The King's Avatar

Panda Novel

Jiang Botao was glad that he didn’t make any unnecessary choices. He was glad that there was only one path remaining for Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun to take.

Dodge! Minimize the damage taken from Nebula Wave Slash. This was already the best that they could do. Break past Nebula Wave Slash and interrupt their focus fire? Impossible. There was no time left. Samsara was doing everything they could to kill Soft Mist. With every passing second, her health plummeted.

Happy only had one chance to find another path, but they had failed. Of course, they could try again, but Soft Mist likely wouldn’t survive long enough.

Dodge!

Jiang Botao watched Lord Grim and Steamed Bun Invasion closely. He didn’t relax. Once they finished killing Soft Mist, their attention would shift towards them.

Who to kill first?

Jiang Botao observed the movements of the two characters, but as he did so, he noticed that something strange had entered his sight.

What is it?

Under the protection from his Nebula Wave Slash, what could possibly make its way in?

Grenade?

Jiang Botao’s pupils suddenly contracted. He had no time to think. A portion of his Nebula Wave Slash cut towards that grenade.

The grenade exploded. The sound wasn’t loud, and the light wasn’t flashy. However, an almost tangible shockwave could be seen diffusing from the center of the explosion.

Implosion Grenade!

Cloud Piercer, One Autumn Leaf, Cruel Silence. It didn’t matter how powerful their characters were. The shockwave pushed them back.

Jiang Botao’s heart went cold. He turned around and saw Dancing Rain. She was very close, much closer than before.

Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun failed to break past his Nebula Wave Slash. They had failed because Jiang Botao had noticed their intentions in time. However, he hadn’t realized that the path they sought didn’t end there. The path extended from Steamed Bun to Ye Xiu to Su Mucheng…

Pull his attention away and create an opening for Su Mucheng to sneak in an Implosion Grenade through the Nebula Wave Slash.

No, that wasn’t all.

He wasn’t the only one who hadn’t noticed the Implosion Grenade. None of the others on Samsara had noticed it either.

He had been distracted by Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun. Because of their efforts, a hole appeared in his defense.

But what about the other three on Samsara?

It was Tang Rou and Su Mucheng.

Soft Mist faced their assault, while Dancing Rain helped from afar. Their goal wasn’t just to break the siege. From the start, there had been another goal as well. They were narrowing Samsara’s vision towards one direction.

This sort of cover…

This was one of One Autumn Leaf’s and Dancing Rain’s signature techniques back in the day. Every team used it as teaching material, showing how teamwork between a close-ranged and long-ranged character should be done.

This sort of technique was very discreet. The close-ranged characters caught inside would be completely unaware. Jiang Botao was a certain distance away, and he would have noticed it if not for Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun distracting him.

“That’s why a Sharpshooter being too close is never a good thing.”

If Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer had been attacking from afar, this technique wouldn’t have escaped his notice. Ye Xiu typed in the chat as Lord Grim charged towards Cloud Piercer.

Cloud Piercer didn’t stop his attacks even as the Implosion Grenade pushed him away. He was still attacking Soft Mist to try and lower her health even further. In the end, Samsara wasn’t able to finish off Soft Mist in one go. However, the outcome wasn’t bad. Soft Mist only had 28% of her health left, the lowest among those remaining.

Samsara might be able to kill her with one more wave of attacks.

If they continued their attacks onto Soft Mist, it should be easy for them to suppress Happy.

Thus, Samsara’s next move should center around Soft Mist.

These were all very logical thoughts. This was the advantage of a health lead, and the disadvantage and burden of having less health. Without a healer, these advantages were laid bare. Relying on Lord Grim’s healing wouldn’t change anything.

Samsara still had a clear lead.

That was what everyone thought at first, but these thoughts only lasted a second.

Because the one with the lowest amount of health was Soft Mist, and the player behind her was Tang Rou.

That girl who declared a 1v3 the moment she entered the Pro League.

That girl who refused to compromise despite the storm of criticism towards her.

That girl who wanted to keep going even after a 1v3 in the finals.

Low health? So what?

Lord Grim charged towards Cloud Piercer. Soft Mist charged towards Cloud Piercer even more fiercely than Lord Grim. The Implosion Grenade had sent the three on Samsara flying, but the Nebula Wave Slash wasn’t affected. In reality, Soft Mist was still inside the Nebula Wave Slash, but the moment she was free from Samsara’s chains, she rushed out. She moved even faster than Cloud Piercer, who was still shooting at her. However, she didn’t retreat. The Nebula Wave Slash wrapped around her, continuously dealing damage, but she didn’t cower.

There were no longer any chains holding her back. She charged ahead. Her goal was to attack.

Her decisiveness reduced the amount of attacks that she took from Cloud PIercer. Her decisiveness allowed her to break out of the Nebula Wave Slash as fast as possible.

Attack, attack, attack!

Attack as defense?

Her thoughts weren’t nearly so complicated. She was still alive, so she had to attack.

The battle wasn’t over until she was dead. It couldn’t be called a battle without attacking. You couldn’t win without attacking.

Draconic Crusher!

Soft Mist swung her spear, Dancing Fire Flowing Flames, turning even the air itself red.

Tang Rou understood what sort of situation Soft Mist would be facing. In order to ensure that the battle wouldn’t become a 3v4, she should be more cautious, more defensive, fighting under the protection of her teammates.

That was how the vast majority of teams and players would handle this situation, especially in such an important match.

But not Tang Rou. Her personality was like a blazing fire. She didn’t like being careful or receiving protection. She wasn’t good at doing either of those things. If she played that way, it would be bad news for Happy. She would only be making things worse. She would become a burden.

Tang Rou understood this point, and so did the team.

Thus, Soft Mist charged forward and attacked.

Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim quickly coordinated with her.

Their target was Cloud Piercer. Without any hesitation, the two picked the same target.

Because Cloud Piercer was the only attacker who could keep dealing damage to Soft Mist. He needed to be suppressed quickly. Zhou Zekai was the most formidable player on Samsara too, and Tang Rou was more than happy to fight against him.

Draconic Crusher!

Cloud Piercer rolled to the side, but he was immediately welcomed by Lord Grim.

There’s an opening in the middle. Charge through!

Right when Zhou Zekai thought this, Steamed Bun Invasion appeared in front of him.

Unlike Ye Xiu and Tang Rou, Steamed Bun didn’t have a clear goal in mind. However, he would follow wherever his boss went. Steamed Bun was top-class in this regard. As a result, Steamed Bun wasn’t much slower in switching focus to Cloud Piercer. Ye Xiu moved fast, so he moved fast too.

Powerful Knee Strike!

In the blink of an eye, Steamed Bun Invasion reached Cloud Piercer. The opening was sealed shut. Zhou Zekai could only have Cloud Piercer quickly step back. He had to dodge this attack first. A Grenade seemed to accidentally slip out from his hands.

Boom!

The grenade exploded. Steamed Bun Invasion jumped back. Lord Grim dodged to the left. Soft Mist dodged to the right.

But Happy’s offense didn’t stop. Lord Grim used Sword Draw. Soft Mist swept across with Tyrant’s Destruction. The two attacks intersected.

Forward, left, right, neither of those directions would do. Cloud Piercer could only continue retreating.

Boom!

Another Grenade exploded.

When Cloud Piercer “accidentally” left behind a Grenade, Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim “accidentally” tossed a Grenade as well. The timing was just right.

Cloud Piercer was sent tumbling by the explosion. Even so, his two guns continued to spit fire, shooting bullets towards Soft Mist and Lord Grim.

The two dodged and attacked again. This time, every direction was sealed. Cloud Piercer was pincered in the middle. Zhou Zekai could only watch as Steamed Bun Invasion charge over and grab Cloud Piercer by the throat.

Strangle!

His defense decreased by 50%. It was the perfect opportunity to dish out damage. Dancing Rain’s artillery fire descended.

A cold light tore through the explosions. Samsara’s support had come. The first to arrive was Cruel Silence, starting with a “Rend.” The Level 75 skill sliced towards Soft Mist. Empty Waves’ Fire Wave Slash also swept towards her.

Regardless of Tang Rou’s mentality, whether she attacked or retreated, she was still Samsara’s main target.

Tang Rou showed no fear. She would fight one. She would fight two. She would fight whoever came her way. Health didn’t matter. She didn’t have time to worry about any of that.

Dragon Breaks the Ranks!

Soft Mist used Dragon Breaks the Ranks at close distance. To get to Cloud Piercer, she forced her way past Cruel Silence’s Rend and Empty Waves’ Fire Wave Slash.

Cloud Piercer dodged. He raised his gun towards Soft Mist’s head. A Thunder Snipe at near point-blank range.

But before the snipe went off, his gun was knocked aside by Soft Mist’s spear.

Zhou Zekai was astonished. What incredible awareness!

The awareness to attack first! The awareness to deal as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time!

Tang Rou knew that she would likely be the next to leave the battlefield. Before she left, she would do her best to injure Samsara and weaken them.

Empty Waves had the least health on Samsara. He was Happy’s most convenient target. Jiang Botao understood this point. He wasn’t as fierce as Tang Rou. He did what a low-health character should do. He kept his distance, and wasn’t overly aggressive.

As a result, Happy had to give up on focusing Empty Waves.

Tang Rou’s thoughts were simple. She wouldn’t let a single second go to waste. She wanted Soft Mist dealing damage every moment she was still alive.

Thus, she used Dragon Breaks the Ranks to get past Cruel Silence and reach Cloud Piercer.

Cloud Piercer moved to the side. Tang Rou didn’t want to continue wasting time with Dragon Breaks the Ranks. She immediately cancelled the skill, and chased after Cloud Piercer.

Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer had just taken out his sniper rifle. He was just about to aim, when more attacks arrived…