would have this confidence.
That was why Samsara had intentionally ignored An Wenyi, because even if An Wenyi was given free reign, he wouldn't do better than Fang Minghua. In Samsara's eyes, there was no risk to doing this.
How could they have expected An Wenyi to not be a healer when he was given free reign? He unexpectedly became an attacker, an extraordinarily weak attacker. Samsara ignoring him suddenly became his stage to shine.
Unfortunately, his attack was like a shooting star. In just a flash, it faded away. But in the end, he was able to change the situation. Then, Happy seemed to no longer have any use for him. Happy was clear that in a battle of healers, An Wenyi would lose to Fang Minghua.
As a result, they abandoned him to trade for Fang Minghua.
Today, Little Cold Hands' identity as a healer was a bait.
He shone brilliantly for an instant before fading away, and by doing this, he was going to drag down Samsara's healer with him?
I won't let you have your way!
Fang Minghua had Laughing Song retreat to get as much distance between himself and Lord Grim. His teammates had noticed what was going on. They would certainly try and help him. They knew that this trade wasn't worth it. It wasn't just the difference in value between healers. Without Fang Minghua, Samsara had no healer. However, without An Wenyi, Happy still had Ye Xiu and his Lord Grim!
Lord Grim's healing capabilities weren't great, and as the team's main attacker, Ye Xiu couldn't sacrifice too many of his offensive stats to strength Lord Grim's healing. He might not be a great healer, but he could heal at crucial moments, which could potentially save a life. In terms of technique, while every pro healer could dare to say that they were better than An Wenyi, no would dare to say they were better than Ye Xiu.
Stall and wait for help.
This was Fang Minghua's plan. He had a skill ready to be used as Lord Grim closed in...
Fang Minghua could feel his palms sweat. He knew Ye Xiu's terror, which meant that he was even more careful with how he timed this skill.
Angel's Might!
A Paladin skill, a forced knockback that ignored Super Armor. Fang Minghua wanted to rely on this skill to win more time for his steam, but he needed to get the timing right. He was afraid that if he used it too early, it might not be effective, or Lord Grim might interrupt him.
He stared closely at Lord Grim. Lord Grim and started attacking him from afar. Fang Minghua tried his best to dodge as he endured and waited.
It's time! Now!
Angel's Might!
It was only level one, but in an instant, the divine protection flashed around Laughing Song and quickly spread.
But Lord Grim vanished.
There was no shadow clone. It wasn't Shadow Clone Technique. There was no trace of magic. It wasn't Teleport... even if he used those movement skills, he might not be able to escape. Those were displacement skills, but Angel's Might was an AoE, no?
Where did he go?
Fang Minghua felt a chill. He suddenly realized a possibility.
In the center of the spreading light, Lord Grim tunneled through the earth from beneath Laughing Song.
Ninjutsu - Underground Tunneling Technique!