The King's Avatar Chapter 1074-1075Chapter 1074: Tyranny’s TempoTranslator: Nomyummi Editor: NomyummiThe spectators could see everything far more clearly than any of the players.The ten characters had originally been scattered around the map, but after the gunshot, all of them suddenly headed towards the same location. In the blink of an eye, blossoms sprouted all around the map as battles formed. Only now did spectators realize Team Tyranny’s intentions. Team Tyranny didn’t seem to be targeting Team Tiny Herb’s Cleric, Aweto. Their aim was to cut off Aweto’s connection with everyone else. Battles had bloomed all over the map. Yuan Boqing suddenly discovered that there was nothing for him to do. Tyranny had led all of the conflicts away from him.Where do I go?For an instant, Yuan Boqing was faced with this question. There were sounds of battle all around him. Which location should he go assist?　Fortunately, an order quickly came from the team chat. It wasn’t just him. All of Team Tiny Herb was heading towards a single rendezvous point. Since Tyranny had started these waves of attacks, there was no need to question who held the initiative at the moment. Tiny Herb clearly didn’t want to start a fight with Tyranny under these circumstances. If they did, they would only fall into Tyranny’s tempo.First, group up. Then, counterattack!Wang Jiexi’s decision was clear and precise, but it wasn’t anything surprising.This type of response was completely within Tyranny’s plans. In a map with lots of dips and slopes like this one, a player’s line of sight would often be blocked. No one could see the entire situation with just a glance. The only ones who could were the spectators, who possessed an omniscient view of the map.The spectators could see that Tiny Herb’s attempt to convene together would be obstructed because of this. Tyranny cut off Tiny Herb’s characters from each other. They didn’t immediately choose a main target to attack. They made adjustments according to the situation.Team Tyranny moved quickly. The communication going on in their team chat was also very rapid. They used concise but comprehensive words to communicate. Only the most coordinated teammates could instantly understand the meanings behind their short messages. As for the spectators, they could only see a bunch of letters and numbers being spewed out. They had no idea what anyone in Tyranny was saying.However, they could still see the results of their communication.In the end, Team Tiny Herb’s players were successfully partitioned off from each other. Gao Yingjie’s Kind Tree and Liu Xiaobie’s Flying Sword were cut out and pushed towards a location that Tyranny wanted them to be at.“Attack!”Another order. This time, Tyranny was truly attacking now.　Dazzling Hundred Blossom’s attacks instantly swallowed up that location. Zhang Jiale never attacked solely to damage the target. Oftentimes, he would provide cover for others. The brilliant lights only hit the ground, but who would be coming out from the light? Would it be Han Wenqing’s Desert Dust? Would it be Lin Jingyan’s Dark Thunder? Or would it be no one?No matter what the choice was, the opposing players needed to be on guard. The purpose of Zhang Jiale’s Hundred Blossoms Style was to confuse the opponents and have them question what decision to make. This time, under the cover of the Hundred Blossoms Style, Han Wenqing’s Desert Dust shot out.Liu Xiaobie reacted extremely quickly. Flying Sword brandished his sword and welcomed Desert Dust. Without any hesitation, he unleashed his explosive hand speed.Against a waning old general at the end of his career, explosive hand speed was a smart way to match his biggest strength against his opponent’s biggest weakness. Liu Xiaobie knew what the current situation was, so he wasn’t polite at all.The crowd exclaimed in surprise at Liu Xiaobie’s explosiveness. The screen displayed a number. Liu Xiaobie’s APM had surpassed 300.In Glory, each player could only control one character. It wasn’t like RTSes, where there was a lot of room to get to a high APM.300 APM. In Glory, this was already an unimaginable number. For many, it wasn’t a question of whether they could move their hands fast enough, but rather what to do with each action. And right now, Liu Xiaobie’s 300 APM was just a starting point. It was still going up.Shadow Steps!The moment Flying Sword clashed with Desert Dust, seven shadows split up. With the level cap increasing along with Liu Xiaobie’s frightening hand speed, what players could only dream of had been achieved in just an instant. Each and every shadow seemed real. Which one was real? Which one was fake? Perhaps not even an experienced God like Han Wenqing could distinguish them in a short amount of time.As a result, he simply didn’t bother trying.Playing rock-paper-scissors with his opponent wasn’t his style. He was always simple and direct. Seven shadows? Desert Dust charged past them directly towards Gao Yingjie’s Kind Tree.Liu Xiaobie immediately had Flying Sword turn around and chased after him with a sword slash. But when he turned around, a Brick flew out from the cover of Dazzling Hundred Blossom’s light cover. In the next moment, the Hundred Blossoms Style stopped being just a simple cover and swallowed up Flying Sword. The viewers could see Flying Sword’s health rapidly dropping. Liu Xiaobie and his explosive hand speed had been denied by these two seniors simply and easily.As for Liu Xiaobie, after being engulfed by the Hundred Blossoms Style, the damage was secondary. More importantly, he felt like he couldn’t see anything. Slowly, he started getting used to it and saw Dark Thunder. When Liu Xiaobie saw an enemy, he got ready to rush forward. Suddenly, a white light blazed around his body. A Sacred Fire had been cast beneath his feet.Dazzling Hundred Blossom’s interference must be stopped!Liu Xiaobie was still clear-headed. Tyranny was a formidable opponent that they had already fought two matches against in the playoffs. At this point, both sides had a good grasp of each other’s methods. Hundred Blossoms Style must be cut off from the source. If not, they would be harrassed endlessly. It would be delusional to think that this cover was also a cover for him. That type of Hundred Blossom Style would just be a fake. The Hundred Blossoms Style from Zhang Jiale was absolutely a targeted one. It wasn’t just cycling through different skills to produce a dazzling effect. Whatever attack came out and wherever that attack hit had careful thinking behind it. As a result, those who were locked down by a true Hundred Blossom Style would be the only ones locked down. Only Tyranny’s players and the spectators would be able to clearly see the situation when a true Hundred Blossom Style was unleashed.Liu Xiaobie determined Dazzling Hundred Blossom’s position. He ignored his silenced skills and rushed over. Zhang Jiale obviously wasn’t going to let him come close. He attacked while retreating, maintaining the distance between the two of them. Several seconds soon passed, and the silence on Flying Sword wore off. Liu Xiaobie sprinted forward and activated Triple Slash. Sword light flashed in a straight line along with a handful of sand towards it.Liu Xiaobie’s hand speed really was fast. Without any delay, he was able to tilt his Flying Sword’s head a bit. However, a Brick immediately followed and hit the back of his head.Liu Xiaobie wanted to cry. This Lin Jingyan hadn’t been so dirty back when he played on Wind Howl. But after coming to Tyranny, his style had changed a lot.After being put into a Dizzy state, how could Flying Sword be in a good spot? A new wave of attacks suddenly washed over him. His teammate, Gao Yingjie, had noticed that the situation wasn’t looking good a long time ago. He had been trying to come over to rescue him, but escaping from Han Wenqing couldn’t be accomplished with just a sweep of his broom.Tiny Herb’s other three members had convened without a hitch. But then, they immediately received messages from Liu Xiaobie and Gao Yingjie. And at this moment, the three could still hear sounds of gunfire nearby. Tyranny’s fifth player, Qin Muyun, was a Sharpshooter. He deceitfully misled Tiny Herb. By the time Tiny Herb reacted, the team had already been split into two.The three immediately went to rescue their teammates. Qin Muyun obviously couldn’t stop them alone. He could only hinder them a bit. But by the time the three rushed over, Liu Xiaobie’s Flying Sword was on the brink of death. Yuan Boqing hastily had his Aweto go over to save him, but to his surprise, Dazzling Hundred Blossom’s attacks instantly enshrouded them. With his sight blocked, Yuan Boqing was unable to find Flying Sword’s location.　On the other hand, Liu Xiaobie’s vision suddenly became clear. His spirit rose. Even though he didn’t have much health left, he still went after Zhang Xinjie’s Cleric, Immovable Rock. Bang!A gunshot.Tiny Herb’s three players arrived. Tyranny’s Qin Muyun naturally returned to his team as well. When he returned, he saw an opening and accurately shot Flying Sword’s head with a Thunder Snipe. Thunder Snipe’s hidden effect: headshots dealt double damage. A spurt of blood flew out from Flying Sword’s head. This attack looked as if it actually blew up his head as Flying Sword fell. In the team competition, Team Tyranny won the first point.Killing Flying Sword gave Tyranny a numbers advantage for a short period of time. They didn’t waste it and immediately began attacking.With an advantage already established, these old generals definitely wouldn’t let it go to waste. In this instant, they seemed to have forgotten their age. Just like Liu Xiaobie, they disregarded everything else and burst out with explosive hand speed. On the screen, the statistics showed that the APM from the players on the two teams rose and rose. The intensity of the battle could be seen just from these statistics. Team Tiny Herb’s captain Wang Jiexi had broken through to the 350-400 APM range. His Magician style was originally a style that required a lot of actions.Tiny Herb was able to get their sixth player into the battle intact, but intact was just in terms of the number of their players. Tyranny still dealt Tiny Herb a huge amount of damage during this time. Tyranny’s old generals knew how to utilize their numbers advantage. Even though they weren’t able to kill off anyone in Tiny Herb, their advantage only increased with this wave of attacks.Five versus five. Tyranny slowed down their tempo. Competing hand speeds wasn’t their strong point. Seizing an opening to do a single wave of attacks was fine, but if they tried to keep up that hand speed, these old generals would be dying.The advantage had been established. As a result, Tyranny did not try to end it in one go and instead slowed down to play the long game with Tiny Herb. As the two went back and forth, many viewers discovered that Team Tyranny’s Qin Muyun received a very pitiful amount of healing. It was as if he was being intentionally cast away.This type of slip-up wouldn’t happen to someone like Zhang Xinjie. This was a tactical decision. Those with a certain amount of Glory knowledge could determine that Team Tyranny was trying to switch out their player. Even though Team Tyranny had slowed down, they did their utmost to maintain their advantage.Surely and steadily, Qin Muyun successfully swapped out with their sixth player Bai Yanfei. The healing saved by not healing Qin Muyun was effectively distributed to the other four, so their conditions were very good. The full health and full mana sixth player on Tyranny swapped with their dead Sharpshooter, Negative Nine Degrees, and Tyranny’s advantage moved one step further.In the end, Tyranny didn’t let their advantage go. In the team competition, Tyranny beat Tiny Herb 6 to 3, winning the semifinals 10 to 8 and progressing to the finals.Chapter 1075: A Samsara You Shouldn’t Underestimate

Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi

“Congrats to Tyranny, I wish them luck!”

In the post-match press conference, Tiny Herb’s captain, Wang Jiexi, put a full stop to Tiny Herb’s journey this season with a well wish for their opponent. Even though they failed to reach the end this season, everyone had seen Tiny Herb’s future. Xu Bin, Liu Xiaobie, Gao Yingjie, all of Tiny Herb’s players had talent; they were all young, with much room to grow. Even Yuan Boqing, who had been rather overlooked, had shown everyone something amazing in the match. There was also their captain, Wang Jiexi. Even though he wouldn’t be able to stay in his peak state for too much longer, he had valuable experience that he could use to help his team. He would always be Tiny Herb’s pilar.

As for Tyranny?

“Next up, the finals!”

Captain Han Wenqing’s brief but clear words showed everyone the team’s determination. Why these veterans all got together and what this was all for was clear as day. Now, they had come this far. Only two victories stood between them and the championship. Even the opponent they had just beaten had sincerely wished them well.

The announcement regarding the finals quickly spread. This was the annual crème de la crème match in the entire Glory circle. It was just a shame that Samsara and Tyranny didn’t have anything between them to really talk about. The players of the two teams didn’t have any particularly striking past clashes and relationships that could be discussed either.

This was purely a fight to be the champions. On one side was the veterans who had allied together to achieve their long-awaited dream. On the other side, it was the defending champions who wanted to build a new dynasty.

Tyranny was very focused on performing as a whole, while Samsara was always known as a one-man team. This seemed to also be a clash of two kinds of ideals in Glory. Who would be the champions?

With the finals being promoted everywhere, there would obviously be public polls in regards to who would win. In the end, Team Tyranny held a whooping 72.65 percent, far ahead of Samsara.

However, over at Happy, Ye Xiu couldn’t give an answer to Chen Guo’s question of “who do you think will win?”

“They both have a chance. It wouldn’t be surprising for either of them to win” was how Ye Xiu answered.

This was the most rational answer.

Although Team Tyranny had won an extreme high percentage of votes in the public poll, most of the votes were an emotional decision. Team Tyranny’s veterans didn’t have many more chances. Their fight, backs to the water, was a moving tale for people. In addition, Tyranny was filled with widely renown names. On paper, their lineup couldn’t be more magnificent.

The 72.65 percent vote was more of a hope and support. The gap between Samsara and Tyranny’s combative ability wasn’t nearly as absurd as the poll made it out to be.

One man team?

This mocking title was a underestimation of Samsara’s abilities. However, out of the in the pro scene, how many people would actually agree with this phrase?

In their eyes, the idea of a one man team was no more than a joke.

Samsara definitely wasn’t a one man team. It was just because Zhou Zekai was too strong, too striking, too eye-catching, that there would be the illusion of a one man team. Team Samsara was also a very talented team. Their entire team could keep up with Zhou Zekai’s pace, and that was already the best proof.

Although they sometimes relied on Zhou Zekai’s forceful momentum to take the upper hand, seeming like they had no strategy, in reality, this forcefulness was a unique strategy of Samsara’s, a strategy that only they – having the uncounterable Zhou Zekai – could use, a strategy that many teams wished they could use too.

The only people who underestimated Team Samsara because of the saying “one man team” were all clueless outsiders. This sort of mistake would never happen in Team Tyranny. They would carefully gauge Samsara’s strength.

The uncounterable Zhou Zekai. That was what everyone would think of when Samsara was mentioned. But apart from that? Had anyone realized that, out of the semifinalists, Samsara’s lineup was the most stable?

The other three teams had all gone through massive changes in the summer. Only Samsara kept their original lineup, a lineup that stayed the same for three whole years. This sort of stability was something the other semifinalist didn’t have.

Apart from that, Samsara’s skill point advantage was extremely apparent in the last playoffs. After this season, it was no longer a secret. But, even if it wasn’t a secret, what could they do about it? You could only keep in mind and beware of this sort of solid advantage, but you would never be able to get rid of it.

When people thought of Zhou Zekai the moment Samsara was mentioned, they hadn’t noticed that they had covered up a lot of other terrifying aspects about Samsara with the Zhou Zekai Halo. Jiang Botao, ranked five in the All-Stars, seemed to be just a random passerby under the Zhou Halo, never mind the thirteenth ranked Lu Boyuan.

On Samsara’s side, they also had three All-Star players, and they were all in their peak years of their career. Tyranny’s four All-Stars was a number advantage, but if you considered their age and state, was this four against three any significant advantage?

“How it will end up will be decided by the match.” That was the judgement Ye Xiu gave in the end. By then, Tyranny and Samsara’s players were already standing on the stage.

The first round of the finals would be held in City S, Samsara’s home turf. There wasn’t a single empty seat in the stadium. In the group arena that had just finished, Samsara took a lead of 5 to 4. It wasn’t a big advantage, but the venue exploded with excitement from it. The fans filled the stadium, raising their self-made flags and signs, eagerly anticipating their team’s second championship. The lineups for the team competition were already being broadcasted through the PA system.

Team Samsara: Zhou Zekai’s Sharpshooter, Cloud Piercer; Jiang Botao’s Spellblade, Empty Waves; Lu Boyuan’s Grappler, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain; Wu Qi’s Assassin, Cruel Silence; Fang Minghua’s Cleric, Laughing Song; Du Ming’s Blade Master, Moon Luring Frost.

A lineup that had stayed the same for three years, the lineup that had taken last year’s championship. When they came out, the entire venue erupted with thunderous cheers.

Tyranny didn’t give everyone any surprises either. The four gods would obviously be fighting. Their fifth player was still the ever lowkey Qin Muyun and his Sharpshooter, Negative Nine Degrees. The sixth player was Bai Yanfei and his Elementalist, Rota. This was also the lineup they had stayed with throughout the playoffs.

The players entered their competition booths and, soon enough, the match that would decide the finals began.

As the home team, Samsara had taken the initiative ever since the group arena, and the team competition was no different. They had only just loaded when the entire team flew towards the center of the map, as if not wanting to waste a single second.

However, the visiting team, Tyranny, also showed a vigor that didn’t lose to the home team. As soon as they were loaded, they also sped straight for the center of the map.

“Wow, this… both sides seem very impatient!!”

The commentators for the broadcast were also very surprised at the scene before them. In the finals, the final battleground that a year of hard work had taken them to, even the most fierce and eager teams would gain a hint of caution. This was because the results of this match were too important. Most teams would first consider how to establish a secure advantage and then carefully execute their plans for victory. However, right now, Samsara and Tyranny were both charging forward boldly, seeming like they wanted to end this battle as soon as possible. They were treating the saying “the nameless finals” as a joke**.

Clash!

An intense clash!

The gunners of each team fired the moment they got into shooting range. However, on one side, it was the Great Gunner of Glory, while on the other side, it was a barely known rookie. The disparity between them was large enough that even the commentators didn’t have the heart to call it a face off. However, soon after, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms’ Hundred Blossom Style covered the area with flashing lights. Tyranny had began their breakthrough into Samsara’s formation under the cover of these explosions.

Team Samsara didn’t show any form of weakness, Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves immediately set down two Wave Formations, creating a hard to penetrate barrier, but the light and shadows of Hundred Blossoms Style immediately came down on them.

They wanted to brute force their way through?

Tyranny’s unyielding momentum was rather unexpected for Samsara. Although the Wave Formations of Spellblades didn’t have all sorts of status inducing attacks, they had far higher damage output than Ghost Boundaries. Charging through the Wave Formations, they wanted to launch an offense regardless of the damage they had to take.

However, this adhered to Team Tyranny’s usual attitude!

Didn’t this team always charge forth no matter what obstacles there were? Just two Wave Formations wouldn’t scare them.

Then, what about two more?

Jiang Botao wasn’t stingy with his skills at all, immediately sending out two more Wave Formations.

Light, darkness, ice and fire.

Wave Formations of the four great elements overlapped and shone, clashing with the Hundred Blossom lights and creating chaos. Lu Boyuan’s Chaotic Cloudy Mountains and Wu Qi’s Cruel Silence were hidden outside the Wave Formations, waiting to ambush whoever charged out.

Who would have expected that no one jumped out of the flashing lights and, instead, the flashing lights moved forward.

The lights of the Hundred Blossoms Style were all Spitfire skills, and all dealt damage. Lu Boyuan and Wu Qi had to back away. However, after that, the two took a side each simultaneously, going around the Hundred Blossom Style’s light cover to get to Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. No one expected that the two would be welcomed with two powerful skills upon going around.

Ferocious Tiger Flurry!

Tyrannical Chain Punch!

The moment those two characters went around the light cover, the two Fighter class characters of Tyranny charged forth. Desert Dust punched and kicked, forcing Cruel Silence into a retreat. As for the Grappler, Chaotic Cloudy Mountain,s who was good at grab skills, he had been pressed into the ground and beaten by Lin Jingyan’s Dark Thunder.

The two characters weren’t hiding within the lights?

Then what about Dazzling Hundred Blossoms?

The Hundred Blossom Style lights were still advancing, but there was no sign of Dazzling Hundred Blossoms. There was only one possibility; the one advancing under the cover of the lights was Dazzling Hundred Blossoms himself.

“Be careful!!” The two hastily sent the message.

Misjudging Dazzling Hundred Blossom’s positioning meant that they had misjudged the area Hundred Blossoms Style could affect. So in the next moment, the lights of Hundred Blossoms seemed to have teleported, suddenly appearing farther away and directly onto Samsara’s Cleric, Laughing Song. But this time, Dazzling Hundred Blossoms wasn’t providing cover for anyone or hindering visibility. He had launched a fierce offensive on Samsara’s Cleric. Team Tyranny’s opening was shocking. Dazzling Hundred Blossoms had covered for himself and charged into shooting range before directly unleashing a strong assault on the opponent’s Cleric.

“We have to win!!!” Zhang Jiale roared. The light cover left Dazzling Hundred Blossoms right before he darted past Empty Waves, shooting at Laughing Song as he ran.

Translator’s Thoughts Nomyummi

** TLNote: The original saying is “決賽無名局” which literally translates to “finals – the nameless match”. It seems to be a fairly well-known saying. It’s in the titles of a lot of news articles for sports. But at the same time, Jouissance (and I) had no idea what that was, and it took me like 5 minutes of googling instead of the usual 2 seconds before I found out what it meant. According to a blog, it comes from when a Go tournament enters the finals, the two sides become conservative and cautious because of the importance of the match. As a result, the match becomes very dull. If anyone’s got an English equivalent or a better translation for the saying, please do tell.