"You wanna go barebone?"

A smiling Purple Marquis suggested to Vienna’s Sorrow. Vienna’s character skill and realm were greater than Purple Marquis’s, but his pride was even greater than both those things. Therefore, it was wise of him to issue this challenge.

Vienna’s Sorrow’s eyes brimmed with fighting spirit as he declared, "Why not? Barebone it is! I heard that you are one of the top players in China, so I’ll grant you the right. I won’t even activate Great Earth Transformation so you can’t cry to me later about cheating!"

Purple Marquis smiled. "Sure. Show me the strength of the number one player of Hero City!"

……

Fighting barebone was the manliest way to PvP bar none. No character skills, no buffs, no special states, nothing. You get to wear your equipment, but that was all. The rest was up to you and the blade in your hands.

Purple Marquis lowered his sword and waited for the countdown to hit zero. Then, he bounded toward Vienna’s Sorrow like a bolt.

Chiang!

Two swords clashed, and sparks flew everywhere. It was a Strength versus Strength battle where neither side gave an inch to the other party. Vienna’s Sorrow let out a shout, pushed harder and kicked out with his right foot at the same time. Purple Marquis did practically the same thing, and the result was their knees slamming together in midair, and their shoulder armors bumping into each other. The impact was so strong that they separated involuntarily.

Purple Marquis staggered three steps backward, but only three. After he regained a firm grip on his sword, he decided to feign an opening and leave his left shoulder exposed while slashing at Vienna’s Sorrow.

Vienna’s Sorrow wasn’t the kind of person to let an opportunity slip by him, so he gathered his full strength and swung mightily at Purple Marquis’s shoulder. However, the warrior abruptly bent his body to block the strike with vambrace, and to kick diagonally at the right side of Vienna’s head. The berserker reacted even faster and punched it out of the way.

Pa!

It looked like Purple Marquis was going to hit the ground, but he planted a hand against the ground, pushed, and surprised Vienna’s Sorrow with a slash across the neck; a weak point!

120920!

Surprise flashed across Vienna’s features as he staggered backward, but he didn’t hesitate to rush back in and knee Purple Marquis right in the stomach. While the warrior was rolling across the floor, he caught up to him and slashed him in the back!

90188!

Purple Marquis hurriedly regained his footing and swept his blade horizontally.

Chiang!

However, Vienna’s Sorrow was too fast and accurate in his prediction, his blade appeared at just the right location to block the strike. After moving a few steps away from Purple Marquis, he abruptly ran forward in a circular pattern and slashed him in the right rib. He didn’t stop attacking as he ran round and round Purple Marquis along a double-S path. It was none other than the helix maneuver!

Enraged that he was being toyed with with the highest-leveled maneuver in the game, Purple Marquis charged Vienna’s Sorrow in a straight line, punched and slashed him with everything he got!

Bang! Bang!

Surprisingly, Purple Marquis managed to get two punches in before eating a stab from Vienna’s Sorrow. In the end, he wasn’t able to outlast his opponent and was teleported out of the arena after the fatal blow, but Vienna’s own health had dipped below the 20% mark. He seemed to be impressed by the sheer number of mechanically-skilled players in the China server.

……

Swhoosh!

After Purple Marquis appeared outside the arena, Lin Yixin said to him, "He’s slightly better than you, and you used the wrong method to defeat the helix maneuver…"

Purple Marquis asked, "How should I defeat it then?"

Lin Yixin replied with a smile, "Take a page from Little Cheat and counter helix maneuver with helix maneuver just like that day he defeated Candlelight Shadow. The faster you move, and the greater your control, the higher the likelihood you’ll come out on top of the duel."

Purple Marquis shrugged. "Too bad I’m not as skilled as your Lu Chen yet…"

"In that case, just give it your all. If you do that, you won’t have any regrets left even if you lose. The fact is, our opponent is too strong for us to beat this time!"

"Mn."

Purple Marquis returned to the battlefield and stuck to his tactic, trying to outdo Vienna’s Sorrow speed with even greater speed. There were multiple times Purple Marquis could’ve turned things around and secured a win, but unfortunately, his skill was just a tad lacking to capitalize on them. In the end, and the number one player of Hero City, Vienna’s Sorrow won the second round with 11% HP left!

The overall score was 2:1, and Hero Alliance was now in the lead.

Everyone was worried. The situation looked really bad for Snowy Cathaya at this point because Death Wish was favored to beat Shadow Chanel in the fourth match. The mage was a Heroic Bannerman and a Top 10 ranker in the champion arena of Hero City. Both his skill and equipment were first-class. On the other hand, Shadow Chanel was clearly inferior to top-tier mages like Luo River God of the Capital, Lian Xin, and Stranger of Three Lifetimes.

Many Ice Blasts later, Shadow Chanel collapsed to the ground to no one’s surprise, and every one in Snowy Cathaya except Lin Yixin looked like it was the end of the world. The Fruit Knife Goddess said quietly, "Every end is but a new beginning. As long as we don’t lose our spirit, we will win an international competition one day…"

Purple Marquis and Shadow Chanel didn’t say anything.

It was at this moment Vienna’s Sorrow declared, "We request to fight out the fifth match. We need the points to secure the MVP title!"

His declaration actually lit a fire in Lin Yixin’s eyes and caused her to unsheathe her weapon. "What did that idiot just say? The MVP title belongs to Little Cheat and Little Cheat only! Purple Marquis, get ready. I don’t care that we’ve lost, we’re going to win this 2v2 match and end his stupid dreams right here!"

Purple Marquis chuckled. "That’s what I want to hear!"

……

If the solo matches were intense, they didn’t hold a candle to the 2v2 match. The queen and her best general stepped into the battlefield, and I had to admit that their teamwork was top-notch. Purple Marquis’s Absolute Zero plus Lin Yixin’s God’s Tear was an absolute pain in Vienna’s Sorrow and Beethoven’s Joy’s butt.

During the first round, Purple Marquis sacrificed his life and successfully froze Vienna’s Sorrow for five seconds while Beauty Lin attacked Beethoven’s Joy. She successfully killed the knight during this time before turning around to finish off the frozen Vienna’s Sorrow, winning the first round.

During the second round, it was Vienna’s turn to awaken and one-shot Purple Marquis with a critical Beast Howl Slash. Lin Yixin did her best, but she was outnumbered and overwhelmed in the end. The match was now tied.

During the third round, Beautiful Little Pepper awakened once more and pulled off a never-before-seen Z-into-S-maneuver that had Vienna’s Sorrow scratching his head and wondering if it still counted as a helix maneuver. Regardless, Lin Yixin slayed both Vienna’s Sorrow and Beethoven’s Joy with 7% HP left in her health pool and defended her honor successfully!

The overall score was 3:2, and Hero Alliance was the victor of this semi-finals match, but that didn’t stop Fruit Knife Goddess’s fame from spreading far and wide across the entire world. Starting this moment, Lin Yixin was a true global e-sports star known to everyone except those who were living under a rock. Her feats of destroying Beethoven’s Joy in a 1v1 and slaying of Vienna’s Sorrow in a 2v2 alone were feats countless pros could never hope to surpass.

……

The American fans cheered as Hero Alliance became the first team to enter the final. The next match to follow was Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls versus Cyan Beast. All our hearts were beating wildly despite our best efforts to remain calm. Now that Snowy Cathaya was defeated, we were the only Chinese team left in the WEL internationals. Worse, standing in our way to the trophy was Cyan Beast, the best team in India, and Hero Alliance, the best team in the USA. Each team was only more formidable than the last!

After Lin Yixin walked down the stage, she shot me a smile and said, "Do your best, Ancient Sword! It’s all up to you now!"

I nodded. "See you later!"

"See you when I see you!"

"..."

The girls and I walked up the stage while Cyan Beast did the same from the opposite side. At first glance, God of War looked distracted and casual. It also felt like nothing could affect this guy. On the other hand, his explosive performance in the game told a completely different story. Even I had only praise to offer in regards to his skill.

The Agility Warrior, Breeze and Rain, stood tall as he looked at He Yi, Lian Xin, Beiming Xue—there was a small but discernible trace of admiration in his eyes—and finally me. Then, he said in broken Chinese, "I want, to fight you, best, in China, Broken Sand, Sinks Into—"

I stopped him before he could embarrass himself further. "Dude, I thank you very much for your high praise, but seriously, you can stop now! That’s not how you spell my ID!"

Breeze and Rain laughed. "Okay. See you soon!"

……

After we entered the game, Lian Xin said, "The ideal scenario would be Lu Chen versus God of War, boss versus Breeze and Rain, me versus Yeye the Witch, and Beiming Xue versus Shallow Sunlight. If we get a match-up like this, then 5:0 isn’t an impossible dream. Of course, I’m aware that’s super unlikely to happen…"

I smiled. "It is. May the heavens watch over us. Anyway, I want to go first and get us a good start…"

He Yi nodded. "Yeah. I hope I’ll run into fight God of War, by the way. If I’m going to lose anyway, I might as well lose to their best player…"

The girls laughed a little at that.

He Yi didn’t take long to enter our line-up, and the same goes with Cyan Beast. Half a minute later, the finalized match-up appeared on the screen—

1v1: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-187 Undead Swordsman VS Breeze and Rain LV-187 Warrior

1v1: Beiming Xue LV-188 Dark Archer VS God of War LV-188 Blazing Berserker

1v1: Lian Xing LV-188 Phantasm of Stars VS Yeye the Witch LV-187 Magic Archer

1v1: From Water LV-186 Magic Knight VS Shallow Sunlight LV-187 Assassin

2v2: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand LV-187 & Beiming Xue LV-188 Dark Archer VS Breeze and Rain LV-187 Warrior & God of War LV-188 Blazing Berserker

……

To my surprise, I caught Breeze and Rain—actually, it should be the other way around since he was the one who specifically requested to face me—in the first match, which was just as well. If they had sent out Yeye the Witch or Shallow Sunlight, there was a real chance we would be beaten 1:3.

"That Breeze and Rain is incredibly strong. He’s the guy who defeated Candlelight Shadow!"

He Yi looked at me with an obvious message in her eyes. "Don’t let him do the same to you…"

I gave her an affirmative nod before replying, "Don’t worry, I’ll win the first match for sure. I am gunning for the MVP title after all. Also, I’ve been wanting to tell Breeze and Rain something…"

"What is it?" Beiming Xue asked.

I smiled. "I want to tell him that speed isn’t worth shit before absolute strength!"