Damn, their defense is real cancer. Kai thought. I have to figure out how to- ah!

She noticed it a moment too late. While she was analyzing the situation, her target vanished from sight!

Winner just abandoned his position and advanced deeper into Stratus’ territory, running straight toward the Colossus!

“S-Shit!” Kai cursed as she gave chase. Before she realized it, the entire situation flipped on its head!

She originally started her offense in order to defend the Colossus. Her job was to block off Winner’s path, so she figured it was best to achieve that by aggressing on the guy.

But, without Kai noticing, Winner has been leading her by the nose the entire time. At some point during their duel, he successfully swapped positions with Kai! It was such a blunder on her end.

Fuck, how did I let that happen!? Kai cursed internally. I don’t remember when I became such a Bronze player. Damn it!

Positioning and spacing were supposed to be two of Kai’s strongest points. Yet, under these tense circumstances, she blundered real bad.

The entire fight, she was too preoccupied with not letting Winner get any closer to Merlin. She worked very hard to block off that route, to the point she almost forgot about her original mission: blocking off the road to the Colossus.

In a vacuum, her plan wasn’t that bad. Using her sharp positioning sense, she was able to discourage Winner from advancing both toward the Colossus and toward Merlin.

But, her opponents were no pushovers. They realized what she was doing and pulled a fast one on her.

Because of Merlin’s assault, Kai now had no chance of catching up to the Winner.

Goddamn it! I literally can’t move! Kai ranted as her Bomber crawled forward, slower than a three-legged turtle. The slowdown debuff from Squall was a real bitch. At this rate, there was no hope of catching up to Winner...

No, wait! There’s still one thing I can do! Kai glanced at the ticking timer on Satchel Charge. With it, she’d easily propel herself toward Winner within moments!

Alas, the skill was still on cooldown. After all, Kai just recently used it to initiate this very offense.

As such, Satchel Charge needed two more seconds to come online. Just two more seconds, that’s all.

But, in this critical situation, these two seconds were fatal. And, Winner wasted no time getting to the Colossus.

WHISH! The Droid rolled across the floor toward his destination. He was clearly intent on using everything at his disposal in order to wrap up this game ASAP.

Was there nobody to stop this bastard? Nobody at all!?

It was the end. By all accounts, it looked as if Stratus was finished. There was no stopping the dangerous Hyper-Carry at this point.

But, at this darkest moment of the game - a last ray of hope shone upon them!

『An enemy has been killed!』

Finally, one of the ongoing battles came to an end. Lars successfully shot Challenger down, removing the pesky obstacle from his path.

It took him way longer than expected, considering it was a fight between a Carry and a Support. It attested to Challenger's impressive skill, as expected from a player chosen to play for the Leopards.

But now, the obstacle was gone and Lars was free to chase Winner. They still had a chance to turn this around!

“Lars!” Kai called out. “Do something about their Carry, at least for a few seconds! I’ll be right there!”

“Also,” Yuel added. “Make sure to aim your shots at Winner himself and not at his drones. They should expire soon enough, so there’s no point shooting them down at this point.”

“Gotcha, dude!” Lars turned his back toward Winner and fired his Backfire Cannon, propelling himself backward toward the target.

So, we meet again! Lars grinned as he turned around to face his target in the middle of the flight. He wasted no time aiming his pistol at the fated rival. This ain’t quite how I imagined our next duel to be, but I’ll take it. Let’s go yooooooo!

BAM! Lars fired a shot in mid-flight before he even reached his destination.

Few players could turn around this quickly and lockdown on their target while flying, but for Lars, stuff like that was as natural as breathing. And as usual, his aim was spot on. 200% accuracy, yo!

But, the enemy was ready for it. Or at least, he tried to be ready...

Tch, he’s already shooting!? William grit his teeth.

He made sure to stay as far away as possible from Gunz after Ronald kicked the bucket. After all, it was clear as day that Gunz will hunt William next

And so, William was already mentally prepared for sidestepping incoming shots. For starters, the plan was to sidestep the first shot Gunz will fire after he finishes flying.

Alas, that mechanical monster didn’t fail to surprise. While still in mid-flight, Gunz did a 180 and fired immediately! What’s even more surprising was that the shot had perfect aim.

Hmph. I guess that, at this point, it’s not even surprising at all. William scoffed. Looks like I better assume he can pull off these pro-level plays on a whim. So yeah, as far as mechanical skill is concerned, he’s definitely up there. But, so what of it?

It was no reason for concern. Even as the bullet pierced through William’s shoulder, it only dealt so much damage. He was still very much alive and already in a great position to barrage the Colossus.

I’d gladly duel you again but now is not the time for games. William turned his shoulder to the incoming attacker and concentrated his attention on the Colossus.

But of course, he couldn’t entirely ignore that wild beast. Therefore, he still kept an eye out for Gunz’s position and made sure to maintain a good distance from the dangerous assaulter.

Alright, time to end this game. ZAP! William fired a laser beam at the giant moving statue.

ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. Five more beams followed his lead, all landing on the Colossus. The objective was already down to 10% HP. Victory was right within reach!

But, will Willaim make it in time? There were two savage wolves nearby, both thirsting for William’s blood.

Gunz was approaching from the left, firing one bullet after another. Meanwhile, from the right, a loud BOOM resounded. Even without looking, that was clearly Beat using her Satchel Charge to get closer.

The two hungry beasts were about to run all over William!

It’d be easy enough to dodge their attacks if only that’s all I had to do here. William aimed his laser gun at the Colossus once more. But, I don’t have time for that. I have to end this, right here and now.

He took a deep breath. Even though two dangerous beasts were about to crash into him, Willaim didn’t waver. He simply had no luxury to do so. As the Hyper Carry of the team, it was his job was to drop the curtain on this game. Therefore, he shot the Colossus once more!

ZAP! ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. A barrage of lasers assaulted the Colossus. Each shot shaved off about 1% of the giant’s HP, leaving the target at 4%.

William was close, so close. But, it wasn’t quite over yet. He needed just one more round to seal the deal. Just one, that’s all.

However, in that period of short time, the two predators have already closed the distance. Gunz and Beat were already there, ready to tear William apart!

Gunz swapped his gun for a cutlass and hacked away at Willaim’s side, abusing the superior Attack Speed of the melee weapon. Meanwhile, Beat hurled a bomb from behind.

Together, their combined assault deleted a big chunk of William’s HP. But...

You’re too late. William ignored the threat and shot the Colossus once more. Even with his mediocre Attack Speed, he was fast enough to shoot one more time before collapsing. And, that’s all it took to win this.

ZAP! ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP. ZAP.

Little by little, pixels vanished from the edge of Colossus's HP bar.

『The enemy Colossus has been destroyed!』

『VICTORY』

『You have been killed!』

“Hah.” William spat a sigh and leaned back on his chair. It seemed like he was practically a dead man as he fired that last shot. It only further emphasized how dangerously close the situation was.

Well, I suppose Matthew could’ve wrapped up that remaining 4% HP by himself, so we had this game in the bag either way. That was William’s last thought before he closed his eyes and rewarded himself with a much-deserved rest.

Finally, the needlessly long game was over. The Leopards finally seized the victory that should have been theirs at least 15 minutes ago.

It was a long and tedious game that was supposed to suck all the life force out of Stratus. And, at first, it worked well. Poisonous frustration indeed seeped into Stratus’ veins, making all the teammates irritated.

However, now that the game was over...

“Yooooo!” Lars threw his arms into the air. “We were so close, haha!”

“Yeah, we ALMOST stopped that bastard.” Kai shook her head and smiled wryly. “Gotta say, this was one of the messiest endgames I’ve ever played.”

“Yes, you can say that again...” Yuel rubbed his eyes. The moment the intense situation passed, a wave of tiredness assaulted him. Only now he has realized just how hard he has been overclocking his brain in order to come up with good plays for that chaotic endgame.

“We may have lost this battle,” Vincent said. “However! We have proved to everybody that we’re more than capable of contesting the champions! The next battle shall be ours!”

“Heck yeah!” Lars pumped a fist.

“Damn straight.” Kai nodded.

The entire team celebrated the fact they came so close to victory, despite how crushing the defeat should’ve felt as a whole. After all, for more than half the game, the Leopards have been dominating the entire map and simply playing with their food.

Lars really saved us back there. Yuel thought. If he didn’t push me so hard to go on the offensive, then we’d probably still be drowning in all that frustration even now.

Thanks to Lars’s assertiveness on the matter, the match ended on a bright note overall. Yes, it was a defeat, but one that didn’t feel crushing or depressing. Stratus fought hard until the bitter end and almost made a comeback.

I should remember this tech for the future. Yuel made a mental note. It can come in handy when playing against other defensive teams like Howard’s.

Going out in a blaze of glory felt so much better than being slowly choked to death. Instead of cursing the defeat, everybody was looking forward to the next game. Well, everybody except for one player...

“Zzz...” Nia was dozing off. She must have succumbed to slumber somewhere amidst the action after deeming the team doomed. She didn’t even get to revive in time to participate in the last battle.

It’s amazing how she can sleep in any situation, even on stage. Yuel smiled wryly. “Lars, could you please carry this sleepyhead back to the room?”

“Sure thing, dude!” Lars easily picked up the skinny girl, as if she weighed less than a piece of paper. Only this buff goof could make it look this easy. On the other hand, Yuel’s arms would probably break from trying that.

“Haha, did she really fall asleep while watching us fight?” Lars laughed. “That’s some nerves of steel, yo!”

The rest of the team laughed along as they headed back to the waiting room. There wasn’t a single trace of frustration or irritation anywhere on their faces.

Naturally, that made a certain somebody feel quite disgusted.

They’re... smiling? Cato twitched. My, how weird. That’s not how this was supposed to go.

The plan was to break Stratus’ spirit so they won’t be able to play their best for the rest of the day. Yet, no matter how Cato looked at them, these weren’t the expressions of players whose souls fell to the depths of despair.

Truly, it was unacceptable. Cato worked so hard to arrange such a long and frustrating game. Stratus’ players should have lost all hope and motivation, yet none of that happened.

Is it because they were somewhat close to turning the tables on us at the end? It must’ve given them a boost of hope. Curses.

That entire development wasn’t in the script. The game was supposed to be entirely in Cato’s hands. He was supposed to be the one who decides when the game ends, nobody else.

Yet, Yuel rebelled against that rule. The enemy’s final play forced Cato’s hand not once but twice! It was a coup d'etat!

They regained some agency at the very end there, so that’s probably why they’re so happy. Cato scowled. Darn you, Yuel. I had you cornered there but you just can’t quit in peace, can you? Very well. Honestly, that’s how it should be.

Back in grade school, when Cato defeated Yuel in chess, there was a bad aftertaste from that match. At some point during the duel, it felt as if Yuel gave up on pushing his hardest for the win. He only fought to the bitter end out of spite, without bothering to form an actual plan for turning things around.

As he was somebody who managed to defeat Fiona, surely Yuel should have been able to come up with something, anything. But, it felt as if he wasn’t taking Cato seriously at all.

That really wasn’t like him, was it? Of course not. He’s a sore loser, just like Fiona. Cato thought. I know that for a fact because I researched hundreds of his chess games in preparation. He always fought his hardest to the bitter end, always looking for a way to turn things around. Yes, just like this game.

This was the “real” Yuel, the type of nefarious rebel who aggressively pushed until the very end, aiming for the win against all odds. Finally, Cato had the honor of playing against the guy who stumped Fiona in the past.

And, I won again. Cato proclaimed so but he wasn’t smiling. Yes, I won… or, did I?

The Leopards won the game, there was no question about that. But, as a shot-caller, did Cato win against the enemy’s shot-caller? Did he really outsmart the enemy and establish his superiority?

Well, no problem. If there’s still any doubt remaining, then I’ll just clear it up in the next game. Cato promised. In the next round, I’ll finish you off neatly and elegantly, so that nobody would have any doubts remaining. I promise you that.

And with that, the first game of the scrimmage came to an end. It started off as a steamroll by the Leopards but it ended up too close to comfort. That final clash almost made it look as if Stratus had a real chance of putting on a fight today, which was nothing more than nonsense.

In the next game, the Leopards will win cleanly without any hiccups. Cato promised so.