Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editor: kara

"The great demon king is so handsome, so handsome, I'm dying… ahhhh, ohhhhhhh, I'm suffocating!"

"Who else!? Who else can play like the great demon king vs the mage god and blow up the skies!? The most badass thing across the whole galaxy!"

"I always feel like it's never two human beings fighting. It's said that Lord Four is a retired agent. Is this true? I also heard that Crimson is from the National Science Research Institute. What about this rumor? Is it true too?"

"Sticking out my tongue! Lick! Lick! Lick!"

"Rainy days have already died. Burn paper if you need to find us. Call for our souls if it's a small matter, or dig graves if it's a big matter."

"I feel that this is just as exciting as watching a blockbuster that can only be made by the best director, the best martial arts director, and best screenwriter…"

"Sneakily taking away my family's Crimson! Oh my god, I'm so distressed, will he have any psychological shadows…? You guys all said that Lord Four is an assassin! But, I don't believe it!"

"Guys, don't forget! He's the best! Actor! Actor, ahhhh!!"

"Who can put on an act better than my Lord Four? Oh my gosh, unless Lord Four really goes out in person, I won't recognize anyone else's skills, no matter who they are! I refuse! I refuse, ahhhh!!"

"Saluting quietly, ahead of time, for the birth of the new champion! Clap clap clap clap clap!"

As expected, the audience's comments on the public screen were as powerful as an exploding supernova. The commentators took a look at the scrolling comments and almost broke out in a cold sweat.

Each of Lord Four's games would bring this kind of amazing scene. It was really a shocking spectacle.

The director for the National Championships murmured in his heart: Great, I have all the material needed for a National Championships documentary. In the future, when I introduce how great of an event the 1170th National Championships had been, I will put in a cut of the public screen. It really gives a strong visual impact…

The two players came off the stage at a brisk pace and soon recovered from the rhythm of the game.

Although they'd been extremely cruel and fierce in the virtual arena, they were both calm players in reality. To use their fans' words, they were 'abstinent male god'… gods.

Crimson adjusted his collar, breathed a sigh of relief, and came forward to shake hands with Tyron. He said, "I hadn't expected that I wouldn't be able to hold on to my title until the end of my era and would lose the championship position in my last National Championships. However, I am very convinced about my loss to you."

Tyron had never had much to say when he faced his defeated opponents.

However, Crimson was indeed a very good mage, and he was very close to what a real mage was like in a Western fantasy world. It gave Tyron a subtle sense of familiarity, and at this moment, when he heard the other admit that he was going to quit the PVP arena, he asked, "Is PVE interesting?"

A trace of a smile suddenly appeared on Crimson's reserved and cold face. He glanced over at the 'huge back palace harem' in his friends and family seating area briefly and said, "You can give it a try. What's interesting isn't the PVE itself but fighting alongside your comrades."

Tyron was thoughtful.

The two of them didn’t try to avoid the microphone as they spoke. Although their voices were very quiet, they were still captured by the mic.

There was another round of frenzied screaming on the public screen. Fans were all crying and hollering that so and so was too cool, and there were also those who were simply excited by the scene of them having a friendly conversation while in the same camera frame.

After that, the two male contestants reverted back to their iceberg mode. When faced with the host's microphone, they gave the shortest possible answers, and there were no more than three words strung together at a time.

The host: QAQ feeling sad, growing mushrooms in the corner.

Crimson's team leader also had a large number of fans. At this time, they were also trying crazily to brush a sense of existence, "Hurry! Lord team captain! Take in the great demon king! It's an opportunity that can only be encountered by luck, quickly give full play to your charming personality!"

Beneath the stage, the team captain turned back and joked to the thief on their team, "Look, Rice Flower, there are people encouraging me to replace you."

The thief sneered, "I've wanted to quit a long time ago. Everyone in the team is a damned loser. Laozi was a good and proper assassin, yet you guys forced me to switch to a thief so that I can go out and steal purses for our family expenses--do you have the ability to make Lord Four switch to thief too? Do you have the ability to make Lord Four cheat and steal?"

The team leader instantly backed down. His momentum shriveled up, and he finally became a little pitiful person about the size of a palm, shivering and trembling, "So-sorry great one, you-you-you make the money, and you're the biggest…"

Reality proved that those who constantly hung out together would end up with similar brain circuits.

After the two players had stepped down from the stage, Crimson suddenly remembered something and said in a low voice, "Lord Four, do you want to change careers? For example, becoming a thief?"

Tyron: "……"

When faced with Crimson's eyes that seemed to flash with something hidden, Tyron cut off this train of thought at the roots, "I won't consider this profession."

Crimson wanted to ask why.

Tyron turned his head to look at Victor, "My partner attaches great importance to abiding by the law and is determined not to steal."

Crimson: "……"

The miniature Crimson inside Crimson's heart really wanted to complain: Who are you lying to!? Who do you think you're tricking?! The person you were strangling savagely just now! That was me! That gaze is something Laozi won't forget for a lifetime! Yet once you turn around, you've made an instant switch right in front of my face and become an impassioned, law-abiding citizen?!

At this time, the benefits of being an iceberg were put on display. Two seconds later, Crimson replied as though nothing had happened at all, "Oh."

After getting off the stage, Crimson was surrounded by his 'back palace harem', and he left like a moon surrounded by stars.

Before leaving, the team leader waved to Victor in a friendly manner and said, "We're going to leave on a mission soon. It's said that it's a world with magic, and after the land has been opened up and stabilized, you and your Lord Four are welcome to come and play. You're welcome to come visit any time."

After having watched the game together, Victor had already built up 50 points of goodwill with this team captain. He waved his hand back and said, "We'll definitely go if there's a chance!"

Then, Victor turned back and saw his old antique's probing expression.

Tyron: "When I came down from the stage, you first spoke to Crimson, then spoke to their team captain. Were you going to pay attention to me at all?"

Victor was instantly scared to death and hurriedly coaxed him, "My husband is too handsome, dazzlingly handsome, and he can even win the National Competition championship… And, your opponent was Crimson!"

Tyron: "Did you think that Crimson's chances of winning were very high before the end of the fight?"

Victor didn't think twice before saying, "How could that be!!? I knew that you would win right from the start! It's just that we have to save some face for Crimson, right…?"

The old antique was pleased. He raised his chin slightly and said, "Let's go. Let's go eat something good."

The two of them hadn't left yet when the National Championships' notification personnel came up to find them.

They first congratulated Tyron on winning the prospective championship position, then informed him of the upcoming match: There was one final placement round tomorrow, where the players who were temporarily listed in fourth and fifth place would compete against each other. If Vantico could win against the fourth place, then it would be Odin in first place, followed by Crimson, then Jiuzhou, then Vantico.

According to the rules, the contestants would only be matched up against players who were up to three positions above or beneath them. If the next three players beneath the prospective champion had already played (and lost) against them, then there wouldn't be any semi-finals, and they would become the champion directly.

In that situation, all they had to do was wait for the Championship's final night.

Victor looked up the winning rate and was very happy. He spoke in a low voice, "Vantico has won against this person before. This time, his winning rate is estimated to be over 70%. I think his win is likely!"

It was no wonder that people were filling the screens with 'quietly saluting the birth of the new champion in advance' type comments. It seemed that there was little suspense left for this session of the National Championships.

After that, Vantico himself came over.

Although he still had one last match tomorrow, Vantico's spirits seemed to have recovered completely after today. He was full of energy as he called out to Tyron, "I will win! So, there's nothing for you to do after this--don't forget about the matter that I came to look for you for!"

Tyron shook the key twice and said to Victor, "It's quite interesting. I think it's like beating up the little one and provoking the big one to come."

Victor snickered, "There's the kind of feeling that Vantico has raised an 'old grandfather' who teaches martial arts inside the key…"

Tyron: "???"

Victor: "……" Oh, fine. Although the old antique had learned a lot of memes and jokes, he still hadn't mastered the uncommon novel memes!

Victor had a broad smile on his face as he pulled Tyron with him, "Let's go, let's go. Let's celebrate the future champion! Let's find a big restaurant to eat at…"

……

They didn't make it. They were stopped again.

This time, there were a large number of e-sports fans waiting for them. They were so excited that almost half of them were in tears… Really. The Earth District hadn't won the National Championships in many years. They were originally the Star District with the smallest population and were always discriminated against in the e-sports circles by other Star Districts…

They'd waited many years, and the wife fans had already become mother fans, and finally, they had come out with an Iceberg War God. It hadn't been easy for them!

It wasn't good to reject these kinds of fans directly. The great demon king was expressionless as he watched them all chatter and sing around him.

Don't think that he didn't know: Some people towards the back had secretly taken out rainy day dolls, and others were recording videos while speaking in a voice they believed was very quiet--and they even dared to speak into their cell phones and say, "My god, close distance, lick lick lick lick lick lick lick lick…."

They were still licking.

Still licking?

Were they done licking!?

The great demon king's forehead was covered in a network of green veins.

Victor was so scared that he quickly opened up the way for him. He burst out with a standard, formulaic smile and said, "May I trouble everyone to make way? Don't squeeze in too much, it won't be good if people get hurt. Have you all eaten yet? Come on, come on, friends on this side, can you make way for the people behind you? Let's not block the exit…"

After a series of words, the two of them were finally able to swish away, disappearing into the special passage.

…….

As a result, they were blocked again at the entrance of the special passage.

This time, they were blocked by a large number of people who wanted to ask for the image rights to Lord Four. Amongst them, most of them wanted to make games. This was probably because the 15th edition of the Simulation A-League was sold out and out of stock. There were people far, far away in the Sixth Star Province who had come all the way to buy the Earth District version of the game, paying shipping fees that were over twenty times the price of the original game.

There were others who wanted to write songs for him, people who wanted to make documentaries, and others who wanted to find Lord Four and Victor for authorization to write them into love stories!

"We guarantee that it'll be thrilling, exciting, romantic, and beautiful!" The other party assured them as they held Victor's hand, "I'll give you the most pale and attractive skin in the world, curly hair that smells like rose, and a charming voice like a sea demon!"

… They were really worthy of being people who wrote beautiful romance novels! This wording was enough to scare even Victor!

Tyron stretched out his long arm and pulled Victor into his arms, hiding his face. He thought coldly to himself: You crowd of stupid interstellar humans, if a male sea demon's infrasound voice really came out here, your hearts would be the first to explode.