He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred and Eleven - Our Final Competition

The second round was not a one on one battle, but a round robin; players would still duel one on one, but the winner would continue to fight each round until defeated or until they withdrew. The Valkyries chose to place their leader in final position, while their vice leader was to fight first. Thirteen Levels placed their leader in third and Suffer the Wrath in last. In the end, whatever the arrangement, Thirteen Levels completely overwhelmed the Valkyries. Ghostwalker fought valiantly for three battles, falling to Anarchist Rising in the third. Unholy Moon battled for one round, defeating Rising, but choosing to withdraw from the fourth. Whether this was to allow Requiem Knife to redeem himself or embarrass himself further, no one could say for sure.

However Owen simply accepted the situation, slipping into a cross legged position on the stool, astounding onlookers who might not have been impressed with his gaming skills in the first round, but couldn't help but wonder how he defied gravity now. He showed no particular talent defeating Amazonia, in fact not a single fighting skill was used, just hacking, slashing and dodging, but still defeating the girl with ease. And then he was to face Beautiful Destruction, the faction leader.

To others, the battle was even, a fight between equals. To Adam, he saw a boy joyfully toying with a girl who was gritting her teeth with sweat beading upon her brow. Not once did the boy's composure break, while Destruction groaned and cursed as she fought desperately. Finally, he hit a series of buttons to pull of a stylish finishing move, his avatar spinning mid air as a consequence of moves forced his enemy to submit.

She was not pleased and did not hide her displeasure, but Owen did not rub salt in her wounds, remaining calm under fire as his faction mates celebrated.

Last Fortress was up against Sands of the Desert, their arrangement of players had Black Zeus in fifth, but in the end he did not touch the controller. His team mates fought valiantly and triumphed without his help.

There was an interval of thirty minutes before the final battle was announced. The two teams would play a 5 vs 5 battlefield. This would require strategy, teamwork and excellent skills. However, as the two teams were playing opposite each other in real life, their strategy would have to be discussed before any fingers touched buttons so not to let the other side know of their schemes.

The battlefield was straightforward enough, a suburban environment with rundown houses, old rusted vehicles on a torn up road, withered trees and bushes and silence apart from the ten men and women readying their gear and preparing for battle. The two snipers on either side were quick to position themselves and lie in wait, while the other players attempted to stealthily slide into excellent points for ambush... with one exception.

That person sidled down the street without a care in the world and it was a fool who didn't attempt to take a pot shot at him. Of course, that lead to the position of the sniper becoming known and he cursed himself for being pulled into a trap as he had to now swiftly relocate. What was worse; his bullet missed by a mere millimetre, an unexpected pause in the other's movement contributing to the miss. How!

Unholy Moon or Justin, had not expected the kick from Owen, which had distracted him as he played bait. This kick had saved his character from dying early and he quickly ducked behind the car he had been using to partially shield himself. His team mates ran out of the property they were hiding in and ran towards the sniper. With a curse, they drew out most of Last Fortress, who tried to provide cover by rapidly firing at the other squad. Seven Chances received a bullet in his arm for his trouble, the other team's sniper had not moved all of this time and now was leisurely shooting at them.

However, Last Fortress were not so drawn into this battle that they did not have a contingency plan. As One Smooth Operator was shielding Seven Chances now they knew where the sniper was aiming from, Trinity Desertflower had already slipped from the group and was making her way to engage the sniper. Soon his bullets stopped flying in their direction.

Last Fortress sniper, One Bullet, had already slipped out of the back thanking his team for their cover, and was planning his next move. He did not even see the weapon that sliced the portion of Hit Points from his health bar. He dropped his rifle to arm himself with pistols as he flipped around, but the blades were swift as they slashed at him again. He fell in a rush of sharp silver.

Meanwhile, as the two sides shot aimlessly at each other across the abandoned street, the original instigator of the battle had moved on. Unholy Moon had followed Trinity Desertflower and as she fought with their sniper, he lodged a bullet in her back! She was an excellent and skilful player, but not even she could turn to defeat a second player when fully engaged with the first.

Last Fortress knew they had been completely tricked. The battle they were fighting on the road was a distraction. In fact only two players fought their three, the others had slipped past their notice! They managed to take out Kill and Kill Again, allowing Black Zeus to try recover some face for their falling team. He moved in hope to recover their sniper, but was too late. He ended up facing Requiem Knife instead. Without thought, he attempted to launch a battle skill, only to recall too late that his hot keys were not programmed on this controller. That brief moment cost him as Owen had not forgotten. His fingers deftly hit the buttons in rapid succession launching the attack that Adam had failed to.

The faction leaders fought with blades and bullets, their hit points dwindling before the eyes of their fans. However, possibly thanks to that first failure, Black Zeus was eventually overwhelmed and killed by his opponent. In the end, Last Fortress could only take out two of Thirteen Levels players, while all five of theirs were defeated. Thirteen Levels proved that they were the top P.V.P Faction in this competition, no longer was their any doubt.

Fans cheered and celebrated and mourned and felt defeated, it was a rollercoaster of emotions. The Valkyries and Sands of the Desert fought a final battle to place Sands in third place. It was well deserved, no one could say otherwise.

Pure Technologies declared that this competition was an important warm up for what they wished to launch in the future; a full on tournament in which Factions from all across the globe were invited to compete in. It was a hint that they wanted their game to be in the eyes of professional gamers, investors and all potential players.

As the crowds congratulated the participants, it was suddenly noticed that Adam Harris or Black Zeus was no longer amongst them! Fan girls wept! They wanted his autograph and to hear his delicious voice once more before they left the venue! It was a few minutes later that it came to be realised that Owen Miller aka Requiem Knife had slipped away as well! Such bad luck!

Author's note; A shorter chapter, was undecided whether to describe the competition or not as it's probably not so important, but ended up doing it anyway lol! It gets less 'gamey' from here on out!