A short distance away from us, a young man dressed in black casual wear rose to his feet. Carrying his bag in one hand, he looked backward and said something to the four players behind him. They were the four core experts of Cyan Beast, and the 28-year-old young man leading the way was none other than the so-called number one super expert of Cyan Earth City, G.o.d of War.
G.o.d of War"s teammates were a sunny-looking, 25-year-old young man wearing white sportswear and two extremely attractive women. One of them had short hair, and the other, long hair, but even from where I was I could tell that they were at least 34D or bigger...
……
Candlelight Shadow led the way as Candle Dragon climbed up the stage. As they and G.o.d of War"s team spread out in a line, they were met with thunderous applause. It was because both guilds were incredibly popular within their respective countries. Cyan Beast was the number one guild of India, and Candle Dragon was practically the king of Wind City.
The host had to repeat whatever the players said in three different languages, acting as the translator for both the players and the audience listening in on the pre-match banter. G.o.d of War wore a disgusted look on his face and looked like he couldn"t wait to bash Candlelight Shadow"s face in. Candlelight Shadow glared right back with the eternal pride of a champion of all.
Stranger of Three Lifetimes glanced at the man in white sportswear behind G.o.d of War as she teased me, "That white-s.h.i.+rt guy looks pretty handsome. Do you feel threatened, Lu Chen?"
I shrugged. "Why would I? I"m a fighter, not a gigolo. Plus, strength is everything inside the game!"
However, Lin Yixin refuted me, "Gigolo? That guy can give you a run for your money if he becomes your opponent, you know?"
"Really? Who"s he?" I was surprised. Not anyone could win such high praise from Lin Yixin.
Beauty Lin took a sip of red tea before starting, "G.o.d of War"s cla.s.s and personal skills, mechanical skill and equipment are almost second to none even on the world stage, and there isn"t a single top-tier expert in Cyan Earth City who doesn"t concur that G.o.d of War is their superior—except one, his own vice leader, also known as the white-s.h.i.+rt guy. Officially, G.o.d of War has never fought his vice leader probably because he knew there was a chance he might lose to him. His name is Breeze and Rain, and he"s the only player in Cyan Earth City who went with a 5-Agility build, but possesses an incredible amount of Strength. His tactics and skill are almost at the pinnacle, and he is someone who can give G.o.d of War a run for his money!"
He Yi"s eyes widened. "He"s that strong?"
Lin Yixin nodded. "Mn. In fact, I think that the three teams with the highest chance of winning the internationals are Ancient Sword, Hero Alliance and Cyan Beast. Cyan Beast especially has the best chance of all teams to win everything. You may have already noticed this, but India intentionally kept a low profile so they could hone their strength for the day they would need it. They didn"t do anything even after we handed them a devastating defeat during the War of Dawn City, and it definitely wasn"t because they lacked the strength to claim vengeance. The other two members of Cyan Beast, the a.s.sa.s.sin Shallow Sunlight and a magic archer called Yeye the Witch are both extremely powerful players themselves. You"re in the lower bracket, so there"s a high chance you"ll run into them next, so I would advise you to keep your eyes wide open during this match. Pray that Candlelight Shadow and his goons are strong enough to force out Cyan Beast"s true power and "a.s.sist" you in your battle against them later!"
I sucked in a deep breath before replying, "Mn, it definitely sounds like it"s going to be a difficult battle alright!"
……
While we were talking, the match-up was displayed on the big screen—
1v1: Candlelight Shadow LV-187 Warrior VS Breeze and Rain LV-187 Warrior
1v1: Ye Yuse LV-186 Charm Master VS Shallow Sunlight LV-187 a.s.sa.s.sin
1v1: Blue Sky Scar LV-186 Wind Knight VS G.o.d of War LV-188 Blazing Berserker
1v1: G.o.d"s Dance LV-187 Dark Flame Mage VS Yeye the Witch LV-187 Magic Archer
2v2: Candlelight Shadow LV-187 Warrior & Ye Yuse LV-186 Charm Master VS Breeze and Rain LV-187 Warrior & G.o.d of War LV-188 Blazing Berserker
……
I had to wipe a bead of sweat for Candle Dragon. No matter how I looked at it, this match-up didn"t favor them in the slightest. Even Candlelight Shadow, the best player in Candle Dragon, was matched up against Breeze and Rain the Agility Warrior who was said to be as strong as G.o.d of War himself. If Candlelight Shadow couldn"t win the first match, then there was almost no chance for them to advance to the semi-finals!
Rose pursed her lips and commented, "Heavens watch over Candle Dragon…"
I replied, "The heavens? What"s the use of that? Candlelight Shadow is better off praying to his own sword!"
The first match kicked off a short while later. It was Candlelight Shadow versus Breeze and Rain!
Swhoosh swhoos.h.!.+
Both players teleported into the battlefield at the same time. Neither side could afford to lose this match especially because the tournament format was single elimination, so even the prideful Candlelight Shadow activated Great Earth Transformation immediately. To his surprise though, a swirl of cyan energy manifested around Breeze and Rain before taking the form of guardian blades. As it turned out, Breeze and Rain was a Divine General as well!
The shock on Candlelight Shadow"s face made it clear that he had no idea about this. He knew that G.o.d of War was a Divine General, but not Breeze and Rain. He had had the time to research Cyan Beast before their match, but if he missed something this critical, then he definitely didn"t do a good enough job.
The countdown began, and both players tensed up like coiled springs. When the timer turned zero, Candlelight Shadow charged first and zigzagged toward Breeze and Rain like a lightning bolt. He appeared on his opponent"s right and started things off with Barrier Break. However, he was ready to alter his move and react to whatever Breeze and Rain might throw at him, showing wisdom that befit his status as a top-tier expert.
Breeze and Rain waited for Candlelight Shadow to come to him. He looked like an immovable rock that wouldn"t budge even in the face of a tsunami. Right before the Barrier Break could hit him, he took one step to the back to prompt a MISS, then countered with a swing of his sword. The tip of his sword drew a curve that looked like a crescent moon as he cried, "Moon Breaking Slas.h.!.+"
Moon Breaking Slash was a super offensive skill that ignored 70% of the target"s Defense. It was similar to Barrier Break, but could also be used together with Barrier Break. Moon Breaking Slash was an extremely precious skill book that only dropped from high-rank bosses. Personally, I had heard of this skill book but never seen it before. I wasn"t expecting to see the skill in Breeze and Rain"s a.r.s.enal.
Put!
His sword penetrated Candlelight Shadow"s shoulder and dealt a huge amount of damage—98004!
Candlelight Shadow remained calm, however. Stretching his gauntlet like a claw, he grabbed his opponent"s blade, pulled Breeze and Rain to himself and lit the Cyan Rain Sword on fire. It was the prelude to the triple-hit skill, Blazing Purgatory Slash.
"Huh…"
Breeze and Rain twisted his sword in a hurry to nullify the skill, but he only managed to parry the first hit. Two huge cracks and two damage numbers appeared on Breeze and Rain"s armor—
69289!
92822!
Candlelight Shadow had too much Attack. Not only that, he followed up the skill with a flying knee to the chest that dealt another 20k+ damage to Breeze and Rain. As the Agility Warrior staggered backward, Candlelight Shadow opened his palm and cried murderously, "Die!"
Outer Flame rained from above, but Breeze and Rain wasn"t done yet. He waved his own hand and summoned a cyclone of flaming wind.
Blazing Wind Art: Increases user"s speed by 100% and increases Attack drastically.
Crack! Breeze and Rain vanished from the spot. The ground he had been standing on actually cracked a little from the sheer amount of force he applied to it. Somehow, the Agility Warrior had dodged the undodgeable strike, and instead of retreating, closed in on Candlelight Shadow to launch a flurry of lightning-fast attacks. Candlelight Shadow had no choice but to parry them.
Suddenly, Breeze and Rain took a stab through the lungs on purpose and pressed his palm against Candlelight Shdow"s chest. Alarm bells immediately started ringing in the warrior"s head: s.h.i.+T!
BOOM!
A torrent of soul energy spread from Breeze and Rain"s arm and into Candlelight Shadow"s body. It was the Agility Warrior"s Divine General Skill, Soul Capture. It lowered all of his target"s stats by 70% for 3 seconds, and had a cooldown of 120 seconds.
At first glance, it seemed like a trash skill because it only lasted 3 seconds and its cooldown was a ridiculous 120 seconds. However, it was game-changing in a PvP battle. 70% of Candlelight Shadow stats went poof just like that. His max HP was reduced to less than 100k, and his Defense was reduced to that of a second-promotion warrior.
Breeze and Rain finally allowed his killing intent to seep through his mask of calmness. He proceeded to slay Candlelight Shadow in the fastest and simplest way possible—basic attacks!
142828!
Candlelight Shadow groaned and collapsed to his knees. Not only did he fail to survive the 3-second window, he couldn"t even parry the fatal blow. His opponent hadn"t given him the slightest chance to do so.
……
The score turned 1:0. No one was expecting the so-called number one player of the China server to lose to his opponent in the first round, but even more surprising was the depth of Breeze and Rain"s power and skill. The Indian expert was almost as skilled as Candlelight Shadow was, and his character skills were absolutely insane. His Divine General Skill, Soul Capture, was especially G.o.dlike in 1v1 scenarios!
"Why do you look so serious, big bro?" Beiming Xue asked me when she noticed my expression.
I sucked in a deep breath before replying, "I"m trying to think of a line-up that has the best chance of beating Cyan Beast. Cyan Beast is seriously strong, and I"m almost sure we"re going to fight them in the semi-finals. Anyway, let"s continue watching the match. Candlelight Shadow won"t go down this easily, or he wouldn"t be called Candlelight Shadow!"
"Mn!"
……
On the screen, we saw Candlelight Shadow teleporting into the battle arena once more. Breeze and Rain had been waiting idly for him to return.
Everyone who competes knows that at the highest level, it was less of a compet.i.tion of skill and technique, and more of a compet.i.tion of one"s mental state. The person who maintained the coolest head the longest was usually the victor. No matter how strong your skill and technique were, your performance would suffer if you couldn"t keep a straight head. In this regard, both Candlelight Shadow and Breeze and Rain were top-tier experts as well. It didn"t look like the first round had affected them in the slightest.
Candlelight Shadow went on the offensive again when the second round began, but this time he paid close attention to Breeze and Rain"s Divine General Skill. The moment his opponent used Soul Capture, he activated War G.o.d Rampage and successfully nullified the skill. Finally, he used Rock Thrust + Shattering Sword and s.h.i.+eld to shred his enemy"s defense and knocked him out of the fight.
It was a draw now. Candlelight Shadow had taken back a point from Breeze and Rain in a calm and collected fas.h.i.+on.
The third round was still incredibly close. The duo exchanged at least a hundred blows before they finally separated to heal themselves. History repeated itself once more as Breeze and Rain grabbed Candlelight Shadow and used Soul Shackle during a charge.
Candlelight Shadow reacted even faster than last time and activated War G.o.d Rampage, nullifying the skill. Then, he punched Breeze and Rain away from him before retaliating with Rock Thrust!
Boom!
72828!
Breeze and Rain staggered back and took a moment to wipe the blood trickling down his mouth. Then, he went on the defensive and did everything in his power to parry or evade Candlelight Shadow"s a.s.sault. Many times, a basic attack, a skill or an Outer Flame could"ve killed Breeze and Rain, but his full-Agility build, his Blazing Wind Art and his own War G.o.d Rampage gave him just enough speed to weather Candlelight Shadow"s beatdown.
When 12 seconds pa.s.sed by, Breeze and Rain immediately went on the offensive. However, he took another heavy blow on the shoulder and was one hit away from dying!
However, the Indian warrior suddenly broke into a smile and pointed his sword at Candlelight Shadow. The next moment, a purple cage surrounded the Chinese warrior!
Soul Refining Cage: Immobilizes the target for 7 seconds.
……
"What?!"
Candlelight Shadow turned as green as a frog. He couldn"t believe that his opponent had been saving a trump card until the very last moment.