Casual Clowns settled not too far away from the mountain's spire.
Their current position allowed them to hear the sounds of battles and cries. A few curses and comments also reached them, confusing the team.
Prince leaned on a tree and asked, "Shameless... are those guys at the top fighting naked?"
The gaming language was filled with cruel slurs and crafty insults. The teams battling on the mountain's top had ripped off a few pages from its dictionary and were proficient at using them! Amidst those curses, the word 'shameless' often fell below.
What was so shameless up there?
"I can see a few people being unable to comport before a naked woman, but I doubt it's that," Jake chuckled.
Last Coin grew redder as he imagined the scene.
He was one of those who wouldn't be able to fight against a naked woman.
He'd turn around and perhaps lose or run away.
Sin said coldly, "Someone has been single for too long."
El's eyes lit up.
Prince laughed, "Any idea?"
"An unfair consumable?" Jake tilted his head as he thought aloud.
It'd make sense for the other team to blame the team for using an unfair advantage. It all boiled down to luck, though. Still, people often twisted their words to their preference.
"Maybe," Prince said. "I've had enough of a cold stare from two beauties, at that. I'll refrain from sharing my art with you. Erotica is fun, though."
A blizzard went through Prince, prompting him to look away.
He understood why his sister would not be into that genre, as he didn't hide his relationships and was always honest about them with her. Still, he could see Lil Queen enjoying it! She was surely inexperienced!
He sighed. Sharing an art with others was truly difficult.
'Lil Queen is interested in me, but isn't my dark horse into her? He hasn't shown much attraction in this tournament, though. It should be easy for him to seize a chance to show off to a woman. He's not making any moves, and he even once shoved her on me to fight against others. Was I mistaken? I guess so,' Prince thought.
He couldn't decipher what was happening above him, so he thought about seemingly unimportant stuff. So long as he could tell that a battle was going on at the top, he could fall into thoughts.
It wasn't like he thought about romance because he had enough of his art today!
Romance was an art!
It was an important element that often completed the story!
It was like a versatile ingredient, provided it was executed well!
'It opens doors to new genres! My little rival told me a lot about Lil Queen. He dislikes her because she's a criminal without trying to know what has shaped her into one! He lacks an art, this little mantis,' Prince inwardly said as he smiled. He was open to all genres and was getting interested in El Boss Queen.
A relationship with her would broaden his horizons.
He'd learn a lot.
"What the hell are you doing?" El Boss Queen asked.
There were two teams up there.
They stood so close to each other that their presence could be mistaken as a single team. It wasn't wrong to think of them as one, though.
The Heavy Spree and The Golden Lotus teams joined hands.
They were guilds vying for a spot in The Warmonger Empire, so they were familiar with each other. They even worked together in several cases, including The Cerberus Event.
Those teams didn't think it'd end up this way, either.
The International Tournament's prize was the incentive behind this move. Even if many shares would go to the guilds themselves, the players would earn tons from the gate between the continents. They'd rake in so much money that they'd no longer need to work for life.
They'd be able to enjoy lives like celebrities!
Even those beautiful women and men wouldn't be out of their hands!
Even that Damien Twice would get interested in them!
"You're the last one," the man said. "We swore to entertain the crowd and defeat everyone here before concluding between us who gets the right to participate in the international tournament."
No one doubted his words.
The mountain's spire was littered with blood and scars. Half of it was even, or at least had been, before the teams began their battles there. A temple was perched on it, circled by white wood walls and nature. Because of it, Jake and his team could only see its red roof.
Without a doubt, the mountain's sphere rested in the temple.
The other half of the mountain's spire was sculpted by nature. It was sharp and elongated even higher, like a spear of a deity. No one even dreamed of taking over that higher ground, even if it meant getting the tournament's highest and best high ground—it was too steep.
The highest part was on the vista of the shrine, completing the grand image.
It would have been a great battlefield to fight on had it not been for the shameless scheme.
"I get why the others would call you shameless now," Sin said.
Prince shook his head, "I do not endorse such an art. It is, however, a welcomed one since it means I get to teach tasteless and poor bastards like you a lesson."
Jake smiled, "I don't doubt you defeating everyone else... but I doubt you doing that for the crowd's entertainment. Stop wiping your faces with this fake excuse, and be honest. You couldn't have risked anyone butting into your fight to decide which guild goes to the international tournament. That's it."
"Lies. We know what we have done is wrong, so we want to provide the audience as many fights as possible."
Jake hollered, "Oh, yeah, sure! Haha! You will also tell us that you're waiting here for us like docile dogs because you want to be fair? Is that why you didn't use a high ground against us? Haha!"
Casual Clowns laughed behind their masks.
The crowd also grinned, enjoying them going onto the offensive from the start!
There was also no hint of despair in their eyes!
In that single moment, Casual Clowns became everyone's hope!
Even though it sounded impossible, they wanted them to win against fourteen players!