Glory [e-sports]

Old Teacher Yuan was like a dog, and Proud Flower Kim disdained him. They all heard him nonchalantly remark, “You’re the same as before, too.” 6EMOGv

These six words were very meaningful. Yuan Ze smiled broadly, “You aren’t.” Implying that his doubles championship was gone.

Kim Sung-hyun instantly exploded. Just as he was about to burst out with a ‘shut up, top eight’, Brother Mouth rushed in to save the scene, salvaging the precarious commentator booth.

What were they messing around for!

Don’t ever put those two together on the commentator’s booth again! my7aBE

The two of them didn’t treat each other as outsiders and painfully stabbed each other with their black history,  but he was the one left feeling afraid.

What if their commentary was banned? What would happen to his position as the top commentator in the world?!

Fortunately, the situation on the field was stimulating, and everyone’s attention was drawn to the match.

Yan Jiang really let Wei Xiao develop to level six. Before that, Y1 and FTW both developed peacefully. There were basically no group battle outbreaks except for small-scale friction on the lanes.

Mk2B1f

Yuan Ze had said that Yan Jiang was arrogant. This was somewhat the case, but not completely.

Y1 was indeed waiting for the soul warlock to reach level six, but that didn’t mean they were simply letting Wei Xiao go.

Both sides had highly similar systems, with the only difference being the power thief/shadow thief and blood thief/blood warrior combinations.

The power thief was a functional talent, and the blood warrior was restricted by the shadow thief. Looking at the remaining four talents, it seemed that Y1 didn’t dare to fight in the early stages of the game. L3bZCH

A blood thief who hadn’t yet reached level six couldn’t beat the power thief.

An immortal warlock who hadn’t yet reached level six was as weak as a chicken pecking at the other side.

In the bottom lane, the storm hunter had the ability to fight, but Yue Wenle wasn’t easy to bully and wouldn’t allow God Pig out to fight with others.

So, Y1 didn’t have the capital to engage FTW before level 6. aoTCvG

Of course, Yuan Ze could see all of this. The reason he still called Team Yan arrogant was because Yan Jiang had the confidence to hold down and kill the flower butterfly after level six.

Yuan Ze and Kim Sung-hyun had both experienced Wei Xiao’s soul warlock before.

After playing so many training matches together, this brat was already able to play it to perfection. Once he had his ultimate move, all three of FTW’s lanes would start to blossom. As his opponent, Y1 would be besieged from all sides.

His teammates were all playing highly mobile talents, and he himself was also very mobile. tn301Z

Even if they calculated his jungle zone refresh time and determined that he should be going to clear the jungle, it was still possible to encounter a shadow thief or immortal warlock or storm hunter just around the corner. ṘâŊO͍ʙĚS

No matter who they encountered, smashing down two sets of the same skills on their opponents’ heads meant that they may not be able to hold on even if it was three against two!

After getting beaten to death by Little Lunatic Wei countless times, L&P and Pro had both tried their best to find countermeasures.

The unanimous conclusion they ultimately reached was that FTW’s rhythm had to be disrupted before they hit level six. No matter who they picked as a starting point, they had to tear open a gap in the team in order to defeat this system. 2ef71q

And FTW’s Ning Zhehan and Yue Wenle were undoubtedly the biggest flaws.

Disrupt the rhythm of FTW’s jungle zone in the early stages and delay Wei Xiao’s rise to level six, then pressure and fiercely attack a certain lane, preferably making it so that the immortal warlock or storm hunter’s farm lagged behind for the entire game. Then, even if Wei Xiao attached himself to their talents, it would still be difficult for them to deal sufficiently high damage.

The immortal warlock and storm hunter were strong, but they relied a lot on farm. Once they failed to develop well, any thousand layers of clouds or stepping on raindrops would be like fancily embroidered pillows, beautiful but completely useless.

The soul warlock’s skill copying also relied on teammates’ equipment, so as long as one of the lanes collapsed, even Wei Xiao wouldn’t be able to deal any kind of crushing damage. SK65CN

This was based on Yuan Ze and Kim Sung-hyun’s experience. In any case, they’d given up on the possibility of killing the little lunatic after level six, and could only start before he reached level six.

Yann Jiang, however, chose to ignore the situation prior to reaching level six and intended to crush Wei Xiao to death after level six. If this wasn’t arrogance, then what was it?

So…

Did Captain Yan have the capital to be arrogant? sfBU0O

He really did.

After reaching level six, Wei Xiao undoubtedly started to take off, especially in the early stages where he gained an advantage in the mid-lane. He attached himself to Ning Zhehan and two sets of thousand layers of clouds landed, leaving Quas thoroughly dead.

First Blood went to Little Ning, who was overjoyed. “Red hair really works!” He was off to a fiery start!

Wei Xiao: “It only counts as a fiery start if we win the first match.” Ai8lyz

Little Ning was proud of his own success, “No problem!”

After reaching level six, they weren’t scared of anything. They were no longer afraid even when facing the former champion team!

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Wei Xiao continued to attach himself to the immortal warlock. The two of them didn’t try to control the lane soldiers and instead sent them straight towards the tower. Taking advantage of the delay while Quas resurrected, they charged straight into Y1’s top-jungle zone.

They went straight in to snatch up farm without considering anything else. If they pulled it off, then the money would go straight into their accounts; this was how farm snowballs started rolling!

Wei Xiao and Ning Zhehan had calculated well, but unfortunately, Y1 wasn’t an ordinary team. They’d remained dormant during the first six levels just to wait for the right opportunity, and their combat power after level six was in no way inferior to FTW.

Y1 could do what Yuan Ze and Kim Sung-hyun were unable to do. TkxzNA

L&P and Pro couldn’t suppress Little Lunatic Wei after he reached level six, but Yan Jiang could.

Wei Xiao had just cleared their opponent’s top jungle zone when a bloody battle broke out at the bottom lane. In a few short seconds, Yue Wenle died beneath his own tower despite having used his flash skill.

Ning Zhehan used his teleportation skill right away. Wei Xiao vaguely felt that something wasn’t quite right, but unfortunately there was no time to think about it.

Yue Wenle had gotten Hai God to a sliver of health before he died, and they had to go and harvest kills to recoup their losses. TL7jlD

What’s more, their captain’s teleportation skill was still available. At worst, it would just be a wave of group battles. Just fight and be done with it!

Their logic was sound, but they were left inhaling sharply in surprise when they landed.

Brother Cai had rushed over as well and laid out his ground stab, aiming it squarely at Hai God.

The heavily injured Hai God didn’t try to dodge it, but just as Brother Cai was about to take down Hai God’s head, a light shield flashed and Hai God gained a shield. The power thief whose farm development hadn’t been great had strangely low damage, and the ground stab surprisingly didn’t even break the shield. beldJF

Brother Cai froze and yelled, “Old Wei!”

Although he’d failed to kill Hai God, ground stab would apply a short frozen debuff when it hit the target. The blood thief stood motionless, and as long as Wei Xiao and Ning Zhehan could deal sufficient damage, it would be enough to send him to his death.

Then, a scene appeared that caused an uproar throughout the whole audience!

The blood raven thief who only had a sliver of health left survived the 0.5 second frozen state by relying on the soul warlock’s shield. N401oV

After he was able to move, his blood oath descended from heaven, and two ultimate moves landed on the blood raven thief’s head at the same time. Ning Zhehan and Bai Cai, who’d just gotten marked, felt their scalps go numb.

Not good!

Wei Xiao finally realized what was wrong. “Don’t start your thousand layers of clouds!”

But it was too late. Ning Zhehan also knew that he shouldn’t be brushing thousand layers of clouds, but he’d used connecting clouds to enter the area and he’d completed most of his combo a long time ago. He couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. sjIgnx

Clouds and mist filled the sky, and the explosive damage that FTW originally should have caused landed on the immune blood raven thief who only had a sliver of health left instead.

Blood oath’s passive ability––damage immunity equivalent to the same amount of health sucked from marked target who dealt the most damage.

The immortal warlock had dealt the most damage to him, and at the same time, was the one who had the most health sucked away. Additionally, it was an equivalent amount of damage. Not only had this thousand layers of clouds been brushed out for nothing, it had also helped the low health blood raven thief recover to more than half health in an instant.

In theory, this kind of effect was impossible to achieve. However, Yan Jiang had also cast a blood oath! h g8mG

Of course, blood oath’s effect only worked on the caster, but the soul warlock’s shield also resisted damage by drawing health from the caster. HP could be exchanged for a stronger shield, providing better protection for the blood raven thief. These two counterbalanced each other and in the end, the blood thief came out in excellent shape and didn’t even need to return back to their crystal to recover.

Taking another look at FTW––their immortal warlock was in a precarious situation, Brother Cai had no skills left, and Wei Xiao still had a thousand layers of clouds left, but there was no way for him to fight!

Brushing out thousand layers of clouds required relying on Ning Zhehan to move around. If Little Ning even attempted to approach the blood thief with the small amount of health he had left, he’d be sent home with just a simple raven swoop attack.

Once the immortal warlock died, the soul warlock would be nothing but a support! EdVei

Wei Xiao gritted his teeth and tried to limit their losses, “Old Bai, run!”

Brother Cai was jolted back to his senses, turning around and running way. Fortunately, Y1 didn’t have any skills they could use to keep him there, and the blood thief and storm hunter who charged up were only able to send Wei Xiao and Ning Zhehan home.

The screen went dark. Wei Xiao glanced over at the top lane.

Y1 was really fierce, using the blood warrior to fight against the shadow thief. They had really restrained the shadow thief to death. tohf3e

The shadow thief couldn’t beat the blood warrior without brushing light arcs, and Dxrus had clearly been practicing hard for a long time. As soon as he started using light arcs, the blood warrior would use his ultimate move to make himself immune to damage and bear the brunt of the light arcs to attack the shadow thief.

If it had been anyone other than Close on the top lane, FTW’s top lane would’ve collapsed a long time ago.

He knew that Y1 was strong, and knew that everyone on this team were talented players in their own right. They’d played a lot of training matches against each other, but no matter how seriously they competed in those private matches, it couldn’t compare with the adrenaline rush that came with playing in a real competition.

The audiences in the live broadcast room who had originally felt quite steady started to panic. “Y1 is so strong…” X7iv3J

“Y1’s soul warlock system came prepared.”

“Captain Yan truly deserves to be known as the strongest tactician. This set up really restrains FTW to death.”

“And the Y1 team members are also strong enough to hold up. Dxrus’ blood warrior… is not any worse than Scum Man Yuan’s play.”

“Right… looking across all of Glory, these two are probably the only top-laners who can play evenly against Close’s shadow thief.” KJBfwm

“I originally thought that this would become FTW’s playground after hitting level six, but I didn’t expect Y1 to be so ruthless.”

“The little lunatic isn’t the only one who can play the soul warlock well…”

“Speaking of which, the Team of Gods also had two talent kaleidoscopes.”

This sentence brought back memories for many old players. Gelu64

In the former FTW, Close was widely recognized as a talent kaleidoscope, and there had supposedly been another player who was also recognized as such.

Teacher Yuan was definitely not it. Xie He would be attached to the middle lane until he died, and Kim Sung-hyun just wanted to be a little precious. So who was the other player? It was Yan Jiang.

Nowadays, FTW also had two talent kaleidoscopes: Close and Quiet.

Many people sighed, “As a team, FTW is really insane!” lvjF1K

“They have good Feng Shui. Talented players from five years ago and even five years later all come from them.”

In this first battle of freedom match, the audience at the scene was basically silent.

It was really great to watch, but it was also too heart wrenching.

The flower butterfly was still very much able to fly, wandering all over the canyon just like before and bringing the game’s rhythm with it everywhere, but what made it so suffocating to watch was that no matter where the little butterfly flew, there was always a net waiting for him. LmOIk2

Captain Yan’s soul warlock gave people a strong sense of oppression and showed an astonishing level of insight.

He could completely see through Wei Xiao’s unpredictable movements.

As soon as Wei Xiao attached himself to the immortal warlock and started stacking moves, the soul warlock and blood thief would show up to steadily break through this seemingly invincible combination.

When Wei Xiao and Brother Cai went to clear resources in the jungle zone, Yan Jiang would bring Quas over. The times when Wei Xiao and Ning Zhehan bullied Quas were returned in full with how they now bullied Wei Xiao and Bai Cai! Nc3vA

Everyone watched as FTW’s earlier advantages faded away and Y1 rose up.

There was finally a gap in the intense battle in the top lane. Close was able to push down the other side’s outer tower and suppress Dxrus, who had constantly been keeping him in the top lane!

The audience once again had their hopes up, believing that as long as the shadow thief was liberated, Close and Quiet would definitely be able to kill everyone all over the canyon.

During this period, they were indeed able to snatch back control over the rhythm thanks to CQ’s cooperation. Bai Cai, Ning Zhehan and Yue Wenle seized this opportunity to make up for their farm and equipment that had fallen behind. bDUm1s

Everyone watched as both sides fought back and forth. They watched as time inevitably ticked towards the end of the match and both sides tore down the second towers of each lane. Only the last wave of team battles was left!

Fans in the live broadcast room collectively took in deep breaths, “It could happen, it could happen. Let’s have a set of double nine light arcs and bring destruction on everything!”

“Yes, yes, yes, the great and little demon kings should charge into a team battle and win against Y1 in one fell swoop!”

“Will the double nine light arcs be effective? … I always feel that Y1’s double blood combination was prepared just for the double light arcs.” BfaM9o

This statement hit the nail on the head.

In that final wave of team battles, both sides engaged in a head-on confrontation without any ambushes or stalking. These two very similar line-ups collided directly in the mid-lane and launched a set of explosive DPS without any hesitation at all!

Thousand layers of clouds swirled around, raindrops flashed rapidly, and under the dazzling layers of special effects, the players toppled and stood back up again.

Everyone held their breaths as Wei Xiao attached himself to Close. avX0uN

Double nine, double nine…

Or perhaps there would be ten light arcs?

The audience’s scalps tingled, and when they realized it was two nine light arcs coming one after another, they breathed a sigh of relief but also felt slightly disappointed.

Would it work… 8FwX4G

Y1’s Quas was down!

Ning Zhehan had also used up his last resurrection armor and immunity shield.

Y1’s God Pig and Yue Wenle perished together.

Amidst the dazzling flashes in the sky, the destructive special effects, and the completely overflowing damage, only three people were able to remain standing steadily. qrG4vj

The blood warrior was immune to all damage for two seconds and resisted the subsequent damage; the blood thief relied on the soul warlock’s shield and blood oath to remain standing even though his health bar fluctuated wildly up and down like a rollercoaster as he sucked health like crazy.

At this instant, everyone in the audience felt a chill in their hearts.

The shadow thief either insta-killed the enemy, or was insta-killed in return.

After using up a set of skills, the shadow thief had practically no combat power left. 4fQGUE

Brother Cai’s face turned pale and he went forward first to stand in front of Close and Quiet. Unfortunately, he ultimately wasn’t in full support gear. His relatively crispy body coupled with his depleted energy made it easy for the double blood talents to take him down.

The shadow thief and soul warlock remained standing until the last moment, but they were unable to resist this line-up which completely countered them.

Defeat!

FTW’s soul warlock system suffered defeat for the first time since its inception. 6qfp7d

At the end of the first match, there was an eerie silence that spread beyond just the audience stands.

How to put it…

It had been an exciting match and both sides played beautifully. Each player’s performance could be considered flawless.

But they lost. DdHbQ9

Losing in this way actually made one’s back feel cold.

It was a crushing blow in terms of strength, a frustrating defeat that came from being thoroughly targeted.

It also made one realize that there was no eternal victory, only the crisis that arose from not moving forward.

FTW, who’d dominated the entire playoffs with the soul warlock, had hit an iron plate! w1saSP

Chen Feng came up on stage and said calmly, “It’s okay, it’s just the first match.”

They all responded to him, then tried hard to adjust their mentality.

Although they’d lost the battle of freedom, they couldn’t allow that to get them down.

The first match in a BO5 game was just the prelude to the real battle. idgn0d

If they didn’t have the courage to fight to the end, then they weren’t qualified to sit there!

Close, who hadn’t said much through out the game, spoke quietly. “Take the shadow thief.”

They had priority in grabbing positions, and could indeed snatch up the shadow thief first.

But they’d just taken the shadow thief for the battle of freedom. If they took it for another match, what if… IpU29

Even before Chen Feng could speak up, Wei Xiao had already opened his mouth, “Wait a little longer.”

Lu Feng’s fingers paused slightly on the mouse.

Wei Xiao’s voice was gentle and calm, “It’s only the second match. We’re not in a hurry.”

Lu Feng’s eyelashes drooped slightly and he cleared away the emotions lurking in his eyes. “Okay.” XuFy4Z

It was only then that Chen Feng belatedly noticed that something was off. However, he couldn’t say anything, let alone ask about it. He could only concentrate and think about the next round of BP.

Both sides played each other and ended up getting pretty good line-ups.

FTW: blood warrior, blood thief, spirit mage, holy priest, and gold hunter.

Y1: berserker warrior, berserker thief, ice mage, medicine warlock, and gun launcher. zqXtaK

In the early stages of a game, both sides’ talent pools were very deep. They could only strive to restrain and counter the other side through BP.

Chen Feng hadn’t wanted Yan Jiang to get the medicine warlock in the second match, but after weighing various options, he could only let it go for now.

It would have to be let out sooner or later. Although he didn’t want to lose another point, at this point in time he could calm down, remain steady, and believe in them!

— Ljy2eM

The author has something to say: Please trust Close and trust FTW!

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xiin: these chapter titles remind me of One Piece manga titles, haha

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