Chapter 665 - Semifinals
1:0: Team [Q-Sword] had the lead.
Match 2: Fang Ge Que VS Sword Tears . Just as expected, Sword Tears, even with her conventional [Battle Reflux Style] relying on a 20+% HP drain effect, could not even scratch Fang Ge Que’s [Black Tortoise Shield]. On the other hand, Fang Ge Que, with his godlike ability to control distance, effortlessly caught her with a [Spiral Ice Dance] and proceeded to dispatch her with several follow-up skills. Sword Tear lost twice consecutively and the match.
1:1 [Legend] had begun their comeback.
Match 3: Xuan Yuan Feng VS The Seventh Tang
Xuan Yuan Feng was a meat-shield type player while Tang Qi is a CC. As a result, we were treated to a banal kite show. Tang Qi relied on [Perception] and [Hexagram] to wear down his opponent as usual. Xuan Yuan Feng maintained his hp through [Cleansing Wind] and potions while chasing down his target with his lance. They used up the entire 2 minutes allotted per round before the system determined Tang Qi as the victor based on damage done.
Round 2 pretty much went the same way. Xuan Yuan Feng’s usage of skills like [Heroic Ram] to close in were splendidly dodged by Tang Qi. After a successful stun by [Hexagram], Tang Qi’s iron fan immediately proceed to lay the smackdown on him followed by a [Bloom Again]; taking out about 30% of his hp but still unable to kill him in the end.
Eventually, the system declared Xuan Yuan Feng as the loser and Tang Qi got his hard-earned win.
2:1! [Hero’s Mound] took another point and the lead once again. Time for the fourth match; 2V2! Fang Ge Que & Enchanted Painting against Q-Sword & Lord Tang Qi!
Whoosh!Whoosh!
The four figures appeared onstage. After a bit of whispering to finalize their strategy, Tang Qi immediately moves back a good distance, setting Q-Sword right between him and their opponents. His iron fan began to radiate flames. Q-Sword, however, stood his ground. His Nation Suppressing Sword in hand, and Fang Ge Que in his sight.
“3！”
“2！”
“1！”
The moment the round started, Q-Sword immediately rushed out. Enchanted Painting lightly snort at his impulsiveness and raised her broadsword, ready to meet him. Q-Sword charged towards her, sword held loosely by his side and letting off flames. Then just when the distance between them closed to mere 3 meters, he suddenly upped his speed. Q-Sword attempted to flank her with a S-step. Enchanted Painting’s lips rose in derision. In one smooth movement, she carried out a Z-Step and cut Q-Sword off right in his path. She was now certain that his strategy is to kill off Fang Ge Que first. Well, [Hero’s Mound] would have no chances at all anyway if they don’t.
ShaSha……
Q-Sword suddenly activated another skill. The surrounding rubble was pulverized by a burst of scarlet light as his speed increased tremendously. With a swing of his arm, he sent Enchanted Painting staggering back and made a beeline straight for Fang Ge Que. At the same time, Tang Qi used [Perspective] and appeared within 20 meters of him. Three copper coins flew out - [Hexagram]!
“Not good!”
Fang Ge Que quickly moves back, immediately using a [Dimension Leap]. However, it seems he’s underestimating Tang Qi quite a bit. The moment he leapt, Tang Qi activates [Perspective] again, instantly cutting the distance between the two of them down from 40 some meters down to less than 10. Even worse, what shrunk was not just the distance between them but the amount of surface area as well. That means Fang Ge Que is now once again within Q-Sword’s range as well. This is the true essence of the strategy the two of them came up with to prey on Fang Ge Que.
Q-Sword’s figure trembled for an instant and instantly appeared in front of Fang Ge Que with a [Blade Rush]. His sword was vibrant and covered with a dazzling light, a [Fierce Tiger Burst] savagely aimed at Fang Ge Que’s torso.
Fang Ge Que is frighteningly calm. After confirming the distance between them in a split second, he fires off a [Ice Rock Blast]+[Blazewind Lock] at Q-Sword and promptly used his second [Dimension Leap]. Taking the full brunt of both skills, Q-Sword hurriedly chugged a HP potion. Immediately after, accompanied by a piercing cry, the avatar of a bird of prey manifested around him as he made an aerial lunge at Fang Ge Que.
Clang! Clang!
[Hawk’s Assault]+[Afterglow Slash] hits home almost simultaneously. Furthermore, the 1.5 second stun effect of [ Afterglow Slash] succeeded!
But unfortunately, Fang Ge Que managed to summon a [Black Tortoise Shield] before the attacks landed. At the same time, a whirlpool of fire and ice kicked around him. It’s his custom SS ability, [Fire and Ice Storm]! If Q-Sword still wants to go after him, then he better be ready for a baptizing from this ridiculously overpowered skill.
“Tang Qi!”
Q-Sword had become desperate. In order to win, he must defeat Fang Ge Que! In spite of his HP dropping dangerously quickly, he did not let up a single bit as he bashed away at Fang Ge Que’s shield.
Bang!
His sword pierced the arena ground. [Destruction Wolf Formation]! Q-Sword’s expression was rather unsightly by now. Raising his arm once more, [Hundred Smelted Swords]!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
One after another, a hundred swords appeared in mid-air and fired away all around Fang Ge Que. The durability of the [Black Tortoise Shield] hits bottom almost instantly but still not fast enough. However, just as Fang Ge Que was about to recover, Tang Qi caught up to them. [Hexagram]!
Ka-ching!
The instant he woke up, Fang Ge Que found himself stunned once more. His [Black Tortoise Shield] also shattered at the same time!
Shiiiiiiing!
Several stars appeared on the Nation Suppressing Sword as it brutally fell on Fang Ge Que. Unsurprisingly, a level 11 [Combo] insta-killed the helpless and shieldless mage. But before they could even rejoice, Enchanted Painting’s voiced resound from behind them.
“Hm? Aren’t you boys forgetting about lil ol’ me?”
Her powerful onslaught reached them before Q-Sword could even turn around. A [Break Armor Slash]+[Thunderclap Strike] dispatched him in an instant. Then by exploiting the rotational momentum, she immediately turned and stuns a baffled Tang Qi with a violent [Assault]. Tang Qi had been completely focused on chasing down Fang Ge Que. To the point that his mind had filtered out the existence known as Enchanted Painting. She followed up with her unique S-rank combo [Ruinous Temptation], leaving him with just a sliver of HP remaining.
“SHIT!”
Tang Qi quickly used [Perspective]. The distance between them immediately widened to about 20 meters but Enchanted Painting only sneered in return. Raising her arm, her sword shoots out - [Flying Sword]!
Zing!
Ruthlessly denying him even the time to use a potion, the sword penetrated through his body for a successful long range kill.
1:0! Even without Fang Ge Que, the two of them are no threat before Enchanted Painting. In order to chase him down, the duo basically burned through all of their important skills’ cooldowns. And after being baptized by a rotation of spells in exchange, they had to pop their potions as well. In a situation where both skills and potions were on cooldown, the almost crippled duo were just sitting ducks for her who was still in excellent condition
……
Still, Q-Sword and Tang Qi’s co-operative strategy has left the viewers delighted. The general gamer populace rarely ever get to see the godlike Fang Ge Que get wasted like this. Outside of major competitions like this [Hero’s Wings Cup], where all the best players congregated to duke it out, scenarios where Fang Ge Que loses almost never happen. Furthermore, when the top tier experts compete, their extraordinary ability to predict and calculate the battle flow are a sight for sore eyes. This type of combat was simply just too uncommon.
2V2 Round 2! The Q-Sword pair changed their strategy once more. Tang Qi used [Hexagram] to force Fang Ge Que into retreating to a distance before quickly using [Perspective] and [Bloom Again] to aid Q-Sword against Enchanted Painting. They managed to take her down but only while under Fang Ge Que’s unceasing attacks. The instant she died, Q-Sword found himself locked down by a [Spiral Ice Dance] and subsequently, a rotation of spells takes him out. Fang Ge Que immediately used 2 [Dimension Leap] in succession to evade Tang Qi. After 12 seconds for his cooldowns, he effortlessly dispatched Tang Qi. Even though Tang Qi was an acknowledged ‘dark horse’ with a degree of reputation in the last hottest VMMO ‘Conquest’, pitting him against Fang Ge Que certainly put all that in suspicions.
2:2, Team [Legend] evened it out once more. The last match will determine who will advance.
Final match: 5V5. Team [Hero's Mound], through a brilliant display of Q-Sword’s skill, snatched one round but ultimately lost to Team [Legend] in a 1:2 reversal. With a 2:3 result, [Legend] moves on to the finals. [Hero's Mound]’s run ends here with this unfortunately matchup.
……
“It’s finally over……”
Mu Xuan took a drink from her coffee, and turned with a grim look towards the screen: “[Legend]’s lineup is just ridiculous. For [Hero's Mound] to push them this far is already incredible enough….. Any other team would probably just get 5:0’d……”
I stood up: “Well, there’s still us……”
“Mm-hmm” Wan Er and Qing Qian also stood up, backpacks in hand.
Soon, Q-Sword and Fang Ge Que and the rest came out of their booths. And the [Zhan Long] and [Vanguard] teams took their place onstage. I consulted with Wan Er a bit over our lineup. A few minutes later, both team’ formations are displayed on the wide-screen broadcast.
1V1：Cang Yue LV-117 Mage VS Jian Feng Han LV-117 Swordsman
1V1：Cang Tong LV-117 Ascended Hermit VS Simple is Best LV-117 Mage
1V1：Xiao Yao Zi Zai LV-119 Dragon City Knight VS Fallen Wolf LV-115 Berserker
2V2： Cang Tong LV-117 Ascended Hermit VS Simple is Best LV-117 Mage
Xiao Yao Zi Zai LV-119 Dragon City Knight Jian Feng Han LV-117 Swordsman
5V5：ALL VS ALL
……
Seeing the matchup, I felt a disappointed glumness: “I...missed Jian Feng Han… Wonder if Dong Cheng can handle him…?”
Dong Cheng slightly smiled: “Don’t worry, I’ll give it my all!”
“Mm-hmm”
We headed into the booth and before long, all of us appeared in the arena grounds.
Whoosh!
At the stageside, we could see Dong Cheng and Jian Feng Han already facing off against each other, waiting on the countdown.
3!
2!
1!
Right at the start, Jian Feng Han rushed straight ahead. The Wings of Freedom suddenly spread out behind him as he leapt at Dong Cheng. This is what worried me most. The current him could simply ignore the limits that the game placed on melee class positioning mechanics. As Dong Cheng watched his incoming aerial attack, a brief killing intent glimmered in her eyes. Raising her arm, she simultaneously cast [Thunderbolt Finger]+[Pillars of Fire and Ice]!
Bang!Bang!
Met with an attack while airborne, Jian Feng Han immediately starts falling and switches to use [Through the Cloud Slash] for a ranged assault!
Whoosh!
Dong Cheng dodged with her first [Dimension Leap] and, her staff in action, greeted him with a [Magma Lance]. Jian Feng Han’s hp was being consumed at a rather quick pace.
Just as his hp dropped to to about 25%, the bottom of her staff slammed the ground. Large scale spell - [Flame Beast Burstraid]!
While she’s working on setting him as the target, Jian Feng Han does a sudden [Assault] towards her. When the distance shortened to around 7 meters, he let out a deep howl that immediately expands outward like a shockwave.
[Force of the Primordial Spirit]! SS-rank skill - Impacts and stuns targets within 10 meters.
It’s already bad enough that Dong Cheng got stunned but her opponent is Jian Feng Han, known for his vicious techniques. [Corrupt Wolf Edge]+[Combo]+S-rank combo! A string of skills dispatched our best mage in an instant.