The most anticipated stage of the WEL competition had finally arrived. Two and a half groups had turned into the groups of death, and eight godlike teams would be battling for the glory of becoming the champion. To achieve that, Warsky Alliance, Soul Battle Robes, Snowy Cathaya and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls must get out of the upper bracket first. Just the same, only one team between Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Candle Dragon could emerge from the lower bracket and enter the finals!

……

Standing in the middle of the stage, Fei’er gave everyone a smile before starting, "Thank you for your concern, everyone. We are now in the quarter-finals, and I’m sure that there isn’t a super team here that our audience isn’t familiar with, is there? There are even dark horses that few expected to make it this far! Regardless, I’m certain that the following matches will be as exciting as all the matches we’ve watched so far, if not more! Now then, the first match of the quarter-finals will be Warsky Alliance versus Soul Battle Robes. Team leaders, please enter your line-ups and submit them to the system immediately!"

Warsky and Song of Cloud and Water brought up their UI and entered their line-ups as requested. A short while later, the match-ups were displayed on the screen—

1v1: Song of Ice and Fire LV-181 Frozen Berserker VS Warsky LV-180 Molten Warrior

1v1: Song of Cloud and Water LV-180 Magic Knight VS Farewell Song LV-181 Assassin

1v1: Ringwraith LV-180 Undead Mage VS Lin Bing Dou Zhe LV-180 Warrior

1v1: God Bone LV-180 Iron Knight VS October Rain LV-180 Archer

2v2: Song of Ice and Fire LV-181 Frozen Berserker & Ringwraith LV-180 Undead Mage VS Warsky LV-180 Molten Warrior & Farewell Song LV-181 Assassin

……

"Fuck!" I cursed the moment I saw the match-up.

"What’s wrong, big bro?" Beiming Xue asked.

I gripped my fists before replying, "Don’t you see? This match-up has got to be one of the worst possible outcomes for Warsky Alliance. Warsky is probably crying on the inside right now…"

He Yi nodded in agreement. "Mn, he does look pretty pale…"

Everyone followed her gaze, and it was just as she said. The guild leader looked like death as he discussed battle plans with Farewell Song, October Rain and Lin Bing Dou Zhe. Farewell Song and October Rain also looked grim as if they knew that the situation was very disadvantageous toward them.

On the other hand, Soul Battle Robes’ Song of Cloud and Water was all smiles. She looked very satisfied with the current line-up.

Ideally, Farewell Song would be paired up with one of the enemy’s stronger players such as Song of Ice and Fire, Ringwraith or God Bone. After all, he was the only one out of everyone in Warsky Alliance who had actually had a solid chance of beating them. Unfortunately, it turned out that he was paired with the weakest member of Soul Battle Robes, Song of Cloud and Water. He could beat her, but what did it matter if the rest of his teammates lost their matches? None of them could claim that they could beat the stronger players of Soul Battle Robes for sure.

……

The first match was a duel between two hidden classes!

Swhoosh swhoosh!

Warsky and Song of Ice and Fire teleported into the arena. The frozen berserker looked as cool as ever. Both combatants had canceled their mounts because they knew that it would be tantamount to suicide. At this stage, it was all about control, equipment and skill.

Song of Ice and Fire gave his weapon a wave and covered himself with the Frozen Armor skill. A small smile flashed across his lips.

Warsky responded with his own defensive skill called "Blaze Protection”. It was the signature skill of the Molten Warrior class, and it reduced all damage taken by 50% for 12 seconds.

Warsky charged the moment he applied Blaze Protection to himself, not intending to waste even a second of his skill. Song of Ice and Fire met his charge head-on and exchanged three strikes with the molten warrior, the points of impact leaving behind three stunning showers of sparks in the darkness. As it turned out, Warsky had greater Strength than his opponent. He managed to send Song of Ice and Fire stumbling to the back after a shout!

"Charge!"

The opening was tiny, but Warsky didn’t let it slip through his grasp. After stunning his opponent with Charge, he landed a Cyan Tiger Shatter + Barrier Break + basic attack combo on the Frozen Berserker’s chest—

68782!

71263!

21209!

However, Song of Ice and Fire’s Defense was giga-boosted by Frozen Armor. He dropped to 10% HP, but didn’t die.

Swhoosh!

Song of Ice and Fire immediately tossed a card into the air the moment he recovered, and it was none other than the Ghost Chariot Card. Where did he even buy it from? After the card took effect and boosted his attack power and armor penetration, he dashed toward Warsky and kicked him right in the arm. Now that the guild leader was wide open, it was his turn to retaliate with a combo of his own! Frozen Flurry!

62783!

52282!

62109!

After the multiple-hit skill CC’d Warsky, Song of Ice and Fire raised his sword for the last time of this fight and smiled. "Goodbye, Warsky Alliance guild leader!"

Puchi!

Barrier Break pierced Warsky’s chest armor and deleted his last sliver of HP!

The score turned 1:0, and it was Song of Ice and Fire who got the first point.

……

Warsky’s expression was ugly to say the least. He had underestimated Song of Ice and Fire’s offensive power, and worse, his control was just a bit better than the guild leader’s. Candlelight Shadow, Lin Yixin and I were all familiar with animation canceling, but it wasn’t something the average person could pull off easily. Most of the time, they would only be wasting their skill cooldowns. However, Song of Ice and Fire was clearly a pro at this. He had executed his skill almost instantaneously right after he disrupted Warsky’s skill with a kick to the arm!

The second battle went more or less the same way. After Song of Ice and Fire had lost 77% of his HP, he found a golden opportunity to trap Warsky with Bone Wall and emptied Warsky’s HP with Frozen Flurry. It was game over the moment the massive-damage skill encased Warsky in ice. Actually, it was over the moment Bone Wall trapped Warsky and prevented him from dodging Frozen Flurry!

The first match ended 2:0 in favor of Soul Battle Robes, and Song of Ice and Fire snatched a valuable point from Warsky in dominant fashion!

……

"Well done, Ice and Fire!" Song of Cloud and Water praised her subordinate.

The frozen berserker gave her a nod of acknowledgement. "Thank you, leader!"

On the other side, Warsky returned to his waiting area in disappointment, but his fighting spirit was still alight. He said, "It’s just one match. Farewell Song, Little Rain, Lin Bing, I leave the rest to you guys!"

"Yessir!" They nodded in unison.

The second match was between Farewell Song and Song of Cloud and Water.

Farewell Song didn’t disappoint Warsky. Not only did he chain-stun the magic knight until she died, his butterfly maneuver was so perfect that she couldn’t even see him if she turned even a second too slow. He won both of his fights with incredible ease.

The score turned 1:1. For now, the result was a draw.

The third match was between Ringwraith and Lin Bing Dou Zhe.

Warsky whispered to his general, "Watch out for his summons and his CC skill, Bone Cage. You’re as good as dead if you’re caught by those skeletal arms. The good news is that the channelling time of the spell isn’t instantaneous, so it’s not impossible to dodge. Just pay attention to your cooldowns, and you’ll win your match! I believe in you!"

Lin Bing Dou Zhe nodded. "Don’t worry, boss. No matter how strong this Undead Mage class is, it can’t possibly be stronger than Lu Chen’s Undead Swordsman, right?"

Farewell Song let out a chuckle. "You know what they say, better be safe than sorry. I want to go to the internationals, you know…"

Ling Bing Dou Zhe replied, "Yessir! I want to go to the internationals myself! I’m going!"

Both combatants teleported into the arena. The undead mage donned a black cloak that shrouded not only his body, but also his face in darkness. He was also surrounded by wisps of death energy. If I were to judge his caliber as an undead mage by appearance alone, he would’ve scored a perfect 10. Dude looked like he just clawed his way out of a coffin.

Lin Bing Dou Zhe gave his weapon a wave and activated his Famous General Skill, Renown. The stratagem boosted his Attack by 120% and his Defense by 40%. The attack boost was one thing, but the defense boost was unfortunately wasted. His opponent was a mage, so no matter how high his Defense was, it wasn’t going to reduce the magic damage taken at all.

On the other side, Ringwraith let out a ghastly laugh and slammed the butt of his scepter against the ground, empowering himself with Encourage VII. His attack power instantly shot up by 110%. His Tactics stat was very high alright!

After casting Frost Bone Shield on himself, Ringwraith pointed a bony arm at Lin Bing Dou Zhe and taunted him, "Come at me, boy!"

The warrior raged. "Who the fuck are you calling a boy? I’m the vice leader of Warsky Alliance! Just watch, I’m going to kill you slowly in three hundred rounds!"

Ringwraith chuckled. "Three hundred rounds? Are you sure you can even last three against me?"

"Pooh!"

Lin Bing Dou Zhe abruptly ran toward his opponent, forcing Ringwraith to retaliate with a couple of Black Dragon Waves. However, Lin Bing Dou Zhe was able to dodge two of the spells with zigzags before activating Charge at the last moment. It was clear that he was a pro in PvP.

However, Lin Bing Dou Zhe didn’t expect his actions to fall completely under the enemy’s prediction. Right before Lin Bing Dou Zhe was about to hit Ringwraith, the mage Blinked 30 yards away and summoned Bone Cage right beneath Lin Bing Dou Zhe’s feet. He had exploited the temporary lock at the end of Charge to immobilize Lin Bing Dou Zhe!

After that, Ringwraith simply tossed Black Dragon Wave after Black Dragon Wave until the warrior died. His Magic Attack was so high that he didn’t need to use another skill to mow down HP far beyond the warrior’s ability to recover them.

Just like that, it was 1:0 in favor of Ringwraith.

Now that Lin Bing Dou Zhe knew that Ringwraith’s control was at least as good as his, if not better, he dared not underestimate him any longer. After probing the mage’s Defense for a bit, he mustered the courage to activate Charge once more!

This time Ringwraith allowed the warrior to hit him. After his Frost Bone Shield caused the Charge to miss, he laughed loudly and said, "Die! Night of the Undead Dragon!"

"Roar roar roar!"

Normally, a mage would want to put some distance between himself and a warrior, but not the powerful undead mage. While Night of the Undead Dragon was still chipping away at Lin Bing Dou Zhe’s HP, he cast Death Rot that greatly reduced the warrior’s Defense, cast some DoT spells and followed up with Black Dragon Wave. His burst damage was absolutely insane, and Lin Bing Dou Zhe died again before he could do anything!

……

The overall score turned 1:2, and it was match point to Soul Battle Robes. If Warsky Alliance lost another match, they would be knocked out of the competition.

Warsky looked at October Rain and said, "It’s really all on you now, Little Rain…"

October Rain puffed up her chest and declared, "No worries. Just leave it to me!"

Farewell Song added, "That iron knight is as good as Ancient Sword’s Chaos Moon, so you really need to be careful, Little Rain…"

October Rain nodded. "Oh. In that case, I’ll do my best, but no promises."

Warsky looked like he was about to cry. "Fuck, what’s with this declining morale…"

October Rain chuckled a little before saying, "I’m going!"

……

Seven minutes later, Warsky actually burst into tears because October Rain lost to God Bone 0:2. Of all the opponents he imagined Warsky Alliance might lose to, Soul Battles Robes was definitely not one of them. It really wasn’t his fault though. Those three hidden classes were just too strong, and without sufficient preparation there just wasn’t anything they could do to overturn this.

The WEL was a once-a-year competition. This meant that Warsky Alliance would have to wait until next year at least for another shot at the competition.