Chapter 10.2
Just as both teams spotted each other, I saw Murasame wasted no time and rushed to get to Tactical but predictably, Vanguard got on her way. Murasame unleashed a flurry of fast sword slashes, so fast that even Vanguard was having a hard time blocking all of it even with his 2-handed large shield. The mastery, skill level, speed, and precision of the sword strikes she is showcasing can only come from someone who has held the blade in their entire life. Some of the slashes even went through his guard and connected to Vanguard albeit shallowly. I guess the saying practice one kick 1,000 times applies to her since her sword mastery is something to be feared.
Vanguard
Hp: 83%
"Whoa, she's going on the aggressive instead of the defensive!?" DJ Riot hyped.
"That is always her way of fighting, attacking relentlessly and pressuring the opponent into making a mistake. I don't think there would be any change in her playstyle anytime soon even when fighting at a disadvantage."
Just as Vanguard was receiving the flurry of slashes, he instantly sidestepped to the left and a cannonball went past beside him. Murasame was caught off guard and failed to dodge it. The cannonball clipped her on the shoulder and the impact sent her flying.
"Guhh!" she cried.
Murasame
Hp: 62%
"Whoaahh, what a godly coordination!" DJ Riot hyped.
"I completely agree, Tactical hides directly on the blindspot Vanguard provided and then coordinates a synergically perfect attack through the use of team chat." ParaTrooper summarized.
It's not just that though, they did it in a pro match with high stakes and a talented opponent, not just in any pubs. The mental strength to do it perfectly in such a situation against another obviously talented pro player deserves praise. They must've put a lot of work into practicing that move. Just as I expected from you, Tactical.
"Did you see that, guys? Their teamplay is amazing! They might even be able to win!" Liz exclaimed.
"Yes, they really are amazing," I said as I found myself smiling slightly.
You got this Tactical, I'm rooting for you. Show everyone the strength of team Paragon's captain.
"Oho, what is this? As soon as she recovered she instantly went on the offensive again!" DJ Riot exclaimed.
As if nothing happened, Murasame instantly rushed towards Tactical, and as expected, Vanguard got in her way again.
Even the speed and precision of her slashes did not falter, maybe it even got faster as Vanguard was failing to block her more than before.
"Tsk!"
Vanguard
Hp: 66%
Then it happened again, Vanguard sidestepped, this time to the right and the cannonball went past him. This time though she was prepared. She sidesteps opposite of Vanguard, which is to the left to completely evade the attack. She dodged the cannonball and then used the instant Vanguard was off balance in her favor to get past him in an attempt to defeat Tactical first.
Vanguard didn't let the opportunity pass and went for a shield charge at Murasame's unguarded back in an attempt to tackle Murasame off balance. However, she instantly did a two-foot kick at the shield and used the momentum of the shield strike to accelerate herself toward the unguarded tactical who was currently reloading after firing the shot.
"Whoah, what a move by Murasame, not only dodging the cannonball but also using the well-executed shield tackle of Vanguard against him!" DJ Riot hyped.
She sprinted towards the unguarded Tactical who had no time to reload his cannon. But not everything is as it seems though.
"Rearm!" Tactical said cooly.
Suddenly his cannon glowed sea blue and then instantly became ready for firing.
'Rearm' is a unique skill to his weapon Armada. Unique skills are just like their namesake 'unique' in that they can only be acquired through very difficult to almost impossible means like an achievement, crafting using a bunch of incredibly rare materials, extreme luck, or other means that are borderline impossible to come by. Most pro players have unique skills embedded into their weapons and these skills are more powerful and valuable than legendary ones. 'Rearm' instantly reloads his Armada in a second for a hefty cost of mp. The overpowered part of it is that it has no cooldown, only a very high mana cost thus, making 6 to 7 straight cannon shots in a row possible before you run out of mana.
After using his skill, Tactical has time to fire a single more round. This will decide the match if it hits Murasame or not. Tactical Aimed slightly lower than necessary, then fired his weapon.
*Boom*
It missed, Murasame perfectly predicted the trajectory of the shot by looking at the angle of the aim and jumped to dodge it when she saw the fire animation.
"Whoaa what a brilliant dodge by Murasame, Tactical is in a tight spot now!"
I smiled. What an outplay. By Tactical that is.
"Displace!" a sudden shout came from the shielder, Vanguard.
Suddenly just as Murasame's jump attack is about to land a hit on Tactical, Vanguard instantly swapped positions with Tactical due to Vanguard's own weapon skill 'Displace'. Murasame, being in the air, has no possible way to cancel her attack. Vanguard used his giant shield to bash Murasame forcefully upward.
"Hwwwrrrrrraaaaa!" Vanguard shouted as he put all his strength into the attack.
Sword and shield collided. Murasame blocked the bash with her sword but was hurled into the air with the sheer raw power of Vanguard's full-force shield bash. Murasame took minimal damage from the collision.
Murasame
Hp: 55%
"Rearm" Tactical stated unhurriedly.
It's over. She was outplayed the moment Tactical aimed his shot at her lower body. He predicted that she would be able to dodge it by jumping. She would still get hit if she failed to dodge the blast, a win-win situation for him. Now that she is flung into the air, she cannot dodge the shot nor can she activate any weapon skills. Weapon skills can only be activated on the ground with very few exceptions making aerial combos a go-to for pros to avoid defensive weapon skills from messing up their combos.
"This looks like it! One more direct hit and Murasame might die!" DJ Riot hyped.
Boom*
The sound of the cannon blast resounded throughout the field. The cannonball flew straight and hit her in the head.
Or it was supposed to.
Ting*
She slashed the cannonball in half while in mid-air.
"What the?!"
"The heck?!"
"Holy shiiieeeet!"
Liz, ParaTrooper, and Dj Riot shouted simultaneously.
I was speechless. What the heck did I see, is she even human? Tactical once told me his cannonball reaches as fast as 140 mph at its peak speed. That is 2x faster than an average pro baseball pitch speed, and she just slashed it in half while she was mid-air without the aid of any in-game skills? Granted that a cannonball is bigger than a baseball but still, anything other than a well-executed slash at the center would not slice it in half that perfectly. She must have predicted that Tactical would aim for the finishing headshot since her backup is about to arrive. She's insanely skilled and quick-witted to be able to pull that off.
"Did you see that folks? What a monster! This is the first time I've seen a spectacle like that. What a god!" DJ Riot said in awe.
As DJ Riot was expressing every single praise he could for that play, the match continued as Murasame landed close to Tactical and further away from Vanguard who had just switched positions with him. She did not waste a single second for her counterattack as Tactical was currently close and unguarded. She sheathed her katana and then murmured.
"Falling Rain Blossom"
She activated her weapon skill, A skill that I had never seen before. Her sheathed katana glowed dark blue then she disappeared, at least seeming to disappear to the untrained eye. She dashed towards Tactical and then made an insanely fast draw slash. No, not just a single slash, I think it was 4 supersonic slashes but my eyes could not follow it completely.
My eyes that are trained to dodge fast strikes....lost to her speed.
Whoosh*
She then sheathed her blade signaling the end of the skill with its dark blue glow dimming entirely.
Tactical
Hp: 0%
"Whoah that was lit! Now you folks know why she is called 'The Unseen Blade' I didn't even see her slash!"
"What the heck was that skill?" I asked Liz.
"That..... was her unique weapon skill. It accelerates speed for 1 sec by 1.7x, the fastest movement haste known so far. She is able to do 3 very fast slashes in that same moment due to her sword skills. It's super strong but the fans speculate that it has an incredibly long cooldown since she only does it 1 time a match. Nobody knows how long its cd is since their team doesn't want to give up that strategic advantage." Liz answered.
That was kind of overpowered. Haste buffs cast by time mages only have a maximum of 1.25x speed increase since movement speed gives high advantages in PVP matches. Haste skills do have their downsides though. It messes with the perception of players so more than likely they make mistakes by attacking too fast which completely destroys their tempo. Only skilled and veteran players would want to get hasted, more so a 1.7x. She's pretty talented to master a skill like that. It only lasts for 1 sec though so you need to be extremely skilled to make the most of it. You also need to use it at the right moment since it has an incredibly long cd or the weapon skill would be a complete waste.
"She did 4 slashes though not just 3... I think." I corrected her.
"Really? All the slow-mo replays I saw her only do 3 slashes at max."
"Maybe Katherine's eyes are better than slow-motion cameras" Lenna joked.
"What an amazing play from The Unseen Blade! She singlehandedly defeated Tactical giving her team the bottom orb advantage and she didn't even wait for the backup to arrive! What a badass!" DJ Riot exclaimed.
This is bad, I don't think anyone on team NG can beat her if even 2 of their best players can be soloed by Murasame. I just hope you can make a strategic play to reverse this situation in the next game, Tactical.
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It was only a matter of time before team Atelier won the first game. With Tactical dying, Vanguard did not stand a chance against Murasame without a proper DPS so the match became a 2v4 with an orb advantage in favor of the team Atelier. The worst part is, Yuna just healed all the damage Murasame received from her fight earlier when all of their 4 of their members regrouped, getting her back to full strength. This resulted in a 2v4 match where team NG had no chance of making a comeback.
Game 2 was worse for team NG since their morale was incredibly low due to the 2v1 of Murasame in their first match and their best strategy failed to even win them a single game. The series ended 2-0 in favor of team Atelier thus putting the final nail in the coffin of team Nexus Gaming's chance of playing in the 4th Andartha Cup and their pro league division 1 run came to an abrupt end.