Chapter 256 – Assassin’s Style
“Don’t you guys feel the pretty girl in heavy armor looks quite wild and sexy?”
Gentle type! Sexy type! Loli type! Wild type!
Seriously, what the fuck!? What kind of squadron was this? A kind with four empresses! Was this a model type heavenly squadron?
Arnold Teuton’s eyes turned as round as saucers. That guy named Grai looks oh so blissful!
“Not bad. Not bad at all.” Even Laura couldn’t help but tease him. “Such a group of beautiful girls and even a handsome guy. I didn’t get much of a reaction when you all were bunched up, but after removing a specific someone from the equation it seemed as though those five standing together give off a wonderful aura.”
Wang Zhong couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself this time. Why am I being targeted? When did I provoke her? “Are you taking revenge on me, Laura?”
This lass was being a bit rampant. But oh yea, this was her territory.
“One’s appearance is a measure of one’s strength, just like our captain!” Seated behind them, Arnold detected a good opportunity to throw in a boot-licking comment. One should also note that he himself had an idol-like appearance.
The battlefield present included a pond, some hills, and a few sizable obstructions littered in various areas. Its’ main design was to ensure limited maneuverability to increase the general difficulty of the group battle. Other than that, there wasn’t much of an influence to the main aspect of group battles.
This fight would be a head-on five on five group battle. The other types of matches, such as King of the Hill, wasn’t suitable for this kind of combat arena.
Since this match didn’t need any strict regulation rules, officials, or staff, the clear ring of the starting bell sounded the moment the participants arrived at their pre-arranged positions.
The fight officially began!
Both sides were able to clearly see the other’s formation with a single look. Such a straightforward match didn’t require much time spent on extravagant thoughts. The two sides immediately sprung into action and rushed rapidly toward the centermost pond in order to shorten the distance between them.
Tianjing Academy had used the most common 3:2 formation focused around Lily the heavy soldier being at the centermost vanguard position. Other than their appearances, however, there didn’t seem to be anything noteworthy about them. Nevertheless, as one of the more conforming formations, they weren’t hindered in the slightest by the fake hills, ponds, obstructions, or traps in the way.
“I heard this Wang Zhong had written a good thesis paper on the topic,” Leo said with a smile. “I hope to see a bit of its highlights here.”
“I estimate they move based on literary strategies.” Galen could be considered the representative figure in examining the details. He watched the heavy soldier, Lily, cross the hill and examined the natural movements the other four made in adjusting their pace to maintain the formation. This Tianjing Squadron had definitely spent time training their formations bitterly. “This seems a bit interesting!”
To experts, such common formations were truly frightening. Teacher Fiona had previously compared the various mind-blowing formations that had gained a high profile in the previous CHF and noted that there was almost no gaps or weaknesses in the common formations. Wanting to achieve victory against such a formation would require the use of force to pry it apart. If one wished to simply wait it out from beginning to end, then all that would confront them is a seemingly eternal, perfect formation!
But Leo then spat out, “It’s a pity their opponent is Saxon.”
What Saxon was using was the formation they were most adept at, the Spectral Dance Formation. The five assassins rushed forward in a seemingly chaotic, unorganized fashion. There didn’t seem to be any organized structure at all between them. Even so, it still gave off a kind of rhythm as their footwork and movements displayed their tacit understanding.
Assassins were the nimblest of the occupations, and this Spectral Dance Formation was formed with a full five-member team of assassins. While their greatest speciality was in ‘stealing the flag’, this formation also wasn’t weak in head-on group fights. The core of the formation revolved around their hyperactive movements and nimbleness. Because it looked disorderly and unpredictable on the surface, it allowed the assassins to effectively utilize their agility to a very high degree. Regardless of whether it was encirclement, reinforcement, dispersion, or simply acting as bait to lure an opponent’s firepower, the formation performed each of these tasks with its own unique aspects.
As the five assassins grew closer, Grai, Lily, and Emily were forced to shrink the distance between them. At the back, Scarlet and Milami didn’t dare drop their guard in case their opponents decided to circle around. To be frank, Scarlet was still a bit worried over this match. Wang Zhong had far too much confidence in them, especially when he knew their opponent was Saxon.
The distance between the two groups shrank to a mere 20 meters, a critical distance that served as the start for the fight. Suddenly, Sully sent a weird hidden signal and the five assassins fanned out smoothly into a fan-like formation, rapidly increasing the distance between each other.
One of the greatest tests for a group battle was each member’s ability to adapt instantly as well as respond to changes in the battlefield. As this change happened, the Saxon side began to choose their targets with Grai being stared at by Sully and Tamil choosing Emily. The five members of Saxon suddenly sped up and scattered, this change confusing the audience as it didn’t seem to have a goal. After scattering, they began to restrain their speed with Sully and Tamil heading toward their targets.
This quick change revealed a hole in the Tianjing Squadron—heavy soldier Lily. She was considered a pseudo heavy soldier and wasn’t slow or lumbersome as normal heavy soldiers. Even so, this sudden shift in the fight’s rhythm quickly isolated her from the battle.
If this had just been a straight charge, then there were few swordsmen and many ranged soldiers who could match the outright speed of the assassins. But in terms of sudden movement changes, one could call assassins the cream of the crop!
“Wang Zhong, a full assassin formation isn’t as simple as lumping a bunch of assassins together. Other squadrons had tried the similar styles but none could compare with Saxon,” said Laura.
Nodding, Wang Zhong simply replied, “Rightfully so. It is indeed a piece of work.”
Laura gawked at his reply before asking, “Is that it?”
As they spoke, Lily was ignored by the other three assassins who had suddenly rushed past Tianjing Squadron’s front lines. What they were after were the two ranged soldiers, Scarlet and Milami. The strength of this powerful squadron of Saxon was displayed here. They had pulled the Tianjing Squadron apart and used exquisite movements and distancing to stop the two ranged soldiers from interfering earlier.
This was the baseline for a powerful squadron. As ranged soldiers, both Scarlet and Milami were required to keep a safe distance in order to be effective for the match. This was a point the Saxon Squadron had grasped. The Tianjing Squadron had failed to properly utilize their movements to cover up this weakness.
“Just a few newbs!” A sliver of ridicule appeared at the corner of Sully’s mouth. It was such an insignificant and common formation. Although they had some foundational skills, in his eyes this was no more than the actions of a mob. Although people had heard of this five-assassin lineup, one had to experience it to know how formidable it was.
Hehe. Those two ranged soldiers are also beauties! Such a shame we have to break their arms and legs. Actually, I don’t need to feel any heartache for doing this since they aren’t mine! After breaking this formation apart I’ll take my sweet time to play with the other three, especially this pretty-face named Grai!
Ceng!
Sully already had quite the grudge against the pretty boy, Grai.
The essence of the Spectral Dance Formation revolved around avoiding prolonged combat and breaking through as soon as possible. However, Grai’s speed was unexpectedly good, but Sully wasn’t overly concerned. Their squadron had already obtained sufficient superiority in this situation.
On the other side, Emily was faced up against Tamil. She herself being an assassin, Emily wouldn’t allow anyone to circle her.
Ding…
The daggers of the two clashed, creating countless sparks at the moment of impact. Tamil knew from the first hit that he couldn’t circle her. Emily had a physique with good points in speed and nimbleness. As an assassin, Tamil was interested in successors of the Assassin Clan and wanted to see if his own techniques reached a good enough standard against Emily. If he could defeat his opponent, then it would be just another accomplishment in his list of successes.