The King's Avatar

Silence, complete silence.

Neither player knew what the other was doing. Even listening carefully, there wasn’t a whisper to hint at the other’s presence.

Only the omniscient audience knew that both of their characters were moving.

Lord Grim rolled twice after a Slide Kick, swiftly leaving his hiding spot for another. As for Huang Shaotian’s Troubling Rain? As Ye Xiu expected, he had merely slowed and rolled into a crouch, carefully approaching where Lord Grim had been hiding before.

Without any hesitation, sword light flashed, cutting through Lord Grim’s previous hiding place.

Whoosh!

Lord Grim had originally settled next to a meter high mud wall. Troubling Rain had attacked with a Piercing Form.

This skill had very high priority, and sword light shot into the mud wall, tearing through it like paper and exposing the upper half of the blade on this side.

A miss. Huang Shaotian made a swift judgement. He immediately had Troubling Rain tug his sword out, but Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim had already flashed out from the other side, sending a Laser Rifle his way.

Lord Grim couldn’t get that far with a Slide Kick and it barely took Laser Rifle a blink to arrive. However, Huang Shaotian was facing his way, so he could clearly see Lord Grim’s actions. No matter what, he couldn’t leave his sword behind though, so Troubling Rain fell into a crouch.

Boom!

Half the Laser Rifle smacked into the wall, taking off a small chunk, and the other half shot directly over the wall, brushing right over Troubling Rain’s head.

Laser Rifle didn’t have the same force that Piercing Form did, and Lord Grim’s Laser Rifle was only rank one. Being able to take off a small chunk of the wall was good enough.

Fwip!

Troubling Rain had already yanked out his Silver weapon Ice Rain by now and was hiding behind the wall.

Slide Kick!

On Ye Xiu’s side, Lord Grim saw Troubling Rain crouch after he released the Laser Rifle, so he resolutely charged out. However, this was when the audience once again saw an important opportunity on the big screen.

On the screen showing Huang Shaotian’s screen, after Ice Rain was pulled out of the wall, his view immediately went towards the small hole that Ice Rain and made. The hole was too small, so it was impossible to see anything clearly, but the moving shadows were clear enough.

Apart from Troubling Rain, wasn’t the only other thing that can move Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim?

Lord Grim executed another silent Slide Kick, but this time, Huang Shaotian caught the movement through the tiny hole he had made.

They were very close. Huang Shaotian didn’t hesitate. Troubling Rain rolled to a stand at once, rolling right off the meter tall wall. Ice Rain’s deep blue sword light stabbed down towards the bottom of the wall, but on this side of the wall, Lord Grim, Slide Kicking over, had raised his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella. The tip opened up, revealing the dark gun muzzle. As the deep blue sword light came down, light flashed from the muzzle and a bullet shot out.

Two strikes, a little out of synch. For a moment, it was impossible to figure out who’s attack had hit first. Blood splashed from Lord Grim’s shoulder, while a bullet found its home in Troubling Rain’s side as he rolled sideways across the wall.

Lord Grim’s Slide Kick had yet to finish, but that was when he suddenly stopped. He was already pressed to the ground, but after that strike, he became even more intimate with the ground.

Falling Blossom Form! A Level 75 knockdown skill.

It was an excellent follow up from Troubling Rain, but at this time, Troubling Rain had already been thrown into the air.

Floating Bullet! A Level 1 knock-up skill.

One was a Blade Master high-level skill, the other was a Spitfire novice skill. In that moment, the two executed a trade. In terms of damage, Falling Blossoms Form was far stronger than Floating Bullet, but the final result was that one character was flat on the ground while the other flew into the air. It seemed like neither could do anything to the other in that moment.

However, it only looked like that.

Because Lord Grim wasn’t Troubling Rain. He had ranged attacks.

Bang!

Lord Grim, still on the ground fired, another shot. From this perspective, the strike from Troubling Rain that pinned Lord Grim to the ground had given the latter to perfect angle to shoot from. If his Slide Kick had continued for another step or two, then it probably wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable.

Another bullet flew.

Troubling Rain hadn’t been tossed too high by the Floating Bullet. At this distance, for a ranged attack, it was far too close. At such a distance, the travel speed of their skills didn’t even matter anymore, even if the skill Lord Grim was using was the relatively slow Stun Bullet.

Huang Shaotian adjusted Troubling Rain’s position in the air, but in the end, he still failed to dodge this close ranged attack. His character froze in mid air, his adjustments futile. Three booms of cannonfire from down below, too close to dodge, not to mention that he was stunned right now, and three anti-tank missiles erupted against Troubling Rain one after the other. Flames and smoke bloomed in the sky, suspending Troubling Rain in mid air. By now, Lord Grim’s knockdown debuff had worn off and a chain of bullets erupted from the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella’s muzzle.

Gatling Gun! Ye Xiu attempted to continue juggling Troubling Rain in the air, and with Lord Grim back on his feet, he was free to chain even more attacks after closing in.

However, Ye Xiu’s opponent was Huang Shaotian.

His character bore the title of Sword Saint, and his strength was recognized as one of the top in Glory.

As soon as the stun effect of the Stun Bullet passed, Troubling Rain moved.

Falling Light Blade!

Troubling Rain made himself plummet from the sky and Ye Xiu hurriedly adjusted Lord Grim’s angle, bullets chasing after the Blade Master. Unfortunately, as soon as Troubling Rain readjusted his pose, he immediately switched to a different skill.

Guard!

Plink! Plink! Plink! Plink!

Silver weapon Ice Rain swept down horizontally in front of him, guarding against the hail of bullets. Bullets! It needn’t be said what precise mechanics this required. However, Ye Xiu wasn’t dead. After several bullets were blocked, he once again readjusted Lord Grim’s angle. With a shift in sword light, his attack glanced away from Ice Rain’s blade, but Ice Rain was already sweeping out, slicing a circle through the air.

Headwind Strike!

Troubling Rain’s body spun like a drill, parallel to the ground, his sword stabbing through the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella’s bullet rain, straight into Lord Grim.

Blood splattered, forming a circle in the air. Lord Grim’s Gatling Gun stopped.

“Spectacular! Absolutely spectacular! As expected of Huang Shaotian! As expected of the Sword Saint!” Pan Lin cheered without a care in the world.

From a mere wall between the two, to their exchange, in this short period of time, they had unleashed a flurry of changing skills. In the end, Huang Shaotian’s skilled bladework broke through Ye Xiu’s close ranged bullet rain with a Headwind Strike!

Last round, Lu Hanwen had broken through Ye Xiu’s offensive and successfully counterattacked using Headwind Strike. This time, Huang Shaotian had managed to overcome his passive stance and take the initiative with a Headwind Strike as well.

Then, Huang Shaotian displayed his array of Blade Master skills, more precise and experienced than Lu Hanwen.

Troubling Rain, still spinning in the air, didn’t even bother landing. His bent legs kicked out, pushing off the mud wall behind him.

Meteor Form!

This was the fastest trick in a Blade Master’s repertoire, and with the boost Troubling Rain gave himself from kicking off the wall, his body seemed to transform into a shooting star.

The deep blue sword light flashed at the front, drawing a blue streak that darted forth. Then, in the path that the blue light took, a dark red replaced it, blooming and spreading. It was the blood that this strike had drawn from Lord Grim.

“That’s damn cool!” Pan Lin yelled. The bloody line that the blue light had drawn, the scene of it erupting in the air, it was so cool he was almost crying. Secretly, he promised himself that he would go back and replay this moment in slow motion a hundred times after the match.

“As expected of Huang Shaotian!” Li Yibo could only find this one sentence to express himself and display his shock in that moment.

The timing, the use of the environment, the mechanics, all of it, the top of the top.

This was Glory’s top player.

And this match was a battle between two of the very top players of Glory.

After Ye Xiu successively took down two of Blue Rain’s players, the atmosphere finally peaked again.

Though those two matches had Song Xiao’s steady defense and Lu Hanwen’s never-give-up enthusiasm, Ye Xiu’s victory still seemed ever so matter of fact. It didn’t create the tense atmosphere one expected from a playoffs match at all. Or at least, it seemed that way.

Yet now, Ye Xiu versus Huang Shaotian, Lord Grim versus Troubling Rain, this fast paced offense, the beautiful and dazzling action. This! This was a true battle between gods!

However, currently, it was Huang Shaotian who was performing beautifully, who had the advantage. This match was on Happy’s grounds, so the atmosphere had its limits. It was Blue Rain’s fans on the away team spectator stands that were cheering wildly.

Changing Spring, Blue River, Chilling Nightfall, Flying Brushstroke, Bound Boat, etc etc.

These were those responsible for managing Blue Brook guild. In the last steps of the season, they had come with their team to the battlefield. This was the benefits of the job, but at the same time, they were the ones who were responsible for leading the Blue Rain fans in their cheering.

“Huang Shao!!!” Blue Rain’s fans bellowed under their lead. Changing Spring personally held the flag embroidered with Blue Rain’s team logo, waving it swiftly through the air above their heads.

Blue River next to him was also very excited. He wasn’t very loud, but his class ingame was the Blade Master. This was the class he loved, and Huang Shaotian was also his favorite player.

Right now, Huang Shaotian’s opponent was Ye Xiu, the Lord Grim that had so much interaction with them ingame, that had tormented them until they coughed blood so many times.

Blue Brook Guild’s members had been eager to see their team’s pro players beat the other up for them. In the regular season, Blue Rain had won twice against Happy, which was great, but unfortunately, Ye Xiu hadn’t lost a single round against them in the individual competition.

Then, in the playoffs, he destroyed two of their players upon coming up.

Changing Spring, Blue River and co had sat depressed in the stands. Could it be that not even their pro players could do anything about this guy?

But now, their core, their God Huang Shaotian was on the field. Although Blue Rain was two players down and Ye Xiu had wiped out two people in succession and was at a health disadvantage from the beginning of the third round, Huang Shaotian’s spectacular performance had them vibrating with excitement and pride.

See that!? That’s Blue Rain’s God. That’s our God! Blue River thought proudly.