Farewell Song clearly felt greater pressure than usual since he was alone, and his opponent was the Fruit Knife Goddess. But just because he was pressured didn’t mean that he wasn’t calm or afraid to fight. Farewell Song wasn’t a solo player anymore. As the king of assassins, it was his responsibility to defend the pride of his job and more importantly, the pride and glory of Warsky Alliance.

……

Swhoosh!

He charged toward Lin Yixin in a straight line, but his body suddenly vanished midway. His stealth was an enhanced version that even I couldn’t see through, so I couldn’t imagine that Lin Yixin would fare much better than me.

The wanderer paused her footsteps and lowered her sword as she kept a close eye on her surroundings. Her pointed succubus ears were also fully erected and twitching from time to time. Lin Yixin was clearly entering a high sensorial state that enabled her to detect everything that was going on around her.

A small puff of dust suddenly appeared on the ground. Stealth could hide the assassin, but not the traces they left on the environment. Last time, I had detected Farewell Song by identifying the footprints on the ground as well!

“Got you!”

Lin Yixin smiled and swung the Frozen Sword bathed in holy energy at where Farewell Song’s should be. There should be no way the assassin could avoid the sweeping attack!

MISS!

However, Lin Yixin was shocked to find that her attack hit nothing but thin air. Farewell Song wasn’t there?!

A circular-shaped Health Potion rolled across the ground. That was the object that caused Lin Yixin to err in judgment.

However, the beautiful girl wisely shuffled a couple of steps to the side and swung her sword again with murderous intent!

Clang!

Sparks flew everywhere as her Frozen Sword clashed against Farewell Song’s dagger. She did it! She missed the first time because Farewell Song had tossed a Health Potion to the ground next to her and made her think that he was there. However, her judgment and alertness were so good that she was able to react in 0.2 seconds and parry his Ambush!

Farewell Song let out a chuckle before waving his arm in front of him and summoning a patch of shadow beneath his feet. It was a new skill—

Shadow Dance: Attack +25%, attack speed +25%, movement speed +50%, 60-second duration.

……

“Fuck, this is bad…”

I couldn’t stop myself from standing up. The self-buff was powerful enough, but in the hands of a peak expert like Farewell Song it was nothing but trouble. Lin Yixin couldn’t possibly hold him off in his current state, could she? At the very least, I would have trouble dealing with Farewell Song with his Shadow Dance buff active.

Back in the ring, Lin Yixin was running across the battlefield, clashing blades against Farewell Song from time to time while maintaining just the right amount of distance between herself and the assassin. She was holding the Frozen Sword with her right hand and her dagger with her left, and judging from the gleam on her dagger she only needed one hit to kill Farewell Song. However, she didn’t dare make a careless attack because the assassin still had his stun skill, and his Attack was increased by 25%. It was basically the same as having an Encourage III put on him. Even with Bombshell on, she couldn’t be sure that she could survive a full combo from Farewell Song.

Farewell Song was equally cautious. He moved in and out without warning in an attempt to catch Lin Yixin off-guard. No one could afford to act carelessly because one instant was all it took for a clash between peak experts to come to an end.

Clang!

Two probing strikes later, Farewell Song lost his patience and decided to go on the offensive. If he couldn’t defeat Lin Yixin before his buff was over, he might as well forfeit the match there and then.

After she clashed blades with Farewell Song using her dagger, Lin Yixin abruptly closed the distance between herself and the assassin and completed a half-helix maneuver. When she brought down the Frozen Sword for an overhead strike—forcing Farewell Song to parry—she also raised her right leg and kicked him in the stomach!

Bang!

Despite a successful Guard, Farewell Song’s arms were shaking a little from the impact, and he was sent crashing into the ground nearby. He looked like he would’ve thrown up blood if he could. Worse, the Fruit Knife Goddess scored a lucky critical hit with her barbaric kick and dealt over 1000 damage to him. Had it been a proper slash, he probably would’ve been dead or close to dead already.

“Hmm?”

Farewell Song let out a groan in his mind because Lin Yixin wasn’t letting up on the attack. She rushed him and brought her sword down for another overhead strike, except this time it was the Ice Flame Slash instead of a basic attack!

Farewell Song barely moved to the right and dodged the attack, but when he looked up again he almost suffered a heart attack. Lin Yixin’s exquisite features were just centimeters away from him, and a sudden pain had exploded from his chest. It was her dagger sinking into his body. The next moment, Lin Yixin’s sword arrived and slashed him right across the torso.

Puchi!

Farewell Song collapsed limply on the ground. The Fruit Knife Goddess had killed him in dominant fashion.

The first round was Snowy Cathaya’s, and the match was currently 1-0 in their favor!

……

“Not bad at all. It was a hard fight, but it was a victory nonetheless,” I commented with a smile.

Li Chengfeng also smiled. “Farewell Song sure is an amazing player. He killed three Snowy Cathaya members in a row, and he went even against a full-health Wind Fantasy for a very long time. I thought assassins like him went extinct a long time ago. Maybe he is the only one left…”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Back in the days where Paralyzing Wind of Sorrow was the king of assassins, Farewell Song was just a newbie. Now the king has retired, and Farewell Song looks like the perfect successor. People like him are definitely a rare breed. If only we could have a top-tier assassin ourselves…”

Xu Yang grinned. “Should I delete my account and make an assassin account?”

He Yi said, “Even if you did, you wouldn’t be anywhere close to the top tier. Why waste the energy?”

Murong Mingyue nodded. “Exactly, it would just be a complete waste of time. A priest though, that’s a different story. You don’t need any micro mechanics to play a priest, and you can just lock onto a player and heal brainlessly. It suits you very well.”

Yamete chimed in. “Come, Xu Yang! Let us defend the honor of wet nurses together!”

Tears flowed freely down Xu Yang’s cheeks. “I don’t wanna…”

……

The second round of Snowy Cathaya versus Warsky Alliance began soon after.

Lin Yixin instructed her players carelessly, “You guys go 4v1 Farewell Song. I’ll deal with the rest of them myself…”

Tears flowed down Warsky, October Rain, Laughing At The Heavens and To Make Rain Ripple's cheeks. The disdain of the Fruit Knife Goddess wasn’t something anyone could withstand.

The moment the match began, Lin Yixin led the way and ran rings around Warsky, October Rain and Laughing At The Heavens. She successfully drew their attention and dodged most of their attacks. Meanwhile, Purple Marquis, Shadow Chanel and Clear Perfume scoured the battlefield for Farewell Song as Lin Yixin instructed them to. They actually managed to force Farewell Song out of his stealth and kill him.

This round was a lot less suspenseful than the last. Not only did Lin Yixin manage to return to her teammates with 20% HP left, she managed to kill Laughing At The Heavens as well. Warsky Alliance already lost their best player, Farewell Song already, and the loss of their magic knight only caused their morale to sink even further. Anyone’s mental state would take a hit after losing an ally in a 4v1 and still failing to kill the enemy, who had announced their plan before the battle even began!

The score on the big display was refreshed, and Snowy Cathaya entered the final with a beautiful 2-0 score!

When Lin Yixin and her teammates walked out of the battle room, the entire venue was shaking with cheers and applause. The commotion only grew when it was announced the final match-up—Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls VS Snowy Cathaya—was displayed on the screen. Two powerhouses would meet on the battlefield today, and only one would walk away as the new king of guilds. Whoever the victor was, everyone here would be a witness to the birth of a new king!

……

Unlike Candle Dragon, Warsky Alliance exited the battle room with a surprising lack of resentment. In fact, Warsky even walked up to us and said with a smile, “I look forward to the match between you two. See you back in Sky City!”

“Heh!”

I smiled back. Warsky Alliance was an impressive opponent, and Warsky himself really was as broad-minded and benevolent as the people said. It took a special kind of person to fight someone to the death inside a game, but still be friends with them in real life, especially considering that Warsky Alliance had lost horribly to Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls several times already.

October Rain requested a can of cola from a nearby attendant and drank alone while leaning against a wall. She looked a little unhappy.

Dressed in black casual wear, Farewell Song leaned against the wall beside October Rain, folded his arms lazily and asked, “Rain, is there anything you want to say about us losing the match and missing our chance to become the champion?”

October Rain shot him a glance. “What do you want me to say?”

“For example, who do you think will win between Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand and Wind Fantasy?”

“I support Lu Chen.”

“And?”

“And that’s it. If you’re smart, you won’t ask me what I think about Wind Fantasy. This is the third time that girl killed me, and I’m the CGL Hall of Famer here…” She sighed dejectedly. “Whatever. I should’ve known that she wasn’t a woman anyone could fuck with.”

Farewell Song took two deep gulps from his own cola before saying, “She did kill you three times in a row, didn’t she? Too bad she’s a woman, or I’m sure you would’ve married her already…”

October Rain: “...”

On the other side of the room, Laughing At The Heavens was talking with another player—

“What’s the reward for third and fourth place again?”

“I think it’s a chance to draw Purple Gold-grade equipment at best, Level +2, Luck +2 and 200k RMB prize money. What do you think?”

“Eh, it’s okay. My wife can’t say I wasted my time at least!”

“Boss looks a little unhappy though.”

“Are you blind? On the plane he told me that he didn’t ask for anything more than Top 8, but we ultimately made it to the Top 4. He’s barely stopping himself from grinning from ear to ear.”

……

On the stage, the host Fei’er straightened her skirt before putting a passionate smile on her face. “Good afternoon, all players and visitors. After a long and arduous competition, the tournament has finally entered its most exciting phase! Between the two super teams Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Snowy Cathaya, who do you think will become the ultimate champion of Who Will Rise? Let us find out right now! Participants, please come to the stage!”

Everyone grabbed their bags and walked up in a sloppy manner.

It was rare that the finalists of a tournament didn’t hate each other’s guts, although that didn’t mean that we weren’t brimming with fighting spirit.

Purple Marquis gave us a smile. “It looks like Snowy Cathaya’s chances of winning are higher after all!”

Li Chengfeng grinned back. “We’ll see about that. Hehe, I look forward to dueling you in the ring, Wind Fantasy.”

……

We had to take a couple of group photos on the stage before the match began. Finally, Fei’er gave us the signal and sent us into the battle rooms.

Finally, the final match was about to begin!