The King's Avatar

"So fast!" countless people exclaimed.

Special battles on specific maps with unique traits didn't occur too often. Strong wind was common, but Gusty Garden was the only map that had wind sources creating gusts strong enough to change a character's speed so drastically.

As for how much of a speed increase this wind granted, it was unclear. The wind would have a different effect depending on a character's weight and strength stats. But judging from how rapidly the Blue Rain players were dashing around, the boost seemed to be at least 50%.

And as soon as they entered the wind, the real value of this map to Blue Rain became apparent. The five characters all had different weight, strength, and base speed, but under the complex effects of the gale, they maintained their formation exactly as it was before. It was clear that they had plenty of experience under these conditions and were able to cope with ease.

Meanwhile on Happy's end, they knew the position of the wind sources and could walk a strategic path, which showed that they weren't entirely unfamiliar with this map and had a basic understanding of it. But without specific training, an understanding of this situation was already about as much as they could hope for. To fight in this wind? Never mind the fact that they didn't have training, even if they did, they were currently positioned against the wind, so the wind would be reducing their speed. Compared to Blue Rain, who had a speed boost, the difference between the speed boost and speed reduction could be as much as 100%. Even if they were facing ordinary players, it would not be a good idea to enter the wind zone from this side.

Naturally, Happy didn't try. After figuring out that there was gale here, the whole team began to head toward the next wind source.

But Blue Rain continued to travel downwind, prepared to cut off the path that Happy was taking.

Blue Rain made a decisive and correct deduction.

Blue Rain, traveling downwind, quickly left behind all of the fallen trees and plant life. In the blink of an eye, they'd traversed half of the wind zone, and right in front of them, the silhouettes of Happy's five players had already appeared in their view.

Blue Rain didn't slow down at all, and rushed forward just like this.

Happy's members of course discovered Blue Rain's presence. There was no way they would enter the wind zone to fight an opponent that had the advantage of wind direction.

"Continue forward!" Ye Xiu directed.

But Blue Rain was already attacking them.

The attack came from the unmotivated Zheng Xuan. His Spitfire Bullet Rain could be considered Blue Rain's number one ranged attacker.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

A number of grenades flew out simultaneously. There was no way this was from multiple skills used in a row. Without a doubt, this was the powerful Level 70 Spitfire skill, Chaotic Grenades.

Implosion, Timed, Poison Gas, Electric…

Countless grenades were thrown by Bullet Rain. They didn't travel as quickly as bullets, but at this time, they experienced a greater effect from the gusts of wind than bullets would. The sky seemed to fill with shooting stars that were all of a sudden right in front of the whole team. The pressure was upon them.

Boom!

But the sound of this explosion came a bit early, and then within the wind gusts, a wave of energy rippled outward in all directions, carrying a force even stronger than the wind.

The gusts of wind could increase or decrease the speed of a character, but it ultimately wouldn't send characters flying. Compared to the force of an Implosion Grenade that could blast away a character, the wind was still somewhat inferior.

This Implosion Grenade amidst the Chaotic Grenades exploded before even leaving the wind zone. In Happy's formation, smoke trailed from the tip of Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella.

Such a fast grenade traveling in the wind was actually shot down in midair?

A coincidence? It didn't seem like it. Of the grenades, the Implosion Grenade was the most destructive for a team's formation. How could it be such a coincidence, that among so many grenades, this was the one shot down? It was clearly intentional.

It was too frightening.

Ye Xiu's extreme accuracy with his controls was incredible. But Lord Grim's attack didn't stop there - he quickly fired another shot.

But this shot missed. Chaotic Grenades in the wind weren't so easy to hit. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim hit one of two shots. Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain only had time for one shot, but she missed as well.

After two gunshots and one cannonshot, the grenades had flown into Happy's midst. Happy's players didn't have the time to split up and dodge, because these grenades had simply come too quickly, and the range they covered was simply too large.

And so they didn't dodge, and instead used this tiny amount of time to contract their formation slightly.

Qi Guard!

In the end, the skill that Happy used to resist was a Qi Guard from Fang Rui's Boundless Sea.

It wouldn't be enough, would it?

In this moment, everyone thought this way, because a Qi Guard could only take so much damage; it wasn't an unbreakable shield. And with so many grenades from the Chaotic Grenades, even though some were primarily effect-based and wouldn't cause much damage, a Qi Guard would be far from enough to block them all.

Boom!

The Qi Guard hadn't even completely formed before a grenade crashed against it with an explosion.

A cloud of green gas spewed outward, diffusing along the outer shell of the Qi Guard.

Poison Gas Grenade, represented by the color green in this game to signify its poisonous property.

The Qi Guard couldn't be Poisoned, but the poison gas still eroded it.

Immediately afterwards, an Electric Grenade exploded, sending currents of electricity sparking along the Qi Guard.

And then a Timed Grenade. If it hadn't hit its time limit, an impact would not cause it to explode, and so when it hit the Qi Guard, it simply bounced along the top.

And then there were ordinary Impact Grenades, Remote Grenades, and others. It seemed like they all hit at the same time, but they were actually slightly staggered as they hit the Qi Guard.

The sound of explosions was nonstop, and the Qi Guard was quickly shattered. But what about the grenades that hadn't exploded yet, that could still attack?

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella swung open, and the grenades that broke through the Qi Guard exploded on the surface of the umbrella. An Wenyi's Little Cold Hands also immediately set up a Great Heal, restoring the health Lord Grim had lost while holding up the umbrella shield.

Facing this Chaotic Grenades that had come from the wind, Happy's members cooperated on all levels without wavering at all.

But Blue Rain's offensive had only just begun.

Troubling Rain, Flowing Cloud, Blue Rain's two Blade Masters were already slashing their way forward. They both used a Triple Slash to open the way, and with the effects of the wind, they moved like twin shooting stars. Close behind the Chaotic Grenades, they had already rushed out of the wind zone, but they were still moving incomparably quickly with the wind's momentum.

Meteor Form!

The two Blade Masters unleashed the same skill, but Flowing Cloud used a greatsword while Troubling Rain wielded a lightsaber, so because of the weapon difference, the two versions of the same skill still showed a slight difference in speed.

Troubling Rain was slightly faster; Flowing Cloud slightly slower.

But this slowness was only relative to Troubling Rain's quickness. With the lingering momentum from the wind, and the fact that Meteor Form was the fastest skill of a Blade Master, this wasn't a speed that a human could capture.

Two silhouettes, two arcs of swordlight, swept into Happy's formation, carrying two trails of scarlet blood. And then in the blink of an eye, coordinating with the teammates that were still in the wind zone, they began to move against Happy from both sides. But at the same time…

"Your face!"

A shout from Steamed Bun flashed in the match channel. Steamed Bun Invasion threw out a Sand Toss, directly toward the faces of Troubling Rain and Flowing Cloud right as they were finishing their Meteor Forms and spinning around.

But both of them reacted extremely quickly. One to the left and one to the right, at the same time as they angled their camera views away, the swords in their hands were already swinging upward.

Upwards Slash.

A skill that couldn't get any more ordinary. Under normal circumstances, Steamed Bun would have no trouble dodging this attack.

But at this moment, the two Blade Masters were coordinating with two Upwards Slashes, one slightly faster, one slightly slower; one from the left, one from the right; one with a short blade, one with a long blade. With this, all of the space where Steamed Bun could dodge was sealed off.

Fortunately, Steamed Bun wasn't the only Happy player here.

Sword Draw!

Lord Grim had just used the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella to block the Chaotic Grenades before their formation was invaded and he was hit by the unimaginably quick Meteor Form. But now, with the momentum he'd taken from that attack, he twisted his body, as though chasing the blood that had been sent flying by the slash. A Sword Draw flashed outward, slicing the threads of blood in two as it slashed toward Troubling Rain and Flowing Cloud.

Clang!

A resounding sound.

Lord Grim's Sword Draw was from a left-handed sword, so it was a slash from right to left. From the point of view of the Blade Masters, Troubling Rain was on the left, while Flowing Cloud was on the right. With this attack from Lord Grim, Troubling Rain suddenly canceled his Upwards Slash, and instead pointed his sword straight upward, using the Blade Master skill Guard just in time to parry Lord Grim's Sword Draw.

Because this Sword Draw was from right to left, when Troubling Rain blocked it, he had no way to continue slashing rightward. Flowing Cloud continued his Upwards Slash unimpeded. And Steamed Bun hadn't reacted to this change yet, so that even though Huang Shaotian left this opening for him, it was too late for him to dodge. In the end, he was still lifted into the air by Flowing Cloud's attack.

And when Troubling Rain blocked this Sword Draw, his body slid backward. Flowing Cloud's Upwards Slash succeeded, and the sliding Troubling Rain was already using a Sky-Plunging Blade.

When that attack came out, it looked like it was getting farther and farther away from Steamed Bun Invasion, but in the end, the glinting sword energy at the tip of the blade was just enough to hit Steamed Bun Invasion.

Flowing Cloud withdrew his Upwards Slash, and after Troubling Rain's Sky-Plunging Blade, he used another precisely-timed skill. There was no pause in the offensive of these two players as they continue to land attack after attack on Steamed Bun Invasion. The skilled coordination between the dual Blade Masters was incredible enough to render the entire stadium silent.

On this end was the invasion of two Blade Masters into the formation; on the other end, Swoksaar and Bullet Rain, who were still in the midst of the wind, were using the wind's momentum for their attacks.

But Swoksaar was a Warlock, and his curses would come out as they were supposed to. They couldn't borrow the wind's momentum. But there was nothing to lose from him standing in the wind, and it offered him some defensive protection. When Dancing Rain fired a cannon shot toward him, as soon as it entered the wind zone, it very noticeably slowed down and found it more difficult to fly forward. Facing such a long-ranged attack, dodging was a trivial matter. It was as if Swoksaar were standing in some kind of safe zone where he could calmly and steadily cast his curses. Zheng Xuan's Bullet Rain, meanwhile, continued to rely on the wind to greatly boost his own attack rhythm.

Gusty Garden. As expected of a map that Blue Rain chose at their most critical moment. Just using the gusts from the wind source, they were able to play such a thrilling offensive.