CH 20

<Phantom Wolf> invited Shen Huai to enter a party tomorrow night for a discussion, but he did not mention that Guan He would be online as well.

Shen Huai conveyed <Phantom Wolf>'s intentions to <One Leaf Skiff> and <Desert North>. [ Tomorrow night, we'll all join <Phantom Wolf>'s party. <Drunken Snow>'s clan will also be there. We'll resolve the problem face to face. ]

No one said anything in the team for a long time, and then Shen Huai added: [ Sorry, I caused trouble for you all. ]

<One Leaf Skiff> was bothered by that. [ Bro, I don't blame you at all. Being unable to fight 1v6 like you just means I'm not as skilled, but <Desert North> was killed over and over again these last two days, and <Drunken Snow>'s clan members even gloated about it with loudspeakers. ]

Shen Huai could tell that <One Leaf Skiff> had a minor crush on the healer, and so was clearly mad on her behalf.

[ Don't worry. I will make sure Primo Wolf gives us justice. ]

<Desert North> finally spoke up. [ Ok. ]

Once she spoke up, <One Leaf Skiff> seemed to regain his spirits. [ Bro, you really helped avenge us today. They'll definitely tone down the arrogance tomorrow during the negotiations. ]

But <Falling Sleet> wondered: [ But they have Primo Wolf backing them, we're outnumbered and disadvantaged! What if they turn things around and deny it? ]

<One Leaf Skiff> thought about it and had to agree, but he was still a little doubtful. [ It's still Primo Wolf. They probably wouldn't do that, right? ]

Shen Huai said calmly: [ I will find a third party to be a witness. ]

<One Leaf Skiff> was curious. When Shen Huai was being hunted by <Drunken Snow>'s clan, he hadn't even been able to gather enough people to run a quest. He clearly didn't have many friends in this region, so where would he find someone to help him out with this?

The next day, when <One Leaf Skiff> saw <Endless Maple Moon> in their party, he was filled with admiration for Shen Huai.

Bro, you're on a whole other level! You just refused his invitation to join his guild, and then you turn around and ask him to come be your witness. You really know how to make full use of your resources!

Everyone started trickling online and into <Phantom Wolf>'s party. <Falling Sleet> was the last one in. Song Xue-Yang prepared a little in advance, bringing his laptop into the training room and opening it up right next to a computer.

Hai Xing watched curiously from behind him. "What are you doing with two computers?"

"Dual play."

"Even if you play two accounts, you don't need to use two computers though?"

Song Xue-Yang smiled meaningfully. "That's because you don't understand yet. Whether or not we can pull Ash Wing into our team, tonight is the key."

Hai Xing was instantly intrigued. He had always been curious what the hell Song Xue-Yang was aiming for by tricking Ash Wing into buying a problematic account and then personally going undercover.

Soon, the party was complete. In addition to the two parties in conflict, there was also the guild leader of the Primo Wolf guild, <Phantom Wolf>, and the guild leader of the Maple Moon guild, <Endless Maple Moon>, in attendance.

When <Phantom Wolf> saw <Endless Maple Moon>, his vague suspicions about Shen Huai's identity was pretty much confirmed. Shen Huai was not just a regular player. If this <MuWanGe> was really the new member of the Maple Moon pro team, he would need to placate him until Guan He arrived.

<Ride the Wind> clearly didn't understand the difficult position <Phantom Wolf> was in. He started out by declaring arrogantly, "Either you pay my sister, or you destroy the weapon. Or else this will never end."

Shen Huai shared a screenshot of his transaction purchasing his account with the party. [ I have nothing to do with the grudges you have with the previous account holder. You all need to apologise for killing my friends and promise you won't attack them after this. ]

<Drunken Snow> immediately retorted, "What proof do you have that you're not the same person as the previous owner? You could have put the account on the trade hub and then bought it back yourself. You think you can just scam me and brush it off like this?"

<Desert North> chuckled. "Before this, you guys chased after <MuWanGe> and killed her entire clan until they all ran away. Now you're still chasing after her, but she can kill your entire group all by herself. Doesn't this count as evidence?"

Everyone: ...

The usually quiet Miss <Desert North> really hits the nail on the head once she opens her mouth!

<Drunken Snow> fell silent, but <Ride the Wind> was still skeptical. "Let's 1v1 in the arena if you've got the guts! Wasn't he just taking advantage of the terrain every single time? You watch your mouth. Don't think that you have nothing to be afraid of just because you have someone backing you up now. Who knows if he can keep protecting you."

<One Leaf Skiff> flared up instantly. "Acting so high and mighty just for killing a healer girl? Come after me instead if you dare!"

<Chaotic Rain> sidestepped the topic to say, "So what if she's a girl? Our Snow is a girl too! So it's ok for him to scam a girl's money then?"

Their argument grew fiercer and fiercer, and things were about to get heated when Shen Huai suddenly said: [ If you guys aren't convinced, you can just send someone to PK with me. I won't run. ]

The group was instantly silenced. They had gone up against Shen Huai more than once, and every single time ended in their utter annihilation. They already couldn't beat him when it was 6v1, so they had even less confidence going up against him 1v1.

The so far silent <Phantom Wolf> suddenly said, "We do have someone who wants to fight you, but I'm not sure if you will be willing."

Shen Huai typed: [ All challengers welcome. ]

"Ok!"

Just as <Phantom Wolf>'s response popped up, a new swordsman appeared in the party.

The swordsman had flown right to them by using the party teleportation function. It was midnight within the game — when the swordsman landed, his full body of top-grade Imperial Water Dragon gear was shining with a dazzling blue light. The light glinted off the longsword at his waist, and a gigantic aqua-blue dragon was wrapped around his body. That was a special effect only available to the #1 players for each profession in the official rankings  of "City of Despair" every year.

Of course, the most striking thing was still his ID and the title under it. ID: <Sirius> ― "City of Despair Officially Verified Member of Primo Wolf".

If the party had previously been silent, it was now dead silent.

<Sirius>, the game ID of Guan He, captain of the pro team Primo Wolf... the very same team that had won the national championship in the S4 competitive season!

It was rare to see a great god like him even during live-streams, let alone right here in front of them!

"Come."

That was all Guan He said. Everyone in the party stirred as if waking up from a dream — <Drunken Snow>'s clan members began excitedly spamming emojis, while <One Leaf Skiff> was about to protest that this was unfair — but Shen Huai had already started the countdown within the party.

"3, 2..."

Shen Huai knew very well that no matter how bad things got between him and <Drunken Snow>'s clan, Guan He's identity meant that he wouldn't bother to intervene in these trivial matters. His appearance now was surely because he wanted to test Shen Huai's strength. This aligned perfectly with what Shen Huai wanted since he had been planning to join Primo Wolf from the beginning.

"1."

The two players activated battle mode at the same time. Guan He's swordsman moved extremely swiftly — a Sword Draw within arm's length to inflict stun, followed instantly by a triple helping of Crescent Slash. His blade turned into curved crescent moons, slicing into Shen Huai's body at extremely close range.

Before the stun effect on Shen Huai could run out, Guan He had unleashed all three waves of Wave-Stepping Sword — one, stab; two, sweep; three, knockback! When the stun on Shen Huai ended, Guan He's Wave-Stepping Sword was right on the third wave. The enemy could only retreat where the sword blade went, completely unable to use any skills.

Guan He actually managed to chain the most difficult of the swordsman's skills, Wave-Stepping Sword, with Sword Draw to produce a seamless state of crowd control!

As if pre-calculated, Guan He's third wave knockback pushed Shen Huai into a corner, where he then unleashed his special ― Sunset Sword Dance!

The swordsman dressed in aqua blue swung his sword seven times consecutively at extremely high speed. The skill did not have any flashy special effects — only the "whoosh" sound of swords could be heard — but the damage of these seven slashes was calculated cumulatively. Each subsequent swing dealt greater damage than the one before it, and the damage received from taking all seven hits would be off the charts.

The Primo Wolf team was known worldwide for their melee fast-attack style of play, with Guan He's swordsman being the most terrifying of them all. It was claimed that there was no formation he couldn't break and no back row DPS he couldn't kill.

Shen Huai was now experiencing it firsthand. He was locked into a dead end by Guan He, with no room at all to evade the chain of sword skills. By the time Guan He's Sunset Sword Dance was completed, Shen Huai was down to his last sliver of HP.

<Drunken Snow>'s clan was secretly gleeful, while <One Leaf Skiff> couldn't bear to watch any longer. "Captain Guan, that should be about enough now, right?!"

Guan He didn't seem to have heard him, for his sword showed no signs of easing up. This was because Guan He knew that if his opponent was Ash Wing, then from this point onwards, this was Ash Wing's main stage!

While executing Sunset Sword Dance, the swordsman was in an unselectable state, so Shen Huai aimed for the instant when his final sword swing ended to unleash a Soul Steal. Guan He was stunned in place before he could pull back his sword.

Shen Huai immediately activated Arcane Shadow Clone in a burst of hand speed, then quickly followed it up with a rapid-fire critical hit combo under Reaper's Mark. The difference in HP between he and Guan He was so great that Shen Huai did not dare hold back any of his skills. He decisively used his second special ― Wild Blade Dance!

Due to the critical hit bonus of Reaper's Mark, his Wild Blade Dance dealt double the critical damage while also summoning two basic clones. By the time Guan He was free to move again, he had lost 40% of his HP. He quickly activated the swordsman-unique skill 'Windwalking' and charged towards Shen Huai.

The special moves of both branches under Shen Huai's assassin had been used up, while Guan He still had his ultimate to use. Fighting Guan He head-on at this time would be extremely unwise — with the amount of HP he had left, Shen Huai would lose all room for manoeuvring if he was even hit by another "Sword Draw".

Guan He's swordsman was already at his back, and a faint glimmer of his long sword appeared out from its sheath. The Sword Draw was almost half-complete when Shen Huai activated "Stealth" and vanished into the dark night.

Sword Draw involved a wide swing of the sword, and once the skill was activated, it could not be interrupted. As a result of Shen Huai's actions, not only did this move miss its mark, but Shen Huai also took advantage of Guan He's inability to switch tracks to quickly spin to his back and unleashed 'Dark Razor - Backstab - Blood Blade' to trigger a double combo!

There were abruptly two more assassin clones on the field. The four clones instantly surrounded the swordsman and activated "Prison Construct"!

This was a crowd control skill which pinned an enemy in place, but the enemy could still use their skills. Shen Huai did not dare to approach rashly, choosing instead to throw shurikens at Guan He from a distance. Guan He retaliated by casting the long-range skill "Crescent Slash".

The two melee classes were engaged in a long-range battle now, but Shen Huai's assassin was agile enough to evade every single Crescent Slash thrown his way. In contrast, Guan He was pinned in place and so could only endure every one of Shen Huai's attacks. Very quickly, Guan He had lost another 10% of his HP.

When 'Prison Construct' ended, Guan He used an ultra long-range displacement skill, Sword Flash! This move took effect so quickly that it often caught people off guard. Guan He knew that Shen Huai still had a "Salvation" up his sleeve to help him withstand a fatal blow, so Guan He did not unleash his special just yet, instead activating Wave-Stepping Sword once again.

However, this time, Shen Huai swiftly recalled a clone to help him block a portion of the damage. And at the same time, he slipped behind Guan He with a Side Roll and applied a Shadow Mark, triggering Invisibility. But Guan He reacted extremely quickly, and a wide-range "Sword Sweep" forced Shen Huai, who hadn't had time to retreat, to reappear.

This move not only dispelled Shen Huai's invisibility, but also triggered his Salvation talent. Shen Huai's final life-saving skill was gone now, but luckily, at this point, Guan He also only had 30% of his HP left.

Shen Huai stunned Guan He with a Soul Steal, and unleashed an aggressive four-hit combo under Reaper's Mark, bringing Guan He's HP down to 5%. Shen Huai's Wild Blade Dance had just finished cooling down, while Guan He's finger was already hovering above the key for his ultimate move "Sun-Moon Sword Ray"!

Both of them were down to their last sliver of HP — the victor would be decided by whose skills manage to strike the other first!

No one expected this assassin to be able to go this far against Captain Guan He of Primo Wolf in this fight. Before this, they had all just looked at Shen Huai as a game god with top-notch skills and technical operation. Only now did they realize that his level was far beyond their imagination, already at the level of a professional player! He was like a shining star hidden in the vast starry sky, finally emerging through the clouds for everyone to see his dazzling brilliance!

The crowd held their breath, just waiting to see what would happen in this last 0.1 seconds.

A sudden "bang" sounded in the distance as a bullet came rushing from over the walls of the guild's fort. The ultra-long sniper projectile sliced through the air with a red gleam, piercing through both of the combatants locked in their death match.

―― Pierce Shot!

A man stood on the fort walls. He lifted his gun as he stood up and reloaded, white smoke still coming off the muzzle.

It was hard to make out the figure's appearance and clothing clearly in the dark night, but he too had a huge dragon curled around him. However, his dragon was gold in colour, radiating a golden glow which illuminated his equally golden title.

ID: <Shattered Snow> ― "City of Despair Officially Verified Member of Maple Moon".