The King's Avatar

Glory!

The large word flashed across the screen.

No matter the process, the match would progress toward only one conclusion: victory and defeat.

In this round, victory belonged to Happy's Qiao Yifan. Thunderous applause instantly rose up within Xiaoshan Stadium.

Filled with regret, Song Qiying walked out of the competitor booth. The stadium full of applause wasn't for him, but he didn't lower his head. The opponent had played excellently, but he hadn't had any embarrassing moments himself.

Perhaps, from the beginning, his thinking hadn't been meticulous enough.

Even as Song Qiying walked offstage, he was already reviewing his own performance. Again and again, his mind replayed the scene of the ceiling collapsing and River Sunset losing his chance.

If it had been the vice-captain, he definitely wouldn't have overlooked this point. Song Qiying looked at one particular person sitting in Tyranny's player area.

He was a Striker, the one in Tyranny who would inherit Desert Dust after Han Wenqing's retirement. The team had never hidden this point. Tyranny was just this kind of open and direct team, from top to bottom.

Song Qiying wouldn't refuse this kind of arrangement, and he was proud of this, but he wouldn't hide his own views. Even though he very much liked his Striker class, in terms of player personality, he more greatly appreciated that of Tyranny's vice-captain, Zhang Xinjie.

Cautious, thorough, flawless.

In many people's eyes, perhaps this sort of steady style wasn't thrilling enough. But Song Qiying felt that this was very cool. Maybe it was just because of his natural personality.

Tyranny didn't make any specific demands of him, nor had he purposely tried to imitate Zhang Xinjie's style. But even as he followed and developed the style that he personally liked, everyone in Tyranny looked at him like a little Zhang Xinjie.

Song Qiying didn't object. He hadn't purposely tried to mimic it; this was just the style that belonged to him.

But it still wasn't enough!

Song Qiying reviewed the match, searching for where he hadn't been good enough. And at this moment, Tyranny's group arena anchor had already stood up.

Han Wenqing. It could only be Han Wenqing. It had to be Han Wenqing.

He could step back when appropriate, but if he didn't appear in the group arena in this crucial playoffs match, then Tyranny's fans would definitely be disappointed, and Tyranny's players might also be very uneasy.

Ten year captain, ten year pillar.

In terms of the influence had over the team, Han Wenqing was absolutely the number one. Even his long enemy Ye Xiu had met an unhappy end at the hands of Excellent Era. Among the later players, Wang Jiexi came the closest; the influence he had at Tiny Herb was similarly significant. But compared to Han WEnqing, he was still just a bit lacking.

Han Wenqing used his personal spirit and charisma to affect the whole team. Tyranny's style today was because their captain and core from the very beginning was a player with this kind of style, and it continued within this team to this day.

But what about Wang Jiexi and Tiny Herb? He had changed his own style, assimilated into the team, and ultimately they had won two championships together. In terms of results, his two championships beat out Han Wenqing's one, but in terms of influence on the team, he clearly couldn't compete with Han Wenqing.

And now, this ten year captain stood up from his seat. Like so many times before, he was ready to defend that most crucial point for Tyranny.

The Tyranny fans who had traveled far to come here began to roar, as though they had suddenly ignited. In the face of the hopes of his fans, Han Wenqing didn't play humble. To the away team fans, he extended a fist.

The roars grew louder. At this time, Song Qiying had walked off the stage, and arrived in front of Han Wenqing.

Han Wenqing's fist lowered, and pointed toward him. Song Qiying immediately reciprocated, extending his arm toward him as well.

Fist-bump!

"Good luck Captain!" Song Qiying shouted.

Han Wenqing nodded, and strode toward the stage.

Tyranny was currently at a disadvantage. Qiao Yifan had used 61% of his health to defeat Song Qiying, leaving him with 39% right now.

This advantage was relatively significant, but now as Han Wenqing walked onstage, there wasn't a hint of worry in the eyes of those dedicated Tyranny fans. There was only resolve.

A match always ended in victory or defeat. Everyone understood this.

But what was revealed in the eyes of the Tyranny's fans wasn't belief in a sure-fire victory or anything. Han Wenqing brought them a steady confidence. They believed that, as long as he was here, then even if they lost, they wouldn't lose that fighting spirit or confidence. As long as he was here, they would only lose people, but not their determination!

Tyranny had never been a team that feared failure. In the early days of the Alliance, they had been eliminated by Excellent Era three times. Excellent Era and Ye Qiu had been called their weakness, their perfect counter. But, so what? In the Season 4 finals, on the highest stage of Glory, they ferociously defeated Excellent Era and proved themselves. The older Tyranny fans would never forget that day. That day had been the most beautiful demonstration of Tyranny's strength of character.

Unafraid of failure, always scaling new heights. Under this man's leadership, Tyranny had walked these ten years. Now, the Tyranny that he led once again advanced toward that highest peak, and he once again stood onstage.

In the televised broadcast, Pan Lin was currently describing all of this in the most poetic way possible. His partner Li Yibo had come from Tyranny and experienced that era, and even if he could no longer see all the strategies clearly, he would never forget Tyranny's spirit. Because, he was also a member of Tyranny, someone who had gone wild with all of them during that season. Hearing Pan Lin's passionate description, Li Yibo too felt his heart racing. He even had the urge to rush onstage, grip that mouse and keyboard once more, and battle!

"Alright, the battle's about to begin. Tyranny's captain of ten years, Han Wenqing, against Happy's rookie Qiao Yifan," said Pan Lin.

Even though Qiao Yifan had registered as a pro in Season 8, he had only appeared in official matches starting from this season, so when talking about him, he was still called a rookie.

The opening didn't change, they still charged toward the manor at the center of the map. Han Wenqing's fierce bravery and decisiveness could be seen just from the way he moved his character. Desert Dust's path was completely straight as he charged forward.

In front of and behind the manor, the same rhythm.

Qiao Yifan, like before, controlled One Inch Ash to take the front door, and then he quickly arrived at the location of the previous battle.

"Qiao Yifan still wants to fight here?" Pan Lin said. After watching the previous match, everyone very much understood how advantageous this whole area was for a Ghostblade. The room's size, the arrangement of the surrounding rooms, it had all been thoroughly used by One Inch Ash.

What was a home field advantage?

This was it.

Using the map to the maximum extent.

Watching from offstage, Tyranny's players, including Han Wenqing, all recognized this level of skill. But right now, Qiao Yifan still wanted to make this the battlefield. Wasn't that too wishful thinking? After seeing how well he'd used this area, would Han Wenqing simply go along with his desires and fight him here?

Uh…

Han Wenqing?

Doubt, after encountering this name, caused the logic to grind to a halt.

It seemed like an illogical move, but if Han Wenqing did it, it suddenly felt more acceptable.

Because he was always like this. Even if he knew there was a tiger in the mountain, he would still head toward the mountain with the tiger. For anyone else, it would be an illogical move, but he could flip the situation in one burst of determination.

Qiao Yifan once again opened the battle here. A typical opponent probably wouldn't come, but Han Wenqing might actually just burst in. Maybe Qiao Yifan had anticipated this opponent's personality to make this kind of wishful plan?

And so, everyone looked at Han Wenqing's side. Desert Dust had entered the manor from the back, and he made a clean sweep of the area. He would arrive here shortly. This time, Qiao Yifan didn't need to split any doors, so there wasn't any sound to to notify Han Wenqing. One Inch Ash just set up his ambush in this room, making his preparations for battle.

Because a wall had collapsed, the two rooms were now connected and seemed much more spacious than before. Qiao Yifan wasn't sure from which end Han Wenqing's Desert Dust would charge in, so he hid One Inch Ash in a corner, and prepared ambushes for the various possible angles.

He didn't have to wait too long before he heard footsteps.

The sound of moving footsteps wasn't hidden at all. Whatever was stepped upon made a sound, closer and closer.

Pa!

Suddenly, there was another sound, and One Inch Ash, pressed against a wall, felt a tremor.

There was no way that Qiao Yifan couldn't recognize this sound. Just last battle, Song Qiying controlled his character and made this sound over 160 times.

Han Wenqing's Desert Dust was also hitting the wall?

Just as Qiao Yifan reached this realization, pa! The second punch already resounded.

Qiao Yifan had already roughly judged where the sound had come from. As he looked over, he heard a boom, and the wall he turned to look at now had a hole in it.

Three punches to make a hole?

This of course wasn't because Desert Dust's attack power was so unbelievable, but because the wall he was punching was already fairly weakened.

There had been so many battles back and forth, all occurring within the manor, and most on the first floor. The room furnishings had already become so wrecked that there wasn't much more to wreck, and the walls had also suffered much damage during this process. Han Wenqing evidently had found a particularly weak point, and broke through in only three punches.

Was he working out his anger?

At the beginning, this was what everyone had thought!

But very soon, they saw Desert Dust and One Inch Ash meet eyes through the hole.

Seeing One Inch Ash's position, Han Wenqing of course immediately understood his line of thinking. Would he just boldly go forward and fight with Qiao Yifan in an area where the Ghostblade was most comfortable?

The Snow Stripe in One Inch Ash's hands was already beginning to flicker with light. But Desert Dust, after meeting One Inch Ash's eyes through that hole, actually walked past.

Pa pa pa pa, another number of punches, and another hole was opened in the weakened wall. And then, change position, hit again…

The sounds came wave after wave, progressing around in a circle. Qiao Yifan listened and listened, and gradually, he paled.

Song Qiying had only wanted to tear down a wall. Was Han Wenqing preparing to tear down this entire manor?