Is that close enough?

The Wuji Swordsman player's mood was tenser than anyone else's at this moment. Their weekly research report showed that this One Inch Ash was an extremely cunning fellow. Although he had successfully approached the opponent's flank, was this a trap?

Leopold didn't continue forward, nor did he immediately begin casting spells. The Wuji Swordsman player wanted to observe a little longer. However, Honghua Pavilion didn't have many points for cover. One Inch Ash suddenly turned around, and Leopold had nowhere to hide, exposing himself to the opponent's view.

The Wuji team players watching the battle sighed slightly with regret. From their God's perspective, they could clearly see that One Inch Ash had no hidden arrangements. Leopold had a chance to seize the initiative, but he was too cautious and missed it.

One Inch Ash turned and immediately saw Leopold on his flank, quickly moving to evade. Charging directly at a ranged attack class wasn't a wise choice, especially against a Swordsman with such strong control.

The opportunity was fleeting. Seeing One Inch Ash moving to evade, the Wuji Swordsman player knew he had missed the initiative and felt frustrated. But, be careful! He recalled the point repeatedly emphasized on the tactical board about facing One Inch Ash. He wondered if this sudden evasion was the next step in the opponent's trap.

Therefore, the Wuji Swordsman player didn't have Leopold immediately chase but instead changed direction, detouring to approach One Inch Ash again.

The Wuji players watching the match exchanged glances. They could see that Leopold seemed overly cautious in this match. With such heavy thoughts, he always felt there was something wrong with the opponent.

After a period of careful positioning, the two characters met again in a narrow path.

Amidst the red flowers flying in the Honghua Pavilion, two professions wielding the power of darkness discovered that they were so close to each other.

Eight minutes had passed since the start of the match...

The audience was so frustrated they couldn't even shout "Go!" The Wuji Swordsman player was very cautious, but Qiao Yifan was just as cautious. However, Qiao Yifan's caution was justified. Facing a dangerous class like the Swordsman, the closer to the opponent, the better. Wei Chen's research on the Hand of Death, which ultimately had a casting range +4 attribute, made him ecstatic, which shows how important that extra distance is to a Swordsman.

Against this backdrop, the two had encountered each other before, but they felt the opportunity wasn't good, so they always avoided it.

So they each walked for a full eight minutes, and this encounter was accidental. If the audience were watching, they might even find it a bit comical, like two people walking backward looking for each other and suddenly bumping back to back.

Of course, the situation these two triggered wasn't so exaggerated. However, they both discovered each other inadvertently, and they were already quite close.

Opportunity!

A trap!

These were the two players' different mindsets.

The closer distance was, of course, more advantageous for Qiao Yifan. He had been carefully positioning himself to get closer to the opponent. Now that it had happened unexpectedly, when should he strike if not now?

As for the Wuji Swordsman player, he never imagined that Qiao Yifan was just as surprised as he was. Seeing that the situation was more favorable to the opponent, the first thing he thought of was that he had fallen into the opponent's trap again.

Had all his careful positioning for eight minutes still not allowed him to escape such a fate?

The Swordsman player couldn't help but panic because he didn't even know when he had fallen into the trap.

One Inch Ash had already charged over.

Moonlight Slash!

The gorgeous blade light drew a 216-degree arc, carrying the power of the dark attribute ghost god, and came head-on towards Leopold.

Although the Wuji Swordsman player was a little flustered, his movements didn't slow down. He quickly dodged to the side. The Moonlight Slash followed by Full Moon Slash was an extremely common slashing routine for both Slash Ghosts and Formation Ghosts. One Inch Ash was no exception at this time, but the subsequent 360-degree full-circle blade light wasn't perpendicular to the ground as it usually was when players used it but tilted at a considerable angle.

This was how the attack angle of Full Moon Slash could be changed. When cast this way, this Full Moon Slash had a name given to it by the players: "Slanting Moon Slash."

The name was purely a nickname given by players, but the skill's damage and other effects wouldn't change in the slightest. However, with this tilt, the angle of attack was deflected. Leopold dodged the Moonlight Slash, but he finally couldn't avoid this Full Moon Slash.

Full Moon Slash also had a strong knockback effect. Leopold was sent flying sideways after being hit by this sword. One Inch Ash pointed the sword diagonally towards the sky, and a purple light swept past. It seemed as if a gap had been torn open in the sky above the sword's point. Then, there was a series of "bang bang bang bang" sounds, and several tombstones of various lengths and heights fell from the sky. Ghost Swordsman skill: Death Tombstone.

This skill was a pure damage skill, but being hit by the falling tombstones would also have a short-lived stun effect, which was attached to any attack that hit an opponent.

And at this time, Leopold was still flying sideways in the air. How could he dodge the descending Death Tombstone? He was directly smashed to the ground by a tombstone. For the current situation, the restrictive effect of Death Tombstone was greater than its attack damage. A tombstone knocked Leopold down, and there were more tombstones falling behind. Where could he run out of this circle?

Then came the Formation Ghost's formation arrangement. With continuous chanting, One Inch Ash dropped two ghost formations when the Death Tombstone skill ended.

The Ice Formation, which had the most obvious effect on restricting movement, was of course essential. The other one that fell across the Ice Formation was the Plague Formation, a ghost formation that weakened the defense of targets within the formation.

Leopold was covered in ice shards and moved sluggishly in the Ice Formation, and then his defense was weakened within the range of the Plague Formation. After being affected by the Plague Formation, the character hunched his back and looked very weak, struggling to move out of the formation's range. At this moment, the third ghost formation had already fallen.

Blade Formation!

A ghost formation that strengthens the power and intelligence of one's own character.

Strength and intelligence directly affect attack damage. At this time, with slow movement, reduced defense, and a significant increase in one's own strength and intelligence, it was the standard moment for a Ghost Swordsman to burst out.

Without hesitation, the blade in One Inch Ash's hand fell towards Leopold.

Leopold had no power to fight back. Not to mention that he was now trapped in a ghost formation. Even without it, the Level 55 One Inch Ash had already made the Level 70 Windward Formation very embarrassed. This Swordsman was indeed not good at close combat.

The blade light emanating the power of the ghost gods continued to flash and cut, taking away Leopold's life bit by bit. The three ghost formations that had fallen earlier began to disappear one after another, but new ghost formations were laid down again when the old formations disappeared. When the Ice Formation disappeared, the Flame Formation fell; when the Plague Formation disappeared, the Ash Formation fell.

The Ash Formation was a very interesting ghost formation. In the Ash Formation, the weight of all items on an enemy character would increase by the corresponding percentage according to the Ash Formation's level. A full-level Ash Formation could directly double the weight on a character.

The increase in character weight directly resulted in a significant decrease in jumping and movement speed. The impact on attack speed might not be particularly emphasized among ordinary players, but at the professional level, if this slight difference wasn't noticed, it could likely become the key to victory or defeat in the end.

The Wuji Swordsman player had no time to calculate these things. He was being closely followed by One Inch Ash, and whether there were ghost formations or not, it was very inconvenient for him to escape. Eight minutes ago, the two were careful, and they often walked their separate ways even after meeting. But in this wave, only a minute had passed, and Leopold's life had dropped sharply, already down by half. And One Inch Ash? In such a close state, Leopold had no chance to attack the opponent. He had just completely defeated Cold Smoke Soft, but looking at it this way, was he about to be completely defeated by One Inch Ash in a blink of an eye?

The Wuji Swordsman player certainly wasn't willing to accept this. It was too frustrating to have the three-on-two advantage they had worked so hard to gain be recovered by the opponent. However, after thinking about this, this player suddenly had an epiphany.

That's right! This was the Arena Competition. Although each person was fighting on their own, it was actually a team effort. He could lose this match, but before losing, he had to do his best to create an advantageous situation for his two teammates.

Victory didn't necessarily require victory in the first match, but it definitely required the first player's effort.

Perhaps he should have been bolder from the start?

The Wuji Swordsman player was a bit annoyed at this time. With a three-on-two advantage in hand, why was he still so conservative and sticking to the rules? If he had been proactive from the beginning, perhaps the scene would be different now.

But now that he tried, maybe there was still a chance.

The Wuji Swordsman player's mind suddenly calmed down. And Qiao Yifan's performance naturally hadn't reached a flawless level. Soon, the Wuji Swordsman player seized a brief gap between the connection of two skills. He rolled to avoid this attack. Following that, Leopold had already begun casting spells.

In the past, this player would have inevitably felt that this distance was too dangerous, but at this time, his mindset had changed. He wanted to cause the greatest possible damage to the opponent and leave a situation that was more favorable to the overall situation for the next two players.

Cutting Technique!

A instantaneously cast skill was thrown out, followed by a Cursed Arrow, released without charging.

Soul Strike, Corrosion Technique, Manipulation Technique...

Attacking or control-type skills were thrown out from Leopold's hands in an alternating fashion. The Wuji Swordsman player instantly found the feeling he had in the previous match, and he played better and better, smoother and smoother. Grabbing a tiny gap, he instantly launched a wave of counterattacks.