The King's Avatar

Ye Xiu and the others were all joking around off stage, while Qiao Yifan, on stage, was completely unaffected by his opponent’s taunting. Jade Dynasty’s Zheng Shengchao had no idea as to where One Inch Ash was or where he was heading, but the audience could clearly see how One Inch Ash was darting in and out of the alleyways with familiarity.

This sort of playstyle was usually very unpopular, but because of Qiao Yifan’s brilliant performance last match, the audience’s tolerance for Qiao Yifan’s playstyle had obviously become very high. Even the commentator was praising Qiao Yifan’s patience, saying that it was rare that someone kept such a cool head when they were in the lead by a full player in the group arena.

”Ok, Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash has once again managed to sneak behind Severed Yearning once again. Will he manage to grasp an opportunity this time?” The commentator kept his eyes on the match.

”He’s approached, but this position doesn’t seem very appropriate for a Ghostblade’s ambush. Let’s see what Qiao Yifan will do!”

”Oh, he’s laid down a Ghost Boundary.”

”It’s a Flame Boundary. Seems like Qiao Yifan also knows that this environment isn’t too great for Ghost Boundaries, so he’s aiming to deal damage.”

”Jade Dynasty’s player noticed, turned around, Collapsing Mountain!!! He has a very fast reaction speed. It looks like Zheng Shengchao was waiting for One Inch Ash to strike.”

”Qiao Yifan has backed away. Seems like he felt that this opportunity wasn’t a very good one. However, it’s obvious that Zheng Shengchao isn’t willing to let Qiao Yifan go so easily this time, and he’s pursuing. Exchanges like this have happened several times already and Qiao Yifan has continuously managed to slip away, utilizing his familiarity with the map. However, this time… It seems like Zheng Shangchao has gained a better understanding of the map during the match. He refuses to be shaken off.”

”Huh…? This place…” The commentator made a questioning sound before he started to become excited. The broadcast very cooperatively flashed to the area the commentator had noticed. The audience looked over, and immediately understood the commentator’s excitement. This area had a very similar terrain to where Qiao Yifan killed his last opponent.

A brilliant performance was about to follow! The audience perked up, and some even began applauding. As for Team Happy’s supporters, they had already begun to cheer and yell with excitement.

Jade Dynasty’s members were extremely anxious at this moment. It didn’t feel good to be spectating this at all. They could only watch as their teammate fell into the opponent’s trap, but were helpless to do anything about it. Half of Jade Dynasty’s players had even stood up, but their boss, Xiao Jie, was still sitting, unmoving, though his own anxiety was evident. His gaze even revealed a hint of rage, clearly unhappy at how his players were continuously falling for their opponent’s tricks.

Under the eyes of the people, Zheng Chaosheng didn’t fail their expectations. His Severed Yearning took that final step.

A Ghost Boundary practically matched the timing for this step, coming down on Severed Yearning’s head. Qiao Yifan had perfectly timed the skill, beginning to cast it beforehand, and just finishing the cast with this step.

Zheng Shengchao was shocked, but didn’t panic. He wanted nothing more than for Qiao Yifan to stop and face him head on! With a Colliding Stab, Severed Yearning charged at One Inch Ash. One Inch Ash whirled around in a dodge, bounding to switch of positions with Severed Yearning.

After the Colliding Stab, Severed Yearning spun around and Zheng Shengchao only noticed the terrain of his environment then. His heart missed a beat, feeling dread rising. However, he was already trapped in a Ghost Boundary and One Inch Ash swung the Taichi in his hand, Ghost Boundaries came down one after another. The audience yelled and cheered, abandoning all pretense, while Jade Dynasty’s players all felt like crying.

Zheng Shengchao struggled, wanting to break out of the encirclement of Ghost Boundaries, yet was met with failure after failure.

Compared to the Ghostblade of last round, Berserkers were a lot better at breaking through, but didn’t have nearly as high of a resistance to the effects of Ghost Boundaries. Falling into a CC chain like this was much more troublesome for Zheng Shengchao than for the last match’s Ghostblade player. Severed Yearning’s life dropped constantly, the audience applauded thunderously, Jade Dynasty’s players sat silently and boss Xiao Jie’s expression made him look like he was ready to eat someone.

”Qiao Yifan has done it yet again, an amazing performance. However, this sort of playstyle consumes a lot of mana, so it seems that this time he won’t be able to wipe out his opponent. That’s perfectly fine though; being able to expend all your mana in the group arena means you’ve truly done everything you can. Qiao Yifan has reached this limit wonderfully. If Happy wins the group arena, then Qiao Yifan would’ve made the greatest contribution!” The commentator kept praising Qiao Yifan’s performance, noticing, at the same time, that One Inch Ash’s mana might not be enough and therefore wouldn’t be able to keep up this playstyle of layering Ghost Boundaries in excess.

”Ah! So close….” A split second after the commentator finished analyzing the situation, he gave a cry from a sudden change on the field. Meanwhile, the audience suddenly gave a loud collective sigh at the same time.

”Severed Yearning almost charged out of One Inch Ash’s encirclement. Though Jade Dynasty’s player fell into a trap, it seems like he hasn’t given up yet, seeking opportunities whenever he can.” The commentator, having almost focused completely on One Inch Ash, finally decided to spare a few thoughts for Zheng Shengchao.

”Uh… Qiao Yifan’s control seems to be too spread out this time!” Seeing the two’s exchange on the field, the commentator suddenly came up with this comment.

Compared to the complete control of the match, Zheng Shengchao’s Severed Yearning could still find some opportunity to try and break away from the control. Though he hadn’t succeeded, he wasn’t losing as badly as One Inch Ash’s previous opponent.

”I feel like… Qiao Yifan might be thinking too much. Seems like he’s controlling his rhythm on purpose to not completely deplete his mana so quickly. However, this leaves room for his opponent to struggle. Actually, in a situation where he has such an advantage, why doesn’t Qiao Yifan just use up the rest of his mana to maximize his damage? I doubt anyone would be disappointed in him if he eventually lost the match,” the commentator said with some confusion and disappointment.

Just as his words fell, the two on the field began their first ever head on exchange. Zheng Shengchao might not have been able to break through, but was able to deal a lot of damage to One Inch Ash.

”Qiao Yifan won’t be wiped out before even depleting his mana, right? That would be such a shame… Qiao Yifan… he demands too much of himself…” Seeing how Zheng Shengchao gained the upper hand in this exchange, the commentator began to worry.

”Again! It seems like Zheng Shengchao is very confident in himself.”

”Dark Boundary! This Dark Boundary was very timely, otherwise he might really be able to hold on against this barrage. I hope Qiao Yifan can take advantage of this opportunity and regain control over the situation…”

Yet Qiao Yifan didn’t accomplish what the commentator was hoping for, continuing to stubbornly keep his slow rhythm and not depleting his mana to set Ghost Boundaries like in the previous match.

”If it’s just like this… I feel like there would be no need for this trap. I think Zheng Shengchao would be more than willing to just fight Qiao Yifan head-on, right?” The more he spoke, the more the commentator felt disappointed in Qiao Yifan’s actions this round.

”Zheng Shengchao is getting more and more confident as he fights, his status is at its peak.” Slowly, the commentator’s attention began to shift to Jade Dynasty’s player.

”Blood Sword, Destruction Slash, brilliant! Soul-Devouring Crimson Grip, missed, what a shame. If that grab hit, it would have changed the situation completely. Zheng Shengchao’s Severed Yearning might not have broken through, but he has gained the upperhand now, unleashing his own barrage of attacks. Qiao Yifan is struggling to endure. Under a situation where he originally held the upper hand, Qiao Yifan didn’t utilize his Ghost Boundaries to their fullest, so One Inch Ash lost a lot of health as well, with only ten percent remaining. Now, what he is about to face is an even fiercer offense from his opponent because Blood Awakening has now been activated…”

”Wait, it’s been activated…” The commentator suddenly realized something was wrong upon coming to this. He was dumbstruck for a long while and it wasn’t until the two on the field engaged with one another that he noticed the health of each character falling and suddenly realized: Severed Yearning’s Blood Awakening had already been activated because his health had already fallen by more than 50 percent, and this all happened without any fanfare. All he had noticed was Qiao Yifan’s hardship in taking these attacks, but he hadn’t noticed how Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash had been quietly chipping away at his opponent’s health all of this time.

That’s right. This wave of damage wasn’t nearly as elegant and consistent as the last match. However, if he was as liberal with his mana and consumed it like he did in the last match, how much damage would he be able to do with the little mana he had left?

Yet now, using the head-on exchanges, One Inch Ash might’ve lost a lot of health, but he had also drained Severed Yearning’s health by quite a bit, but how much mana had One Inch Ash used during this fight?

Ten percent!

He had only used ten percent, ten percent of his mana to take over fifty percent of his opponent’s health. This was a shocking result, and One Inch Ash had taken a lot of damage to achieve it. Though he still had almost twenty percent of his mana left now, he only had ten percent of his health. He might’ve been able to save some mana, but did he have enough health to use it?

Just as these doubts arose in the commentator, he suddenly understood.

”It’s coming!!!”

Thus, all the people watching the broadcast heard the commentator abruptly say these words.

What was coming? Just as the audience was lost in their confusion, One Inch Ash suddenly sped up the pace, Ghost Boundaries flashed continuously all over the field. This extravagant scene had One Inch Ash’s mana plummeting, yet at the same time it quickly depleted Severed Yearning’s health as well.

”It’s enough! Qiao Yifan’s remaining mana is enough to wipe out Severed Yearning. Severed Yearning is a Berserker, so he doesn’t have the same resistance to Ghost Boundaries that the Ghostblade from last match had, so Ghost Boundaries deal significantly more damage to him. Qiao Yifan’s remaining mana will be enough to take him out.” The commentator quickly shared his findings then, but he had forgotten that the previous analysis was all in his head. Suddenly announcing this made the audience extremely confused.

However, the current situation on the field became the best annotation for the commentator’s words. One Inch Ash completely took back control as he sped up without warning. Severed Yearning, who had seemingly taken control of the field for a while, was immediately drowned in Ghost Boundaries. He couldn’t orientate himself or find a way out. His health depleted rapidly. His blood may have awakened, but there was no place to utilize it. He was securely locked in One Inch Ash’s Ghost Boundaries.

Finally, One Inch Ash’s mana was no more, and with the last powerful skill that consumed it, Severed Yearning’s life was gone, too.

Qiao Yifan had successfully taken out his second opponent.