"Everybody, heed my words, please!" Vi dramatically stretched his arms. "I'd like to say a few words."

  "Yo, what's up?" Lars asked. "You look all nervous and stuff, haha."

  "Indeed, I shan't deny it,” Vince said. “A certain degree of nervousness might, in fact, be ii the present moment. heless! I shall pull through with this crucial task!"

  "Well, go ahead then." Kai shrugged. She knew better than to eain this guy's usual nonsense.

  "As I have previously stated," Vi started. "VanishingFlower performed greatly in the previous game, as did the rest of you. You bested her than the regional champions, it’s a tremendous feat!"

  "Heck yeah!" Lars pumped a fist.

  "However!" Vi excimed. "Do not fet that the title our oppos possess is not just for show. They are the Leopards, trained by her than the legendary Fernando Ruez!"

  "Yeah, yeah, we know they're good," Kai said. "And?"

  "Strong oppos always adapt, such is survival of the fittest,” Vi cimed. “Therefore, while you’re celebrating your current achievement, our oppos are no doubt using this time to prepare for the and final game!"

  "Well, duh. Of course they are," Kai ented. "What's your point here, exactly?"

  "My point is that we mustn't allow ourselves tet our foes’ superb skill,” Vi said. “In the game, the Leopards will surely e at you all like never before! I'm certain they've learned from their mistakes and won't repeat them. As such, this will be the final boss battle!"

  "Sick, yo!" Lars grinned.

  "Scary..." Nia looked away.

  "W-We have to do our best!" Ben said.

  "Huh. Why does this feel like a roundabout version of something Yuel would say?" Kai g the guy standing behind Vi, who possibly mastermihis entire speech. That robably his new way of throwing cold water at people.

  It would’ve been way funnier if Yuel tried to say all of this himself. Kai chuckled as she imagined Yuel delivering the same kind of bombastic speech. It‘d be a surreal se.

  I guess using Vince is not a terrible solution. Kai admitted. At least, this is better than being attacked with shit like "Don't let it get to your head."

  Vi tinued praising the Leopards, selling them as a force to be reed with. Thanks to this approach, the team mao stay happy about the ret victory, while simultaneously registering the game as a difficult challenge. None of them was fooling themselves that the game would be easy.

  "And," Vi tinued. "When I said that the game will be like a final boss, it was more than just an analogy. There might indeed be a secret final boss present in the uping game!"

  "Say what?" Kai raised an eyebrow.

  "Yo, what secret boss?" Lars's eyes lit up. "They got a secret pyer they haven't show!?"

  "Ihey do, or so our intel suggests,” Vi said. “For more details, I'd like to call Chessmaster to the stage." Vi boresented Yuel to the crowd.

  "Thanks." Yuel stepped forward. This was a nicely prepared stage. He had the entire audience's attentiht off the bat without having to work for it.

  Vi really did a good job, eveer than I expected. Yuel admitted.

  The atmosphere in the room underwent a plete overhaul in just a few mihe team remained in high spirits, yet the sense of celebration had mostly faded away. Instead, they were now brimming with a strong desire to fight hard, as well as curious about this foreshadowed "secret final boss".

  "As Lars guessed, the Leopards really have a 'secret' pyer, so to speak,” Yuel said.

  "Seriously?" Kai made a face. "That sounds like something straight out of a movie."

  "Yes, I didn't believe it either,” Yuel admitted. “That's why I thhly interrogated the informant, to make sure he wasn't making things up. By the end of it, I had the impression he was telling the truth."

  "And, who is that 'informant', exactly?"

  "The one you know as Aegis, the captain of StormBlitz."

  "Huh?" Kai’s jaw dropped. "Is he even trustworthy? I know you used to be in the same club before, but now you're enemies."

  "It's okay, we've always been 'enemies', even ba the club."

  "Really? How so?"

  "That's a long story," Yuel said. "Let's just say he's one of the most annoying rivals I've ever faced."

  "Yep!" Lars nodded. "These dudes are like fire and water. They always csh, yo!"

  "It’s quite the intriguing tale," Vi ented. "I’d definitely like to hear more details on this topic. I already imagi - the ultimate csh between absolute offense and absolute defense!"

  “Don’t worry,” Yuel reassured. “ "I’ll eain you with many stories about StormBlitz when we hold a review meeting about them. But, for now, I'd like to talk about the Leopards' 'secret' pyer."

  "Who may or may ," Kai added.

  "The game will ahat for us,” Yuel said. “Meanwhile, I'd like to share what I know of the guy, so we're all on the same page."

  And so, he gave them the gist of what Howard told him. How this secret pyer, Apprentece, was a Korean traudent who pyed at a very high level ba his homend.

  "A Korean pyer?" Ben asked. "Um, I’m sorry, but that sounds a little sketchy..."

  "Nah, it’s not a little," Kai said. "It sounds like total bullshit, no way that's real! How did you even fall for this shit? I thought you were smarter than that."

  "Yes, this was my first rea as well," Yuel expined. "However, the more I interrogated him for details, the more vinced I became that he wasn't trying to deceive me."

  The biggest tell was Howard mentioning how the Korean pyer almost went toe-to-toe with Ignis. Howard wasn't the type to belittle his sister's skill, so he wouldn't use a detail like that for a lie. Probably.

  "Yo, so dude is a pro!?" Lars made noise. "I totally hope he's real then! I wanna fight a real pro!"

  "Um, I rather not..." Ben lowered his head.

  "Scary..." Nia did the same.

  "Hmph." Kai crossed her arms. "Even if he IS real, who knows how exaggerated that story is? Maybe the pros just went easy on him."

  "I doubt that's the case," Yuel said. "Maybe other pros would do that, but I've pyed Ignis before. She has a childish side to her, so she wouldn’t pull any punches if she feels tested."

  "Wait, you have faced a pro!?" Vi jumped. "One by one, juicy episodes from Chessmaster's past are revealed! Is this a fshback episode!?"

  "Definitely not," Yuel asserted. "We don't have time for a memory trip right now."

  "But, it’s iing," Nia said. “How did the match go?”

  "Um, yeah, I'm curious too..." Ben added shyly.

  "We pyed Duel a few times and the final score was 8-4 in her favor."

  "Huh.” Kai blinked. “You actually took a few rounds from a pro?”

  “She was drunk and she uimated me at first. But, once I started taking games from her, she stopped pulling any punches and ran all over me.”

  “That’s one salty pro pyer.”

  “Right?” Yuel smiled wryly. “That’s why I doubt she took Apprentece lightly. I wouldn’t be surprised if she uimated him at first, but if he gave her a hard time, then she surely went ham on him. That’s the Ignis I know, at least.’

  Yuel expanded on that point by expining how the battle between Apprented Ignis supposedly pyed out. Howard shared more than enough key details to get the overall picture.

  Supposedly, Ignis was caught off-guard by Apprentece’s Korean Step cel. This made her perform poorly at first, but she soon adapted. However, even then, it was a close fight with some ued twists and turns. Though, of course, Howard insisted that his sister was “obviously stronger” overall.

  “Welp,” Lars said. “No wonder a KOREAN dude use the KOREAN Step cel, haha.”

  “Actually, it’s VERY impressive,” Yuel argued. “KC is an advaeique that requires a tremendous amount of practice. It demands so muvestment that most pros in the West don’t even bother learning it; they rather allocate that practice time to other things.”

  "Sounds like a challenge! I should totally learn it, yo!"

  "We already talked about this." Yuel sighed. "You still o develop your fuals and expand your roster, you don’t have time to practice Ktil you py at least five Carry csses at the same level you py Trickshooter and Gunslinger, it'll be ineffit to waste your practice time on KC."

  "Welp then, it sounds like I better get to work ASAP!"

  "You really should," Yuel said. "In fact, your Elf should have been ready for today..."

  Perhaps it was finally time to address this topic. With the current flow of the versation, it was a good opportunity to expose Lars’s Elf for what it truly was...

  “Your Elf should have been ready for today,” Yuel repeated. “But, it isn’t.”

  "What do ya mean not ready?” Lars asked. “My Elf was born ready, yo!"

  "Is it, really?" Yuel narrowed his eyes. "Somehow, I haven't felt the impact of your Elf on any of the games today. Have any of you felt it?" he asked the others. "Was Lars’s Elf today anywhere as good as his Trickshooter unslinger?"

  "Holy, 't say I thought too much about it," Kai admitted. "But yeah, now that you mention it, Lars's presence wasn't very promi in any of the games, was it? That's pretty unusual."

  "Hrmmmm." Vi crossed his arms and knotted his brows. "If we must pare Gunz's Elf to his Trickshooter unslihen I must admit it falls short. So far, it has not delivered the same kind of impact that previously earned Gunz the title of the Insa of the Apocalypse."

  "But, he has been pying so well," Ben argued. "He eveoe-to-toe with Winner and Challenger in Bot. They are very strong pyers."

  "Yes, he was able to match them," Yuel admitted. "But, that's all he did. At no point today did Lars truly domihe petition. I'm sure his Trickshooter and Gunslinger would’ve been able to do so, but not his Elf. I wonder why."

  "Well..." Lars smiled awkwardly and averted his eyes. "Them Leo dudes are just that tough, ya know? They py this nasty defense across the board, so it’s super hard to find any good opportuoday."

  "Is that really all?" Yuel didn't buy it. "Anyway, there’s no time to have this discussiht now, but rest assured that we’ll return to this subject ter, in full detail."

  "Yay, haha..."

  "Ba topic," Yuel said. "From what we knorentece use Kd, it's going to be different from Winner's KC, which seems to work only about 50% of the time. From what I uand, his KC is fwless, so keep that in mind when you try to punish him."

  "Roger!" Lars saluted.

  "I was given a few more details, but we don't have time to discuss the specifics right now."

  "Indeed," Vi agreed. "The bout is already upon you. The final shoaits!"

  "In case we really face this Korean pyer, I'll fill you in on the rest of the details during the game,” Yuel said. “For now, I just wao make sure you’re mentally prepared for the possibility."

  Everybody nodded in respoh serious expressions. There was no hint of euphoria on their faces anymore.

  Even Nia, who had been hailed as the messiah until a few moments ago, was now looking a little tense. After hearing about the existence of the Korean pyer, nobody was deluded about having an easy game anymore.

  I suppose I have Vio thank for this. Yuel thought. If he hadn't set up the stage so effitly, then I’m sure they wouldn’t have received this news nearly as well.

  And so, the final game of the day on them, It was right there, beyond the stairs leading to the stage

  Who will they meet up there? Will Appreruly make an appearance? Or, was the Korean pyer just a boogeyman that Howard ied? It was time to uhat ond for all, in this final decisive game!

  DarkestCymore