It was impossible to dodge the arrows.
Ye Ci took the full brunt of the damage.
Fortunately for her, Ye Ci's level was not low. Although the level difference between her and Fleeting Time was unknown, it was quite insignificant judging from the damage of the arrows. The arrows took 20% of her HP away, but Ye Ci knew that the situation was anything but good. The skill cast by Fleeting Time was Multi Arrow. This meant that only 3-4 arrows would land on her. If he had decided to cast Rapid Fire instead, Ye Ci would've lost more of her HP to his attack.
With this factor taken into consideration, Ye Ci deduced that Fleeting Time's attack damage was nearly as powerful as hers. She would need to proceed with caution in this fight.
A duel between two hunters, who were both among the best of the best, was never a boring thing.
Ye Ci had an advantage over Fleeting Time, which was her passive ability, Strength Conservation. This ability meant that Ye Ci could use her skills without restraint, with the cooldown of the skills themselves being her only worry. Fleeting Time, without the Strength Conservation ability, had to take note of his mana consumption. Despite the mana-stealing attributes of his equipment, he was unable to achieve Ye Ci's condition of having her mana constantly full. He was, however, able to keep his mana level from dropping too rapidly.
The two were evenly matched in battle, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
With such a ferocious battle raging on between the two top-tier Hunters, the other players present, especially the Hunters, were distracted. Those Hunters who had died in battle were enjoying the fight in particular. They observed the duel with joy.
A Hunter was always alone.
They only associated themselves with their pets. They could always level up on their own. This meant that they seldom had the need to attend any party activities.
A hunter, however, was never lonely.
The Hunter class was the only class in Fate that could capture monsters as their pets. These pets were different from the monsters summoned by Warlocks. Hunters could interact with their pets, which was why they were never alone. They would always have a companion by their side.
The pets, as a Hunter's best friend, were unique. Each of them had their own habits, their own attributes, and each would react to matters differently.
Tortoises tended to be docile and would never attack unless given the order. Bear type pets were less intelligent. Although they were tough, they tended to have problems comprehending a command from their masters. Wolves and leopards were agile and cunning. They would often show intelligence in a fight. There were other even rarer pets which had their own unique behaviors and tastes. Feeding them was a very troublesome ordeal.
Animals such as dinosaurs and bats were rarely reared as pets. It was not because they were dumb, nor were their attacks weak. It was due to the sheer difficulty to raise their intimacy level. The time taken to raise the intimacy of such animals to 100% would be the same amount of time taken to tame at least 3-4 pets of other species. Other than that, it was really hard to please them. They were picky eaters, and would always judge their owner's character. They would not hesitate to abandon an owner with bad character...
Ye Ci's Ol' Four and Fleeting Time's Giant Vampire Bat had the same attitude when facing off against a unique pet.
Violent, Bad Tempered, Ferocious.
They were like two children fighting over a piece of candy, wreaking havoc across the battlefield.
Ol' Four was gigantic. Although his two tiny front paws were next to useless, its huge jaws and long, thick tail were deadly weapons. The Giant Vampire Bat might not have a tough hide like Ol' Four, but it was a flying animal. It flapped around with its gigantic wings and circled Ol' Four like a fly armed with its sharp claws. The bat would occasionally dash at Ol' Four, biting down on his weak spots, causing Ol' Four to fly into a rage.
Despite their ferocious fight, those two were active-offensive pets. They shared the same trait. Their aggro was easily attracted. If a member of the opposing team had a higher aggro than their default maximum aggro, which belonged to Gongzi You and Fleeting Time, they would immediately pounce at the person with that aggro value.
A duel between Hunters would usually not generate much aggro. Besides, the main objective of both Gongzi You and Fleeting Time was to secure the flag. Their duel definitely not a simple slugging match. This meant that their aggro was lower than usual. It was just all too easy to surpass their aggro value.
That was why the two beasts were often seen breaking off mid-fight and engaged other players from the opposing team. After spilling blood, the bat and the dinosaur would then once again engage each other in combat.
According to the rules of the game, a team could only hold the flag for 5 minutes. The party holding the flag needed to annihilate the members of the other party to proceed to the next stage of the boss fight.
The members of Awing the Heavens grew anxious with each passing second as Fleeting Time was unable to snatch the flag away from Gongzi You. Sinbad, who laid dead on the ground, was especially worried. He had basically missed the entire battle today and had died in a very pitiful way. They were in a very unfavorable situation caused by his death. Without their main healer, Awing the Heavens' party was in a pinch. This was the main cause of Sinbad's anxiety.
He was so anxious that he even raised his voice. He was extremely worried when he noticed the dwindling numbers of his party members and that Fleeting Time was still unable to defeat Gongzi You. He grumbled loudly at Fleeting Time, "Fleeting Time, can you do it? Or do you need me to get some of the DPS players in our party to help with taking Gongzi You out?"
Fleeting Time, who was still keeping a calm demeanor despite his battle with Ye Ci, stared coldly at Sinbad lying on the ground. Although he was just acting as a mercenary, he could understand Sinbad's feelings. After all, who the hell would be able to remain calm in this situation?
He pursed his lips, and replied indifferently, "A man must be able to do the deed."
Despite the dire situation, a lot of the party members chuckled at Fleeting Time's response. Those who lay dead on the ground broke out into loud guffaws.
Perhaps he was just too anxious, but Sinbad did not catch the hidden meaning behind Fleeting Time's words. The urgency in his voice increased, "If you can do it, then push her down and be done with it! See? See? Her damned dinosaur is back again..."
Otherwise, how could we say that Chinese culture was diverse and profound? How could we say that the Chinese language was deep and extraordinary?
Under normal circumstances, there was nothing wrong with Sinbad's words. But given all the time in the world they had, the players who were already lying dead on the ground twisted the meaning of his words out of boredom. Some of them even began to laugh out loud, "This a lil' too mean. She's not a loli, it's not easy to push her down."
"Pushing down a loli is nothing, it's those onee-san type ones who are tasty..."
"Fleeting Time! Don't you let the onee-san push you down instead..."
Fleeting Time pursed his lips as he was being teased by the 'corpses' laying on the ground. He then replied indifferently, "It is unlikely that you could kill her, anyways." With a slight pause, he spoke up again in an unyielding and firm tone with a hint of warning clear in his voice, "Besides, she's my opponent. You people stay out of it."
After all, Fleeting Time was merely working for Awing the Heavens and was not under their control. Awing the Heavens had paid quite a heavy price to hire such an expert helper. Even somebody like Sinbad held nothing but fear and respect for Fleeting Time. He didn't dare speak up against the man.
He let out a sigh after surveying the battlefield. He knew that it was impossible for them to win. The members of both sides were nearly all dead, but the flag was still with the Huntress. If the situation continued, Black Plum Guild would emerge victorious.
With that thought in mind, Sinbad let out another sigh, "First Blood... The First Blood..."
The mood of the other party members immediately dampened upon hearing his words. Just then, Ol' Four and the Giant Vampire Bat broke off their fight once again, bringing death to the rest of the few remaining players.
"Fleeting Time, you're the only one left! Get the flag! All hopes are on you now!" Sinbad was depressed at the situation that his guild was in.
"Gongzi, Gongzi, hang in there! Don't die! The Black Plum Guild is depending on you!" with Ye Ci aiding his guild, Fluttering Red Feathers had committed all the members of his guild into the fight. With all of them dead, he could only give his encouragement to Ye Ci who was bouncing around in the battlefield.
Ye Ci rolled her eyes and said, "Stop pressuring me, or I swear I'll leave right now~"
"Gongzi You, you can do it!" shouted a member of the Black Plum Guild, and his words were echoed by all of the guild members.
Awing the Heaven members were unwilling to back down as well, "Victory to Fleeting Time!"
Despite the bustling cheers, the two combatants who were locked in a stalemate were exceptionally calm. Both of them had only a third of their HP left. They studied each other intently with sharp gazes, trying to find an opening that would allow them to finish their opponent off.
Ye Ci's heart was thumping. Right at that moment, the only thing in her eyes was the man with silvery hair. His every expression, his every tiny movement was taken in by Ye Ci. When a chance presented itself, she would take him out with one strike.
All of a sudden, Fleeting Time twitched slightly...