Tianji! (Sky Strike)

Following Dragon Tooth, Tianji, a very simple and unadorned Battle Mage combo. Sun Xiang, after suppressing Fang Rui's Wretched Flow playstyle, didn't pursue any flashy techniques. Instead, he used this ordinary yet effective basic combo to launch Hail Mary into the air.

The combo connected, and Hail Mary somersaulted in the air. Fang Rui's heart turned ice-cold.

Stamina...

He had indeed overlooked this issue. Although his playstyle consumed a significant amount of stamina, in his six years as a professional player, stamina had never been a factor restricting his performance. Mana might run out, health might dwindle, but stamina, with its inherent recovery ability, was always sufficient to sustain him through any battle.

Until today.

So, it wasn't that Fang Rui was careless; he had simply never cared about stamina. And in this match, what he had overlooked, his opponent had paid attention to, immediately restricting his play.

Sun Xiang...

Fang Rui himself didn't have much interaction with Sun Xiang. In the seventh season, Sun Xiang was just a rookie. In the eighth season, he went to Excellent Era for half a season before being relegated along with them. In the ninth season, he struggled in the Challenger League. Sun Xiang was never a player that Fang Rui would specifically pay attention to. Everyone was just a member of this professional circle, striving and fighting.

It wasn't until this season that Fang Rui's career underwent a massive shift, and Sun Xiang joined Samsara with One Autumn Leaf. Because of the tangled web of relationships between Happy, Excellent Era, Ye Xiu, and One Autumn Leaf, Sun Xiang became a relatively special presence for Happy.

Apart from him, all the current members of Happy had experienced the Challenger League. Even Su Mucheng, who was on the opposing side at the time, had a fairly unified dislike for Sun Xiang. Fang Rui quickly integrated into the team, and his feelings towards Sun Xiang certainly weren't positive, especially since the two had met in a one-on-one match during the regular season, where he had lost to Sun Xiang.

And now, they met again in the grand finals. Happy had already lost one round, and another loss would completely eliminate their chances.

Fang Rui had defeated Du Ming, and he had known all along that his next opponent would be Sun Xiang. He didn't care who his opponent was; he was just determined to defeat them. Happy still had another player after him, but that didn't diminish his resolve. If he won, Happy could go into the team competition with a two-point lead, which would be invaluable for Happy, who didn't have a map advantage in the away game. Fang Rui, who had been performing mediocrely throughout the playoffs, hoped to provide valuable assistance to Happy, and those two points were what he was determined to take when he came on stage.

But now, he was being restricted so severely by Sun Xiang, who was using such ordinary attacks to send his Hail Mary spinning in the air.

What exactly am I doing?

Fang Rui was angry, not at Sun Xiang, but at himself.

Stamina had never been a problem, so he didn't treat it as one. Fang Rui was angry at his own carelessness, at his own complacency.

But he hadn't lost yet!

Although his stamina was depleted, it would recover quickly. Even though he was currently under attack, as long as he didn't use any stamina-consuming actions, it would continue to recover.

Fang Rui stared intently at Hail Mary's stamina bar.

His health was declining, but he ignored it. What he needed now was stamina, only stamina!

Stamina was recovering bit by bit. Fang Rui felt it was so slow. Before this, he had never felt that stamina recovery could be such a long wait.

How much did it need to recover?

Fang Rui was calculating in his mind, but Hail Mary's body suddenly plummeted.

Combo interrupted?

Everyone was surprised. One Autumn Leaf's offensive was complete and efficient, and he could have continued the combo. Why did he suddenly interrupt it at this moment?

Was it a mistake? Those who thought so exclaimed in surprise. This was a rather elementary mistake.

Hail Mary fell to the ground. Fang Rui reflexively tried to perform a quick recovery, but he stopped his fingers just as they moved.

So that's it!

Fang Rui instantly understood Sun Xiang's intention. He had intentionally interrupted this combo because he wanted to continue using Hail Mary's lack of stamina to control him. Continuously juggling Hail Mary in the air wouldn't be enough to kill him. During that process, the stamina that Hail Mary recovered would allow Fang Rui to start responding, to start counterattacking.

So, when Hail Mary's stamina had just recovered a little, Sun Xiang intentionally gave up complete control of the situation and the continuous offensive, intentionally giving Fang Rui room to respond.

Hail Mary was about to fall to the ground.

Quick recovery?

Under normal circumstances, of course, he should do so. However, at this moment, as Hail Mary performed a quick recovery to get up, One Autumn Leaf's attack would definitely arrive again. To cope in a way that Fang Rui was accustomed to and good at, he would inevitably have to use stamina again. Soon, the little stamina he had just recovered would be used up. Then, he would be in a completely passive and beaten situation again. When his stamina recovered slightly, Sun Xiang would give him an opening again, allowing Fang Rui to consume stamina to respond, repeating this cycle and trapping him in a never-ending dead loop without enough stamina.

He couldn't do that. He had to let his stamina recover to a certain level, even if it meant trading health!

Bang!

Fang Rui didn't perform a quick recovery. Hail Mary fell straight to the ground.

So, Sun Xiang immediately understood Fang Rui's intention. He couldn't force Fang Rui to respond to his attacks. Since Fang Rui was determined to trade health for stamina, he could only inflict as much damage as possible under these circumstances.

Overlord Chop!

Evil Annihilation swung, sweeping towards Hail Mary on the ground.

Those who understood both sides' intentions thought that what would follow would be unilateral passive beatings. Those who supported Happy couldn't bear to watch.

Who knew that the black light drawn by Evil Annihilation would actually sweep through the air? Hail Mary suddenly rolled up, avoiding this Overlord Chop.

The little stamina that had not yet recovered was immediately used up again. What was he doing?

What was he doing?

Those who thought they understood the match were once again at a loss, completely at a loss.

If Fang Rui hadn't realized Sun Xiang's intention, then he should have performed a quick recovery just now. If he had realized it, then he shouldn't be consuming stamina now, but using his health to hold out until he had enough stamina to recover.

But what was this awkward rolling, neither here nor there? What was his intention?

No one understood, including Sun Xiang. He had been prepared to treat Hail Mary as a wooden stake, as a sandbag, and do everything he could to use the most powerful skills to inflict the highest damage on Hail Mary during this time. But Fang Rui actually responded, actually making Hail Mary avoid One Autumn Leaf's Overlord Chop with a roll.

What did it mean?

Sun Xiang didn't understand either, and couldn't figure it out, but since there was a response, he should seize the initiative and force him to consume stamina, pulling him into a death cycle.

Then...

Then what?

Sun Xiang suddenly paused. He suddenly realized that, according to this intention, after this Overlord Chop, it seemed that any attack choice would be awkward, and it seemed that no skill choice could perfectly achieve his intention.

Sun Xiang suddenly understood. And seeing One Autumn Leaf's offensive clearly stiffen after the Overlord Chop, the high-level professional players also understood.

Fang Rui, this guy is really too wretched!

Everyone thought he could only trade health for stamina. Okay, he put on a posture of trading health for stamina, and Hail Mary fell straight to the ground to pretend to be a sandbag. But this sandbag was dishonest. Sun Xiang was determined to give him a hard beating, and when the attack came, he actually dodged it again.

Hitting a sandbag that doesn't intend to resist requires maximizing damage, without needing to defend, without needing to establish combos, only needing to deliver the most efficient output in the time available. But dealing with a wretched Fang Rui who would respond to attacks requires improvisation, which is a completely different matter.

Fang Rui started to make Hail Mary act like a sandbag, recovering his wretchedness in a second. Sun Xiang was originally going to hit a sandbag, but suddenly realized that he needed to deal with the wretched Fang Rui. The two completely different offensive systems suddenly intertwined, and Sun Xiang needed to switch, needed to transition, needed to adjust from one rhythm to another. This abrupt change seemed extremely awkward, and the original smoothness of the offensive was lost in that instant.

What Fang Rui wanted was this instant. This instant was enough for him to regain the initiative. Even if Hail Mary's stamina was still insufficient, what he was about to launch next was an attack that didn't require stamina.

Spiral Qi Kill!

Getting out of trouble, recovering stamina? Those were not the goals. Fang Rui's only goal was: to win! Whether he had stamina or not, he had to win!