Chương 61: A New Foe Has Appeared

"What are you up to, Leo?" Morgana asked.

The pair of them stood waiting just inside the north entrance of the arena, waiting for Donatella to announce their arrival.

"Have you ever heard the phrase, hitting two birds with one stone, kid?" Leo asked.

"I wouldn't need a stone to hit two birds or a dozen of them all at once, if that's what you're asking," Morgana boasted.

"It's not, but it's nice to be reminded of how overpowered you are," Leo chuckled. "Oh, yeah… mind doing that thing for me?"

"You can do that thing on your own now, can't you?" Morgana reminded him.

"True… but I guess I'm feeling nostalgic, partner," Leo elbowed her playfully on her shoulder. "Come on, indulge me."

"You really know how to butter a girl up… partner," Morgana rolled her eyes at him. Then she smiled her impish smile before snapping her fingers. "There you go."

Leo was enveloped in a puff of white smoke which seconds later transformed into the thick crimson coat that covered him from shoulder to foot.

Just in time, Donatella made her announcement, "My dear Substitute Reapers and fellow denizens of Adventour, accompanied by my fellow commentator, Morgue, I give you… the Game Master of Souls~~s!"

Leo patted Morgana on the shoulder. "Let's go… It's showtime!"

In his Game Master robes, Leo strolled out the gate to thunderous applause. Morgue followed after him to even more cheers. Together, they walked over to the arena while waving up at the packed stadium.

"Someone's gotten popular," Leo chuckled.

"I was born under the favor of the Lord of Fortune, Leo," Morgana laughed her tinkling laugh. "Fame comes to me naturally."

Once they reached the center of the ring, and the audience quieted down, Leo tapped the Deathly Ring on his finger and activated one of his hidden abilities [THE LORD'S CHARISMA].

"My brothers and sisters of Adventour!" he yelled. "I come to you now with dire tidings…"

Many in the audience began to exchange confused looks with one another while others looked on with excitement. Most players in the Abyss were of a mind — as it has ever been since he first appeared, whenever the Game Master made an announcement, something an interesting event would soon begin.

"The Death Knight Maleagant has sent a small undead army to invade our town of beginnings," Leo explained in as ominous a voice as he could manage. "And they will be within sight of Adventour by nightfall!"

Contrary to feeling fear, the buzzing noise among the audience indicated a sense of excitement. The excited cheering — with fists pumped into the air — that soon followed just confirmed this fact to Leo.

He smiled for this was the exact reaction he'd been hoping for.

"But fear not my brothers and sisters," Leo yelled over the excited cheers, "for we hold the means to break our enemies before they harm our home!"

Leo sent his left hand pointing toward the arena's south gate while his right hand pointed toward the arena's north gate.

"I give you the two warriors who this day have made themselves legends! The defenders of Adventour! The heroes of the arena!" Leo paused to allow the drum roll he'd commissioned to begin. After a suitable number of beats were done, he continued, "Argonaut and Ath3na~~a!"

Although both players were known to have their own opening themes, Leo felt only one tune could really enhance the electrified atmosphere of the arena. So he stomped his foot twice before clapping his hand once.

Morgana enthusiastically joined in. "Oh, I've been dying to perform this since I saw everyone do it earlier."

And while the two portcullises at each gate began to rise, the audience joined in as well so that by the time Ath3na and Argonaut each stepped out of their respective gates, everyone in the arena was already singing, "We will, we will rock you! Rock you! We will, we will rock you! Rock you!"

After a great amount of cheering and the two players were finally on the ring with Leo and Morgana, the Game Master raised both hands high and once more called for quiet.

"Argonaut and Ath3na… to prevent our home from coming under siege, I have decided to change the mechanics of the Versus finals," Leo explained. "Your final task will be to defend Adventour and launch a preemptive strike to repel our enemy!"

This announcement resulted in more wild cheering.

Ath3na raised her hand to ask a question.

"How many enemies are we talking about here?" she asked.

"A hundred different types of undead ranging from incorporeal types like wraiths and banshees to nasty fiends such as ghouls and lesser vampires," Morgue chimed in. "Oh, and they're led by a lesser lich named Mr. Bones, a very disagreeable individual with a penchant for necromancy."

"Necromancy?" Ath3na repeated.

"So there's a chance there might be more than a hundred enemies by the time we face them?" Argonaut added.

"That may be so," Leo admitted.

"So the two of us against an army?" Ath3na wrapped her arms around her chest. "Sure, we can do that… right?"

She turned her eyes on her fellow finalist.

"Sure, you and me teaming up… that's the dream team," Argonaut shrugged.

"I didn't say you'd be fighting alone," Leo interrupted. "But a dream team you each shall have."

Six players walked out of the arena. All of the members of the quarterfinals match.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the ring," Donatella announced, "Lyghtning, Narukami, Don Coyote, Wunderkid, Oh!siris, and Bully the Kid!"

Leo waited for the other six players to join the two finalists on stage before he continued with his explanation.

"The two of you will pick your team members, three from the substitute reapers who made it to the quarterfinals," Leo pointed at the new arrivals, "and one each from the two winners of the upcoming selection match chosen from the eight losers of Versus round one."

"Which one of us chooses first?" Argonaut asked.

"I'll let you two decide that," Leo answered.

Argonaut gave Ath3na the sideways glance. "Ladies first."

Ath3na returned his smile before pointing her finger at Lyghtning — and no one was surprised by this.

The two friends gave each other the high-five before patting each other on the back.

For Argonaut's turn, he chose Narukami first as he explained that he needed Narukami's raw power.

Ath3na chose Oh!siris next. It was an excellent choice as he was one of two healers among the group.

Argonaut's next choice was Wunderkid whose abilities made him both a great crowd controller as well as a capable healer.

Ath3na wanted nothing to do with Don Coyote so she picked Bully the Kid instead for her final choice, placing Don Coyote automatically in Argonaut's team.

The two males confronted each other almost immediately.

"You have some nerve picking me last, Argonasty," Don Coyote spat.

"To be clear…" Argonaut stepped right into Don Coyote's personal space. "I didn't pick you… you cause my team problems and I will bench you."

"Don't worry, you muscle-brained fool," Don Coyote sent an icy stare at Ath3na, "I'd rather you win than Ath3na… so I'll help you a little."

"See that you do," Argonaut warned.

After the teams had been chosen and the sides were drawn, Leo continued with the explanation.

"The rules for the finals are simple… Your five-man teams will engage the enemy together on the Abyssal Plains. The leader of the team that deals the most damage to the undead army wins the Deathly Challengers Cup," Leo explained.

"Bonus points for the team that slays Mr. Bones!" Morgue chimed in.

"You can use any item purchased from Adventour's merchants and all tactics are allowed." Leo raised a finger to emphasize his next point, "But you are not allowed to attack each other in a direct or indirect way because losing a single one of you to friendly fire would only hurt Adventour's defense."

The Game Master turned his eyes on Don Coyote while he said this.

"What happens if we fail?" Oh!siris asked.

"Failure isn't an option, dearie," Morgue answered for Leo, and for a brief moment, the temperature dropped to extreme cold while she turned her gaze on the players of each team. "No true warrior of Adventour will prove lesser than a grunt of Maleagant's."

Leo cleared his throat.

"Tone down the power output…" he whispered into her ear.

The temperature went back almost immediately like the clouds parting to allow the warmth of sunlight back into the ring.

Leo cleared his throat a second time to grab everyone's attention away from the seemingly terrifying teenage girl at his side.

"The rules have been given… we'll give you an hour to prepare," Leo said before turning his gaze up to the crowded seats. "For the rest of you… the final two members' selection match will begin shortly! And it'll be quite the royal rumble!"

SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
GD_Cruz

Greetings, fellow reapers!

Hope you enjoyed that interesting new twist in the DCC! :D It's come down to a test of leadership between Ath3na and Argonaut, although I'm sad that we won't get to see them go toe to toe. Still, I think we've had enough one-on-one matches in this volume.

Now would be a good time to place your bets on who might become champion after everything is said and done!

Also, which of the 8 losers do you think should earn a place as the final two members of the raid team? Tell me in the comments.

Next week will be a new week. Hope everyone can share more soul stones to help GMofS rise more in the rankings! Thanks. :D

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