In the team compet.i.tion of the playoffs, Happy switched out their healer... Everyone in the Alliance knew how bold Happy was and knew that they would occasionally make an unconventional gambit. However, no one thought that they would dare to do so in this life-and-death playoffs match.
A fully offensive team, staking everything in one throw.
In compet.i.tive play, these two phrases went hand-in-hand. When the formation came into play, it meant that there was no retreating. A team without a healer could only push forward and attack. There was no second option.
However, in the eyes of the pro players spectating the match, none of them felt like Happy was at a point where they needed to take this step. Su Mucheng"s Dancing Rain stood at an absolutely safe position, and with her support, it wouldn"t be a problem for Ye Xiu"s Lord Grim to climb back up again and reach a safe position. Fang Rui"s Boundless Sea was being attacked by three players and was indeed in a difficult situation, but with his cunning, he should be able to escape if that was his only goal.
The confidence in Fang Rui from the pro players showed just how much trouble he had given them over his career. However, after watching for awhile longer, they realized that if Fang Rui wanted to rely on his dirtiness to escape today, he would encounter an obstacle that he had never encountered before. Among the players attacking him was one called Lin Jingyan.
The one who understood him the best was his opponent.
Roll, twist, feint, turn!
Through Boundless Sea"s dirty tricks, Han Wenqing"s Desert Dust staggered into a bad position. Song Qiying was still too inexperienced and lacked the foresight. His River Sunset wanted to attack, but he discovered that he was being blocked by his teammate, Desert Dust.
Did he escape?
A Brick crashed into Boundless Sea"s face.
Lin Jingyan"s Dark Thunder.
The attack wasn"t nearly as striking as the attacks from the two Strikers, but whenever Boundless Sea was able to create an opening, Lin Jingyan"s Dark Thunder would always be there to seal it off.
It had only been a short moment, yet it had already happened three times.
It had only been a short moment, yet Boundless Sea had already lost a third of his health.
Because of Lin Jingyan, Han Wenqing and Song Qiying could focus fully on attacking because the task of preventing Fang Rui from escaping belonged to Lin Jingyan. If not, Han Wenqing"s and Song Qiying"s a.s.sault wouldn"t have been so lacking that Fang Rui could find three openings in such a short amount of time. All of it was because Han Wenqing and Song Qiying didn"t care about giving him openings because Lin Jingyan had their backs.
In the group arena, Lin Jingyan had been the main reason that Tyranny had fallen behind. However, he was now Tyranny"s most trusted player.
Number four!
He had successfully stopped Fang Rui for a fourth time.
Fang Rui was starting to panic. Not a single peep came from him. Of the three players attacking him, two of them were Strikers, who were close-quarter specialists. How could he have any time to spare to type out any trash talk? In the beginning, he thought that he would be able to easily escape from those two blockheads, but after being stopped twice by Lin Jingyan"s Dark Thunder, he realized that those two weren"t stupid.
If he wanted to escape, his opponents weren"t those two, but his old partner!
After changing cla.s.ses, he had taken advantage of the fact that his opponents were unfamiliar with the new "Qi Master Fang Rui". Unfortunately, his old partner was still able to keep up with his thoughts and his pace even after he had changed cla.s.ses.
If he wanted to escape, he needed to find a way to break through. He needed to do something he had never done before.
Fang Rui suddenly stopped trying to escape and started defending and dodging, doing his best to survive.
Give up on escaping? Quietly wait to be rescued?
The spectators were all thinking the same thing. After all, they knew about Happy"s strategic decision, and Fang Rui obviously knew about it too. An Wenyi was switched out for Luo Ji. This sort of decision wasn"t something that An Wenyi could decide on his own. Ye Xiu had clearly given the order in Happy"s team chat. As a result, Fang Rui also knew that his team was coming full force to rescue him.
It was unlikely that Tyranny wouldn"t think of Happy coming to rescue him, but it was unlikely that they would expect Happy to give up on their healer. In Tyranny"s preparations against Happy"s rescue operation, Tyranny would likely be considering either a Battle Mage and Cleric, or a Summoner and Cleric situation.
Was Happy trying to surprise Tyranny?
The pro players thought about this question, but it didn"t look like Tyranny planned on making any changes. After Fang Rui stopped trying to escape, the three attackers kept the same formation. The two Strikers went all-out in their offense, while Lin Jingyan was on guard.
Fang Rui was even more annoyed.
However, he hadn"t given up on escaping! Because he was quite clear about the high risks of switching out their healer. He knew that the reason Happy had made such a risky decision was because of his current predicament. If he could safely escape, Su Mucheng was already safe, and Ye Xiu could easily escape as well. In that case, Happy could regroup and try a different strategy. There was no need to gamble everything on one throw.
Fang Rui"s thoughts had originally been the same as the other pro players watching. Happy shouldn"t need to have to make such a risky play in this important life-and-death match yet. But soon, he changed his mind. Right now, he was in the predicament. He was the breakthrough that Tyranny had seized. He was the one who wasn"t able to escape, pulling Happy down along with him. Although it wasn"t like escaping from a 1v3 was ever an easy task, Fang Rui hated how he was the weak point.
Tang Rou and Luo Ji would come soon, but Fang Rui still wanted to try and change the current situation before they arrived.
However, Tyranny wasn"t going to fall for it. He faked his true intentions to try bait Tyranny into changing their approach, but Tyranny refused to do so.
Truly a bunch of stubborn b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!!
With no time to type out any words, Fang Rui could only curse at them inwardly. He was truly annoyed at Tyranny. How could he know that in reality, when he began faking his true intentions, Lin Jingyan immediately warned Tyranny: "Ignore it."
In the end, Lin Jingyan had seen through him.
After Fang Rui changed cla.s.ses, Lin Jingyan wasn"t used to the way his Qi Master played either. However, Lin Jingyan understood how Fang Rui thought. Oftentimes, he wasn"t predicting what Fang Rui would do, but predicting how Fang Rui wanted to do it. He wasn"t looking at Fang Rui"s methods, but rather his intentions. With his two teammates pressuring Fang Rui, he was able to get a more precise read on him.
Fang Rui saw that his plan wasn"t working and could only try switch it up again.
If trickery doesn"t work, then try brute force!
Fang Rui decided. He tossed aside his dirtiness and suddenly began trying to brute force his way out.
At this moment, a message popped up in Happy"s team chat: Lin.
The message came from Ye Xiu. Artillery fire soon followed.
Su Mucheng"s Dancing Rain suddenly increased the pressure towards his side. In an instant, artillery sh.e.l.ls rained down.
Perfect!
Fang Rui cheered. This sort of surprise almost made him cry out in excitement.
Team compet.i.tion. On this stage, you were never alone. When you needed help the most, your teammate would always support you.
Boom boom boom.
Artillery sh.e.l.ls blotted the sky. Amidst the flames, Boundless Sea swung his fists, Spiri
The swirling qi carried Boundless Sea as he shot forward.
His target, Dark Thunder!
To break through, Fang Rui chose his old partner. Familiarity was something both sides could use as weapons. Fang Rui felt like he had a better chance breaking through against Lin Jingyan than those two Strikers. Moreover, Su Mucheng was providing support towards this side, which came from Ye Xiu"s orders. It seemed like Ye Xiu had thought the same as him!
Dark Thunder backed away.
He dodged Dancing Rain"s artillery fire, while also getting out of the way of the spiralling qi. His retreat was straight as an arrow. He tried his hardest to maintain the distance between the two of them, refusing to let out an opening.
Tyranny had lost one point in the group arena because of him. He wasn"t going to give up another opening, not just for this match, but for this entire year, perhaps even for his entire life.
In this short moment, Lin Jingyan had completely forgotten his age. He completely forgot what would come next. He only knew that he needed to stop Fang Rui from escaping no matter what.
Right now, Dark Thunder wasn"t a character controlled by a faltering old general, but by a dazzling one. He was clearly just jumping backwards, but the rhythm he did it at felt smooth and easy.
Jump jump jump. He jumped backwards in a straight line. The Spiral Qi Rush tore through the air, but it was never able to reach Dark Thunder. This attack, supported by Dancing Rain"s artillery fire, was unexpectedly unable to dig out an opening from Lin Jingyan.
Fang Rui immediately wanted to attack again, but to his surprise, Lin Jingyan reacted far faster than he could. It was as if Lin Jingyan had been waiting for this moment.
Tiger Flips the Mountain!
Double Crescent!
Pain of Scars!
The outdated Demon Subduer three-hit combo once again shined brightly.
Boundless Sea was knocked backwards. Two injuries were torn out from Boundless Sea as the two crescents struck, leaving him bleeding.
Boundless Sea had been completely blocked.
Fang Rui was in a daze. He hadn"t thought that Lin Jingyan would be able to reach this step. He thought that he had understood Lin Jingyan well enough. He was sure that his Spiral Qi Rush would have been enough to break past Lin Jingyan"s limits and send him flying back or forcing him to the side.
But it wasn"t enough!
Lin Jingyan used the most direct method to dodge the Spiral Qi Rush, using that outdated combo of his to counterattack.
Fang Rui wanted to try break through by force, but in the end, Lin Jingyan had beaten him.
Fang Rui suddenly realized that perhaps he only understood a portion of Lin Jingyan. The signature technique of Lin Jingyan"s unexpectedly seemed so unfamiliar to him.