Misty Rain's two might have ran, but they had been counting on coming back when Tyranny and Happy erupted in conflict so that they could mop up the remains. Unfortunately, they had met Tyranny head on as they turned. There hadn't even been a greeting before Lu Yining's Something To Hide was wiped out.
Shu Kexing's None Dare Attack had been slower, allowing her to live for marginally longer. Seeing the five from Tyranny lunge predatorily, Shu Kexing felt that being over there with Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun was probably better.
"Neither of them have any." Tyranny lamented. They had killed another two, but the ground was still clear of items. They had already asked Royal Style about how this dungeon worked.
Even though Royal Style had been wiped out by Tyranny, everyone was a pro player. If they couldn't accept one loss, then everyone in the Alliance would be sworn enemies with each other. Pro players were able to distinguish between on field and off field situations. Thus, after Tyranny wiped out Royal Style and turned to ask them about Ghost Lair's situation, Royal Style didn't hide anything and told them all they knew.
The list of online characters made things even clearer. Wind Howl and Royal Style had all been kicked from the competition and had left the dungeon. Misty Rain's members were still alive, but could they still succeed in this dungeon?
Tyranny had swiftly ran in the direction that Misty Rain and Happy had gone, soon hearing the sounds of gunshots and following them. That was when they saw Something To Hide and None Dare Attack running towards them. Tyranny didn't show many mercy, crushing them at once. If they let them live, it would just come back to bite them. Tyranny wouldn't back down at all even if it was Happy in front of them.
Having dealt with the two, Tyranny continued to advance. They hadn't gone far before they saw Lord Grim and Steamed Bun Invasion sitting in the tunnel ahead eating bread and drinking juice!
"Someone's here!" Seeing Tyranny, Steamed Bun immediately jumped up off the ground.
"Stay calm, we can recover a little more health and mana!" Ye Xiu was much more nonchalant, allowing Lord Grim to continue eating, his health and mana continuing to rise.
Steamed Bun had always listened to his boss and hastily had Steamed Bun Invasion take out food to continue eating. Seeing the two like this, Tyranny slowed their steps. There was a fork in the road further ahead. Were the other three members of Happy waiting there in ambush?
Tyranny had gone through battle after battle, hurrying over in pursuit after defeating Royal Style. They hadn't the time to sit down and use food to recover their health and mana like Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun, so they weren't in an optimal state. Seeing that Happy seemed to be plotting something, they might not be scared, but they kept their guards up as they began to move themselves into more tactical positions.
Zhang Jiale's Dazzling Hundred Blossoms was a ranged fighter. Seeing how Ye Xiu noticed but ignored their approach, continuing to recover health and mana, he couldn't let this go on and shot at them.
Lord Grim immediately got up and dodged, and his recovery process was interrupted. Zhang Jiale's skills continued to fly over, using his Hundred Blossom's style to pave a way for Tyranny's charge. Ye Xiu didn't dawdle either, getting Steamed Bun to follow him as he turned and ran.
Tyranny couldn't afford to be slow. Regardless of the possibility of an ambush, they had to press forward. But that was when they saw Lord Grim and Steamed Bun Invasion suddenly split up at the fork in the road, one swerving left, the other swerving right.
"This" Tyranny's players weren't sure how to react. They hastily led their characters to the fork in the road and took a look. There was a left path and a right path with one figure running down each. As for the other three members of Happy? Who knows where they were...
Tyranny had already gained an idea of what Happy was planning. They had split up, Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun blocking Misty Rain's way and getting the other three to go ahead. So, something as important as the shards would definitely be with the other three. However, Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun had split up as well. Left or right, which would lead them to the other three?
Logically speaking, Ye Xiu was the core of their team, so Steamed Bun was more likely to be bait. However, on the other hand, Ye Xiu might have made himself bait because he was the core of the team. But then, thinking from another direction...
Stop. This sort of reverse thinking would never end. With Ye Xiu's schemes, it could be either. Thus, there was no way to solve this problem with logic. They just had to chance it, it was a fifty percent chance.
"Let's pursue Ye Xiu!" Zhang Jiale suggested. He had voiced what everyone had been thinking. In that moment, their thoughts had converged.
"Wait" Zhang Xinjie suddenly spoke up. "If this is what we're thinking, then Ye Xiu might be using this to lure us away."
"So we chase Steamed Bun Invasion?" Lin Jingyan asked.
"So we're going to start guessing how far he's planned ahead again?" Zhang Jiale said.
Zhang Xinjie paused True, hadn't they just decided to not try and guess Ye Xiu's line of thought? But how come they felt like their thought process would be used upon coming to a decision?
"Let's go after Ye Xiu." In this crucial moment, it was Captain Han Wenqing who stepped forth.
"What if we're wrong?" Lin Jingyan asked.
"Then at least we can vent by beating him up." Han Wenqing replied.
Immediately, everyone perked up. This reason was a great boost to their morale. Han Wenqing was a truly talented captain, able to boost everyone's morale with just a single sentence!
The five immediately swerved left in pursuit. Their hesitation had cost them, but it was a good thing that Han Wenqing was able to settle things quickly. The five of them could, at least, still see Lord Grim's figure. This guy occasionally turned to use Aerial Fire to propel himself backwards as he ran, clearly keeping an eye on what was behind him.
Since Tyranny wanted to catch him, they wouldn't just race him. They were pro players. If they relied solely on their movement speed to catch someone, then that was just competing with their equipment. A pro level pursuit would involve skills as well, either to increase their movement speed or to use attacks to hinder their target.
In Tyranny's formation, there were two ranged attackers. Zhang Jiale's Spirfire and Qin Muyun's Sharpshooter naturally carried the task of hindering Lord Grim's movement. The two raised their guns and shot, different skills speeding forth. Lord Grim was forced to continuously dodge as he ran and this naturally impacted his movement speed. After all, he wasn't faced with normal players anymore, but pro players, including an experienced God like Zhang Jiale.
As Zhang Jiale and Qin Muyun's Gunners shot and ran, Han Wenqing and Lin Jingyan's two Fighters raised their speed and charged. Lin Jingyan could play dirty, but when it was required and when it was time to go all out, he wouldn't hesitate either. Brawler Dark Thunder directly activated a Powerful Knee Strike, flying forwards. Skills that involved lunging or jumping forth like this moved much faster than normal sprinting. Han Wenqing's Desert Dust had also activated Cloud Body, his character bounding forwards rapidly with buffed speed.
Ye Xiu might be a God, but his current opponents weren't normal players. It didn't take long for Han Wenqing and Lin Jingyan to catch up under Zhang Jiale and Qin Muyun's control.
Against this old opponent, Han Wenqing was merciless. He didn't wait for his character to completely catch up before activating a high-level skill. With a Soaring Tiger, Desert Dust lunged at Lord Grim feet first.
High-level skills like this that came out of the blue were easy to dodge for pro players, but Ye Xiu knew that under Han Wenqing's control, Soaring Tiger was a move that could vary in many ways. He would have to be extremely careful when dodging. However, there was also Lin Jingyan to consider, and the combination of the two could end up trapping Lord Grim completely with one strike. Thus, against this high-level skill, Ye Xiu didn't bother dodging.
Clang!
The sounds of their clash rang out.
Ye Xiu might not have dodged, but he wouldn't just take the skill head on. Lord Grim brought up a sword horizontally as he was about to be struck, blocking the blow with a Blade Master's Guard.
The damage had been greatly reduced and Soaring Tiger's knock-down effect was neutralized. However, Lord Grim was still kicked back. Ye Xiu used this momentum to go into a roll. Meanwhile, Desert Dust had been thrown up even higher by this kick and came crashing back down at Lord Grim with a Thousand Ton Drop.
Thousand Ton Drop was a skill with Super Armor. Even a powerful skill like Dragon Breaks the Ranks wouldn't be able to knock this attack away. At most, the two sides would neutralize each other and both would take damage. In addition, normal Super Armor was able to neutralize most attack effects, but had a weakness to grabs. Grabs could break Super Armor. However, Thousand Ton Drop was an exception. The Super Armor given by this skill couldn't even be broken by a grab and grabs would be neutralized. The only kind of skill that could be used to break the Super Armor from this skill were skills that specialized in breaking Super Armor. For example, the Brawler's Inject Poison.
Unfortunately, Lord Grim didn't know any of these kinds of skills. Even though he had access to all the low level skills of all the classes, low level skills were for beginners that allowed players to experience the style of the class, but they wouldn't go too deep into things. Most of the contents of that class would be accessible after classing. Thus, Lord Grim had never learned any skills geared towards breaking Super Armor. Faced with Thousand Ton Drop, he didn't have any way to counter it, so he could only avoid it.
Thus, Lord Grim used Charge!
He dodged and took the initiative to attack at the same time, faced with Tyranny's entire team while alone, no less.
Ye Xiu's choice of action was completely unexpected for all five members of Tyranny. Lin Jingyan wasn't prepared at all and the Charge had been directed at him, throwing him out at once. However, Lin Jingyan was no punching bag. As he was knocked away, he also used Sand Toss.
Ye Xiu hastily turned his view. Lord Grim's head turned and dodged the blinding effect of the Sand Toss. However, a Grenade from Dazzling Hundred Blossoms then arrived in front of him. It was quite a ways away, having completely missed. But Ye Xiu knew that this Grenade wasn't used to deal damage, it was a bloody Flash Bomb that inflicted Blind.
"Have you all no shame?" The Flash Bomb went off under Ye Xiu's accusing yell. Although being on a team meant that you wouldn't be inflicted with effects like this, the moment the Flash Bomb went off, the flash filled their screens with white light and they could barely see. But, when their vision returned, they were met with the sight of Lord Grim holding the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella open and blocking his own view with it. Sand Toss from behind and Flash Bomb in front, but he hadn't been blinded at all.
"Have you no shame!!" Zhang Jiale bellowed in anger.