"One Autumn Leaf successfully landed 120 consecutive hits, triggering the Fighter's Will, but his health is dangerously low!"
"The Priest of Excellent Era, Weaving Shadow, is rushing towards One Autumn Leaf, but at this speed and distance, it might be too late!"
"Right now, the only thing One Autumn Leaf can do is use the high attribute boost from the Seventh-Level Fighter's Will to escape the encirclement by Misty Rain and get healing from Weaving Shadow."
...
"Liu Hao, aren't you going to step in?" Ye Qiu shouted, panic in his eyes as he stared at his health bar, which was down to just 3%. Even a minor hit could be fatal.
"Don't be so anxious. Your task isn't done yet," Liu Hao replied calmly, showing no intention of relieving Ye Qiu's pressure.
If Ye Qiu were to be saved and One Autumn Leaf, powered by the Seventh-Level Fighter's Will, were to take over the match, the MVP would go to Ye Qiu, which wasn't part of Liu Hao's plan.
Ye Qiu, however, didn't quite understand Liu Hao's intention at the moment. Wasn't Liu Hao sabotaging him just to force him to trigger the Fighter's Will? Now that it had been triggered, as long as Weaving Shadow healed him, Excellent Era was bound to win. So why wasn't Liu Hao coming to save him?
"What other task do I have?" Ye Qiu asked, frantically manoeuvring. Luckily, the movement speed boost from the Seventh-Level Fighter's Will helped him evade several skills.
"To act as bait!" Liu Hao laughed. "No one can tolerate having a Battle Mage with the Seventh-Level Fighter's Will alive on the battlefield, so they'll do everything in their power to kill you. Otherwise, they lose. With this mindset, what will their defensive formation look like? I'll answer that—they'll lose their composure, their defence will collapse, and they'll overlook my presence!"
Ye Qiu suddenly went silent. He understood Liu Hao's meaning now. Excellent Era had two options: save One Autumn Leaf and rely on him to win the match, or let Total Darkness become a dark horse!
...
"One Autumn Leaf broke out of the Misty Rain encirclement? Unbelievable! He used the impact from the Striker's Punch to reposition!" Pan Lin exclaimed in shock.
How old is Ye Qiu now? 25 26 years old? To still have such skill? Such reaction speed? Not only did One Autumn Leaf trigger the Fighter's Will while being surrounded by three opponents, but he also managed to escape from that encirclement."
Sun Liang stared at the escaping One Autumn Leaf; his brows furrowed in frustration. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't expect him to... I thought the Punch would finish him off, but he blocked it with his back turned... The damage was just a bit short..."
"No need to apologise," Chu Yunxiu suddenly smiled. "Isn't that why I'm here? If that scoundrel Liu Hao had intervened, I wouldn't have been confident in stopping One Autumn Leaf. But since Liu Hao chose not to save him, One Autumn Leaf won't escape!"
Teleportation!
A flash of golden light from Misty Rain appeared not far behind One Autumn Leaf, with blue energy gathering in her hands...
Ye Qiu heard the sound effect in his headphones, his heart sinking. Although he didn't look back, he had already anticipated his opponent's move—Misty Rain had most likely used Teleportation to blink behind him.
"I'm dead..." Ye Qiu muttered softly.
In the next second, electricity radiated from Misty Rain's body—Thunder Shock Ring; the damage wasn't significant, but with only 1% of his health left, One Autumn Leaf couldn't withstand it.
"One Autumn Leaf... The One Autumn Leaf who just triggered the Seventh-Level Fighter's Will... actually... died?" Pan Lin couldn't believe it. He had been expecting One Autumn Leaf to dominate the battlefield, but right after triggering the Seventh-Level Fighter's Will, he was killed.
The audience's expectations were instantly dashed, but Misty Rain's fans erupted in excitement, chanting Chu Yunxiu's name and praising her brilliant play.
Not for anything else, but because Chu Yunxiu had slain a god, and it was none other than a Fighter God with the Seventh-Level Fighter's Will!
At that moment, the cheers for Chu Yunxiu were almost loud enough to lift the roof of the stadium.
The management of Misty Rain watched this scene, their faces dark. They knew that Chu Yunxiu was demonstrating against them. The girl, who should have been under their control, had now broken free of her chains, and Chu Yunxiu could no longer be restrained!
"What do we do now, boss? Chu Yunxiu is clearly challenging us!"
"What do we do?" The owner of Misty Rain gritted his teeth. "Stop interfering with team training. If we push Chu Yunxiu too far, she might really incite the fans and use public opinion to pressure us."
The boss suppressed his anger, unwilling to let Chu Yunxiu take control of the Misty Rain team. The team was his asset, and that included Chu Yunxiu. But she was just a pretty professional player...
Those in power are reluctant to let their power slip away and can't stand being trampled by those beneath them. But now, they really had no way to deal with Chu Yunxiu's defiance and had no choice but to back down.
"I wonder who gave Chu Yunxiu this idea. She used to be so innocent; she never would have thought to use the fans to pressure the club," the manager sighed.
...
"Now it's finally my turn to act." Liu Hao smiled slightly, slowly typing a sentence on the public chat.
**"Everyone, look up!"**
Six words suddenly appeared in the chat channel. The members of Misty Rain, including the commentators and audience, all instinctively looked up, only to see a lightning bird descending.
"What is that?"
"So beautiful, so magnificent!"
"That's the Grandmaster Swordsman's ultimate skill, Thunderbolt Wave!" someone recognised the skill effect.
A moment ago, everyone was focused on Misty Rain's Misty Rain, who had just killed One Autumn Leaf. Only now did they notice the considerable lightning bird.
"When was that ultimate move cast?" Pan Lin asked instinctively.
But before Li Yibo could answer, the lightning bird engulfed Misty Rain's Striker, Exorcist, and even Chu Yunxiu's Elementalist. The terrifying AOE damage slashed their health bars drastically.
The Grandmaster Swordsman's ultimate move has a slow casting speed and a noticeable wind-up. When people notice the Grandmaster Swordsman casting it, they instinctively scatter to avoid the terrifying AOE damage. Therefore, in professional matches, it's rare to see a Grandmaster Swordsman's ultimate hit more than two people.
Chu Yunxiu stared blankly at the screen. She had been so focused on killing One Autumn Leaf that she had subconsciously ignored Total Darkness's presence, and now Total Darkness's ultimate had taken out three of them.
Wait... three?!!
"We've been tricked!" Chu Yunxiu frowned deeply. "One Autumn Leaf was just a decoy. He wanted to gather us together so that I would use Teleportation!"
"Huh? Did Ye Qiu go to all that trouble just to force you to use your skill?" Sun Liang was incredulous. "Impossible, right?"
But in the next second, what happened confirmed Chu Yunxiu's guess.
Three Wave Swords successively targeted the exposed Misty Rain. Upon closer inspection, it was the Grandmaster Swordsman's classic Triple Wave!
Moreover, the Grandmaster Swordsman's Wave Sword isn't just a simple single-target attack; it's an AOE attack with a group damage radius. The Wave Sword covered the three members of Misty Rain, and the massive damage left them with critically low health.
The Priest tried to cast a Grand Healing spell, but a sudden Evil Slash from the side interrupted it.
Total Darkness stepped forward, facing Misty Rain's four members alone.
"Is Liu Hao really planning to... take on all four of them?" Pan Lin asked uncertainly.
"Probably not. Even One Autumn Leaf couldn't win in a one-vs-four..." Li Yibo implied that Liu Hao wasn't as good as Ye Qiu, so that he wouldn't win either.
However, Liu Hao saw this as a sure-win situation. Ye Qiu struggled because Misty Rain's formation was intact and perfectly coordinated, leaving Ye Qiu with no openings.
But now? The well-protected Misty Rain had used Teleportation to jump to the front lines, leaving no escape skills. To chase down Ye Qiu, Misty Rain's coordination was disrupted entirely, and their positioning was clustered together, allowing Liu Hao to land total AOE hits, leaving everyone with low health. And now, the closest person to Total Darkness was Misty Rain's captain, Chu Yunxiu!
(End of this chapter)
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