Chapter 1184: That Terrible Feeling
Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
Lord Grim practically only used Grappler close combat skills. In their match versus Tyranny, Zhang Jiale's Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was directly blown out under this howling whirlwind of attacks. What about Zhang Jiale's former partner of Blood and Blossoms, Sun Zheping?
There weren't many in the crowd with such old memories of the past, but for these two players, this match was a battle that had continued from the past until today. Sun Zheping seemed to have never left, and Ye Xiu seemed like that past Battle God.
"It won't be so easy!"
Sun Zheping roared in the chat. Another Summer of Sleep seized an opening, an aura of blood erupted from his body.
Berserk?
No, this was even stronger than Berserk. It was an Awakening skill learned at Level 50: Bloodthirsty Frenzy.
Bloodthirsty Frenzy could not be stacked with Berserk. Only one status effect could exist at one time. Bloodthirsty Frenzy increased offensive stats by 25% more than Berserk, and also gave the user Super Armor and a Bloodthirsty effect, which can be split into two opposing effects. Bloodthirsty gave the user 10% Life-Steal for all attacks, but Bloodthirsty also traded health with each attack, consuming one's own life to deal more damage to the opponent.
When this skill was activated, it was very rare for Berserkers to continue being on the defensive. Just the Super Armor effect that was stronger than Reinforced Iron Bones could let the Berserker avoid the effects of most skills.
However, grabs were a special case. As soon as Ye Xiu saw Sun Zheping activate his awakening skill, he immediately dashed forward to try Fling him. However, Bloodthirsty Berserkers were even more ferocious than Berserk Berserkers. The heavy greatsword was almost like a lightsaber as it cut through the air. Lord Grim's hand had yet to extend when Another Summer of Sleep's greatsword arrived. Ye Xiu realized that if they had to compete in speed, Lord Grim would be at the disadvantage.
Guard!
The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella transformed into a sword. Lord Grim raised the sword horizontally and blocked the attack with a clang. This Guard had been executed tightly, but the Bloodthirsty Another Summer of Sleep had extraordinary strength. Although this attack had been blocked, Lord Grim had actually been knocked back, his two feet sliding over the ground.
This wasn't outside of Ye Xiu's expectations though. Lord Grim borrowed the momentum and leaped back. His sword returned to its sheath, and the umbrella turned into a gun, shooting the ground with Aerial Fire to quickly pull the distance between the two of them. However, Another Summer of Sleep's greatsword had already arrived.
This guy!!
Sun Zheping's speed had exceeded Ye Xiu's imagination.
This attack wasn't a skill. It was just a normal attack, which had little starting and ending lag. The greatsword sliced through the air in an arc to try catch the Aerial-Fire retreating Lord Grim. Aerial Fire worked, but Lord Grim was still caught by the tip of Another Summer of Sleep's greatsword.
Bullets shot straight at Another Summer of Sleep's chest. Blood splattered everywhere, but Another Summer of Sleep didn't even flinch. He raised his greatsword in the air. Sword shadows from Wild Blood Strike spread through the air and hacked at Lord Grim, dragging along a bloody mist.
With just one attack, Lord Grim's health slid down. Even the crowd felt worried.
Knights had exceptional defense. It wasn't just because of the plate armor worn by them, but rather their Plate Armor Proficiency that took the health and defensive capabilities of plate armor to the next step. However, just the existence of Plate Armor Proficiency wouldn't make an Elementalist want to choose Plate Armor for better survivability because they couldn't give up the Intelligence and Cast Speed from Cloth Armor.
Every class obtained huge improvements in combat capabilities from Armor Proficiency, but the unspecialized didn't have these. Lord Grim could only rely on the original stats of the armor to strengthen himself. However, he effectiveness of the armor on Lord Grim was weak. It couldn't compare to his transforming Myriad Manifestations Umbrella.
Wild Blood Strike struck Lord Grim to the ground. Ye Xiu had Lord Grim try to roll away, but Sun Zheping's Another Summer of Sleep was already in pursuit. With an Earth-Shattering Slash and the offensive buffs from Bloodthirsty, it was almost like he teleported. His figure flickered. He suddenly appeared in front of Lord Grim and slashed downwards with his greatsword.
Lord Grim dodged again. However, Earth-Shattering Slash dealt AoE damage, and Lord Grim was unable to completely get out of its range. Under the intense swaying from the earthquake, Lord Grim wasn't able to stand up stably. Another Summer of Sleep slashed twice, horizontally and vertically, completing a Gore Cross.
Hit, hit, consecutive hits!
Sun Zheping bravely activated Bloodthirsty Frenzy, letting him forcefully interrupt Lord Grim's continuous attacks and also giving him the initiative.
This bravery and boldness did not let down his former title as the Number One Berserker. No, even now, no one had this same confidence and this same valor to employ such a brute-force method to take back the initiative. To many people, this type of choice might be unwise. If Lord Grim's grab had been just a bit faster, he might have been able to throw Another Summer of Sleep away before his frenzy of attacks.
However, Sun Zheping had done it. This wasn't his first time either. In his professional career, who knew how many times his risky and imprudent brute-force transformed into the deciding point. This was not just luck. Behind this brute force hid precise observation and judgement. After that was his determination and resolve to put everything into one move. This was what many lacked, but Sun Zheping possessed.
To others, the always advancing Han Wenqing was more fierce, while Sun Zheping was more wild. It was a wildness that disregarded everything else!
"It won't be so easy!"
In the public chat, Sun Zheping's words from before his Bloodthirsty Frenzy activation had yet to disappear. These same words suddenly popped up again. These two seemed to like to return each other's words in today's match. However, did just saying it won't be so easy make it easy?
Lord Grim suddenly trembled. This unspecialized also turned scarlet red. A dense aura of blood seemed to be emanating from his skin.
Bloodthirsty Frenzy?
No, that wasn't possible.
Those who understood the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella knew that while a skill could be added to each transformation, awakening skills such as Bloodthirsty Frenzy were exceptions. Level 50 awakening skills as well as Level 20 class advancement skills were every class's most distinct skills. They were skills that could not be used by any other class. An unspecialized was no exception.
Lord Grim wasn't using Bloodthirsty Frenzy, which meant the only other possibility was Berserk.
Berserk was very different from Bloodthirsty Frenzy, but it was generally viewed as a lower-leveled Bloodthirsty Frenzy. In fact, according to Glory's narrative, Berserkers learned Bloodthirsty Frenzy through their understanding and control over Berserk. Bloodthirsty Frenzy could be considered an upgraded version of Berserk.
At this moment, Lord Grim activated Berserk. Did he want to want to use the budget "Bloodthirsty Frenzy" to fight with the real Bloodthirsty Frenzy? And because it was a skill placed on his weapon, it would only have one skill point in it. This Berserk was far from the Berserk that Berserkers always maxed out. It was like trying to break a stone with an egg!
Everyone was thinking this, but Another Summer of Sleep's next attack unexpectedly missed.
No way?
Everyone was shocked.
It was just a level one Berserk. The buffs given to Lord Grim couldn't be that much, yet just this slight boost made it so that Sun Zheping was unable to react in time?
Yes, he couldn't react in time...
Another attack whiffed. Sun Zheping couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
It had been so many years from his injury to retirement to his return, yet his habits hadn't changed. And Ye Xiu still remembered. As a result, in this match, Sun Zheping searched for the feel from that year and burst forth. Ye Xiu's choice to fight measure for measure suddenly suppressed Sun Zheping's momentum.
The change was because of that Berserk.
Although it was only at level one and the buffs were minimal… Sun Zheping was unable to keep up with this tiny change. This had nothing to do with speed, but rather rhythm. Sun Zheping always pushed his rhythm to the highest. Switch the beat, switch the speed? No. There was no such concept in Sun Zheping's mind. He got to his rhythm in one step and that one step reached the limit. As a result, when Ye Xiu's Lord Grim activated Berserk and his offensive stats increased, Sun Zheping's attack rhythm seemed to have reached a bottleneck, unable to reach the next step. This was because he had already been at his limits. Sun Zheping had always competed at his limits.
Sun Zheping needed to adjust his rhythm, but he wasn't good at it and he felt disgusted doing it. Moreover, he also knew very well that Ye Xiu wanted to stop him there. The instant he changed up his rhythm, Ye Xiu would take back the initiative once again. At their skill level, just this change up in tempo could be the deciding factor of this match.
The difficulties of subtleties within this fight was not able to be understood by even pro players, let alone the average viewer, if they did not understand these two well enough. They would be astonished just like the viewers: it was just a level one Berserk, why can't Sun Zheping keep up?
"How disgusting!" Having his surging offense get cut off like this by Ye Xiu made Sun Zheping feel as sick as if he had eaten a fly. It hadn't been easy for him to find back that familiar feeling from the past. Why did this terrible feeling have to come back too? This opponent is just as annoying as before!
A sense of rhythm… what was that? I'll probably never understand in this lifetime… Against this guy, I'm probably not even doing as well as Zhang Jiale.
In the end, Another Summer of Sleep fell.
The sense of rhythm was an extremely fatal flaw for this first-generation God. Compared to what a pro-level player should possess, his sense of rhythm could be described as a complete mess.
As a result, facing an opponent who knew him well, his weakness was quickly drawn out and he met a crushing defeat.
"Not bad. To think you could still get out that type of offense. You scared me." After the match, Ye Xiu specifically went to call out to him.
"Stop with the nonsense. I still lost." Sun Zheping was annoyed.
"How could you beat me alone?" Ye Xiu laughed.