The team left the arena. “Now we are moving right on to our next round of matches. The six versus six matches for level 2 monsters. Expect more variety. More tactics. At this level of combat any field member will either have to call out their surrender or death. If they pass out, their teammate can keep fighting with their summoned monsters. There will be no intervention. Knowing your limits is important. And trusting in your teammate is equally important.”

“For the opening match we have the city sponsored team of Neo Brasilia on the Green side. On the Red side we have the city sponsored team of East Bastion.” I knew cities would be focusing more on their level 2 monsters for advertising purposes if at all possible.

While level 1 monsters didn’t matter so much. If there was a huge demand of a specific level 2 monster, it would really drive traffic to the city. Also, there were more options. Both teams came out and both waved a yellow flag to indicate one of their members was taking the field.

This time, they were actual combatants. Unlike the level 1 matches where the field members mostly just ran away and cowered. This time they would be in the fray. There was a very high chance of death here. But there was a lot more at stack in these battles.

“Green side ready?” They waved their green flag on a stick. “Red side ready?” They waved their green flag as well. “Fight!”

“Green side has deployed three living armor sword monsters. Their field member is controlling them. Apparently there will be some team tactics on that side. The remaining three monsters are giant white moths to disrupt their opposition.”

“The Red side is deploying two water mimics and two pink floating fish using the water mimics as cover to attack. The last two monsters are purple eyes.” A keening noise was heard as a sonic beam was fired from one of the eyes.

“The first sonic attack of the tournament! The field member and his summons stumble as they advance. The white moths are trying to target the pink floating fish, but inside the morphable water mimics, the attacks are being blocked. Already the depression attacks are hitting the field member as the ranged bombardment continues.”

Earlier on in the brackets more mismatches would occur, but the level 2 battle was already a lot more exciting than the level 1. “The field member has raised his shield, which is enchanted with null, blocking the worst of the attacks. He has recovered to a degree. The living armor is also going in front of him and forming a wedge to charge.” The crowd really began to get wild.

“The opposing field member is retreating as the monsters spread out on the Red side. But this coordination is being disrupted as their summoner is reeling from the feedback of all the mental attacks.” Targeting priority and grasping the flow of battle was key. While Green team struggled at the start under the intense bombardment, they survived. Red team had nothing to follow it up with and collapsed with the counterattack.

The Red team summoner waved a white flag. “Cease battle!” I called out and made sure there was no more energy flying about. Everyone came to a halt. “Green team wins!” I declared and the crowd cheered wildly.

“What an exciting match. Next up we have the city sponsored team of Nanjing on the Green side. On the Red side we have the city sponsored team from the Abyss.” The next two teams came out. Neither team put a field member out, which was interesting.

“Green side ready?” They waved their green flag on a stick. “Red side ready?” They waved their green flag as well. “Fight!”

“The Red side unleashes clear chain monsters, very hard to see and they will also reflect energy attacks. One of them has levitated up and taken their flag with it. The remaining five are rushing forward. A single monster type strategy how daring!” Even if they lost they would make an impression on people.

“The Green side with two dark orange swords. Their strikes will be devastating. Two light blue spiders with sheer attacks. And two black vines that are quickly spreading out across the battlefield.”

“The sheer attacks from the spiders on the Green side do nothing to the clear chains. The swords move in and the while there is a lot of light and explosions, there is little damage. Wait the chains are being forced to the ground and the spiders are using webbing to entangle them!”

“They are being pulled downwards to the ground. The black vines are entangling the chains and slowly decaying them! What a daring strategy and a good example of summoner skill overcoming a battle mismatch!”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Soon the five chains were destroyed. The monsters from the Green side moved in on the last chain and flag. It kept flying away and out of range dragging the match out. I counted to fifteen seconds to see if Red side had anything planned. It didn’t appear so.

“Warning! Delay of match Red side!” I called out very loudly. They quickly waved the white surrender flag after that. Retreating and running was a valid option, but it couldn’t be the remainder of your strategy. If they kept going and didn’t surrender, I would have issued a penalty to their team.

A warning after fifteen seconds was acceptable in my mind, to give them the chance to surrender when the match had been lost. The nice part was that I was the Emperor as well as the referee. No one could argue with me.

I watched as the Green side collected the opposing team’s flag. That had been very interesting and impressive. While the clear chains were easily the superior monster, the summoner had not been as talented as the Red side which quickly came up with a counter.

It was honestly the most impressive match so far in my opinion. While it was a short match, it clearly showcased adaptability and being able to turn the tables with pure skill. It was a shame for The Abyss, since their city would get a bit of ridicule.

“Next up we have two independent teams. The first team on the Green side goes by the moniker of the Salty Swords. The second team on the Red side goes by the moniker of Scizzors.”

Neither team deployed a field member, interesting. They were also using similar strategies. This matchup had been requested since there was a bit of rivalry between the two teams going on, over which was the better summoner. I had allowed them to be matched up at the start of the tournament.

Apparently, there was a bit of hype over this. I didn’t care too much about that, but I was happy to humor them and Samantha was in charge of the brackets. She had said it was okay, so I allowed it.

“Green side ready?” They waved their green flag on a stick. “Red side ready?” They waved their green flag as well. “Fight!”

“Both sides deploy their summoner ants, sending out level 1 flying ants. Their respective crystals begin shooting energy beams. Black for the Green side and blue crystals for the red side. Color coordinate next time, please.” I joked which got a lot of laughter from the audience.

“And a surprise from the Green side! They didn’t summon all their monsters at the start and deploy one at the last moment!” A new monster formed, and a giant blue floating eye dropped into the arena. “Technically allowed! The best kind of allowed!”

The beam attacks focused on the summoner monster on either side, but there just wasn’t enough power to punch through the constant swarm of level 1 monsters on either side. Clearly the Green side knew this ahead of time and had prepared.

The summoning monster went up into the air. I kicked off my platform, cracking it, and moved. Air Burst. Air Burst. The eye monster unleashed an attack at the summoning ant on the other side. I was already behind it the summoning monster. Acid Shot.

My attack intercepted the slicing attack which cut through the summoner monster and was about to go into the stands. “Cease combat!” Air Burst. I shot forward. Acid Shot x10. I wiped out the eye monster and Green side’s monsters. Acid Shot.

I killed the two summoners. They screamed as they died. The crowd went silent. “Attacking the crowd is not allowed under any circumstances. The flying monsters did not go above the height, but the attack was angled up. If that attack had landed, several people would have been killed or maimed.”

“That is a core rule of the Monster Battle Arena. No attacking the crowd and knowing where your attacks are going. There is no excuse or explanation. The penalty is immediate death. Red team wins!”

There was some applause at that. I guess it was finally sinking home, these matches were incredibly dangerous, and I wasn’t there just to joke around. I let out a sigh. I went back to my platform. It wasn’t all fun and games. Monster Battle Arena was serious business. I also couldn’t allow the crowd to be hurt.

If that had been a level 3 monster it would have been much harder to block. I was glad that I was able to make this point in the level 2 rounds. People wouldn’t forget. Don’t aim up with ranged attacks. It was just that simple.

It did give ranged monsters a bit of an advantage, but the flight ceiling was already fairly low in my opinion. It also added to the challenge of flying monsters. While it wasn’t completely realistic, if there was even going to be an audience that would be needed.

Maybe in time we could have enchanted glass windows or something to shield people, but for now, no aiming up. That message had to sink into everyone’s mind. The entire team would be killed as well. No exceptions. Teams lived or died together, and trust was important.

I could tell the other teams were reevaluating flying monsters and ranged attacks. The city sponsored teams wouldn’t make such a mistake. I was also sure that the level 3 teams would be much more aware of things like that, or would be now.

It was unfortunate that two capable people had to be killed, but life was cheap. And I wasn’t about to let anyone get away with attacking the crowd for any reason. There would be no exceptions to that rule. I guess the only one would be if an attack was deflected away. That would be trickier. Most likely I would declare a mutual loss and both teams would have their summoning licenses stripped.

If there was one thing I knew, was that any and all edge cases would be found and tried out. That was why there couldn’t be exceptions. Clarissa was right about people dying and how it would be detrimental to Monster Battle Arena and my image.