Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editor: kara

The moment the ability user, 'Little De', saw Odin, he had already summoned vines to cover his figure completely so that he wasn't exposed to the assassin's vision. This was because he knew that the assassin had a trump-card move that was extremely dangerous to him--Shadow Jump.

However, if the opponent's body couldn't be seen, then Shadow Jump couldn't be released.

So, when Odin used Flash in order to get close, Little De's heart instantly rejoiced!

All of the vines he controlled started to produce paralytic venom, and a circle of brambles grew out around him, creating a small platform beneath his feet--the only platform on the swamp.

This platform would be the only foothold the two players had and also the trap that Little De had created. Odin had no choice but to step on it!

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Male commentator: "He came close with a Flash! It's true that he can first land a series of attacks, but will he have a way to escape?"

Female commentator: "Or, maybe it's possible for him to kill Little De in one wave of attacks?"

Male commentator: "Impossible! It's too easy for a plant ability user to protect themselves if they want to!"

That was right. Little De didn't care what kind of moves Odin planned to use when he came over. After he had made his preparations, he retreated completely behind his vine fortress. It was almost like he'd closed himself up into his shell and was now indifferent to the world.

The angle of Odin's Flash was actually aimed upwards, and he performed the first round of a windmill combo right after he came out of the Flash!

Male commentator: "A beautiful windmill combo, and in a situation where he encounters no interference--"

"Seventeen hits, nineteen hits!" The female commentator's voice was much louder than the male commentator's, "This is the best windmill combo so far!"

The windmill combo directly broke through the vine defense above Little De's head, stripping him out of his fortress to face Odin's blades!

What little defenses Little De mustered up afterwards were nothing but a drop in the bucket and couldn't withstand a single blow from the storm of blades that fell like a blizzard!

The dance of blades lasted for a full two seconds. The dagger, Deep Silence, stabbed into Little De's eyebrow at the last moment and took away as much as 30% of his health when it was pulled out.

By the time the entire windmill combo was over, and Odin retrieved his blades, the immobile Little De was left with 52% of his health.

Everyone had their mouths open in shock.

The male commentator almost burst out with a curse, "My… heavens. Odin's first round of attacks took away nearly 50% of his health! This attack power is like a great demon king from hell!"

Female commentator: "But unfortunately!"

But, unfortunately, it fell a little short and didn't directly reach 50%. When the health volume difference was over 50%, the attacker could accumulate some 'advantages' right away.

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After the windmill combo ended, the assassin landed&#k2013;&#k2013;

On the platform made of vines.

Finally, the vines controlled by the ability user began to shift like snakes. After waiting and watching passively for so long, the assassin’s advantageous period was over, and they had entered their home ground!

A single round of damage that could reach 50% was really horrible, but once he was exposed to the control of the vines, it would be easy for a counterattack to occur!

At this time, Little De's patience paid off. He immediately activated his ability frenzy, causing the activity of his vines to increase by 50%.

This meant that the speed and flexibility of his vines went through an instant, qualitative improvement. They danced around like green snakes, popping up dangerously from the platform and darting towards Odin.

"Odin didn't have enough time to Flash!" The male commentator called out excitedly, "This is really dangerous for him!"

The first vine caught his ankle, making it so that the assassin couldn't get off the platform and return to a safe area right away.

Despite how he had reacted immediately and cut the vine off, it seemed that he was still too late to deal with the dozens or hundreds of equally agile tentacles.

Countless small vines crept over his body in the brief instant that he had paused. They already had started to cover him, small sections of vines wrapping around his elbows, waist, and feet.

Then, while the assassin was twisting around on the narrow platform, these humble segments slowly accumulated. Then, all of a sudden--

The ability user agitated them, urging them to start growing rapidly!

Female commentator: "Oh boy, it's over!"

As fine vines stretched out and wrapped around the back of his shoulder, Odin's shoulder first lost the space to move, and then all the vines around him burst out into the air. Starting from behind him, they wrapped around his chest and waist, surrounding his upper body and causing his body to hang suspended in the air.

A vine immediately went to twine around Odin's neck, causing him to raise his head and let out a muffled sound before tightening abruptly!

The system determined that Odin was starting to suffer from asphyxiation.

The audience on the public screen: "Oh my godddddddddd!"

"The number one beauty is about to be ravaged by the tentacles…"

"Word! I simply can't watch on! Lord Four, pull yourself together!"

At this time, both the commentators and the audience felt that Odin had been too aggressive earlier. At this time, he would definitely have to take the brunt of the ability user's combo.

This combo of abilities could also serve to finish off an opponent directly: First, limit the opponent's range of movement, then find an opportunity to control them directly. When the opponent loses the ability to move, then deal out the highest level of damage within the shortest amount of time possible!

Because, there was a huge limitation for the activity of the vines. After ten seconds, any vines that were spawned would lose their ability to move and become fragile, dead material. Therefore, after seizing the opponent, an ability user had to try their best to extend the control time and deal the most damage they could.

The paralytic venom had been prepared specifically for this!

The long, thorny vines made use of every second they had, twining around Odin's waist and squeezing tight, perfectly outlining the waistline beneath his leather armor. The sharp thorns containing the toxin pierced through his skin.

The paralytic venom wasn't 100% effective, especially against those who had high resistance and willpower.

The ability user waited carefully for one second. Then, he saw Odin's hand spasm suddenly, and the short sword, Song of Triumph, fell out of his hand.

There would be no better chance than this!

The vines in the middle opened up instantly, revealing the ability user, 'Little De', who'd been wrapped up within. He pulled out his only weapon: A single-target handgun.

The dark, black muzzle was already aimed at the tasty prey that had sent itself up to be captured…

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However, it was right at this moment.

Odin's head, which had seemed to hang down powerlessly, suddenly shifted. A flash of cold in his dark, golden eyes that were revealed between his scattered locks of hair came and went.

"……" His throat, which had been tightly wrapped up by the vines, suddenly relaxed, the last breath of air within it gently spitting out a syllable.

--Shadow Jump!

Female commentator: "Oh! Acting?!!"

Male commentator: "Ah! It was an act! We're actually seeing an act!"

This acting! He'd deceived Little De into thinking that he'd been paralyzed so that he would appear from within the vines in order to attack--

Once Little De had exposed himself, he had given the assassin the opportunity to use Shadow Jump right away!

Odin instantly transformed into a shadow, disappearing directly from the entanglement of the vines.

A large stretch of lead-grey vines lost its vitality while another stretch of toxin-infused vines suddenly lost their target.

The ability user wanted to pull his fortress back in place, but it was too late. How could the vines grow and move faster than an assassin?

When the shadow appeared behind Little De, the dagger, Deep Silence, gently sliced across his artery.

Odin's figure appeared fully within 0.5 seconds, and the dagger suddenly stabbed fiercely into his opponent's artery, twisting before pulling back out--

A bit of blood splashed onto the vines. Only now had the ability user's vines managed to come up to wrap around Little De's back.

Odin's dagger had been too fast!

This dagger had never made a sound and appeared rarely. It only had a 20% utilization rate in rapid fights, but once it appeared, it was bound to be a deadly attack!

In this second, the dagger was released after it was pulled out.

Odin emptied his left hand and caught a crucial vine that had come to protect its master, forcefully snapping it off!

Then, he caught the dagger with his right hand and stabbed from the bottom up, directly inserting it into Little De's kidney from behind--two hits in a row! He didn't twist it, but this particular angle made the blood flow particularly strong.

The system judged: Critical attack, bleeding damage!

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When Odin stepped on the vines again and leapt away, the ability user's health was already below 20%!

In order to keep up with the speed of the last counterattack, the male commentator was almost flushed from lack of breath. He finally said, "That last blow caused bleeding damage! Odin's counterattack is a textbook classic!"

Female commentator: "He can also be chosen as this year's movie emperor!"

Male commentator: "Little De's reaction speed isn't slow either. He almost immediately chose to protect himself first. Now, it appears that this choice was too wise. If he'd been even one second later in defending, he wouldn't have escaped with just a bleeding debuff. He would've been insta-killed!"

Female commentator: "Just now, Little De still wanted to use the vines to force Tyron to stay and fight back, but unfortunately, Odin's Flash was too fast--"

After finishing his long-planned counterattack, Odin didn't hesitate to take advantage of the platform to Flash, returning to the safe stone path in an instant.

He didn't touch the swamp from beginning to end, which was exactly as Little De had expected, but this trap had somehow turned into something that hastened his own death instead.

After this exchange of blows, Little De was at critical health while Odin was still at half health.

The pace of the match slowed down again once Odin left the melee range.

Therefore, the two commentators had a moment of respite, and they praised the technique, Flash--the starting time required for this technique was too short, and its effect was so powerful. It was no wonder that it was able to obtain an evaluation of 9.5 by the A-League's experts panel.

The great demon king, Odin, who had Flash in his hands, could attack and retreat at will. He could also launch quick attacks like a storm, and this on its own was already enough to bully others, but what made it more excessive was… he could also be shortlisted for a title as a movie emperor!

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Now, the positioning of the two players had been magically reset, and they were once again in the same places they'd been three seconds into the match: The ability user had wrapped himself up and stood on the swamp while the assassin stood quietly on the stone path looking for opportunities.

However, the biggest difference was that the ability user's health was already at critical levels.

By the time the bleeding state had finally ended, his health had dropped from 18% to 7%.

Female commentator: "What a pity. It's really too unfortunate, it was just a little short!"

Male commentator: "Indeed. It's just a little short, and Odin still needs to find another opportunity to approach Little De and knock down that last 7%."