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Chapter 1703: Return of the Phantom Demon

Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi

When he had other options available, he would always choose one of the other options, instead of directly chasing after an easier ambush.

Jump!

Time didn’t permit Wu Qi to think too much. He quickly made his decision. Even though circling around to the front was the most dependable way to ambush the enemy side, if the enemies left his sights for too long, he would have to guess when to attack. While he circled around to the front, it wasn’t like the enemies couldn’t change their minds and retreat.

Air Jump!

Air Jump was an Assassin-only skill, allowing the character to make a second jump in the air. Jumping over the wall and onto the roof wasn’t a problem, but when Cruel Silence leapt into the air and looked down from above, Wu Qi was stunned.

This building didn’t have a roof.

Wu Qi hastily swung Cruel Silence’s dagger. This sort of movement would affect his character’s trajectory in the air, but it wouldn’t have as large of an effect compared to say, the recoil from a gunshot. Cruel Silence struggled in the air, but in the end, he wasn’t able to land onto that tiny foothold at the top of the wall, and instead jumped right over it.

Of course, he wouldn’t take any fall damage. However, since he had gone up, he had to come down, which meant a bit of extra time.

With this bit of delay, perhaps the other side would now have a ghost boundary waiting for him.

Wu Qi sighed. He didn’t stop moving though. As soon as Cruel Silence landed, he jumped up again.

Cruel Silence was now inside the building. He could see where all the footholds were located now. Air Jump was a passive skill. It didn’t have a cooldown, so Cruel Silence jumped again onto a foothold above.

Again!

He didn’t rush out or continue forward. He simply jumped in place.

His previous mistake had been because of his lack of understanding with this random map, but it could also be said that Wu Qi hadn’t thought his actions through. After Wu Qi made the mistake, he immediately became more cautious. He didn’t have Cruel Silence directly jump down. He didn’t have Cruel Silence approach the edge either. He was afraid that if took one too many steps, he would step right into One Inch Ash’s ghost boundary.

Now that he was up above, Wu Qi could see One Inch Ash below him.

Sure enough, One Inch Ash was casting a spell. Right when he jumped and looked down, One Inch Ash finished his cast. The ghost god’s power emanated from One Inch Ash’s Snow Stripe and flowed down...

Wu Qi was glad that he hadn’t taken that step. However, when he saw the ghost boundary forming, Wu Qi felt that it was a bit strange.

If the ghost boundary had been set up to ambush him, wasn’t the placement of the ghost boundary a bit too off?

Yes, too off.

The spectating pro players had noticed it as well.

“Because his goal isn’t to attack,” Li Xuan said.

With this in mind, the players who thought that it was “off” immediately understood.

Yes, the goal wasn’t to attack.

This ghost boundary wasn’t to ambush Cruel Silence. This ghost boundary was defensive.

Qiao Yifan also noticed Cruel Silence, looking down from above. But he had finished casting his ghost boundary. It couldn’t be interrupted anymore. He let out a sigh of relief. After setting down this ghost boundary, he ignored Cruel Silence, and had One Inch Ash leave.

Wu Qi obviously wanted to give chase, but just when he was about to go do so, he suddenly realized how disgusting One Inch Ash’s placement of the ghost boundary was.

One Inch Ash wasn’t far from Cruel Silence, but with this ghost boundary, it suddenly felt like he was looking at him from far away. If he wanted to chase after him, he would need to circle around the ghost boundary. Compared to this, the crumbling rooftop was cute.

Even so, Wu Qi didn’t hesitate. Cruel Silence continued to chase after One Inch Ash. He circled around the ghost boundary, and could only watch as One Inch Ash widened the distance between them. However, he didn’t stop.

Then, One Inch Ash began casting another ghost boundary.

The spectating pro players realized what Qiao Yifan was planning.

He was very calm. He didn’t forget himself because his previous play had given him a bit of an advantage. Even though he had a good opportunity to counterattack Wu Qi, he had chosen not to because his goal was clear.

He wanted to get back to the rest of his team.

Phantom Demons were most effective in group fights. Control the opponents, buff allies. Team battles were where Phantom Demons best put their abilities to use. His value to the team was worth much more than his individual battle strength.

That was why even though he had the opportunity, he had no intentions of fighting with Wu Qi. He was using this opportunity to hurry and reconvene with his team.

That was why the ghost boundary that he placed down wasn’t to attack, but to defend, to protect.

Of course, if Wu Qi had ignored the ghost boundary and had Cruel Silence step right into it, Qiao Yifan would obviously give him a quick beating before leaving. Evidently, Wu Qi wasn’t that stupid.

Wu Qi’s Cruel Silence circled around the ghost boundary. Samsara’s fans were hoping for him to perform some sort of miracle act and break apart the ghost boundary set down by Qiao Yifan. But he didn’t. Wu Qi seemed to be cooperating with Qiao Yifan’s goals. From start to finish, he wasn’t able to close the distance.

Utilizing the terrain and his ghost boundaries, Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash was able to smoothly reconvene with his team.

The pro players applauded.

Qiao Yifan’s utilization of the terrain and his class abilities were certainly worthy of praise, but the pro players were more appreciative of his clear-headed recognition of his role in the team. He was able to keep his calm, and remember what value he brought to the team as a whole. He had done everything in order to return and play his role as a support to the entire team.

For a young player like him, this was truly a rare trait.

As the pro players clapped, they couldn’t help but turn their heads to look at the expressions of Tiny Herb’s players.

Everyone on Tiny Herb looked a bit uncomfortable. Qiao Yifan’s eye-catching performance made them feel as if they were pandas trapped in a zoo. Right now, they could only look towards their captain because their captain was always calm and composed.

But this time, they discovered that Wang Jiexi’s expression wasn’t very calm and composed. In fact, he looked rather serious.

Even their captain was beginning to regret letting Qiao Yifan go? The Tiny Herb members looked at one another, especially at Zhou Yebai, their team’s Ghostblade player. He had originally been the person who cared most about this issue, but Wang Jiexi had dispelled those doubts earlier. But when he saw Wang Jiexi’s expression now, his heart sank.

“Captain,” Xu Bin whispered to Wang Jiexi. He had joined Tiny Herb after Qiao Yifan left, so he didn’t have the same thoughts as the others on Tiny Herb. However, he could tell that Qiao Yifan’s outstanding performance was making the team uncomfortable. Before, Wang Jiexi was unaffected, so these negative emotions didn’t have as much of an impact on the team. But now, even Wang Jiexi looked to be disturbed. Who knew how much of an impact this would have on the team, especially on Zhou Yebai. The pressure on him must be enormous.

“Pay attention to the match,” Wang Jiexi said.

The match?

Everyone on Tiny Herb was stunned.

It turned out that their captain hadn’t been concerned with Qiao Yifan, but rather something in the match?

The situation had become somewhat chaotic.

Jiang Botao’s Empty Waves had sent out wave slash after wave slash earlier, intending to create an opportunity for Du Ming to close in on Dancing Rain.

Samsara was providing cover for their ally, but it wasn’t like Happy didn’t have anyone helping Su Mucheng.

Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim turned fire in an attempt to intercept Du Ming. Even though Du Ming was able to avoid Lord Grim’s attacks, Steamed Bun Invasion suddenly threw a Brick at him for some inexplicable reason.

Yes, for some inexplicable reason!

Anyone could see that Steamed Bun Invasion had been completely focused on attacking One Autumn Leaf. If he had planned on turning away and providing help to that side, why would he do it from so far away? If he had done so earlier, he could have coordinated with Ye Xiu, and the two of them would have likely been able to stop Du Ming’s Moon Luring Frost.

But he hadn’t.

Just when everyone thought that nothing was going to happen, a Brick suddenly flew his way.

Du Ming really hadn’t been paying attention.

Fortunately, he wasn’t alone. Someone else on Samsara noticed the Brick and warned him.

Warning, react, move.

In the end, Du Ming was able to avoid the Brick. Seeing how much time Du Ming had to react to Steamed Bun’s attack, it could be seen just how little of a threat that Brick had been.

But the entirety of Samsara had been given a fright.

Pretend you were taking a higher-level math exam. All of the problems you encountered so far had been extremely difficult. Suddenly, an addition and subtraction problem was thrown at you to solve.

According to common sense, this sort of problem shouldn’t be appearing in the exam, and no one would have prepared for this sort of problem either.

No one was going to be stumped by such a simple problem, but it was enough to make everyone jump in surprise.

After the initial surprise, all you had to do was answer the question. But this was a competitive match. If you didn’t deal with the suprise properly, a Brick might just hit you in the head.

Du Ming hadn’t thought that Steamed Bun would suddenly throw this sort of problem at him because there had been no need! An attack from Steamed Bun Invasion’s position was no threat to him. For you to throw a Brick from there, was it you being a noob? Or did you think I was a noob?

Who knew what Steamed Bun was thinking. In any case, the Brick had been thrown. If it weren’t for Zhou Zekai’s timely warning, who knew what would have happened. The battlefield was quite chaotic at the moment. All sorts of attacks and sounds could be heard. Du Ming may have likely missed the sound of the wind behind him.

This brief fluster was enough to delay him. Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim hadn’t been able to catch up at first, but with this delay, he had suddenly closed the distance.

Du Ming had no time to close in on Dancing Rain, or take revenge on Steamed Bun. He had to fight off Lord Grim.

Du Ming was now entangled with Ye Xiu, and it suddenly put Jiang Botao in a bad position. He was throwing out wave slash after wave slash, but then it turned out that Du Ming’s Moon Luring Frost wasn’t able to do anything with it. Didn’t that mean he was open right now? Dancing Rain aimed her cannon at him. Luckily, Zhou Zekai’s Cloud Piercer helped out just in time to protect Empty Waves.

At this moment, Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash finally returned. A new variable had come into play.

Qiao Yifan’s Phantom Demon, with his powerful crowd control and AoE buffs, was definitely good news for Happy!

Happy’s supporters immediately brightened at this sight.

The spectating pro players thought the same. They knew from experience how valuable a Phantom Demon was in a group battle. Moreover, Qiao Yifan had outstanding map and team awareness. With his addition, Happy was like a tiger with wings.

“Whether Samsara will be able to keep Qiao Yifan’s One Inch Ash in check will be the deciding factor of this match,” Li Xuan concluded. Of course, this might his bias towards Phantom Demons. At the very least, when he made this remark, quite a few people took exception to it.

“Whether Happy is able to protect One Inch Ash is also crucial,” someone said.

“Isn’t that the same as what I just said!” Li Xuan pointed out. If Samsara needed to keep Qiao Yifan in check, then Happy would want to stop them from achieving that. Wasn’t that obvious?

The two sides reacted extremely quickly. This time, Steamed Bun Invasion did something logical. He suddenly rushed towards Du Ming’s Moon Luring Frost. Ye Xiu’s Lord Grim seemed to have taken the baton, and retreated towards One Inch Ash.

Cloud Piercer fired his dual guns, one gun to protect Empty Waves, the other to attack One Inch Ash.

Lord Grim’s Myriad Manifestations Umbrella opened. Qiao Yifan had acted as if he knew that someone would protect him. By the time the bullet was fired, he had already been casting a spell.

Not waiting for Samsara to find a new angle of attack to interrupt him, he placed down the ghost boundary.

Sword Boundary! Buff the team’s Strength and Intelligence.

Happy’s combat power immediately soared to new heights, and this was just the beginning. Because of Qiao Yifan’s return, Samsara was already beginning to lose their footing. They needed to keep One Inch Ash in check no matter what.