Vanguard of the Eternal Night Chapter 44

translator: xiin

editors: bear & celtic

After a short, off-court break, the second match began. 

The randomized map for this round: Water Mirror City.

It was a map that was very difficult to describe with just a few words. The entire map was filled with smooth, glass-like water, and in the center of it all was a structure composed entirely of mirrors.

Imagine a map that was full of mirror reflections. When someone walked around in this Mirror City, it was likely that their figure would be reflected several thousands of times. Not only was it creepy for themselves, it was also very scary for their opponent––even if they wanted to fight, they didn’t know which enemy was the real one! And even if they knew which figure was real, how were they supposed to know which road was passable?

In this map, there was only one way to distinguish between the true enemy and the mirror reflections: Look at the water ripples underfoot. If it was a reflection, there was a gap in the ripples and they didn’t fit together perfectly.

However, in such a tense arena, splitting one’s attention to observe the ripples at one’s feet was really an inhuman task that almost nobody could achieve!

So, over time, this map became a nightmare for many players and an unspoken rule had even developed amongst them: if they drew this randomized map, both sides would secretly agree to never go into the Mirror City! They would simply treat it as a large, empty map and tacitly avoid mutually harming each other.

. 

The commentators also knew about this unspoken rule of the map. “This map is really difficult to explain in a nutshell.” 

Female commentator: “Yeah. On other maps, when the fighting becomes intense, the questions are usually ‘what is the opponent going to do?’ and ‘how should I fight?’. On this map, the question becomes ‘where am I?’ ‘where are they?’ and ‘why am I here?’…”

The male commentator’s expression was full of pity for the past as he said, “On other maps, the commentators would say ‘the contestant is doing this’ and ‘this player’s purpose is…’, but on this map, most of the time I’m saying things like ‘yes yes yes, he’s there’, ‘no no no, he should be there’, ‘this is real, that is false’, ‘it’s too great, the contestants have finally found each other’…”

. 

While the countdown was ticking, the sorcerer was also thinking deeply: Should I go into the Mirror City? 

He belonged to the category of players who were completely unable to differentiate between what was real and what was a mirror reflection once he became nervous. As soon as he thought of the Mirror City, not only would he feel a headache, his feet and everywhere else would hurt too. He simply decided in his heart that he wouldn’t set foot in the Mirror City.

––This map had no obstacles at all. Would he even need to stress out about whether or not he could land his polymorph on his opponent?

Maple Leaf was delighted with his decision and waited for the countdown to finish so that he could immediately launch a polymorph on his assassin opponent.

In a situation where there were no obstacles and no neutral mobs, if he could cast his polymorph within the first 0.5 seconds of the match, there would be no way to dispel the skill. 

He refused to believe that there would be an assassin in this world who couldn’t be dealt with by a polymorph skill! If there was, then he would just use his time reversal and cast out another polymorph!

. 

At this moment, Tyron’s thoughts were focused on: It was really difficult to drag on for 20 seconds.

The assassin, who felt that 20 seconds was a very troublesome matter, found his mood turning even worse. He had the dead fish eye expression that hadn’t been seen in a long time on his face as he waited for the countdown to finish. 

Then, as soon as the countdown was over, he rushed off with two consecutive flashes and arrived in front of Maple Leaf in the blink of an eye!

He scared the male commentator into saying, “My god, what kind of relentless enmity is there? Did Maple Leaf offend Lord Four somehow?!!”

At this time, the polymorph that Maple Leaf held in the palm of his hand was finally released––

Pa kjrc’a gfifjrfv. 

Obgv Mbeg vlrjqqfjgfv lcrajcajcfberis.

Zjqif Ofjo: “……”

Ciatbeut tf tjv xcbkc atja tlr olgra qbiswbgqt wluta yf jnblvfv atgbeut rafjiat, tf kjr ralii nfgs vfqgfrrfv jcv gfjiis kjcafv ab mbeut eq yibbv.

Ktf mbwwfcajabg bearlvf: “Vafjiat! Pcrajca vbvuf jcv rafjiat rxlii! Obgv Mbeg’r gfjmalbc rqffv lr rlwqis ja atf qfjx. Lbk vbfr tf pevuf ktlmt rxlii Zjqif Ofjo lr mjralcu?” 

“It’s almost certainly not based on luck. He managed to dodge within 0.5 seconds twice––this reaction speed! Is his nervous system made out of photons?!”

. 

In the last match, Maple Leaf had experienced a loss first hand. He knew that the War God had a habit––he would wait quietly nearby after going invisible, waiting for the next opportunity to launch an ambush.

Therefore, Maple Leaf wasn’t going to run this time! He would simply stand in place and open up his shield! 

Although his shield could be broken through very quickly, it would at least buy him 0.5 seconds of time. This was enough for him to release the polymorph he had on hand. That was all he needed!

Lord Four had already used up his stealth. How was he going to avoid the polymorph spell this time?

Maple Leaf thought to himself: I will simply keep this damned polymorph in my hand. Let’s see how you deal!

.  

Lord Four didn’t have any special preparations. He hadn’t retreated to lurk after he went into stealth mode. Instead, he silently slipped to the front.

In the last match, he had slipped behind him when Maple Leaf believed that he was in front of him; in this match, Maple Leaf thought he was going to lurk behind him, but he was actually in front!

The sound of clanging rang out. The shield was under attack once again!

Lord Four appeared right in front of him; Maple Leaf was given another scare. 

––Lord Four! War God! Why are you now following the common routine?!!

The two commentators were about to laugh themselves to death, “Hahahahahaha a set of tricks that’s been popular since ancient times… Where is the most basic trust between people?!”

“The furthest path I’ve ever walked down was when I followed your motherf*cking routine…”

.  

Even as they laughed, the shield had already burst.

Male commentator: “Polymorph!”

Female commentator: “Flash! Lord Four flash dodged!”

As soon as the flash of light that represented polymorph came out, Tyron immediately used flash and shuttled behind Maple Leaf. 

Maple Leaf lost sight of his opponent and was unable to release his spell!

His polymorph was stuck in that last 0.1 seconds. He was truly angry enough to spit blood as he immediately turned his head to look at Tyron who had just finished his flash––

Male commentator: “Polymorph!”

Female commentator: “Another flash!” 

Male commentator: “Maple Leaf has cast another… It must be able to go out this time, right?”

Female commentator: “It’s still another flash ahhhhhhh––”

The two commentators were going crazy, but they couldn’t simply stop commentating and could only repeat themselves and add: “Is it over yet! It’s the fourth polymorph… It wasn’t cast!”

.  

Four consecutive polymorphs that only required 0.5 seconds of chanting couldn’t be cast. It added up to a mere three seconds of time; this pace was too fast for the eye to keep up.

But then, it became even faster!

Maple Leaf stopped turning around to catch sight of Tyron. In order to prevent Tyron from using his flash to empty out his health, Maple Leaf directly used his teleport skill to move away. It was only by about one meter at a time, but sending him just out of range of melee attacks!

A sorcerer’s teleportation was really a disgusting skill. They could teleport themselves for an overall total of 30 meters. The further the distance, the longer the chant; it could take up to three seconds to finish chanting the skill and initiate the cooldown period, or it could be split into three 10 meter teleports, or even 1 meter, which allowed him to teleport thirty times with a 0.5 second chanting duration each time… 

Male commentator: “Maple Leaf has started a round of small range teleports. My god, every 0.5 seconds equals a one meter teleport! Although the distance is very short, it allows him to move continuously at high speeds to avoid directly getting charged to death by flash. At the same time, he can also constantly adjust his vision! As long as Lord Four appears in his field of vision for 0.5 seconds, he will be able to send out his polymorph!”

The male commentator finished speaking at an incredibly fast speed, during which Maple Leaf had managed to teleport six or seven times at a frequency of twice per second.

. 

The audience could only see the ripples spread out on the water under brilliant flares of light. The sorcerer’s figure seemed to be everywhere, as the white flashes of light that represented his teleport skill left six or seven afterimages that swept by like the wind at the same time. The naked eye was completely unable to keep up with this speed! 

The audience’s jaws had already unhinged and fallen to the ground.

However, amongst so many afterimages, there was a black figure that followed like a shadow––

After his opponent began to teleport, Tyron no longer used flash to stick close. Instead, he used his peak movement speed technique to constantly catch up and hover around the sorcerer’s figure.

Compared with the sorcerer, his movements weren’t faster, but he didn’t fall behind at all. It was as though every slight rotation, every sharp spin, allowed him to circle around the enemy and arrive right behind him over and over again. 

Female commentator: “Yeaaaaaah Lord Four, what kind of pace is this?!!! He’s able to keep up with a teleport?! He’s actually able to keep up with this series of teleports that are taking place every 0.5 seconds? This is a technique! It must be a technique!”

Male commentator: “Back winding! The War God is spending 80% of his time outside of Maple Leaf’s field of vision! Maple Leaf is unable to find an opportunity to use his spell! Both sides are deadlocked!”

. 

In fact, regardless of whether it was the commentators or the audience, they were already completely unable to keep up with the movement speed and shifts between the two players. 

On the map, there was a real battlefield forming above the water, with a reflection of everything playing out below. At this moment, there were fantastic figures and shadows flying around both above and below the water.

Maple Leaf’s short-distance teleportation allowed his figure to disappear and reappear countless times, making it seem as though he left a series of afterimages everywhere. However, no matter how he shifted, he had no way of finding an opportunity where he could keep Tyron in his field of vision for 0.5 seconds!

Fast, too fast!

Like a flash of lightning, like quicksilver spilling onto the ground, extravagant and unbelievable! 

It was a beautiful, dizzying scene. It was also dizzyingly chaotic.

The two commentators: “……” No matter how fast their mouths were, they would still be unable to keep up with this speed and rhythm! Even their thoughts might not be able to keep up!

It was really impossible to follow. At the very least, the audience was already lost.

At the moment, on the public screen, the audience had already given up on seeking treatment. They were now saying, “What’s the point in having these eyes of mine? Toss!” 

“Are these two even human? Ah? Human?! These two are supercomputers that compute at a rate of N times per second!”

“Is Maple Leaf really trying to find an opportunity? How come I feel like he’s already just teleporting at random?”

“Lord Four’s footwork is really beautiful. Did he train it?”

“The previous commenter doesn’t understand anything. This is called Shadow Dance Step!” 

“Is it already time for spouting nonsense on the public screen? … Is nobody able to keep up?”

“Is there anyone here who is good at calculating? Is there? When exactly will Maple Leaf’s thirty-meter teleportation ability end? I can’t hold on any longer, I feel like I’ve been hollowed out…”

. 

The pace was so fast that ten or so seconds later, Maple Leaf’s teleportation had finally run out. 

The male commentator spoke up excitedly, “I feel like this game is about to end!”

He had just spoken when Maple Leaf used his ultimate move ‘time reversal’ to return back to 5 seconds ago when he still had 10 more teleportations left.

Maple Leaf: 1234, one more time!

Male commentator: “……” 

Female commentator: “……”

Audience: “……”

Everyone: there is no love in this world.jpg

The male commentator rubbed his face and said quietly, “It looks like we have to watch another ten or so times of teleportation before we can reach the end.” 

However, he was slapped in the face once again.

Because Tyron had just calculated: Hm. It’s been almost 20 seconds since the match started.