Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.14 Ch.49: The End of the Chaos

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.

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