Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editor: Pyromancer

That battle team was called 'Seven Kills' and was the primary team for the Seven Kills Club.

Victor immediately wrote a recommendation letter, and the other side replied very quickly: Lord Four could head over tomorrow to play a friendly match with them and give it a try. If they matched well, he could join the team immediately.

This 'Seven Kills' team was world-renowned, because the absolute core of their line-up was a super violent ninja that usually ranked in the top three of the world's top ninja rankings. His kills could amount for 50% of all the kills the team made during a battle, and he could be considered as the most top player that led the whole team forward.

Unfortunately, the ninja encountered an accident at home last month and announced that he was withdrawing from the e-sports competition circle.

The Seven Kills team ended up in a very awkward position. All of their tactics and team members were based around the core DPS, and if the next core that they found was not strong enough, their combat effectiveness would be reduced greatly.

And this had occurred in the middle of the season; according to the regulations, they were only allowed to change one player out of the team of six.

They now had no opportunity to change anyone else, and could only treat this dead horse as though it was still living as they ceaselessly searched through the scattered players amongst the B-list in an attempt to cultivate a new core for their team.

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The next day, Tyron slowly made his way to the Seven Kills Club, opening up the rule manual to take a look on the way.

Team matches in League A, were similar to the individual matches in that they were regulated by AI, meaning that everyone was completely balanced from a data perspective. The only gap that existed was based on their combat awareness and skills.

Each team consisted of six people, which meant that matches were 6v6. A total of twelve people would go up to fight, and the game map and game modes were both randomized.

This year's A League team competition game modes included: Slaughter, Capture The Flag, Node Occupation, Tug-Of-War, Tower Defense, Cooperation, Survival, and Aerial Combat. There were a total of nine different modes.

Tyron looked down at the introductions and felt that this world's electronic games were really amazing. At a glance, some of these game modes seemed very interesting.

He had read through half of it when an older uncle suddenly appeared next to him. "Hey, handsome boy, have you never looked into the A League? That's a pity, it's a great competition to watch."

Tyron raised his eyebrows and said, "I've just never looked into the team competitions."

The uncle said, "Oh, that's also a pity! There's a great team called Seven Kills, you know! If you're interested, you should take a look."

Tyron was not that interested, so he didn't talk to him any further.

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But it became awkward when he got off the bus.

Tyron and the uncle alighted at the same time, and walked into the same building at the same time, finally seeing each other again right in front of the Seven Kills Club.

The front desk was surprised to see the old uncle, "Coach, why did you come in so early? Did you come for today's interview?"

Tyron: "…" Oh, so you were praising your own team on the bus?

Coach: "Cough."

The receptionist turned around and noticed Tyron, their eyes turning red with excitement, "Lord Four is here too! Please, come in. Our team is currently playing practice matches, so we can give it a try now that you're here."

Tyron: "Yes."

Coach: "…" Lord Four? Embracing Buddha's feet and praying on the bus?!

They looked at each other and wondered at the same time: Was he reliable?

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A while later, they both entered the practice room together.

There were a total of four rows of top-level machinery. Each row contained five sets, and the other five players were currently practicing in a simulation arena.

The coach made the introductions for Tyron: "Our team's lineup usually consists of two tanks, one support, and three DPS. The core position that we're currently missing is the DPS that is harvester DPS who is specifically responsible for sweeping through the battlefield and collecting kills. Let me introduce you to others."

Based on seniority:

The deputy tank was the commander and captain of the team. He was responsible for accomplishing the mission objectives, coordinating the team members, and maintaining the rear formation. Normally, each team member would listen to his commands. He was a scourge knight, and his distinguishing features were that he was rather well-balanced and very tanky, allowing him to have a high survivability as well as provide timely assistance.

The main tank was a pure tank that was usually set at the front to absorb damage. He was a big shield warrior, and his defining feature was his huge two-handed shield. All of his skills were defensive.

The support also doubled as the second-in-command, taking over whenever the captain died or was unable to command. He was a goblin summoner that provided all kinds of assistance. He could heal as well as apply and remove status effects, or even assist with damage output.

The main DPS was now absent. This had originally been the core of the team who was responsible for harvesting lives.

The secondary DPS position was responsible for using attacks to suppress the other side in a frontal attack. They were a gunner class, and would often set up a cannon on the spot, indiscriminately bombing at the other side to suppress them and using their firepower to shield their teammates.

The third DPS was responsible for protecting the rear. They were a puppet summoner class, which was characterized by summoning puppets that they could simultaneously control at any time. The puppets were fast and had control abilities, so they often provided assistance in protecting the rear as well as the gunner.

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Very quickly, the five team members had come out to greet Tyron, but because they were not sure if they would end up as teammates, they didn't seem too enthusiastic.

The coach immediately opened the door and said, "Now that everyone is here, let's play a practice match. Have the second team come over in order to act as sandbags. We'll randomly select two maps, and the mode will be… We'll start with the slaughter mode."

The rules for slaughter mode: Each team had a quota of 20 lives, which would be deducted from every time a teammate died and resurrected. The team that used up their quota of lives would be judged as the losers.

This mode was very good at testing both teams' DPS.

Since they were now trying out a new harvester DPS, it was the most appropriate mode.

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The second Seven Kills Club team showed up in the virtual arena after a short while. The two sides were already familiar with each other, and immediately began the competition.

Random map: Sky Temple.

The map had three layers, upper, middle and lower, and the terrain was very complex, making it very well suited for ambushes.

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At the beginning of the game, the other five members of the Seven Kills team skilfully positioned themselves and began to move outwards.

In order to take care of their new DPS, the captain and commander explained, "In this kind of slaughter mode, we usually gather together to first fight a wave of skirmishes in order to test the other side's strength. If we can beat them, we'll continue to fight and push forward, but if it's not an option, we'll switch to Plan B."

Tyron spoke very calmly, "Group warfare? I'm not very good at group fights."

"… Uh." The captain continued, "That's all right. We just want to see your strength, and we don't have any expectations that we would be able to cooperate well together the first time. In addition, our core output normally doesn't fight in team battles much, either. Generally, he'll go out to harvest two or three kills in order to help us build up an advantage so that we end up with a 5v3."

Tyron nodded thoughtfully.

The next second, Tyron took a step back, and melted into the shadows.

Captain: "…" Di, disappeared? Did he just go into stealth without a word?!

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On the other side, the Seven Kills' second team was already used to being sandbags. They had two tanks, a healer, an archer, a mage and a berserker. They got into formation right from the start, and prepared to exchange a series of battles with the first team.

As soon as they entered the temple, they saw someone come in from the opposite entrance. The healer suddenly shouted, "Look up!"

Tyron fell from the sky like a black cheetah, and landed on the healer in an instant.

"Attack!" The second team's commander shouted, "Burst down this assassin!" At this moment, he was thinking in his heart, 'We are all here, but you still dare to rush up. Aren't you a bit too ignorant about life and death?'

In the next second, the only thing they saw was the white flash of light as their own healer died.

Commander: "…" The healer was gone in less than two seconds?! Is our healer made out of paper?

In a blink of an eye, he saw that Tyron taken two direct hits from their DPS, and then headed straight back into the shadows with a tuck and roll.

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Commander: "Shoot him out. He's too arrogant!"

It was better to arrive at the team battle few seconds after their opponents than leave the hidden danger behind them.

Their team's mage immediately prepared a spell with a wide area of effect and shot it into the shadows.

Just as the fire flashed over, Tyron suddenly flipped out from under the bridge and grabbed the archer's ankle.

The archer only had enough time to shout out 'what the f**?!' before he was pulled off the bridge.

Fortunately, their tank responded quickly enough to cast a protective skill on the archer.

He would take no physical damage for the next three seconds. The archer's heart was thudding out of control as he climbed back up from under the bridge, only to discover that Tyron had concealed his intentions with a feint.

During the two or three short seconds while they looked in the archer's direction, Tyron had already thrown himself at the mage.

The mage didn't even have time to protect themselves before they died.

Commander: "…"

Everyone else: "…"

Our mage must also be made out of paper!

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Two members of their team fell right from the start.

After hesitating for a moment, the second team's commander gritted his teeth and said, "The assassin should have left by now. It's not worth it to try and catch him now. Let's go together as a group to see if there's a chance to fight during the group battle."

The two tanks separated, one standing at the front, the other at the back as they protected the remaining archer and berserker, moving forward in a compact formation.

After crossing through the temple's second gate, they soon met with the first team across a large pool of water set in the middle of the temple.

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They habitually chose not to have announcements during their practice matches, so they would only be notified every time five kills were achieved.

At this point in time, the commander of the first team was saying, "Our DPS… Lord Four seems to have disappeared with no intention to return? Looking at the other side, it seems that they're missing a few. It's not clear if they've dropped dead or if they're intentionally hiding in order to trick us into a trap. Let's first steadily press a little closer from the front."

The commander of the second team said, "We won't continue forward. Set up a defense here, and find an opportunity to bring out the assassin—we'll find a way to kill him off."

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The second team commander's voice had just dropped when Tyron appeared from the shadows of the fountain and showed up right in front of him!

Commander: "…" The hell! I haven't even tried to draw you out yet?!

Tyron came up and went for the commander. The commander was a tank, and unconsciously raised up his shield as he shouted, "Get him! Do it!"

Arrows and blades shot out to attack Tyron at the same time.

Tyron didn't even turn his head, but he held his dagger behind him and 'ding!' parried the blade. At the same time, he took a direct hit from the arrow, letting it land on his side before clamping down on the arrow with his elbow and twisting violently—

The berserker holding the sword was caught off guard. He had no idea that the assassin could still defend his back and fight from behind, and was sliced across the throat by Song of Triumph before getting stabbed by another dagger. The actions were so fast he could barely see it clearly.

Tyron's actions were as smooth as moving clouds and flowing water. He immediately beat the berserker into red blood (30% health left), then continued by stepping on the commander's shield, flying almost like a bird as he returned to the second floor and disappeared.

Everyone watched blankly. Tyron had half of his blood left, and it seemed as though he would die after another round, but he simply disappeared so smartly.

And after he left, the red blooded berserker kept bleeding, watching as damage numbers showed up on top of his head. He had no way to obtain healing (since the healer was the first person Tyron killed), and finally collapsed dead.

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After a while, a broken arrow was thrown down from upstairs. It was precisely the only arrow that had hit Tyron. It clattered as it landed at the commander's feet.

The three people that were left in the second team: "…"

The commander was furious, "We have to deal with this assassin! We're not going to fight this motherf*cking group battle! Start up the big scanning skill; we're getting rid of this damned harvester first!"

Jul 7, 2019 - "Base Occupation" game mode changed to "Node Occupation".