It had been a long time since the “Nianhua Cup” had passed, but Jiang Shi had been consistently busy. Building on the foundation of the very first runestone, he had developed several derived functional runestones through subsequent adjustments during this time. The one he was using now was just one among them.
Watching the successful entry of a team from Blood Rose, Jiang Shi cheerfully greeted in the team voice chat, “Keep going, keep going.”
Han Yuze’s tone sounded expectant, enunciating each word with an official commentator’s style, “So, who will be the first lucky one? Let’s wait and see!”
While the surrounding fireworks had yet to dissipate, as the last syllable fell, numerous miniature machines suddenly surged from all directions.
Clearly premeditated, this second onslaught of firepower was even more intense than the previous one.
“What the heck, another round?” On this side, Mad Stomp was still wary of the effects of the runic field. Before they could retreat from the domain, they were forcefully pushed back by this swarm of little flies.
“Just hold formation; I’ll heal.” Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands hadn’t yet detected the effect of the runic array underfoot, feeling a bit perplexed. Seeing one wave after another, they quickly gave a hint in the team voice chat.
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands was a well-known top-tier healer in the circle and wherever they were, warmth and safety were guaranteed.
The players from Blood Rose naturally had absolute confidence in their team captain. Trustingly leaving their backs to Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands amidst the firepower interference, they didn’t rush to dodge but instead confidently directed their skills toward this bothersome swarm of miniature machines.
Amidst the myriad of skills, dazzling flames erupted.
Although Han Yuze’s actions were precise, he couldn’t withstand the collective eruption of professional players, inevitably leading to the mechanical attrition.
However, he remained unruffled, calmly executing his moves.
On the other hand, Blood Rose felt somewhat helpless.
The entrance itself was narrow, and the internal structure of the building made it impossible for them to pinpoint Yu Weize’s location. Despite the considerable number of fallen mechanical foes in this fly swatting mode, fundamentally, it was futile. In this forced standoff, they couldn’t even escape the runic domain underfoot.
The Beast Warrior class, inherently clumsy against the Mechanical Engineer, made Mad Stomp frown as he randomly slashed around, “Old Spring, I can’t put my finger on it, but it feels like Yu Weize is intentionally toying with us… Ah, don’t rush to heal me; Street Dodger is about to die. Pay no attention to him!”
Mad Stomp casually mentioned, but before his tone settled, his heartbeat surged again, “Quickly heal him? Heal! Oh d*mn… about to fall, hurry… D*mmit, down!”
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands: “…”
Such a novice mistake clearly didn’t fit Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands Healer’s style. Mad Stomp looked back, somewhat incredulous, “What’s going on?”
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands sighed, “If I say I don’t know what’s happening, would you believe me?”
In fact, since a while ago, they had noticed Street Dodger’s rapid decline in health, even with the significant healing boosts, barely keeping their health bar alive for a while. But in the end, they couldn’t save them.
It could only be said that the rapid decline in health was too severe. Since becoming famous in the alliance, Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands experienced for the first time a situation where they wished for a few extra hands and feet, reminiscent of their novice days. What puzzled them most was that while Street Dodger’s health was plummeting, the other teammates in the same team had barely lost any health.
A thought flashed through their mind, and almost to prove their suspicion, as the mechanical army launched the third wave of attacks, Mad Stomp, who had just been at full health, suddenly began to rapidly lose health.
This finally confirmed for Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands that, in the first instance, while they were frantically boosting the health, they decisively said on the voice channel, “Forget about finding Yu Weize’s location for now; just rush out. There’s an issue with the runic array!”
“Oh, it seems like they’ve discovered it.” Jiang Shi watched Blood Rose suddenly surge after suffering a loss. He raised an eyebrow slightly.
“They’ve found it; so what? They can’t escape your trap.” Han Yuze’s tone wasn’t hurried at all. In fact, he sounded a bit smug, “I said it before; these runes were specially set up for Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands. Now it seems, they’re indeed his kryptonite.”
As he spoke, at the lower entrance, the four members of Blood Rose, led by Mad Stomp, forcibly broke open a wall from the side, creating a path out of the mechanical army’s encirclement.
Under Return to Spring’s Skillful Hand’s intensive healing, Mad Stomp’s precarious health had briefly returned to a relatively safe and normal state, which impressed Jiang Shi.
It was important to note that this modified rune effect caused the team to endure random damage focused on one person. With Han Yuze’s relentless bombardment and more enemies, the selected lucky person bore more damage. If it were any other healer, several members would have probably fallen in an instant. It seemed only Spring Healer could forcibly boost health to this extent.
Unfortunately, they weren’t his teammates.
Jiang Shi sighed in his heart, remaining motionless in his concealed position, just lazily turning the runestone in his hand.
Consequently, just as the Blood Rose team had freed themselves from the runic field and before they could catch a breath, they helplessly watched as a gleam of light once again lit up beneath their feet.
Return to Spring’s Skillful Hands: “…”
No wonder those machines of Yu Weize didn’t seem to have any intention of pursuing. It turned out they were waiting here!?
The light surged and dimmed once again.
After the scene switched in the next second, what appeared before the eyes of the Blood Rose team was the very individual damage-absorbing field they thought they had successfully escaped.
A cocky greeting resounded in their ears, “Oh, we meet again.”
The Blood Rose team: “…”
Who wants to meet you again? Could you please leave?
The commentators, witnessing the whole process from their God’s-eye view, choked for a moment before finally regaining their voice, “How should I put it, the Seven Silver Coins have truly maximized the use of geographical advantage. It’s a real hardship for the other two guilds, clearly having numerical superiority, yet directly being played in circles in this environment. Hopefully, after returning, the guilds will arrange some psychological counseling for the players; this is indeed frustrating.”
“It’s frustrating indeed, but the [PoisonedMilk] from the Seven Silver Coins has truly brought us a surprise. The spatial rune we encountered in Nianhua Cup and the runic field… Although I haven’t figured out its effect yet, it appears to be extremely effective against top-tier healers. Who could have expected that even our ‘Spring God’ couldn’t boost health values? This rune’s efficiency in changing the game with a new effect is unprecedented, isn’t it?” Brother Tiao was also watching in amazement.
Tiao Zi continued, “Overall, I think they’re disadvantaged in terms of terrain. PoisonedMilk and Yu Weize are close by, yet from Blood Rose’s perspective, they can’t pinpoint their location. Moreover, these two are incredibly coordinated. PoisonedMilk accurately predicted the angle Blood Rose would use to break free, and Yu Weize seemingly expressed absolute trust in their teammate. From the recent situation, when Yu Weize noticed Blood Rose’s attempt to charge, there was no intention to pursue. Instead, he just perfected the arrangement of the mechanical formation, almost obediently waiting for PoisonedMilk to use the spatial domain to feed the opponent into his trap.”
Glancing at the situation on the field, Brother Tiao remarked, “Okay… Blood Rose finally chose to retreat. It’s indeed a wise move. With the front road completely blocked, withdrawing from the enemy’s control is currently their only choice. After all, um, three out of their five members have directly perished. Even the main damage dealer, Mad Stomp, has knelt. There’s no need for the last two supports to charge anymore. Besides Mad Stomp, the other two have already perished for the second time in this match. The duration of their revival cooldown… tsk, Blood Rose has taken quite a hit!”
“It’s quite a hit,” Brother Tiao sighed initially, but upon glancing upwards, got choked by saliva, “However, from the current situation, it seems like the Snake’s Tail hasn’t fared any better.”
Brother Tiao paused for a moment, their tone somewhat uncertain, “So, the Seven Silver Coins actually resisted the pincer attacks from both the Snake’s Tail and Blood Rose without any harm?”
“I’m afraid, that’s the case,” Tao Zi replied.
Until now, everyone’s attention had been focused on Poisoned Milk and Yu Weize, but upon hearing this, they realized that the Snake’s Tail had also lost three members. As for the Seven Silver Coins, Serious Young Man, Wuchuan Pants, and Gentleman Fan were in view, all in an unscathed state.
The situation was somewhat bewildering.
What’s going on here?
PoisonedMilk and Yu Weize teamed up to drive back Blood Rose, which is understandable, but what about the Snake’s Tail?
Despite being three against five, the Seven Silver Coins were not only holding their ground but also unharmed. After two quiet games, were they now finally exploding as a team?
At that moment, a large number of viewers flooded the Seven Silver Coins’ main perspective live stream.
Just then, as they entered, they caught a snippet from the team voice chat.
Serious Young Man, sounding pleasantly surprised, said, “Master, your runestone is really useful!”
In comparison, Wuchuan Pants sounded somewhat despondent, “Heh, are you sure it’s the runestone that’s good, or is it me?”
Gentleman Fan didn’t seem too invested, saying, “Both are good, both are good.”