China vs Australia: King of Thieves

This chapter is dedicated to Rein_3417

It took two more players to take Chu Yunxiu down. By then, the faces of the Australian team had paled, their distraught plain to see under the bright lights of the stadium. And who could blame them? Chu Yunxiu was not the most skilled and her Windy Rain not the most well-equipped player in Team China and yet, she had completed a 1v3.

Their hopes of not returning home after the first match dwindled with every second.

The captain of the Australian team shook his head vigourosly, as if trying to shake off the gloom that hung over the team bench. Clapping his hands for attention, he looked to his teammates and spoke.

"The score is currently 3-1. It is not too much of a deficit. We can turn it around and take this match. We can be the dark horses of this competition. We will defeat China and move on to the next round."

The players nodded, determination filling their faces. They can win this. They looked to the large screen as one. The player that took Chu Yunxiu down was still on stage and he would be facing the next Chinese player. They would have to wait to find out who that was, however.

Currently, Chu Yunxiu was exiting the player booth to the applause of the entire stadium. Often deemed too calm and too soft, she had displayed a fierceness tonight that would go down in the history books.

Her teammates all stood and applauded as well, a look of pride and accomplishment on their faces. They had just won the first three matches in spectacular fashion. Chu Yunxiu herself beamed as she descended the stairs to where her team waited.

Su Mucheng opened her arms and welcomed her friend with a hug. "You did well," she said, her words muffled in Chu Yunxiu's hair.

"Thank you. I'm glad it worked out like that."

The rest of the players gave their compliments as well as high-fives and fist bumps. Fang Rui clapped her on the shoulder. "Well done." He raised his shoulders arrogantly. "It's my turn for a 1v3 now. Let's teach these Australians what we are made of."

He swaggered unto the stage waving his hands at the fans, both those booing and those clapping. "Ha ha, what a lively environment."

On the outside, Fang Rui seemed carefree and relaxed but in his mind, he was firmly determined and focused. It had been a little over a year that he had switched classes. If any Glory fan was asked to appraise his performance, they would give him 10000/10 points. It seemed so fantastical that a pro player would change classes and still be able to display such a level of skill.

But Fang Rui, along with others like Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng, knew the truth. He sometimes faltered with the class, his Thief habits so deeply ingrained in him. Now, he was being asked to fight on the greatest stage of all.

The invitation he'd received was an acknowledgement of his skill, yes, but he also knew of others that could quickly replace him. He had to show the whole world, and most importantly himself, that there was no one else that could do what he would do here today.

The map remained Ten Thousand Springs and thanks to Chu Yunxiu's valiant efforts he knew all there was to know about the map. His character loaded and he was ready to go.

"The fifth battle of the Australia-China match has begun and I'm sure the questions the Australians are asking themselves is 'Can they stop the momentum of the Chinese?' And it is certain that this match will be the deciding factor," Pan Lin said.

"Yes, that is very correct. This match will be the deciding factor. The first three Australian players have been eliminated but we have to keep in mind that those were the rookies, with no more than two years of playing Glory at a professional level. Now, the more experienced players come out as the anchors of the group battle. Things will really get difficult here for our Thief turned Qi Master. Especially as his opponent is also a Thief."

As soon as the words left Li Yibo's mouth, he realized something was wrong. Especially as his opponent is also a Thief.

Did that really mean anything to Fang Rui? The King of Thieves?

Fang Rui's Boundless Sea swam vigorously towards the island, evading the waterfalls and whirlpools in his way. His opponent was a Thief and the amount of land was limited. Therefore, there was a good chance that this battle, unlike Chu Yunxiu's battles would take place in the sea.

The land was too plain, with no space to hide, crawl and stoop like a Thief needed to if they wanted to place traps. Even a Battle Thief would have issues fighting in such an environment. That was his first prediction and it was right.

The Australian controlled his character to drop into the sea, swimming towards Fang Rui's spawn point. As he swam, he kept an eye open for any attacks. His assessment of this player was simple: Dirty. He would use dirty tricks to throw his opponent off guard and win the match.

The fact that he was playing with a Qi Master meant nothing. He was a Thief, through and through.

Burning Light, the character the Australian played had been carefully examined, his equipment switched and upgraded for the World Cup. He could say with confidence that he was the ultimate Battle Thief in the competition.

He would set traps to limit Fang Rui's movement and attack directly. He was not stupid. He knew how skilled the Chinese were. The last player had had only 8% health left and she had used that to wipe out two times his health.

And as such, he was the fourth player in the group arena for his country with 84% health while the Chinese were on their second player with 100% health.

It was imperative they win this if they had any realistic chance of winning the match.

Breathing deeply, he had Burning Light turn left and right, searching for any signs of his opponent. He predicted that Boundless Sea would take a roundabout route, attempting to ambush him. He was right and wrong.

Fang Rui did take a roundabout route only because he suspected his opponent would predict his route and take a roundabout route as well. He had no plans of ambushing.

Therefore, before long, the two players came face-to-face with each other.

Burning Light wasted no time. Stealth. He became invisible, his cloth armour, equipment disappearing, undiscernible to the eyes. The crowd clapped excitedly. This was what they liked. Action.

"'What will Fang Rui, the King of Thieves, do in this position?' the fans seem to be asking. A very good question indeed. Coach Li…"

"Well, from the equipment on Burning Light, some of which are Orange, it is obvious to me and even more so, to Fang Rui that Burning Light is a Battle Thief. So we can expect him to charge head on, even for the duration of Stealth. As for Fang Rui's response to that, we know from the battle with Lin Feng last season that Battle Thief or otherwise, it means nothing to the King of Thieves."

Too bad the King of Thieves was playing a Qi Master, the crowd mourned. They would have loved to see Fang Rui in his Doubtful Demon glory.

Anyway, Sky Piercing Strike. Burning Light had been creeping along, closing the distance between him and Boundless Sea when the Strike hit him head on. Fang Rui had spun around, seeming like he was expecting an ambush from behind.

Who would have known that the instant Boundless Sea turned back to face him, it would have been with a Sky Piercing Strike. And that the attack would hit him so accurately in the chest, despite the fact that Stealth was activated and Fang Rui should have no idea of his whereabouts.

The Thief shook his head. Too naïve. He had to focus.

His character, having been hit, was now very visible and was being jostled by the Qi energy Fang Rui had shot. The waters around him became rough, distorting his view. Boundless Sea disappeared. But he shouldn't have gone so far.

Burning Light rushed forward to attack. Surprise him! Catch him off-guard!

But Fang Rui activated Qi Flowing Cloud, his speed drastically increasing. It was obvious he was on the offense as well. No tactics, little strategy. What would happen as the two went head to head?

The audience got their answer soon. Qi gathered around Boundless Sea's glove, the rough waters providing a cover and Fang Rui shot the Qi directly at Burning Light. Flash Burst!

One hit and then Qi continued to pour into Burning Light, dealing continuous damage. Thieves are not classes with high health, and in the first place, he had started this match with 16% of his health gone. The Flash Burst only served to worsen the Thief's situation.

His heart became as turbulent as the water surrounding him. Speaking of which, he had to get to the surface before his vitality ran out.

Fang Rui seemed to understand his thought process and sent him on his way with numerous attacks. By the time the Australian reached the surface to breathe, he knew that it would only take a miracle to turn the battle around but he didn't lose hope.

From the angle of Fang Rui's last attack, the Thief expected him to be behind him. So he swam away, heading to the island, setting traps on the surface of the water as he did. Ensuring that his back was well-protected. As he swam, he looked around him, searching for his opponent.

Where was Boundless Sea?

He didn't have to wait long. Boundless Sea appeared in front of him, shocking him.

"Fang Rui predicted his next move and swam as fast as he could towards the island and as we can see, Boundless Sea had Qi Flowing Cloud activated once again. And what attack will Fang Rui launch now? Countercurrent."

Countercurrent was the knock-up skill for Qi Masters. The slowest but the most long-ranged and thus, from where Fang Rui was, he could hit Burning Light with Countercurrent but Burning Light could not retaliate.

Sure enough, another combo of skills followed and Burning Light's hope disappeared like his health.

"Are all the Battle Thieves in the world the same?"

As the battle ended, Fang Rui typed these words into the chat, the first sentence in the World Cup. Mocking and making jest.

"What is a Battle Thief by the way? Does it make any sense for thieves to do battle? Leave that to the Battle Mages and lay traps. Come back when you've learnt enough."

With that, the fifth battle came to an end.

China 4 Australia 1