Translated by 🎏
Edited by apricot, @babyybluebear, teo
Don’t be afraid; we’re still here.
The words were clumsily spoken and awkwardly pronounced, yet it slid smoothly into his heart like a fine wine.
In the canyon, the Immortal Warlock fell, however the battle was not over yet.
EVE still had three surviving members: Miller, CC, and Dunn!
FTW lunged towards the three players from EVE. CC hurriedly drew back and thrust a Ground Stab beneath his feet, which parried the Broken Rifle Thief’s attack slicing through the air.
Miller’s ult had been cast on the Immortal Warlock just earlier, but his basic abilities were also able to heal and stackable if timed right. In the latter half of a team fight, even a drop of health could be enough to determine victory!
The situation was clearly heating up. Aside from Xie He, everyone’s hearts had leapt to their throats, staring at the showdown taking place in front of their eyes without a single blink.
While the five on FTW were still hanging on, their health was dangerously low.
They had sacrificed a lot in the bid to take Xie He out, especially Ning Zhehan whose health had fallen to a third of its original after being bombarded by Xie He’s attacks. Moreover, Bai Cai’s Giant Shaman didn’t have healing abilities, and Ning Zhehan’s character’s combat ability was practically non-existent.
But he didn’t retreat. At critical junctures, it was even worth using health to trade for damage. If they could push the minion wave forward, then they’d have the second game in the pocket.
Under FTW’s relentless pursuit, the three from EVE fell back, and the skirmish that had broken out at the mid-bottom river actually migrated towards the vicinity of EVE’s base.
The commentator spoke rapid-fire. “FTW is not going to miss out on this opportunity. Things are looking bleak for EVE. At this rate, once the Shadow Thief’s ultimate is off cooldown, FTW will be diving the tower!”
During the aggressive advance, FTW was not only striving to maintain their numbers but also biding their time.
They had to close in, put pressure on their opponent, then wait for an opportunity.
Everyone had used up their abilities during the team fight earlier. In another fifteen seconds, before the Immortal Warlock and Divine Warrior respawned, the five of them could kill the three remaining EVE members!
Nevermind if they had to trade one or two teammates to get there. They were already approaching the base and the crystal was right in their sights!
The three on EVE took cover at a defense tower at the base. EVE’s fans let go of a tense breath, believing that they still had a shot at survival.
But the more discerning fans were well-aware that they were just delaying their time of death. After all, hugging close to the towers did not guarantee safety. Once the base was breached, all hope would be lost for EVE.
Just as everyone sighed silently, thinking that it was going to be a 2:0, the Holy Priest who had entered the tower abruptly took a step out.
The VIP guests backstage were somewhat surprised. They couldn’t help but break into quiet discussion. “That’s a fatal mistake.”
“Miller is a seasoned pro on EVE’s roster; how can he make such a mistake?”
“EVE’s lost for sure now that their Holy Priest is a goner.”
“I thought they’d hold out until their Immortal Warlock respawns…”
Fuck!
Vulgarities were not permitted. They could only express their deep shock internally.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Not one of the teams who had entered the playoffs in the World Tournament was a weakling. Aside from Xie He, the rest of EVE were also all gods of slaughter.
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The turnaround caught everyone by surprise.
The scene froze because of the Bubble Tune that Miller breezily cast at the five FTW members who were huddled together.
Wei Xiao clicked his tongue. “That seriously worked?”
Brother Cai: “………………” Jealous!
It actually wasn’t that hard to shake off the status effect from the Holy Priest’s Bubble Tune, but it had insane range. Theoretically, as long as the enemy was stuck to that spot, they could keep pelting them with more bubbles until they gave up on life.
But that was just on a theoretical basis. First, their foes weren’t wooden dummies. Secondly, Bubble Tune had a cast restriction. The caster couldn’t stun the same target in the next second. There was a precise angle and distance that one had to cast the spell in order to form a closed ring that could stun all five targets and avoid that one-second grace period.
One second might sound short, but even a hard crowd-control effect in Glory typically lasted no more than two seconds. Every second passed like an age.
However, Miller’s Bubble Tune happened to go a full round and land on Brother Cai at the last moment. Everyone was stunned for half a second, whereas Brother Cai was stunned for a full second.
Even the Giant Shaman couldn’t tank the increasing damage dealt by the defense tower!
Furthermore, Miller, who had acted as bait, wasn’t acting alone. The remaining three players from EVE had long since planned it out.
Seeing that Miller had successfully set the ball rolling, CC rushed out from beneath the tower, throwing punch after punch at the five from FTW.
Other than Ground Stab, the ultimate ability in the Power Thief’s arsenal was also deadly. Once its punches crossed a certain combo, the opponent would be crippled; the reduction on cast and attack speed was equivalent to knocking off an entire item.
The effect of Brother Cai’s meat shield nosedived. Ning Zhehan was at low health to begin with, and a single strike instantly left him in a precarious state.
Dunn, EVE’s marksman, also emerged, shooting down Ning Zhehan with one arrow and collecting Brother Cai’s life with a second arrow. Wei Xiao was next to suffer the brunt of the tower, and Dunn got him too with his crowd-control ult, dashingly bagging three kills.
This scene shocked not only the audience and the livestream viewers, but also Echo who was off-stage.
Xie He stared at the screen intently. He was sitting ramrod straight and a murderous aura radiated from him once more. Just eight seconds more and he would respawn!
It wasn’t just him; everyone in the canyon was eyeing the clock.
7 seconds. Dunn, who had gotten a triple kill, ate half a cartridge of bullets from Yue Wenle. Seeing his health bar grey out, Miller, who was also on the brink of death, took a step forward, yielding his life to save Dunn.
6 seconds. CC took on the mantle and socked Yue Wenle. The latter’s crosshairs shifted, hastily evading CC’s attacks whilst firing from afar to get the Power Thief down to half health.
5 seconds. Dunn opened fire and happened to hit Yue Wenle from twice the distance. The Gun Launcher, whose health was dropping sharply, was unable to hold out. His soul departed for the fountain.
4 seconds. The Shadow Thief darted past the tower and dealt with CC using an attack from behind, then took Dunn down with a critical hit.
With 3 seconds left, EVE was wiped out and Close’s Shadow Thief was left as the sole survivor. Everyone leaned forward almost involuntarily, watching with heart in mouth and bated breath as the last three seconds ticked down.
The Shadow Thief destroyed EVE’s tower with only half his health remaining!
At last, the Immortal Warlock respawned.
Divine light shrouded EVE’s fountain. The moment Xie He was back in action, Connecting Clouds shot forth in a silver ribbon. Like a river of stars descended from the heavens, it barrelled towards the crystal at the base. Landing on Clouds followed immediately after and covered the base in fog in the blink of an eye.
This speed and efficiency shattered the all-time record for activating Thousand Cloud Layers. The previous record was also set by him.
All at once, Nine Light Arcs abruptly appeared with a gorgeous glow that illuminated the canyon and cast dazzling lights across the stage. It sliced through the fog, dispersing the swordlike clouds filling the sky!
It was a breathtaking sight akin to the heavenly light shining through the mist that crept through the nine heavens.
The fog eventually dispersed, and the glow dissipated into eternity. Rising vapour still clung to the two characters. The clouds parted and the splendid sun warmed the lonely chill around them.
Amidst beauty and mutilation, the two of them collapsed to the earth of the canyon at the same time, leaving behind a perfect ending.
They perished together.
There were ten people in the canyon and all of them had fallen.
The first to respawn would be EVE’s top laner, Smith.
Was there enough time?
Could he defend their crystal?!
The commentator’s voice rose and the excitement reached fever pitch as they all witnessed the climax of the game.
Minions invaded the tower.
When killing the Shadow Thief, the Immortal Warlock had also cleared the minion wave that was marching over.
But the conflict had dragged on for too long, and EVE’s minions were far too weak. The super minions that were birthed after the base was breached had strong armour and a fast attack speed.
They chipped away at the defense tower’s health while everyone counted down the seconds to Smith’s return.
Could he make it? He could, right?
3, 2, 1…
When the crystal’s health bar was almost completely black, Smith respawned.
He didn’t give up on the opportunity presented to him in this final moment, charging from the fountain for the crystal as he reappeared on the map.
The Divine Warrior’s spear pierced through the minions. Unfortunately, he was fighting against impossible odds. Even if he could have cleared the minions with a single sweep, he wouldn’t have been able to stop one final last bullet that had already left the gun.
The bullet hit EVE’s crystal.
There was a bang, and then the crystal shattered, ending the game.
FTW won the second game!
The stadium erupted in fierce applause, having seen what was the most exciting game in the playoffs thus far.
In the semifinals, they got to experience the same scalp-tingling sensation again!
They were keyed up over the players, over the teams, over every single person in the canyon.
They had forgotten which country or what team they were supporting. They had even forgotten the players on the stage.
They only felt within them the endless struggle, the unceasing effort, and the thirst for the ultimate victory.
It was like everyone had imprinted on the brave and battle-wise warriors in the canyon right then and there.
Fighting for themselves.
Fighting for their team.
Fighting for victory!
Although EVE lost, nobody questioned their strength.
Behind the 2:0 score were two spectacular top-level games!
The third game was just about to begin. Everyone watched on, still drunk on the high of the previous game.
Half a year ago, it was unimaginable to the whole Chinese gaming community that they would be able to charge into the global top four, reaching match point against EVE on the stage of the semifinals.
Even if the freestyle battle was dismissed as a fluke, the second game proved FTW’s absolute strength that they had honed from half a year of hard work.
They had won the nationals, then marched straight into the global top eight, defeating last year’s runner-up to finally stand on the world semifinals stage.
In the face of a once insurmountable opponent, FTW fought with astounding aggression!
This kind of momentum was comparable to an inferno spreading downwind, leaving no doubt that it could reach greater heights and grow even more explosive!
Was it really possible for FTW to achieve a clean sweep against EVE?
Was it really possible for FTW, a team that had fallen during the qualifiers last year, to effortlessly beat the powerhouse EVE?
Anticipation only continued to build upon itself more and more.
Fans who had previously believed they were satisfied with FTW’s foray into the top four started to envisage the stage of the world finals!
Maybe… Maybe…
Maybe this band of youths could actually carry the world cup back to China’s pro circuit!
Echo’s face was solemn as she went up on stage. The drafting phase had yet to begin, but she was mentally rehearsing what to say in order to offer emotional comfort to the players.
She didn’t expect to hear Xie He’s voice as soon as she put on her headset.
The headset’s noise isolation suppressed any sound from the world outside. All she could hear was a young man’s icy timbre that belied the blazing fire underneath. “I want to win the championship.”
Echo froze.
In a twinkling, tears welled in her eyes.
CC and the others were similarly tongue-tied.
Xie He’s words kept playing in their mind –
I want to win the championship.
He wasn’t claiming he wanted to give EVE a championship any longer, but that he, EVE.xiehe, wanted to win the championship!
@babyybluebear: oh man…Xie He, tell you what, get yourself a nice gong and I’ll switch sides in a heart beat!!
thank you for the chapter 😊
every part of this battle really emotional. I feel like I watch them all fighting and support them TT___TT The author is great, I feel touched just read this. Bohoooooooooooo I love this so much!
Thanks for the chapter 🙂
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for the chapter! ＼(≧▽≦)／
This novel is so well written that it makes me want to root for them all! Thanks for the translation.