058 The Death of Baru!

The Cobra organization’s psychics are formidable, as each possesses supernatural abilities. They only struggled against Morning Wind and Atlas in the early stages of the game because those two had superior equipment and masterful acting skills. While psychic assassins are terrifying in reality, it is difficult to say whether they can reach such heights within the game. Morning Wind himself is a psychic assassin and, having played a Berserker for nearly two years in the past, knows the class inside and out. As for Atlas, Morning Wind suspects he knows about the Cobra psychics but isn't afraid of them at all; clearly, Atlas’s identity is not as simple as it appears. In the game, very few people would dare speak to the Cobra psychics the way Morning Wind does—even Stan wouldn't dare.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" Ya Hun was utterly enraged. He knew he might not be a match for Atlas and the others, but he could not allow the organization’s reputation to be tarnished this way.

Seeing them charge again, Morning Wind felt a flicker of concern. Enraged psychic assassins are terrifying because they have abandoned the fear of death, fighting with a desperate, suicidal rhythm. If they lose, they only forfeit their Magic Rings and some gear; but if Morning Wind and his group lose, the consequences would be dire.

Even though these stakes violated Morning Wind’s usual principles of fairness, he decided to play along this time, feeling that the odds of him losing were slim. Since Atlas dared to orchestrate this, he must have a plan; Morning Wind had been wary of him all along. Truth be told, Morning Wind hadn't used his full strength in the earlier fight, but he had been monitoring Atlas the entire time. The feeling was mutual, and the two exchanged several knowing glances.

Multi-Shot!

Against Ya Hun’s Mirror Image control skill, Multi-Shot was the easiest way to expose the true body. Morning Wind charged directly at the original, landing on the opponent's magical shield and shattering it with a Bloodthirst strike. Just as Morning Wind moved to follow up, Ya Hun back-flipped away and cast Frost Nova, freezing Morning Wind in place. It was a common Mage tactic, yet Morning Wind made no attempt to dodge.

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"How's that for a hammer?" Gwen teleported Atlas behind Ya Hun, striking him square in the back. Their priority was to take down this psychic boss; once he fell, the others would be easy to handle.

Hand of Freedom!

Atlas cast Hand of Freedom on Morning Wind, but in the next heartbeat, Atlas was feared by the Shadow Priest, running around in a panic. The Elf Thief, Elf Warrior, and Wenge were busy stalling the true body and three clones of Crazy Virus; among them all, this guy had the strongest burst potential. They practically had to treat him as four separate opponents, requiring multiple people to keep him in check.

Ambush!

As soon as Morning Wind regained mobility, Chasing Time launched an Ambush right in his face, then activated Sprint to dart around him. With his speed-control ability, he moved so fast that Morning Wind couldn't track his silhouette. Morning Wind’s high resistance to status effects made him difficult to control, and his gear reduced backstab damage by 30%, so Chasing Time focused on bursting him down from the front, using his speed advantage to suppress him.

Vanishing Chamber watched from the sidelines without intervening. This additional fight was not part of his original agreement, and he wouldn't engage in such meaningless suicide. He remained there only to see if he could land a killing blow on the Magic Ring Bearer.

"Let’s see how long your speed holds out!" Morning Wind used Intervene to return to Gwen’s side. Gwen, currently in tree form, immediately showered him with various heals, rapidly restoring his health. With his HP back up, Morning Wind used Heroic Leap to land beside Atlas and immediately used Intercept to stun the Shadow Priest.

Rage Strike!

Just as Morning Wind unleashed his ultimate to finish off the Shadow Priest, he realized the damage was being reflected back onto himself. A single Rage Strike for 5,000 damage cut his health in half. Was this a skill of the Shadow Priest? Morning Wind suddenly recalled that this Shadow Priest was a hidden class and an exceptionally powerful one at that...

Last Stand!

Without a second thought, Morning Wind activated Last Stand, expecting a 30% increase to his maximum HP and a 30% heal. To his surprise, the effect failed. Instead, the buff was applied to Crazy Virus, giving him even more resources to unleash a burst.

Psychic Scream!

Suddenly, Morning Wind dropped his weapon, clutched his head, and crouched down, entering a state of horror. This was not a fear effect, so he couldn't use Berserker Rage to remove it unless he used his trinket. He intended to use the trinket, but discovered it wouldn't activate. It had entered cooldown automatically—when?

Magic Ring!

Morning Wind realized it must have been a skill from the Magic Ring that forced his trinket to activate without his knowledge. Were they trying to take him out? Was this a coordinated effort to kill him? They weren't just enraged and suicidal after all; they must have been working with someone else in secret. The fight just now had been a performance to lure him into this trap.

Atlas saw Morning Wind in danger but didn't use an invulnerability skill to break the horror effect; he seemed perfectly content to watch Morning Wind die. This was Morning Wind’s own fault, not his, and Atlas had his own way to escape; there was no need to save him.

Stan wanted to intervene, but Ya Hun had locked him in a spatial pocket, making him unable to move. Clearly, the Cobra organization’s target was Morning Wind, and this was a premeditated operation.

"Duan Chenfeng, didn't you want me to come out?" Baru, transformed into a Sand Scorpion, leapt from the ground. His pincers reached for Morning Wind’s neck, and his tail curved to strike at his back from below—this was Baru’s favorite ambush method because it guaranteed a critical hit for triple damage.

"I sure did!" Suddenly, Morning Wind picked up his weapon and stood up. His skin turned pale, his eyes shifted to an icy blue, and a frigid, dark aura rose from his entire body.

Berserker Rage!

Rage Strike!

Turning instantly, Morning Wind landed a Rage Strike directly on Baru. Baru was mid-air—the most vulnerable moment—and had no chance to escape.

Frostmourne’s Frost Infusion guaranteed a critical hit. The main hand dealt 3,500 damage and the off-hand 1,100, totaling 4,600. The impact sent Baru flying backward. Morning Wind, now in Lich form, took a single stride, and Gwen’s portal teleported him behind Baru. Before Baru could even land, Morning Wind followed up with an off-hand Windfury Strike, followed by a main-hand Thunderstrike and Tiger Strike. Having already triggered a free Windfury Strike, and with Thunderstrike and Tiger Strike bypassing the global cooldown, Morning Wind executed five skills in an instant. Baru’s health bar hit zero. Morning Wind could tell that the final blow hadn't come from him, but from Vanishing Chamber’s Arcane Explosion in the distance. That guy’s ability to clean up kills was truly the best in the game.

Just as Morning Wind reached for Baru’s loot, Chasing Time appeared behind him with Shadowstep. Morning Wind tried to dodge, but Chasing Time’s dagger struck below his chest—it was a Kidney Shot! Morning Wind only had one combo point on him, but Chasing Time’s Kidney Shot successfully landed, stunning him for 2 seconds. Unlike Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot had a high hit rate if the user was skilled, and Morning Wind had misjudged the timing.

What a massive loss!

Morning Wind had sacrificed his god-tier Lichborne skill to counter the ambush, only to be stunned at the most critical moment. As Chasing Time moved to snatch Baru’s loot, a portal appeared beside the corpse. Wenge jumped out, grabbed the items, and immediately escaped using a displacement ability.

"Retreat!" Since the plan with Baru had failed and they hadn't secured the Magic Rings, running was the only option. With Gwen present, a counterattack from Atlas and Morning Wind would be trivial.

When Morning Wind had been trading barbs with Atlas earlier, Ya Hun had already finalized the ambush plan with Baru. Ya Hun’s acting had been convincing enough to fool both Morning Wind and Atlas. Anything can happen in open-world combat; neither Morning Wind nor Atlas were gods, and they could only react to situations as they unfolded. Being focused down and then pulling off a counter-kill was something no one had expected. But no one had anticipated that Morning Wind would turn into a Lich at the last second.

In truth, Morning Wind hadn't known when to activate Lichborne. While in the horror state, he had been blind to his surroundings. Even with his years of experience as a psychic assassin, capturing Baru’s ambush timing was difficult, given Baru was a special forces operative. But Baru’s arrogance in taunting him had been his undoing. He had assumed Morning Wind was out of options and waiting to die, never expecting the god-tier Lichborne skill.

After his trinket entered cooldown, Lichborne was the only skill still lit up; it was obvious it would remove the horror effect. Just as he was contemplating when to strike, he heard Baru’s voice—the man had walked right into his own death.

Even if Baru had ambushed him, Morning Wind might not have died; his Magic Ring’s passive effect could have triggered. It was difficult for Baru to kill him from behind, and Morning Wind had intended to trigger Lichborne only after the ambush. Baru had been surprisingly cooperative!

Even though Morning Wind was stunned while in Lich form, he woke up to find Ya Hun and the others retreating. They realized they were no match for him. They had used all their hidden skills, and Baru had been instantly killed—what other cards did they have left?

"Wait, why did Baru’s ring only consume 9 Magic Rings? Aren't there 19?" Wenge asked as she handed the rings to her sister, Gwen, noticing the discrepancy. It was common knowledge that Baru’s ring had consumed 19 rings; why were there only 9 now?

"Don't ask. That guy must have split the rings, hiding the other half with another player. Baru was clever, indeed—to think he would hide half of them!" Atlas sounded frustrated. He hadn't expected Morning Wind to survive, and now Baru’s rings were in someone else's hands.

At least the primary objective had been achieved: Baru was dead, meaning he could no longer transform into a Sand Scorpion to ambush them. Baru still had one ring left, and Atlas still had his chance.