Chapter 458: 458
“Win or lose, this battle was fantastic. Both participants are experts, and we appreciate them for giving us such a thrilling match,” Li Yao said.
The audience erupted in applause, even though those in the arena could not hear them.
Much to their chagrin, the faces of the Guild Alliance members were gloomy.
This time the chaos was real. If they attributed the first failure to the Sea Monster to carelessness, things were different now.
The outcome of the second round revealed many problems. There was no doubt that Anisha was incredibly strong. Her maneuvers were as fluid as a drifting cloud.
Yet, she still lost. Was it because of the weapon’s special effects? Not entirely. After all, in a duel between experts, it’s impossible to fully know your opponent’s tactics.
For now, it is fine. As the game continues, everyone holds their own trump cards and relies on them to win. There’s no shame in that.
Anisha stood up and said slowly, “You’re very strong. I admit defeat.”
Having said that, she returned to her camp.
“You’re also very strong. If it hadn’t been for my gear, I wouldn’t stand a chance against you,” Robin Han humbly admitted for once.
“Equipment is also a part of one’s strength,” Anisha retorted, then fell silent again.
Robin Han nodded and directed his attention towards the Guild Alliance, asking, “Who’s next?”
The fuming faces of the Guild Alliance spoke volumes about their humiliation of consecutive losses.
They had hoped to gain recognition during this live-streamed match. Meanwhile, they hadn’t expected these unexpected turn of events. They recalled Edward and Prairie Fire’s initial objection to the duel, anticipating such a situation. Still, it was much too late for any regrets now.
The Guild Alliance began providing gear for their high-level players to go to the arena, completely bereft of their former arrogance.
The third combatant was a summoner who, relying on his minions’ vast numbers and excellent commands, managed to defeat Robin Han.
The battles continued on, with both sides exhausting every tactic. Those fighters who were initially kept in reserve had no choice but to get involved.
The pressure exerted by the Devil Alliance was immense. Even though their skills slightly fell short, they made up for it with their new equipment.
As earlier rounds showed, they often took their enemies by surprise, leaving these unprepared.
As the battle continued, the faces of the Guild Alliance crew wore an increasingly bitter look: after dozens of clashes, if you put both sides’ emotions aside…
At least the spectators found the matches really exciting. They couldn’t understand much of the high-level PK, but they felt it incredible to watch.
Fortunately, Li Yao’s commentary made matches even more enjoyable. His knack for dissecting details allowed the audience to better understand the strategy and gap between professional and ordinary players.
Through Li Yao’s commentary, many players seemed to have discovered the direction to strive for.
Through this commentary, Li Yao genuinely earned widespread fame. He introduced many to Prairie Fire through the Illusion God battle and earned more admiration for himself through this commentary.
By watching the commentary, one could easily tell how Li Yao’s insightful analyses surpassed those of regular commentators, who skipped the points they couldn’t understand. However, ordinary players were unable to discern this.
But with Li Yao now, there was no battle he couldn’t explain. His easy-to-understand explanations allowed them to grasp the intricate strategies and the sudden life-or-death shifts throughout the matches.
While Li Yao rattled on and on, the other commentators could only introduce characters and continuously pose questions as if trying to stump Li Yao. Still, Li Yao always answered without delay.
That night, due to Li Yao’s commentary, the thrilling battles seemed dim in comparison.
Also, the officials were incredibly satisfied with the reaction from various channels. The live stream was surprisingly well-received, and if it weren’t for the company’s higher-ups keeping Li Yao as a Mecha tester, he would have been persuaded to become a full-time commentator.
Looking at the two camps, the Devil Alliance was celebratory while the Guild Alliance was somewhat downcast.
After dozens of duels, they already had over thirty-five losses, while the Devil Alliance still had thirteen competitors remaining.
The Guild Alliance has now experienced the power of the new equipment, and regret was starting to set in.
A single opponent was often able to defeat one or two members of their’s. Even as they became more familiar with the new equipment, the gap in the equipment’s quality couldn’t be bridged, and they continued to lose more than they won.
They began to regret their thoughtless actions. They had initially hoped to gain fame from all of this, but ended up in ruin. Many of their top level players had graced the stage, only to end up losing.
If things continued like this, the defeat of the Guild Alliance was certain.
On the other hand, the morale of the Devil Alliance was soaring. Their plan had worked, and the continuous battle that night had pushed the Devil Alliance’s fame into an all-time high.
As the Devil Alliance has asserted from the start, in the game, the only thing that matters is victory or defeat, regardless of the means used. Now that their name resonates with victory, there would surely be more people joining the Devil Alliance after today.
They had shown the ordinary players that there were opportunities to become experts in their ranks, and that the top-level players weren’t invincible.
Currently, a Hunter was standing in the middle of the arena, surrounded by a gigantic octopus and piles of bones strewn across the ground.
At around the tenth battle, a Guild Alliance member lost his cool. After toppling one opponent from the Devil Alliance, he took advantage of the momentum and killed another player who was barely alive, thereby turning the fight into a bloody gladiatorial combat.
The Hunter now standing in the arena was Borna from the African administrative region. Using his boss-level pet, he had defeated three top-level experts in succession.
This left the Guild Alliance in a bind. The three top experts it had put forth represented close combat, ranged, and summoning specialties, but all met a disastrous defeat. The octopus pet of their enemy was ridiculously powerful, and the Hunter was not one to be trifled with either. The combination was simply invincible.
A player who could also summon an undead boss was the third to enter the arena, but he also failed.
Now, the Guild Alliance only had five competitors left. If these five were defeated, they would lose the gambit.
But facing the Hunter who was next, they had lost confidence. Even if they defeated him, there were over a dozen adversaries waiting. How could they possibly win?
Borna coldly said, “So you’re chickening out? It’s already been a minute, and you still can’t decide who should be next.”
Edward sighed and said, “Let the Hunter King compete.”
They had been suppressing the Starfire Guild and didn’t give any chance to any member of the guild till now, let alone Li Yao.
Now, hearing Edward’s decision for Li Yao to compete, the other guild leaders nodded in reluctant agreement.
They weighed the pros and cons, and considered the outcome of this gamble more important.
Many were comforting themselves, “If Li Yao wins, we win the gamble, not bad. If he loses, at least we’re all in the same boat and we won’t be the only ones embarrassed. It’s better for our mental health.”
“Hunter King, stop your commentary. It’s your turn now,” Edward said loudly.
“Brother, it all depends on you now,” Sky and Ocean added.
Li Yao smiled, slowly stood up, and the audience was filled with anticipation, eager to see how this seemingly all-knowing commentator would fare…