Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editors: alamerysl & Pyromancer

At this moment, on the public screen:

"Match fixing! Scam! It's unfair!"

"Lu Chaofan should get the hell out of the e-sports circle!"

"We want to collectively lodge a complaint against you guys! You're shaming the entire Earth District by holding a fixed competition!"

The audience started to throw things at the stage in anger, and endless official complaints were sent to the organizers.

The two players on the stage were completely unaware of this. They were still confronting each other with their figurative daggers drawn, quietly waiting for the countdown to the second match to end.

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The atmosphere in the broadcasting studio was very awkward as the director signalled for the commentators to continue their duties.

The male commentator braced himself and said, "Okay, we are currently starting the second match in this competition."

Female commentator: "As long as this match isn't over, victory or defeat is still undecided. There's still an element of suspense."

The audience on the public screen: "What the hell kind of suspense is there! Can you use your conscience when you speak?!"

Female commentator: "…"

Male commentator: "There's a high possibility that contestant Lu Chaofan made some serious mistakes in the previous match, which led to his regrettable defeat…"

The public screen: "Mistakes? He committed some serious stupidity, right!"

Male commentator: "…"

Female commentator: "Will the 'Trap Master' be able to turn the tide and win? Let's wait and see."

The public screen: "What kind of Trap Master is he, he's a pie master! His skin is so thick that it must have been stuffed with reinforced concrete!"

The two commentators: "…" They were blocked at every sentence; there was no way to save this.

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After that, the one minute countdown finally ended.

The two assassin-type professions that were face-to-face crouched down at the same time and disappeared from each other's view.

It could be seen from the broadcaster's godview that the two people had not moved evasively after using Stealth. Instead, they rushed towards their opponent.

Male commentator: "They chose to confront each other directly with blades drawn—"

Even before he had finished speaking, Tyron jumped up, twisted in the air, and managed to accurately hit his opponent with a bent knee despite not being able to see his opponent at all!

Lu Chaofan also had no way to see his opponent and was caught off guard as he prepared to launch a long-ranged attack. He was knocked sideways by that knee and rolled across the ground before ending up trampled under Tyron's foot once again.

Female commentator: "Huh?"

Male commentator: “What!”

All of this happened in less than two seconds. Within that period of time, Tyron completed an incredibly well-linked series of actions: jumping, bending his knee to attack, executing a strong back flip, and then stepping on his opponent.

Everyone had no time to make sense of what their eyes had seen. By the time they responded, Lu Chaofan was already under Tyron’s foot.

It was an outdoor map this time. Lu Chaofan's face ended up buried in the dirt.

The male commentator was still staring at the scene, "What happened just now! What exactly happened?!"

Female commentator: "How could this happen when both sides can't see each other?!"

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Everyone was still shocked by the scene that had just occurred, but within the competition map, the situation was turning increasingly intense.

Lu Chaofan leaped up. He had learned from his previous experience of being trampled onto the ground, and attempted to launch a sneak attack on Tyron from below.

Tyron dodged, his body leaning sideways in a perfectly straight line.

When he saw Lu Chaofan attempt to flip over and get up, Tyron grabbed his ankle, and then leveraged on his position to immediately toss Lu Chaofan to the side.

Female commentator: "Huh—?!"

Lu Chaofan had originally wanted to do a 180 degree turn, but ended up performing a full 360 degree twist thanks to Tyron's ingenious move. His expression was muddled as he lost his balance.

Before Lu Chaofan landed on the ground, Tyron had already calmly extended his legs, hooked them in order to make a triangle with his thighs and calves, and wrapped them firmly around his opponent's throat.

The male commentator shouted in excitement, "Hell's Gate! Fuck! It's Hell's Gate! I never thought that we would be able to see these legendary fighting skills in the competition!"

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At that moment, the move that was applying pressure to the carotid artery in Lu Chaofan's neck was the 'triangle choke' that only occasionally appeared in interstellar-class combat competitions.

Using the legs and knees, the most powerful parts of the human body, in this chokehold, the person who was caught in this move was almost certainly doomed to die. This was also the reason why this tactic was known as 'Hell's Gate'. It was extremely difficult to use, and it basically only ever appeared in peak level combat competitions. Nobody had ever expected that such a move would appear in the e-sports competition arena!

His carotid artery was restricted; Lu Chaofan became unconscious within three short seconds. By the time his darkening vision finally saw a ray of light, he had already lost all feeling below his neck.

He had no way to make a sound, escape, or even think.

It was as though he was being held in the palm of the devil's hand while the gates to hell opened for him without any reservations.

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In the midst of such a terrifying situation, Lu Chaofan saw Tyron's dagger—

The dagger named 'Deep Silence' once again hovered between his eyebrows just like before.

He lost his life with one stroke!

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The second round of the BO3 competition ended. The score was 2:0.

Player #419 won.

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The audience was still stunned while the system announced the competition results and the two players returned to the stage in flashes of white light.

It had all happened so fast! The second match only lasted ten seconds - from the end of the countdown to the appearance of Hell's Gate.

After the first match where Tyron had played a cat-and-mouse game and obtained a win, the audience were already discussing how relaxed and easy his second win would be. But they had never thought that it would be this easy!

The match was over in ten seconds.

Such a dramatic scene actually appeared during the Earth District's finals, in the first matchup between the top four.

After the audience caught up, the public screen was instantly filled with a cascade of comments.

Some people were still analyzing 'Hell's Gate', "The difficulty level of this move is really too high. The launching conditions are so harsh that it's almost impossible for a normal person. But once it comes out, it's an absolute killer move that simply destroys the balance! So far, very few games have made it into an actual character skill. This must mean that it is Lord Four's personal technique."

"Unexpectedly, we saw one of the signature skills of the world fighting championships in the e-sports circle… Could it be that Lord Four has a background in combat?!"

"Less than ten seconds! None of system's skills were used! His opponent basically died without a burial place! Lord Four must be a top level expert even outside the game!!"

The public screen was scrolling too fast. The comments that contained genuine content had scrolled out of the several-meter-high screen too quickly; each comment on the screen was only displayed for less than two seconds.

The majority of the audience were sending meaningless exclamations and praise, as only hysterical shouting could express how excited they were in their hearts.

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The audience stands were wild for a good few minutes, but finally quieted down slightly after the host's third reminder.

The two contestants were now back on the stage, and they formed a sharp contrast as they stood together.

Tyron looked exactly like he had before the competition, standing coolly in place. The only thing missing from the picture were the words 'I feel really bored' written in capital letters on his mask.

Lu Chaofan, on the other hand, was pale. His legs were trembling as they supported his body, and it felt as though he would topple over any moment. It seemed that the two identical 'deaths' where the blade pierced between his eyebrows had caused a humongous psychological shadow to form in his mind.

Faced with such a marked contrast, the audience gradually recovered from their previous enthusiasm and began to angrily demand explanations.

Lu Chaofan looked up, and saw that there were thousands of people throwing angry, contemptuous and hateful gazes at him from the audience stands all around them.

"Wha, what happened?" He took a bewildered step forward.

The auditorium echoed with a flood of accusations:

"Simply makes my blood boil!"

"I thought your songs were really good, but I never thought that you were this kind of person! I even became your fan - I'm ashamed just thinking about it!"

"You actually managed to climb your way into the top four through unscrupulous tactics like coercion and bribery. The entire Earth District is humiliated because of you!"

Lu Chaofan subconsciously showed a wronged expression and tried to explain, "It, it's not like that. They must be rumors! I can explain. Just wait for me to explain… Where's Assistant Director Xu?"

He looked around blankly, as though looking for someone who still supported him.

But Assistant Director Xu had already rushed forth to try and clear his own name a long time ago.

The director was the only one who answered, "The competition sequence cannot be disrupted. If there is any problem, it can be addressed after the competition has ended. The management will give everyone a satisfactory response."

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The present scene was still chaotic, and the audience had started to throw all kinds of things towards the stage, from melon seed shells and paper scraps, to snacks and water bottles. The more ruthless members of the audience even threw shoes and socks in all directions.

Although these objects would disappear before they reached the stage, Tyron still casually took two steps back and left the spotlight to Lu Chaofan.

At that moment, the host flew up onto the stage. She wanted to follow the procedures and ask for any post-match comments, but she didn't know how to start and ended up hesitating for a moment.

Tyron saw her dilemma, and gestured towards Lu Chaofan. His meaning was: You should go up and ask him.

Then, Tyron turned around to step down from the stage and leave.

The host couldn't hold back anymore when she saw this. She turned off the microphone, and asked him carefully, "Lord, Lord Four, hold on! My microphone… It was found under the washbasin in the lounge just now."

Tyron's expression did not change as he replied, "Oh."

The host continued, "That microphone… I lost it during the break between matches, and it magically turned into a potato chip somehow… Was it… Did you…?"

The questions she asked were unformed, and Tyron's answer was also rather mysterious: He simply smiled.

This smile was still hidden behind his mask; she was only able to tell from the slight amusement contained within those dark golden eyes.

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It was only a few short seconds, but the audience's negative reactions could no longer be suppressed.

The host could only turn the microphone back on and slowly pass it over to Lu Chaofan.

Lu Chaofan did not know that everything had already been exposed by this thumb-sized dandelion microphone. He practically snatched the new microphone as it was handed over and spoke to the audience, "This was a misunderstanding! Someone must have purposely set out to hurt me! Some people have spread malicious rumours about me while I was competing, and I'll definitely sue them—I don't know anything! Everyone, please believe me!"

But he did not know that his own gaze at this moment was filled with three parts fear, two parts panic, and the remaining five parts were full of hatred as he looked towards Tyron, who was preparing to depart.

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The two of them exchanged a brief look from over ten meters away.

Tyron suddenly gave a gentle laugh. The index and middle finger of his right hand formed the shape of a sword, and he pointed his fingertips towards Lu Chaofan's eyebrows from afar.

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At that moment, Lu Chaofan was unable to move as he stood there facing Tyron.

The feeling of despair he had experienced twice when Tyron's dagger stabbed between his eyebrows was just like the toll of the death knell as it echoed through his heart, bringing with it the sensation of death.

This tremendous fear destroyed what remained of his will in an instant.

He suddenly felt his knees go soft, and fell to his knees in front of Tyron.