Chapter 489: Day 1,001 (4) – First Matches, 6v6

Chapter 489: Day 1,001 (4) – First Matches, 6v6

The team left the arena. “Now we are moving right on to our next round of matches. The six versus six matches for level 2 monsters. Expect more variety. More tactics. At this level of combat any field member will either have to call out their surrender or death. If they pass out, their teammate can keep fighting with their summoned monsters. There will be no intervention. Knowing your limits is important. And trusting in your teammate is equally important.”

“For the opening match we have the city sponsored team of Neo Brasilia on the Green side. On the Red side we have the city sponsored team of East Bastion.” I knew cities would be focusing more on their level 2 monsters for advertising purposes if at all possible.

While level 1 monsters didn’t matter so much. If there was a huge demand of a specific level 2 monster, it would really drive traffic to the city. Also, there were more options. Both teams came out and both waved a yellow flag to indicate one of their members was taking the field.

This time, they were actual combatants. Unlike the level 1 matches where the field members mostly just ran away and cowered. This time they would be in the fray. There was a very high chance of death here. But there was a lot more at stack in these battles.

“Green side ready?” They waved their green flag on a stick. “Red side ready?” They waved their green flag as well. “Fight!”

“Green side has deployed three living armor sword monsters. Their field member is controlling them. Apparently there will be some team tactics on that side. The remaining three monsters are giant white moths to disrupt their opposition.”

“The Red side is deploying two water mimics and two pink floating fish using the water mimics as cover to attack. The last two monsters are purple eyes.” A keening noise was heard as a sonic beam was fired from one of the eyes.

“The first sonic attack of the tournament! The field member and his summons stumble as they advance. The white moths are trying to target the pink floating fish, but inside the morphable water mimics, the attacks are being blocked. Already the depression attacks are hitting the field member as the ranged bombardment continues.”

Earlier on in the brackets more mismatches would occur, but the level 2 battle was already a lot more exciting than the level 1. “The field member has raised his shield, which is enchanted with null, blocking the worst of the attacks. He has recovered to a degree. The living armor is also going in front of him and forming a wedge to charge.” The crowd really began to get wild.

“The opposing field member is retreating as the monsters spread out on the Red side. But this coordination is being disrupted as their summoner is reeling from the feedback of all the mental attacks.” Targeting priority and grasping the flow of battle was key. While Green team struggled at the start under the intense bombardment, they survived. Red team had nothing to follow it up with and collapsed with the counterattack.

The Red team summoner waved a white flag. “Cease battle!” I called out and made sure there was no more energy flying about. Everyone came to a halt. “Green team wins!” I declared and the crowd cheered wildly.

“What an exciting match. Next up we have the city sponsored team of Nanjing on the Green side. On the Red side we have the city sponsored team from the Abyss.” The next two teams came out. Neither team put a field member out, which was interesting.

“Green side ready?” They waved their green flag on a stick. “Red side ready?” They waved their green flag as well. “Fight!”

“And a surprise from the Green side! They didn’t summon all their monsters at the start and deploy one at the last moment!” A new monster formed, and a giant blue floating eye dropped into the arena. “Technically allowed! The best kind of allowed!”

The beam attacks focused on the summoner monster on either side, but there just wasn’t enough power to punch through the constant swarm of level 1 monsters on either side. Clearly the Green side knew this ahead of time and had prepared.

The summoning monster went up into the air. I kicked off my platform, cracking it, and moved. Air Burst. Air Burst. The eye monster unleashed an attack at the summoning ant on the other side. I was already behind it the summoning monster. Acid Shot.

My attack intercepted the slicing attack which cut through the summoner monster and was about to go into the stands. “Cease combat!” Air Burst. I shot forward. Acid Shot x10. I wiped out the eye monster and Green side’s monsters. Acid Shot.

I killed the two summoners. They screamed as they died. The crowd went silent. “Attacking the crowd is not allowed under any circumstances. The flying monsters did not go above the height, but the attack was angled up. If that attack had landed, several people would have been killed or maimed.”

“That is a core rule of the Monster Battle Arena. No attacking the crowd and knowing where your attacks are going. There is no excuse or explanation. The penalty is immediate death. Red team wins!”

There was some applause at that. I guess it was finally sinking home, these matches were incredibly dangerous, and I wasn’t there just to joke around. I let out a sigh. I went back to my platform. It wasn’t all fun and games. Monster Battle Arena was serious business. I also couldn’t allow the crowd to be hurt.

If that had been a level 3 monster it would have been much harder to block. I was glad that I was able to make this point in the level 2 rounds. People wouldn’t forget. Don’t aim up with ranged attacks. It was just that simple.

It did give ranged monsters a bit of an advantage, but the flight ceiling was already fairly low in my opinion. It also added to the challenge of flying monsters. While it wasn’t completely realistic, if there was even going to be an audience that would be needed.

Maybe in time we could have enchanted glass windows or something to shield people, but for now, no aiming up. That message had to sink into everyone’s mind. The entire team would be killed as well. No exceptions. Teams lived or died together, and trust was important.

I could tell the other teams were reevaluating flying monsters and ranged attacks. The city sponsored teams wouldn’t make such a mistake. I was also sure that the level 3 teams would be much more aware of things like that, or would be now.

It was unfortunate that two capable people had to be killed, but life was cheap. And I wasn’t about to let anyone get away with attacking the crowd for any reason. There would be no exceptions to that rule. I guess the only one would be if an attack was deflected away. That would be trickier. Most likely I would declare a mutual loss and both teams would have their summoning licenses stripped.

If there was one thing I knew, was that any and all edge cases would be found and tried out. That was why there couldn’t be exceptions. Clarissa was right about people dying and how it would be detrimental to Monster Battle Arena and my image.