Prince of Shadows gritted his teeth. Faced with the threat from Liam he came to a swift decision. He was the team's healer! His life was the most important!
Instantly pushing his mana to its limits, Prince of Shadows showed that his reputation as a pro player wasn't just for show by performing a beautiful flash step in record time.
However, Liam only grinned. He didn't even finish his attack. His senses were constantly monitoring the surroundings closely.
As Prince of Shadows performed his flash step, Liam instantly felt it. There was a small gathering of mana some distance away. This mana marked the spot where the flash step would end.
The current players wouldn't be able to spot this sign in time. Even for someone with Liam's experience spotting the mana was already difficult but reacting to it in time was something only the best of the best could pull off.
Yet Liam didn't overthink it. He smiled confidently and pushed the mana in his body to its limits. His body disappeared in a flash of sparks.
Split seconds lied between Prince's flash step and Liam's. Yet they suddenly appeared simultaneously at the same spot. Their bodies materialized but because they were in the same spot they collided in the air.
"What?! Ah!"
Prince of Shadows was shocked and confused. Just then an elbow landed in his stomach. Prince of Shadows froze, realising that he was stunned.
This was the result of Liam using this advanced move called counter step. If two people emerged simultaneously, there was a brief moment where a simple punch could stun their opponent.
Yet how could Prince of Shadows win this contest of speed without knowing about it?
Liam didn't feel smug about the outcome. He knew that the stun would only last for half a second. Thus, he instantly unleashed his attacks. His skills flowed one into another.
Prince of Shadows woke up after the stun was over, trying to get away. But he had just used his flash step and found it difficult to instantly repeat the skill.
Two seconds passed until Prince of Shadows thought of healing himself. His HP were already critically low. Liam's swords were flashing with a [Double Slash]. If the swords touched him, Prince of Shadows would be doomed.
Just then, at the very last moment, Prince of Shadows' teammates came in clutch. Uncle Bill used his ultimate skill to take the damage in Prince of Shadows' stead, saving the healer's life.
Prince of Shadows sighed in relief and instantly used powerful skills to heal himself.
Liam's friends were watching from the distance. When they saw his counter step, they were in awe, expecting Prince of Shadows to die. But in the end, they could only show disappointed expressions.
[Cyclone: So close!]
[Balm: What a pity.]
[Silver Blade: It's alright. At least our opponents wasted quite a few powerful skills. Even Prince was forced to use his ultimate skill on himself. Now we have the upper hand!]
Meanwhile the audience was in extasy. Billions of people in millions of arenas jumped up from their seats, screaming their hearts out. If they weren't in the game some people might have directly passed out from excitement.
The up and down left everyone breathless. Hotpot's fans went crazy as they watched Liam's counter step, already hailing him as the greatest player to ever enter Crunaboul.
Kings and Queens' fans on the other hand were fraught with worry for Prince of Shadows. When Uncle Bill saved him at the very last moment, they erupted in cheers, praising Uncle Bill as the best tank in the world. Chants of 'Kings and Queens Big One' rang throughout the world.
However, while her fans were cheering, Prime looked everything but happy. She realised that her team was now in a disadvantageous situation.
Prince is not Mirage's match. He might fall any second now. We need a breakthrough point!
Knowing that her healer would not be able to hold on for too long, Prime frowned. Her eyes involuntarily landed on Balm. If they could take out Hotpot's healer, both sides would be even again!
Prime's thoughts raced and she came up with a plan.
A few seconds later Hotpot noticed that their opponents moved step by step in one direction, shifting the entire battlefield.
If this went on, they would soon fight at the edge of the void cloud. Silver Blade frowned. Her thoughts spun as she tried to see through Prime's intentions.
As both teams shifted, Hotpot's ranged fighters soon were with their backs against the wall, or in this case the void. They were forced to stop.
As the rest of the combatants continued moving, however, the distance between the ranged and melee fighters shrank. Silver Blade had a bad premonition, warning in the chat.
[Silver Blade: Cyclone, Fortune, Balm, Acacia. Stand further apart. They might try to jump at you!]
The four team members nodded and began moving. Prime immediately noticed what was going on.
[Prime: They realized something. Retention, are you in range yet?]
[Retention: A few more steps.]
Prime frowned, watching as Hotpot's ranged fighters scattered. A second later Retention finally gave a confirmation.
[Prime: Now!]
Kings and Queens moved abruptly. The pale-skinned Damned and Cursed raised the black crystal in her hand high into the air.
"AHHH!"
An ear-piercing, high-pitched cry like the wail of a tortured ghost echoed through the battlefield. Everyone on Hotpot was afflicted with a stun for 0,1 seconds.
Usually this was barely enough to interrupt some skills. But under Kings and Queens' impeccable coordination it became a deadly killer move.
As soon as Damned and Cursed raised her hand, Retention finally unleashed her ultimate skill. Ring-shaped black magic shot out, growing bigger as it travelled.
When they reached their target, Balm, they had grown to a limit. Their damage as well as their force increased to a terrifying level.
Balm had no chance to react as the skill reached her with precise timing just as she was stunned. It slammed into her chest. With a startled shout the woman lost more than 4000HP and was hurled backwards for a dozen meters, landing deep in the cloud of void energy.
"Haha, good job!"
"Nice one!"
"This match is ours!"
While Kings and Queens celebrated, Hotpot was in shock. Cyclone and Fortune cried loudly, even forgetting to begin a new skill cast.
"Balm! Don't die!"
"Damn, don't think this is over yet!"
[Silver Blade: Shield, do you have holy barrier?!]
[Radiant Shield: Cooldown...]
"Unbelievable! This is Prime's brilliance! Even if the situation is dire, she will find a way out! Everyone, this might be Balm's demise!"
Listening to the caster, the audience went crazy again. The rollercoaster of emotions was too much. From one moment to the other the match completely turned again.
"Damn, look at Prince of Shadows!"
Suddenly a notion spread through the crowd of Hotpot's spectators. They all quickly stared towards Prince of Shadows only to see Liam pressuring the healer until he had no room left to breath. One last sword landed. An unwilling expression on his face he fell and was kicked out of the battlefield.
"At least now it's one to one. The odds are even."
Just as some people were relieved, others noticed something else.
"Guys, look at Balm!"
"Can you make up your mind? My neck is growing tired form all the back and forth!"
"Is this my fault?!"
"Don't argue, focus on Balm! She isn't losing HP!"
"What?!"
The audience was confused, not sure what was going on. But suddenly a few hardcore fans figured it out.
"It has to be Balm's perseverance skill!"
"Oh right, that's a thing! It prevents her from losing HP!"
"She hasn't used it in the tournament so far!"
"Actually, she doesn't use it often anyways. Even in Fortune's videos."
"Kings and Queens might have missed it during preparation!"
Discussions were rife in the audience. People suddenly began Prime for not knowing her opponent's skills. Others argued that it was impossible for her to know everything. Some fans defended her, saying that she either had no other options, or tried to bait out the skill on purpose.
However, no matter what Prime was thinking, the truth was that Kings and Queens had lost an extremely important teammate. All their members felt their stomachs sink, racking their brains for a way out.
Just then Watchful Eye suddenly appeared next to Damned and Cursed. The young woman had already lost a lot of HP earlier and was now in critical condition.
Her eyes widened in shock but noticing that it was Watchful Eye who attacked her, she let out a mocking laugh:
"Heh. What do you want? You should be out of QI already, right? You can barely damage me!"
Watchful Eye raised his eyebrow. Even the taciturn man was angered noticing the contempt in his opponent's voice.
"It seems you haven't realized the situation yet. You're about to lose!"
"Sure..."
Damned and Cursed was just about to speak but Watchful Eye didn't want to listen to her bullsh*t. He swirled his staff, slamming it towards his opponent's waist.
"Dodge!"
Prime suddenly noticed what was happening, attempting to warn her teammate. But it was too late. Watchful Eye used his last bit of Qi to activate [Qi Push].