{"Are you excited?"}
{"Welcome to this year's Prometheus League National Championship!"}
The whole arena is bustling with festivities, fans are cheering for the team that they support.
The fans are holding long balloons in the colors of IBJ and JLNC.
"Are you nervous?" El asked Key while they were walking to their resting area
"Hmm, just a bit," Key replied while nodding her head
"We're facing off against your cousin's team, did you expect this?" Rio asked and turned his head when he heard Key chuckling
"A bit… but I guess after this, E-Sport players will have a better light to my sister," Key replied and chuckled when she recalled her conversation with her sister the night before
[No, even if you win, I'm not changing my mind.] Chela said firmly from the other line
"Uh-huh, let me pretend TL didn't tell me you bought a ticket to watch the Nationals." Key decided to tease her and Chela's reaction made her chuckle
[That guy…] Chela said in disbelief
"You should've known better than to ask help from one of my Troublemakers, sister," she remarked with a ghost smile on her lips
"Anyways, you can't go watch us since you have a business meeting on that day, right?" she asked and Chela shook her head before nodding
[You should've been here,] Chela said and Key chuckled
"But if I were there, I wouldn't be able to play in the Nationals so what's the point of you watching?" she said and grinned when an idea flashed through her mind
"Unless you're not there to watch me," Key added and she saw how Chela's ears turned red
[Why else would I watch something I dislike if not for my sister?] Chela scoffed but Key could see how her lips shook and her ears turned red
"Sure, sure,"
Key wasn't buying it but for the sake of cutting the conversation before her sister gets more flustered and cut the conversation before they could talk about some serious topics she just gave in.
"Oh, you guys are here!" Fox arrived with Monk and Vita
"Hey,"
El, Rio, and Alexei high-fived the three members of IBJ before Fox headed to ruffle Key's hair with a smile.
"Nope, she's busy with her meeting, she's not coming." Key immediately said and Fox chuckled
"Good luck, cousin," Fox said and Key shook her head
"Good luck, James," Key replied and high-fived with him
"You two don't seem to feel any tension from the competition," Alexei commented
"Whoever wins, wins," James shrugged his shoulder
"Or should we say when we win, E-Sports will have a better light to Ms. Seachela, and if you win, you'll have a better image with her?" Key teased and Fox glanced at her for a moment before shaking his head
"You two talked about it, huh?" Fox asked and Key smiled
"We can't relate," Vita and Monk took their attention and the two chuckled
"See you after the game, Chantel," James said and ruffled Key's hair before going to his teammates
"See you," Key replied and they entered the resting area
"What took you guys so long outside?" Dewy asked
"Key's cousin went to wish us good luck," Rio replied
"Oh," Bright nodded his head
"Nice of you to have a short chitchat with the opponent before the game," Rasheed commented
"Alright, let's have a short rerun of our strategy for today's game," Bright said and they circled to listen to the rerun of their strategy
{"Give it up for IBJ!"}
Screams and cheers echoed, and their fans shouted their names as they made their way to their seats.
Blue and grey balloons were waved as fans cheered for the members of IBJ.
{"Now let us welcome them to their return to the finals, JLNC!"}
As the players part of JLNC's line-up walk up the stage, white balloons were waved as their fans cheered.
{"I'm no longer sure if we're here to watch a game or if we're being showered with visuals."} Elvis Letterman said and Gino Morin chuckled
{"You do have a point, Elvis, and if you didn't know, on the farm, they have ranked the players according to their gaming strength and their visuals. In that ranking, Fox and Rasheed are competing in the second rank while the first rank is the Black Lily's Captain, Damon."} Gino Morin said
{"I'm no longer surprised, after all, Black Lily's Captain Damon had been the Captain of the International Champion for three consecutive years."} Elvis Letterman said
{"Now let's begin with the shinigami banning."}
{"What the?!"}
Everyone was stunned when the first shinigami banned by JLNC was Blitz.
In this version of the game, Blitz, Bellum, and Chasseur are the strongest in the middle until late into the game, banning one of the three would mean that only two choices will be left and it'll be a matter of whoever chooses first.
"I wonder what they're planning…" Monk muttered when he saw the turn of events
"We'll be done for if they caught up on this strategy," Opal remarked while sighing
"We still have a backup plan, Opal, we won't easily be done for." Key replied in a playful tone
"Focus," Rasheed scolded but they all brush it off with a chuckle
"Key's right though," Bright said and shook his head
The banning proceeded and at the end of the shinigami banning, Blitz, Ausu, Pylae, Fiore, Coraje, and Chikara were banned from the game.
IBJ gets to choose their shinigami first when the shinigami selection began.
"Wings, get Luccicare," their coach, Henry, ordered
"Coach, I think Wings should use a mage-type shinigami," Fox said as if he was finally figuring out the strategy that JLNC is planning to use
"Why?" Henry asked and looked at Fox
"Their off-laner most likely will use a mage-type as well," Fox said and his teammates, Monk and Vita, caught up with what he was implying by his statement
"And if you're wrong?" Wings asked
"You're a pro player, Wings, you'll be able to adjust," Monk said
"Alright, I'll take Clypeus." Wings said
{"That was unexpected of IBJ Wings."} Elvis Letterman commented
{"Yes, that's true, Elvis, he initially picked Luccicare but in the end, he chose Clypeus."} Gino Morin agreed still amused at the current turn of events
"Looks like Fox had seen your strategy, Kashmiri," El teased her
"But he's forgetting that we banned Fiore and Pylae." Key replied in a meaningful tone
"Only Fiore is capable of stealing blood like Clypeus," Quant recalled
"But the strategy is not aiming for a recharge, it's aiming for steady targets." Bright reminded them and they couldn't help but smile while shaking their head
It was as if even before the game has begun, a match between the two teams is already taking place.
Both teams are trying to outsmart the other with their banning and selection choices.
After choosing their respective shinigami, it's down to Kashmiri and Fox to choose.
"Now, James, who will you choose?" Key asked, her eyes on her screen as if eyeing a particular shinigami
"I'll take Luccicare," Fox said and chose Luccicare much to everyone's surprise
"What will your course of action now be, Chantel?"
Fox thought while looking past the monitor, looking at Key intently until their eyes met as she had clicked her shinigami of choice.
{"What is happening?!"}
The whole arena was in a state of confusion after they realized the shinigami line-up of both teams.
JLNC have Maesta as Forward, while IBJ chose Luccicare as their Forward, neither team chose one of the two remaining strong marksman-type shinigami.
Both teams seemed like they were testing the waters in this match and are not taking it seriously.
{"And there you have it, for JLNC, we have Evocatrice as off-laner, Laidir as top-laner, Maesta as forward, Intrepidus as mid-laner, and Sournoise as support."}
{"And for IBJ we have Clypeus as off-laner, Fero as top-laner, Luccicare as forward, Chasseur as mid-laner, and Luxy as support."}
{"Partner, if you ask me, it seems like both teams want to finish this game early."} Elvis Letterman commented and Gino Morin nodded while chuckling
{"That's true, Elvis, their line-up is filled with early to mid-game strong shinigami, and not a single late-game shinigami is on their line-up."} Gino Morin stated
"Good luck," Bright told them before he headed to the middle of the stage to shake hands with the opponent's coach
As soon as the game began, unlike the usual play style, Quant headed to the top lane with Opal, Rasheed and El headed to their respective bottom and middle lane while Kashmiri headed to the Hydra's Lair.
{"What do you think Kashmiri is doing?"} Gino Morin asked Elvis Letterman
{"She headed to the Hydra without even developing, and at this point, Gino, no one can say what's running in her mind."} Elvis Letterman replied