“The enemy has breached into our territory and is now approaching the first line of defense, boss.”
“Everything’s ready on our side, bro. Systems are operational and the traps are armed. Do I send Baldy’s team to intercept them?”
“Yes, send him.” I say. “And prepare your own teams too. We only have a single shot at this, so we can’t miss the opportunity.”
“Ok, boss!”
“Sure thing, bro!”
Currently, Laura, Clara, and I are sitting in a room with several monitors. There’s little light, most of it provided by the bright screens, which show different scenes from inside our dungeon. In the biggest one, we can see the Dragon Knights team invading our dungeon. As usual, it’s Makarel the one leading their assault.
This is quite an expensive surveillance mechanism from the Flesh Monstrosities faction. The screens, the cameras showing everything inside the dungeon, and even the highly comfortable office chairs we’re currently sitting on.
Usually, nobody would spend so much cp on something like this for a match, because it’s expensive and thus reduces how many traps and monsters you can deploy. And it doesn’t really have any purpose in the normal dungeons because as the owner you can see everything that happens as if you were a god… But we don’t have any other option here: there’s only one chance for us to surprise Makarel and kill her. For this single chance, we can spend any amount of cp.
Thanks to the surveillance system, we can now see everything that happens in our dungeon, and we only had to sacrifice…
Hmm… how expensive was it…? Oh, yeah! We only had to use a quarter of our cp budget for it. Expensive, right!?
But the chairs are free because they count as decoration! Hahaha!
I had to pay for them but with the cp from the dungeon. They don’t cost take any cp from the cp budget we get for this match.
Though the Flesh Monstrosities isn’t the only faction that has similar mechanisms, most of the other factions use magic instead of technology like this one. This isn’t favoritism or anything, but the Flesh Monstrosities and Magic Engineers, which have similar technological stuff, maybe theirs is even more advanced, are clearly superior to the magical ones because are easier to operate and they work better. After all, they work the same as real-life stuff.
In this dark room, Laura continues to look at the monitor. She’s sticking to me as much as I allow her to, while wearing one of those mini skirts, stockings, and a half-unbuttoned white shirt. The whole lewd secretary outfit. And she’s acting as if she were my actual secretary… only with a lot more touching than necessary.
It looks like she finally found some way to roleplay her character without infringing upon the tournament rules.
“Boss, our defense troops are about to clash with the enemy. The battle starts in three, two, one… there they go.”
She notifies me that the battle has started, and at the same time, keeps track of everything else the enemies are doing.
“I finally detected the enemy’s assassin squad! They’re trying to surround Baldy’s forces and force him into a bad situation.”
“Then make Baldy retreat as soon as possible. We can’t afford to lose them.”
“Sure thing, boss!”
Before communicating the situation to Ricard, who’s currently engaged in combat with Makarel’s squad, she doesn’t forget to rub my knee with her hand. Hey! That hand got too close to another area! I know you’re roleplaying, but please stop! That’s harassment!
For this match, we too have some speakers and a microphone. This way we can give instructions to anyone from this room. Very convenient, but very expensive too. I count them as part of the necessary expense to increase the chances the plan works.
“Baldy, do you hear me?” Laura’s voice echoes through the whole dungeon. “The enemy is trying to surround you. Retreat right now!”
There’s no way for us to hear what’s happening, we only receive image from the cameras. No sound at all. So Ricard raises his hand in acknowledgment and immediately prepares to retreat.
Oh, no! Look at this! Although it’s still better than being surrounded, the enemy can hear what we say too, and now Makarel has launched an aggressive chase and is obliterating Ricard’s rearguard!
Well, nothing we can do from here. Also, it’s better if she believes we’re losing this and fighting to the best of our capabilities. This way it’ll be easier to fool her.
And sure thing, as we expected, Makarel's unit follows after Ricard’s one. Meanwhile, Nanawa and his assassins are trying to flank them. Ricad’s going to have a hard time surviving this for a long time…
Well, everything’s going according to the plan for now.
“Hey, bro! Do you know you look badass with those sunglasses? Maybe you should keep them after this match! And how about me? Do you like how they fit me?”
Meanwhile, as usual, Clara is doing something unrelated to the match. She’s currently fiddling with her sunglasses.
Yeah… Everyone in this room, and even Ricard, is now wearing sunglasses. You know, wearing sunglasses in a pitch-dark room, where the only light comes from the screens, it’s kind of weird, but… she insisted on it.
She said something like ‘If we’re going to be watching the enemy with our evil plans, waiting for an opportunity to strike, we must wear sunglasses!’ And there was no way to dissuade her.
She’s seen too many films…
So, in the end, everyone’s wearing sunglasses. Even Ricard, who’s currently trying to avoid Makarel’s attacks as he runs away. By the way, they’re purely cosmetic. They don’t hinder our vision, don’t make things darker, and they don’t cost anything to apply to the champions.
It’s weird how the game has sunglasses ready for a wererat’s head… but I don’t want to know the reason why it does, so it’s ok. Stuff you don’t know can’t hurt you.
“Eh, uh… ok….?”
I don’t know how to reply... WHY did you have to ask ME that question!? Couldn’t you put someone else (like Laura, who happens to be right next to me) in this difficult situation?
“They look… you look… yeah, they’re… kind of, ok…?”
“Is that so? Hehehe! I think I’ll keep them too, then!”
Aaaagh! I hate myself for saying it because it couldn’t be any far away from the truth! But I don’t want to disappoint my little sister... Please, NEVER wear them again! Your brother is suffering here!
You might be saying it’s an exaggeration, and I’m overreacting right now, but let me explain so that you understand.
First of all, the sunglasses on me look… weird. You only need to know they aren’t something designed for a creature with a rat’s head at all. But at least they’re adapted to my head shape and properly hide my eyes.
Then is Laura, who the sunglasses make even sexier than usual… though I’m not sure if it’s because of them or because of the outfit and roleplay…
Ricard’s sunglasses hide his bright blue eyes, the undead’s identity. So right now he looks like a badass tall and pale guy. In my opinion, he’s the one who the sunglasses fit the best. He even reminds me of certain film protagonists…
And finally, there’s Clara’s champion. Let me remind you that her champion is just a mass of tentacles and that she doesn’t have any feet, hands, legs, arms, or even a head.
So how is she supposed to wear sunglasses, you might ask? Well, they’re embedded into the mass of tentacles that occupies the same space as a human’s head. Yeah, embedded. The glasses’ temples go inside the tentacle mass, and since there’s no nose at all, the bridge and lenses are floating in mid-air.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
And it’s extremely gross! Because it kind of looks like a human but it definitely isn’t!
“Boss, they’re about to reach the designated area!”
Luckily, Laura interrupts my thoughts and I have the perfect excuse to avoid Clara’s questioning.
“Prepare the lockdown and start the saving protocol! Prepare the launching sequence!”
“Sure thing!”
“Bro, can I do the launching thing, please!? I would really like to do it…!”
“*Sigh!* Ok, but don’t miss the timing, ok? It’s very important!”
“Don’t worry! I’ll do it properly!”
Now I’m worried. VERY worried. I don’t know why, but I somehow feel like she’s making a sinister grin right now. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad one that her champion doesn’t have a face…
“Lily, from now on, I leave everything to you. I must do my job too.”
“Sure thing, boss! If you do your job properly, I can reward you later, you know?”
Come on, can’t you stop making those suggestive movements right now, and focus on the match?
“Please focus on this first, Lily… We’ll talk about it later...”
“Yes! Fufufu!” She makes a fist pose before starting to give orders. ”Lemon, prepare to initiate the launching sequence!”
“Everything’s ready, Lily!”
As they prepare for the launch, I too prepare for what I must do next. Which means I stand up and move to where I should be.
“Wait a little bit more…”
“Now? Do I press it now? The target is already in the area.”
“Not yet. We must wait for the target to be right in the middle so she can’t avoid it. Come on, Baldy! Bait her a little bit further in… Ok, here we go! Launch the bomb!”
“Ok! Launch start! Good luck, bro!”
“Aaaaaaaah….!”
At the same time Clara says those words, she presses a big red button. Then, the platform below my feet opens and I fall.
Yeah… the ‘launching’ is in fact ‘falling’ and the ‘bomb’ is me.
Oh, no, shit! I must stay quiet so they can’t hear me!
“...”
Like this, I fall to the room below, where Makarel is waiting. Well, where she currently is. Baldy managed to make her come to where we needed her to be.
Ugh… I hate this so much… Why did I come up with this plan again…? Oh, yeah, it was so I could safely get into reach and she didn’t have enough time to avoid me.
But I still don’t like falling like this! This is true freefall and everything else is just a joke in comparison. I just hope my character doesn’t turn into a mess of flesh and organs upon touching the ground…
It’ll be too disgusting.
----------------------------------------
Fuck, fuck! Fuck this shit! Why can’t I land a single hit!?
“Hahaha! Did you think you were good enough to fight with me? Such foolish thoughts!”
“I might not be your equal, but I’ll at least stop you for enough time to let my comrades destroy your dungeon core! Hahaha!”
In the middle of my fight with Makarel, we take a short break to taunt each other. I use this chance to put some distance between us.
Contrary to me, she looks composed and is leisurely walking in my direction as I retreat.
I’m sure I look pathetic right now. Why do I, TheGreatBaldSage, suffer like this!? I should be massacring my opponents and feeding on their souls to grow my undead legion instead of fighting this clearly superior opponent! The undead faction isn’t suited for 1vs1 fights but on many vs many ones!
It isn’t like any of us is actually alone, but what am I supposed to do when both my and her units are currently locked in combat and she’s free to come at me however she wants to?
“So, shall we go for the second round? I’ll let you make the first strike once again.”
Saying this, Makarel waves her hand, telling me to come to attack her at any moment. I look at my status and then at the HP bar on top of her.
Shit! I’ve lost 100 HP already and I didn’t manage to touch her a single time! Not even when I activated Whirlwind! How can you evade a skill that only takes 0,5 seconds to activate!? She managed to use Blink in time to get out of reach!
Now I’m sure about it. She’s a pro player. And if she isn’t, she’s going to be one soon. I know this stuff, and only those players can do these kinds of stunts.
“Not coming? Then I’ll come to you!”
She raises her sword up high and sends the Flying Slash attack at me. Fuck! Can she read my mind? How does she know how I would try to avoid the attack?
Another 30 HP lost. Luckily, it’s a weak attack, with only 5 + 0,3 * STR damage, but its damage is already starting to accumulate. A skill liked by lots of high-level players because of how versatile it is.
Following her attack, she opens her wings wide and uses them to take a short flight in my direction. Oh, please. Please! Order me to go back already! At this rate, I’m going to die and the whole plan will fall apart!
“Baldy, do you hear me? The enemy is trying to surround you. Retreat right now!”
That’s Laura’s voice, coming from the loudspeakers.
Nice! The god of games must have heard my prayers and they answered. Nice job, Nanawa! I’m sure it’s you trying to ambush me from behind. Thanks to you I have the perfect excuse to go back!
“You hear me, my undead legion? Those sneaky bastards plan on surrounding us and send us all of us to the clutches of death once again! But we won’t accept it! We’re retreating!”
“Hey, who’re you calling a sneaky bastard? Isn’t it normal to use everything at your disposal to crush your opponents?”
I’m not going to argue with you, Makarel. Because I too believe in it. But our situations are currently reversed, so I’ll complain anyway.
“Zombies, cover our retreat! Let them understand why you’re one of the most feared meatshields! Hahaha!”
I and the rest of the units start to retreat as the zombies make a literal wall of flesh to stop Makarel and her kobolds from following us. That’s what it should look like, but in fact, I’m just earning us some time so that we can bring Makarel to the prepared space for the ambush.
And do it without dying: the most important part of the plan.
Zombies are slow and stupid. But they’re cheap and resilient too. They’re the backbone of any undead legion. And if they aren’t, they should. Cost-efficiency, and assuming you’re using them as meatshields, they’re one of the best units in the game.
“I won’t let you run away!”
Leaving Makarel behind, I continue to run. But when I’m far enough, I can’t hold myself from looking back in curiosity. How are the twenty or so zombies doing?
“N-no way…!”
Of the twenty zombies, ten of them are surrounding Makarel and attacking her at the same time. Unlike before, she does take some damage, maybe she lost about a tenth of her HP?
At the same time, her kobolds are slaughtering the remaining zombies. With their higher numbers and better stats, plus Makarel’s support and instructions, it was to be expected.
If they didn’t have the Zombie Resilience skill, they might be all defeated already.
Here goes my intention to reduce their numbers somehow. Not that it matters as long as Andreu can blast Makarel with his Grand Finale skill.
“Agh, how annoying… I don’t want to waste time with the zombies and let the real fun run away… I’m a descendant of the proudest race of them all, the dragons! Insignificant creatures like you shouldn’t dare to face me!”
Tired of the zombies not dying because of their innate skill, Zombie Resilience, Makarel uses Blink to get some distance and then readies her innate skill. She opens her mouth as flames condense and soon after, a flame cone burns the ten zombies, killing them all.
I never thought I would say this, but the dragonborns sure are OP… They have high stats and one of the strongest innate skills, the Dragon’s Breath… And they can fly.
I’m astonished the enemy team can win the fights when they used more than 1.500 cp in a single unit. Because there isn’t a single dragonborn that costs less than 1.500 cp. And even with this, they still crush everyone.
Hmm.. now that I think about it again, it does make sense. Having a pro player using an overpowered champion is the best way to crush any opponent.
Then, having killed the ten zombies that were surrounding her, she turns to look at me, who’s still running away, before grinning and loudly proclaiming.
“Run! Run, you little rat! I’ll catch you soon!”
She then grins, opens her wings wide, and soars to the sky, chasing after me. At about the same time, the remaining zombies are killed and the kobold horde joins her in my pursuit.
Gotta run now. And FAST!
“Hah! So you finally stopped running away? Then, want to resume our duel?”
She once again offers me to make the first move, but this time it’s my time to taunt her.
“Sure, let’s fight. But this time, I’ll be the one to give you the first strike. So come at me, you overgrown lizard! Hahaha!”
“Hoh, the baby undead grew a pair of balls and decided it was time to die once again! Sure, I’ll accept your offer then!”
She leaps at me with another wing flap. At the same time, the little remaining undead engage with her kobolds.
I make sure I’m standing where I should be… Yes, the platform is right below. Ok, then it’s time to activate our plan. Please, Andreu, Laura, Clara… Don’t miss this chance, because it’s the only and last one we’ll have.
At the same time as her blade is about to reach me, I see something falling from the ceiling. That must be him. Then, the ground opens and I fall to the room below, narrowly avoiding Makarel’s strike.
Nice timing! This strike might have killed me if it dealt more than 50 damage!
This is everything I could do for this match for now. Now’s your turn to shine, Andreu. I hope you can complete your plan and bring us victory.
Also… I don’t want to do this ever again.
[https://i.imgur.com/ZGSK4Pl.png]
Up to this point, this was the most boring game of the tournament. Watching Makarel slaughter her way through the dungeon as her supposed opponents were sitting on chairs and watching everything happen, wasn’t very interesting. Everything would change starting from this point.