I was surprised by the simplicity of the flag. I was expecting a grand affair, fit for the use of the event,

The flag differed only in color—the golden sheen standing out far more than its white counterparts.

The halo of magic around it also made it impossible to hide without some great magic workarounds.

It slowly floated down on the left side of the playing field. Signifying where the final area would be.

Ben's team was, unfortunately, one of the teams that were furthest away from it.

They had yet to find a flag of any sort. Any tactic they used brought them further from any flag that was around.

I had to think more positively about my varied abilities as a summoner. Any team I was on would never have to worry about such an issue.

They began to move faster as they saw where the flag was descending. They would have to be extremely quick to get there before the end of the match.

The scenes around the flag were a lot less peaceful. No team had mustered up the courage to rush straight for the flag. They were all fighting around the fringe. They were waiting for someone to make a move. I would guess they were also waiting for the tier 4 to appear. They knew their only chance against him was for many teams to fight him together.

They couldn't know that he had been put out of the running long before the flag was ever in sight. Many fringe fights were occurring. Teams were seeing their chance of stealing a flag from another team.

With the chaos that reigned around the flag, it was treacherous for any team to reach out for it.

One warrior decided he didn't need his team. He empowered his body and rushed for the flag. Ready to turn as fast as possible before running away.

He didn't even get within twenty steps of the flag before he was bombarded with hundreds of spells of all elements and powers striking him at once.

The uneasy truce continued like that. All were waiting for the other to make a move.

That was until a dense fog seemed to spread around the flag. Through mage sight, the illusion was clear to see. To the basic mages out there, it may have been an impenetrable wall.

It continued to circle outward. A few teams decided to risk it and charge straight for the flag.

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They were met by a team that had burrowed under the flag. Their visibility was unaffected by the illusion. It was allowing them to fight the other teams with ease. Fighting blind was not fun.

They grabbed the flag. They were moving down below the fog. They had to time it very carefully. The aura of the flag screaming at everybody around them for them to find it.

Even the audience had no idea what was going on. The spyseeker for the team that had created the fog was lost. It was making for an outstanding show.

"The twists today are just too much. I never expected this to happen. Did you?"

Even in moments like this, the woman beside me managed to pull my full attention back to her. I couldn't cope with her continued interest. I had hoped she would have long moved away with her more influential friends. Not stick around an outsider like me.

I would have no exciting insights.

A shoulder struck me once again. My mind went blank even as explosions began ringing out through the broadcast as the flag began to move.

"Well, is anyone there?"

I had to stop thinking so much whenever she talked to me.

"No, I didn't expect that. Mages so adept in illusions are rare—especially those who were still in the basic tiers."

"A clinical answer, I am not sure I like it."

What the hell did the woman want from me? There wasn't much more I could do. If I even tried to move away from a serious and straightforward conversation, I was sure Bitu and his team would kill me next time we met. That didn't even count the shadow squadron that was probably around her at all times.

Suppose I disrespected her in any way. I could be dead before I even realized it.

That was not worth the risk. No matter how much I longed to hear, her laugh at least one more time.

Ben's squad was quickly gaining ground, and it would only be a minute before they arrived in the heat of the battle.

The escaping team had done well in moving the battle underground. There was limited space to move, and the abundance of earth mages on the illusionist's team made it a prime hunting ground.

They were stacking up basic flags as well as long as that fog held up. The winners of the round were going to be indisputable.

That was until Ben arrived at the battle. He wasted no time once he saw what was happening.

His gas began moving below ground, into the holes the various teams had made into the labyrinth the flag-bearing squad had managed to create while the uneasy truce was in play.

The gas spread quickly. Ben controlled it deftly, moving through the squads fighting down below at a horrific pace. The gas sent all who breathed it down to their knees. Feeling a great pain as their magic became more than their own.

It showed no signs of stopping. The gas burrowed deeper. It was seeking the mana signature of the Warlord's flag.

They walked the paths his gas had ravaged. The illusion doing little to stop their way as his gas ate through it. A surprising use of his abilities. Picking up flags left and right as they went down.

They soon reached the bottom of newly built caverns. The unconscious bodies of the illusionist and his team greeting them.

Along with that, a golden flag lay unattended on the ground.

They had done it.

The timer slowly ticked down.

Ben had won.