Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editor: kara

Just before the game began, when the two players were shaking hands, a certain someone finally arrived late.

At the time, Forgetting Worries was in a good state and had a very proper smile on his face as he leant in to say something.

At this time, Tyron suddenly heard an inconspicuous sound among the cheers from all the people at the scene.

He looked over very naturally and saw a small private aircraft flying in amidst the fireworks for the final competition and docking at the top of the auditorium. A moment later, Victor came out from within.

Victor leapt down directly from the aircraft carrying a small suitcase with him. He trotted through the huge crowd and walked over to the front of the stage, squeezing into his family seat.

His eyes and eyebrows relaxed with his sigh of relief. After placing the suitcase away, he naturally looked for his male god on the stage.

His male god also bowed his head to look at him. Both of them were relieved.

It was a pity that there wasn't a chance for them to talk. At this time, the atmosphere in the venue was very heated.

The randomized map from the system had also come out: The Roc's Back.

The screen had only just displayed the words, and everyone digested it for a second. The audience was the first to react, their thoughts moving even faster than the commentators.

The audience: "Oh! Wow! AHHH--!!!"

The cheers were so loud that everyone almost thought that the champion had been determined.

The rainy day cult was delighted with the news, their hearts filled with joy as they celebrated from wherever they were in the world, running off to inform everyone else--because the Roc's Back was a half-flight, half-sea map!

This meant that it didn't have to rain, and the players would still likely get wet…

The female commentator also gave a shrill scream, causing the male commentator to hurriedly start explaining to cover up her gaffe, "Oh! A very flexible map. When the map's main body is the Peng, it'll fly up in the sky, and the objects that fall onto the field will allow contestants to fly for 7 seconds. When the Kun appears at random in the second minute, they'll swim along the sea bottom. The objects on the map will keep the contestants from suffocating for 20 seconds. Generally speaking, both types of dropped objects are strategic resources that competitors need to strive for. After all, flight is an important advantage…"

The female commentator was unable to hide her excitement and added, "Odin's disadvantages have been offset slightly. Don't forget that he's an expert in aerial combat, and his talents are on full display in the air."

The two players soon stood on the back of the Peng’s spine, one to the left and one to the right.

The huge Peng’s body was endless, its back covered with huge feathers. The falling objects that would allow them to fly for a short time were also shaped like golden feathers and needed to be held by the players to take effect.

Both players had their own characteristics.

Forgetting Worries had classic Germanic features. He was blond, blue-eyed, and wore the paladin's gold and white professional gear, and viewers could sense the holy light when they saw it as though there was also a halo behind his head.

Odin's clothing was much more low-key. His cape danced in the wind from their high-altitude positions, and his straight, long legs enhanced his figure. He didn't need to show his face, and just his quiet and proud figure alone was like a painting in itself as he stood there.

The fifth second after the countdown began, both people entered a battle state at the same time.

Even the audience outside of the scene could feel the aura of battle at this moment, and the public screen coincidentally fell quiet.

At this time, Forgetting Worries's smile was completely gone. He pulled out his weapon from his back--he used a gun, a Western-style long-barrelled gun that was around two meters long. Because it was quite thin, it was extremely light, and due to the magnificent enchantment patterns on it, it was also unusually strong.

Forgetting Worries also had a short sword that was currently pinned to his waist. Based on his style, he wouldn't draw his blade unless he came within close-combat range, because he could only use one short sword technique, which was a drawing technique. Even so, it was enough for Forgetting Worries, whose primary weapon was the long gun--because, the technique itself was powerful.

The countdown ended!

The two contestants came forth at the same time. They didn't use any techniques and instead tacitly exchanged a wave of tentative attacks.

The well-prepared male commentator quickly said, "Alright then, Contestant Odin didn't hide himself at the start of the fight! … They're mutually testing each other out! They broke up very quickly, and neither of them lost any health!"

Their actions just now had been very interesting, but the male commentator didn't have enough time to break it down in detail at the moment, because Odin and Forgetting Worries had pulled away after this brief encounter, pausing for about a second before clashing again.

This time, a small amount of faith had been integrated into the tip of Forgetting Worries's gun. A little bit of golden light could be seen in the air, creating a beautiful arc as it moved. It seemed to be very slow, but in fact, it quickly met with Odin's double blades!

Only the clang of metal impacting could be heard continuously. Forgetting Worries advanced and retreated while Odin's figure was more flexible, landing two small sets of combos over a short period of time, three-hit and four-hit.

However, Forgetting Worries didn't fall into a blade fight, because when his faith was injected into the tip of the gun, the arcs left by the light could remain in the air as an entity that helped him resist the attacks. When necessary, he hadn't hesitated to lose a little health in order to avoid letting Odin pull him into his pace.

After all, there was still a restraint from their respective occupations. Odin was also playing steadily and didn't give Forgetting Worries a chance to use up his health. He also didn't try to force a fight.

At this moment, the arc of light left traces in the air that lasted for two seconds during which Odin also created a spark-like explosion every time he clashed with the tip of the gun.

For a time, the fireworks seemed blurred, and the glow was like pure white neon light.

Seven seconds of the game passed steadily like this, and the second golden feather had already appeared on the Peng's back.

However, neither player seemed to have any intention of diverting their attention. They were keeping a close eye on their opponent--this was a time when neither could allow themselves to be the first to show a flaw.

In lower-level competitions, everyone looked for an opportunity to play their own routines and fight a series of direct combat. However, in higher-level competitions, players focused more on looking for mistakes or flaws in their opponents rather than opportunities for themselves. There were two reasons for this: one was that when experts compete, every drop of blood was enough for their opponent to turn the tables, and secondly, experts at the top level were all good at counterattacking and breaking routines. At the peak levels, no routine was foolproof. It was better to wait for an opponent to begin their routine before fighting back.

So, who would be the first to find flaws in this game?

The audience didn't have to hold their breath for too long!

All of a sudden, there was a moment when everyone heard only a slightly extended 'clang' as Odin's phantom-like blades suddenly crossed together. The point where they intersected was exactly where the tip of the gun hit!

At this moment, the male commentator had just enough time to shout, "Opportunity!"

Everything happened in a flash.

Forgetting Worries didn't hesitate to draw his sword!

He only had one sword-drawing technique, but it allowed him to draw his sword both fast and powerfully! This sword move was quite similar to the way Odin drew his blades, and the cold light left in the blade's wake carved out an arc in everyone's retinas.

However, it did not work, because even if the sword was moved like lightning, Odin could still move faster than him.

--Flash!

Odin turned into a flash of light and penetrated Forgetting Worries's body, instantly coming to a stop directly behind him--an extremely advantageous position.

Even when faced with this speed that went beyond godly limits, Forgetting Worries wasn't far behind. His holy long-barrelled gun immediately stabbed behind him even as he flipped forward in the air to pull back. The tip of the gun swept up from the ground, the holy light rising from the surface and streaking into the air to form a rainbow-shaped sacred mark--

A technique like this could defend Forgetting Worries from the front or back, and it was the perfect coping skill for the straight-line puncture technique that was Flash. If Odin wanted to continue to use Flash, he would have to pay a certain price in blood.

Odin's reactions were extremely fast as he shot out a round of darts while retreating, scraping away 5% of Forgetting Worries's health.

At this time, the two of them separated again.

This exchange wasn't too fast or too slow. Compared to Odin's storm-like blade-wielding speed, it could only be considered moderate, but it was still very eye-catching when compared to an ordinary game.

The male commentator only had enough time to sum it up now, "Odin disarmed him, and Forgetting Worries drew his blade to deal with it. Then, Odin used Flash to dodge and move away while Forgetting Worries dealt with the Flash attack. Odin retreated wisely and finally took away a small amount of health. In the last second, they've exchanged over four moves at the speed of light… If any mistakes were made, or they were even 0.1 second slower, what we would be looking at now would definitely have been a set of combos."

.

The two of them switched positions and confronted each other again.

They maintained a perfect distance of 1.5 meters between them. It was just out of range for the long-barrelled gun and far enough that neither side would push forward to directly launch an attack.

Even when Odin suddenly raised his daggers, Forgetting Worries carefully created a pattern with his gun and used the light arc to create an instant defense for himself.

However, he soon found out that it had been an act!

Odin made a false move and instantly Flashed backwards.. His hand grasped the falling object that had just shown up on the map--the Peng's feather!

As the feather turned into a streak of light in his palm, a shining pair of huge green and gold wings appeared behind Odin's back.

Forgetting Worries's reactions weren't slow either, but he was slightly limited by his own movement skills and was only able to touch another feather after Odin's special effects ended.

The male commentator shouted, "It's a chance for an aerial raid!" Indeed, Odin had practically already completed his attack!

The huge green and gold wings rushed in first, attacking fiercely from behind. Even Forgetting Worries hadn't expected that it would be a wing attack--

Other than Odin, there was no other player who could control the wings so freely to the point where they could launch up into high-speed flight almost instantly, stop in an instant, and initiate an attack with their wings!

Forgetting Worries's defensive skill wasn't very useful, because the main purpose of Odin's wings flapping was to beat him backwards.

There was no doubt that the repulsion force would shake his center of gravity, and in the moment when his center of gravity shifted, a flash of light had already penetrated through him completely.