The dark specks floated through the air. Liam and his friends watched but didn't try to stop them. They knew it was impossible. These dark specks reached the members of GalanTen and floated next to them. A moment later the fleeting shadows shot towards these dark specks, gathered around them, and took the form of a human figure wearing a sword, closely resembling Greenhorn.
Now, every member of GalanTen was connected to a shadow resembling Greenhorn, which followed the same rules as a pet but with the restriction of not being able to exceed a certain distance to their master. This was Greenhorn's ultimate skill [Ghostly Aid], which almost doubled the number of fighters.
Confidence filled SpireX. He stared at Fortune's face, but there was none of the shock he expected to see. A bad premonition rose in his heart. Hotpot couldn't have a way to deal with such a threatening skill, could they?
Screee!
An incredibly clear eagle's cry suddenly rang through the sky. The gloomy atmosphere was directly pierced through as a halo of light appeared behind Radiant Shield's griffon. A warm light filled the world, banning all darkness. The skill [Griffon's Halo] cleansed allies of negative status effects and prohibited all dark damage.
Hotpot had already discussed it before the match. Liam knew what to expect from Greenhorn. His ultimate skill [Ghostly Aid] summoned helpers for his teammates. These shadowy helpers all dealt dark damage. What could usually be seen as an advantage, could also be used against them. With a single skill from Radiant Shield, they manged to cut off Greenhorn's claws.
"Such a skill?! Why didn't they use it earlier? Were they waiting for Greenhorn? How?"
Menace was slowly losing her cool. She felt as if they were playing chess and somehow the opponent was anticipating all their moves. Shouldn't they be the ones knowing everything about Hotpot? How did it feel like it was the other way around? How could Hotpot pull one rarely used, obscure skill after the other?
[Griffon's Halo] was a heavy blow to Greenhorn, gutting a large part of his abilities. There was only one player who was similarly affected, which was Liam. Half of his skills had been rendered useless. Suddenly his advantageous position against CUwUty was gone. He was forced to take a defensive stance and dodge as much as possible. Trading blow for blow would only be detrimental under these circumstances.
CUwUty saw her chance. She only had half her HP remaining while Bleary Mirage was at about eighty percent. This was the result after a long battle aided by flying mounts and healers. As long as the players still had stance and the healers were attentive, it was difficult to kill anyone. But CUwUty was clearly in a losing position. If she wanted to turn it around, she had to do so now.
The wood elf swung her whip in a wide arc, stirring the air. Liam dove below, escaping the blow. Sturdy, wiggling vines appeared out of nowhere, trying to tie him up. He was forced to dodge again with [Dash], narrowly avoiding Drasky's ankle getting grabbed. A flowerhead suddenly appeared below him. It had been placed in his path, perfectly calculated. The flowerhead attracted a blinding beam of light from the sun, roasting the enemy in the process.
"Mirage!"
"He's been hit!"
Just as the fans were shocked, they realised that something was wrong. The beam of light didn't quite reach the flowerhead. There was a cute, white fox in between, its twin tails creating a black-and-white shield which reflected the light to where it came from.
CUwUty was incredibly frustrated. She had created such a carefully prepared trap. Everyone else would have been forced to take the blast head-on. But Bleary Mirage's reaction was not from this world. How could he recognize the danger and think of a counter, all in the span of less than a second? CUwUty even considered telling SpireX to swap opponents.
Of course, she wouldn't do so. CUwUty was quite interested in fighting an equally matched – at least in her mind - opponent. Her whip lashed out again. This time it was perfectly timed. The beam of light as well as the black-and-white shield had just disappeared. Even Liam couldn't evade the attack. The whip squarely hit his back.
[-5939!]
CUwUty was happy about her small success but in the big picture it didn't make too big of a difference. Hotpot was putting a lot of pressure on their opponents. Cyclone held SpireX back with a [Lightning Cage] and both mages started casting their ultimate skills.
[Menace: Stop Fortune!]
Menace was the first to alert her team. She could sense the large movement of mana. She knew what was about to happen. No matter what, they couldn't allow Fortune to complete her spellcasting. The magical avatar was too powerful. Being immune to magical damage it was the nightmare of mages. And Hero of Realms's ultimate skill was one of GalanTen's few remaining trump cards.
SpireX also noticed the threat. He turned towards Fortune and the barrel attached to the front of his small airplane flying mount started turning, glowing red-hot. A hail of bullets was about to overwhelm the mage.
Multiple bangs echoed through the air, accompanied by the rattling of the spinning barrel. However, the bullets didn't achieve their intended effect. A brightly shining barrier had appeared in front of Fortune at some point. The bullets crashed into the barrier, causing undulating ripples, but were unable to deal any bigger damage.
SpireX was slowly going mad. He let out a cry and dashed forward, ignoring the lightning cage. Lightning drove into his body, the paralysis holding him in place. But it was only for the fraction of a second, barely noticeable. The dwarf's eyes turned red as his skill broke through all negative effects. In a flash he arrived in front of Fortune.
"Kill!"
"Go!"
"Get here!"
It was not only SpireX. Suddenly Greenhorn and BlackHorizon arrived as well. BlackHorizon even activated his ultimate skill. The dwarf, together with his violent, black-furred mount resembling a winged bear, abruptly grew in size. Bigger than humans, bigger than orcs, reaching the size of ogres. This ultimate skill was straightforward but powerful, directly increasing all of BlackHorizon's stats.
The burly dwarf grinned menacingly, grabbing the axe which grew with him tightly, and waving it in a wide arc, like a giant felling a sky-high tree. Boom! Fortune's barrier trembled terribly, showing some cracks. Fortune's expression faltered. She didn't know if she would be able to cast her own ultimate before the barrier broke.
"That's it! Attack!"
SpireX urged his comrades. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing whom Hotpot would send to help Fortune. But to his shock the answer was no one. Hotpot seemingly abandoned Fortune. Instead, they focused on GalanTen's mages.
"Wanting to trade one for one?"
SpireX didn't know how to feel about this. But not it was already too late to turn around. Quickstep, Watchful Eye, Silent Acacia, Silver Blade, and Radiant Shield pounced on Hero of Realms.
The two tanks where only there to make up the numbers. The biggest danger came from Quickstep, whose eyes were blazing with piercing silver light. She had entered [Hurricane Mode]. A storm was about to reach Hero of Realms.
The mage tried to delay for time. He dashed, made a desperate flash step. But with five people chasing him he was quickly overtaken. Quickstep was the fastest, as if fusing with the wind she arrived next to Hero of Realms and rained down attacks. The squishy mage found himself in immediate danger.
"Help!"
An almost desperate cry rang out. Occulus sighed lightly. The healer only had a single spell which could save Hero of Realms in this situation. His ultimate skill [Life and Death]. Occulus pointed his wand at Hero of Realms. An arrow of light separated from the weapon. It shot across the sky, ignoring all barriers, unstoppable. In a flash it reached Hero of Realms, stabbing into his shoulder.
An extremely potent healing force was released, engulfing Hero of Realms's body.
[+100.000]
[+100.000]
Hero of Realms recovered so much HP he was basically unkillable. As long as Hotpot were unable to kill him in one hit, the mage would always survive. He knew that this was his chance. He instantly stopped moving and put his entire concentration into casting his own ultimate skill, trying to complete it as fast as possible.
Quickstep's sword stopped in mid-air. The moment she saw the arrow of light reaching Hero of Realms, she knew that there was no reason to continue her attacks. Quickstep, Watchful Eye, Silver Blade, Radiant Shield, and Silent Acacia turned abruptly, directing their piercing eyes at the close-by Menace.
The latter's face turned pale. She watched as the five players rushed towards her. Menace tried to escape. Quickstep chased her. With [Hurricane Mode] active her movement speed was too high. The moment she came close to Menace she engulfed the mage in a hurricane which emitted a suction force, holding her in place.
A moment later the others arrived. Multiple attacks fell on Menace. For the moment GalanTen had no means left to help her. Menace's HP dropped to zero. She was the first to fall.