Genius Chapter 138: Human Shield Wall

Chapter 138: Human Shield Wall

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

When the bird flock event triggered, everyone in the forest became alert. The north and south bases were outside the forest, but the east and west bases were on the edge of the forest. To reach the east or west base to assist teammates, one had to pass through the forest. As Watermelon and his team of monsters burst out of the forest, the battle situation shifted again. ZenSlasher, who had gone alone to the west base, was killed, and the west base was now occupied by the livestreamer team.

“The monsters have disappeared now that they’ve left the forest,” Watermelon said, sitting down to rest after the battle. “The west base is gone?”

“Sorry, we couldn’t hold it,” ZenSlasher quickly explained. “I managed to take one down, but there’s still a warrior at their base.”

“You did well. You bought us a lot of time, and we are currently ahead in points.”

Su Mo had sent ZenSlasher to the west base mainly to scout and familiarize herself with the enemy’s lineup, hoping she might also capture the base. But the enemy had other plans. Instead of sending their whole team to one base, they divided their forces. A warrior and a physical swordsman went to the west base, where ZenSlasher faced them 1v2. She managed to take down the physical swordsman but the west base was eventually captured by the enemy warrior.

At the start of the battle, they had occupied the south and east bases. The livestreamer team had taken the north and west bases.

ZenSlasher was alone, and her ability to take down the physical swordsman and delay for so long had exceeded Su Mo’s expectations.

From the accumulated points on the battlefield, their advantage came from capturing the bases earlier than the livestreamer team, which led to a higher point accumulation. To win, they only needed to hold their current bases and accumulate 1000 points to secure an early victory.

Apple said, “I have to admit, that was quite satisfying.”

He continued, “Isn’t FirstUnderHeaven underestimating us a bit? He actually thought that having an assassin and marksman would guarantee victory.”

“They took a significant loss this time. Not many survived, so they’ll probably launch a strong push after respawning,” ClearWind noted while counting the remaining players.

The enemy was skilled; the initial wave of attacks failed due to overconfidence and miscalculation of their skills. Su Mo said, “It’s not that simple. They miscalculated our skills in that wave. If one of their two healers had been a DPS, it wouldn’t have been so easy for us.”

ZenSlasher asked, “Should I head over after respawning? I’m at the northwest respawn point, and it seems like I’m the only one here.”

After the first death, the respawn countdown only took 10 seconds. By then, the livestreamer team’s players had likely respawned randomly at the four respawn points. Given the significant changes on the battlefield and integrating the information ZenSlasher provided, the enemy’s lineup and distribution became very clear. The livestreamer team, after respawning, would likely focus on capturing either the east or south base, otherwise, their points would be difficult to catch up.

Watermelon asked, “So what should we do next? Defend the points or capture them?”

Su Mo quickly analyzed, “Watermelon should go directly to the north base and report any enemy sightings on the way. ZenSlasher should head there too; you two are responsible for capturing the north base.” He continued, “After capturing the base, move on; don’t stay to defend. Once you secure the north base, head to the west base. Your task is to capture and clear the points.”

Hearing this, Watermelon quickly took action and soon disappeared from everyone’s sight.

The other teammates looked at Momo, eager to learn the next steps.

The commander said faintly, “The rest of you move towards the southeast. It’s very likely they will try to capture the south base.”

The others quickly took action. During the movement, FireworksAndLanterns asked, “Why? Won’t they continue to capture the east base?”

Su Mo replied, “ZenSlasher’s respawn point in the northwest was unoccupied, which means that the main force that just respawned must be at the other respawn points. Since movement is restricted in the forest and they won’t risk crossing it, if you know your enemies are in the east and you’re at a possible disadvantage, would you choose to regroup and capture the south base, or risk being wiped out by meeting them in the vicinity of the east base?”

Cantaloupe said, “I understand now. The east base doesn’t need to be defended; during the bird swarm phase in the forest, the east base is completely safe. Think about it—if we travel around the forest’s edge, Watermelon heading to the north base will definitely pass by the northeast respawn point. If we head to the south base, we will pass by the southeast respawn point. If they plan to attack the east base, we will know immediately.”

The likelihood of this group of livestreamers taking the risk to enter the forest was only 10% after respawning, given their dispersed positions.

Su Mo moved along the edge of the forest towards the south base and, as expected, spotted several figures quickly moving towards the south base from a hundred meters away. “Just as I guessed,” he said.

***

The first wave had resulted in a total wipeout by the opponents, and the few survivors had been eliminated by the map.

The livestreamer team faced a very unfavorable start. After respawning, FirstUnderHeaven immediately confirmed the positions of his teammates. Only one Doaist priest was at the northeast respawn point, while the others were in the south. After respawning, he quickly moved, saying, “Fortunately, our respawn point is relatively close and has an advantageous position. Let’s go directly for their south base. A Point, head east and check the situation at their east base and report back to us.”

A Point was the only Doaist priest respawning at the northeast point.

With a current disadvantage in points, their only chance of winning was to capture all three bases.

[This map is so annoying, with such a large and free central area that’s inaccessible.]

[You haven’t seen the neighboring livestreamers, who faced an even worse situation in the swampy areas. At least here, we can still maneuver.]

[Maneuver what? The only thing that can be maneuvered is that freak assassin on the other side.]

[Isn’t the assassin too strong? Shouldn’t it be nerfed?]

Speaking of maneuvering monsters in the forest, they had just witnessed through the death perspective the astonishing sight of assassin Watermelon evading monsters. It was truly shocking to them that a low-health, fragile assassin could attract so many monsters, kill, and then escape, all while surviving until the end. If it had been a warrior with high health and fast movement speed, they might have believed it, but they never expected it to be an assassin.

[Seriously? Don’t compare our assassins with that freak!]

[If you want the assassin nerfed, go shout on the forums. The livestreamer team should be approaching the south base by now.]

[The main force of the advertisement team is likely at the east base. With so many livestreamer team members moving towards the south base, it should be relatively easy.]

Aside from the warrior defending the west base, the livestreamer team had a Doaist priest guarding their home and another Doaist priest heading to the east base for reconnaissance.

Their main force of seven was advancing towards the south base.

Given the differences in respawn points, player movement speeds varied, so the group was moving at different rates.

“Their lineup is easy to guess. There are only two people at the south base, which is advantageous for us.”

“Only two people? Then we don’t need to send too many.”

“Don’t take risks. Since we are close to their position, let’s clear out their people first. We need to capture three bases, otherwise, we won’t win.”

“Those who arrive first should directly capture the points. Be quick and don’t let them build up a significant point lead.”

As the audience was speculating about their plans after capturing the south base, FirstUnderHeaven also believed that taking the south base would be straightforward. The respawn location was too close to the west, and with the forest being impassable, it would take longer to run over. “After capturing the base, assign people to defend the points. Depending on the situation, we may need to…”

Assassin YoYo was the first to arrive at the south base. Upon arrival, he clearly saw the enemy players stationed there. “Cleric ScarletFruit14… and Warrior Milk Mixed and Bitter Melon? They have a Warrior. The south base is guarded by a Cleric and a Warrior.”

“Is Bitter Melon the guild master of the Fruit Guild? He’s ranked fifth among Warriors and rarely plays PvP.”

“I haven’t fought him before, but I heard he’s quite tough. Let’s take out the Cleric first, then deal with him.”

“With so many of us, are we still afraid of his toughness?”

Assassin and marksman arrived at the south base first. Without hesitation, they went straight for the enemy, targeting the Cleric among the defenders. However, it seemed that Cleric ScarletFruit had anticipated their move. As soon as he saw them, he immediately fled, running out of their attack range and leaving Bitter Melon behind.

“What??? The Cleric ran away in this 2v2 situation? What’s going on?”

“Forget about him. He ran off, so let’s focus on killing the Warrior,” YoYo, who hadn’t lost focus due to the stolen kills, said. Securing points was more important now. They immediately locked onto the Warrior, Bitter Melon.

YoYo dashed in, activated his status, and targeted Bitter Melon, striking with a single blow.

Damage value: -100 [Your Blood Blade dealt 100 damage to Bitter Melon]

YoYo, “??????”

FirstUnderHeaven was still predicting the next moves of the advertising team and was considering how to defend the south base after capturing it. Suddenly, he heard a very confused voice from YoYo in the voice chat.

“Tianxia, are you guys almost there?”

“We… can’t damage the Warrior.”

“What do you mean, you can’t damage the Warrior? Both of you should be able to take him down with your burst skills, right? First, kill the Cleric so he doesn’t support the Warrior,” FirstUnderHeaven said, just as he arrived at the vicinity of the south base. From a distance, he saw two teammates focusing on the Warrior, Bitter Melon, while the Cleric stayed near the base, running away when attacked. When the base’s stone monument shifted, the Cleric would come back to defend. The fleeing tactics were very effective.

He immediately joined the fight, only to discover that.

The Warrior, Bitter Melon, turned out to be incredibly tanky. Despite attacking him with three people—Marksman, Assassin, and YoYo—they couldn’t take him down quickly.

Even with crowd control and continuous attacks, the Warrior showed no sign of resistance. While they could deal 3000 damage per hit to other targets, their hits on Bitter Melon only dealt 300 damage. The Warrior’s defense was outrageously high; high-damage skills only did about 30% of their usual damage, and occasionally even less—10%. On top of that, the Warrior had an absurdly high health pool. They had only heard about such defenses before but hadn’t imagined it would be this extreme.

With such high defense and health, the Warrior was like an impenetrable wall in front of them.

Faced with this situation, FirstUnderHeaven could no longer afford to delay and decided to activate his burst skills. Even with the burst skills boosting his damage to 50% of its usual power, the tanky Warrior quickly activated a damage reduction shield. Just as they managed to whittle down the Warrior’s health, the Cleric, who had been hiding at a distance, dashed in to heal the Warrior to full health before retreating, staying near the edge of the base.

Three of the livestreamer team members looked on, bewildered, “…???”

Why, despite facing only a Warrior and a Cleric, did it feel like they were up against the defenses of five people?

[What the hell???]

[Oh my god, is this a human-shaped shield wall?] 

[Three people couldn’t take him down???] 

[I’ve heard that Bitter Melon is the tankiest Warrior in all of Celestial Horizon, with health over three times that of a normal Warrior and extremely high defense.] 

[Yes… I heard his defense was so outrageous that the system had to nerf his movement speed and attack power.] 

“Control the Cleric, kill the Warrior.” 

“We’ve controlled him, but the Warrior is using potions.” 

“Damn it! I’m out of skills.” 

“We can’t damage him. I used my burst skills already.”

“He’s almost dead but the Cleric healed him back to full.”

“Is this Cleric a fish? How can he dodge so well???” Their seemingly guaranteed plan to capture the point turned out to be unexpectedly frustrating. Despite facing only two opponents, the three of them couldn’t overpower the ridiculously tanky Warrior and the elusive Cleric. They had used up most of their burst skills against just these two.

FirstUnderHeaven realized, no wonder the Warrior didn’t show up at the East point earlier… With such an extreme tank combined with a healer, it wasn’t just a matter of dragging out three people; it could easily stall half a team.

This was impossible to kill!!

[Eight Desolations Platform] WhatAHugeWatermelon had killed [A-point]

During the hesitation, the Doaist Priest A-point, who had revived at the Northeast point, had died.

“What’s going on!?” FirstUnderHeaven asked urgently.

A-point had died. “Damn, I was just about to check the East point when the assassin popped up and killed me. The people at the East point have moved. Be careful.”

The situation seemed to be different from what they had anticipated.

FirstUnderHeaven decided to give up on killing Bitter Melon, saying, “Don’t waste skills. Move everyone to the monument. With more people, the monument will be ours. Find a way to deal with that Cleric first.”

“Be quick, or their main force will arrive soon!”

Fortunately, the rules of the battlefield awarded points for capturing the monument. The more people a side had, the more likely the capture of the point would shift in their favor.

But even though they had the numbers, having enemy teammates within the point slowed the capture of the Crystal Monument several times.

Two people were nearly driving the livestreamer team crazy.

The livestreamer team was in disarray, while the mood among the defenders at the point was quite relaxed.

“Hey, a bit of healing, my shield’s cooldown still has a while to go.”

Bitter Melon, holding his sword, lightly scratched the nearby FirstUnderHeaven. His attacks were too weak to cause much damage.

“Here you go,” ScarletFruit immediately cast a summoning spell to heal Bitter Melon.

The Cleric’s healing relied entirely on summoned creatures and was very flexible. Additionally, with Bitter Melon being so resilient, ScarletFruit was able to keep himself alive and occasionally heal Bitter Melon, all while evading with ease. “Why are they so persistent? Why aren’t they coming after me?”

As long as the enemy pursued him, he would quickly run away, drawing them off. If they didn’t chase him, he would wait on the edge and occasionally heal.

Bitter Melon said, “They’re fighting for points and know you’re a decoy. If they chase you, they can’t capture the point.”

FirstUnderHeaven grew somewhat anxious.

“What about the others!? Hurry up, marksman, keep the Cleric pinned down, and everyone else focus fire on the Warrior. He has no defense skills left; take him down.”

“Kill them quickly, or the point capture will be too slow!”

Soon, the rest of the livestreamer team arrived one after another. Although three people couldn’t defeat Bitter Melon, with additional damage dealers, even Bitter Melon couldn’t withstand that much firepower. Just as they thought victory was near, the main force of the advertising team appeared. The group arrived with a great show of force and charged in without hesitation, seeing their opponents as easy targets.

By the time Su Mo arrived, the point had not been lost, and the two teammates were still standing, even a bit vigorous. He said, “Good.”

ScarletFruit and Bitter Melon, who stayed at the South point, were the most durable members of their team. The former, as a fragile healer, had become adept at surviving in dungeons by running and evading, while the latter, as the main tank, was used to protecting himself in dungeons.

“Spread out and press towards the point,” Su Mo instructed quickly. “Hold the stone monument, don’t let them capture it.”

The main force of the advertising team arrived very quickly, arriving just before FirstUnderHeaven could capture the South point and pushing the progress of the point back.

FirstUnderHeaven and some of his teammates had wasted skills trying to kill Bitter Melon. Now, facing the full force of the enemy team, they could only resist stubbornly. However, they only had 7 people, while the advertising team had 8. After a fierce battle, their team was wiped out, while only 3 from the advertising team had died.

The bad news didn’t end there. Following the death of Doaist priest A Point,

Their North point was captured by two assassins, and the advertising team had seized three points first, creating a significant lead in points.

There was still time left, and the livestreamer team did not want to give up. After respawning, they quickly adjusted, stabilizing their West point and abandoning the farthest East point, planning to recapture points with the West as their center.

However, things often did not go as they anticipated. Since the advertising team had taken three points, their hopes of victory grew increasingly slim.

Bird monsters occasionally attacked in the forest, and the advertising team had warriors guarding the points with fast team support.

The advertising team’s lineup was very unconventional but worked together extremely well. FirstUnderHeaven felt as though he was being seen through; every time they chose a point, that point would be reinforced by heavy firepower. After 20 minutes of fighting, they finally stabilized two points but were extraordinarily exhausted. Fighting for 20 minutes felt more draining than a whole day of battle, as if their bodies had been drained.

“Let’s go East; they haven’t gone to the East yet.”

“I agree. Capturing the East point could still salvage the situation. They are only 100 points behind.”

“As long as we have three points, there’s still a chance.”

“They all went to the West; I see four people here, and it looks like more are coming.”

“Hold on, and hurry to capture the points.”

FirstUnderHeaven quickly adjusted his strategy, using a diversion tactic to draw most of the enemy to the West point. With Momo at the West point, their team of five headed towards the East point, expecting to easily capture it and then press on to recapture the South point.

However, when he and his team arrived at the East point, they saw the tanky warrior, Bitter Melon, leisurely descending from the Black Tortoise of summoner FireworksAndLanterns. Upon spotting them, Bitter Melon even waved and greeted them.

“Hi?”

The livestreamer team was left speechless.

The audience in the chat was stunned.

In less than half an hour, the first match of the second phase of the Grand Debate of the Realm on Eight Desolates Platform ended.

Everyone left the battlefield, and the livestreamer team stood by the registration stone of Eight Desolates Platform, unable to react for a long time.

Author’s note: 

Livestreamer team: “It’s fine, their warrior’s movement speed isn’t that fast. We can still capture the East point.”

Momo played three cards: FireworksAndLanterns, Bitter Melon, and ScarletFruit.