The King's Avatar

All the cheers and screaming stopped. Only the sound of the fight between the two characters remained. The viewers watching at home wanted to know what exactly had happened, but the commentators, who had been talking excitedly just before, had suddenly quieted down. It seemed like the only thing that could be heard from them were coughing sounds?

Pan Lin and Li Yibo were on the verge of tears. The two felt like they had been thrown onto the

What could they say?

What did they still dare to say?

Even if the two had a million things to say about the current situation, they couldn’t put the words together. The embellishment that the two had blurted out just a moment ago was like a whip. After twirling the whip in a circle, they had winded it around their own necks. The harder they pulled, the harder it became to say anything.

The commentators were supposed to be neutral, without any bias for either side. They hadn’t been excited because they wanted Samsara to win, but rather because Zhou Zekai’s stunning play had excited them. If such stunning and beautiful playing couldn’t win, then how could the heavens be fair?

The two had said those words because of this belief. Otherwise, the countless time that Ye Xiu had slapped their face would have reminded them to be cautious. How else could they have gotten excited and predicted the outcome even when the other side had more than half his health left?

In that instant, they had indeed thought that Zhou Zekai was invincible.

In that instant, they had forgotten that there was no such thing as absolute victory in a match.

In that instant, they had forgotten that the match wasn’t over until the last drop of blood flowed.

It had been the case before, and it always would be.

However, breaking Zhou Zekai’s breathtaking four-step Gun Fu didn’t mean that Ye Xiu had won either. Cloud Piercer was still in the lead by a considerable amount of health!

Even if Ye Xiu had seized the initiative, Zhou Zekai’s might was no less than before.

For the average player, an airborne character was the sign of someone about to get thrashed. However, Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer continued to attack while in the air. A rain of bullets descended, making it feel as if whatever was beneath it was a lamb in a tiger’s den. Ye Xiu didn’t seem to see it though. Lord Grim tanked the bullets and continued his attacks.

A trade?

Lord Grim had less health. A trade didn’t seem to be wise though.

Pan Lin and Li Yibo thought the same thing, but remained silent. They were too afraid to try and guess Ye Xiu’s intentions.

Moonlight Slash, Full Moonlight Slash, Wave Wheel Slasher!

Lord Grim’s Myriad Manifestations Umbrella suddenly transformed from a Fighter weapon into a Swordsman weapon. Three slashes one after the other. Light filled the sky as Cloud Piercer tumbled through the air. Even Zhou Zekai had no way to steady his character facing such fast successive attacks. Cloud Piercer’s shots began to miss their mark. The rain of bullets seemed to have split apart from the three bright sword lights, and Cloud Piercer was locked into place by the Wave Wheel Slasher, magic rendering him apart.

Vision!

Zhou Zekai understood that this was the key point. He could only make the appropriate response if he could grasp the opponent’s movements.

However, Lord Grim followed close on his heels. In an instant, he moved into a dead angle where Cloud Piercer wouldn’t be able to see him. Vanishing Step. This difficult and complicated technique was already second-nature to him. As soon as he saw his target airborne, he would use this technique out of habit to continue the combo.

Even in the pro scene, there were many players who were helpless against Vanishing Step, but Ye Xiu wasn’t so naive to think that Zhou Zekai would be one of them. He recognized Zhou Zekai’s skill clearly. Whether it worked or not, he had to at least try. It was an ideology that both of them agreed on.

Zhou Zekai wasn’t able to see his target, but by process of elimination, he had a rough idea of Lord Grim’s position. Cloud Piercer wasn’t able to turn his head towards that direction, but his hands were more nimble than his head. The trustworthy guns in his hands, Wildfire and Shattered Frost, instilled fear into anyone who saw them, the guns of the Gunner King!

Fire burst out.

This time, he wasn’t spreading out his attacks to cover more area. He was aiming precisely towards his dead angle.

Bang bang bang bang.

Bullets descended.

The distance was too close, and Ye Xiu didn’t have time to react to it. However, he had never intended on dodging. Bullets could hurt him, but they couldn’t stop him from attacking .The transforming Myriad Manifestations Umbrella struck Cloud Piercer repeatedly. Because of these destructive hits, the once precisely aimed gunfire once again becams scattered.

“Zhou Zekai’s situation isn’t looking good!!” Pan Lin finally braved it out and spoke, once he saw that Ye Xiu had the upper hand.

“Mm, he…” Before Li Yibo could finish his sentence, he shut his mouth and stared with wide eyes. Lord Grim’s combo had made Cloud Piercer lose his aim. His bullets no longer followed a straight path, but rather an arc.

“Curve Firing!” Pan Lin shouted.

Curve Firing wasn’t a technique, but rather a Sharpshooter skill. Of the four Gunner classes, Sharpshooters emphasized firing technique. Many of their skills were buffs. For example, Rapid Firing and Burst Firing. For a period of time, the skills gave the user increased firing speed or critical hit chance. Curved Firing made the bullets curve. How much the bullets curved was set by the system by default, but the user could manually control it too.

Zhou Zekai had Cloud Piercer use Curved Firing while in an airborne state. Despite losing control of his aim due to Lord Grim’s attacks, many of the curved bullets still headed towards Lord Grim. Zhou Zekai had taken into consideration the fact that Lord Grim would be comboing him, so he used Curved Firing as a counter. He wasn’t so godly that he could accurately calculate the trajectories of all of the bullets, but with so many bullets being fired, some of them were bound to hit.

It hadn’t been easy for Pan Lin and Li Yibo to resume their commentating, but now they had been stopped in their tracks again. Today’s situation was looking grim. No matter which side they talked about, they would immediately be slapped in the face. The two wanted to cry. What should they do? It wasn’t like they could stay silent, no?

The two were quiet, but the crowd wouldn’t be.

Those curved bullets flew around like wild bees, completely unpredictable. Ye Xiu could only try his best to dodge them, but many of them still landed. However, Curved Firing only affected the trajectory. It didn’t increase the damage or have any other effects. As a result, Lord Grim could still continue his attacks.

Sky Strike!

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella transformed into a spear and swung upwards towards the falling Cloud Piercer. Just when it looked as if it was about to hit, Cloud Piercer’s dual guns suddenly turned towards him and fired two shots.

The recoil made him move away slightly, and this slight displacement was enough for Lord Grim’s Sky Strike to miss.

The skilled are bold!

Zhou Zekai could have obviously done it earlier, utilizing the recoil to adjust himself while in the air, but he didn’t because he knew that Ye Xiu would certainly have countermeasures. He had intentionally waited for Ye Xiu to act first before doing this at the very last moment, so Ye Xiu wouldn’t have time to readjust his attack. Finally, Cloud Piercer was back on the ground. Cloud Piercer landed and rolled, but before he could get up, he saw a grenade out of the corner of his eye.

Boom!

The grenade exploded, and Cloud Piercer was thrown to the side. Cold light flashed. Lord Grim used Shining Arc to close the distance, Cross Slash, Upwards Slash… Cloud Piercer was in the air again.

He wasn’t able to dodge it?

Samsara’s fans felt a blow to their hearts. They watched as their ace player used everything at his disposal while taking a beating, yet still fail to escape.

Bang bang bang bang…

Gunfire sounded again. Zhou Zekai refused to give up, but everyone had noticed long ago that his attacks had no effect on Lord Grim’s offense. Lord Grim simply took the hits and continued attacking.

“This… isn’t good, right?” Pan Lin carefully expressed.

Li Yibo didn’t even follow up. The fight between the two number ones was truly too high-level for them. They talked about this, but it was wrong. They talked about that, but they weren’t sure. At this point, he and Pan Lin basically existed to get their faces slapped. It was too humiliating.

Unfortunately, the one to suffer the most would be Pan Lin. After all, Li Yibo was considered an invited guest. His status was slightly higher, so while it might be okay for Li Yibo to not say anything, it was not okay for Pan Lin. Pan Lin could only brace himself and blabber away.

“He has no way to force Ye Xiu back…” Pan Lin’s voice was like a mosquito.

And this time, he was right. Ye Xiu couldn’t be forced back. Lord Grim continued to attack. He wasn’t afraid of this sort of competition. Zhou Zekai understood this point too, and he hadn’t been hoping that he could force Ye Xiu to retreat because he understood Ye Xiu’s thoughts: the priority of close-ranged skills was far higher than long-ranged skills.

Zhou Zekai hadn’t forgotten this kind of basic knowledge. He didn’t think his bullets could compete with close combat from an unspecialized. Everyone else had been cheering excitedly because it had seemed like Zhou Zekai had broken the seemingly unshakeable barrier between close-ranged and long-ranged classes. However, Zhou Zekai knew clearly that it was because he had no other choice. Lord Grim had been too close to him.

It wasn’t good for Sharpshooters to get closed in on.

It was logic that even a noob in Glory would know. But everyone had believed in him because he was Zhou Zekai, and there was nothing he couldn’t do apart from healing. That was why although it was common sense that the situation had been unfavorable for a Sharpshooter, it shouldn’t be a problem for Zhou Zekai. Even if his opponent had closed in, the one to be taught a lesson would be the opponent.

In reality, it had indeed been the case numerous times. Even when Zhou Zekai’s opponents were able to close, they would often be the ones who lost.

Zhou Zekai didn’t become arrogant though.

Others could believe that his Sharpshooter was invincible even in close combat, he himself couldn’t.

It wasn’t good for Sharpshooters to get closed in on!

Zhou Zekai, the current number one player, hadn’t overlooked this logic that even a noob understood. When he played, he would still follow this principle. After being closed in on by Lord Grim, he had been trying to get away. However, while running away, he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to injure his opponent. That was why he had used Thunder Snipe earlier and given Cloud Piercer a nearly 33% health lead.

With this lead, Zhou Zekai began to use Gun Fu to fight because at that time, he had decided to trade blow, trade health for health.

In other words, the thought that he could completely suppress Ye Xiu with Gun Fu hadn’t even crossed his mind. The reason that he had used Gun Fu was to trade.

Trading meant that I hit you, and you hit me.

The Gun Fu was like this, and it was the same afterwards even when Ye Xiu seized the upper hand. However, Zhou Zekai never let go of any opportunities to injure Lord Grim. By relying on this sort of accumulation of damage along with Cloud Piercer’s health lead, even in these disadvantageous trades, he would be the one to win in the end. Zhou Zekai was certain of it.

As for all that flashiness? That was just a service to the plain and simple Glory principle: the one with more health bullied the one with less.