Chapter 30
Chapter 30
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Jebit Takes the Stage
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Rikal. So, what's your deal with Jebit, anyway?"
"No, there's nothing between us!"
Rikal fled from Leo.
He headed to Trinity as usual that day too.
Whenever he stayed in the imperial palace, Leo kept prying about Jebit.
He assumed Rikal had been there at the Illusion Tower the day they met Jebit.
At first, the questions were cautious, but now Leo was convinced they knew each other and asked outright.
"Arcane War?"
Rikal, who had gone to the Illusion Tower, heard about Arcane War from Rye.
"Sounds fun. Mind if I come watch as a spectator?"
"No, Your Highness needs to handle something even greater."
Rye told Rikal to take the stage as Jebit.
"...You wanna die?"
"Or I'll tell the crown prince everything."
"You bastard!"
"If you kill me, a notice about Your Highness's identity goes up in Maple Leaf Tale, you know?"
Open blackmail.
In the end, after their verbal sparring, Rikal had no choice but to comply.
And so, Rikal—no, Jebit—ended up giving the opening remarks for Arcane War and explaining COL.
The day Arcane War began.
Jebit grumbled as he headed to the stage.
And from backstage, Jebit spotted someone who absolutely shouldn't be there.
"O, oh...!"
"...Wh-what."
Leo, overcome with emotion at the sight of Jebit.
Rye watched the scene, stifling his laughter.
'That damn bastard...!'
He wanted to kill Rye right then and there, but he couldn't.
It was the moment Jebit had to take the stage.
In the end, Jebit ignored Leo and went up first.
"Nice ta see y'all~!"
Woooaaahhh!
The crowd cheered at Jebit's unexpected entrance.
"Ah came all the way here at the special request of the Illusion Tower ta tell ya 'bout Arcane War and COL. And ta cheer on all the mages too~!"
Woooaaahhh!
Jebit read from the prepared script, explaining as he went.
As the script neared its end, Jebit grew increasingly anxious.
"So that's how Arcane War's gonna go down. And show lotsa love for COL too~!"
The applause poured in with the final cheer.
"Jebit'd love ta watch all of Arcane War, but health issues make it tough. So y'all have fun now~!"
He strung together words as best he could, but there was nothing left to say.
Finally, Jebit stepped down from the stage.
Rye and Leo were still waiting there.
"Jebit. Thank you so much. It was an unreasonable request."
"Th-this much is fine. Now Jebit's gonna..."
"This here is His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince. You know him, right? He wanted to say hello."
"N-nice ta meet ya, Jebit. I'm Leo Leonius. We met before too... Ah, h-handshakes are..."
Leo hastily withdrew his extended hand.
He looked just like a nervous boy in front of his crush.
The sight soured Jebit's mood terribly.
His brother's gaze, looking at him like that, sent chills down his spine.
Rye covered his mouth from behind, holding back laughter.
"N-nice ta meet ya. It's an honor ta see the Crown Prince again."
"Ahh..."
Leo stared at Jebit in a daze.
"F-first off, thank you. For joining that strategy session back then. Thanks to you, we cleared Zakum safely. On behalf of the imperial family, I thank you."
"N-no big deal."
Why are you thanking me for that?
Jebit wanted to snap back but held his tongue.
"And if it's okay... I'd like to help you, Jebit. Somehow cure that illness."
"N-no, that's fine. It's hard ta treat."
"St-still...!"
"Crown Prince. It's alright. Jebit is already receiving treatment with plenty of support. But it's such a difficult illness..."
"Ah, aah... I see. I overstepped."
"It's fine."
Rye intervened just before Jebit exploded.
"More importantly, are you a Maple Leaf Tale player too, Crown Prince?"
"Ah, no. I don't have time with state affairs."
"Ah... I see. Still, why not try the COL coming out this time? One or two games a day won't take much time. Right, Jebit?"
"Y-yeah."
I haven't even tried it. How would I know?
Jebit shot him a glare as he answered.
"If Jebit says so, I'll give it a shot. But please forgive me if I can't devote much time..."
"Ah, got it. Then Jebit's headin' out now~!"
The crown prince inching closer to Jebit.
Unable to bear it any longer, Jebit bolted to the waiting room like he was fleeing.
Leo clutched his chest, watching Jebit's retreating figure.
"J-Jebit must be tired too. Let's head back, Crown Prince."
"I'll... rest a bit before I go. My heart's pounding too much to calm down."
"Ah... Suit yourself."
Rye walked off, stifling his laughter.
This had all been Rye's prank on Rikal.
But in the end, it dragged Leo into COL.
A little later, Rikal dropped the disguise and went to the audience seats.
"Hoo... Fuck."
"...Rikal? You said you weren't coming."
"Whatever, I came anyway... Where's Leo?"
Right on cue, Leo returned to his seat.
Seeing his face made Rikal's mood sour again.
"...Rikal. You said you weren't coming, but here you are."
"...Please shut up, brother. For once."
"Haa... You really. Be careful in places like this."
Leo's expression was completely different from moments ago as he spoke.
Rikal didn't reply.
In that atmosphere, the bans and picks ended, and the first match began.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hmm... I heard Jebit's explanation, but I still don't quite get it."
"It seems completely different from Maple Leaf Tale to begin with."
"Battling on the same map every game? Sounds like it'd get boring fast..."
The first match of Arcane War between the Wind Tower and Illusion Tower.
The initial reactions when the game started weren't great.
It was only natural. You couldn't grasp what COL was like from mere words.
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Right on cue, Nitally. Ganking mid—diving in!" That voice rang out.
It was Rye providing commentary for the game.
Thanks to Rye's explanations and smooth play-by-play, the audience quickly got immersed.
"Ah! Can't catch him."
"That Nitally keeps missing spears. Is it that hard to land?"
"Looks easy to me. I wanna try."
"Whoa... But it looks fun. Turning from human to cougar and back."
Charismatic champions and flashy skills.
Clutch kill angles and dazzling plays from both teams' aces drew the crowd right in.
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Mid standoff now. Right on cue, Illusion Tower's Warwick starts smiting the dragon! If they steal it this time, Wind Tower's in deep trouble. They have to stop it." Warwick sneaked in during a vision gap to start on the dragon.
Both top laners were splitting, while the rest clashed mid.
As Warwick secretly farmed the dragon appeared on screen, the audience watched breathlessly.
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Nitally heads into the jungle camp. This could get spotted—oh no!! Nitally plants a ward!" Before Warwick could secure the dragon.
The enemy jungler Nitally circled through the jungle and warded the dragon pit.
Wind Tower spotted Warwick.
"What? What's going on?!"
"Looks like Warwick got caught?"
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Vision spotted—both towers swarm the dragon! Nitally vs. Warwick at dragon. Nitally hurls a spear—!" Kwachak—!
Ooooh—!
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 -Massive Damage!
"Aaaah—! Hit! Warwick takes the spear! From max range too. Nitally's spear throw deals more damage the farther it is!"
Warwick's health vanished in an instant the moment Nitally's spear hit.
The crowd gasped in unison at the insane damage.
"Isn't Nitally just broken? One spear and that's..."
"Exactly. It's like Phantom Thief Resit's Meso Explosion."
"But it's gotta be hard to land, right?"
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Warwick heals up while smiting dragon. Passive and Fallen King's Blade slowly regen his health." Warwick hung on with lifesteal.
Just before both teams arrived at the dragon.
"At that health, just back off, right?"
"Yeah. Nitally's frustrating."
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Right on cue! Nitally's cougar ult—pounces on Warwick!" At that instant, Nitally transformed into cougar and leaped at Warwick.
Almost simultaneously, both teams arrived.
The top laners teleported to dragon too.
Ooooh—!
The crowd roared before the massive teamfight.
But the cheers were for something slightly different.
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Aaaah! Warwick ult—Infinite Restraint! He won't die!" Warwick immediately ulted the charging Nitally.
With massive lifesteal, Warwick's health was filling instead.
"What?! Warwick's totally busted!"
"Everything's busted? Those things are too strong..."
"Ooooh! Still not dying?"
Even after ult ended, Warwick tenaciously healed with autos and Thirsting Strike.
While Warwick tanked, all players converged on dragon.
Both teams' champs crammed in the tight space.
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Everyone but ADC dives the dragon pit! This means...!" In the chaos, Nitally secured dragon with Smite.
Wind Tower sighed in relief at stealing it back, but that wasn't the point.
⚡ ULTIMATE ACTIVATED ⚡ "Diana—Moonlight Swoop! Dives the heart of the battlefield!" Diana plunged into the melee.
Pachang—
💥 MULTI-KILL! 💥 -Team Wipe!
"Diana ult: Moonfall! Massive AoE damage across the enemy team. Survivors clean up—teamfight over in seconds!"
Diana's ult Moonfall rained down, shredding the enemy team.
The rest mopped up, ending the skirmish instantly.
Woooaaaahhhh!
The crowd erupted for Diana's multi-man ult.
Even in their first COL match, the thrill was irresistible.
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Diana ult Moonfall! Wind Tower wiped in a flash—cleanup!" Wind Tower annihilated.
Illusion Tower pushed mid at breakneck speed.
🏆 VICTORY! 🏆 "Nexus... destroyed! GG!" The game ended, first set to Illusion Tower.
"Wahaha! What a rush! Did you see that Diana ult at the end?"
"Just watching makes my heart race. I wanna play this game now."
"When's it releasing? Mages made this and kept it to themselves?"
The audience buzzed with excitement after the highlight reel of a first game.
Galliard, watching the match, felt the same.
"This again... Riot, what kind of game did you make...!"
He was fixated on the top lane swordsman champion.
Different style from his own, but he had to try that swordsman.
Not just Galliard—everyone had a champion they were dying to play.
The fact they could become those champs and fight fueled their passion.
And the next set.
📢 LIVE COMMENTARY 📢 "Aah! Wind Tower picks jungler Mai!" "Mai...?"
Galliard encountered the champion Mai.