Damn, their defense is real cer. Kai thought. I have to figure out how to- ah!

  She noticed it a moment too te. While she was analyzing the situatioarget vanished from sight!

  Winner just abandoned his position and advanced deeper into Stratus’ territory, running straight toward the Colossus!

  “S-Shit!” Kai cursed as she gave chase. Before she realized it, the euation flipped on its head!

  She inally started her offense in order to defend the Colossus. Her job was to block off Winner’s path, so she figured it was best to achieve that by aggressing on the guy.

  But, without Kai notig, Winner has been leading her by the he eime. At some point during their duel, he successfully sed positions with Kai! It was such a blunder on her end.

  Fuck, how did I let that happen!? Kai cursed internally. I don’t remember when I became such a Bronze pyer. Damn it!

  Positioning and spag were supposed to be two of Kai’s stro points. Yet, uhese tense circumstances, she blundered real bad.

  The entire fight, she was too preoccupied with not letting Winner get any closer to Merlin. She worked very hard to block off that route, to the point she almost fot about her inal mission: blog off the road to the Colossus.

  In a vacuum, her pn wasn’t that bad. Using her sharp positioning sense, she was able to disce Winner from advang both toward the Colossus and toward Merlin.

  But, her oppos were no pushovers. They realized what she was doing and pulled a fast one on her.

  Because of Merlin’s assault, Kai now had no ce of catg up to the Winner.

  Goddamn it! I literally ’t move! Kai ranted as her Bomber crawled forward, slower than a three-legged turtle. The slowdown debuff from Squall was a real bitch. At this rate, there was no hope of catg up to Winner...

  No, wait! There’s still ohing I do! Kai g the tig timer on Satchel Charge. With it, she’d easily propel herself toward Winner within moments!

  As, the skill was still on cooldown. After all, Kai just retly used it to initiate this very offense.

  As such, Satchel Charge wo more seds to e online. Just two more seds, that’s all.

  But, in this critical situation, these two seds were fatal. And, Winner wasted no time getting to the Colossus.

  WHISH! The Droid rolled across the floor toward his destination. He was clearly i on using everything at his disposal in order to this game ASAP.

  Was there nobody to stop this bastard? Nobody at all!?

  It was the end. By all ats, it looked as if Stratus was fihere was no stopping the dangerous Hyper-Carry at this point.

  But, at this darkest moment of the game - a st ray of hope shone upon them!

  An enemy has been killed!

  Finally, one of the ongoing battles came to an end. Lars successfully shot Challenger down, removing the pesky obstacle from his path.

  It took him way lohan expected, sidering it was a fight between a Carry and a Support. It attested to Challenger's impressive skill, as expected from a pyer chosen to py for the Leopards.

  But now, the obstacle was gone and Lars was free to chase Wihey still had a ce to turn this around!

  “Lars!” Kai called out. “Do something about their Carry, at least for a few seds! I’ll be right there!”

  “Also,” Yuel added. “Make sure to aim your shots at Winner himself and not at his drohey should expire soon enough, so there’s no point shooting them down at this point.”

  “Gotcha, dude!” Lars turned his back toward Winner and fired his Backfire on, propelling himself backward toward the target.

  So, we meet again! Lars grinned as he turned around to face his target in the middle of the flight. He wasted no time aiming his pistol at the fated rival. This ain’t quite how I imagined our duel to be, but I’ll take it. Let’s go yooooooo!

  BAM! Lars fired a shot in mid-flight before he even reached his destination.

  Few pyers could turn around this quickly and lockdown oarget while flying, but for Lars, stuff like that was as natural as breathing. And as usual, his aim ot on. 200% accuracy, yo!

  But, the enemy was ready for it. Or at least, he tried to be ready...

  Tch, he’s already shooting!? William grit his teeth.

  He made sure to stay as far aossible from Gunz after Ronald kicked the bucket. After all, it was clear as day that Gunz will hunt William

  And so, William was already mentally prepared for sidestepping ining shots. For starters, the pn was to sidestep the first shot Gunz will fire after he finishes flying.

  As, that meical monster didn’t fail to surprise. While still in mid-flight, Gunz did a 180 and fired immediately! What’s even more surprising was that the shot had perfect aim.

  Hmph. I guess that, at this point, it’s not even surprising at all. William scoffed. Looks like I better assume he pull off these pro-level pys on a whim. So yeah, as far as meical skill is ed, he’s definitely up there. But, so what of it?

  It was no reason for . Even as the bullet pierced through William’s shoulder, it only dealt so much damage. He was still very much alive and already in a great position te the Colossus.

  I’d gdly duel you again but now is not the time fames. William turned his shoulder to the ining attacker and trated his attention on the Colossus.

  But of course, he couldirely ighat wild beast. Therefore, he still kept a funz’s position and made sure to maintain a good distance from the dangerous assaulter.

  Alright, time to end this game. ZAP! William fired a ser beam at the giant moving statue.

  ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. Five more beams followed his lead, all nding on the Colossus. The objective was already down to 10% HP. Victory was right within reach!

  But, will Wilim make it in time? There were two savage wolves nearby, both thirsting for William’s blood.

  Gunz roag from the left, firing one bullet after another. Meanwhile, from the right, a loud BOOM resounded. Even without looking, that was clearly Beat using her Satchel Charge to get closer.

  The two hungry beasts were about to run all over William!

  It’d be easy enough to dodge their attacks if only that’s all I had to do here. William aimed his ser gun at the Colossus once more. But, I don’t have time for that. I have to end this, right here and now.

  He took a deep breath. Even though two dangerous beasts were about to crash into him, Wilim didn’t waver. He simply had no luxury to do so. As the Hyper Carry of the team, it was his job was to drop the curtain on this game. Therefore, he shot the Colossus once more!

  ZAP! ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. A barrage of sers assaulted the Colossus. Each shot shaved off about 1% of the giant’s HP, leaving the target at 4%.

  William was close, so close. But, it wasn’t quite over yet. He needed just one more round to seal the deal. Just ohat’s all.

  However, in that period of short time, the two predators have already closed the distance. Gunz a were already there, ready to tear William apart!

  Gunz sed his gun for a cutss and hacked away at Wilim’s side, abusing the superior Attack Speed of the melee on. Meanwhile, Beat hurled a bomb from behind.

  Together, their bined assault deleted a big k of William’s HP. But...

  You’re too te. William ighe threat and shot the Colossus once more. Even with his mediocre Attack Speed, he was fast enough to shoot one more time before colpsing. And, that’s all it took to win this.

  ZAP! ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP.

  Little by little, pixels vanished from the edge of Colossus's HP bar.

  The enemy Colossus has beeroyed!

  VICTORY

  You have been killed!

  “Hah.” William spat a sigh and leaned ba his chair. It seemed like he ractically a dead man as he fired that st shot. It only further emphasized how dangerously close the situation was.

  Well, I suppose Matthew could’ve ed up that remaining 4% HP by himself, so we had this game in the bag either way. That was William’s st thought before he closed his eyes and rewarded himself with a much-deserved rest.

  Finally, the needlessly long game was over. The Leopards finally seized the victory that should have been theirs at least 15 minutes ago.

  It was a long and tedious game that was supposed to suck all the life force out of Stratus. And, at first, it worked well. Poisonous frustration indeed seeped into Stratus’ veins, making all the teammates irritated.

  However, now that the game was over...

  “Yooooo!” Lars threw his arms into the air. “We were so close, haha!”

  “Yeah, we ALMOST stopped that bastard.” Kai shook her head and smiled wryly. “Gotta say, this was one of the messiest endgames I’ve ever pyed.”

  “Yes, you say that again...” Yuel rubbed his eyes. The moment the inteuation passed, a wave of tiredness assaulted him. Only now he has realized just how hard he has been overclog his brain in order to e up with good pys for that chaotidgame.

  “We may have lost this battle,” Vi said. “However! roved to everybody that we’re more than capable of testing the champions! The battle shall be ours!”

  “Heck yeah!” Lars pumped a fist.

  “Damn straight.” Kai nodded.

  The eeam celebrated the fact they came so close to victory, despite how crushing the defeat should’ve felt as a whole. After all, for more than half the game, the Leopards have been dominating the entire map and simply pying with their food.

  Lars really saved us back there. Yuel thought. If he didn’t push me so hard to go on the offehen we’d probably still be drowning in all that frustration even now.

  Thanks to Lars’s assertiveness oter, the matded on a bright note overall. Yes, it was a defeat, but ohat didn’t feel crushing or depressing. Stratus fought hard until the bitter end and almost made a eback.

  I should remember this tech for the future. Yuel made a mental e in handy when pying against other defeeams like Howard’s.

  Going out in a bze of glory felt so much better than being slowly choked to death. Instead of cursing the defeat, everybody was looking forward to the game. Well, everybody except for one pyer...

  “Zzz...” Nia was dozing off. She must have succumbed to slumber somewhere amidst the a after deeming the team doomed. She didn’t eveo revive in time to participate i battle.

  It’s amazing how she sleep in any situation, even on stage. Yuel smiled wryly. “Lars, could you please carry this sleepyhead back to the room?”

  “Sure thing, dude!” Lars easily picked up the skinny girl, as if she weighed less than a piece of paper. Only this buff goof could make it look this easy. Oher hand, Yuel’s arms would probably break fr that.

  “Haha, did she really fall asleep while watg us fight?” Lars ughed. “That’s some nerves of steel, yo!”

  The rest of the team ughed along as they headed back to the waiting room. There wasn’t a sirace of frustration or irritation anywhere on their faces.

  Naturally, that made a certain somebody feel quite disgusted.

  They’re... smiling? Cato twitched. My, how weird. That’s not how this was supposed to go.

  The pn was to break Stratus’ spirit so they won’t be able to py their best for the rest of the day. Yet, no matter how Cato looked at them, these weren’t the expressions of pyers whose souls fell to the depths of despair.

  Truly, it was uable. Cato worked so hard te such a long and frustrating game. Stratus’ pyers should have lost all hope and motivatio none of that happened.

  Is it because they were somewhat close t the tables on us at the end? It must’ve given them a boost of hope. Curses.

  That entire development wasn’t in the script. The game was supposed to be entirely in Cato’s hands. He was supposed to be the one who decides when the game ends, nobody else.

  Yet, Yuel rebelled against that rule. The enemy’s final py forced Cato’s hand not o twice! It was a coup d'etat!

  They regained some agency at the very end there, so that’s probably why they’re so happy. Cato scowled. Darn you, Yuel. I had you ered there but you just ’t quit in peace, you? Very well. Holy, that’s how it should be.

  Ba grade school, when Cato defeated Yuel in chess, there was a bad aftertaste from that match. At some point during the duel, it felt as if Yuel gave up on pushing his hardest for the win. He only fought to the bitter end out of spite, without b to form an actual pn for turning things around.

  As he was somebody who mao defeat Fiona, surely Yuel should have been able to e up with something, anything. But, it felt as if he wasn’t taking Cato seriously at all.

  That really wasn’t like him, was it? Of course not. He’s a sore loser, just like Fiona. Cato thought. I know that for a fact because I researched hundreds of his chess games in preparation. He always fought his hardest to the bitter end, always looking for a way to turn things around. Yes, just like this game.

  This was the “real” Yuel, the type of nefarious rebel who aggressively pushed until the very end, aiming for the win against all odds. Finally, Cato had the honor of pying against the guy who stumped Fiona in the past.

  And, I won again. Cato procimed so but he wasn’t smiling. Yes, I won… or, did I?

  The Leopards won the game, there was no question about that. But, as a shot-caller, did Cato win against the enemy’s shot-caller? Did he really outsmart the enemy aablish his superiority?

  Well, no problem. If there’s still any doubt remaining, then I’ll just clear it up in the game. Cato promised. In the round, I’ll finish you off ly and elegantly, so that nobody would have any doubts remaining. I promise you that.

  And with that, the first game of the scrimmage came to an end. It started off as a steamroll by the Leopards but it ended up too close to fort. That final csh almost made it look as if Stratus had a real ce of putting on a fight today, which was nothing more than nonsense.

  In the game, the Leopards will win ly without any hiccups. Cato promised so.

  DarkestCymore