Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Sword Demon was feeling rather despondent as well. He did not expect for Broken Water Arrow to still be able to react despite him activating his Shadowmist Assault at such proximity. Sword Demon felt that the two stabs he had just done could not be any more reliable but when used against someone who had professional training, he was still unable to make up for the differences in their reflexes.

While he was incapable of dealing enough damage to insta-kill his target, the impact from Shadowmist Assault was still applied, and Broken Water Arrow was sent flying a good distance from that attack, sending the latter hurtling toward the jungle foliage. Last time, Broken Water Arrow had been given a stab by Gu Fei with his sword when he had landed in his panic. Just when it seemed like this tragedy was about to repeat itself, Broken Water Arrow glanced over at Gu Fei. At this moment, Gu Fei’s sword was already stowed away; he apparently only intended to watch the duel between the two.

Broken Water Arrow heaved a sigh of relief. As long as he could survive the attack, there would still be a chance for him to turn the tide of this battle. Broken Water Arrow thought of this even as he began to take note of his surroundings for any place he could take cover in while he hurtled through the air. In the end, he cried to himself in dismay when he saw where he would land. This was a location where he would be stuck right in a large swath of traps. Having already lost his balance as he sailed through the air, he was unable to adjust himself. Continuing along the trajectory he was flying, there was no doubt that he would end up triggering a trap and ensnaring himself.

Everything happened so fast. In the moment Broken Water Arrow cried to himself in dismay, he had already found himself sprawled on the ground. Broken twigs and fallen leaves flew all over, followed by a series of clanking and snapping sounds, as he ate dirt. The experienced Deep Waters and the others could immediately tell that Broken Water Arrow had probably triggered at least six traps as he slid upon the jungle ground.

Broken Water Arrow was now immobile from the waist down after crashing into the ground in such a fashion, but he was able to use his hands to pull himself up at the very least. Lifting his head up to look, Sword Demon was already clutching his daggers and was stalking over to him. His figure slowly disappeared from view as he got closer. Stealth!

Broken Water Arrow was well within the trap formation, and the traps would trigger even while a player was Stealthed. Sword Demon disappeared while he advanced toward his target, yet he never once appeared. There was only one explanation for this, and that was that Sword Demon had not triggered any of the traps. He was navigating through the traps in this trap formation perfectly with every step he took.

This guy! Broken Water Arrow realized that Sword Demon was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Before, Sword Demon had recklessly sprinted toward Broken Water Arrow with his Shadowmist Assault because he was certain that the area was devoid of traps there.

When Sword Demon activated his Shadowmist Assault, he had already expected that he would not be able to directly insta-kill the Sharpshooter, but he had also presumed the man would not be able to cleanly dodge the attack at the distance they had between them then. As a result, Sword Demon had envisioned for his attack to send Broken Water Arrow right into the trap formation when he struck before.

Sword Demon had managed to avoid the traps with every step he took now because he, too, had an understanding of this formation. Back when he was in disguise as a member of Deep Freeze to blend into the guild, Sword Demon had earnestly spent his time understanding how the trap formation worked, unlike Gu Fei, who had been casual about it.

Sure enough; I can’t underestimate this man!

An expert gamer was still an expert, and every expert shared something in common: They would all use their brains. People who relied purely on brute strength or decked out in top-grade equipment could never be a true expert.

It was a little late for Broken Water Arrow to come to such a realization, however. Sword Demon had already disappeared right before his eyes, and he no longer had no idea where the man was.

An internally and externally refined expert would be capable of locating people just through their senses alone. Broken Water Arrow had a comprehensive understanding of this theory, but unfortunately, he could not be considered to be such an expert himself. The level of refinement varied, and he could only muster this instinct intermittently. He might be able to use it in times of urgency or close calls, but with how the situation unfolded in such a slow pace, his attempts at intuiting Sword Demon’s position would be in vain, unless he had the confidence to have the accuracy that Gu Fei possessed.

Broken Water Arrow knew that the members from Deep Freeze would deck themselves out in equipment that served to improve upon the effect of their traps, so he knew he still had somewhere over 10 seconds before his movement speed would return to normal. By then, Sword Demon might have already made it right beside him… Broken Water Arrow had no way of resisting concealed attacks like that, and he finally decided to give up on this final struggle. There were enough tragedies created today, and Broken Water Arrow had no wish to continue being a laughingstock any longer.

Everything was quiet. The silence was deafening. What was originally a very lively jungle this night had experienced plenty of such silence, but this, right now, was no doubt the quietest moment of all. Compared to the dumbfounded shock that came from the other occasions earlier, there was a sense of severity and dreariness this time. It was as if everyone were holding their breath as they waited for the conclusion to this battle.

The pressure of this scene concentrated wholly onto the two men.

Broken Water Arrow’s mental state was as unyielding as ever, not once revealing any semblance of fear despite the pressure exerted on him.

They were all waiting – waiting for Sword Demon to reveal himself and for Broken Water Arrow to disappear.

When Sword Demon finally appeared, Broken Water Arrow did not immediately disappear. The Thief only appeared right beside the snared Sharpshooter, his dagger pointing at the other man’s waist.

“It’s your loss,” Sword Demon said.

Broken Water Arrow abruptly looked over his shoulder when he heard this voice. The one who had spoken was Sword Demon, but curiously he had yet to die. Broken Water Arrow originally thought that he had the slimmest of chance left to flip the script, but as it turned out, Sword Demon’s dagger was already placed by his waist the moment he turned around. It was not that Broken Water Arrow still had a chance to turn things around. Rather, Sword Demon did not actually deal the killing stab.

Broken Water Arrow was nonplussed as he stared at Sword Demon.

“What I owe you before.” Sword Demon sheathed his dagger. “We’re even now.”

Broken Water Arrow was stunned. He knew what Sword Demon meant. They had previously suspected Broken Water Arrow’s intentions for joining Deep Freeze and caused quite a lot of trouble in the process. Thereafter, they expressed their apologies toward the matter, and it was Deep Waters who had delivered their words of remorse. However, with the cat out of the bag, while Broken Water Arrow did not have the ill will they had first presumed for coming into contact with Deep Freeze, he did form a relationship with them with an ulterior motive in mind. From the way Broken Water Arrow saw things, saying that they owed him any sort of favors was hard to justify.

“You don’t really owe me any sort of favor.” He looked Sword Demon straight in the eye.

“Whether I owe you anything or not is up for me to decide and not you.” Sword Demon said as he departed. “The point is, I don’t think I owe you anything any longer, so I won’t be showing you any mercy the next time we meet.”

Everyone stared. These people originally viewed Broken Water Arrow as a godlike figure, but now that he was defeated and was even been spared out to return the favor, anyone with a shred of self-respect would find this fate harder to swallow than simply dying outright. Leaving under the watchful gazes of such a crowd was by no means an easy affair.

However, Broken Water Arrow did not seem to be bothered by all that, as he looked at the shrinking back of Sword Demon in the distance. “At this rate, I’m the one who feels I owe you something… Still, I’m someone who can separate my private and professional matter. When the time comes and I must kill you, I won’t return you the kindness in such a fashion.”

“That’s your business; do what you like,” Sword Demon replied without even turning back.

Broken Water Arrow stared at the man before glancing over at Gu Fei, who gave Sword Demon a polite nod, before he turned around and walked out of the trap formation.

“Sorry about that…” Sword Demon walked right up next to Gu Fei. “You expended so much effort, yet I ended up letting him off like this.”

“What are you saying?!” Gu Fei was piqued. “What do you mean ‘so much effort’? It was a piece of cake.”

The one happiest with this outcome was actually Deep Waters. Laughing the matter off, he already jumped right in front of the two and playfully slapped Sword Demon. “Ha ha ha! You’re truly a man who can distinguish right from wrong. I’m admiring you more and more…”

Gu Fei gave him a side-eye. “You’re just thinking how difficult of a spot you’ll be in if these two men, both of whom you’re acquainted with, ended up fighting to the death right under your nose in your territory. Isn’t that why this is the best resolution for you, right?”

“Wow. To think you’ve actually seen through me so thoroughly. I’m impressed!” Deep Waters began to clap Gu Fei across his back repeatedly with force as well.

Gu Fei helplessly eyed him with disdain before looking back at Sword Demon. “When are you gonna do your mission?”

“There’s no rush. Now that we’re all in this mess, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunity to meet that man again, yeah?” Sword Demon replied.

“Be careful. That guy’s still really difficult to deal with,” Gu Fei cautioned.

“Yeah!” Sword Demon completely agreed with his assessment. Just from the fact that Broken Water Arrow survived his Shadowmist Assault meant that he was far beyond that of the average player.

The members of Deep Freeze were still a little confused by what they had witnessed, however. They were already finding it strange that their guild leader refused to let them join in the fight, and after the battle was over, Deep Waters left Old Broken to himself. Now, seeing how he was acting chummy with the two opponents, this only made them all the more confused. Just as they moved to demand an explanation for the many queries they had, everyone in the guild received a system prompt: [The Player Broken Water Arrow has left Deep Freeze Guild.]

The entire guild was in an uproar. Even though the time Broken Water Arrow had been part of their guild was rather short, he had still been the focal point of everyone these few days. He was more than just a player whom everyone got along with, and with regard to his departure, it was only natural that they would all consider it to be a huge issue. Some gossiped with one another as others bombarded Deep Waters with private messages. Those that had just witnessed the PvP were all the more boisterous as they crowded around, believing that it must have something to do with the match that had ended moments ago.

Deep Waters had no choice but to leave his two friends and let himself be subjected to the incessant questioning of this whole host of players around him.

“It sure isn’t easy being a guild leader!” Sword Demon remarked emotionally. Back in the days, he too had his fair share of being inundated by the crowd like this over the channel or through voice chat, and he truly found that to be annoying experience. Looking at how Deep Waters was now being pelted with questions from every angle in person by the crowd like this, Sword Demon could not help but shudder. The size of the guilds in Parallel World was larger than those in the other MMOs, and players interacting with one another face to face like this was required. Perhaps, he should be glad that he had failed to establish a guild here, given how he could hardly bear to watch the situation Deep Waters was currently in.

“He he! Look at this crowd; not using a brush of Twin Incineration will be too much of a waste…” Gu Fei said in his corner. Sword Demon began sweating profusely when he heard him. If Gu Fei were in Deep Waters’ shoes, given his execution of Twin Incineration, a single swing from him would likely take down twenty players…

Broken Water Arrow, who was leaving the jungle at this time, immediately contacted Ye Xiaowu. “I just met Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon. I lost to them.”

“How coincidental for you guys to meet like this…” Ye Xiaowu commented.

“That guy ran to the jungle specifically to look for me,” Broken Water Arrow explained.

“That guy…” Ye Xiaowu muttered. Gu Fei should have felt awkward to approach Deep Waters’ territory to look for Broken Water Arrow right away; this was his and Broken Water Arrow’s analysis. Who would have guessed that this man would completely go against the grain?

“How are things on your end?” Ye Xiaowu asked.

“I did not die…” Broken Water Arrow said it this way, not wishing to elaborate about the situation on his end. He made an effort to change the topic by asking, “What about you?”

“I’m on the road to Baishi City,” Ye Xiaowu replied.

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