Wind continued to blow, and sand continued to fill the sky.
Han Wenqing's 1v3 wasn't simply out of bravery. Tyranny had chosen this map specifically, and he was taking advantage of it perfectly. Desert Dust moved effortlessly and nimbly compared to his three opponents. From time to time, his attacks would strike the sand, producing a change in the flow of sand. For Happy, it was an enormous hindrance.
Fang Rui and Su Mucheng could rely on their experienced to adapt to the flow of sand. However, with Han Wenqing constantly changing the flow, they had to focus much of their efforts onto adapting to the sand beneath them. As for Tang Rou, she was having an even more difficult time. Her experience in Glory was lacking, and had to rely on her reaction speed and hand speed to deal with the sand. The amount of effort she had to put in just to move around was frightening.
As such, Han Wenqing was able to hold them off despite it being a 1v3.
He didn't need to win over his opponents. He just needed to keep them here until his teammates took care of Happy's Little Cold Hands.
Happy obviously understood what Tyranny intended to do. Ye Xiu's Lord Grim continued to pursue Zhang Xinjie's Immovable Rock. He trusted his teammates. If they could get past Han Wenqing and get to An Wenyi, forming a defensive wall for him, An Wenyi could start putting his healing to use. It would become a 4v4 with Happy having the upper hand. Happy would have a healer, while Tyranny would not. What's more, Tyranny's healer would be in a 1v1 against Ye Xiu.
Ye Xiu's decision to pursue Zhang Xinjie's Immovable Rock seemed like it had been out of helplessness due to the Sacred Fire. But now, it had become a key chess piece on the board. However, for this chess piece to shine, it needed Su Mucheng, Fang Rui, and Tang Rou to break open the situation.
3v1, break through...
The task given to them didn't seem hard at all. Those who understood Happy's strategy felt amazed at Ye Xiu's decision to target Immovable Rock. To them, it was a godlike play that would turn the tides of the match.
But no one would have expected that the three on Happy would be unable to get past Han Wenqing!
You couldn't blame the three for not trying. Neither of them were playing poorly. The pro players watching the match put themselves in their shoes. Facing Han Wenqing's attacks, none of them felt like they would be able to break out of his blockade easily.
It takes time to adapt to the sand.
They looked at the flow of the sand and how Desert Dust was constantly changing the direction of the flow. They thought to themselves: how would they break through this situation?
It was a habit that pro players had to improve themselves. It was only these types of difficult situations would would lead to this kind of serious thinking.
Time passed.
Dancing Rain would send out a few long-ranged attacks from time to time, but it wasn't enough to affect the assault onto Little Cold Hands by Tyranny's three long-ranged attackers. Happy's three players weren't taking much damage, but An Wenyi was having a rough time. He was being bombarded with spells and bullets from an Elementalist and two Gunners. What's worse, two of these attackers specialized in AoE attacks, making it feel like he had nowhere to run to.
"I don't believe it!!" A message from Fang Rui jumped out. Boundless Sea suddenly took a large step forward. Su Mucheng saw this and had Dancing Ran retreat.
Yes yes yes...
The pro players watching the match nodded their heads. They were taking advantage of the fact that Strikers had very low range. Their weakness was that the area under their control was small. Retreat and go around. It might take more time than going in a straight line, but it was definitely one way to get past him.
Boundless Sea and Dancing Rain didn't only retreat. One went left, while the other went right, so Han Wenqing could only deal with one of them.
But Han Wenqing wasn't troubled at all. He didn't even glance at the two of them. It seemed like he knew how they would respond. His Desert Dust focused solely on Tang Rou's Soft Mist.
The two had previously fought in the group arena. It had been an intense fight. In the end, Tang Rou relied on her health advantage to win over Han Wenqing.
However, in the team competition, this time, Tang Rou was losing.
The map affected her too much. In this environment, Tang Rou had no way to only concentrate on attacking. After a few exchanges, Desert Dust used an Emperor's Fist, pushing Soft Mist ten steps back.
Turn around, sprint!
Desert Dust was ahead of Dancing Rain and Boundless Sea, and he headed straight for Little Cold Hands.
Kill!
His intentions were obvious.
Boundless Sea and Dancing Rain gave chase. Suddenly, a storm of fire rained down on them.
A swap!
Tyranny had made a swap. Han Wenqing's Desert Dust attacked Little Cold Hands, while the three long-ranged attackers targeted Dancing Rain and Boundless Sea.
Blossoms of light and magic explosions swallowed the two of them. Even though Boundless Sea activated Qi Wave Shield as a defensive option, he couldn't completely protect both of them with it. Dancing Rain didn't have any defensive skills.
Breaking out forcefully would be unwise. Su Mucheng could only have Dancing Rain return fire to see if she could create an opening.
"This isn't too bad for Happy," Li Yibo analyzed the recent changes in the fight.
"If this continues, both healers will be in a 1v1, and it'll likely end in a trade: healer for healer," Li Yibo continued.
"I see..." Pan Lin nodded. The broadcast switched over to the fight between Ye Xiu and Zhang Xinjie.
The king of 1v1s against a squishy Cleric. It was obvious who would win. It was simply a matter of time.
The Sacred Fire on Lord Grim had worn off a long time ago. He quickly used several movement skills to close in on Immovable Rock. The two were rather far from the rest of the battle. They were no longer on the sand dune.
Ye Xiu didn't show any mercy, while Zhang Xinjie did his best to survive.
The two Master Tacticians knew where the key to this battle was. It could even be said that this key had been formed because of their clash in tactics.
However, neither of them spared a moment to take a look at the situation over there.
Even against a Cleric, Ye Xiu didn't relax. Because from Immovable Rock's direction of escape, he could see Zhang Xinjie's intention.
Not far ahead was the support zone!
The switching of players was protected by the system. No attacks could interrupt it. If Zhang Xinjie reached there, he could swap with Tyranny's sixth player, Lin Jingyan.
Of course, there was a time restriction on switching players. Players couldn't just keep switching back and forth however they liked. However, just one switch was enough. Tyranny would be able to protect their important healer. As for the other end, Tyranny held the initiative. If Happy couldn't save their healer, and Zhang Xinjie's Immovable Rock was able to escape, it would be disastrous for Happy.
Even if Little Cold Hands was rescued in the end, it wouldn't be a problem for Tyranny. They would certainly retreat back ahead of time and rescue Zhang Xinjie.
Tyranny would not lose out either way. Zhang Xinjie liked safe and reliable plans.
Ye Xiu obviously wasn't going to let him have his way. Lord Grim held onto Immovable Rock tightly, not giving him a chance to run.
Zhang Xinjie obviously couldn't pray that Ye Xiu would make a mistake. He never believed in placing his hopes on luck. He persevered and waited. He was waiting for an opportunity, waiting for an opening when Ye Xiu attacked.
It's here!
Zhang Xinjie was calm and cautious. This sort of personality made it easy for people to mistake him for having low hand speed. However, ever since he had joined the Alliance, he had never fallen out of the top ten in hand speed!
Glory's number one healer was top-tier in reaction speed and hand speed even among pro players.
Charge!
The robed Cleric suddenly used this bold Knight skill.
For spectators familiar with the Glory competitive scene, it wasn't anything novel. Pro characters were meant solely for PvP. As a result, many of their skill choices were different than those who needed to do dungeon quests.
For healers focused on PvP, learning a low-level skill from a Priest class like a Knight was nothing strange. When the opponent closed in, this sort of movement skill was very useful.
Immovable Rock had used Charge when he first tried to escape, but in the end, his movement capabilities couldn't compare to an unspecialized. He was quickly caught. Zhang Xinjie didn't hastily use Charge as soon as he could. He couldn't underestimate Ye Xiu.
Even if it was an instant cast skill, it required the right timing.
He finally found an opportunity. He instantly Charged out like a warrior.
Hua!
As soon as he used Charge, his vision was blocked.
The Myriad Manifestations Umbrella opened in its shield form. Ye Xiu had reacted in the end. The shield was big, and the edges of the shield were able to block the Charge.
Clerics looked amazing when they used Charge. Their weapon was oftentimes a cross. When they used Charge, their cross would float in front of them, radiating with a holy light as if it were guiding the Cleric. Unfortunately, this holy light encountered a shield.
Charge couldn't be completely nulled with a shield. What's more, because of how big the umbrella shield was, it was rather light. In terms of priority, it was considered a weak shield. Even though a Cleric's Charge couldn't compare to a Knight's, it couldn't be completely blocked.
Immovable Rock's Silver weapon, Backlight Cross, shined with white light, pulling Immovable Rock forward.
Lord Grim twisted his body, forcing his center of mass down to stop himself from sliding back.
The distance that Lord Grim slid back was rather unexpected. The terrain was the reason. The two were situated on loose sand. With a push, the sand gave way. The friction from sand couldn't compare to that of solid ground. By the time, Lord Grim's feet had sunk far enough into the sand to create enough resistance to stop the Charge, the skill duration was almost over.
Immovable Rock had pushed farther than expected, but it still wasn't enough to reach the support zone. Suddenly, light burst out from Immovable Rock's Backlight Cross, creating a circle of light. It looked astonishing, but the surface of the sand didn't seem to be affected by it. However, Lord Grim, who was still holding up the Myriad Manifestations Umbrella, was directly pushed back several steps by this light.
Paladin skill: Angel's Might!