After he managed to save his health potion from Liam's greedy hands, Green Streaked Sword hastily rushed towards an even darker corner, downing the live-saving liquid.
[+5000!]
Finally, he got some HP back. He stared at Bleary Mirage standing between a few fireflies with venomous eyes.
Don't think you have won just yet! It's time for my ultimate skill!
Green Streaked Sword's body shook. Identical clones were about to separate from him. The dark elf was certain. Even if Liam could make him and his clones out in the darkness, he still wouldn't be able to block their assault from all sides.
Victory was near!
The audience watched, their nerves highly tense. Seeing strange movements coming from Green Streaked Sword's body the fans there for Liam shouted loudly, trying to warn him.
However, C naturally wouldn't allow for such a loophole to exist. She had hidden the audience long ago. From the perspective of the players the arena was surrounded by towering cliffs hiding even the sun.
Liam grinned. He didn't know about the audience's reaction, but he didn't need their warning. His eyes had never left the opponent. The light coming from the fireflies was enough. The shadowy figure sneaking around was just too obvious in his eyes.
Obviously, Green Streaked Sword lacked too much experience. He didn't notice it when his foot was illuminated, or his footsteps lingered on the slimy floor.
While Green Streaked Blood downed his health potion and was thus distracted for a moment, Liam flicked his wrist. The nearly invisible fishing line shot out again.
The dark elf tried to activate his ultimate skill but just at that moment a thin line looped around his body.
"What?!"
Letting out a shocked shout Green Streaked Blood tried to struggle but the fishing rod had already succeeded. It winded around him continuously until the warrior was tied up and immobilized.
The corner of Liam's mouth twitched. This movement was perfectly captured on the large screen. At this moment countless hearts melted. Involuntarily Liam began his rise to fame right there and then.
But he didn't know. Liam was only focused on the fight. He wouldn't have used such a pretentious move like fighting with a fishing rod if it weren't for Green Streaked Blood's provocation.
Now it was time to end this battle.
Three swords appeared behind Liam, illuminating the abyss with a blinding, holy light. They formed a perfect triangle and shot towards the bound enemy.
Green Streaked Blood could only watch helplessly as the swords pierced through his body.
[-3061!]
[-875!]
"Don't think you have won yet!"
The dark elf shouted angrily as he struggled. Finally, the fishing line let go of his body. He still had two thousand HP left! He could still turn the match around!
Green Streaked Blood instantly used his ultimate skill again. This time he wasn't interrupted. Two identical figures appeared next to him.
He looked towards Liam and found… nothing!
"It's over."
A voice came from behind Green Streaked Blood. Before he could react, a fishing rod struck his head.
[-2267!]
As his HP ran out Green Streaked Blood finally recalled flash step. But it was too late. The dark elf lost all his vitality, and his body was sent out of the arena.
"Ahhh!"
"Unbelievable!!!"
"He won with a fishing rod!"
"Damn, I need to write an article! Mirage versus Green Streaked Blood: A thin line between victory and defeat!"
"Please, I need a recording of this fight!"
The audience instantly went crazy. No one remained in their seats. Liam's fight opened their eyes to unthinkable possibilities. In the air, Zac's commentary added the final touch to make this the first legendary battle of Fate of Crunaboul, remembered forever.
Green Streaked Blood didn't know it yet, but ironically he got his wish fulfilled. Soon the entire federation would speak about him and even the central star system wouldn't forget his name.
Liam's fame skyrocketed instantly. In the future his battle would be the motivation for countless imposters.
Even now players were already flocking to the shops to buy fishing rods. Some more creative players developed their own styles. Soon, frying pans, shovels, quills and more would be repurposed as weapons. Still, if this turned out to be successful for the players remained to be seen.
As the fight ended, the arena returned to its standard appearance. Liam swiped his eyes around and took in the sight with mixed emotions.
Although he didn't seek fame, he couldn't deny that it felt good being recognized, perhaps even admired. In his opinion, however, this match didn't bring out his skills. There was not much to be amazed about.
His thoughts spinning, Liam waved at the audience before a flash of light brought him out and he appeared next to his friends. Immediately their congratulations reached him.
"Expert, that was awesome!", exclaimed Cyclone with stars in her eyes. Serena didn't even know what to say, overwhelmed by emotions. In her mind this recognition was what her brother deserved.
"Well done, friend!"
"How did you come up with using a fishing rod?"
"Were you humiliating that guy on purpose? What did he do?"
Silver Blade and Quickstep asked with a somewhat sceptic tone. But Liam only shook his head. There was no need to give some random player too much attention and maybe upset Cyclone in the process.
Silent Acacia noticed that Liam didn't want to talk about it and asked the question burning on his lips:
"Hey, Mirage, why did you use a fishing rod? Were you not afraid that you'd lose?"
"Not really, no. The chasm between us was too big."
"But a fishing rod reduces your damage quite severely, no?"
"It's alright. My physical damage dropped by about 700 points, which after calculating armor only makes a difference of 400 points. The bigger problem is not being able to use double slash and cross slash."
"Hmm, now my fingers are itching. Unfortunately, I don't know what to exchange my bow with without losing all my skills..."
Quickstep grinned at her boyfriend:
"Babe, try winning the tournament first before indulging in fantasies."
"Woah, where did that come from? Why don't you say the same to Mirage?"
"Because I'm sure he will take first place. He has no need to prove himself."
"Tsk. Just wait until I defeat Mirage in the finals. Then we will talk again!"
The friends continued to joke around as the next fight was announced in the arena.
"... welcome our contestants! Fataliiiistic Eeend and Oraacleee!"
Just as some of the audience thought about leaving, the announcement changed their minds. With Oracle another famous player made their appearance. It felt like C decided to bring all the top matches into the arena, making it the centre of the excitement.
Liam and his friends were attracted as well. But they not only knew Oracle but also Fatalistic End, who was one of the strongest players of Falva Star's chaos faction.
Two contestants faced off in front of millions of spectators. They were a male skeleton mage in tattered dark robes and a female high elf in green mage robes.
Even before the fight started one could make out a difference in their disposition. While Oracle managed to focus on herself and keep a calm mind, Fatalistic End immediately showed signs of nervousness as he was confronted with the huge crowd.
Fortunately, the crowd was blocked for the two players when the fight started. Fatalistic End managed to regain his cool and focused on his opponent.
The audience watched with rapt attention. They expected a grand battle as the two mages would exchange spectacular spells.
But they soon realized that their expectations would be disappointed.
When the two fighters casted their spells there were no glorious explosions or mighty magical summons. No. Instead both mages followed rather insidious play styles.
Fatalistic End was specialized in curses. He was best at weakening the enemy and then killing them with damage-over-time effects or normal attacks.
Oracle on the other hand was a frightening poison mage. When she swung her staff, large, green clouds would fill the air, almost impossible to escape. The poison would constantly damage the enemy while Oracle focused on keeping herself out of danger.
Although the fight didn't turn out to be the expected spectacle, the audience still watched with relish. Everyone was amazed at the various styles they got to see today.
However, the battle unfortunately lacked tension. It soon became apparent that Fatalistic End lacked the decisive means to deal with Oracle.
His curses could reduce resistances, but mages never focused on those anyway. He could also reduce the enemy's damage, but this proved less effective against the consistent poison.
On top of that Oracle did her reputation justice by dodging a lot of Fatalistic End's attacks. The curse mage was forced to watch helplessly as his HP ticked towards zero. Soon, Oracle was declared the victor, welcoming the audience's excited cheers.
The atmosphere in the arena was boiling and C didn't disappoint, arranging more top players in the upcoming fights. After a while, however, less famous players appeared, and the excitement cooled down somewhat.
When Zac left as well, the audience shrank to an average number. Spectators slowly dispersed towards other arenas.