The King's Avatar

There were no words on the back of the crude wooden sign, but Jiang Botao already realized what this was.

He had actually retreated for so long, for so far. And now, he had taken one step inside. Could he still leave?

Empty Waves didn’t immediately die. It was like Wei Chen had predicted. The design of this map did not include “insta-kill.”

Previously, Fang Rui’s Boundless Sea had taken one step into the forbidden zone, causing the NPCs to appear and attack him.

And Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves had actually let his entire body enter the forbidden zone.

In just one second, the NPCs appeared.

In just one second, Empty Waves was surrounded.

In just one second, the back of the wooden sign vanished from Jiang Botao’s sight, because sword slashes and all sorts of attacks now blocked his view.

The situation was very bad, but Jiang Botao didn’t plan to give up so easily. One second for the NPCs to appear and attack; one second was enough for a skilled pro player to make many judgments and complete many controls.

Nebula Wave Slash!

At the same time as the NPCs attacked, Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves was also already attacking, without holding anything back.

Surrounded on all sides, that was the perfect time to use the powerful Nebula Wave Slash, that both attacked and defended.

The wave energy swirled, expanded, enveloped, hit!

With Empty Waves at the center, a half-sphere steadily grew.

In the system statistics, Empty Waves’ combo count was leaping like crazy. In this moment, unleashing such a powerful attack, who knew how many targets he’d struck simultaneously.

It was very satisfying, very cool.

But no one could smile.

Even though he’d used this powerful attack, Jiang Botao had only managed to prevent Empty Waves from getting trapped in the encirclement of NPCs. But now? Now, he still had to continue to struggle with these NPCs. This one powerful attack couldn’t completely clean them up.

Moreover, there was still Tang Rou.

Correct, Tang Rou was still there.

One second, the NPCs appeared, the NPCs attacked.

One second, Jiang Botao controlled Empty Waves to use Nebula Wave Slash, breaking the encirclement.

One second, Tang Rou’s Soft Mist charged forward…

Stop and watch?

No, not at all.

If not for sending Empty Waves flying with an attack earlier, which put some distance between them, she might have beaten the NPCs to attack him now.

In the end, Soft Mist’s attack was only late by this one second.

Nebula Wave Slash still hadn’t ended. The wave energy was still rippling along Empty Waves’ short sword.

A red silhouette suddenly appeared above him.

No retreating, no dodging, Soft Mist charged forth, Shattering the Lands, a Level 75 Battle Mage skill, shaking against Empty Waves’ Nebula Wave Slash!

Boom!

Soft Mist was like a scarlet comet piercing through the nebula. She couldn’t help but take some damage, but the Shattering the Lands continued forth.

Jiang Botao had no way to dodge, and Empty Waves had nowhere to dodge.

Shattering the Lands, the magic energy barreled forth, hitting Empty Waves and carrying the NPCs.

Tang Rou didn’t care about all that. She let everyone witness her plan. But in this moment, what everyone saw was her letting everything out, from top to bottom, so much so that Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves seemed like a dead man.

Empty Waves wasn’t a dead man, but he wasn’t far from it now.

When attacking by defending, Soft Mist had whittled away some of his health. Then after losing the initiative, many of Soft Mist’s attacks had landed upon him. And now, fallen into the forbidden zone, he faced the focused fire of the NPCs, and then Soft Mist’s powerful attack that ignored all else.

Too difficult…

Blasted by Shattering the Lands, Empty Waves staggered, and his control of Nebula Wave Slash slipped. The NPCs didn’t care whether they lived or died, they didn’t know where the flaw was in Jiang Botao’s control of Nebula Wave Slash was. They ignored everything else and simply attacked in the most convenient way, and instantly there were countless attacks crashing in.

Tang Rou’s Soft Mist was included as well. The Shattering the Lands had drawn the aggro of some of the NPCs, but she was as focused and determined as before as she continued to turn Empty Waves into a dead man.

Helpless…

Jiang Botao didn’t give up, but Empty Waves’ health was gone. Just like that, it was used up. Originally, he could have fought his way out of the crowd, circled around, perhaps even taken advantage of the NPCs like Fang Rui had.

However, Tang Rou’s attack was only late by one second.

And this one second wasn’t because she hesitated, but because Soft Mist needed this one second to reach him.

Tang Rou’s resolve extinguished Jiang Botao’s last hope.

One second, they were close; yet one second had decided who lived and who died.

Soft Mist lived, Empty Waves died…

The stadium was silent.

Tang Rou won? Happy won? This was a… 1v3?

After Fang Rui’s diligent chase and Tang Rou’s returned 1v3, the huge advantage that Zhou Zekai had won for Samsara with his 1v3 was erased just like that? Happy had made their comeback?

Before this round, the fact that Happy had closed the gap was already enough to cause the upset Samsara fans to boo their home team. And now, not only had the gap shrunk, they had lost. They’d had such a big advantage, such a big lead, and then Fang Rui, Tang Rou, two of Happy’s players had completed a reversal?

Samsara’s fans were beyond upset, they were upset to the extreme.

At this moment, a line of text suddenly appeared in the chat.

“Ah, no more opponents, I still have a lot of health…”

Soft Mist was going through the victory poses with the air of triumph. But behind her, Tang Rou was actually sighing, regretful. 1v3 still wasn’t enough, did she still want to fight another for a 1v4?

How arrogant, how presumptuous!

But seeing how much health Soft Mist had remaining, Samsara’s fans felt that they couldn’t do anything.

Soft Mist still had 52% health left, a little over half.

Against Lu Boyuan, perfect win.

Against Du Ming, used 27% health.

Against Jiang Botao, used 21% health.

Not only had Tang Rou completed a 1v3, it was an extremely good 1v3. Killing 3 characters had required less than half her health. It wasn’t any exaggeration to call this one-sided.

And the opponents she’d faced were strong. Du Ming’s fame might have been a little smaller, but he was still part of Samsara’s main, championship roster. Jiang Botao and Lu Boyuan didn’t need to be talked about, these were All-Star level players.

And then, a mere rookie – even if she was the Best Rookie – using less than half health, had defeated all three of them?

This was an even stronger showing than Zhou Zekai. After Zhou Zekai completed his 1v3, Cloud Piercer had 45% health remaining, less than half. At that time, the whole stadium had been cheering for a 1v4…

So now, for Tang Rou with a character at 52% health to sigh about not having the chance for a 1v4, was it excessive at all?

The Samsara fans were extremely depressed!

Finally, Happy’s fans came back to their senses. 1v3, Tang Rou had actually done it. In the group arena of the finals, she’d made a comeback against the championship team Samsara!

In just one moment, some people were laughing so hard they started to cry.

The image of Samsara’s stadium cheering for a 1v4 after Zhou Zekai’s 1v3 was still vivid in their minds! And now, seeing Tang Rou’s sigh, they felt that it was extremely appropriate.

Thus, Happy’s fans quickly began to shout in answer: “Good thing there’s no more!”

It was common for fans in the stadium to spit trash talk at each other. Samsara’s fans understood this kind of mockery.

They’d lost the battle, that was fact. They couldn’t find anything to retort.

Their players weren’t making a good showing! So, when the group arena officially ended and the two teams left the stage, Samsara’s fans weren’t polite. Boos!

Last round, Jiang Botao’s outstanding performance had led the crowd to sing, but this time, they were extremely upset, seething with anger. The booing was non-negotiable.

They’d had such a huge lead, yet the opponent had caught up, and ultimately they’d been beaten by a rookie completing a 1v3. It was frankly a disgrace.

What were the players doing? Had they gotten too proud and complacent after their lead?

The crowd booed like crazy, not just to vent their frustration, but also to send a reminder to the team, to make their players wake up.

They couldn’t continue like this in the upcoming team competition.

During the rest period between the group arena and the team competition, the stadium never quieted down. After the huge ups and downs of the group arena, both Happy and Samsara chose to return to their prep rooms to rest.

Both player areas were empty, yet the booing didn’t stop.

And after seeing high point after high point during this group arena, the pro players watching had also gotten excited, and could no longer watch from a purely rational perspective.

“I’d place a bet, if Samsara really could send up one more person, Tang Rou would have actually gotten a 1v4!” Huang Shaotian’s excitement right now was rather evident.

“Samsara’s morale has definitely suffered a heavy blow. Their adjustment during this intermission is especially important.” Xiao Shiqin liked to make general observations.

“Even Samsara’s fans can’t take it anymore.” Zhang Jiale felt the atmosphere of the stadium. He was fairly sensitive to the mood of fans.

“This is the first time I’ve heard Samsara get booed here,” sighed Yang Cong, who’d been competing in the pro circle for seven years now.

“Same for all of us,” said a number of people.

“Honestly speaking, do you guys think Samsara was playing poorly?” Chu Yunxiu suddenly said.

“Sun Xiang was pretty good, Zhou Zekai doesn’t need to be mentioned.” There was no debate about these two players that Tang Hao named.

And after these two?

“Lu Boyuan’s condition wasn’t very good,” said Han Wenqing.

“Du Ming’s condition wasn’t too bad, though,” Wang Jiexi nodded.

“Jiang Botao’s plan was fairly clear, and the execution was also quite good, but unfortunately…” Yu Wenzhou trailed off.

“Unfortunately, Tang Rou’s performance was better!” After the three major captains commented, Zhang Xinjie finished the sentence that Yu Wenzhou had left unspoken.

Yes, that was how it was.

Whoever played better would win. The principle was just that simple.

Competitions really were decided by one side doing well and the other doing worse and losing. One side does well, yet the other side does better, this kind of helplessness was the main theme on the battlefield.

The pro players didn’t really agree with the boos of the stadium, but there was nothing to be done. Tang Rou had played a 1v3. That performance was just too sharp, too powerful, too domineering. Even though Du Ming and Jiang Botao had been in good condition, they could only pale in comparison.

How would the two teams play the team competition?

Right now, everyone was already thinking about the team battle that would decide the final victor. The map for the team competition had already been randomly chosen. Because the two teams had both returned to their prep rooms to rest, when the map info was broadcast to the stadium, it was simultaneously sent to the prep rooms of the two teams.