Just as Pei Guangwas puzzled about Pom-Pom's Aether Spirit, his side's turn began. Piggy Hero was up first.
Pei Guang: "Piggy Hero! Use your Ultimate! Follow up with a group attack!"
Piggy Hero's Ultimate activates a special state: in this state, it can attack all enemies and restore HP to allies. Piggy Hero quickly unleashed the Ultimate, dealing an attack to Pom-Pom's three Aether Spirits.
This hit brought both itself and Phantylia back up to about one-third HP. It still looked a bit dangerous, but judging from Pinky Bunny's previous attack pattern, Phantylia should be able to take one more hit.
Pinky Bunny no longer had energy for an Ultimate, and could at most manage another Enhanced Basic Attack. What Pei Guang was unsure about now was: what exactly were that coffee and robot?
He soon got his answer: just as Piggy Hero finished the group attack, it was suddenly charmed by Himeko's coffee.
"Hmph~sip sip~~"
Hearts appeared in Piggy Hero's eyes. With those hearts glowing, it charged toward Himeko's coffee and gulped it down in one shot.
Seeing that, March 7th clutched her chest: "I have a bad feeling about this…"
Stelle: "I have a bad feeling too!"
Pei Guang: "No need to guess—we just lost Piggy Hero. That coffee was a charm debuff…"
Before he could even finish the sentence, Piggy Hero had already drained the coffee and black debuff symbols appeared above its head. The coffee vanished, and Piggy Hero switched sides, becoming part of the enemy team and taking the exact spot where Arahato had been just now.
Pei Guang: "Damn… it wasn't charm coffee—it was betrayal coffee…"
March: "This makes no sense. Big Sis Himeko's coffee, if you drank all of it, you should at least pass out, if not die outright. How could it cause betrayal?!"
Stelle: "Really? I've had it once before: it didn't feel that different from our coffee."
Pei Guang nodded: "Yeah! It's a bit bitter, but not that bad? At least, you shouldn't die from it."
March 7th: "Sure, no one dies from it… but our Piggy Hero did! Wuwuwu, Piggy Hero, you died so tragically! This is way too overpowered! How are we supposed to win?!"
At the same time, Himeko, watching the broadcast, was left with nothing but a smile on her face. Originally, she had planned to take March 7th back for a proper coffee session, but now it seemed one round wouldn't be enough.
"Hm~ The barrel Ah Guang often uses for storing coffee might actually be a good option…"
Seeing Piggy Hero turned into an enemy, Pei Guang was overwhelmed with heartbreak. "Piggy Hero! Your mission is complete. Rest easy!"
Piggy Hero: "Hmph-hmph!!!"
Piggy Hero was speechless as well. It had never expected to become the enemy of Pei Guang's side, but it couldn't help it: those were the rules coded into the game.
Seeing Piggy Hero now on its side, Pom-Pom grew even more smug: "Trailblazer, you're down to only two Aether Spirits! And guess what—it's still my turn~ Arahato, combine!"
Hearing the word "combine," Pei Guang had a bad feeling. That bad feeling soon came true.
Under Pom-Pom's command, Arahato activated its ultimate move. Arahato suddenly grabbed the Pink Bunny and transformed it into a weapon held in its hands.
Gauss Pink Bunny Lightsaber!
The moment the mech and the Pink Bunny merged, Pom-Pom confidently announced: "Trailblazer! From here on, it's me, Pom-Pom, who will defeat you! Arahato!"
Arahato, wielding the Pink Bunny, charged at Phantylia. The bunny's head pierced directly into Phantylia's chest: pink in, pink out.
If it hadn't been a critical hit, the strike would've reduced Phantylia to near-death. If it had targeted the Voidranger instead, it could've been an instant kill.
Unfortunately, it was a critical hit, and Phantylia was the target. That one blow from the pink bunny head sent Phantylia packing.
Once again humiliated by the Pink Bunny and finished off by a bunny head, the watching Phantylia wanted nothing more than to twist off that bunny's head. At the same time, she was furious: who was the twisted soul that turned this thing into a weapon and gave it so many functions?
Seriously?!
Now that Pei Guang had only one Aether Spirit left, Pom-Pom smiled: "Trailblazer! This match is mine—Pom-Pom's victory!"
Pei Guang: "The game's not over yet. No one knows how it'll end until the very last second!"
Stelle looked at the Voiranger cannoneer and didn't see much hope left, so she turned to Pei Guang. "Not necessarily. What if it's like a MOBA match where the score is 1:30, and there's only a single crystal left—how do you win that?"
Pei Guang: "The enemy surrenders."
March 7th: "No way! They'd surrender in that situation? That'd be insane!"
Pei Guang: "Stop talking… it hurts my heart!"
Stelle showed a knowing expression: "Don't tell me, Ah Guang, you…"
Pei Guang clutched his chest: "That's right! I'm the idiot you're talking about." Thinking back to that time, even though it wasn't 30:1, it was still a 12:1 blowout. All towers down, just one tower lost on their side, with Baron buff and the enemy only having a single crystal left.
And then? Someone couldn't help but click surrender, and everyone followed suit. Total vote pass. Not a single person voted no.
Hearing Pei Guang recount that experience, March 7th and Stelle fell silent. Meanwhile, Pom-Pom proudly declared: "Hmph! I won't surrender. Even if I do, you wouldn't be happy about it, Pom!"
Pei Guang: "Exactly! That's why I'll fight to the very end. But…"
Hearing the shift in Pei Guang's tone, Pom-Pom felt uneasy. "But?"
Pei Guang: "I was just telling an embarrassing story from my past. Pom-Pom, what makes you so sure you've already won?"
Pom-Pom looked at Pei Guang's side, which had only one Aether Spirit left, and asked in confusion: "Huh? You've only got one Aether Spirit left, and I've still got three, pom! You don't even have a Overlord-tier left, just a regular Aether Spirit. How could you possibly win, Pom?"
Pei Guang looked toward the Voidranger cannoneer. "Who told you one Aether Spirit can't win? Pom-Pom! There's only one reason you lost: because you let this little one live to the end. Watch now as he witnesses your team's downfall! Voidranger: Eliminator, fire at will!"
"Pom!!!"
For some reason, hearing Pei Guang say that gave Pom-Pom a sense of dread—and rightly so. What followed was a never-ending barrage from the Voidranger: Eliminator.
The Eliminator fired once, activated its ultimate, acted again, fired twice more, used its ultimate again, and continued.
It entered a loop—a loop that wouldn't stop.
Pom-Pom's battle logic wasn't wrong: take out the opponent's Overlord-tier Aether Spirits first. Even if a few regular ones were left, they wouldn't be a threat.
The Pink Bunny had already used a combo to devastate the Overlord-tier and wipe out two surrounding regular spirits. Then the mech, wielding the Pink Bunny lightsaber, finished off the wounded Overlord-tier.
Under normal circumstances, no strategy should've been able to come back from that.
But Pei Guang had held back a trump card: the Voidranger cannoneer. If Pom-Pom had taken it out first, Pei Guang would've still had a chance to win even with only Phantylia remaining.
Aside from the Cannoneer, from start to finish, Pei Guang, Stelle, and March 7th had been intentionally hyping Pom-Pom up, talking about how invincible its Aether Spirits were, how unbeatable it was—even framing it on the left side of the screen.
Now, watching Pom-Pom panic as its Aether Spirits became unable to act, Pei Guang wore a victorious smile. "Pom-Pom! You're strong—stronger than anyone I've faced so far. You really lived up to the title of champion-slayer.
If I hadn't randomly picked up a few special chips and if the Voidranger didn't have a special mechanic that lets him act infinitely, I definitely would've lost. But unfortunately, there's no 'if', this time, we're the winners!"
Watching its Aether Spirits fall one after another, Pom-Pom spoke with a hint of sadness: "I lost… but…"
It immediately raised her head, eyes shining as it looked at them. "But~ congratulations on your victory! That was a lot of fun, pom!"
Seeing Pom-Pom's excitement, March 7th lunged in for a hug: "Pom-Pom!!!"
Pom-Pom: "March 7th Passenger, don't do that!"
Stelle: "Pom-Pom!!!"
Pei Guang: "Pom-Pom~~"
The three of them surrounded Pom-Pom and lifted it up. Pom-Pom wanted to protest: it was the conductor, after all, and had the dignity of a conductor!
But seeing the joyful expressions of the three and thinking back on the thrilling, unpredictable battle, Pom-Pom softened.
"Pom!!! Just this once!"