Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Arcane War Finals
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The Arcane War progressed rapidly amid tremendous interest.
The round of 32 required sixteen matches, spanning a total of four days.
Starting from the round of 16, the field began shrinking quickly.
"Ah, no..."
"Hahaha! You've always been beneath us since ancient times!"
"I can't accept this... Let's settle it with magic again!"
The final match of the round of 16 between Fire Tower and Water Tower even featured a minor incident.
Fortunately, intervention from the other Tower Masters stopped the Water Tower Master from going berserk.
Water Tower's defeat was a foregone conclusion.
Their Tower Master, lacking the skill, had forced herself to represent them.
Even so, she blamed her accompanying disciples.
"Th-this makes no sense. To lose to that wicked darkness..."
"Heh heh..."
Soon after, a matchup between longtime rivals unfolded.
The bout drawing the most attention was between Light Tower and Darkness Tower.
When Darkness Tower—long perceived as villains—emerged victorious, the crowd gasped in shock.
In truth, darkness was just another attribute, but that stigma had persisted since ancient times.
Light was holy, darkness evil.
Strangely, dark mages reveled in such views.
This time too, Darkness Tower triumphed over Light Tower with villainous flair.
Some in the audience even cheered for the darkness.
"Heh, heh heh. Hahaha."
And so, the finals arrived.
The towers reaching the finals were Illusion Tower and Lightning Tower.
"Tower Master, don't be so nervous. You're hyperventilating."
"H-hah, b-but... It's my f-first..."
"Illusion Tower making it this far in the Arcane War is a first?"
"We always just w-watched..."
"Always just spectators, huh?"
Hina trembled uncontrollably ahead of the finals.
It was the first time Illusion Tower had garnered such attention, leaving her extremely tense.
"You've come this far—why not win it all?"
"Y-yeah...!"
Hina and the others clenched their fists and ascended the stage.
Contrary to initial worries, the mages were thoroughly enjoying COL.
There had been concerns that avoiding magic battles would breed dissatisfaction.
Yet they seemed to relish the competition itself even more.
They were also utterly hooked on COL.
Of course, an Illusion Tower win wouldn't validate illusion magic itself.
But they'd at least acknowledge the utility of illusion game artifacts and COL prowess.
A fitting response from mages who saw to the heart of matters.
"Ah, Tower Master."
Soon, Lightning Tower entered.
Electra approached me and spoke.
"So Illusion Tower made it to the finals after all."
"Our Tower Master is obsessed with games. You held your own pretty well too, didn't you?"
I knew Hina's gaming talent well.
But Electra's skill had surprised me too.
Lightning Tower had ditched work entirely before the Arcane War, diving headfirst into COL.
"The more we played, the better we got. Facing diverse opponents revealed new angles to the game."
"You've got talent. It's not easy to improve this fast."
I'd played for ten years and still struggled at times.
Electra and Lightning Tower's mages improved dramatically as the Arcane War progressed.
Even more impressive was their team play.
Led by Electra's calls, Lightning Tower had the best synergy of any tower.
Electra played mid sometimes, ADC other times.
Typically, players stuck to one lane.
But with her teammates lacking, she adapted as needed.
"...Thank you. For creating this."
"Pardon?"
"It's been ages since I felt this much fun."
"Glad to hear it."
Electra flashed a faint smile and took the stage.
Her beautiful smile tugged at my lips unwittingly.
"...Hmph!"
Lea, trailing behind, shot me a displeased glare before following Electra.
She's as prickly as ever.
"Whew... This is exciting. Finals already."
Heading to the commentary booth, I found Galliard seated there.
He'd gotten hooked on COL and had taken to commentating on his own lately.
I started to say something but held my tongue.
Instead, I activated the voice amplification artifact.
"Let the games..."
My voice, carried by the artifact, echoed across all of Trinity.
The rowdy crowd's attention snapped to the stage.
Ooooooh—!
The stage lit up in tandem.
The final battlefield revealed, the audience erupted in cheers.
Riding the roar, I raised my voice to the heavens.
"The heart of all magic in this world! The origin of all knowledge and wisdom! With the blazing cheers filling Trinity! We commence the finals of the Arcane Waaaaaar—"
-Here and now!!
Waaaaaaaaah—!
Amid deafening cheers, the Arcane War's final match began.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ugh! We just needed to win that last teamfight...!"
The first set ended.
Lightning mages vented frustration as they exited the game.
Back in reality, the crowd cheered Hina's final play.
"It's all my fault."
"No, Tower Master! Their mid was just..."
The loss stemmed from Illusion Tower's mid—Tower Master Hina.
Electra had given her all against Hina.
But Hina's mechanics outpaced her.
Hina exploited every tiny opening.
A single kill mistake snowballed into her carrying the game.
"I should've frozen bot and pushed other lanes. Mistakenly thinking I could beat the Illusion Tower Master was the issue."
"It's fine. If it had been us instead of you, we'd have lost even more pathetically."
Electra self-reflected as her disciples comforted her.
But now, they needed to focus on winning the next set.
"Tower Master, I'll take mid this time."
"Can you handle it?"
"Yes. I'll hold without giving up a single kill. Better for you to scale and carry."
Lea said to Electra.
She was right.
With Hina and Electra on the same lane, Electra couldn't carry.
Splitting them allowed more growth and carry potential elsewhere.
"...Sounds good. Let's win this."
"Yes!"
The next set began.
"Hm? Lightning Tower's picks look weird."
"Malphite and Kennen... Who's top?"
The crowd buzzed as Lightning Tower's picks appeared.
Rye and Galliard in commentary were equally stunned.
— Rye Ah, Lightning Tower. Electra's gone ADC bot—a pattern we've seen from them. — Galliard But Malphite and Kennen? Mid Kennen maybe? — Rye Hard to say. Given Lea usually took mid for Electra, probably mid Malphite. The game started.
As I said, Malphite appeared mid.
"Mid Malphite?"
"Is that even viable? First time seeing that pick."
The crowd's doubts were cleared by my commentary.
— Rye Matchup favors it—Jayce struggles vs. Malphite. Lightning Tower's exploiting that. Survive mid, carry elsewhere. Not standard, of course. Sure enough, Jayce couldn't rack up kills against Malphite.
Malphite pushed lane without sparing skills, blocking Jayce's roams.
Jayce's growth slowed markedly.
Double kill!
Meanwhile, Lightning Tower dominated bot lane.
Double kills twice against enemy bot duo in just ten minutes.
— Rye Veigar's already at 4 kills! Jayce abandons lane for bot gank but whiffs! Jayce's failed roam worsened his drought.
Desperate, Jayce invaded enemy jungle for a kill.
But Veigar's growth was already unstoppable.
— Galliard Aah! Lightning Tower saves Veigar! She's wiping them solo! Quadra kill!
— Rye Nexus destroyed! GG! Veigar's carry secured the second set for Lightning Tower.
Result of picking mid Malphite and support Leona to fiercely protect their ADC.
"Waaahhh—!"
"U-ugh... wah..."
"Sorry, everyone. We let Veigar snowball."
"We're sorry..."
Rain and Ghost slumped after the second set.
Bot lane had indeed handed them the win.
"Lightning Tower Master's skill is no joke. Protecting Veigar like that left us helpless."
"I should've scaled better. Didn't expect Malphite..."
Jungle Seris vented irritation, Hina wilted in defeat.
They'd failed to counter Lightning Tower's unexpected strategy.
"You've done great so far, Tower Master. We're the ones who should apologize."
"No choice—let's freeze bot too? It's basically a carry duel between our Masters anyway."
Medea spoke, relatively upbeat.
She'd won her top matchup, so her mood wasn't soured.
Though her teammates resented her staying top.
"I'll pressure mid hard then. I'll watch mid exclusively, Tower Master."
"Ugh... Even then... Malphite again and we'll lose map control."
Key for both teams: Stifle the enemy Tower Master.
While scaling their own to carry.
"Bot holds as long as possible... Focus top."
"Huh?"
"Me? Finally focusing top?!"
"You're raising that top-lane lunatic? Top's a lost cause no matter how much you gank!"
"Hey! Enemy jungle ganked more top!"
"What? They only hit bot!"
What even was top lane?
Top laners were so self-absorbed they earned the moniker 'Top Lunatics.'
Medea and other tops were no different.
Thus, top-focused games were rare in this Arcane War.
"A-anyway, enemy jungle will prioritize mid/bot. Seris, path low to check Electra."
"Isn't that the same as last game?"
"I can't get kills mid anyway... I'll roam top a lot. We'll break top."
Hina flapped her arms, outlining her plan.
Unprecedented strategy, but plausible on paper.
"Hm... Not sure, but I'll hold bot!"
"We follow the Tower Master's lead."
"Trust me!"
Thus, the Arcane War finals. The decisive final set.
The moment COL history's first backdoor play emerged.