章 22: - Final Round

After Gus finished explaining his plan, he was greeted with a message.

*Allies Survived, Round 2: [7]*

*Reward: [7] Leadership points*

'I get rewarded for keeping people alive? It'll be like that in a real fight too, right? Maybe we don't base our strategy on map control and numbers advantage, then.'

Gus shook his head. He couldn't do that, not even if it would help him somewhat in the longer term. It was not right, and went in the face of everything that he valued. There is no true way to help others without at least a little bit of sacrifice, and he would never be like those who chased power above all else.

*Enemies Eliminated, Round 2: [3]*

*Rewards: [50] EXP x 3*

*LEVEL UP!!*

*Reward: [100] System Points.*

*Reward: Access to Legend Quests.*

*Reward: Level up crate.*

*Reward: 'Inventory' has been added to the menu*

'I levelled up! Wait, Legend Quests? Level up crates? And why wasn't the inventory there anyway?'

*Legend Quests are quests designed to focus on a specific legend, and at present a specific attribute. Information regarding them has been added to the Glossary.*

*Level up crates are bonus rewards achieved by increasing your level. Inside is a basic item, designed to push you that little bit further forward. Level up crates, like all other crates, scale with your level. This means that the rewards that you obtain from them will always be relevant to you at the time of obtaining them.*

*The inventory is a level 2 reward so that the system user can not use the inventory until they have levelled up.*

'Couldn't it just be locked? Like the Store and Milestones are?'

*That… was not considered.*

"Gus, you okay? You look like you're doubting yourself," Connor said.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get this thing won," Gus responded.

He reprimanded himself inside his head. He had to be careful as to when he interacted with the system, since he did not want to do anything to make himself stand out, especially not in an arena with such a high amount of cameras capturing his every move. His name already thrust him out of normality enough as it was.

As the third round started, the Reapers made a spread out formation along their side of the arena. During the intermission between rounds, the destruction and disruption to the arena that Joel and Teala had created was fixed. It was obvious this was going to happen, as it meant that the later rounds would not be affected by the decisions of the two squads during the rounds. Due to this, they had to be cautious of the maze of obstruction that constructed much of the arena's centre.

While spread out, they were far less vulnerable to the rush strategy of the Blades, especially with how the Blades currently were. After the second round, their faith in the success of the rush would be shattered, yet Gus was willing to bet that they did not have another strategy to fall back on. If they did, then surely they would have attempted it in the second round, given that the Reapers had seen the rush. Unless, of course, they thought the Reapers would have predicted a different strategy and chose the rush in an effort to counter that.

"So much to consider, and this is just one match," Gus muttered.

A rush never came. It seemed that the Blades were lost without the single tool in their arsenal, and were now hoping for the Reapers to make the first move.

"And, with five minutes gone, neither side has made a move. Why do you think that is, Adam?"

"Mind games, Michael. The Blades are doubting their rush, and now don't know what to do about this match. As for the Reapers, this is the ideal situation. Let me just bring to your attention one of their members, Kyle Weat. During the first round, he was the only one to secure any hits under the pressure of the rush strategy. And, judging from the report given to us by the Academy, sponsored by Solus Supplies, his accuracy in the little that they have seen from him so far is exceptional. With such a member, this little stalemate suits the Reapers perfectly."

"You have to consider the stalemate breaker in this, don't you?"

"You do, but I'm unsure if either team knows about it. Teams typically are not given all the information about this kind of thing, mainly to simulate real conditions, and the breaker is changed year on year, as well as week on week, to prevent prior knowledge giving one team an advantage over the other. Of course, for this week's game it is the Control breaker, and the point of interest is the Bus. For anyone at home who is not aware, the Control breaker is a tiebreaker that requires a team to control an area of the arena for a matter of seconds."

"Could the- Wait, what's this?"

Spotting some small amount of movement through the smallest of gaps in the crates and debris around the arena, Kyle launched a shot across at the body of one of the members of the Diamond Blades.

"And the Reapers have the advantage!"

"A really good shot there, Michael. And not just because of the difficulty. Now the Blades are on a timer, they have to move and engage the Reapers or Weat just picks them off."

As the commentator had predicted, the Diamond Blades quickly made their way up the arena towards Gus and the others. As they crept closer, fire sprung out between the two lines, with energy slamming into walls and dissipating, or occasionally connecting with their intended target.

Gus managed to pick off one as they approached, but a quick glance across at his allies confirmed that it was not enough. One by one, the Blades clawed the deficit back and even turned it over thanks to some poor decision making by some of the Reapers.

Eventually, Gus charged forward into the maze of boxes. He was spotted, but provided a good enough distraction to give Kyle the opportunity to take out two more of the Blades, before finally being taken out himself.

In the end, it came down to Gus against one member of the Blades. He quietly made his way through the debris, hoping to find a good angle to attack his opponent from. At the same time, his opponent scanned the area looking for him.

A low, unseen box tripped Gus, putting him on the floor and giving his position away. His weapon skidded away from him along the floor, leaving him at the mercy of his opponent.

'It's done. I failed.'

Someone once said that inspiration comes from the strangest of places, and Gus soon learned how true that was. Despite him never giving up in the past, be it against Timer that day or the years of torment he suffered thanks to the other kids who became Evolved, he found his determination fueled by his father, the very man he blamed for the torment.

Throughout their time at the research station given to the Evolved project, and later in the secret facility Andrew Braye used to conduct illegal research, he had never given up. Despite the fact that the government had outlawed it, despite the fact that the original tests, conducted on prisoners, were failures, despite the fact that his very son, the first subject of the new experiment on children, was a failure he never gave up. He always tried to make his son a success.

'Why am I thinking of him? Why am I thinking like that? I keep on fighting, why can't I think about myself?'

In truth, Gus's own determination was not enough for this situation. He gave up here, where his father never gave up when he was on the floor, with his life on the line.

'He's still a prick,' Gus thought as he began to move. He did not have his weapon, but there was nothing in the rules that forbade him from using his body to fight. Pushing himself off the ground, he took the lone Blade by surprise.

He ducked low to the right, before driving a fist into his opponent's side. He immediately followed it up with a left fist to the face. His assault dazed his opponent, who was caught unaware by the attack.

Taking the moment given to him, Gus wrested the gun out of his opponent's arms and turned it on its previous owner.

"And he did it! The leader of the Apex Reapers rose to the challenge when his squad needed him! The Reapers have won!"

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