Chapter 1 The Decisive Battle

The decisive day for Happy against Tyranny had finally arrived, and this duel attracted a great deal of attention. In the other semi-final group, Samsara versus Tiny Herb had already determined a victor, with Samsara advancing to the finals. Today's winner would be the team to compete against Samsara for the annual championship.

Tyranny was the team that met Samsara in last season's finals. Many thought they were past their prime this season, but unexpectedly, they had restrained their domineering aura and quietly reached this point. The other team, Happy, a new team, a new team that had fought its way up from the Challenger League, had already stepped outside the door to the grand final stage. Even if they stopped here, it would still be an unprecedented scene in the history of Glory.

Ye Xiu, a name familiar yet strange to everyone, had once left this arena, but he had not fallen into decline. Now, he was leading such a new team to stand before the world again.

I'm back!

Just as he declared after winning the Challenger League, he had indeed returned here, aiming for the highest stage. But now, he had to overcome this city first.

The decisive match, Tyranny's home field, was filled to capacity.

Even as the players from both teams entered, the audience erupted in a roaring cheer, as if the climax had already begun. Tyranny fans fully utilized their numerical advantage, aggressively cheering for their team. The cheers of Happy's fans in the away seating area were completely overwhelmed by them.

Although it was a life-or-death battle, the pre-match procedures were still the same. After the two teams entered, they greeted each other on the stage and then returned to their respective player seats.

However, people who regularly watched matches knew that one person sometimes stayed behind at this time.

Ye Xiu!

In the regular season and the playoffs, he was always the first one from Happy to step onto the stage. After the necessary pre-match pleasantries, he often simply stayed on stage and didn't go down, directly participating in the first match.

This time was no exception. Ye Xiu stayed on the stage again. In that brief moment, the Happy fan club's proud cheers were exceptionally prominent.

Ye Xiu, the first to fight, the symbol of invincibility. From the regular season to the current playoffs, no one has ever been able to refuse this.

But Happy fans' proud shouts were only for a moment before they were drowned out by the roars of Tyranny fans. Because this time, Tyranny made a tit-for-tat response.

They also had one person stay on the stage.

Their captain, Han Wenqing, who had avoided Ye Xiu's sharp edge in two consecutive playoff individual competitions, this time made no retreat. He stood straight in front of Ye Xiu.

"Heh heh," Ye Xiu smiled. "If you retreat this time, then you really wouldn't be you."

"Enough nonsense," Han Wenqing said.

The two turned and walked in opposite directions, seemingly drifting further and further apart, but in reality, they were both heading towards that battlefield. A battlefield where it was either you died or I died.

Individual Competition, Round 1: Happy, Ye Xiu, Lord Grim; Tyranny, Han Wenqing, Desert Dust.

The referee was stunned.

The rules for the third round of the competition stated that the list of players was to be decided on the spot, and the on-site referee needed to be informed after the decision was made.

Now, Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing's posture was undoubtedly that of the first players from both teams, but the problem was that neither of you had reported to the referee!

If this process wasn't followed, and the rules were strictly adhered to, then this duel between Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing would be invalid.

But the two of them just walked towards their respective player seats, with no intention of turning back.

The atmosphere at the scene had been completely ignited.

Ten years of rivals, finally colliding completely and fiercely at this moment of deciding their respective teams' survival. If a conclusion was to be drawn for these ten years, then there probably wouldn't be a more perfect moment than this. Perfect, so much so that the referee couldn't bear to ruin the atmosphere over a procedure.

Just like that...

The referee compromised, acting as if both of them had reported to him and skipping the procedure.

The electronic screen at the scene then lit up with the list of competitors for the first match of the individual competition.

Ye Xiu, Han Wenqing!

Although they had already seen the answer, the audience couldn't help but get excited when these two names were listed as opponents. Especially those old viewers who had been chasing Glory for some years, the confrontation between these two names held too much sediment for them.

"Captain! Beat him hard!" Even so, Tyranny's good men were extremely resolute in their stance. They didn't expect this ten-year duel to have a wonderful ending worthy of both their reputations. What they would be happiest to see was their captain's Desert Dust knocking Ye Xiu's character to his knees with one punch.

Bang, bang, bang!

Many Tyranny fans had brought props to cheer today. At this time, they were banging and clanging, and all kinds of loud and bright sounds were mixed in the stadium, all to cheer for Han Wenqing.

The match entered the countdown, and the map finally began to be randomly selected at this time. The big question mark, symbolizing randomness, kept spinning.

Freeze.

The map for this individual competition: Magma Arena.

Because it was a map specially made by the Glory game company for the playoffs, it was not in the Glory map library. Just by hearing the name, no one knew what kind of map it was. Now that the map had been announced, there was still a need to introduce and display the map. The electronic screen and holographic projection at the scene, and the pictures in the TV broadcast, were all quickly showing the overall and partial details of this map to everyone.

The overall shape of the map was easy to describe: a well shape, surrounded by a circle. Except for that, the remaining locations were all hot magma. Obviously, this was an effect map. Characters who were knocked into the magma would definitely suffer fire damage.

A map with a structure that was clear at a glance and effects that were clear at a glance couldn't be said to have too much novelty.

As the two characters refreshed into the map, the match officially began. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim was in the south, and Han Wenqing's Desert Dust was in the north. As the two most experienced players in the current professional circle, as soon as they entered the map, their perspectives turned, and after seeing the rolling, bubbling, and heat-filled magma, they basically understood what this map was about.

Both of them moved quickly, but their perspectives were not leisurely. They were quickly scanning everything they passed. The overall structure of the map seemed to be clear at a glance, but specifically to the details, the length, width, and undulation of each area could affect the actual combat. Both of them were quickly collecting everything they noticed in front of them.

Soon, both sides appeared in each other's sight. There were no obstructions in this map, and the characters' views were quite broad.

Bang.

Ye Xiu fired the first shot as a greeting, but at this distance, there was no threat, of course. Desert Dust was even beyond Lord Grim's attack range. But Lord Grim immediately rushed towards the direction where Desert Dust was.

How could Han Wenqing retreat?

He was the first to fight, facing Ye Xiu head-on. Having reached this point, how could he retreat?

"I'll use you to test the damage of this magma!" Ye Xiu shouted in the channel. Lord Grim fired again. This time, Desert Dust was already within his attack range, but there was a magma separating the two characters. Jumping was not enough to cross over. Desert Dust had to circle a small semi-circle along the road.

Ye Xiu seemed to let Lord Grim rush over without thinking, but the position he chose to attack made Han Wenqing feel extremely uncomfortable.

In just this instant, the audience had already discovered that this map was relatively unfavorable to Desert Dust compared to these two characters.

Attack distance was one aspect, but more importantly, the structure of this map, which was clear at a glance, allowed Ye Xiu to easily judge Han Wenqing's actions. The only route he could choose to attack Ye Xiu's Lord Grim was that one. Other choices were like going in the opposite direction, circling the earth and then reaching the destination.

In such a high-level duel, having one's actions seen through meant being restricted.

Thus, the road that Desert Dust detoured on was covered with thorns planted by Lord Grim's ranged attacks. What was even more despairing was that even if Desert Dust charged through this thorny path, Lord Grim would definitely not stay in place waiting for him to get close.

But Han Wenqing would not retreat like this, and Tyranny's fans would not surrender when they saw such difficulty.

The cheers grew louder, and Desert Dust's movement speed was even faster!

In the decisive match, was there any need to hold back? No! The power accumulated for an entire season, if it wasn't used now, then there would be no chance.

Lord Grim's ranged attacks mixed gun and magic styles. There were cannon sounds and light effects. But in the end, they couldn't stop Desert Dust from moving forward.

As everyone expected, Ye Xiu did not stand here waiting for Han Wenqing. Seeing Desert Dust approach step by step, Lord Grim began to retreat.

Retreating and attacking, using the map, Ye Xiu flew a kite with Han Wenqing.

Han Wenqing still didn't retreat. He concentrated on watching Lord Grim's first attack, then dodged, then moved forward.

One step, two steps...

The distance was closing.

Whoosh!

Lord Grim suddenly flashed a streak of light, Arc Flash! He used this assassin attack skill with movement, and with extremely fast movement, he instantly widened the distance between the two characters again.

The hearts of many people who were counting the distance were broken at this moment. And when they thought that Lord Grim still had several of these types of skills, and when they thought that the cooldown time for several of his skills was not too long, enough for them to be used in a cycle, their broken hearts were broken again.

But Han Wenqing ignored it. He seemed not to understand this principle, stubbornly, persistently, continuing to chase.

Ordinary movement, sometimes using sprint. In addition, Steel Bones, which could withstand attacks, was not used. Similarly, skills like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which could allow the character to burst forward for a short distance, were not used.

Han Wenqing was closing in, but at the same time, he was accumulating power. At the same time, he did not forget to observe the terrain.

The overall pattern was like that. Next, the small details of the map would determine many things.

This was a chase that was quite unfavorable to him, but Ye Xiu was not relaxed either. In a life-or-death battle, both of them were extremely clear about the consequences of taking a wrong step.