"Probably because he can't face Bellum and Luxy head-on, Alexei and Rasheed are currently the highest leveled players on the map, Pentagram's mid-laner has a higher leveled shinigami than the two but he hasn't resurrected yet." Dewy replied and Key nodded
Facing Bellum and Luxy, although both are less than half-blooded, would be disadvantageous for Fiore, the off-laner, and Luccicare, the opponent's Forward, because Quant's Clypeus is behind the two, which enhances their attack's damages, while with Opal's Coraje and Rio's Chasseur, they can execute Chasseur after draining Coraje.
Fiore and Luccicare would have stood a fair chance against Bellum and Luxy, had their mid-laner, Fidens, resurrected already but it still has about a few seconds more before it resurrects from being killed by Chasseur's enhanced attacks, courtesy of Clypeus's skill, along with Luxy's first skill.
In the end, Chasseur and Coraje were taken out, but this kill made by the opponent cost them three of their surviving members, and only the remaining two newly resurrected members, who spawned back on the map just before they were executed, were the reason that Rasheed's Bellum didn't ace Pentagram.
The two members, the support and mid-laner, did their best to defend their base tower but with Clypeus using its acuo to steal their blood and focus the enhancement on Bellum's attack while Luxy deals damage to them, JLNC won.
Fidens stood his ground and managed to deal large damage on Bellum and Luxy, had Bellum's finishing blow on Pentagram's base tower been a few seconds late, they would have been taken out with only Quant's Clypeus remaining.
They watched Opal, Alexei, Rio, Rasheed, and Quant stand up and head to the Pentagram's side to shake their players' hands before heading to the center of the stage and bowing.
Key felt something warm inside her, which she found weird because she felt proud although she wasn't the one who played and performed well on stage.
She hadn't completely grasped that this feeling is from the success of her teammates, their success makes her happy and that's what comes alongside being a team, to be happy with the feats and achievements that your teammates, to be happy for them.
It didn't take long before the players went to the resting area, El and Key greeted and congratulated them while giving all the members a high five as they enter the resting area.
"I told you, we'll win, Milady," Alexei said kiddingly
"We saw you guys earlier, what were you doing?" Rio asked the two
"Yeah, you took quite the attention from the audience," Opal agreed
"Ah, we were just observing your match from the audience's seat," El replied and Key smiled
"El said I should consider joining Bright in forming the team's game strategies," Key kidded and El chuckled while shaking his head
"Are you trying to remove the starting player for Alexei? That's unfair, you know," Dewy jested, to which the two replied with a chuckle
"She said she just happen to know a lot about her Foschia's counter-shinigami." El chuckled
"Yeah, my Foschia is at a disadvantage against Clypeus after all," Key replied, shrugging her shoulder
"So, what did you think about our match from the audience seat?" Alexei asked
"You guys were quick at recovering after that fallout from the strategy," Key replied
"Yeah, you guys reacted quickly," El agreed
"You know, they were guessing what your next moves would be," Dewy said and Key chuckled
"Our guesses were most likely right since you did both what Key and El said," Bright said
"Oh, you guessed correctly?" Quant asked in surprise
"The Captain's orders were sudden," Rio said and El kiddingly placed his arm on Key's shoulder
"She guessed most of what the Captain would order you to do, while I just guessed what you'd do in the situation." El said and Key shook her head while chuckling
"And you often get into my cousin's nerves at that," Alexei said and Key playfully glared at him
"Exactly my point," El agreed and ruffled Key's hair
"Congratulations on entering the semi-finals, team," Bright congratulated them
"Key's no longer banned in the next game, is she?" Alexei asked
"Why, do you want to push Key back to being a substitute until the finals?" Dewy playfully asked
"Nah, I want to get a bit of vacation, man, I almost forgot how pressuring and exhausting long matches are," Alexei replied
"Oh, right, fix your things, the next team is probably on their way." Dewy reminded them and they dispersed from conversing
Key didn't bring anything with her except her small purse that contained her wallet and phone so she had nothing to fix, she took out her phone when she remembered Kitten's message and she read it.
As she had expected, Kitten asked her how she'd like to handle the breach of contract and from the way she sent her message, it seems she had already arranged a few preparations to deal with the matter so Key merely replied that's she's still handling some matters so she'd like Kitten to handle it for her.
She's indeed learning the value of teamwork, but then she made the deals without their knowledge so she'll be settling it, and giving the Troublemakers their reward for their job well done, discreetly as well.
That doesn't break the concept of teamwork from her perspective.
Key walked alongside El as they left the arena, Dewy and Bright are talking to Rasheed, and they are walking ahead of them, El placed his arm on Key's shoulder while walking behind their teammates who are discussing the recent game, probably evaluating the errors, the slip-ups, and the fallouts of the said errors and slip-ups.
"What do you know about teamwork before all of this though?" El asked her all of a sudden and Key looked at him for a moment before replying
"To work together to reach a common goal, and that goal is the E-sports trophy," Key shrugged her shoulders after she replied
"Well, that's true, we do aim for the international E-sports trophy." El agreed with a smile
"But apart from that, what's your other goal?" El asked and Key looked at the sky for a moment before shaking her head
"How about you, what other goal do you have?" Key returned the question to him because she didn't have any other goal, not that she really had a goal when she joined JLNC
"To show the world that we play not just for the money but also to enjoy and have fun with our teammates and friends," El replied and Key smiled
"That's sweet," she commented and looked at the figure of their teammates who are walking ahead
She never had a goal like his – perhaps she did, she did have a goal quite similar to it before the first sign of her immortality struck her like a lightning and shattered all her goals and dreams – and it made her feel quite envious.
A lingering part of her still wished she could view the sweetest lie the way they do, she thinks that then maybe that way she'll be able to cherish and enjoy it to the finest extent like them.
"What do you think teamwork is about now?" El asked after a while of silence
"Trust, tolerance, self-awareness," Key said raising a finger from her balled fist as she said each word
"Those three are the most important skills you need in working as a team, I know that now," Key added and El smiled
"Aren't I a great teacher?" He kidded and Key chuckled
"Don't let it get to your head, I also learned from Dewy and Bright, you know," Key replied and they both chuckled
"Key! El! Hurry up!" Bright called them up and the two fastened their pace
"You've grown closer, huh?" Alexei asked after Key sat next to him and Key smiled
"Well, I did spend most of my time with him lately," Key quipped and Alexei shook his head
Key's phone vibrated and she saw that she received a message, a personalized GIF, from Kami.
She pressed it and she saw Kami's cheering figure while holding a cardboard that says 'Congratulations!', she smiled and quickly typed a reply, thanking her for her congratulatory message.
They were about to go inside their gaming base after their company bus dropped them off and left when James arrived in front of their front door after jogging while holding a file case, and by the looks of it, Key can already guess what it was.
"What's going on?" Bright asked
"Hey, sorry to bother you guys," James said and looked at Key
"Chela told me to give this to you, and she said not to forget about it," James said and handed the file case to Key who immediately accepted it
"Well, I got to go, I still have some training to do, I really just went here to give you that," James said
"Thanks for this, I'll make sure to tell her I received it directly," Key said and James smiled
"You're the best, Chantel," James said before leaving
Key just shook her head and smiled while watching James's receding figure, he obviously just went out of their base to give the file case to her because Chela asked him to.
Now that she thinks about it, Kitten and Chela would pass more as siblings, same with James and Vincent because they're quite alike in the matter of doing things when asked by the people they're interested in.
"What's that?" Bright asked
"Some documents, I guess," Key said and followed them inside