Chapter 1158: Pincer
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Hundred Blossoms's negligence had only been for an instant. With the continuous pointless harassment from Goblins, a sudden accurate attack made every Hundred Blossoms player instinctively take a look in that direction. It was simply human nature.
However, this human nature became an opening in this battle. Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, Qiao Yifan, and An Wenyi, who had circled around behind them, started their assault.
Qiao Yifan first laid down his ghost boundary.
Sword Boundary increased both Intelligence and Strength. It was an extremely powerful supportive buff for any class. Dancing Rain, Boundless Sea, and Little Cold Hands were already standing inside this Sword Boundary's range. Dancing Rain, who had the longest range out of them, was the first to initiate the fight. Of Hundred Blossoms's five characters, four of them were completely exposed to her. A huge opening in their rear had appeared.
Heat-Seeking Missile!
A target landed where Dancing Rain pointed her finger, and a missile flew towards this target in an arc. Right when Hundred Blossoms's players turned back around, they suddenly saw four Happy players pop up out of nowhere. As they turned pale with fright, the Heat-Seeking Missile descended from the sky and crashed into the target. A mini-mushroom cloud erupted in the middle of three of Hundred Blossoms's players. It didn't directly hit any of them, but the shockwaves from the explosion was enough to make them suffer. The three affected players dodged, disrupting the carefully arranged ambush formation set up by Team Hundred Blossoms.
Bang! Bang!
Two consecutive gunshots rang. As Team Hundred Blossoms's ranged attacker, Zou Yuan's Bright Blossoms counterattacked. On Happy's side, Boundless Sea's two hands formed a circle and then pushed out. A net of light instantly enveloped the four Happy players in the rear. It was the Qi Master's defensive skill, Qi Guard, which absorbed all damage for its duration.
Qi Guard lasted 30 seconds, but with enough damage, the QI Guard could be broken ahead of time. It was similar to a summon. Qi Guard had its own health too.
But at the moment, only Bright Blossoms's attacks could reach them. A single character's DPS wouldn't be able to break through Qi Guard so easily.
The others in Hundred Blossoms started counterattacking too. Several summoning circles flashed, and Zhu Xiaoping summoned several creatures, which rushed out as their shields. But on Happy's side, One Inch Ash flicked his blade and laid down an Ice Boundary, which restricted the movements and lowered the defense of any enemies within it. Launcher and Qi Master came out and started throwing out AoE attacks, instantly decimating the summons and rampaging onwards towards Hundred Blossoms.
Ghostblade, Launcher, Qi Master.
These three classes had powerful AoE abilities. In this narrow stone forest, their attacks covered the entire area. Happy's ambush from behind had come with ample preparation, methodically utilizing the terrain. It was absolutely the result of professional practice.
Hundred Blossoms was caught off guard and hastily made adjustments. Trying to break through Happy's firepower directly would cost them too much. Zhou Guangyi's gaze finally landed on the sides of the stone forest. There were no lack of footholds on these stones. With the Assassin's Air Leap, he could hop over and open up the situation with an ambush.
As soon as he thought of this, Zhou Guangyi immediately had Cold Seasons jump over. Teammates had their own tacit understanding with each other. They didn't need to communicate every single of their actions. The others noticed Cold Seasons's movements and understood Zhou Guangyi's intentions. They started a full-front assault to break through in coordination with Zhou Guangyi.
Right when Cold Seasons jumped towards the first foothold, Zhou Guangyi saw Blossoming Chaos type in chat: "Careful!!"
Who are you talking to?
A thread of doubt flashed through Zhou Guangyi's mind. He looked downwards. It didn't like any of the others had encountered any dangers! Just at this moment, a cold light silently slit across Cold Season's throat. Blood splattered into the air and rained down.
Cut Throat!
How could Zhou Guangyi not recognize this Assassin skill? It wasn't until now did he realize that Yu Feng had been warning him. The only one who could have executed this move was Lord Grim. He was able to silently approach me from behind and complete a Cut Throat?
In this instant, Zhou Guangyi really felt like his throat had been slit. After being hit by this attack, Cold Seasons had been stopped mid-jump. However, the attacks weren't over yet. Lord Grim didn't wait for him to turn around. Lord Grim used Eagle Stamp, stepping on Cold Seasons as the two fell towards the ground.
Yu Feng's Berserker Blossoming Chaos was on the ground waiting. Observing how the two would land, he flew out with a Collapsing Mountain.
Lord Grim wasn't greedy. As soon as he saw Blossoming Chaos leaping towards him, he utilized Eagle Stamp's momentum to shoot backwards, allowing him to just narrowly dodge Blossoming Chaos's blade.
The others in Hundred Blossoms provided ample support. Bright Blossoms fired several shots in the air. Wind Carving summoned several more creatures and commanded them to surround where Lord Grim would land. Their Cleric Arrogant Flowers casted a Sacred Fire in the air for Lord Grim to run into.
Then, they saw Lord Grim pull out his sword and release a Falling Light Blade. He switched directions in mid-air, evading Bright Blossoms's gunshots and Arrogant Flowers's Sacred Fire. His sword returned to the sheath, and his Myriad Manifestations Umbrella opened up. It didn't turn into a spear or a shield. The front umbrella ribs bunched together and formed an arc, transforming into an Exorcist's sickle. This sickle swung in a circle, and a blue light floated into the air, surrounding Wind Carving's summons.
Rising Emblem!
Lord Grim safely landed on the ground, while the summons were sent into the air. Hundred Blossoms's players were dumbstruck. This string of different skills had been performed with such freedom and ease. When had they ever seen such a thing before? Even if they had seen an unspecialized before, without the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, it was impossible to complete such a fluid chain of skills.
The crowd exploded with excitement at this combo. All sorts of cheers and shrieks clamored in the venue. But for Hundred Blossoms, failing to block Lord Grim was secondary. In order to intercept Lord Grim, their formation had been messed up again. On the other end, the other four Happy players broke through an opening and their AoE attacks swallowed up Zou Yuan's and Mo Chuchen's two characters.
Being pincered like this was no good, but which way should they break out?
As the captain, Yu Feng realized that he wasn't able to come to a firm decision. To their rear, the four from Happy had heavy firepower. Breaking through the rear would result in heavy losses. But to their front, Ye Xiu's unspecialized was all sorts of weird. Even if they had the numbers advantage, he felt like they would be unable to break free from him. That would allow the four from the rear to approach them and provide support for Lord Grim, leaving Hundred Blossoms with even less room to maneuver.
Yu Feng was hesitating. On the other hand, after Zhou Guangyi's Cold Seasons landed back on the ground and rolled, he directly sliced towards Lord Grim with a Shining Cut.
As a player from Tyranny, his enmity towards Ye Xiu was especially natural. What's more, he was the successor to Cold Seasons, which had once instant killed Ye Xiu with one strike. He had also been Cut Throat by Ye Xiu as an Assassin.
New enmity and old enmity formed a never ending circle. His side had four people and the other side had one, it was simple math. As a result, Zhou Guangyi didn't hesitate to charge at Lord Grim.
I guess that's what we're doing...
Yu Feng saw Zhou Guangyi make his move already, so he stopped hesitating. Blossoming Chaos immediately opened the way with a Triple Slash and slashed towards Lord Grim. The two characters arrived at the same time, instantly forming a pincer onto Lord Grim. Lord Grim didn't seem to be in a fluster though. He fished out something from his umbrella and threw it down towards the ground.
Boom!
Purple smoke spread through the air. Lord Grim had thrown a Ninja tool, Smoke Bomb.
Under the cover of the purple smoke, Yu Feng and Zhou Guangyi weren't able to find Lord Grim's whereabouts. The two could only have their characters wave their weapons and hope to hit him. Then, a dark shadow flew out from the purple smoke. The two didn't notice it due to the purple smoke. Blossoming Chaos and Cold Seasons were suddenly wrapped around by the dark shadow. The dark shadow retracted and the two characters were bound together.
Witch skill: Night Cloak.
Afterwards, a hand extended out from the purple smoke and slammed into the two of them. With a bang, Falling Flower Palm sent the two flying away back to the AoE bombardment from the other four Happy players.
At the rear, Zou Yuan and Mo Chuchen were finally able to escape from the bombardment with the help of Zhu Xiaoping's summons, but then they saw Lord Grim slap their two teammates back to them. They couldn't break through from this side, and they couldn't break through from that side either. Hundred Blossoms was suddenly in chaos. Everyone was thinking of what they should do.
Flash Bullet, Smoke Bullet!
Zou Yuan stood out. His Bright Blossoms threw two grenades and then let out a flurry of skills. Light layered on top of each other, producing Zhang Jiale's famous Hundred Blossoms style. He planned on using this light cover to let the team escape.
This sort of strategy was no stranger to Hundred Blossoms. Even if Yu Feng and Zhou Guangyi hadn't come from Hundred Blossoms and had only been with the team for a year, when they first arrived, they had started by adapting to the core playstyle. It was only after they started gradually adjusting to their personal styles and strengths did they stop copying these former strategies.
And now, Zou Yuan had come out with Hundred Blossom's signature style. The team disappeared within the light. Seizing the opportunity provided by Flash Bullet and Smoke Bullet, they pounced towards the entrance guarded by the lone Lord Grim and got out smoothly.
This scene gave all sorts of mixed feelings towards the Hundred Blossoms viewers.
What did this Hundred Blossoms Style mean to Team Hundred Blossoms? The fans had originally thought that the team had turned a new page, but in this crucial moment, this disdained Hundred Blossoms style left behind by Zhang Jiale had helped them win a chance to turn this battle around.
The fans of Hundred Blossoms felt a mix of emotions well up in their hearts. However, the players on stage didn't have time to think about all that. They had broken out, but Happy was chasing after them. Su Mucheng's Launcher and Ye Xiu's unspecialized had extremely long-ranged attacks. The Qi Master's Cloud Grasping Fist and the Ghostblade's ghost boundaries could force them to stay if they weren't careful.
The battle wasn't over yet. It was just a new situation laid out in front of them now.