The King's Avatar

Misty Rain and Royal Style’s battle was approaching. It seemed like these two teams were preparing to fake their battle to paralyze Happy, then, once they were close enough, surround Happy and team up to attack them. But now that Ye Xiu saw their plan, the paralysis was broken. He obviously wasn’t just going to wait for them to come.

Except now, Happy was trapped in between three teams and was unable to do anything. If Ye Xiu were on Tyranny and saw Misty Rain and Royal Style’s intent, he wouldn’t hesitate to team up with them right here and ruthlessly destroy Happy in a 3v1 before anything else.

What to do?

Ye Xiu’s mind worked rapidly. At the same time, he looked around to observe the situation, and suddenly realized that Tyranny, upon discovering a battle up ahead, looked like they were subtly trying to retreat.

Avoiding the battle first? Then coming back to pick off whoever was left?

That was too naive! They were already exposed to Happy, how could Happy let them peacefully stand to the side and watch? Trying to retreat now would only make them suffer what would have originally been Happy’s fate: being crushed by the other three teams.

Such a simple logic, how would Tyranny’s old foxes be unable to see it?

In that instant, one possibility flashed through Ye Xiu’s mind: had these guys still not discovered what the goal of the Ghost Lair dungeon was?

Because if that were the case, Tyranny still didn’t know what the teams were supposed to be doing in this dungeon. And so they acted the same as when they had first met up with Happy, preferring to be cautious and avoid conflict, because they still had no idea why they should be fighting.

To this, Ye Xiu could only feel regret, even if it was a regret layered with elation. Luck was really a fickle thing. After obtaining a shard, the situation in the Ghost Lair was obvious. Happy, Wind Howl, Royal Style, and Misty Rain were all fighting for their lives, which showed that they all understood the point of this dungeon, and that they had all managed to obtain a shard. But Tyranny… It seemed like they still hadn’t encountered a mini-boss and obtained a shard, so they still had no idea what was going on in this dungeon.

”Why are Misty Rain and Royal Style fighting?” Ye Xiu didn’t waste any time, acting dumb to gauge how much the Tyranny members actually knew. Of course, on their own side, Tang Rou, Steamed Bun, and Mo Fan didn’t have experience in this sort of tactical competition, so they would probably be confused. Ye Xiu immediately sent a reminder in the team channel, so that they wouldn’t expose his act.

”Unclear.” Tyranny’s Zhang Xinjie answered.

”There must be some special reason,” Ye Xiu said.

”Obviously.” Zhang Jiale said.

”Let’s retreat first, move quickly,” Ye Xiu called.

Tyranny immediately retreated the way they came, which showed that this had been their intent all along. Ye Xiu let out a long breath. They were too lucky! Happy was now, like Tyranny, a team that didn’t know anything, and so together they could temporarily avoid conflict.

Two teams, ten people together they headed down the tunnel, putting some distance between them and the battle between Royal Style and Misty Rain.

”Let them fight first. And then we…” Ye Xiu sent a few laughing emojis.

”Shameless!” Zhang Jiale said.

”Dirty!” Lin Jingyan said.

”You aren’t going?” Ye Xiu asked.

Tyranny fell silent, because there wasn’t a good answer to that question. How could they not go? Up until now, they still hadn’t figured out the goal of this dungeon, but Misty Rain and Royal Style’s fight should give them the answer. But if they revealed this now, there would probably be negative consequences for them, so the best plan was to wait for the other teams to destroy each other and then go in.

And so Tyranny avoided directly answering Ye Xiu’s question.

”How come they seem to be getting closer? How are these two teams fighting?” Lin Jingyan said, listening to the sounds of the battle.

”Did they discover us?” Ye Xiu pretended to be shocked.

In reality he was very clear, the situation was like this exactly because those two teams hadn’t discovered them here. Royal Style and Misty Rain received Fang Rui’s message and knew that Happy was waiting somewhere for an opportunity, so they pretended to fight fiercely as they moved in this direction to surprise and block off Happy. But the two teams still hadn’t found any sign of Happy.

Was Fang Rui lying?

Even though this guy liked to play dirty, there was no reason for him to lie to Misty Rain and Royal Style like this. So they were fairly certain that Fang Rui’s information was correct.

Then, there was only one explanation: Happy had figured out their intentions and were avoiding them.

This upset the two teams.

Happy avoided them, but would they stay away forever? Knowing that these two teams would fight sooner or later, would they just hang around to wait for their chance? The two teams couldn’t decide what to do, and there was no further instruction, so they could only continue their pretend fight. When they arrived at where Fang Rui had said Happy was hiding, the two teams saw that there was only one path Happy could have taken from there.

The two teams decided that, without knowing Happy’s whereabouts or status, they had no way of confidently fighting. But since the situation had already gotten to this point, there was no reason to continue the pretense, so the teams stopped their fighting, and began to charge down the path.

”Huh, they stopped?”

The sounds of battle suddenly stopped, coming as a surprise to Tyranny.

”They finished fighting? They shouldn’t have!” Zhang Jiale said. Just then, there had been the sounds of all sorts of skills being used, so clearly there were a good number of players still alive. Was there some giant fire that wiped out all of the characters on one side? That didn’t make any sense.

”They must have discovered us and decided to give chase!” Ye Xiu said.

”Who ran so slowly that they saw us?” Lin Jingyan said. Tyranny was still in the dark!

”Why are you still talking? What do we do? Continue to avoid them, or?” Ye Xiu said.

”We’ll have to fight sooner or later,” Tyranny’s Captain Han Wenqing said. They still didn’t know the reason for battle, but seeing how Misty Rain and Royal Style were fighting, it seemed like it was an inevitable outcome. So, if they were going to fight anyway, then retreating certainly wasn’t Tyranny’s style.

”Since it’s come to this, then we’ll go fight together, catch them while they’re disorganized!” Ye Xiu shouted.

Upon hearing this, the Tyranny members agreed. If they were going to fight, then take this chance and fight quickly!

So the ten characters turned around and began charging back the way they came. At this time, Royal Style and Misty Rain had chased them here, and the two sides met. Happy and Tyranny’s spirits were fierce and bright, but Royal Style and Misty Rain’s spirits were suddenly crushed.

”Oh no! It’s a trap!”

The two teams thought this simultaneously.

They had clearly been chasing only Happy here, where did Tyranny suddenly come from? It was originally supposed to be a 10v5, which the two teams felt would be an easy fight, but now it had unexpectedly become a 10v10. They had also spent quite some energy putting on that show of a battle… but even disregarding that, just look at the opposing side’s roster.

Ye Xiu, Su Mucheng, Han Wenqing, Lin Jingyan, Zhang Jiale, Zhang Xinjie...

What kind of line-up was this? It was enough to make anyone cry! Royal Style and Misty Rain’s line-ups weren’t weak among the professional teams, but in front of this intimidating list of names, they suddenly seemed pathetic.

Could they fight this battle?

The two teams were still in a shock because of this line-up, but Happy and Tyranny were already upon them, attacking without even a greeting. Su Mucheng’s Dancing Rain fired a Stinger into the air, which exploded apart and rained down upon the players. To the left, Tang Rou’s Soft Mist burst forward with a Dragon Breaks the Ranks. To the right, Zhang Jiale’s Dazzling Hundred Blossoms covered a path with a display of light and shadows, into which Han Wenqing’s Desert Dust disappeared. When he emerged again, it was with a Ferocious Tiger Flurry sweeping right into the heart of the opponents’ ranks.

Happy and Tyranny’s allied assault was too ferocious, too relentless, too powerful. Royal Style and Misty Rain originally thought they had the initiative when giving chase, but now they couldn’t find their pace at all.

Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim had also charged into battle, but his eyes, instead of being fixed on his battle target, were continuously moving about, analyzing the field. Ye Xiu was confident that in this situation, where the opponents were on the defensive, it would be easier to see which characters held the shards. These players would be at the center of their teams’ adjustments.

Soon enough, Ye Xiu saw the clues.

Even though they had been caught by surprise, in the end these were professional teams, and there was order to their chaos. Misty Rain, for one, was trying to increase the distance between themselves and the others. The three Sharpshooters and Chu Yunxiu’s Windy Rain were continuously retreating, and the crossfire pattern made by the three Sharpshooters clearly served to protect one character in particular - Windy Rain. As for Royal Style, they didn’t have such a sharp change in their battle pattern, but they continued to focus on protecting their healer Gentle Angel.

The answer was right there. For Ye Xiu, these were crucial clues, but Tyranny… it was a shame that they still didn’t know about the shards. From their perspective, Royal Style’s protection of their healer was a perfectly normal action, and Misty Rain using their Sharpshooters to cover Windy Rain also wasn’t out of the ordinary. The Sharpshooters had much better mobility than an Elementalist, so this sort of retreat would of course involve the Sharpshooters helping out the Elementalist more.

After Ye Xiu determined who held the shards, he immediately informed his team through the team channel, but he didn’t make any adjustments to the battle strategy. They were currently teamed up with Tyranny, whose primary goal was to wipe out every opponent, so for now they could only pay closer attention to these two targets.

Misty Rain, who lacked a healer, was currently in a much worse situation than Royal Style was. Additionally, in a chaotic 20-person battle, their long-range attackers didn’t have enough space to maintain a safe distance and move around easily. Ye Xiu saw that they were trying to escape, and immediately ordered Happy to block their path of retreat, and at the same time loudly shouted at Tyranny, reminding them not to let the fish slip through the net.

Upon hearing this, Misty Rain and Royal Style became angry.

True, they weren’t in a good situation right now, but up until now none of their characters had fallen. The battle was in a stalemate right now, it was far from the point where victory or defeat was apparent.

Fish slipping through the net? What are you talking about? Who’s the net and who’s the fish?

The dissatisfaction caused by Ye Xiu’s words caused the fighting spirit of Misty Rain and Royal Style to suddenly spike. Multiple players suddenly started playing at a higher, fiercer level than before, suddenly stabilizing their positions.

”Can you shut up!” Seeing this, Tyranny seethed. This trash-talk, instead of crushing the opponents’ spirits, served the opposite purpose! Misty Rain and Royal Style, in a disadvantageous position, had been hesitant with their attacks, but now that Ye Xiu said this, they were like fish fighting to the death to break free of the net. Because these two teams knew that Wind Howl was done for, and all that was left were the four teams right here. Might as well use this one battle to decide a winner once and for all!

With this thought, the two teams began to counterattack, with each player experiencing a small surge in power. And, as the battle rhythm shifted, the protection of their important characters inadvertently slipped, just the tiniest bit.

Cloud Grasping Fist!

At this moment, Ye Xiu sinisterly unleashed his ultimate move...