บท 22: First Blood Promise
The second round ended with a fair fight. When Clark praised his brother as a good marksman user, he was not biased at all. James performed a perfect core for his squad.
"Good job, Vultramites Squad!" he yelled and waved his hands at James.
Comparing to the initial chaotic match, the players have performed cleaner gameplay. Clark enthusiastically clapped his hands to cheer for his brother when their squad was announced as the winner of the round. James also waved back and smiled at his direction before he joined his group.
"Ahhh... it's us now!" Clark muttered.
"Just stick to the formation." Sofia gave him a gentle pat on his shoulder. Clark took a deep breath and offered a bright smile to her.
"Aight, give me a pat too. I suddenly felt nervous!" Joey leaned his shoulder near Sofia after noticing the gesture she gave to Clark. They all giggled as Sofia patted his back.
"Are you nervous too? Do you need a pat?" Sofia turned her attention to Stephen and Claire. Both of them playfully nodded and gestured their confirmation.
Sofia shook her head while a warm smile was plastered in her lips, she then patted them gently. These four people, they were the very first people that would be under her care since her soul transmigrated. Their value weigh so much in her heart.
Side by side, their group slowly stepped out of their booth. They were the last squad to walked towards the middle lounge.
On the stage, the large screen quickly displayed the squad names for the third round. The audience started to chatter when they saw familiar squad names.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed two types of gameplay from the previous matches. So far, we have laughed and enjoyed watching the match. For the third round, what kind of gameplay would these participants show to us?" the commentator spoke as the players in the 3rd booth were starting to gather on the middle lounges.
"Yes! The third round consists of several distinguished squads. We have the Beast Squads and Elite Players Squad. They are a famous group of streamers that I know, some of you have been following on your social media! Who do you think will win for this round?" the second commentator urged and the crowd instantly went wild.
"Go Beast Squads!!! Go!! Go!!! Go!!!" a female in the middle of the crowd cheered boldly. She was holding a poster with the name of her favorite squad.
"Elite Players Squad for the win!!! Woohhhooo" another voice followed.
On the bleachers, the fans of the two squads quickly cheered for them.
"Alright! Guys, we also have Hidden Wind Squad and HyperCarry Squad! These groups are known for their aggressive gameplays. This round surely... a hundred percent sure that this will be a thing to watch!" the first commentator shouted to gather all the audience's attention.
"Ohh... and the all-female squad is also in this round. I'm sure the fans of Legendary Gamers Squad are here. Make some noise!"
"Woohhh..."
"Go Legendary Gamers!!!"
"Wait, there's more! The Pilot Gaming Squad and Noob Amateurs Squad are also part of this squad. Too many famous streamers in this match!"
"PG!!! Pilot Gaming do your best!!!"
"Noob Amateurs get that victory!!!"
The energy of the crowd continued to build up as the commentators continued to introduce the squads.
"Lastly, we have a newly formed group named The Chronos Squad."
On the front side, the three figures from FAB_Gamers clapped their hands. Also, on the booth number 5, Brent, the leader of the Lee Gaming Squad was also smiling from ear to ear as he looked at Sofia sitting on their center lounge. He ordered his squad to clap, which gave the members a no choice but to cheer for Chronos. The other squads were slightly baffled by their enthusiasm for just a new group.
"I don't know about this Chronos squad, but it looks like the Lee Gaming Squad is supporting them." one of the squad leader on fifth booth whispered secretly to his team. But his comments were drowned by the cheering of Brent's squad.
The players immediately settled their account and the large screen displayed the countdown of the match. After five seconds, the screen display changed.
Game Start!
[The Chronos Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
[Elite Players Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
[Legendary Gamers Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
[Noob Amateurs Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
[Beast Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
[Pilot Gaming Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
[Hidden Wind Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
[HyperCarry Squad] Kills: 0, Exp: 0, Gold: 0
"Okay folks, here we go!" the commentator mentioned as the countdown finished and all characters were transported to the 40-Player map. Every stats of all eight squads were zoom on the screen. Then, the viewers perspective changed to the entire map and showed all the squads.
"Our players are on move!" the other commentator announced seeing the characters were sprinting out of their lane.
The audiences were silent that they could only hear the speaker on stage and the background sound of the game. They looked on the screen intently and suddenly realized the direction of these players. They were all going towards the base to located on the North. When they examined, they saw that it was the base of the Chronos Squad.
"AHA! It seems that our players for this round have agreed to remove one squad first! Ahhh, I felt bad for the Chronos Squad!" the commentator was also quick to analyze the situation.
It had just been 15 seconds of the game but the commentators immediately realized that the goal of the 7 squads. Based on their movements, they could tell that these squads have an under the table agreement. But such agreement was not prohibited in the rules of the tournament. So, their would be no sanction on their actions.
They were not attacking each other. If an enemy would be near their range, they will just ignore it and proceed to move forward.
Their characters just continued to sprint in one direction.
"Interesting!" WINS mumbled. He also got the gist of what would happen. He didn't thought of the possibility but now, he realized the fake alliances of the squads.
The operator quickly zoomed in on the characters of the Chronos squad.
"Okay! So, here is the Chronos squad. Their tank on the top lane. The support and marksman on the mid lane. Their assassin on the bottom lane. They will need a tight defense! Can they survive against these huge number of enemies?" the first commentator started to narrate.
"Wait a minute, their mage is not moving?! The Chronos squad mage is still on the base?! What is happening?! Is he AFK?!" the other commentator was quick to describe the scene. Unlike the previous match which they were confused about which squad to look, this one was easier to speak their opinions.
"The mage looks like he is really AFK! They are really done!" the first commentator agreed after seeing that Clark's mage character with the name above his head 'Amateur Mage', just stayed on the base.
"Wow!!! So this Chronos squad has 4 active members only? Did the mage got disconnected? What a troublesome situation!" the commentator lamented.
On the front seats of the audience area, the members of FAB_Gamers were also baffled about why Clark did not move his character.
"During our practice match, their mage is kind of newbie."
"Yes, he is a newbie. His skills are not yet fully developed."
"Boss WINS, why is the mage not moving? I know he is not so good. Could it be that he become so scared and did not move?"
"It's their strategy. Just pay attention." WINS answered. His face had also gone serious while glancing from the player's lounge to the big screen. He looked back and forth to see the reaction of Sofia's team.
"Strategy? Ahh!! They don't look like they are scared indeed." his member stated as he also caught a glimpse of Sofia's squad just sitting calmly on their desk. In fact, Clark was swaying his legs like he was inside a casual party listening to a good music!
"AHH, these seven squads are bullying!!!" an audience sitting on the most corner of the bleachers voiced out his sentiment.
"This is really bullying! How can that Chronos squad survive with all the squads against them!" another audience speculated. He then took a picture of the big screen and posted it on his social media. The hashtag bullies as well as the names of the seven squads swiftly gained public attention.
"This should not be allowed!"
"How shameless are these squad to form an alliance outside the game!"
More audience could not help but voice out their sympathy after realizing the intention of the 7 squads. Although they are not familiar with the Chronos squad, they knew how it felt when a strong opponent would bully the weaker players.
Few more seconds passed and the large screen switched to displayed five members of other squads from every corner, passing to the river and almost arrived on the Chronos squad territory.
Some audience shook their head as they also felt sorry for the situation of the Chronos Squad. It was clear to them that there would be no way for any means to survive under the hands of these many enemies, The group was clearly outnumbered!
Some audience felt grieved, they know that the Chronos squad was really done for. No matter which angles to look or analyze, they have no escape!
Just as the wave of enemies from various squad arrived near the towers of the Chronos squad, a notification on the system turned everyone into shock! This notification made all the audience hold their breath. The bleachers become abnormally quiet.
Even the operator of the screen got into a momentary trance inside the computer room. The members of the 7 squads were also stiffened as they sat on their lounge. They were all caught off-guard by the sudden notification.
Some audience subconsciously stood from their seat while others have their eyes wide open.
"First Blood!" only the announcement of the speaker confirmed the unexpected first kill!
The eyes of the operator quickly looked on the entire map and immediately zoom in on Claire's assassin with the name 'Almighty Killer'. After he saw the initial formation of the Chronos squad, his attention went to the other players. At that moment, this operator was focusing on the other squad marching towards the territory of the Chronos squad. So he did not notice that the assassin, Almighty Killer, had actually left in its position!
"WHAT THE FFFFF!!!"
"OHH MYYYY, Almighty Killer! This assassin is really worthy of its name! First kill!!!"
"WHAAT HAPPENED, I NEED A REPLAY!!!"
"UNBELIEVABLE!!! JUST WHAAAT??? FIRST BLOOD? IS THIS FOR REAL???"
The audience quickly shouted when the large screen emphasized the location of Claire's assassin, Almighty Killer. She was still in the grass but was about to teleport.
"REPLAY!"
"REPLAY!"
"REPLAY!"
All audience quickly demanded and chanted for a replay. None of them had expected that kill. The game had not yet even reached in one minute! It was just too unbelievable to get a first kill for this early seconds of the match!
A quick replay finally flashed in front of the crowd and they were all awed by the assassination. They could tell that the player using the assassin had a full grasp on the map.
From the bottom lane, the assassin, Almighty Killer, activated stealth and run towards the jungle area. This movement was too similar during the cinematic before the game starts. The audience smiled and turned speechless. Even the operator inside the computer room forgot to close his mouth after seeing the jaw dropping scene.
Then, the character crossed the river. Its speed was abnormally fast. She was hiding from one grass to another every time her stealth wears off.
It was clear that Almighty Killer was looking for a particular target since she did not attack a potential player that could also be slain. Or perhaps, she was waiting for a perfect timing...
After few seconds of hiding, she finally saw her target. In just a blink of an eye, she silenced her victim, and a burst of her damage followed to end its victim's life! She needed speed so that she can escape before her enemy could detect her.
Claire utilized all her skills and swiftly hide on the grass as if nothing had just happened. The execution was too quick! The performance was extremely breath taking!
"Perfect!!!"
"Well done!!!"
"Almighty Killer, what a suitable name! WOW!!!"
"Assassin users are very OP!"
"Nice one!"
The audience quickly muttered praises after seeing the replay. Admiration and respect was evident on their face. Even if the Chronos squad would be defeated, this first blood was enough to gain their respect from the audience! They were just newbies but their reputation soared quickly!
With the first blood, the Chronos squad took the lead of all stats. Even if the 7 squads were targeting them, they managed to create a deficit of all stats to their enemies!
In the map, some players quickly looked in the grass as they realized that their squad leader was eliminated! They scanned the surroundings but they found nothing!
"WOW!!! Who would have thought?!! We never saw that coming! The first kill of this match goes to the Chronos squad! Excellent display of ability from the assassin!" the commentator exclaimed in excitement. His eyes sparked with excitement and his face looked so bright. He was deeply moved by the display of precision and great timing of Claire's Almighty Killer.
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