"He's coming!" Wu Shuai yelled into the Parade chat. Their focused offense on Boundless Sea was just because they wanted to lure Lord Grim over.
Wiping out Qiao Yifan's One Inch Ash? This result wasn't something that satisfied them. Though they acted confident, in reality, Happy - even lacking one player - still threatened them greatly. However, if they could send Lord Grim out of the running, then their victory would be certain.
Their encirclement of Boundless Sea was to lure Ye Xiu over into trying to save him: their true target was Lord Grim.
"Prepare!" Wu Shuai ordered. Parade's team members clearly weren't properly trying to beat Boundless Sea, all waiting for a chance to lunge in the other direction!
"There's a plot!" This naturally wouldn't escape the Master of Dirty Play, Fang Rui, and he quickly sent a warning in the Happy chat.
"Worry not!" Ye Xiu replied as Lord Grim continued his advance.
"Switch!" Wu Shuai ordered, and Team Parade surrounded their target.
In an instant, it wasn't Boundless Sea in the encirclement, but Lord Grim.
"Scared yet?" Fang Rui hollered in the chat. This time, it fell to him to save Lord Grim. However, Team Parade hadn't truly formed an encirclement around him, but they did around Lord Grim, and it seemed much stronger.
Would they be alright?
Fang Rui wondered in his heart, observing Team Parade's formation and trying to find a chance to team-up with and break Ye Xiu out. That was when, with a boom, someone was sent flying out of Parade's sturdy encirclement with a Falling Flower Palm from Lord Grim, and the latter broke out easily.
"Haha, a paper mache encirclement?" Fang Rui would never miss out on a chance to mock his opponents.
"What happened?" Wu Shuai yelled angrily into the team chat. He naturally wouldn't send this into the public chat and draw jeers from his opponents.
"How come my skills are on cooldown!?" the one sent flying by Lord Grim yelped.
"No, not cooldown, they've been sealed! Sacred Fire? When?" that person added.
Sacred Fire?
The people watching the live stream all froze. When was Sacred Fire used?
The Parade members on the battlefield had already turned their gazes to Little Cold Hands. Their teammate naturally wouldn't lie to them. Did Little Cold Hands strike just now?
No one knew...
In that moment, they had completely ignored Little Cold hands, as if the Cleric were nothing but air.
"It was probably Lord Grim!" Someone suddenly called out.
"You're right!" The entire team suddenly seemed to realize something. Lord Grim's Myriad Manifestations Umbrella could have all sorts of skills set into its different forms. He must have set a Sacred Fire into the weapon's Priest class form. That guy was a sly bastard like that, always switching the skills he had on his weapon so that he could mess with everyone.
"Good job!" Ye Xiu sent that praise into the team chat, because this Sacred Fire really did come from Little Cold Hands. It was just that he had timed the activation so well that just as Ye Xiu struck out, when his opponent was about to defend, a Sacred Fire began to burn under Ye Xiu's surprised gaze, sealing that member of Parade's skills. The skill he was about to use to block Lord Grim never came, allowing him to break through with a simple Falling Flower Palm.
"Again!" Team Parade, believing that they had already found the crux of the problem, turned and pursued Lord Grim.
Sky-Piercing Strike!
However, Fang Rui's Boundless Sea had already arrived to help, pushing his palms out and shooting forth a blast of qi. Parade's membered rushed to dodge it, their formation completely destroyed by now. Then, a missile descended, mushroom cloud rising. The Parade characters in each area getting blasted off their feet. Their offensive had been shattered.
With their offensive gone, Happy was free to launch their own. They might be one head short for now, but they wouldn't let this opportunity pass them by.
Shining Cut, Slide Kick, Knee Strike!
Lord Grim activated three skills in rapid succession, arriving in front of a character in the blink of an eye and sending them flying.
Pulse Break: Break Strength! Break Intelligence!
Fang Rui's Boundless Sea shot by, jabbing the character twice. The target's stats immediately plummeted. At the same time, a ring of light descended and Little Cold Hands' Holy Commandment blanketed them just in time.
With all these damage increasing statuses, if they didn't attack now, then when should they?
Ye Xiu, Fang Rui, and Su Mucheng all used their own methods to deal as much damage as they could to this poor character. Their target had no way to stop their remaining health from decreasing, and it dropped like a rock.
Having been knocked completely out of it, the members of Parade hurriedly adjusted themselves to counterattack and save their teammate. However, the three members of Happy didn't seem to be able to take their eyes off their target, ignoring all the attacks that came their way and continuing their crazed barrage of attacks.
Were they planning on wiping him out first?
They would choose to do that with a numbers disadvantage? That was a huge challenge for their own healer! However, wasn't Happy's healer the worst in the Alliance? Could he really hold this situation steady?
Parade had planned on simply ignoring An Wenyi's Little Cold Hands, but with the current situation, they couldn't just let the guy heal as much as he wanted - even if his healing was crap!
"Interrupt!" Wu Shuai yelled.
"Interrupt what?" The team members were confused.
"Their healer!" Wu Shuai was vexed. They needed him to explain such a simple arrangement?
"Where is the healer?" The members of Parade continued to voice their confusion.
"Huh?" Wu Shuai turned his view in a full circle, but he really couldn't find Little Cold Hands.
"Where'd he hide?" Just now, everyone had been so focused on dodging the blasts. Plus, they hadn't thought much of Little Cold Hands either, to the extent that no one had noticed where the guy had hid.
"Fuck!" Wu Shuai yelled in rage. If he sent someone to search, then that would just be wasting time. It would be better if they didn't bother for now.
"Save him first!" Wu Shuai ordered. They continued to launch their attacks at the three attackers, but those three really were stubborn, persisting with their offense.
Their attacks struck that poor character while Team Parade's attacks struck them.
"Focus on Lord Grim!" Wu Shuai hollered. If they successfully made such a trade, then it was really worth it! Don't run, please don't run!
Lord Grim really didn't run. He simply made sure that Parade's attacks wouldn't disrupt his own. Damage? He just took it. Parade instantly became more enthusiastic. They had finally taken out a significant chunk of Lord Grim's health, when a light suddenly washed over him and erupted, turning all of their screen white.
This was a Great Heal, a Great Heal that crit. Instantly, Lord Grim's health skyrocketed. Though it didn't completely negate all of Parade's efforts, what it healed made Parade feel powerless.
"Where's that damn Cleric!?" Wu Shuai roared. Their underestimation of Little Cold Hands was destroying them.
"Did no one notice? Open your eyes wider!" Wu Shuai demanded.
Thus, when Little Cold Hands' heal came over once more, someone finally noticed where the holy light of the cross was coming from.
"Nine o'clock!" The member of Parade that had found Little Cold Hands yelled.
"Go and grab him!" Wu Shuai said, finally sending someone to deal with Little Cold Hands.
Seeing that he had been exposed, An Wenyi had Little Cold Hands run without hesitation.
However, the current garb that Little Cold Hands had on wasn't the movement speed equipment he had during the Challengers League. After focusing all his stats on healing, Little Cold Hands' movement speed began to display the weakness that was typical to healers. Run, where could he run to?
An Wenyi had barely ran anywhere, when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. His pursuer was using skills to catch up to him, and it didn't take long before the other had caught up.
"I've caught him!" The Parade member excitedly reported. Yet that was when Little Cold Hands suddenly came to a halt and turned around, as if having given up.
What the hell was this? The Parade member felt a moment of suspicion rise in his heart when, boom! His character was sent flying.
Dragon Breaks the Ranks!
Happy's sixth player, Soft Mist, had arrived.
"Just in time." An Wenyi even had the time to type!
"Nice train driving," Tang Rou complimented back. A train was a gaming term that referred to luring a large group of mobs into a specified position for attack. The more precise the positioning, the better the train.
"Let's go!!" Tang Rou, having finally arrived at the scene of battle, was in high spirits. She ignored the person she had knocked flying and charged towards the battlefield over yonder.
Shattering the Lands!
Soft Mist announced her arrival with a high-level skill, jumping high into the air. Her spear Dancing Fire Flowing Flame making a red trail through the air as it fell with its wielder, a blazing Soft Mist.
Boom!
Shattering the Lands, shaking the very foundations of the earth, Soft Mist's appearance was too sudden, her attacks swiftly finding a new target. She knocked someone into the air and then, in the blink of an eye, had landed with a Shattering the Lands over here. Parade's members fumbled to respond, dodging out of sync. This strike had once again destroyed their formation.
"Wipe out this one first!" Ye Xiu called out. Tang Rou didn't bother with a typed response, using her actions to show that she understood. Dancing Fire Flowing Flame swinging at its target's weak points.
"Interrupt the healer!" Ye Xiu gave another order. Currently, they had completely taken the upper hand. If they didn't wipe this guy out of the game, then they'd have wasted this chance.
Then, Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng repeatedly switched targets in synchronization, using ranged attacks to interrupt the healer's support. Tang Rou and Fang Rui focused completely on DPS and An Wenyi's Little Cold Hands had run over too, regrouping with the others.
Finally their target fell, and Happy dismantled Parade's lead.
"The healer!" Ye Xiu made a swift decision. Currently, it was Happy that had the advantage in numbers on the field.
The entire team lunged for their opponent's healer at once.
Wipe him out!
Happy's members surrounded Parade's healer, tossing attacks over in rapid succession. At the same time, they paid careful attention to Team Parade's attempts at support. Parade struck left and right but couldn't rescue their healer. With the healer under siege, they couldn't recover health, and the characters that came to try and provide support took heavy damage.
At first, everyone thought that Happy was trying to wipe out the other's healer, but looking closer, they realized that they had actually kidnapped their healer and were slowly chipping away at the health of the rest of their members.
"Attack their healer!" Realizing that they couldn't continue like this, Wu Shuai hurriedly gave new orders. Parade's members immediately charged at Little Cold Hands.
"Heh, didn't you say our healer was useless? Is this trade worth it?" Ye Xiu mocked.