Chapter 1 The Disappearance of Death's Door

The Death's Door, having swiftly accomplished its mission, vanished. In the light and shadow of its disappearance, which seemed to extinguish everything, it was finally Lord Grim who fell.

Ye Xiu copied Yu Wenzhou's method, but after everyone regained their senses, they were somewhat puzzled by the logic behind it.

Because the situation faced by Happy this time was different from the one faced by Yu Wenzhou in the previous match.

When Yu Wenzhou faced the Death's Door, there was only one attackable target within its range: his own Swoksaar. Therefore, when Swoksaar collided with the Death's Door, it ended.

But now, within the range of the Death's Door, there was more than just Lord Grim as an attackable target. There was also Boundless Sea, Steamed Bun Invasion, and it could even be said that the original focus of the Death's Door's attack was on Boundless Sea and Steamed Bun Invasion.

Under such circumstances, there was no reason for the Death's Door to disappear simply because it had damaged one target...

"What's going on?" The commentator Pan Lin, having come back to his senses, immediately asked.

"How strange," Li Yibo echoed, without intending to provide an answer. He was equally baffled.

Not only were the two of them puzzled, but even Yu Wenzhou, currently the top Warlock player, was surprised by the disappearance of the Death's Door. In fact, his familiarity with the skill made him even more surprised.

What caused the Death's Door to disappear? Was there some hidden detail in its settings that so many players were unaware of?

At that moment, Yu Wenzhou suddenly thought of their old senior, their old captain, Wei Chen, who was currently sitting in Happy's corner.

When it came to Warlock players in Glory, Wei Chen was definitely one of the oldest. Persisting for over ten years was no easy feat. It was important to remember that Wei Chen had spent several years away from being a professional player, existing only as an ordinary player. Ordinary players would often switch to a different class after growing tired of one, but very few would stick with a single class for over a decade. It had to be true love.

Their old captain, Wei Chen, undoubtedly had a true love for Warlock.

So, could there be some unknown detail in the level 70 ultimate skill, Death's Door, that he had discovered? And Ye Xiu had used the detail discovered by Wei Chen to collapse the Death's Door in a way that violated its settings.

No... Not violating the settings. Perhaps, he had exploited a setting that no one knew about.

What was it?

Although Yu Wenzhou was curious, it was pointless to explore this point now. Today's match had left him with too many doubts. How could Ye Xiu have accurately predicted and set up an Shadow Trap in the first match of the individual competition? Yu Wenzhou still couldn't figure it out.

But he didn't hesitate because of these doubts. If the Death's Door didn't achieve its purpose, then he'd cast another one.

Shadow Flames!

A ball of purplish-black flames leaped out from Curse of Destruction.

Yu Wenzhou no longer used super-sized spells like Death's Door. After all, it was too difficult to rely on Lu Hanwen alone to protect him. Fortunately, Zheng Xuan had happened to pass by and help before, but now, Huang Shaotian and Zheng Xuan, who were flanking from the wings, had moved even further away and couldn't take care of this side. Swoksaar's spellcasting also had to coordinate with Lu Hanwen's Flowing Cloud's cover rhythm.

Shadow Flames was successfully cast, and the purplish-black flames danced incessantly.

Once this skill hit, it would cause continuous damage over time, and each tick of damage would interrupt casting. Therefore, this ball of Shadow Flames was thrown towards Boundless Sea. No matter how much Fang Rui tried to interpret Qigong Master with his underhanded style, he couldn't change the fact that many of the class's skills required casting time.

Boundless Sea would be restricted if he tanked the attack. Dodging would give Xu Jingxi openings and opportunities. A healer who was passively taking a beating wouldn't just wait for his teammates to save him; he was also using his own methods to resist and find opportunities.

Then, the opportunity had arrived!

Shadow Flames. Fang Rui clearly didn't want to be restrained by this skill and immediately manipulated Boundless Sea to dodge.

Yu Wenzhou's skill release was based on a clear understanding of the battlefield, specifically targeting a moment when Fang Rui had to dodge, creating an opening. As the Shadow Flames flew, Boundless Sea dodged, and Xu Jingxi immediately understood. The Guardian Angel in full plate armor took a step in that direction.

One step, just one step.

Just as Soul Speaker took that step, he suddenly felt a pull behind him, and his body was thrown into the air.

Circle Swing!

Lord Grim, who had fallen during the dissipation of the Death's Door, had already stood up. Just when Blue Rain saw a glimmer of hope, he returned once again, extinguishing that glimmer in an instant.

Bang!

Soul Speaker was heavily slammed into the ground.

"Kid, you still want to run!" Steamed Bun spammed in the chat. His tone and demeanor showed no awareness that he was a rookie.

"I can handle it without your help," Fang Rui said at this moment.

"Huh?" Steamed Bun replied.

"I'm not talking about you, Steamed Bun," Ye Xiu quickly spammed his keyboard. Of course, he knew that Fang Rui was talking to him, but if Steamed Bun misunderstood, the rhythm would be disrupted.

"I'm counting on you, Steamed Bun," Fang Rui added an explanation, lifting Steamed Bun to the sky.

"Watch me!" Steamed Bun was extremely happy. Steamed Bun Invasion pressed Soul Speaker on the ground and pummeled him. Tyrannical Fist, this skill was used by Steamed Bun as a ground-sweeping technique, lavishly used on the already fallen Soul Speaker.

Ye Xiu and Fang Rui felt much more at ease. Lavish was fine, as long as things didn't get out of control.

"It's up to you!" Ye Xiu instructed again, a double entendre. Fang Rui understood that Ye Xiu was talking about him, while Steamed Bun happily responded. Fang Rui didn't dare to expose the truth.

Lord Grim was already in the wind zone, and now, following the direction of the wind, he suddenly rushed out.

Without intercepting Night Rain, or Bullet Rain on the left, Ye Xiu's Lord Grim suddenly charged towards Swoksaar, who was being guarded by Lu Hanwen's Flowing Cloud.

Charge, Arc Flash!

Two skills, one change of direction. The spell released by Swoksaar was dodged, but Flowing Cloud's heavy sword, Flame Shadow, had already slashed down on Lord Grim's head.

Collapsing Mountain!

Without Huang Shaotian's support, Lu Hanwen's Collapsing Mountain wasn't as unrestrained this time. It was in a controlled state, allowing him to attack or retreat...

But, there was no way to turn that quickly!

Lu Hanwen could only use his own perspective to follow Lord Grim's movements! Just as Collapsing Mountain was about to smash down, Lord Grim transformed once again.

Collision Stab!

A Berserker's skill, Lord Grim and Collapsing Mountain brushed past each other in an instant. Lu Hanwen wanted to twist his sword, but he couldn't make it in time. He had never disliked the slowness of the heavy sword, Flame Shadow. Although he was just a young teenager, Lu Hanwen quite liked this heavy, weighty feel. Each slash, each hit, made him feel particularly fulfilled and satisfied.

But what about now?

When this heavy sword struck empty air, the feeling of disorientation in his heart became even clearer and more intense. Seeing Lord Grim's Collision Stab pierce through his Collapsing Mountain, hitting Swoksaar and taking away his captain, whom he had been protecting, Lu Hanwen had this thought for the first time: if only the sword in his hand could be faster...

He wavered.

The consistently determined, optimistic, and upward-looking young man, at this critical moment, felt unable to reach his goal, and finally began to doubt the heavy sword he had always chosen...

"What are you spacing out? What are you spacing out? What are you spacing out? What are you..."

Just then, on Blue Rain's team channel, the same four words were repeated over and over, filling the entire screen.

The only person who would say something like that was Huang Shaotian.

But, spacing out?

The audience also wanted to ask, who was spacing out? In their opinion, Blue Rain's players were all active and hardworking. Although Lu Hanwen hadn't stopped Lord Grim, and Yu Wenzhou hadn't been able to make Swoksaar dodge the attack, they hadn't been spacing out. They had been concentrating and trying their best.

"Who's spacing out?" Commentator Pan Lin also asked.

So Li Yibo was spacing out because he couldn't answer. His old habit had returned; the more high-level and intense the match became, the more content he couldn't understand...

Lu Hanwen's face was burning.

Others were wondering, but he knew very well that Huang Shaotian was talking about him!

Not because he hadn't stopped Lord Grim due to spacing out, but because of the hesitation, wavering, and absentmindedness he felt after failing to stop him.

It was just a moment, but Huang Shaotian saw it and recognized it...

Lu Hanwen felt really ashamed.

Protecting their captain, Swoksaar, had often been Huang Shaotian's responsibility. Therefore, Blue Rain had even practiced a tactic where Swoksaar was used as bait, and Huang Shaotian would seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack and deal a heavy blow. This time, because the rescue operation in the wind might be more difficult, the responsibility of protecting the captain was given to him.

And what had he done?

After failing to intercept the opponent's attack, he had actually hesitated. And this slight hesitation had been noticed by Huang Shaotian. Perhaps it was because he never hesitated. He would also make mistakes and fail to protect, but Huang Shaotian had never wavered in the slightest. He had been criticized for his talkative nature for so many years, but had he ever hesitated to correct it? Okay, that might not be a good example, but Lu Hanwen felt Huang Shaotian's steadfastness from noticing such a small wavering in himself.

He couldn't waver, he mustn't waver!

Once he made a choice, he had to stick to it!

Woo!

The heavy sword turned, and the heavy sound of the wind was like a shout from Lu Hanwen. Flowing Cloud continued to slash firmly at Lord Grim.

Boom boom boom boom!

A barrage of artillery fire intercepted him. At the far end, Dancing Rain immediately coordinated with Lord Grim. Lu Hanwen's rescue operation was thwarted from the start, but this time, he had adjusted his mentality. Lu Hanwen never lacked courage; what he lacked was the calmness of their captain, Yu Wenzhou, and the decisiveness and coldness of Huang Shaotian.

And at this moment, he didn't rush to release his energy. He calmly watched the scene, thinking. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Happy's healer, Little Cold Hands, was so close!