The King's Avatar

As soon as he was onstage, Lin Jingyan set aside all his feelings toward Wind Howl. Right now, he was a member of Team Tyranny. No matter who his opponent was, victory was his number one priority.

He entered the match. His character loaded in and moved forward toward the center of the map. But when the Brawler Demon Subduer appeared in his field of view, Lin Jingyan couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of sadness.

Sometimes, he envied Zhang Jiale.

He had transferred to Tyranny, but at least he hadn't separated from his character.

The character belonged to the team. Lin Jingyan understood this, of course. But after seven years of partnership, he felt that he and Demon Subduer were one. The Brawler character that Tyranny had made for him, Dark Thunder, wasn't bad at all, no worse than Demon Subduer. In fact, in order to fit his style, this Dark Thunder might be more similar to the old Demon Subduer than Demon Subduer itself currently was.

But still, it wasn't the same…

It wasn't just the name. All of the feelings that had accumulated after so many years of partnership with his character, they couldn't just be transferred to a new character so easily, even if the stats were almost the same. This was perhaps something that rookies could never understand - probably they would all happily change to a stronger and more suitable character if given the chance.

In the end, this day had finally arrived.

Lin Jingyan sighed to hismelf. Ever since leaving Wind Howl, he had always wondered what it had be like if he had to face Demon Subduer one day. But before, he had only ever met his old character in the team competition, where the situation was so chaotic that the feeling wasn't particularly sharp. But now, the individual round, it was as though he and Demon Subduer were the last ones on Earth, and Lin Jingyan's feelings were tumultuous.

Demon Subduer was circling around his spawn point. It seemed that Tang Hao had guessed that Lin Jingyan would choose to move strategically, and so he was currently studying his surroundings very carefully.

Lin Jingyan watched him, and, slowly and carefully, he controlled his Dark Thunder to follow Demon Subduer's turning, finely adjusting his position.

Right there!

With Lin Jingyan's thought, Dark Thunder swept his hand and threw a Paralysis Needle.

What a simple ambush, everyone thought.

But it hit!

Even though a Paralysis Needle was silent, Tang Hao had been turning Demon Subduer's field of view the whole time. How could a top God like him make the naive mistake of leaving a blind spot?

But he hadn't discovered this Paralysis Needle, and this simple ambush actually succeeded in hitting Demon Subduer's body.

Dark Thunder jumped out from his hiding spot.

This was a map with very good weather. The sunlight shone in mottled patterns on the ground, and as Dark Thunder rushed toward Demon Subduer, the chaotic shadows swayed.

Demon Subduer couldn't move after being hit by the Paralysis Needle, and Dark Thunder tossed a handful of sand right onto his face.

After Paralysis, Blind…

Consecutive status effects. No matter how skilled Tang Hao was, in a situation like this, he couldn't withstand the attacks of an old and experienced expert like Lin Jingyan.

Lin Jingyan had calculated the duration of Blind very precisely. Right when it was about to wear off, a Brick hit Demon Subduer's head from behind.

After Blind, Dizzy.

And so a new offensive began. When he fought until he had no way of continuing, Lin Jingyan wasn't greedy. He knocked Demon Subduer over and then quickly hid himself again.

Tang Hao almost felt like he was going crazy. This series of attacks had really come out of nowhere. How had that Paralysis Needle managed to hit him? With that barrage, he had lost a fourth of his health, while his head was still filled with fog.

Poor Tang Hao lacked the multi-angle view or the replay ability of the broadcasters.

At first, the audience had also been confused as to how Tang Hao hadn't seen the needle, but Tang Hao's point of view was replayed several times, and people realized that in that moment, there truly had been no Paralysis Needle in his view.

Where had the Paralysis Needle gone?

After analysis from all different angles, the crowd finally realized what was strange.

It was the light!

It was the shadow!

It was Lin Jingyan's choice of position. When he had controlled Dark Thunder to throw the needle, it had passed through an area where the light and shadows interlaced. And so, in that instant, the needle truly seemed to vanish.

This was something that could be done in Glory?

The crowd was dumbfounded.

Using descriptors like extensive and profound to describe an online game was somewhat excessive. Even the creators of this game couldn't have thought of so many details. It was this group of pro players, those standing at the top of Glory, who were constantly digging up the subtle quirks of this game, and then finding uses for them in a match that could shock even the game's creators.

Did Tang Hao know about this sort of thing?

Seeing how off-balance Demon Subduer seemed as he flipped up from the ground, everyone felt a bit sympathetic for him. To be beaten down like this in the very first moments of a match, he must be very alarmed.

Demon Subduer moved around frantically. He couldn't figure out how he had just been hit by that needle, and so he no longer dared to let Demon Subduer to just stand waiting in one place. He leapt around the area, but he couldn't find any trace of Dark Thunder.

Playing dirty. Again, it was the dirty playstyle.

Tang Hao grit his teeth. Because Wind Howl was in a bad situation right now, the outside world had all sorts of criticism for their decision to give up on playing dirty. Tang Hao just hoped that soon, they could prove that their current style was much stronger than playing dirty. But now, on the individual battlefield, he was knocked over by dirty playing until he couldn't find north. And this person was Lin Jingyan, the former user of Demon Subduer, the old man that Tang Hao had already surpassed at that All-Stars with the "junior succeeds senior."

"Hiding and sneaking!" Tang Hao said in the chat, with some irritation. He wasn't someone who really liked chatting with the opponent during a match, as he preferred to use his fists to talk. But now, he couldn't even find his target. What frustration!

"Hiding and sneaking is another method of obtaining victory," Lin Jingyan answered.

"We'll see how long you can hide for," Tang Hao said.

"You just be more careful," Lin Jingyan replied.

Demon Subduer continued to move, turning and searching nonstop. What about Lin Jingyan's Dark Thunder? Under Tang Hao's intense scrutiny, he couldn't hide too comfortably anymore. But clearly, he was extremely familiar with this map. To be able to create that incredible situation with the light earlier, did Lin Jingyan's understanding of and skill in using this map need to be mentioned?

Tang Hao searched and searched, but he couldn't find him. Lin Jingyan, however, had already finished another round of adjustments. Dark Thunder once again withdrew a Paralysis Needle, and now just waited for the right chance! Now that Tang Hao was controlling Demon Subduer to run around nonstop, it really was more difficult to find an opening.

But Lin Jingyan's view wasn't fixed on Demon Subduer's body. Instead, he was waiting for Demon Subduer to enter his field of view.

Throw!

A Paralysis Needle flew outward again. Demon Subduer's view was turning, clearly toward this direction.

But…

The entire crowd lifted their heads to look at the display screen. Even though Tang Hao's view was turned in the direction of the needle, there was a wall positioned just there. When Tang Hao glanced over, the needle was still flying behind the wall, and he couldn't see it! By the time the needle passed the wall and was in sight, Demon Subduer's view had already turned away, and then, hit…

A repeat of the match's beginning.

Tang Hao was going crazy, but what could he do? His mood had no way of dispelling the status effects his character suffered. Lin Jingyan very steadily reused the earlier series of attacks, forming a seamless combo that the opponent had absolutely no way of breaking.

Demon Subduer's health plummeted another 25%. He now had only half health remaining, while Lin Jingyan's Dark Thunder had yet to be injured. Everyone watching felt as though their eyes would fall out of their heads.

Even if Wind Howl's results in the team competition were poor, their individual members were still quite strong. Tang Hao against Lin Jingyan, this conflict between old and new Brawlers had already been decided at the All-Star Weekend two years ago with the victory of the new. Everyone could see that Tang Hao's skill level was indeed above that of Lin Jingyan.

But that "skill level," in reality, only referred to technical skill. In terms of this, the old general really couldn't keep up with the new and cutting-edge. But in this battle, had Tang Hao had the opportunity to display his superior technical skill?

No. Not at all.

Both times, he had suffered a sneak attack from a Paralysis Needle. With one attack, his character was completely out of his control. What kind of technique could he display?

Using the map, Lin Jingyan could knock away half of Demon Subduer's health without losing any of his own. If this weren't happening before everyone's eyes right now, who could believe this match would play out like this?

Demon Subduer was once again knocked to the ground. But this time, when he jumped back up in a rage, he discovered that Dark Thunder hadn't vanished, but was instead right in front of him.

"How come you're not running?" Tang Hao said through clenched teeth, immediately preparing to attack. But Dark Thunder had already rushed toward him first. He hadn't run away, he had stayed here to continue launching his offensive!

"Perfect timing!" Tang Hao's spirits rose. The two unexplained ambushes earlier had made him depressed and frustrated beyond belief. But now, seeing that Lin Jingyan actually planned to fight him directly now, he grew incomparably excited.

Would a fight like this scare me?

The two Brawlers swung their fists and began a frenzied fight.

In terms of technical skill, Tang Hao was indeed superior. In this sort of direct battle, Lin Jingyan was at a disadvantage.

But in the end, the one who fell first was still Demon Subduer, and this time, he could not stand back up. His health had already reached zero.

"If I couldn't even take care of you when you were at 50% health, then I really should just retire." Lin Jingyan left this final message as he stared down at the fallen Demon Subduer. His Dark Thunder still had 17% health left.

Using 50% of his own health, Tang Hao knocked away 83%. It was powerful, it was domineering, as expected of the number one Brawler. But, he lost.

The crowd's applause was sent to Lin Jingyan.

Even though he was no longer the number one Brawler, even though he had fallen out of the All-Star rankings, even though the radiance of a God had already left him, he won.

On this arena, what fame or skill could compare to the simple truth of victory?

Only victory was the most real. What use was skill if it couldn't achieve victory?

The current Team Wind Howl included many such players with high skill. But they lacked victory, and thus they lost the faith of their supporters.

When Lin Jingyan came offstage, he looked at the audience section for the guest team fans. The seats, already somewhat empty, were quiet and still. Old Lu was holding Wind Howl's flag and just standing there…