NOVEL NEXT Chapter 246: Match 3, Day 2
Day 1 of the Warstar World Cup ended with a bang.
Japan tore France apart, and USA totally dissected Germany with a flawless performance. And just like that, two of the best Warstar-playing countries in the world were out of the World Championship.
It was ruthless, efficient. And most importantly, it was thrilling.
The World Cup brought not just the best Warstar players of one country, but the best players around the world to compete in the grandest stage of the video game.
Participating alone was an honor.
Winning? Winning was a legend.
Time moved fast. Fans were yet to fully digest the results of the two Day 1 games when Day 2 came like a mirage.
Once again, it was D-day… Day 2.
[Location: The Imperial Bloom Arena, Chengdu, China]
[Match 3 – Day 2]
[Fixture: England vs Argentina]
The 120,000 capacity stadium in China was filled to the brim!
More than 80,000 English fans filled the stadium in China as they came out in droves to support their country, Lord Doom, and God Noah in the stadium.
English's enthusiasm for the video game was worth researching.
They loved Warstar, and their numbers proved it.
The opening ceremony this time was a clash of crowns and chaos.
The superstar performer this time was the UK-Japanese global rock-pop icon, Rina Sawayama.
The lights dimmed in the stadium, and a ripple of breathless anticipation coursed through the arena. With orchestral strings trembling across the air, Rina Sawayama rose from beneath the stage on a glimmering platform draped in a half-union jack, half moonlight-white kimono tech cloak, flanked by mirrored dancers.
She performed a haunting rendition of her global hit "Burn the Throne", remixed live with Chinese traditional instrumentation.
Fireworks tore the sky open. Dancers moved like blades and crowns, war and beauty.
"Tonight, legends burn," the commentator started. "And only one kingdom rises from the ashes!"
When the players walked into the stage, the stadium exploded as roars of "Lord Doom" and "God Noah" turned into a deafening cacophony.
England were the favorites, but Argentina were no push-overs.
"Each battle round is a story of contrasting philosophies," the commentator grinned. "England's discipline vs Argentina's emotion".
"2 years ago, England went past the quarterfinals, but their World Cup journey ended in the semifinal by Meng Wu Ya's China".
"What can they do this year?"
While the commentator talked, it already started.
[LOADING…]
[FIRST ROUND: INDIVIDUAL BATTLE]
[England – Reckless Storm (Blademaster) vs Argentina – Aetheria (Arcane Dancer)]
[Arena Map: Moonlight Terrace – A vast rooftop palace under starlit skies with flowing curtains and shifting platforms.]
For the first time all season, Aria was to anchor the individual battle round.
Aria requested it, but Noah didn't just agree. He agreed because he felt it was the tactically sound decision. Arcane Dancers is a rare variant of the Blademaster class afterall.
Aetheria entered first, her footsteps gliding, her Avatar dancing as if the battlefield was a stage.
Her class, Arcane Dancer was rare and beautiful, combining motion with deadly precision. But this wasn't a ballet.
Reckless Storm exploded onto the scene in a crimson flash.
The World Cup?
It's a tournament that Aria always dreamt of showing her talents in from the moment of its inception. Playing against the best players from around the world? Count her in. And here now, Aria was eager to show.
She was thrilled to show the rage of the Sword Saint.
Her blades didn't shimmer, they roared.
She went in fast and hard, already reading Aetheria's rhythm. Aetheria moved with grace, casting illusions mid-spin and blinding flashes with her dance steps even as her blade sang a symphony of destruction.
Aria pressed with a flurry of slashes, dodging between illusions like she'd done this all her life.
In a brilliant move, Aetheria launched "Phantom Waltz", splitting into three glowing mirages.
But Aria grinned. "You're not the only one who can dance".
She activated "Storm Reversal", dashed into the air, spun midair like a storm drill, and cleaved through the real Aetheria twice.
That ended it.
---<VICTORY>---
[England: 1 point]
[Argentina: 0 point]
It was a short but precise, technical, and explosive battle.
England's Caleb went up against Argentina's Brujo del Sur next, whose Avatar was a Spirit Shaman.
The arena map was Emerald Fissures, a cracked jungle plain with toxic geysers and treetop cliffs.
Summoner vs Spirit Shaman.
This was a war of summons, a clash of ancestral magic.
Caleb summoned Umbra Beasts, spectral panthers and thunderhawks.
Brujo, tattoed and humming prayers, brought forth ghostly totems, whispering banshees, and soulfire wolves.
Both players stayed back. It was their monsters doing the fighting. The field was chaos; lightning, curses, spirits tearing each other apart.
In a clever maneuver, Brujo redirected one of Caleb's summons using a "Hex Mirror", turning Caleb's Void Leopard against him.
But Caleb, calm as always, blinked away and dropped "Rite of Renewal", replacing all his beasts with fully buffed Spectral Titans. They crushed everything.
Once again, England won.
[England: 2 points]
[Argentina: 0 point]
The final individual battle was between Captain Batman, Benjamin representing England and Argentina's Cazador Azul, a Gunner.
The Arena map is Sky Bastion, a floating fortress high above a storm.
For the first time all season, Noah didn't play in the individual battle round.
This battle was beauty and mayhem. Captain Batman controlled fire, lightning, and ice like a maestro. But Cazador Azul was dangerous, a sharpshooter known for his uncanny accuracy mid-air.
Every step Benjamin took was countered by a bullet. Every bullet Cazador fired was swallowed by a spell.
Benjamin rotated through elements like a slot machine, layering damage. But Cazador used verticality; launching himself off floating pillars, mid-air diving headshots, trap mines…
It was a brutal, fast-paced, and intense battle.
Eventually, it came down to one thing; a thunderstorm.
Benjamin cast "Storm King's Wrath", an Awakened level Elementalist skill and unleashed a multi-layered lightning burst through an arcane prism.
One bolt. One hit. Cazador Azul dropped.
---<VICTORY>---
[England: 3 points]
[Argentina: 0 point]
The Argentine fans in the stadium stirred. The score line was beginning to remind too much of yesterday's game.
But their team forged on.
[LOADING…]
[SECOND ROUND: 3 VS 3 BATTLE RUSH]
England's team comprised Lord Doom, Aria, and Caleb again, while Argentina's team comprised their captain, Cazador Azul, the Gunner, Santo Martillo, the Paladin, and Brujo del Sur, the Spirit Shaman.
The first duel was Lord Doom vs Cazador Azul… captain vs captain.
Finally, it was Noah's turn. His Combat Mage stood silent, calm, while Azul tried to get the drop on him.
A shot fired, but Noah tilted his head.
Time flowed, and then… Lord Doom erupted.
All hell broke loose.
Just like Aria and everyone else, Noah was hyped. He was eager, he wanted to show off his skills against the best players from around the world.
He exploded, his APM rising to a crazy level as he switched between the multiple forms of his weapon, spamming skills in rapid succession.
The Gunner let in a few skills, taking little damage.
But in the end, he was comboed to death.
Brutal. Efficient. Ruthless.
[Victory: Lord Doom – HP: 81%]
Lord Doom still had 81% HP!
It was a massacre.
The second duel was Lord Doom vs Brujo del Sur.
This was spell for spell. Brujo summoned ancestral chains, bound spirits, and tried to shut Noah down.
But Aetherforge was relentless. Noah dispelled one by one. He took a blow from a banshee and dropped to 43% HP.
But then, about a minute later, in a moment of madness, his APM went crazy again, going to high he managed to chain 4 Awakened level skills, activating them at the same time without canceling any one!
KABOOM!
The poor Shaman was burned to death.
[Victory: Lord Doom – HP: 15%]
Lord Doom won, but this time, he lot far more HP to the Shaman.
The third duel was between Lord Doom and the Paladin, Santo Martillo. At this point, Argentine fans already broke down in tears in the stadium.
Martillo charged in shield-first, swinging hammers of divine wrath with confidence. But what he didn't expect was that Noah was already locked in, determined to win. Not just win, but to get his 3v1, the first in the World Cup.
BZZZ!
Lord Doom exploded.
He ducked, blinked, counter-cast. The versatile Combat Mage fought like a f*cking ninja, and he did the impossible.
2 minutes of total explosion was all it took.
Then one more parry, one more lance flurry, and then he went down.
---<VICTORY>---
England did it.
Noah did it, he got his 3v1.
[England: 6 points]
[Argentina: 0 point]
Another flawless victory on the second day of the Warstar World Cup. England followed in USA's footsteps.
This World Cup was filled with crouching Tigers, and hidden Dragons.