Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editors: bear & celtic

In that moment of shock, the sorcerer reflexively cast a shield spell on himself--this was the sorcerer's only shield skill.

From the time he first saw Tyron begin to move, Maple Leaf had only blinked once before he suddenly discovered that Tyron was nearly upon him.

The tip of Tyron's dagger stabbed down from the sky, aiming straight between Maple Leaf's eyes.

Only the commentator who had been following Tyron's path through the camera had enough time to react. "He's only a short distance away! War God directly attacked with a backhand grip--the vast majority of all his damage output is done through a backhand grip--the dagger's direct stab is faster and fiercer than all his other attacks!"

He was still speaking, accompanied by the sound of endless clanging, like a bell that was shaking in the wind, filled with a sense of urgency and danger.

The sorcerer's shield had been broken through!

Maple Leaf had never seen such a simple and direct assassin opponent in all the time he had been playing professional matches, nor had he ever seen a player who could directly break through his shield in the first round of combo attacks! It was too fierce; other than the word 'ferocious', he had no other words that could describe his feelings at this moment.

However, at the very least, this shield had bought him some time… a very precious 0.5 seconds.

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Why was 0.5 seconds so important?

It was because all spells required three components before they were cast: chanting, gesturing, and casting material. Amongst them, chanting was the most important. Approximately every 0.5 seconds of a chant was called a 'short segment'. All spells required at least one 'short segment'; while any spell that could be released by chanting only one 'short segment' was known as an 'instant spell'.

Polymorph!

Polymorph was a quintessential 'instant spell'. It's release time only required 0.5 seconds of chanting and gesturing. Even the average melee player's attack speed interval wasn't this short.

Therefore, in the instant his shield was broken through, the trump card that Maple Leaf held in the palm of his hand was actually polymorph!

The moment the magic flashed over, Maple Leaf seemed to be watching Tyron move in slow motion--

This was because he was too nervous, too anxious, and his mind was creating delusions.

All of this still happened so quickly, rushing by in a flash.

In fact, in that precise moment when that the magic blazed, Tyron's figure had melted into the shadows!

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Outside of the arena, the commentator yelled, "Stealth!"

"Instant stealth! What's going on! The War God's blade had already reached the top of Maple Leaf's head, why did he suddenly go into stealth mode?!"

Because it all happened so fast, the movements of both players seemed to be instantaneous.

Within the 0.5 seconds that was required to cast polymorph, Tyron had immediately gone into stealth mode, leaving Maple Leaf's view. This made it so that Maple Leaf's polymorph no longer had a target and couldn't be released.

Maple Leaf was unable to release his spell, so the commentators had no idea what had taken place between the two players or why the War God had suddenly turned invisible.

Just as the commentators hastened to watch the replay to try to figure out what had happened, Maple Leaf felt a layer of cold sweat form on his back: this reaction speed was too fast, too terrifying! The chant for polymorph was only 0.5 seconds long, but his opponent had been able to recognize the spell in the blink of an eye and then immediately go into stealth? What kind of technique was this stealth of his? It could actually be so quick and swift. This was definitely not a system skill!

That really had been too dangerous. As a mage, being targeted by someone with such a fast reaction speed and who hit hard with continuous combos, if he hadn't had the polymorph spell that required no aiming to hit the target and that could be used to force his opponent to back away, he would already be dead by now!

Maple Leaf didn't hesitate as he immediately cast a teleportation spell, leaving the place he had been in just now.

.

After Tyron turned himself invisible, he hadn't actually left. He stood in place and observed, then quietly circled behind Maple Leaf.

To outsiders, his actions always seemed bold: He would often stick close to his opponents while stealthed, waiting for the opportune moment. Even when he played in team competitions, he would dare to chase after their opponent's main group in order to look for opportunities. There was even one time when he had directly stuck close to the resurrection point and hadn't even bothered to hide.

To others, this was incredibly exciting and carried a taste of provocation.

However, in the eyes of insiders who participated in professional matches, this represented the ultimate pinnacle of the ability to predict the situation and read the psychological state of one's opponent. It was almost as though the War God had a mind-reading ability.

Because his predictions had never once been wrong!

At this moment, the male commentator said, "Aiya, Maple Leaf was too careless!"

"It can't be called careless. It can only be said that he's feeling relief after escaping from danger. He has already begun to prepare the scanning spell to detect stealth…"

"Unfortunately, it's too late!"

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It was indeed too late. While Maple Leaf was summoning his 'mystery eye', he once again discovered Tyron's figure. However, it was already too late.

During this 0.5 seconds of chanting time, Tyron once again seized the opportunity and his sword and dagger sliced out gently from behind to form a cross in front of Maple Leaf's throat.

Killing intent surged!

"Weak point attack! Achilles' heel! Four times the damage again! Nobody can escape the War God's ambush!"

Maple Leaf's blood dropped to critical in an instant!

The sorcerer didn't even know where his enemy was, but the experience he had gained through hundreds of individual matches kicked in and allowed him to subconsciously make use of his skills.

Commentator: "Time reversal!! Maple Leaf actually used his ultimate move and returned to the state he was in five seconds ago!"

.

Five seconds ago, Maple Leaf had still been standing in his previous position with full health, holding an 'instant spell' that required no aiming--

Polymorph!

At this moment the two of them were over ten meters apart. Nobody could stop Maple Leaf now.

The polymorph took effect instantly, and Tyron's figure was randomly changed into that of a white dove.

In individual games, since there weren't any teammates that could provide assistance, the effect of polymorph had been adjusted by the system for the sake of balance: polymorph only lasted for three seconds, and while they were unable to attack, they could still move! Polymorph would immediately be cancelled out as soon as they were attacked.

Even so, in a fast one-on-one battle, three seconds were enough to flip the situation completely.

Because three seconds added up to six small segments of chanting. Many super-high damage spells were four or six segment chants, and these spells were extremely deadly for a fragile assassin!

.

Female commentator: "Word, my god, it's polymorph! Just now, the disrupted spell that Maple Leaf was holding was polymorph. No wonder Lord Four didn't hesitate before going into stealth mode!"

Male commentator: "No wonder Lord Four would hide! Polymorph is the only crowd control skill he was affected by during the team competition. Other than this skill, his slaughtering has never been stopped! It'll be dangerous for him this time--"

The male commentator hadn't even finished speaking when he felt a sudden slap to his face.

Because the time that Tyron spent transformed into a white dove by the polymorph spell lasted for less than a full second.

Abruptly, Tyron switched back.

The male commentator was struck dumb with awe. "What's going on?! Maple Leaf hasn't touched him yet!"

The female commentator's gaze was a little sharper. She spoke up, "Lord Four received a very small, very negligible injury that only deducted a mere 2 health points--My god, this damage came from a neutral mob!"

"Lord Four hit a little monkey with a dart before he was polymorphed??? The monkey then tossed down a stone that broke his polymorph?!!"

"What! Can the game even be played this way--!!!"

The game could indeed be played this way. As long as he received any damage, regardless of whether it was from players or neutral monsters, the polymorph effect would be lifted.

Everyone: struck dumb with astonishment.jpg

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The sorcerer was currently chanting a large explosive skill and was preparing to clear out the assassin's HP in one fell swoop. The spell required a full 2.5 seconds of chanting time, and the damage was very impressive, but it was only in a situation where he had control over his opponent that he would dare to begin chanting it.

However, he was chanting and chanting some more when he suddenly discovered that Lord Four had changed back!

--The targeted skills and ultimate move that he had stressed over for a whole month, the polymorph that he had specifically prepared to strike while his enemy was caught off guard, had been dispelled just like that by a monkey?

Maple Leaf: "……" WTF?! Hold on?! Daddy, save me!

And then, everyone saw Tyron's arms sweeping into a cross as they drew out a familiar, wonderful white light.

The commentator shouted excitedly, "He's going in with a flash! Lord Four isn't giving him any chance to react at all!"

"Does Maple Leaf have any trump cards left? Does he?!"

If Maple Leaf could have heard the commentators' words right then, he would definitely have thought: His shield had been broken, his teleportation had been used up, his polymorph had been used up, and even his time reversal was gone! Could he possibly have any motherf*cking trump cards left?!

It really felt as though there was a river of despair flowing through the sorcerer's heart. He looked at the number of skills that he had on cooldown, and understood that there was no way to continue to fight this match. However, he continued to chant his large, explosive skill.

Even if he was about to die, he would die with dignity…

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The moment Tyron's flash activated, he had already taken down a portion of the sorcerer's health. Following that, he lightly sent out two more successive combo strikes from behind the sorcerer.

When the sorcerer was left with 10% of his health, Tyron calculated the time: It seemed as though the game hadn't yet reached 20 seconds.

That wasn't good. In the arena of this interstellar era, it was necessary to leave his opponent a little bit of dignity--this was what the Seven Kills' coach, Qian Sheng had told him before.

When Tyron thought of this, he immediately let off a little.

Commentator: "Maple Leaf actually managed to finish casting his skill???"

"What kind of situation is this? Is he teasing me? It's a large skill that takes 2.5 seconds to cast, but Lord Four actually let him finish casting it?"

"He really finished casting! Lord Four dodged to the side and lost 15% of his health!"

Maple Leaf was finally able to cast his large skill. Seeing the red light of his spell flash out, he was left incredibly moved!

And then he died in a streak of white light and flew away.

Maple Leaf: dying with no regrets.gif

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This match lasted for a total of 20.11 seconds.

For some inexplicable reason, the commentator felt that it was a little strange when he saw this time.

However, he still dutifully said, "Alright, then. This match is over, ending with the War God's victory."

Female commentator: "It has to be said that the War God is indeed the War God. Regardless of whether it's his methods, his battle awareness, or even the way he dispelled the other party's skills, it all left me very amazed!"

Male commentator: "Indeed, indeed. What took place just now was a real stroke of genius that definitely can't be overpraised! The first polymorph hadn't even finished casting, and Lord Four managed to go into stealth mode within that half-second and avoid it; the second polymorph was finally cast out with much difficulty, but Lord Four had lightly attacked a small mob before he was transformed and used the mob to dispel his own polymorphed state…"

The two commentators: "Tsk, tsk…"

On the public screen: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, my husband is both powerful and wise! He can even combine beauty and grace!"

"I'll secretly share this with you guys, I was the one who gave birth to that little monkey for the War God!"