The King's Avatar

"Hurry and give chase!" Han Wenqing ordered. Royal Style's three players let out a breath for it seemed like they were saved. They could wait for Tyranny and Happy to fight it out, and maybe it'd be another devastating battle, providing them with an opportunity.

But soon enough, the three realized that they had misunderstood.

The "hurry" in Tyranny's statement included killing them.

Then again, it made sense. Tian Sen admitted that their shard had already been stolen by Happy, but Tyranny had no way of verifying that this was the truth unless they killed all three of them to see if any of them were still holding a shard. They had already been fighting for so long that it wouldn't take very long for them to kill three players.

Royal Style thought that they could relax, but ended up being the first victims of Tyranny's rage at Happy.

Tian Sen was helpless, Chen Wanhe was helpless, He Weitang was helpless. The three players fell, and Royal Style was officially wiped out.

Tian Sen had been telling the truth when he said that they didn't have a shard. Their shard was indeed on Gentle Angel, who had dropped it to Happy.

To this, Tyranny was somewhat regretful, but they weren't annoyed. Royal Style had already been beaten down, but letting them go free would definitely have come back to bite them. Killing them now prevented that possibility from happening in the future.

Now, it was time to chase after Happy.

Happy had claimed they were going to kill Misty Rain, but Tyranny now knew that it was just as likely they had just used the opportunity to escape. Although they didn't know who on Misty Rain held the shard, just from looking at Happy's attack pattern, they were able to guess that Windy Rain had held it. Now that Happy had their shard as well, would they continue to cause trouble for Misty Rain?

Happy wouldn't, but on the other hand, Misty Rain probably wouldn't just let Happy go. Misty Rain couldn't fight against the Tyranny-Happy alliance, but if it were just Happy, Misty Rain had a better chance. Just because they lost a player didn't mean that they couldn't fight. If that were true, then they might as well just withdraw from the game altogether.

Tyranny had been duped, but that was only because they lacked information. Once they understood how the event worked, the logic was as simple as one plus one. After taking care of Royal Style, they would chase in the direction that Happy and Misty Rain had fled. They would hope that these two would fight bitterly, leaving a chance for them to defeat them and take the shards.

Tyranny's thought process was entirely logical.

Misty Rain ran, Happy pursued. After Misty Rain discovered that Happy was the only team chasing them, they suddenly changed their course of thought. Happy had taken quite a bit of damage when killing Gentle Angel and Windy Rain. It was the same situation as when they had killed Tang Hao's Demon Subduer.

It was unfortunate that Misty Rain didn't have a healer, so it was very difficult to recover health during battle. Happy didn't either, but they had Ye Xiu's Lord Grim, who could serve as a healer in a pinch. It would be more disadvantageous for Misty Rain to drag this out longer.

So Misty Rain suddenly stopped running. They turned and began charging back the way they had come.

But this didn't catch Happy by surprise. They entered battle mode smoothly.

"Attack Dark Forest." Ye Xiu had already issued orders in the team channel, so Happy's five members focused all of their attacks onto Dark Forest without holding back.

"They figured it out?" Seeing how he was clearly singled out as the target of attack, Li Hua's heart beat faster.

Yes, Ye Xiu had figured it out. On Misty Rain's side, Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain hadn't been the only player with a shard. Li Hua's Dark Forest held one as well. Misty Rain had already obtained two shards, which also explained why Tyranny had been unable to find one. There were only five shards, and they were all claimed by four teams. How could there be any left over for Tyranny?

Dark Forest had a shard? Ye Xiu couldn't be a hundred percent certain, of course, but after careful evaluation of battle, he made this judgment, and now, it was time to test his theory.

Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

Soft Mist was the fastest, separating from the others as she launched her attack. Li Hua frantically controlled Dark Forest to dodge, but unexpectedly, the target of Soft Mist's attack wasn't himself. She travelled right past him with her attack, landing in the midst of the three Sharpshooters. Happy was focusing their attacks on Dark Forest, but they couldn't ignore the three Sharpshooters completely. They still had to give them the necessary attention to stop them.

Steamed Bun accompanied Soft Mist on her path of attack.

Although Tang Rou's forcefulness and Steamed Bun's strangeness weren't enough to directly take down the three Sharpshooters, the chaos they caused was definitely too much for the Sharpshooters to quickly break free. While the two Happy players kept the Sharpshooters busy, Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, and Mo Fan surrounded and prepared to take down Dark Forest.

Ninjas specialized in assassinations and sneak attacks, so they were normally relatively difficult to catch. But it was a shame, for Happy also had a Ninja on their side.

Mo Fan's technique might not be as polished as Li Hua's, but his scrap-picking experience made him particularly skilled in several areas. For example, when tracking a target, not only was he incredibly patient, he was able to focus all of his attention, make good decisions, and maintain precise control of his actions.

Tracking someone while scrap-picking required picking them out from the midst of a chaotic crowd. Right now, however, it was just one opponent to track, and this was an incredibly simple task for Mo Fan.

Li Hua was the number one Ninja in Glory, so he quickly sensed Mo Fan's skill, and didn't underestimate him just because he was a rookie. And then there were the other two opponents, Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng, the most highly-skilled partners in Glory. Li Hua didn't dare take them lightly; he wanted to withdraw.

This… was perhaps the greatest criticism the Glory world had toward Team Misty Rain: when facing difficult situations, they didn't have the fierce spirit to keep pushing, they would always reveal a thread of weakness. This had become an iconic characteristic of their team.

Ninjas had many escape techniques, and as the number one Ninja, Li Hua's skill in this area was unquestionable. Immediately, Dark Forest tossed a Smoke Bomb, releasing a thick cloud of purple smoke everywhere. Dark Forest vanished in its midst, but he wasn't finished yet. The opponent could no longer direct catch him, but Li Hua didn't rely on his own movements to change coordinates and escape. Instead, using the smoke cover, he simply used a Shadow Clone Technique, hiding his false body in the smoke, while his real body…

His real body was also in a cloud of purple smoke.

Li Hua wanted to cry. This cloud of purple smoke wasn't his, this was the smoke from a Smoke Bomb dropped by Deception. Li Hua couldn't tell where it was dropped, he only knew that he was swallowed within. Originally intended as a technique for escape, this time it was used as a technique to prevent the opponent's escape. Right now, Li Hua had no idea what his surroundings were, and he didn't dare to randomly move around. What if he took two steps out and fell right into Lord Grim's arms?

However, this was also only temporary.

As the number one Ninja, after the Smoke Bomb finished exploding, Li Hua was able to judge from the smoke's thickness where exactly the bomb had been placed. From that, he knew which direction would be the fastest way to travel out of the cloud of smoke.

But, this could all too easily be a trap. Taking the shortest path, Li Hua felt that he was bound to be caught by Happy.

Walk in the opposite direction, then? But what if it was reverse psychology?

Fine! There were more than two directions, so he would take neither the shortest nor the longest, but instead a direction chosen at random - Happy couldn't predict randomness, could they?

Indeed, Happy had no way of predicting a randomly chosen path. After Deception tossed the Smoke Bomb, they surrounded the cloud entirely, the five characters forming a circle. No matter where Dark Forest exited, they could immediately attack him. Although it wouldn't be enough firepower to directly kill him, it would at least prevent his escape.

So when Dark Forest finally emerged from the smoke, a sword was already flashing toward him.

Your defense isn't enough!

This was Li Hua's immediate judgment. If he was only being attacked from one angle, even if it were Ye Xiu, he believed that he could escape. Unfortunately, just as the sword was about to land, Li Hua heard an explosion above him. Lifting his head, he saw a Stinger explode in the air, sending countless bits of shrapnel raining down towards him.

Dancing Rain.

Su Mucheng.

Su Mucheng of course was not the only Launcher in the Alliance, but she was absolutely the best at executing this type of supportive attack. Her timing and control were outstanding, resulting in this surprise effect.

Su Mucheng was a true expert of restriction. She restricted not just the actions of one player in particular, but the entire battlefield. Her playstyle took full advantage of the Launcher's excellent range.

If the player's skill wasn't up to par, then even if the playstyle were the same, the demonstrated power and efficacy would of course differ. Su Mucheng was the number one in Glory at this Screen Cannon style.

Excellent Era had been relegated this year, and the Pro Alliance had almost forgotten the power of this Screen Cannon. In fact, shortly after Ye Xiu retired, it seemed as though Su Mucheng had weakened greatly. Those who didn't understand thought that Ye Xiu's retirement had affected Su Mucheng's state of mind, but those who understood knew that this restriction style, meant as a coordination with one's teammates, also in turn required the teammates to coordinate with the restriction, seizing the opportunity to kill.

Su Mucheng could coordinate with her teammates, but the return coordination she received was lacking. Because of this, it naturally seemed as though her power was lacking.

This sort of perfect partnership and coordination, how long had it been since they'd seen this? Li Hua didn't have time to consider this question, because he was about to be played to death by this partnership.

The partnership between one close and one far successfully immobilized him, and a second later, Mo Fan's Deception arrived as well. In a 1v3 situation, Li Hua couldn't find an escape route, and it wasn't Misty Rain's habit to explode with power in the face of struggle. The three Sharpshooters tried to help, but Happy already had Li Hua firmly under their control, and didn't mind suffering some damage.

Kill!

At this moment, Tang Rou and Steamed Bun both turned their attacks on Dark Forest as well. Misty Rain lacked a healer, and Ninjas weren't a durable class, and there was no escape route, and there was no way to pull off a sudden explosive turnaround. At last, Dark Forest fell, and, as Ye Xiu predicted, he dropped a shard.

"Retreat!"

Happy had obtained all five shards, so they had no reason to continue fighting with Misty Rain's three remaining Sharpshooters. Ye Xiu immediately directed his team to withdraw.