It was only half-past five in the morning but the whole JLNC base is already empty, not because they aren't awake yet but because they are already on their way to the arena.
The match against Crown Pearl will be held in another state of Hirea, in New Jadecry, and that's where they are headed early that morning.
When they arrived at the Valor Gaming Arena, the members of the press immediately bombarded them with many questions, mostly about their most recent defeat.
"No, we can't answer any question right now," Dewy told them and asked the security details of VGA to help in escorting the team to their resting area
As they arrived in the resting area, the members all sat down and started resting, Bright called their attention and started discussing their tactic for their game against Crown Pearl of New Jadecry.
They are the guest team and this is Crown Pearl's home arena.
But, despite Valor Gaming Arena being Crown Pearl's home arena, JLNC managed to snatch away the victory of the first round from them, with Rio as the MVP.
During the fifteen-minute resting time, Rio decided to check his socials, and his being the first round's MVP was considered a fluke by most of the viewers and fans.
"Are you reading comments, Rio?" Key asked him and Rio looked up
"Yeah," Rio replied and hid his phone
"Don't mind them, there's no need to compare you with El." Key replied
Some viewers commented on how JLNC would have won the first round quicker had their mid-laner been El, not Rio, and it's pouring water on Rio's mood.
"You shouldn't spend too much time on social media, Rio." El commented, still with his arm in a cast
"That's epic coming from the one who spent his days scrolling his phone, ha!" Alexei teased him
"What else was I supposed to do, huh?" El retorted and smiled at Rio
"You're doing great," El added and Rio smiled
"Thanks," Rio said
"Wow, I can feel the brotherly love of our two mid-laners," Quant commented while hugging a pack of prawn chips
"Don't we all love each other as brothers?" Opal asked and their resting area was filled with chuckles
{"Let's begin the banning part."}
The Crown Pearl is known for their mage-tank lineup, it was evident in the first match where they used Dextremeni, Clypeus, Fiore, Chasseur, and Sournoise.
With this knowledge, JLNC has planned to ban Dextremeni, so the opponent will have no choice but to use Fero in the second match.
"What the?!"
But, things didn't turn out as they have expected, everyone in the arena is surprised when the first shinigami that Crown Pearl banned was Dextremeni.
They actually banned one of the two tank-type shinigamis available, the stronger one at that, at the beginning of the second match.
{"Perhaps, Crown Pearl knew that JLNC had seen through their mage-tank lineup because of their defeat in the first round that's why they decided to throw them off-guard by banning Dextremeni in the round first."} Gino Morin said
{"If I were them, Gino, I wouldn't use the same lineup where I was defeated either."} Elvis Letterman replied and Gino Morin nodded
"What are they planning?" Quant asked in disbelief
"Ban Fero," Bright said
"But they already banned Dextremeni…" Rio said and looked up at him
"It's alright," Bright replied
"After Fero, ban Clypeus and Fiore," he added
"Okay," Key and Rio, who will be taking part in the banning part, replied
{"And there you have it, Crown Pearl banned Dextremeni, Chasseur, and Bellum, as for JLNC, they banned Fero, Clypeus, and Fiore."} Gino Morin said
With the banning part over with, the shinigami selection began.
"Opal, take Vis," Bright told Opal
"Okay," Opal said
"Quant, you can take Surnoise." Bright told Quant
"Okay," Quant replied
The two teams alternately chose their shinigami.
As the opposing mid-laner took Fidens, Rio took Intrepidus, Key selected Luxy, while the opposing off-laner selected Evocatrice as his shinigami, and Rasheed picked Blitz just as Crown Pearl's forward selected Luccicare. The game started after the shinigami selection.
"Do you need assistance?" Key asked Rio while she was leveling up in the top lane
"No need," Rio replied and smiled
"Key, can you use your maceries?" Rio asked as soon as he leveled up to level five
"Hmm, sure thing," Key replied
"Opal, on the count of three, we push forward with Rio." Key called out to Opal
"Okay," Opal said lightly and sat up
"Captain, permission," Key called out to Rasheed
"The shield will serve as the signal, prepare," Rasheed ordered
"Yes, Captain," they replied
As soon as Luxy used maceries, they pushed forward in attacking their opponents.
They started dealing damages against the members of Crown Pearl, this sudden attack from them took the opponents off-guard and gave them the upper hand in the fight.
After the continuous clashes in all three lanes of the map, only Crown Pearl's Forward and mid-laner survived and managed to retreat to their base.
{"That was a very quick move from JLNC!"} Elvis Letterman commented with amusement
"Finish off the monsters," Rasheed instructed
"Yes, Captain," they answered
"Key, let's anti-jungle," Rio called to Key
"Okay," she replied
"Opal, can you deal with the Kitsune for us?" Key asked Opal
"No problem," Opal replied
"Quant, go with him," Rasheed ordered Quant
"Yes, Captain," Quant answered
In Crown Pearl's jungle, the opposing forward and mid-laner fought against Rio's Intrepidus and Key's Luxy while they're dealing against the Manticore in the Manticore's Den.
{"What a reverse in action from JLNC's mid-laner and off-laner!"} Gino Morin exclaimed when Rio used Intrepidus's necto and stunned the opponent's Luccicare and Fidens
The audience was very amazed by how similar and how well Key and Rio worked, Rio used moves that Kashmiri would normally be the one executing, and Kashmiri remained as support all throughout the way, which is something that Renin would do back when he was playing with Bright.
"Nice one, Rio," Key said and started attacking the two opponents
"Thanks, Key," Rio replied and joined in attacking the opponents
"Head to the Hydra's Lair after that," Rasheed instructed them
"Yes, Captain," the four of them, Quant, Opal, Rio, and Key, replied and continued dealing with the respective creatures in each jungle
Rio received two kill assists, while Key scored a double kill. Meanwhile, in JLNC's forest, in the Kitsune's Forest, Opal and Quant easily dealt with the Kitsune.
Quant used his Sournoise's second skill then Opal used his Vis's second skill to deal damage against the Kitsune, reducing its life to less than half of its blood. Opal and Quant finished the kitsune in their jungle first so they headed to the Hydra's Lair.
Crown Pearl off-laner's Evocatrice, top-laner's Chikara, and support's Pylae had also entered the Hydra's Lair, and a three against three battle erupted in the Hydra's Lair.
When both side already is nearly losing all their blood, JLNC Rasheed's Blitz received heavy damage against the Reaper that Evocatrice summoned just as his second skill landed on Evocatrice and the Reaper, killing them and draining their blood.
Rio's Intrepidus soon arrived, he joined the fight and helped finish off the remaining three shinigami.
{"Renin made a triple kill!"} Gino Morin announced after Rio's Intrepidus dealt the finishing damage on all three opponents
After finishing off the opponents, the remaining JLNC members, along with Luxy who had just arrived in the Hydra's Lair, started dealing with the Hydra.
Meanwhile, Crown Pearl's Fidens and Luccicare could only sneak into the bottom lane through the bushes to avoid taking the attention of the remaining JLNC members on the map, and they started dealing with JLNC's defense tower in the bottom lane.
{"It seems that to avoid getting aced by JLNC, Crown Pearl's Forward and mid-laner decided to prey on the towers instead."} Elvis Letterman commented
{"In this case, a four-against-two battle will not end well for Crown Pearl."} Gino Morin said
{"But if you noticed, Elvis, it seems that JLNC's current teamwork is better than the last time. If you remember, they seemed to have lacked communication, but in this game, they are moving in coordination."} Gino Morin added
They spread around to avoid the Hydra's attacks but Rio accidentally slipped, good thing for him, Quant and Kashmiri were quick enough.
Kashmiri used Maceries to put up a shield, while Quant used Spiorad to take over Intrepidus for fifteen seconds and managed to control him away from there.
"Thanks," Rio said
"Don't mention it," Key said
{"And they claimed the Hydra! Renin dealt the finishing blow on the Hydra!"} Gino Morin announced just as Intrepidus used Strike to drain the Hydra's blood
Just as JLNC finished off the Hydra, Crown Pearl's Fidens and Luccicare finished destroying JLNC's defense tower in the bottom lane.
"There are two opponents in the bottom line, we didn't notice." Key said and shook her head
"It's just one tower," Opal said earning a look from Key and Rio