Chapter 668 - 631: Fighting on Two Fronts
Beijing Time, March 7th, 7:00 AM sharp, as Da Fei anxiously observed the movements of the Blood Lake vortex, the competition officially began.
—— China Region Announcement: "Hero World Cup" individual international knockout round 4 promotion matches have begun. Good luck to all contestants.
—— System Prompt: Congratulations! You have successfully logged onto the World Battle Network System.
—— System Prompt: Your current combined military strength is as follows, please select the forces to go into battle...
There’s not much to say, I still believe that with my insanely high Attack and Defense achievement bonuses, an ocean of Demon Children composed of level 1 troop strategic units is invincible, not to mention that I’ve now advanced to a Great Crusader, adding a total of 45 points to my Attack and Defense. Then, continuing to team up with the game’s strongest ultra-long-range unit, the Secret Archer, and also bring along the Unicorn Boss and Earth Element Boss.
This lineup should be about right. If I face an average master player with average terrain, I would just wave my hand, and three thousand Demon Children would wear them down, even if it exhausts Stamina. Even if I ran into a crap terrain like a swamp, and they’re a professional player leading a Boss over, they’d still get flattened by me. Not to mention that now, just in case, I’ve also brought two Bosses with me. Afraid of someone leading a Boss against me?
Speaking of this Earth Element Boss, seems like it’s still in transit at the Dwarf Nation’s station, heading towards the Chimera Forest, right? Considering half a month for transport, I guess it will arrive tonight? Seems like I need to check it out later. Right, and there are those old Mage dudes who escaped from the Dwarf Dungeon, asking me to deliver a message to their families. This errand has meaning, and I’ve also got to make time to handle it tonight.
While Da Fei was deploying his troops, Little Fei, who was monitoring the Blood Lake, suddenly heard a loud noise of the tide receding!
Da Fei frowned, oh my god! The water’s receding? Is it a bad time for the match, or is it a bad time for the tide to recede? Considering Little Fei took over an hour to recover Stamina, does this mean the Blood Lake’s tidal cycle is half a day in-game time?
Damn! Then there’s no other way. An average master is no match for me; I’ll focus on the lakebed first.
—— System Prompt: Your Hero and troops selection for battle is complete. Connecting to the World Battle Network arena. Transitioning scene, please wait patiently...
—— System Prompt: You have entered the battleground Lava Hell. Your opponent is the United States player from North America, "SawSaw"!
—— System Prompt: You have gained the competition suit achievement "MVP Terminator" bonus, your Troop Attack +5, Defense +5, Stamina +5, Damage +1, Personal Life +100, Morale +1, Luck +1.
Lava Hell? SawSaw?
Da Fei was shocked, isn’t SawSaw the guy who attempted to decapitate me on my ship with instantaneous teleportation during the last National War? During the big battle at the Pool of Radiance, he was enjoying slashing people to death with one strike, man, this dude’s a master! And what’s up with this Lava Hell terrain? Hell players on the home ground of the Hell Race, are they purposely challenging me?
Now, Da Fei and his troops were on Lava Land, beneath the red sky. The Magma Pools around them were erupting with bubbling roars, while the heat waves blurred and distorted the view, making it hard to see the state of the opponent’s army, only knowing that they also had quite a large group.
At that very moment, Da Fei, all Vice Heroes, Secret Archer Troop, and the Unicorn Boss all began to slowly lose Health and Stamina!
Damn it! This is the annoying thing about Lava Hell! Along with swamps and quicksand, it’s infamous for the most non-combat troop losses due to the damn terrain! Constant Health loss isn’t a big deal, it just adds a bit of pressure on my healer Selvia, which the Unicorn Boss’s Follow the Light skill can offset, not too much pressure. But Stamina loss, that’s a big deal! If the opponent, taking advantage of being from the Hell Race and immune to lava, decided to play guerrilla warfare with me, then I’m at a considerable disadvantage.
At this point, Da Fei somewhat regretted not having sent the Power Angel into battle. Then again, Stamina is still a big issue... How many can one Angel’s skill protect? But no worries, as long as I have my Human Cannon, the mighty Elina who deals over ten thousand in lightning damage in my lineup, I can’t lose. During the three matches so far, I’ve been deliberately holding back Elina from fighting to avoid scaring the audience.
And just then, a roaring growl came from the true hellish Blood Lake bed, and huge waves began to churn on the surface. Clearly, the Thunder Angel having absorbed a whole pond’s worth of blood nutrients was trying to break through forcefully. Such a massive commotion instantly attracted thousands of Flame Demons and hundreds of Flying Demons, densely gathering around the lakeshore and in the sky, preparing to defend with all their might!
Da Fei frowned. Critical moment, forcing me to fight on both fronts? Then there’s no other way. It’s just one match, and since I’ve promised to donate the prize money, it’s not really mine anymore, so even if I fail, my conscience is clear. The key is to protect this Angel, who cost me a precious Divine Level Fragment!
So Da Fei immediately had Selvia mount the Unicorn in the battleground, forming a double healing combo, while also ensuring as the healing core, Selvia wouldn’t be easily knocked down. Then all the troops went into defensive mode on the spot. Fortunately, Da Fei’s main force, the Demon Child Army, and a few Hellhound troops, being from the Hell Race, were not affected by the lava. Alright, I’ll give you fifteen minutes.
Then Da Fei had the Blood Eagle circling high above the Blood Lake, ready to turn on the Petrification Aura as soon as the Thunder Angel made a move. This was the only thing Da Fei could do now.
.....
After a night of intensified tuning by the Genesis Competition Committee, the spectator limit for each match increased from 200,000 yesterday to 400,000 today. As soon as Da Fei’s match started, the limit of 400,000 spectators was instantly filled. It must be said that Da Fei is indeed an excellent tester for the performance of the Battle Network System.
When the 400,000 spectators from around the world saw Da Fei’s battling Unicorn Boss and the Earth Element as tall as a two-story building, they were all astoundingly shocked!
At this time, in the U.S. Supernova Team headquarters’ video conference room. Team Captain Fordson, Hell Branch Captain Howell, as well as invited strategic allies such as Prince George, Igarashi, and others were watching this crucial match together.
While the appearance of the Unicorn Boss was embarrassingly unexpected for Fordson, the sudden appearance of the towering Earth Element also moved everyone deeply.
Compared to Da Fei’s formidable military force, the level 48 SawSaw obtained an extra tactical position from a quest, resulting in a total of 6 tactical positions, recruited 6 Vice Heroes with quite remarkable special skills, and amassed a Command Power of over three thousand. His troops consisted of 2,000 Horned Demon Governors, 200 Banshees, 300 Hellhounds, as well as a small number of Fire Elements. These forces were basically half of the base strength of the Hell Branch. If it came down to a contest of military force, certainly, they were no match for Da Fei.
SawSaw’s strategy revolved around the self-destruct special skill of the 2,000 Horned Demon Governors. It cannot be denied that the Hell Race’s level 2 troop, the Horned Demon Governor, is notoriously weak; although the self-destruct special skill sounds terrifying, it’s a tactic that kills 800 enemies at the cost of 1,000 of your own, and since the Horned Demons would be completely obliterated, they couldn’t be resurrected, making even a victory feel like a defeat - truly not something a regular player could afford to do.
However, facing Da Fei’s outrageously high Defense, only magical damage like self-destruct could have a much greater effect than normal attacks. It was a measure born of desperation. Besides that, it seemed the only other use for Horned Demons was to oversee peasants’ production as Military Governors, apparently able to increase peasants’ production efficiency by 15%.
Another of SawSaw’s strategies was to use the advantageous terrain to wear down Da Fei’s Stamina over time and then continue to lure out the BOSS ramped up to difficulty level S, delivering the final blow to Da Fei. Moreover, under lava terrain conditions, Da Fei’s Mist Summoning Technique wouldn’t work or would have extremely poor effects, which could be seen as a lesson learned from the previous defeat against Bedivere.
Considering this, Fordson couldn’t help showing a smug smile to Prince George: "I do want to see, without the mist, exactly what secret weapon he relies on to defeat the BOSS."
Prince George replied with a smile, "Actually, I’m more curious to see how SawSaw manages to lure out the Lava Giant Beast."
Igarashi couldn’t help but speak with envy, "For a player who started high-end with the Great Demon, a level 7 troop, luring mobs is not an issue at all."
Prince George laughed and said, "It’s precisely because of such high-end skills that easily completing tasks difficult for normal people is thrilling."
Howell coughed and said, "Captain, don’t forget, Da Fei has the healing boost from the Unicorn. If something unexpected happens to SawSaw, it’s not entirely our fault."
Fordson’s expression darkened, but he still casually waved his hand, "The main goal of this match is to test the current strength of players from around the world, don’t take winning or losing too seriously."
Relieved by the captain’s words, Howell laughed, "With that said by the captain, we’re under no pressure at all, hahaha!" Indeed, Howell was quite relieved that Da Fei had deployed the Unicorn which was mistakenly given to him by their team captain. This way, even if the Hell Branch suffered a defeat, it wouldn’t lead straight to playing video games in the mental hospital ward.
However, Igarashi suddenly remarked, "The match has been on for nearly half a minute, and Da Fei isn’t reacting at all?"
Prince George shook his head, "There is a reaction. For instance, his Priest hero is mounted on the Unicorn, but it seems he’s completely on the defensive, just observing, much like the last game against our player."
Igarashi laughed, "The situation is completely different from the last game. The more he stays put, the worse it is for him. Is he an idiot?"
For a moment, the meeting room fell silent. Indeed, was Da Fei, a player feared by professional players, an idiot? This was a question the viewers from around the world presumably wanted to know.
...
At this time, whether he was overconfident or truly fearless, Da Fei was focusing all his attention on the receding lake water. As the lake water receded, a massive green dot appeared on the radar!
Da Fei suddenly felt elated—the neutral yellow dot turned green. Things were looking promising!
Just then, a huge muffled roar came from the lakebed, and amid the giant splash shooting into the sky, a dark red figure leapt out!
Here it comes! (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your votes of recommendation, monthly tickets, and to support me. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)