Genius Chapter 195: End of Faction War

Chapter 195: End of Faction War

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

The moment the Summer God boss was defeated, the entire livestream erupted with excitement; everyone was stunned by the exquisite raid for the Summer God. Whether it was Abyss faction painstakingly using taunts to steal the boss from the pavilion in the lake or Eclipse faction pouring resources into defending the boss at a critical moment, both sides delivered an exhilarating showdown for all the players watching the stream.

“The Summer God boss has been defeated by Abyss faction,” said Miao Shou Kong Kong. “Eclipse faction hasn’t given up; they’re trying every way to put pressure on the large group on the lake and force Abyss faction out of the stone tablet’s range.”

“Wen Ding Tian Xia remarked, “Abyss has activated buffs again!”

[Abyss is now the resource giant.]
[They have so much capital to splurge without activating the teleport point; with that many resources, they can easily max out their buffs.]
[Eclipse is in a bit of trouble.]
[No way! Eclipse is making waves at the Winter Stronghold!]

With the death of the Summer God boss, Abyss faction only needed to hold out within the stone tablet’s range for 15 minutes to turn the stone tablet into their territory completely.

Eclipse faction did not give up; the front line continued to press into the Abyss faction’s large group. However, Abyss faction wasn’t about to let them succeed. The faction commander, momo, consecutively activated two defensive buffs, pushing Abyss faction’s defenses to the highest level. The entire large group firmly entrenched themselves on the lake’s surface, standing right at the edge of the stone tablet, refusing to budge an inch.

The situation at the Summer Stronghold stabilized, but a new wave of charges occurred at the Winter Stronghold. After losing the Summer God boss, Eclipse faction’s commander redirected a significant amount of resources to the Winter Stronghold. The Winter Stronghold’s Eclipse large group, bolstered as if by divine assistance, had pressed into the inner perimeter of the cave and had once again made contact with the Winter God boss. While the main forces of Abyss guarded the Summer Stronghold, they fully attacked the Winter Stronghold, attempting to regain the upper hand despite their disadvantage.

“The Eclipse group at the Winter Stronghold is quite fierce; they haven’t given up, and they still want to charge,” Miao Shou Kong Kong said. “Eclipse is no longer conserving resources; they have pushed all their resources into the Winter Stronghold. Now, the large group at the Winter Stronghold is fully buffed for attack, and time is running out, but they are still charging.”

Shen Ye Tang Tou remarked, “It mainly depends on this wave; the Abyss large group still needs to hold for 15 minutes. If Eclipse can defeat the boss within those 15 minutes, there will still be a chance for recovery.”

[Shit, I started to feel nervous.]
[I was originally planning to curse at Eclipse, but I really didn’t know how to describe my feelings after Abyss’s move at the Summer Stronghold.]
[I feel like after this week’s faction war, a large number of newcomers will rush to play summoners.]
[The status of summoners in team battles has risen.]
[Not just that; summoners excel in one-on-one fights, team battles, and can play both PvE and PvP. They’re practically an all-around profession.]
[Mastermind? Are you there? Can you open the job change?]

The live stream’s comments varied, with some discussing the representation of each profession in the faction war, others focusing on summoners, and many more paying attention to the final counterattack of Eclipse faction. Although there was still time before the faction war ended, if the Summer Stronghold were successfully captured, three out of the four strongholds in the faction war would have changed hands, leaving only the Winter Stronghold.

At the Winter Stronghold, Eclipse was the attacking side, while Abyss was the defending side.

The defending side already held a slight advantage, and Abyss faction had more resources than Eclipse, making a particular outcome almost certain.

If Eclipse couldn’t regain any advantage in the Winter Stronghold within those 15 minutes, they would truly have no more opportunities left. The members of Eclipse faction were fighting hard, and the viewers in the live stream were continuously paying attention. Unknowingly, everyone’s focus shifted to the ongoing confrontation until Wen Ding Tian Xia noticed the changes in the number of players at the two strongholds.

“Abyss faction’s numbers at the Summer Stronghold are decreasing…” Wen Ding Tian Xia said.
“It’s the resurrection point,” Shen Ye Tang Tou replied. “The Winter Stronghold is Abyss’s resurrection point, allowing them to provide quick support.”

It seemed the situation had turned around. Abyss faction players who had bound themselves to the Summer Stronghold could choose the furthest resurrection point after dying. This resurrection point had been bound from the start and didn’t require the consumption of resurrection resources. Instead of returning to continue supporting the Summer Stronghold, some Abyss players who died there chose to respawn at the bound point and joined the defense of the Winter Stronghold.

Eclipse faction indeed managed to reach the boss, but Abyss faction remained unhurried and didn’t lose their composure because of this. Their commander was very steady; while holding back the enemy’s large force at the Summer Stronghold, he gradually shifted players toward the Winter Stronghold. The decrease in numbers was very slow, with one person or one team moving at a time. Momo was well aware of the situation; as casualties occurred on their side, he calculated how many players needed to stay at the Summer Stronghold while reallocating the surplus through resurrection to support the Winter Stronghold.

“He calculated everything too precisely. From the very beginning, he planned around the Winter Stronghold,” Shen Ye Tang Tou remarked as he observed the scene, unable to help but admire Momo’s foresight. “Did you notice? Initially, the defense of the Winter Stronghold used fewer players to deceive more; the Assassins from the Autumn Stronghold sacrificed themselves to relieve pressure on the Winter Stronghold… and now players are being transferred from the Summer Stronghold after dying. All of Abyss’s arrangements are based on one point to provide support. It seems like there are only a few players defending the home base, but in reality, that base is just a transit point. Even if it has the least number of players, it can increase at any moment.”

“Momo never gave up on the Winter Stronghold. In a sense, the Winter Stronghold is the most securely defended.”

“Eclipse has no chance of winning now.”

[Can’t we stop them from supporting!?]
[Dammit, in a large-scale battle, both offense and defense incur casualties! They’re using resurrection points, not teleportation points!]
[Teleportation points would be easier; we could cut them off from their teleport coordinates. But resurrection points are different; they don’t have fixed coordinates. Can you really stop Abyss players from sacrificing themselves?]
[How can you stop that??? This is a battle! In a battle, people are bound to die.]
[Once someone dies, they instantly revive with full health and mana. This little bit of death cost is nothing to resource-rich Abyss!]

Fifteen minutes seemed like a long time, but for the Eclipse players, it passed very quickly.

Even though they had already reached the Winter God, the counterpressure from the Abyss faction was extremely strenuous for them. They were using high-level buffs, and the opposing Abyss players were using high-level buffs as well. With both factions having equal buffs, their momentum was continuously pushed back by wave after wave of incoming players. While Abyss hadn’t targeted those pulling the Winter God’s aggro, their warriors and some players focused all their control on Eclipse’s large group.

A single line—it was easy to push back, but equally easy to counter.

Once the opposing force intensified, their players would be pressured into retreating until they were ultimately forced out of the Stone Tablet’s range at the stronghold, causing the Winter God boss to break free.

“The boss has escaped!” Miao Shou Kong Kong exclaimed, “Eclipse has been pushed back due to their firepower disadvantage, and the Winter God boss has slipped away. There are still 5 minutes left; do they have any chance to recover!?”

In those final five minutes, everyone fought tooth and nail against each other.

Finally, with three minutes left, Eclipse managed to seize the Winter God boss once again. However, with so little time remaining, three minutes was not enough to turn the tide, and ultimately, the Summer stronghold was successfully captured by the Abyss faction.

With three strongholds changing hands, only the last Winter stronghold remained.

Within the Abyss faction, everyone was extremely excited.
“Summer stronghold has been taken!”
“After being held back for two weeks, we finally reclaimed the attack buff.”
“Less than an hour left! Let’s hold on to the Winter stronghold!”
“Stay calm, we’ve pushed them out.”

The situation had reversed. With resurrection points, Abyss could quickly reinforce the Winter stronghold, forcing the Eclipse players, who had just regained the boss, to retreat. Now that they had lost three strongholds, their approach to the Winter stronghold became direct and aggressive. They engaged in fierce exchanges right outside the stronghold’s Stone Tablet, and within the faction, everyone was filled with fighting spirit, remaining completely unfazed by Eclipse’s onslaught.

In the command channel, Su Mo activated all the resource buffs and estimated the resource consumption before saying, “There shouldn’t be any need for further commands. Just make sure they don’t steal the boss, and it should be fine.”

Momo’s words reminded everyone. In previous faction skirmishes, they either exchanged strongholds in pairs or fought until midnight.

But today, it was just past 11 o’clock, and with three strongholds settled, the final stronghold had turned into a simple clash of brute force. Initially, they thought that what Momo meant by a quick resolution was just straightforward fighting, but at this point, they realized that the quick resolution was truly about swift action. Momo’s ingenious arrangements had altered the situation on the field. Although it wasn’t genuinely a quick resolution, it had paved the way for victory.

There was no need for any extra strategies; in this straightforward clash of brute force, they were still the defending side with the majority of resources. If they were to let Eclipse take the Winter stronghold under such favorable conditions, they would truly disgrace themselves in all of Celestial Horizon. At that point, if others criticized them, they would have no one to blame but themselves. How could they collapse while defending like this?

Strawberry said, “Boss, why don’t you take a break?”
“Oh,” Momo replied with a smile, “Should I log off then?”
“That might not be good. We’re live streaming.”
Strawberry replied, “Just sit back and relax.”

Other commanders chimed in, even though there was nothing left to do, it still felt inappropriate to log off. After all, the entire live audience was watching, and if the faction commander logged off, they would surely make the front page of the forums tomorrow.

Su Mo hadn’t actually intended to log off. He knew that to capture all three strongholds, they would inevitably have to fight until midnight. With no need for further commands, he found himself idly using skills in the back of the crowd, listening to snippets of casual conversation among the other commanders during the battle.

“Where’s ChatMasterWu?” Old Banana asked. “Didn’t I just see him popping up to grab the boss?”
Bitter Melon replied, “He died. I just saw him trying to steal the boss again, but he got shot out by the marksman and was killed.”
He slowly activated a shield in front of him. “He’ll respawn and run over soon, just wait for him.”

The other latecomers were confused. “Wait for him? Is that really a strategy?”
Apple commented, “He’s having a terrible night, isn’t he? How many times has he died already?”
Watermelon said, “I don’t know, but he probably dies every time he tries to steal the boss.”
Strawberry replied, “How do you know? Are you watching him? That’s creepy.”
Watermelon retorted, “…Fuck! How is that creepy? It’s a reasonable strategy, okay? Don’t you keep an eye on the boss?”

“I can see an assassin in the crowd,” Haitang said with a calm tone. “That’s impressive.”
BrokenOracle agreed, “That’s definitely better than the marksman’s keen eyesight.”
Watermelon was left speechless.

“Ah, it seems like just holding the stronghold isn’t as thrilling as before.”
“It’s a bit boring.”
“ChatMasterWu would want to hit someone if he heard that!”
“Can we take this seriously?! Losing a stronghold means losing big!”

In the cave, both sides were engaged in a chaotic battle, but some individuals stood out, like those wearing the team leader or commander markers. While everyone was joking about Watermelon, they suddenly noticed, not far off to the left, that momo, wearing the overall commander marker, was casting skills, and another person was standing next to him.

Players from the Eclipse faction hadn’t felt much before, but they now deeply understood the nightmare that archdemon momo brought. Previously, the title of archdemon had been reserved for specific occasions, but now they felt that momo, who could come up with these faction strategies, was simply a devil.

They were extremely relieved that they hadn’t encountered momo in previous faction battles, but they were also very worried that in future faction wars, momo’s ID would mark the beginning of their weekly nightmares. From the start of the resource war to now, this week’s faction battle had been the longest they had fought.

In the crowd, he originally didn’t stand out, but the overall commander was always a focal point of attention for both sides. The Eclipse faction’s primary targets of hatred were typically the commanders of Abyss; they knew those IDs like the back of their hands. Not to mention the overall commander of Abyss faction, momo, whose presence had caused them immense frustration tonight, all thanks to the efforts of this commander.

Momo smoothly cast skills to attack Eclipse players, quickly returning to UnchainedWanderer’s side after being forced to reposition.

UnchainedWanderer didn’t move much; his damage-increasing array and defensive array were firmly set on momo. As long as he locked onto momo, it was clear that he was under the protection of the array master. The necessary arrays were intact, and he also benefited from the speed array’s bonus.

Eclipse faction players tried hard, but they couldn’t kill the archdemon.

The livestream offered a god’s-eye view, and since there weren’t any crucial strategies being employed in the direct confrontations, the audience’s attention began to drift.

As they drifted, they noticed the commander’s position.

Perhaps it was because the overall commander’s emblem was too bright, like a big light bulb in the night, that most viewers were unconsciously drawn to him.

Thus, they saw the commander slowly showcasing his summoner skills amid the crowd, accompanied by a truly caretaker-level of support.

“Fuck! I felt like I just got kicked.”
“UnchainedWanderer, do you remember you’re an attack-type array master?”
“Love makes people change.”
“Supporting for love.”
“Five layers of buffs; wow, that must be stacking all the time, right?”
“Double five layers, okay? Plus the speed array is stacking too.”
“Is it now so technically demanding to show off affection?”

Due to the team arrangement, momo and UnchainedWanderer weren’t in the same squad or the same team.
This situation meant that they couldn’t quickly lock onto allies through the team, relying instead on the most primitive line of sight to keep an eye on one person in the crowd while layering so many buffs on him. The technical difficulty presented was considerable.

Not just one person in the command channel noticed this, but no one could voice it. After all, the two big shots were showing off their affection, but the damage output was genuinely increasing. Despite UnchainedWanderer focusing on support, he still had countless control arrays to throw out, and after he used them, the summoner would finish the job. The two of them coordinated perfectly.

“Cough, cough.”
“The night has arrived.”
“The moon is very round tonight.”
“It’s late, and I’m feeling cold.”

Su Mo had been chatting privately with Yu Zhen. After finishing, he saw it was almost midnight, and Yu Zhen was still at home. He had just asked Yu Zhen if he wanted to stay over for the night. In the past, it was natural for Yu Zhen to stay over, and they would occasionally sleep together if they played late. But now that his parents were home, they had to be more discreet about their relationship.

He only heard the discussion behind him in the command channel and remarked, “It has indeed gotten colder on Capital Planet in the last few days.”
Others responded, “?”
Su Mo added, “But feeling cold in a holographic game? I suggest you get a new loading device.”
The others were speechless.

Noticing the lively discussion in the command channel, Su Mo asked, “Is guarding the point really that boring?”
One Arrow just started to speak, “It’s indeed a bit…”
He was halfway through his sentence when the others in the command channel interrupted.
Watermelon said, “Not boring; I feel very tired right now.”
The mage leader commented, “I think guarding the point is pretty good.”
The physical swordsman leader added, “Yeah, the pressure on the front line is very high.”
Su Mo responded with an “Oh, okay.”
One Arrow was taken aback, “?”
Hadn’t they just been saying how boring it was to guard the point?

As the game time ticked away, and it was still not midnight, at 11:45, the Eclipse faction still hadn’t killed the boss, and the game had declared a winner early.

At 45 minutes, it was already certain that the Eclipse faction would not be able to hold the point for a full 15 minutes, and the outcome was decided. The battlefield settlement appeared on the scene, and the voice of the mainframe echoed in everyone’s ears, announcing that the Abyss faction had captured the summer, autumn, and winter points, while the Eclipse faction had only captured the spring point. The same 3:1 verdict was reversed after two weeks.

“Let’s congratulate the Abyss faction for successfully capturing three points!!”

Cheers erupted from the faction, and the live chat was filled with comments.
[Archdemon newbie!!]
[So strong!]
[Eclipse didn’t lose unfairly; this week, the Abyss was indeed hard to beat.]
[It was basically a reversal on top of a reversal.]
[Ah! Does the official live stream have a post-match segment? Can we invite the commanders from both sides to chat in the stream?]

Amid the lively atmosphere, Su Mo counted the reward chests. The reward chests were based on the faction battle settlement and included both resource battles and capture battles. After calculating the double rewards, he had nearly ten chests. He opened the rewards while processing the terminal messages he hadn’t checked during the capture battle.

As he flipped through, he saw a message from his dad from over half an hour ago.
——[Dad: Son, what’s your game ID? Add me as a friend.]