Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editor: kara

This younger cousin of Cardinal's would always burst out crying when things didn't go his way.

The master assassin didn't feel any fear over this, nor did he find it useful, except for one thing…

At the beginning of the next match, Tyron looked unkindly at this 'big cousin' and couldn't keep himself from imagining: Would Cardinal look like his younger cousin if he suddenly burst out crying with a wail, too?

On the other side, Cardinal suddenly shivered.

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The second match's randomized map was: Angelic Castle.

This map was basically an abandoned classical castle that was about six stories high, but the upper levels had mostly collapsed and only the structural frame was left. The first and second levels were relatively intact, and battles would generally take place there.

Seeing this, the commentator spoke up, "This is a very good map for assassins, particularly assassins who are good at ambushes. The terrain is complex, there are many obstacles, and more importantly, there are many places with a height advantage."

"For ambushing assassins, height advantages are their lifeline--in the next match, it's likely that conflict will break out while they both try to seize the commanding height."

The female commentator said, "Simply put, in this match, the two players want to compete to see who is on top and who is below…"

Male commentator: "… I somehow feel like there's something wrong with your words?"

Anchor: "Salacious female anchor 2333333!"

"It's all in the eye of the beholder, tsk tsk!"

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At the end of the day, the male commentator was an old hand in the e-sports circle, and his experience was really there.

When this map was drawn, Cardinal's first thought was: I have to be on top!

So, when the countdown ended, he went invisible as fast as he could, then immediately went to find a way to climb up to the top of the castle.

As an experienced assassin, his items bag was always stocked with climbing hooks.

In contrast, the master assassin didn't have any climbing props-- he only needed his two weapons, steel wires, and darts.

Therefore, after entering the arena, Tyron first observed the environment before entering stealth like Cardinal and heading for the commanding heights.

Surprisingly, Tyron wasn't slow at all despite not having any assistance from climbing props. When they encountered the same seemingly precarious climbing points, Cardinal would sometimes need the help of the ropes while Tyron was nimble and jumped over quickly.

The two of them were aiming for the same commanding point, one climbing in front with the other behind; Cardinal's progress was a little faster.

Female commentator: "Lord Four has another characteristic that people can't understand--why is he always so light on his feet? It's the same during aerial combat and also when he's climbing. There's always the feeling that he's floating…"

The male commentator thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps he's had special training. Elves, or some even rarer lineages with wings like goblins, devils, angels, and so on can be chosen in some games. Getting used to the characters with such special lineages and going through targeted training is helpful in improving players' flexibility and agility."

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About ten seconds later, Cardinal took the lead and reached the top height&#k2013;&#k2013;a corner with only three or four square inches of foothold space. The structures around him were completely dilapidated.

He immediately turned on his stealth detection skill. There was a high bonus for stealth detection while performing reconnaissance from a high place.

At this moment, Tyron was still moving at an unhurried place and climbing slowly up the wall to one side.

At this time, a crow gently landed on a flagpole not far from them.

Both assassins' movements stopped at the same time as though someone had pressed the pause button. Their eyes both stopped on the crow for a moment before slowly shifting away.

Their agility and acuity amazed both the commentators and audience.

The commentators even subconsciously lowered the volume of their voices, as though afraid that they'd be accidentally discovered by the contestants, "Lord Four changed his climbing route! Was it because he discovered something? But the question is, how did he find out?"

Tyron had noticed that Cardinal was standing high up in the corner.

This was because, just a moment ago, when Cardinal had turned to look at the crow, his foot had also turned about 10 degrees in order to maintain his balance.

The sound of the friction between the soles of his boots and the rough stones had exposed his position.

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A murderous aura unlike any other had already spread through the silent air.

Tyron kept one hand on the wall as he lightly felt out the next climbing point. The stone there had been eroded by the passing of time and was likely to make noise if he continued to put weight on it.

He stopped his movements, took out a wire, and carefully wrapped it around a corner.

After doing this, Tyron moved sideways again and wrapped the same steel wire around two other places.

A few seconds later, he came to the last place that could be used to climb up to the top.

At this time, Cardinal had already put his ropes into position on three high points--he was ready to move at any time.

Tyron listened to the movements over his head. Suddenly, he quickly flipped himself up, silently pressing his dagger against one of the ropes--

But instead of cutting the rope, he left it in a dangerous condition where it stopped just short of breaking and left it there.

There was no way for Tyron's movements to avoid detection.

The crossbow in Cardinal's hand was loaded up extremely quickly, aiming precisely at Tyron's position.

However, in the following second, the sound of movement came from all directions around Cardinal!

--Tyron had pulled the steel wire, causing small-scale collapses at three or four locations simultaneously.

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Faced with changes from all sides, Cardinal resolutely decided to change positions.

Male commentator: "Scheme and counter-scheme! Lord Four used this trick to cover up what he'd done, but Cardinal thought that he was only trying to raise up a false alarm! In order to prevent Odin from attacking from any possible direction, Cardinal directly changed his position. He didn't expect that Odin was clearly planning to exchange blows in the next wave…"

There was a sudden change in the arena before he could finish speaking!

After Cardinal switched to another high point, he decisively made use of his crossbow and fired it towards the location where the sounds had first originated!

Female commentator: "It was a series of quick and short sounds. Cardinal is quite powerful to be able to remember each position like that!"

One of Cardinal's bolts came straight towards Tyron.

Tyron dodged quickly to the side, allowing it to brush against his hood and embed itself into the wall. He managed not to make a sound even while performing such a quick action.

After this round of shooting, Cardinal temporarily decided to lower the danger level of those areas in his mind.

However, in the moment when Cardinal had decided to take it lightly, Tyron stormed out from his position--

Two flashes!

Arriving right next to his opponent!

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The outbreak of this conflict was faster than ever.

Tyron was still in the middle of his second flash when Cardinal responded and shot out the last bolt in his crossbow.

There was a crisp sound, and then, the flash directly split the crossbow bolt into two parts! The body of the bolt broke into two and embedded itself into the stone wall nearby.

Tyron swept in like an eagle from the sky, the weapons in his hands clashing with Cardinal almost immediately.

The crossbow in Cardinal's hand broke under the massive impact!

However, this had already gained him enough time. He pulled out his dagger and used it to block the front of his chest, just in time to block the tip of Tyron's blade.

Cardinal rolled back, and the two of them fell into a room in the half-dilapidated castle at the same time. They had a brief clash in the narrow space.

Cardinal was retreating as he fought, and neither side used their full strength during this skirmish.

Suddenly, Cardinal's foot stepped into nothingness!

He seemed to have lost his balance at that moment, falling into the empty gap at the back of the room. At the same time, he flipped and made use of the crooked stone wall nearby to slow down his fall.

Tyron didn't hesitate to jump down after him and run sideways down the stone wall.

During this period, the exchanges between the two of them happened at a very high frequency!

At this time, Tyron's health bar was still nearly full while Cardinal had dropped down to 80%. This once again showed the significant gap in strength.

Now, the female commentator called out nervously, "They're about to reach the bottom!"

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Just before he landed on the ground, Cardinal's cape snapped out, and his falling speed decreased abruptly--

It turned out that he'd caught a dangling rope during his fall. He was well-prepared as he stopped his own fall, quickly swinging away from Tyron's melee range.

Tyron was still in the midst of dropping. After losing his prey, he took advantage of the stone wall and pushed against it.

Two flashes!

With the flashes, Tyron entered a corridor on the second floor of the castle. Although he hadn't dropped all the way to the bottom, the huge impact still forced him to roll.

He didn't stop at all though before taking out two darts and shooting them out into the air.

The male commentator shouted, "Too accurate! They hit!"

The darts landed perfectly on Cardinal's rope.

The rope that had already been attacked by Tyron earlier couldn't bear much weight.

After being hit again by the darts, the rope suddenly broke apart!

Cardinal, who was mid-air as he tried to climb up again, helplessly fell back down again.

And, waiting for him at the bottom was Tyron, who uttered a single syllable--

Shadow Jump!

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When faced with Cardinal, who was falling from mid-air, Tyron chose to use Shadow Jump to appear behind him!

As the figure wrapped in shadows appeared behind Cardinal, the two of them clashed in mid-air for a full second!

Cardinal was basically already in a state of being unable to fight back, but he still forced out a windmill combo--due to the lack of leverage, this windmill combo only consisted of three hits.

However, this unsuccessful combo attack of his was enough to allow him to successfully escape the fate of being used as a stepping stone when Tyron landed on the ground!

Cardinal wasn't his landing mat when they landed and therefore avoided massive injury.

Tyron crossed his two blades and flashed again--this flash was parallel to the ground and offset the impact of the landing.

However, Cardinal had no choice but to roll on the spot, which could be considered a messy landing. Even with this, his health bar still fell to 50%.

At this moment, the light leftover by the flash had dissipated, and Tyron's blade once again arrived in front of Cardinal's body.

Cardinal had no way to hide and could only counterattack--

Shadow Jump!