Chapter 1262: Scatter
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The team competition that was about to begin was the highlight of the three-day All-Stars Weekend. Everyone knew clearly that the result or the quality of this game may not be the finest, but it was definitely the most star-studded. Currently, there was no other event besides the All-Stars Weekend that allowed such a group of people to play together, whether it be alongside or against each other. This exhibition was well worth watching.'
Right now, the cheers in the crowd were directed more towards Team B, where Team Tyranny's players and characters were. However, even though this was Tyranny's home stadium, the hollering in support of Team A would not lose out much: many of the Glory Alliance's players with the most fans were all gathered on this All-Stars stage. Even though Team B had a slight home advantage, it was nowhere near enough to overwhelm Team A.
There was plenty of eye-candy prepared for this most important final match. The participating characters appeared one by one, and gave a little show for several minutes. However, no one was bored at the slightest; instead, this tease held back their energy. When the map finished loading and the match officially began, the crowd had entered a strange state of peace.
The map was specifically designed for the All-Stars match. There were mountains and rivers, trees and rocky outcrops, and street and buildings. It seemed to be an amalgamation of all the different maps used in Glory. In the very middle of the map, there was an arena made of limestone that looked thousands of years old. From an aerial view, it formed the Glory Alliance's logo as well as the number "10", to celebrate Season 10 of the Glory Alliance.
The players from both teams quickly spawned to much applause. Just seeing these famous characters form into teams was enough to get the viewers very excited.
Neither side seemed to want to beat about the bush. Since spawning, both teams charged towards the centre. Sending Zhang Xinjie to fight the group arena was a indication by team B that they wanted to fight Team A head on.
A fierce confrontation was originally the preferred strategy for Team A, who lacked a healer. But now, it was instead Team B who ditched their healer and took up this strategy. Could the players from Team A back off from a direct confrontation? Of course not! Who's afraid of who?
The match's pace was swift as soon as it commenced. Both sides rushed forward, past the scenery which became a blur in the background. Without a slow-moving healer, both sides' progress seemed very rapid. Finally, the opposition were within each other's sights.
There was no communication or command for formations, but the characters from both teams went into an arrangement that seemed to have been agreed on beforehand.
For Team A, the trio consisting of Sun Xiang's One Autumn Leaf, Huang Shaotian's Troubling Rain and Tang Hao's Demon Subduer formed a straight line and stood in front. Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer followed behind by only a few units. Yu Wenzhou's Swoksaar brought up the rear and concealed himself behind his teammates.
For Team B, Han Wenqing's Desert Dust was the spearhead in front with Ye Xiu's Lord Grim trailing a few steps behind. After them, Su Mucheng's Dancing Rain, Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria and Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain formed a horizontal line at the back.
The two teams chose reversed formations. Team A's arrangement of three characters in front seemed to allow for more aggression. However, Team B were the first ones to start attacking. Even though there were three characters at the back for team B, they were all long ranged classes and team A entered their attack ranges first.
A maelstrom of cannon fire and magical energies erupted and rolled forward. The centre of the map where the Alliance's logo was located was immediately covered by bedazzling flashes of light.
Scatter!
The three Team A characters at the front suddenly changed directions as if it was pre-arranged. It looked like they were trying to go around the suppressive fire that was being laid down by Team B. But Team B would not let them off so easy. Their attacks closely followed the change in position, and they still managed to keep Team A out of attack range.
But as the three gave way, the second layer of Team A was suddenly at the forefront: Cloud Piercer!
Accelerate!
Cloud Piercer charged forward, guns blazing. He looked like a melee class character despite being a long-ranged Gunner class. Team A astonishingly used their three Gods at the front to draw their opponents' attention, all to allow Zhou Zekai to begin a solo assault. His attacks blanketed all the characters on Team B. The Sharpshooter's high attack speed was brought to the peak at this moment. Cloud Piercer grasped his dual pistols to begin launching his attacks, unleashing a countless flurry of bullets.
Blood splattered within Team B's formation. This wave of attacks came too quickly. It was fierce and covered a lot of ground.
But because the coverage of the attacks was wide, the bullets were spread out, so the damage output was reduced significantly. However, the higher-level skills of Chu Yunxiu's Windy Rain and Wang Jiexi's Vaccaria had casting time. Even though being shot did not deal much damage, their casts would be interrupted. As both their attacks were stifled, Team B's long-range zoning seemed to have been extinguished for the moment. There was no way Dancing Rain's attacks alone could suppress the three Gods, Sun Xiang, Huang Shaotian and Tang Hao, at the same time.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
One Autumn Leaf led with an ultimate skill to forcefully break into the opponents formation. In an instant, the Samsara fans went wild: this was the teamwork they were so used to seeing. After Sun Xiang joined Samsara, his duo play-style revolved around having him wreak havoc in the enemy's midst while Zhou Zekai's Cloud Piercer attacked from the outside. Countless teams were scattered by just this two, with their ability to bust apart an enemy team from inside and out. Even in the current situation with the best of the best as the opponents, it looked like Samsara's duo was still extremely potent..
Shattering the Lands!
After charging in with Dragon Breaks the Ranks, One Autumn Leaf followed up with another high-level skill. His body in mid-air and Evil Annihilation in his hands channeling magical battle spirit, he carried an air of invincibility about him as his spear shot down towards the enemy, like a God descending to smite mortals.
Scatter!
Team B suddenly scattered. Unlike the three-man scatter on Team A, all five players scattered and neatly formed a circle. And right in the middle of this circle was One Autumn Leaf…
One Autumn Leaf looked like he was descending from the heavens for one moment, but in the next, after Team B scattered, he suddenly looked like he was charging directly into the abyss.
Boom!
Shattering the Lands' magic created waves in the ground. At that moment, the ground within the skill's AoE folded up. However, not a single character was caught up in it. There were only skills in the AoE - not just from Shattering the Lands...
After dodging Shattering the Lands, the three ranged characters on Team B instantly followed up with a counter-attack. Everything happened quickly and precisely. Three ranged attacks landed on One Autumn Leaf who was still in the ending animation of his skill. There was zero chance to dodge. In fact, this hasty counter-attack was even coordinated. The three attacks were not simultaneous but chained, and they landed on One Autumn Leaf one after the other.
Although the damage wouldn't be increased, the status effects' duration was prolonged by chaining the attacks. In the short time frame where One Autumn Leaf was chain-stunned by the three attacks, Desert Dust and Lord Grim approached like the wind to flank him.
Ferocious Tiger Flurry!
Han Wenqing also led with a high-level skill. Desert Dust flew forward and One Autumn Leaf was greeted by his fist. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim couldn't display this sort of momentum, because even though they could be added to the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella, they would be too low level. Thus, Ye Xiu did not choose to do so but instead charged next to One Autumn Leaf only with the intention of creating a pincer. He was also there to provide protection, since the rest of Team A wouldn't just watch and let One Autumn Leaf get surrounded and eliminated.
Zhou Zekai, the current teammate and duo partner of Sun Xiang, reacted the fastest. Cloud Piercer's attacks could also arrive the fastest. Random Firing!
Random Firing was a skill that sprayed bullets in all directions. However, under Zhou Zekai's tyrannical control, he forcefully turned the bullets into a very targeted stream. This stream of bullets flew accurately at the two characters on either side of One Autumn Leaf.
Dodge?
It was impossible to dodge this rain of bullets unless they abandoned their attack on One Autumn Leaf. However, Team B had no intentions of doing so. Han Wenqing allowed Desert Dust to continue his Ferocious Tiger Frenzy as if he didn't see the flurry of attacks from Cloud Piercer's direction. Although he and Ye Xiu were archrivals of many years, he seemed to have complete trust that Ye Xiu would deal with the current situation. Therefore, Han Wenqing simply ignored the attacks from Zhou Zekai and focused on his own attacks.
Swish!
The Myriad Manifestation Umbrella opened up and sheltered Lord Grim and Desert Dust from Cloud Piercer's hail of bullets.
"Put your back into it, get a good trade in!" Ye Xiu called.
Blocking with a shield could only negate status effects. It could not completely negate damage, which was dependant on the weight of the shield and other particular stats.
The Myriad Manifestation Umbrella's weight was very light, but its attributes were still quite substantial. The Level 70 Myriad Manifestation Umbrella in shield form provided a 61% boost in defence as well as 34% damage absorption. These two abilities would take effect as soon as the shield met any attacks. But Glory's top Gunner, Cloud Piercer, obviously wouldn't stop trying to punch through Lord Grim's defences just because of these two abilities.
Lord Grim's health was still dropping. This kind of defence was just an exchange. Lord Grim's health for One Autumn Leaf's health...
The two characters who had an unbreakable bond with Ye Xiu were currently locked in such an exchange. One of the damage dealers happened to be Ye Xiu's biggest rival of all time, Han Wenqing. This scene could only be described as somewhat ironic. Team A, however, didn't just consist of Zhou Zekai. Huang Shaotian, the biggest opportunistic player of Glory, saw a great chance. Troubling Rain quickly appeared in front of the shield form Myriad Manifestation Umbrella. Right now, the Umbrella shield was completely blocking Lord Grim's field of view. Xe Xiu couldn't do much about this. If he stuck his head out to look, Zhou Zekai's marksmanship would deliver a faceful of bullets.
Troubling Rain used the cover provided by the shield form Myriad Manifestation Umbrella to deliver some pain!