The Return of the God Level Assassin [BL]

WHEN darkness swallowed the area completely, Luo Yan didn't panic. He'd already considered this might happen. Fighting him meant dealing with his ability to vanish into shadows - so naturally, the best counter was to eliminate all shadows entirely. And the quickest way to do that? Remove every light source. With how clever Azrael was, there was no way he wouldn't have thought of that strategy.

Luo Yan let it happen. He already had a plan in mind. But he couldn't make his move yet - he needed to wait for the right moment. So he allowed himself to get hit by Azrael's arrows. It wasn't that difficult, really. In the complete darkness, he couldn't see the arrows coming at all. Still, despite that, he managed to avoid the worst of it, deflecting what he could and twisting away from the rest.

He knew Azrael must have some way to see in the darkness - there was no other explanation for how his arrows kept finding their mark. So he decided to play along, acting like he was struggling more than he actually was. Not that he wasn't having trouble - in complete darkness against an opponent who could clearly see him, he was definitely at a disadvantage. But he made sure to exaggerate his movements, letting his dodges come just a bit too late, his blocks just slightly off.

As the fight dragged on and his avatar accumulated more wounds, Luo Yan began layering on the performance. He let his movements appear sluggish. When an arrow grazed his arm, he made sure to stagger dramatically. When another clipped his leg, he let out a gasp that was just a little too loud. He wanted Azrael to think he was desperate and on the verge of collapse. For him to believe victory was just one more arrow away.

That moment - when Azrael would think victory was certain, when his focus would waver just enough - that was when Luo Yan would make his move. And as it turned out, that moment came faster than he'd anticipated.

When he felt that it was taking a long time for Azrael to attack, like in comparison to the time in between his attacks earlier, he knew that the other was preparing something big that would finish this match. So, Luo Yan decided it was time to make his move.

He took out an item from his inventory—a [Solar Flare Orb], a palm-sized sphere of cloudy crystal with liquid gold swirling inside. When crushed, it could unleash a blinding flash of light so intense it would illuminate everything in the area for a full half a minute.

As soon as the light filled the place, Luo Yan quickly used [Shadow Walk]. He dove into the shadows and jumped up in front of Azrael. Then he used a one hit skill and stabbed the other in the chest.

Luo Yan watched as shock spread across Azrael's face. The archer looked down slowly at the blade buried in his chest. His mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Then his body began dissolving into glowing light particles.

The moment the last particle vanished, two system notifications popped up in front of Luo Yan.

[The last member of team Celestials has been eliminated.]

[Team Yunyue wins!]

Luo Yan barely had time to process the notification before he felt his consciousness being pulled away. His vision blurred, then cleared to reveal the familiar curved glass of the VR pod inches from his face, its interior lights glowing softly.

The glass cover slid open with a quiet hiss. Luo Yan pushed himself up slowly. As soon as he stepped out of the pod, strong arms wrapped around him suddenly, pulling him into a tight hug. He stiffened at first, startled by the unexpected contact - then relaxed as Shen Ji Yun's familiar scent washed over him.

"You did great, Yan Yan," Shen Ji Yun said, his voice soft against his ear.

Luo Yan felt his lips curve up without thinking. He gave a light pat to the other's back. "You too. We all did our best."

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and then Shen Ji Yun was suddenly pulled away. Luo Yan saw Luo Jin glaring at Shen Ji Yun before proceeding to hug him instead.

"Tone down the skinship a little. Remember, Dad is watching us," Luo Jin said. "And good job—you were amazing."

Luo Yan rubbed the back of his neck. Okay, maybe he hadn't thought that through. In the excitement of their victory, he'd completely forgotten their father had been watching the whole match. But surely that quick hug wasn't enough to raise suspicions... right?

He barely had time to dwell on it before Bai Ze yanked him into a crushing hug. "That was insane, Yan Yan!" Still buzzing with energy, Bai Ze whirled toward Shen Ji Yun, arms already spreading. "Ji Yun! We freaking won!"

Shen Ji Yun started to step aside to avoid Bai Ze's hug but then remembered how he had just hugged Luo Yan. Luo Jin's earlier glare had clearly reminded him they were in a very public place, so he needed to be careful. If he avoided Bai Ze's hug now, the way he'd hugged Luo Yan earlier would look suspicious. So he let Bai Ze hug him, then quickly stepped back.

Su Yuqi patted Luo Yan's shoulder with an approving grin. "That last move with the light orb was brilliant. You fought smart out there—using his own strategy against him like that? It was perfect." Then she added wryly, "Though I'm kinda disappointed I was the first one on our team to get eliminated."

"That wasn't your fault at all," Luo Jin cut in immediately.

Su Yuqi turned to him, shaking her head with a helpless smile. Like she'd known Luo Jin wouldn't let her blame herself—and found it endearing.

Luo Yan left them to their conversation, his gaze drifting across the venue. As his initial rush of victory began to fade, he finally noticed the roaring crowd—their applause and cheers still ringing through the stadium.

That's when the two emcees stepped onto the center of the stage.