Chapter 154: Immunity
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
Not long after the arena format was announced, both teams submitted their lineups. Veiled Cloud Sanctuary opted for a more conservative composition: warrior, mage, healer—a classic warrior-mage-healer setup. However, the Advertising team presented a lineup that was difficult to understand: an aggressive array master with two assassins.
FirstUnderHeaven raised his eyebrows upon seeing this lineup. “As expected.”
“This is… the Advertising team brought out Chopper Squad to face the warrior-mage-healer. This is going to be tough,” SkilfulEmptyHand said, also shocked. This was the ultimate Chopper Squad lineup. The classic warrior-mage-healer setup had high adaptability—warrior provided protection, healer ensured sustainability, and mage offered both offense and defense. This made it very difficult for assassins to sneak in from behind.
Moreover, with the mage protected, the output environment was very comfortable. Magic users dealing damage to assassins meant the damage would be high.
“They would have been better off using their previous double assassin-cleric lineup, which at least had healing and mana recovery capabilities. Even with a maze map advantage and buffs… this lineup just won’t work,” FirstUnderHeaven couldn’t figure out the advantages of this lineup. “Chopper Squad relies on taking the initiative. How do you take the initiative on this map?”
“I was also stunned; it felt like a suicide lineup.”
“Yeah, in a maze map, and with a 3v3 format. How can you take the initiative in the maze…”
“It’s not that it can’t be played. Look, the double assassins can definitely enter the maze. With the enemies in the open and the assassins hidden, a surprise attack from behind is still possible.”
“But how do you stage a surprise attack in the maze? The paths are narrow, the mage is toxic, and the mage can use a poison circle to cover two teammates. The assassins would be detected as soon as they got close.”
“But wasn’t there a healing buff in the first round?”
“Yes, FireworksAndLanterns and CloudTraveller seemed to encounter a healing buff while circling around.”
“The maze changes, and buffs are random. How could you know you’d find the healing buff immediately?”
In the first round of the maze, they had seen various buffs on the warrior and summoner, one of which was a healing buff. However, there were only 5 doors in total, and finding a healing buff for sustaining health when low was almost a fantasy.
Was it possible to find it immediately?
Even if they found it, wouldn’t Veiled Cloud Sanctuary follow them in?
If everyone could heal, what was the point of the healing buff?
Soon, both teams refreshed and entered the match area. The countdown was displayed in front of everyone. Su Mo used the live broadcast perspective, so if teammates went invisible later, he wouldn’t be able to see them, but it didn’t affect his ability to give instructions. He might not see Watermelon and ZenSlasher, but he could see the array master teammates, and they could hear his voice.
Using the preparation time, he first gave his teammates the route instructions.
“Split the two assassins. We need to determine the buffs in our current area as soon as possible.” Su Mo scanned the map. “Assign the spawn area to the array master, the left path to ZenSlasher, and the right path to Watermelon. Don’t go invisible yet. Once you’re in position, wait for the buff and then follow my instructions.”
[What the heck?? Isn’t it 3v3? Why are they splitting up?!]
[If it weren’t for the Advertising team being so strong before, I’d be even more confused about their strategy now.]
[Is the commander really Momo?]
SkilfulEmptyHand saw the situation and tried to analyze the advertising team’s intentions. “In the last match, we mentioned that the maze had mechanisms. Both teams might be testing these mechanisms. Could this opening be related to the mechanisms?”
“FireworksAndLanterns did the same thing last time, but from his later attempt to challenge CloudTraveller, it was clear that they hadn’t figured out the map’s mechanism yet.” FirstUnderHeaven said, “Actually, this is an arena. Wouldn’t a direct confrontation be better for winning? Could the advertising team really be relying on that randomly moving healing buff?”
It was unclear whether they were truly relying on it, as the first prompt had already appeared in the arena.
Yin-Yang Five Elements (Creation): Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
At the same time, the audience immediately looked at the changes in the arena and noticed that this time it seemed they hadn’t refreshed any buffs that would cause them to lose health or slow their movement…
[Huh? No debuffs this round?]
[No, look, Watermelon and ZenSlasher have stopped moving. They must have been hit by a paralysis-type debuff.]
[It’s also possible it’s an empty buff situation. It’s randomly refreshed like the previous buff map.]
[The Advertising team is in trouble. Veiled Cloud Sanctuary’s people are almost out of the maze!]
“Everyone, stay still and pretend to be paralyzed,” Su Mo repeated. “Watermelon has the golden buff that increases attack, ZenSlasher has the yellow buff that increases defense. Brother, you have the red buff that enhances skill effects, right?”
“Based on the previous round, Veiled Cloud Sanctuary should have the green buff for healing and the blue buff for mana recovery. I roughly know the 10 types of buffs now,” Su Mo said immediately. “ZenSlasher, go invisible and continue forward. Turn right, then go straight and turn right again. Stick to the right side and move to the further part of the maze. We need to find out which maze represents healing.”
ScarletFruit spoke up at the right moment, “Not good, it seems Veiled Cloud Sanctuary is heading towards Brother Wanderer. They want to kill Brother Wanderer first.”
“Got it. They won’t reach him,” Su Mo said, his eyes darting between ZenSlasher’s situation and Veiled Cloud Sanctuary’s route. “Watermelon, turn left and then right, stick to the left wall while going straight, and meet up with UnchainedWonderer.”
“Next, wait for ZenSlasher. We’ll make our move in 3 minutes.”
[Strange, they started to regroup.]
[The female assassin disappeared. Did she go invisible, to flank?]
[It’s possible. Her position before she disappeared was very close to Veiled Cloud Sanctuary’s map position.]
[Why didn’t Watermelon follow? And he didn’t go invisible either. Is he deliberately exposing his position?]
CloudTraveller wasn’t on the field this time. He watched his three teammates move and paused his gaze at the spot where ZenSlasher had disappeared. “At the start, they dispersed. They’re still testing skills.”
“Is it just our illusion? Did FireworksAndLanterns not actually discover the mechanism issue?” kawaii wondered. “Their behavior is very strange, and the pattern of buffs this time is also a bit odd. We have a mana recovery buff, and they have a paralysis buff. Did we guess wrong? Are the buffs really random?”
“Let’s make a move and see if they have any countermeasures.”
The Veiled Cloud Sanctuary trio was the first to burst out of the maze and headed straight for the maze door where the opposing array master and assassins were. Before they could enter, the opponents charged out first. The array master set up a movement speed array and threw two area damage arrays directly in front, clearly targeting their healer.
The warrior wasn’t to be underestimated either. Realizing that the opponent aimed to kill the healer, he immediately flanked to provide protection. However, the Chopper Squad’s attack power, enhanced by the array master’s damage-boosting array, became terrifyingly strong. Despite having only two people, their damage output was equivalent to three, and they reduced the healer and mage’s health by half. It was only when the warrior activated his Giant Shield that they managed to withstand this full-status assault.
The mage, skilled at seizing opportunities, locked onto the assassin for attacks after receiving protection from his teammates. With no healing on the enemy side, taking down one would create a breakthrough.
“Directly kill them; don’t give them a chance,” CloudTraveller said. “Be careful of the female assassin; she might have flanked.”
At this moment, a new prompt appeared in the arena.
[Yin-Yang Five Elements (Creation): Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water]
“Another Creation?!” CloudTraveller hesitated.
kawaii added, “This prompt appears every 5 minutes; it should be time for a maze change.”
The protected mage’s output capability was outstanding. When the healer’s health dropped to 30%, Watermelon’s health couldn’t hold out any longer and fell to 10%.
FirstUnderHeaven shouted, “Assassin Watermelon is at low health! Can the mage seize the opportunity?”
SkilfulEmptyHand said, “Strange, could the female assassin be lost in the maze? She still hasn’t shown up, and the teammates are about to die.”
Just as the mage was about to kill the assassin, the assassin quickly used a stealth ability and disappeared from view, moving rapidly with the array master and retreating from the original maze.
“They’re going into the maze!”
“Hasn’t the maze already changed?!”
The next second, something surprising happened.
The assassin’s 5% health, upon entering the maze, began to slowly regenerate. It was clear that this was the healing buff everyone had suspected. The Advertising team had actually pinpointed the healing buff with precision!?
“This is a coincidence!?” FirstUnderHeaven looked astonished.
“It shouldn’t be a coincidence. Watermelon is at low health, and they wouldn’t dare to take risks,” SkilfulEmptyHand said, struggling to understand. “How did they determine this!?”
The three from Veiled Cloud Sanctuary noticed the issue with their teammates’ reminders. The healer healed himself and charged into the maze with his teammates, aiming to kill. At this moment, however, the array master firmly guarded the maze entrance, throwing several control arrays in a row to buy time for Watermelon to recover health.
“Damn, the array master’s control is too overwhelming.”
“It’s okay, just wait. His controls have a cooldown…”
Before he could say anything, the healer suddenly shouted. It turned out that the previously vanished female assassin, ZenSlasher, had silently appeared behind them. For some reason, her individual damage was extraordinarily high, as if she had received some kind of buff. The damage she dealt was exceptionally noticeable.
“ZenSlasher’s damage is off; her damage wasn’t this high before,” CloudTraveller noticed the issue. Had she been invisible for so long to get a buff from another maze? He immediately said, “Ignore the array master; focus on killing ZenSlasher first.”
The battlefield was divided, and now was the perfect time to kill ZenSlasher.
ZenSlasher’s dominance lasted for about 6 seconds, but the healer still had 15% health left and was not killed in time. She had to retreat, going invisible and escaping. “The healer wasn’t killed. The warrior and mage’s protective skills are on cooldown, and we managed to force out two major healing skills from the healer.”
“Good,” Su Mo said calmly. “Go through the door on your left; it has a defensive buff inside.”
“Watermelon and UnchainedWonderer, exit the maze and continue to harass them,” he continued. “Still focus on the healer, keep baiting their skills, and ZenSlasher should find an opportunity to go invisible and heal in the maze.”
Yu Zhen asked, “Are we waiting for the next five minutes? Waiting for the next key moment?”
“Yes,” Su Mo said confidently. “The warrior and mage pairing to protect the healer is too easy. The Veiled Cloud Sanctuary team is difficult to handle; we need an opportunity.”
In the previous 1v1, thanks to FireworksAndLanterns delaying enough time, he finally figured out the maze’s sequence. In the Five Elements Temple, the difficulty was not in the maze and buffs themselves but in the changing sequence.
There were two types of changing sequences: Creation and Overcoming.
The Creation sequence was: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, which meant Wood created Fire, Fire created Earth, and so on.
The Overcoming sequence was: Metal, Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, meaning Metal overcomes Wood, Wood overcomes Earth, and so on.
When the maze underwent changes, a prompt would indicate the sequence, which referred to the two types of sequences.
For example, if the prompt was Yin-Yang Five Elements (Creation), it meant that the upcoming maze changes would follow the Creation sequence. The original Wood area would move to the Fire area, and the five maze areas would move in order, followed by a mirror reversal, causing the maze to refresh into a new appearance.
This was the maze’s change sequence, and the buffs followed the maze’s changes.
The maze had a total of 10 types of buffs, divided into Creation and Overcoming situations.
- When the map prompt was Yin-Yang Five Elements (Creation), the buffs appearing in the arena were all positive buffs: golden attack increase buff, green healing buff, blue mana recovery buff, red skill power buff, and yellow defense increase buff.
- When the map prompt was Yin-Yang Five Elements (Overcoming), the buffs in the arena were all negative buffs: golden attack decrease buff, green paralysis buff, blue slow buff, red damage buff, and yellow defense decrease buff.
The colors corresponded to the Yin-Yang Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and would change according to the maze’s prompt and movement.
So the mechanics of this map became clear. At the start, it was essential to immediately identify the attribute represented by each maze to determine which buffs would be in which areas according to the Creation or Overcoming sequence prompts. This was also the reason Su Mo had instructed his three teammates to explore three different areas at the start. Only by doing so could they determine the attributes of the three mazes and, based on the buffs appearing on the enemy’s side, figure out the maze’s initial sequence.
With the initial sequence established, they could fully deduce the locations of the desired buffs, regardless of how the maze changed sequences. Su Mo had previously mentioned that while they were somewhat outmatched by Veiled Cloud Sanctuary in terms of combat strength, using the map to their advantage would make the remaining factor a matter of which team had better coordination.
The viewers in the livestream suddenly noticed that despite the Chopper Squad’s constant attacks, they were unable to secure a single kill against Cloud Sanctuary. The Warrior-Mage-Healer composition was especially robust, effectively draining the two assassins’ burst abilities. What remained was merely seizing an opportunity for a counterattack.
“Assassins without full status have reduced damage,” someone commented.
“Healing isn’t helping either; they’re still being pushed back by the mage,” another viewer said.
“Indeed, the Chopper Squad can’t handle Veiled Cloud Sanctuary,” SkilfulEmptyHand said. “Veiled Cloud Sanctuary’s elite team consists of seasoned veterans. They’ve played many games, and in a 3-person arena setting, using a Chopper Squad to break through without gaining the initiative becomes increasingly difficult…”
“Not quite…” FirstUnderHeaven’s sharp intuition kicked in. “They’ve been moving in and out of various maze entrances, and the mage is starting to run low on mana. But the Chopper Squad’s three members have healthy mana levels.”
This reminder from FirstUnderHeaven immediately made everyone alert.
Yes, despite the Chopper Squad’s constant output, and with no mana recovery profession on their side, their mana levels remained unusually healthy, which was completely against logic.
[Could it be the mana recovery buff?!]
[Healing buff is the most straightforward… We almost forgot there’s also a mana recovery buff.]
[Oh my gosh, are they using one type of buff for mana recovery and another for healing?]
[How are they avoiding the debuffs?!]
[Wow, it seems like the maze has turned into their buff supply station.]
At that moment, the third maze prompt appeared.
[Yin-Yang Five Elements (Overcoming): Metal, Wood, Earth, Water, Fire]
ScarletFruit shouted, “Here it comes!”
ClearWind asked, “This time it’s debuffs. Should we still go in?”
Su Mo’s gaze shifted slightly. “The opportunity has come. Watermelon, make a diversion and go through the door on ZenSlasher’s right.”
Watermelon hesitated, “I make a diversion?”
ScarletFruit said, “Oh, don’t say it’s a diversion; it’s called baiting.”
Apple agreed, “Exactly, in battle, it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman; if it’s baiting, it’s good baiting.”
Watermelon was speechless.
“You’re the one who’s really obsessed, your whole family’s obsessed!”
“You have 60% health, ZenSlasher has 80%,” Su Mo provided him with a friendly analysis, pausing slightly, “It’s easier to make them believe if you act as the bait.”
The arena changed rapidly. The Chopper Squad’s assassin, Watermelon, was low on health during the confrontation. He continued to take a detour, trying to enter the maze. This time, Cloud Sanctuary didn’t let him escape but immediately pursued him. They had been too hesitant before, always letting the assassin slip away, which allowed them to survive through the changes. If they dragged it out any longer, their mana levels would drop into the danger zone. They needed to eliminate one quickly to gain some buffer time.
Seeing this, Su Mo took a sip of water. “Prepare to block the door.”
The longer the wait, the greater the pressure and anxiety. Their commander became impatient.
“Damn, the warrior activated acceleration to chase him.”
“Don’t let him get away. It’s unbelievable how long the Chopper Squad can survive even after their burst is gone.”
“We’re almost there.”
“I know, Cloud Sanctuary plans to kill one to create a breakthrough,” SkilfulEmptyHand said urgently. “They’re less familiar with the maze than the Chopper Squad. If this drags on, they might be worn out. The assassin probably won’t be saved.”
FirstUnderHeaven remained silent, watching the maze entrance and growing increasingly suspicious.
Would the Chopper Squad escape? Yes, a few minutes earlier, they had scrambled to flee several times due to low health.
The assassin fled, Cloud Sanctuary pursued, and the array master provided cover—but this time, the cover was incredibly effective, more so than ever before.
The two teams chased each other into the maze where Watermelon had entered. However, as soon as they got inside, the array master who arrived last blocked the door, deploying two control arrays to seal the exit, effectively cutting off Cloud Sanctuary’s retreat, as if they had been waiting for them to enter the trap for a long time.
The healer shouted, “This maze has a defense-reducing debuff! We’ve been tricked!”
CloudTraveller’s pupils contracted as he immediately commanded, “Forget about the others, kill the assassin!”
The mage and warrior charged towards Watermelon.
“It’s too late.”
At that moment, the array master waved the judge’s pen, adding two more layers of defense array to Watermelon. The defense array erupted instantly—at the moment of Cloud Sanctuary’s fierce attack, the [Celestial Punishment] in the array master’s hand flashed, rendering all the opponent’s attack skills ineffective, and Watermelon was not killed.
In those brief seconds, the two assassins’ counterattacks did not stop. Their burst cooldowns were long gone, and they had been waiting for the enemy to enter their trap for a strong kill. The assassins, like shadows, took advantage of the defense-reducing debuff to swiftly take down the healer.
But it wasn’t over yet. The defense array vanished, only for the array master’s damage-increasing array to appear.
With the two assassins and the array master, the support they provided was incalculable. The mage, without the protection of the healer, had nowhere to escape in the narrow maze. Attempts to lock Watermelon were thwarted by the array master’s control, and with the female assassin looming menacingly, the mage struggled for about ten seconds before ultimately falling to the assassins’ blades.
Veiled Cloud Sanctuary was left with only one warrior, and the outcome was decided.
The commentators in the livestream were stunned, and viewers were bombarding the chat with question marks.
[What the heck? So many skills couldn’t kill an assassin with 15% health?!]
[No way, even in such a narrow passage, they still missed.]
[What happened? Suddenly the healer is gone, and the assassin is gone too?!]
[Was it the array master’s defensive array?!]
“How did they avoid so much damage?” The deceased mage marveled, “My skills dealt zero damage to Watermelon. Did the maze have a damage reduction effect?” Given his and his teammates’ damage output, killing Watermelon should have been more than feasible.
“It could be the buffs or the skills,” CloudTraveller said, his expression grave as he observed the array master on the field. His caution indicated he had underestimated the opponent’s killing moves.
The last warrior was ultimately taken down by the combined efforts of the three opponents.
The Chopper Squad lost no one, while all three members of the Veiled Cloud Sanctuary team were wiped out, leaving everyone in shock.
After the victory, the view switched to the two assassins and the array master. The two assassins approached and spoke, while the array master remained stationed at the door, his health still at a healthy 80%. It seemed like a 3v3 was child’s play for him. He looked up, his deep eyes meeting the gaze of everyone in the livestream.
It felt as though he was staring at someone.
[Wow, he’s so cool!] [Ahhh!]
“Next match?” The man’s voice echoed in his ears.
He was looking at him.
Su Mo blinked, observing the array master in the maze, who stood with a cold expression, holding the pen-like weapon. The weapon’s shimmering appearance and the aura of sternness seemed to linger around it, as if he had complete control over the situation.
The “Celestial Punishment Gods” skill, with its four layers of defensive array, provided three seconds of damage immunity. He lowered his head and took a sip of water. Protecting the assassins? That was easier than ever. This was a weapon made just for him.
“Next match.” Su Mo set his cup down. “The game has just begun.”
Author’s note:
The Advertising team—
Apple: You go in and lure them, success is possible; attraction isn’t limited to any gender.
ScarletFruit: Not necessarily, it could also be Watermelon-colored.
FireworksAndLanterns: So Watermelon isn’t about male attraction?
Watermelon: … This team is disbanding after this, got it?
