The five players sprinted away from Lucan and down the lane. The warlock pulled out a wand and waited to see what he could do to help his teammates.

Lucan considered the five players who were fighting for Gilbuzz as the 'Heroes' while Ronbellus's five players were the 'Villains'.

The heroes and the villains both left the safety of their furthest towers and clashed in the middle of the battlefield.

Each team was a standard party composition. One player was a healer, one player had great survivability and could shrug off attacks (also called a tank), and the last three were damage dealers. Both teams had a good mix of melee and ranged damage.

With the fight being past the furthest tower, Lucan was unable to help. His magic couldn't leave his area of control.

The villains lost their healer and their melee damage dealer shortly after the fight began. The heroes didn't miss the chance to press forward while the villains retreated to the safety of their closest tower.

The heroes tried to make an attempt to deal damage to the first enemy tower, but they had to get in range of its arrows to do so. And the three remaining villains weren't there for decoration. They didn't hold back.

The hero's tank misjudged the firing distance of the tower and lost his life by not escaping in time. The three villains took a chance and charged towards their opponents.

The heroes lost their healer as well.

Having taken out two players, the villains retreated back towards their tower.

[Ding.]

Lucan looked to the core; the first batch of infantry was ready to move out. Ten thigh high soldiers jumped out of the core and headed down the lane in a single file line. The same thing was happening on the enemy's side.

The three heroes were low on health, but they weren't nearly as low as the three villains. They followed them into the range of their tower, attempting to finish them off, even if one or two of the heroes had to die to do so.

Fate had different plans. A villain activated the spell stored in the tower and a ring of fire pulsed out from it. The fire only did moderate damage to the heroes, but that was because this fire was different than normal fire. When it came in contact with the villain team, it began to heal their wounds. Phoenix fire could both injure enemies and heal teammates.

The sudden spell and the unrelenting arrow tower quickly turned the tables. One hero died, then another. The archer on the hero team ran for it since he was the only one left allive.

[Graveyard release]

Everyone who had died so far, resurrected at their core. The four players from the hero team, quickly ran back towards the fight.

The three villains chased after the remaining hero. Unfortunately, he had fled too late and was killed before he reached the safety of his tower and after the graveyard had been released. He now had to wait for the timer to run out to respawn.

The three villains waited outside the range of the hero tower. They could see the ten soldiers in the distance. Once the soldiers passed through the tower and got near the players they started to attack. They launched their shadow bolts, but the damage was minimal. With the villains giving their full attention to the soldiers, they were wiped out in no time.

The villain soldiers showed up right after they finished the fight and they marched unafraid into the range of the tower with their fists covered in flames.

The arrow tower could only attack a single target at a time. And right now, the tower needed three arrows to kill a soldier. Since the soldiers entered its range first, the tower focused on them instead of the players. They were able to focus all their damage onto the tower.

The last villain soldier died when the tower was taken down to 60% health. The three villains left the range of the tower. They could see four heroes coming in the distance. But their two teammates who had died were also about to return. And with the late death of the last hero, he would have to wait for the graveyard timer to run out again. Making this next battle a five versus four.

When all five villains gathered, they approached the edge of the hero's tower and prepared to attack while they still had the advantage in numbers.

The hero players were already aware of the spell stored in their tower. The hero tank activated it.

Two phantom fighters appeared on the field. They ran forward and slapped the healer and ranged damage dealer backwards, towards the hero tower.

The villains tried to kill the phantom, but that was when they learned that they were illusions. Caught unprepared, they abandoned their teammates and retreated out of the phantoms range. They had a short life and had to stay near the tower.

The phantoms and the four heroes easily killed the players while the arrow tower kept up its unending stream of arrows.

When the phantoms disappeared, the four heroes left the tower and pressed the enemy. Their fifth player had responded, and another wave of soldiers was already on their way.

Having reached enough player kills for the team, everybody on the hero team received an upgrade. Lucan wasn't aware of what the players received but he was informed that the soldiers would get a 10% increase in health and damage.

Lucan cursed to himself. Of course he would get the upgrade right after the soldiers went out, he would have to wait for the next wave to see the effect of the upgrade. He also realized that the villains had gotten more kills very quickly. It was likely that their current soldiers were already upgraded.

The heroes pressed the enemy tower. They trade blows with the villains. They lost two people but killed two villains leaving only one left.

With the help of the villain soldiers that last player was able to take down another hero before he died.

The hero who ran from the graveyard arrived with the soldiers to help the last hero take on the tower. They were able to get it down to 15% health before their soldiers were dead and they needed to retreat.

***

"We have an interesting match so far. Either one of us could take the win." GIlbuzz said.

"True, true." Ron did a quick look around and checked that Lucan was completely in the game. "Do you think your little fish will bite?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Gil said, feigning ignorance. But it was clear to both of them that he knew exactly what Ron was referring to.

"I know what you are cooking up. Why else would we be using this outdate system to determine the winner. Do you really think he will take the bait and make it happen?"

"Hard to say. He may have other things in mind. Either way, as long as it spreads our influence, it doesn't matter to me. It is rare to meet some one that meets the requirements. He has a high attainment of formations, he is a spell weaver, and through his connections, I am sure he will be able to acquire the necessary materials."

"And his backer should be able to foot the cost if he is unable to."

"Yes, I believe he can make it happen."

Ron nodded and both turned back to watch the competition.