"You still not used to the crowd?" Rio asked Key casually, handing her a bottle of water when they arrived at the resting area assigned to them
"Just surprised, I thought I'd seen the most of it." Key replied and chuckled as she opened the bottle
"Thanks for earlier, good sir," Key turned to Alexei who saluted his hand in a jest
"No problem, milady," he replied and placed his hand down
"Everyone now thinks you treat Key as a little sister." El said and Alexei chuckled before putting his hands in his uniform's pocket
"Well, what can I say, she does look like one." Alexei said with a smile before ruffling Key's hair
"There's no underlying insult to my height in that, right?" Key asked and they chuckled
"And some think Key is part of the line-up because Alexei gave way for her." Bright said after looking at his phone's screen and they all looked at Key whose expression remained unperturbed
"That kid can prove her abilities later in the game." Rasheed replied casually making Key turn to look at him, changing her smiling expression into that of disbelief
"Alright, get ready, team. You're up in ten minutes." Dewy clapped his hands and the members of the line-up stood up and began readying themselves to go to the stage
"Good luck!" Rio cheered them when they started leaving the room
"We'll be there too soon," Alexei said
"I'll expect that, good sir," Key replied and they chuckled before leaving the room
"You're no longer nervous?" El asked Key to which she shook her head
"Kind of thrilled now, actually," Key replied with a small smile
{"Let's welcome, Cyber Paw!"}
Series of loud shouts, whistles, and cheering echoed in the arena. The fans screamed while holding blue light sticks, long balloons, and LED screens flashing the names that the players are using in the industry at the sight of the players arriving.
{"Let's welcome, JLNC!"}
"That's our cue," El tapped Key's shoulder and they lined up to go out to the stage
Cheers and shouts from the crowd greeted them upon their entrance, Key came out to the stage after Opal, and behind her were El, Rasheed, and Quant. She saw so many people, numbers she can't count.
{"Can you see how the fans went wild after they see the members of each team?"} Gino Morin turned to Elvis who nodded with a smile
{"The arena is shaken by these live audiences cheering for their favorite team."} Elvis Letterman commented as the loud upbeat music in the background matched and gave the players from each group a grand entrance
"You guys ready?" Bright asked them as soon as they went to sit in front of their respective monitors
"Hmm," Key nodded
"Yes!" Opal answered
"Good luck to us," Quant said
"Game on," El muttered
"Let's start," Rasheed answered
They wore their respective headphones before Bright checked on them if they can hear each other well, after checking if they can hear each other well, Bright met with the opponent's coach and shook hands before the games began.
{"So, here we are, the banning part,"} Elvis announced when the large screen flashed the list of the members in each team with three circles below each team
{"As you can see on the screen, Cyber Paw's Figaro banned Intrepidus, JLNC's El banned Luccicare, and Cyber Paw's Hugh banned Surnoise."} Elvis Letterman narrated the current turn of events
{"Oomph! Looks like JLNC had come prepared, here comes Opal banning Dexameni."} Gino commented
{"For our first-time viewers an those who don't know, Cyber Paw's most famous strategy is the tank-summoner combo with their marksman, mage, and fighter trio. But with the current turn of events, looks like they'll have no choice but to take Fero if they want to stick to this tactic."} Gino Morin said
{"It's just the banning part but they're already heated, banning shinigami that are crucial to each other's tactics, they both have come prepared for this match."} Elvis Letterman pointed out
{"Since the announcement of matches three days ago, this certain match had been hyped with the internet citizens cheering for their favorite teams even before the main game."} Gino Morin remarked
{"And here goes Cyber Paw's retaliation with Jibe banning Chasseur who is known to be the JLNC's forward and mid-laner's common shinigami."} Elvis Letterman said as the shinigami Chasseur turned to gray and earned a red mark
{"Well, Elvis, it seems JLNC had decided to finish the banning part by banning Cyber Paw's Forward's Fidens as a sign of getting even."} Gino Morin noted
"Bright, who should I choose?" El asked Bright
"Quant, choose Blitz for El."
"Opal, choose Vis,"
"Bright, can I have Luxy?" Quant asked after Bright gave the order to Opal
"Alright, you can take Luxy." Bright said
"Bright, who should I take?" Key asked
"Foschia's not banned," El said taking Key's attention before she turned to Bright
"Okay, take Foschia," Bright said upon realizing what Key's action meant
"Yes!" Key cheered as softly as she can but delight is evident in her face
"Rasheed, you can take Fiore," Bright said and Rasheed nodded
{"Alright, so here are the teams' line-ups. For Cyber Paw, they have Evocatrice as off-laner, Fero as top-laner, Maesta as Forward, Ausu as mid-laner, and Clypeus as Support. It seems they still proceeded with the usual tactic and game plan even when JLNC is obviously aware of it."} Elvis Letterman noted
{"And for JLNC, they have Vis as top-laner, Foschia as off-laner, Blitz for mid-laner, Luxy as Support, and Fiore as Forward. To be honest, their combination seems balanced, Blitz and Vis are not that strong in the early stage of the game but they can deal a lot of damage in the mid to the late part of the game."} Gino Morin said
{"As for Fiore and Foschia, these two are strong in the early part of the game but in this version, they won't deal much damage in the later part of the game. And take note, Foschia is an assassin type of shinigami, she's usually not used in pro-games but here she is now."} He identified
{"Do you think Cyber Paw had realized by now that JLNC's aiming for a quick victory?"} Elvis Letterman turned to Gino Morin while asking
{"Probably, and since they did, JLNC's goal won't be that easy to accomplish."} Gino Morin replied
The match began, and both sides headed to protect their front towers. Foschia disappeared from the opponent's maps by hiding in the bushes as she develop and raise her gold. Fero and Vis headed to the top lane and began developing with Evocatrice backing up Fero. Ausu and Blitz headed to the middle lane, and Fiore with Luxy as support headed to the bottom lane almost having an early face-off with Maesta and Clypeus.
"Hey, Quant, come here, I can't face off with these two." Opal complained while his Vis is developing
"Captain's on the bottom lane with the opponent's forward and support as well, though the support already lost some of its blood from Quant's attack." Key replied with her eyes on the screen
"Huh? You're here?" Quant asked confusedly
"Focus on developing, don't engage just yet." Rasheed ordered
"Yes, Captain!" they answered