Translator: Nomyummi Editor: Nomyummi
The broadcast, the pro players, and the more skilled viewers were focused on Fang Ruis battle with Lu Boyuan and Fang Minghua. Only the viewers who were mostly there to watch the flashy stuff continued to linger on the battle in the trash room.
The battle taking place there was indeed incredible as well, and it could also decide the match. However, from an overall perspective, Fang Ruis suppression towards the two Samsara players was the true match point. The outcome of this match would likely depend on Fang Rui.
And right now, he had vastly exceeded everyones expectations. To think he would be able to hold them off in a 1v2 for so long. Samsaras two players were unexpectedly unable to get past him.
Of course, if Lu Boyuans Chaotic Cloudy Mountain wanted to go, Fang Rui wouldnt mind at all. Fang Ruis goal was clear. He wanted to stall Fang Minghuas Laughing Song. If Lu Boyuan was going to give him trouble, then he would deal with him. If Lu Boyuan wanted to leave, then he would be more than happy to let him leave.
Lu Boyuan had already abandoned Du Ming once. Whether it was from a strategic perspective or a mental one, he couldnt abandon Fang Minghua too. Samsara was already down one player in the team competition, and down a total of three points overall.
This bastard...
Lu Boyuan grit his teeth, trying to catch Boundless Sea. He just needed to grab him once, and the deadlock would be over. Fang Minghua also understood this reasoning and did his best to help Lu Boyuan.
But Fang Rui was just too crafty. He was bringing out his dirtiness to his limits. Boundless Sea weaved in and out, and there were plenty of times where he had brushed past Chaotic Cloudy Mountains fingers. The difference was just by a hair.
This wasnt a matter of luck.
Fang Rui was playing at his peak. It wasnt like he couldnt dodge more safely, but he was intentionally making the margin of error as small as possible. He had done this ever since Chaotic Cloudy Mountains first attempt to block him. From beginning to end, he had gotten past Lu Boyuan as efficiently as he could so that he could have more time to deal with Fang Minghuas Laughing Song. If not, there was no way he would have been able to hold down Samsaras two players for so long. This was why the pro players were so astonished. For such precise movements, once or twice, nothing too special. But for him to do it again and again for so long? How focused did he have to be? How tiring must it be?
Yes, very tiring!
Fang Rui soon could feel the fatigue hitting him, and he had only held them down for not even a minute.
He had been mentally prepared, though. He knew how difficult it would be. In Ye Xius 1v3, Ye Xiu had used his overwhelming disadvantage to keep his opponents attention on him. However, for his 1v2, he needed to take the initiative and proactively seize control of the battle.
And he did it.
So far, only the word perfect could describe what he had accomplished.
He was exhausted, yet he was still constantly racking his brains to win control over his opponents.
He had played to his limits in the group arena as well. After only a short rest, he had to play again in the team competition.
Persevere, persevere to the end!
Fang Rui knew how important his task was. If it was said that their foundation had been established through Ye Xius 1v3, then their final path to victory would be brought out by him.
He had never thought of himself as this teams core. All he wanted was to perform well enough to match his pay and position. He knew that this was a moment that could likely decide the match. All he needed to do was to persevere.
He didnt set himself a goal, counting down. Fang Rui only had one thought: persevere, persevere until the end. He would hold down these two players until the moment they won. Before that moment came, he would never relax.
One minute...
One and a half minutes...
Two minutes...
Two and a half minutes...
Fang Rui persevered, playing absolutely perfectly. Not even the slightest opening could be seen in his plays. More and more people started shifting their attention to his side. More and more people were noticing the inconceivable. The pro players had forgotten about their bets long ago.
One minute. That had been the upper limit of their bets. There had only been a single person who called out this time, Team Wind Howls Ruan Yongbin. The second highest bet was 45 seconds. When Ruan Yongbin shouted out one minute, no one had taken him seriously. Everyone knew that Ruan Yongbin and Fang Rui were former teammates, and the two had a good relationship with each other. He had yelled out one minute as a way to cheer his friend on.
But now, a minute?
Wrong. Everyone had been wrong, very wrong. Even Fang Ruis friend, Ruan Yongbin had underestimated Fang Ruis capabilities.
Two and a half minutes. This was the current record, and it was still going. His perfect playing made it so that Fang Minghuas Laughing Song couldnt escape, which in turn made it so that Lu Boyuans Chaotic Cloudy Mountain couldnt leave.
The battle in the trash room had lasted for two and a half minutes too. It was no longer two separate battles. The two sides had grouped together, turning it into a 3v4.
Samsara was at a numbers disadvantage, but these three top ten players were nothing to scoff at. From the looks of it, they were actually the ones on the offensive. The three were using Little Cold Hands as their breakthrough point, constantly sending out attacks towards him.
On Happys side, Ye Xius Lord Grim had become Little Cold Hands flower protector. He practically never moved more than an inch away from him. Su Mucheng and Qiao Yifan were on the side, providing them support.
Fang Rui was playing out of his mind in the 1v2 to win Happy this 4v3, yet Happy wasnt able to turn this into an intense back and forth. In fact, they were the ones on the defensive. It was hard not to feel that it was a bit of a pity. However, the experts knew that although Happy was on the defensive, they werent feeling burdened. Their defensive position was because they saw what the opponents wanted and were going along with them.
Focusing the healer was a very standard strategy, but no teams healer had ever been so disgustingly focused like Happys during the season. With so much experience facing this strategy, Happy was very proficient in these situations. Whats more, they had put in great effort into practicing and studying how to take advantage of this weakness since their very beginnings.
For other teams, when the enemy focused their healer, their conditioned reflex was to protect their healer. But for Happy, when the enemy focused their healer, their conditioned reflex was to look for opportunities to kill their opponents.
This sort of intuition had become Happys style. Even if they hadnt made any preparations before the match, if they ever came across this situation, Happys players would instinctively look for ways to turn it around.
Every teams protection over their healer was purely defensive. Only Happy was different. Their protection over their healer was extremely aggressive. Their healer had originally been their weakness, but as the season went and their weakness improved, Happy had also set up all sorts of barbs. You could target their weak point, then you wouldnt come out unscathed. More often than not, it would end up being your guillotine.
It wasnt that Samsara didnt know this point. As their opponent in the finals, they had researched Happy thoroughly. However, their current situation was out of helplessness.
They were attacking, Happy was defending. However, the health they were losing wasnt low. On the other hand, Happy had a healer healing them. After two and a half minutes, the damage was building up.
!!!!
The three of them hadnt sent out this message just once. They were also very surprised to see that their support still hadnt arrived yet. The thought of Fang Rui stalling their two players for this long hadnt even crossed their minds. If they had known, they definitely wouldnt have fought in this way. They would have created an opportunity to get out of the trash room and reconvene with their other two players.
But they didnt know, so they kept waiting. Half a minute, a minute and a half, two and a half minutes...
The inconceivable had happened. Fang Rui had held down Lu Boyuan and Fang Minghua for a two and a half minutes.
At this point, the three of them had lost the possibility of turning this around!
During these two and a half minutes, it wouldnt have been impossible to have Lu Boyuan abandon Fang Minghua and go in to help the rest of his teammates. Or the three could have escaped from the trash room and made contact again with Fang Minghua and Lu Boyuan. However, turning points happened in an instant. After two and a half minutes, the three of them couldnt keep up the same aggressive offense as before. They had no choice but to be more cautious about their characters health. Who let them attack so unrestrained before? The reason that they had been so unrestrained was because they kept thinking that their support would arrive at any second. How could they have known that not a single sign of them would come even at this point?
Rush out of the trash room now?
The three looked at the health on their characters. If they gave in even a little, Happys four would definitely counterattack with everything they had. During those two and a half minutes, they could have forcefully made their way out. However, if they forced their way out now, they would definitely lose one or two people.
Having already lost a player, Samsara was down by three points. Until the last moment, Samsara didnt want to take the risk of losing another. No matter how they looked at it, hoping for the 2v1 over there to have a breakthrough was more reliable than the three of them forcing their way out.
The three minute mark was approaching. In the end, Samsara chose to wait.
The spectating pro players didnt feel like Samsara was doing anything wrong. Right now, everything was because of Fang Rui, because of his miracle. At the beginning, everyone just thought that Fang Ruis stalling would just help Happy win some time and widen the lead a bit more. But now, Fang Ruis stalling had become the deciding point of this match.
How much longer could Fang Rui hold on for? If Lu Boyuan and Fang Minghua successfully broke through right now and successfully got to their teammates, Happy would have a lead, but not a win. The tradeoff would truly be somewhat disappointing.
Time continued to pass.
Everyones attention continued to be focused on Boundless Seas battle with Samsaras two players.
Angels Might!
Suddenly, Laughing Songs cross let out a brilliant light. Fang Rui had held down the two of them long enough for Laughing Songs Angels Might to come off cooldown.