Wheel of Sun and Moon was the fourth-placed team in the WEL Korea nationals and the weakest of all of the Korean teams. However, even a dead camel is bigger than a fat horse. No matter how weak they were, they were still an international contender.
The first match was Lin Yixin versus the enemy"s ace archer. Currently, a top-cla.s.s archer must know how to parry their enemy"s attack at close range and use that force to push themselves away from the enemy, and this ace archer was no exception. After all, the Archer cla.s.s only had one escape tool also known as Leap. If a fighter managed to get close while the skill was on cooldown, anyone who couldn"t pull off this technique was probably going to die.
Unfortunately for this ace archer, his opponent was the woman who got her nickname through her dagger mastery, the famous Fruit Knife G.o.ddess herself. Some of us literally snorted out loud when he pulled out his dagger in an attempt to defend himself. After just a couple of exchanges, Lin Yixin easily knocked his dagger aside—without using so much force that the archer could push himself away from her—and ended the battle with the Seven Star Veluriyam Sword.
The match ended 2:0 in favor of Lin Yixin. As usual, the girl was practically untouchable on the battlefield.
The second match was between Purple Marquis and a berserker. Both fighters were hot-blooded males, and their clashes were just as exciting. Purple Marquis"s skill was absolutely superior to his opponent"s, however. He was always able to appear at the right position with the right cooldowns he needed. After two Barrier Break + Absolute Zero combos, he defeated his opponent 2:0.
The overall score turned 2:0. It was now a match point for Snowy Cathaya.
The third match was a bit of a shame. Clear Perfume had a chance to defeat the enemy"s magic knight, but she wasn"t quite able to achieve the same effect as Beiming Xue when defending herself with her dagger. Unable to handle the enemy"s well-executed counterattacks, she lost the match 1:2 and allowed the game to extend to the fourth match.
The overall score was now 2:1. Wheel of Sun and Moon had staunched their bleeding for now.
The fourth match was Shadow Chanel versus another magic knight, a Heroic Bannerman no less. However, not every Heroic Bannerman was a first-rate expert—just like how Laughing At The Heavens didn"t really deserve to appear in the CGL Hall of Fame, but did anyway—and this one happened to be one of them. The dark tongue mage was able to beat him fairly easily and carry Snowy Cathaya into the Top 4!
The final score of the battle was 4:1, a dominant win for Snowy Cathaya. They were also the first team to advance into the semi-finals of the WEL internationals!
……
"It"s our turn now!" Beiming Xue exclaimed in excitement as she stared at the screen.
Lian Xin nodded. "Yeah. Our opponent is Throne of the Wild, and their leader, Tear Stain, is apparently Candlelight Shadow"s university junior. I wonder if they were ever in a relations.h.i.+p, heehee…"
I shot her a look. "You"re overthinking this. I don"t think they"re like that…"
However, Murong Mingyue retorted, "A relations.h.i.+p is the only thing that could make a woman this obsessed with a man, okay?"
I sighed. "Fine, fine, they"re like that…"
Not far away, Candlelight Shadow glared at us and said, "Can you not gossip about me around me? Also, my life is none of your business, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls!"
Li Chengfeng smiled from his sofa and said, "Oh my, the king lost his composure. How unsightly. Pooh!"
Candlelight Shadow"s complexion turned the shade of purple, but he couldn"t erupt and engage Li Chengfeng in real life PvP because he was in public. Of course, I didn"t think that Candlelight Shadow could beat Li Chengfeng or even me. Li Chengfeng was a policeman who was trained in all sorts of self-defense and takedown techniques. He could probably one-shot Candlelight Shadow if he wanted to. As for me, my body has become unreasonably strong ever since I was infected by the virus. I could punch way above my weight cla.s.s even though I barely exercised.
It was at this moment a girl with black hair walked over with her bag slung on one shoulder. She was followed by three men, and they were of course the other three members of Throne of the Wild.
Tear Stain was dressed in an orange sportswear. The collar was unb.u.t.toned, so I could see her low-cut T-s.h.i.+rt and her deep cleavage. It was a sight that drove countless audience members to the brink of insanity. In terms of s.e.xiness and boldness, I had to admit Korean girls were leagues ahead of our women. Of course, the gap was less obvious if it was indoors. For example, Murong Mingyue pranced around the apartment every day in her mini-skirt. It was one of the reasons I was able to face Tear Stain"s cleavage calmly. Warsky and Farewell Song were nowhere as collected though. The way they were staring at Tear Stain"s cleavage, you couldn"t help but suspect if they were going to commit a crime right there and then.
Tear Stain had some light make-up on, and her face looked about as tender as her eyelashes were long. Thank goodness we had two G.o.ddesses—Lin Yixin and He Yi—of our own, or this would"ve been a devastating defeat for China. Tear Stain"s gaze swept across everyone after she arrived at our waiting area. There was a visible pause and a flash of shock and envy behind her eyes when she looked at Lin Yixin and He Yi. After that, she stopped in front of Candlelight Shadow, set down her gaming helmet on the empty seat next to him and called out to him—
"Do you still remember me, Candlelight?"
Candlelight Shadow s.h.i.+vered visibly before looking away from her. "Why… why haven"t you moved on yet?"
Tear Stain broke into a smile. "Why should I? It is for you that I spent three years learning the Chinese language. It is for you I trained day and night just to become stronger. It is for you that I founded Throne of the Wild and carried it to the top, so I can stand as your equal in Korea. All I ask for my efforts is for you to acknowledge me. You were— are—the man I"ve fallen in love with, and I"m never going to change my mind. You know this, don"t you?"
G.o.d"s Dance pursed her lips and commented, "You don"t find a girl like this everyday, boss. Why are you even hesitating? Just accept her already..."
But Candlelight Shadow gritted his teeth and said, "It"s all in the past. You should just forget about me!"
Deep disappointment welled in her eyes, but Tear Stain suddenly broke into a smile and said, "Is that so? I heard you lost to a guild called Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls during the semi-finals of your nationals, didn"t you? Very well, I"ll defeat them and prove my obsession to you!"
She picked up her bag and walked up to us this time. She put a hand on the table and issued us a challenge, "I am Tear Stain, team leader of Throne of the Wild and your next opponent. I know you"re Candle Dragon"s sworn enemy, so I will defeat you for the sake of my man. I will crush you and destroy you in the upcoming match. When this is over, I will even lead Throne of the Wild across Dragonbone Mountain Range and take Dark Moon City from you. Prepare yourself for the bitter taste of defeat, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. Your opponent is far stronger than you can possibly imagine!"
I set down my cup and rose to my feet. Staring straight at Tear Stain, I replied, "That may be true, but you"d better remember that the same thing could apply to you as well; that we may be far stronger than you can possibly imagine. You think you"re unbeatable just because your team is made up of Heroic Bannermen? We"ll show you in a moment that nothing matters before our blades!"
Lin Yixin rose to her feet as well and glared at Tear Stain. "If you"re going to challenge us, do it without the gloating and fanfare! You can gloat after you actually beat us, hmph!"
Tear Stain glanced at Lin Yixin briefly before asking, "We? Last I checked, you"re not a member of Ancient Sword, Beautiful Little Pepper. Who are you to speak on behalf of them?"
Warsky teased, "What do you mean? Of course she"s a part of Ancient Sword, she"s Lu Chen"s girlfriend!"
Blus.h.i.+ng like a tomato, Lin Yixin turned around and glared at Warsky. "You! Get out of my sight now!"
Warsky clutched his gla.s.s of red wine and withdrew to the back as she demanded. It seemed like cowardice, but Lin Yixin was insanely popular both inside and outside the country. All he would achieve by p.i.s.sing her off for real was painting a bright red target on his guild. In a sense, idols like her—one that was as beautiful as she was powerful no less—were even deadlier than Heavenly Kings.
……
Tear Stain patted away the dust on her bag before smiling. "Very well, let us meet again on the battlefield. Defeat will be yours, Ancient Sword. Let"s go, people…"
Frosty Night, Blazing Pulse and Enlightened Heart immediately obeyed and followed behind their beautiful guild leader. All four Korean players were Heroic Bannermen in the same club. We had even encountered three of them during the Nation War. Frosty Night and Enlightened Heart were powerful foes that I was confident I could beat, but I wasn"t so sure about the girls. The worst part was that Tear Stain"s strength was mostly an enigma to us. There must be a reason she was so confident that she would win.
I was about to ask Lin Yixin for some info, but she preempted me and said, "Tear Stain has joined the scene for three years, but her official rise to the top began over a year ago. Not only did she defeat the former number one player of Korea, Full Moon Dance Music, he went to her, a girl six years younger than he was, for guidance. Eventually, Tear Stain would come to defeat every active expert within Korea. She absolutely deserves her t.i.tle as Korea"s new number one."
Li Chengfeng"s eyes widened. "That sounds pretty similar to Beautiful Little Pepper"s story…"
Lin Yixin shrugged. "I don"t know about that. All I can say is I"ve watched her battle footage, and I can say that she"s someone I don"t have full confidence in beating…"
I smiled. "Sorry to cut the chit-chat short, but the host is urging us to get on stage. Time to go, girls! Let"s take out Tear Stain"s team and advance to the semi-finals!"
"Mn mn!"
The girls nodded in unison and followed me up the stage. The WEL internationals was a summit where the strong met, and now was the time to get serious!
……
A quick discussion later, it was decided that I would attend the third match as usual. The third match was usually the decider match, and there was a high chance Tear Stain would show up here. And out of everyone in the team, I had the best chance of defeating her. Not even Lian Xin was necessarily a more suitable candidate.
Beiming Xue would fight the first match to get us a good start, Lian Xin would go next to keep up that pressure, and He Yi would fight the fourth match and continue acting as the gatekeeper. The duo for the 2v2 match was still Beiming Xue and I. The two of us had been fighting together since the Chinese nationals, so our rapport was higher than any other combination"s. A glance was all it took to transmit our intentions to each other.
It didn"t take long for the finalized match-up to appear on the display, but the outcome was slightly different from what we expected—
1v1: Beiming Xue LV-188 Dark Archer VS Enlightened Heart LV-186 Magic Knight
1v1: Lian Xing LV-188 Phantasm of Stars VS Tear Stain LV-187 Ice Knight
1v1: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-187 Undead Swordsman VS Frosty Night LV-185 Dawn Archer
1v1: From Water LV-186 Magic Knight VS Blazing Pulse LV-186 a.s.sa.s.sin
2v2: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-187 Undead Swordsman & Beiming Xue LV-188 Dark Archer VS Tear Stain LV-187 Ice Knight & Enlightened Heart LV-186 Magic Knight