The transparent blue wall of magical energy that was separating the two competing teams in the arena dissipated. Both groups began fanning out in their standard formation and slowly walking forward---much more cautiously than in the previous match.
Aegis, having studied the gameplay of all of his opponents, took his time to look over them.
Furthest on the left, [Gunther - Level 187], was a large, muscular bear demi-human. He wore a high-quality leather vest stained blue and embroidered with the markings of the sages of the destiny guild in voidsilk. His upper body was nearly twice the size of his lower body, and he had short, messy black hair with tiny, brown, round bear ears protruding from the top of his head.
His shoulders and arm muscles started covered in brown fur, but transitioned to tanned human skin on the forearms, with hairy knuckles. In both hands were a pair of large, high-quality iron battleaxes, typically requiring two hands to wield one, but his strength allowed him to dual-wield them. In addition, he had another 5 battleaxes floating behind him, lined up with one another perfectly as his advanced class of Warmaster allowed.
Second on the left was [Princessly - Level 188]. She was a guardian-class human player with short, messy blonde hair and big, glowing blue eyes, holding an iron shield in front of her face, painted blue to outline it and mark it with the symbol of the Sages of Destiny guild. Her avatar was tiny and slim, which Aegis knew to be a stark contrast to her actual character's stats that she’d put on display numerous times in Makaroth’s livestreams - high strength and constitution. She was wearing full plate armor and had a shortsword in her right hand.
In the center stood [Synopse - Level 192], who was leading the charge and walking straight ahead towards Aegis with his friendly smile. He played as a tall elf with long, straight brown hair that went down nearly to his waist, but was currently tied back to remain out of his face for the fight. He wore high-quality blue void silk robes, with an artifact staff of a thin, black, gnarled wooden shaft and a collection of stars bound together loosely by shifting white lines as his headpiece. The stars were continuously rotating around one another, alternating between being bright and large and small - their colors changed as well.
First on his right was the healer of Synopse’s party, [Ujak - Level 185]. His attire matched Princessly’s almost perfectly, save for him wielding a scepter instead of a short sword. Aegis knew him to be playing the advanced Cleric class, Lightwalker. He was a halfling with a young, child-like face and short spiky black hair.
And lastly, on the far right, was [Huck - Level 190], who had the advanced dragoon class, Skypiercer. A class that specializes in high jumps and aerial dive attacks, with high aerial mobility. He was a Lizardfolk with pitch black onyx scales and dark eyes, wearing blue leather armor of a similar make to Gunther’s equipment. He had a spear much taller than his own body, with an intricately crafted iron spearhead at the end of the shaft and a small blue flag swaying from the handle at the base of the tip.
“So, Aegis, you never really told us the plan. We’re just going with a standard formation?” Darkshot asked through the party interface.
“I will-” Aegis was interrupted.
“Aegis,” Synopse spoke loudly, stopping his forward movement. His loud shout brought almost perfect silence to the stadium within a matter of seconds - everyone who had been cheering was eager to hear what he might say. Aegis met his eyes and stopped moving forward, and noted that all members of Synopse’s party stopped as well. Once Synopse was sure he had his full attention, he began to speak again.
“When Seraxus came to Stormtop and attacked with his dragon, I stood up to him in the temple of Zeus. I made a stand with the members of Schadenfreude, and we were all defeated.” Synopse declared.
“What the hell is he doing?” Calikgos, seated beside Lilya and Makaroth in the audience, asked Makaroth angrily.
“I don’t know,” Makaroth shrugged.
“I know, I watched the footage from Mikael and Seraxus’ stream,” Aegis replied.
“Then you know what this staff can do, right? I went all out and didn’t hold back.”
Aegis nodded.
“But it wasn’t enough. Sure, my party wasn’t with me - but the damage that his sword can cause with a single hit makes any strategy formed against him fall apart in seconds. So, you, with a shield that is capable of blocking his attacks… it’d be foolish to cut that out of the tournament, as it may be the only real chance we have of stopping him.”
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“Don’t tell me, you’re going to surrender as well?” Pyri asked in disbelief as she saw where it was going, and a tense air filled the arena as she asked this. Many of the onlookers, including the VGN broadcasters, had fallen silent and were eagerly awaiting his response.
Synopse chuckled. “No. That’d also be foolish. The best team should go forward to give us the best chance at beating him. I, too, want to take him down. No…” Synopse cleared his throat. “What I was proposing was that should we defeat you, you gi-”
“Fine,” Aegis replied before he could finish. “If you can beat us, I’ll give you this shield.” He added with a smirk.
“Aegis?” Rakkan asked in disbelief.
“Seriously?” Darkshot joined in, as half the audience in the stadium let out gasps.
“Are you stupid?” Hae-won shouted angrily into her voice-amplified staff, as she’d returned to the gameworld to resume her shoutcasting. Her words carried the sentiment of many of the onlookers, as shouts of agreement from Aegis’ fans joined in.
“The most important thing is that he doesn’t leave this tournament with that sword. The amount of destruction he’ll cause will probably make this game unplayable. He’s gotta be stopped. So, if you beat us, I’ll give you the shield,” Aegis shouted, despite the complaints and yells from the crowd. Following these words, Aegis dug his feet into the ground and raised the famous shield of light up into the air. “If.”
“Like with Seraxus, I will not hold back. I know better than to take you, the son of Makaroth and Pyri, lightly. Apologies if this feels unfair,” Synopse released his staff from his grip, but it continued to hover off the ground in front of him and rose, giving off a dim black glow that absorbed light around it.
“Sea of Stars,” Synopse cast. It was a spell that Aegis had watched Synopse try to use against Seraxus when they fought in the temple of Zeus. It was powerful and incredibly destructive, so much so that this was only the second time he’d ever used it.
Aegis’ party immediately felt its effects, and visually, the entire arena around them transformed within seconds.
The tiled floor and pillars were ripped apart and disintegrated into dust that vanished into a spreading black void that originated from the head of Synopse’s staff. As the darkness spread and consumed everything in its path, including light, the entire arena became an endless void devoid of gravity, causing members of both parties to float, suspended in the air.
“Aegis, I can shadowstep anywhere right now… should I go in?” Lina commented excitedly.
“No, everyone stay back and get behind me,” Aegis replied through the party interface.
It took a few moments for the spell to settle, but eventually the transformation of the arena was completed - it wasn’t simply a black void of nothingness. It had far-off, distant specks of light, like stars, glowing all around them, where the arena's floors and edges used to be. It was as if they were all suddenly transported into space.
Hae-won and the other casters looked on in amazement, as from the outside of the arena it looked as though staring into an unending special snowglobe of glimmering stars, and all 10 combatants were floating around in it.
“This staff is so powerful, it gives me access to an entire new school of magic - astral magic. If I’m able to master them properly, it will unlock the teaching of these spells to other players and ultimately new intermediate and advanced classes. I have not mastered it yet, but its power is… well… like Seraxus’ sword, it’s a bit unfair. I apologize,” Synopse explained confidently as he waved his arms around.
“Spatial lock,” Synopse cast. A powerful pulling force formed behind Aegis.
“Aegis?” Pyri eyed it, seeing a small black ball forming that began sucking them in.
“Don’t do anything. Trust me,” Aegis replied calmly as the ball was pulling him and his companions together. Pyri accepted her fate, but Rakkan and Darkshot both struggled for a moment against it before letting up. Lina, too, let it happen, but kept her eyes locked curiously on Aegis.
Synopse, too, was hesitant for a moment at seeing Aegis and his party’s inaction. His group members had taken up a defensive formation around Synopse, anticipating a counter-attack from either Lina or Pyri or arrows from Darkshot. None came, however.
“Man, this is hard as hell to move. It’s like the more you try to get away from it, the harder it pulls on you.” Darkshot shouted angrily as he tried to swim through space to get away from the pulling black orb, but was unsuccessful.
“Here's the attack that cannot be blocked. Of course, a Spelleater enchantment would work, but no one in your party has that,” Synopse said with a hint of curiosity in his voice as he continued to stare across the arena at Aegis for a reaction. He got none - instead, Aegis only continued to stare back at him. After a moment of this, he shrugged and pulled his staff down out of the air.
“Astral Decimation,” Synopse spoke, and the moment he did, all sound left the arena. Now it wasn’t just light, but sound that was absorbed by his staff, and a powerful black beam - nearly invisible in their current environment---shot forth from the staff. It warped the space around it as it traveled through the arena towards Aegis and his companions, but rather than try to dodge, a big grin grew on Aegis’ face.
“Spell reflect,” Aegis thrust his shield into the beam, and immediately upon contact with his shield, the beam turned around and shot back at Synopse and his party in their defensive formation. A look of absolute, dumbfounded shock befell Synopse as the beam collided with him and his party, pulling them in and ripping their avatars to pieces.
Combatant Synopse has been defeated.
Combatant Huck has been defeated.
Combatant Princessly has been defeated.
Combatant Ujak has been defeated.
Combatant Gunther has been defeated.
Aegis’ team has won the round. 1-0