Too Stubborn to Die

Lord Draxas craned over the chessboard, mulling over their next action. They had expected the mammoth to be powerful, and Elmira had been a useful pawn, drawing out some of their opponent’s techniques. But after seeing the match, they found themselves staring down at the board filled with uncertainty.

Seeing Mala’s abilities firsthand had truly woken the kobold up, and they were no longer boasting endlessly. This was no normal elite. Elmira’s strategy for the challenge had been near perfect. Her technique was almost flawless. Lord Draxas knew that it would have taken one of the fastest and most nimble of warriors to defeat her, and Mala seemed to have it all.

Worst still, that wasn’t their main reason for concern. It was how Mala had bested Elmira that truly made the kobold pay attention.

Careful now. Even though we have all the pieces, this is no ordinary enemy.

Lord Draxas took a long moment to act, but eventually moved a piece and took Frostborn’s last rook. It was a safe move while they considered their next turn.

Only a couple of tiles away from Mala was a curious challenge piece in the middle of the board. It had caught Lord Draxas’ attention some time back. Unlike the other from previous matches, this challenge had a rarity, and it was Mythical at that.

The problem was that if they took the Mythical objective now, their opponent would have a chance to react. And Draxas wasn’t sure they wanted to be on the receiving end of Mala.

But what is “Second Chances, Live with Goliath” supposed to mean?

Of course, the System threw up new things with little explanation.

Lord Draxas looked up as the young girl opposite him made her move. As predicted, she moved Mala one tile forward and placed her right up beside the Mythical challenge objective.

Lord Draxas slammed their fists against the sides of the table. They hated this. They felt like they had been dragged into a situation where they were forced to act. As they couldn’t exactly just ignore the Mythical challenge, they let the other side have it.

I could take another piece this turn, limiting our opponent’s side. Or, we could move on to the Mythical Objective, forcing Frostborn to challenge us for the tile.

Since it was a challenge objective, both sides would be at risk of losing pieces if they lost the challenge. But there could be other benefits to landing on the tile first, like getting to choose certain aspects of the challenge.

We could end it all here. Take out the king and finish the floor. It would mean fewer auction points, but it’s better than risking a nasty surprise.

Lord Draxas stroked its scaly chin, considering its options. They couldn’t exactly ignore the Mythical Challenge. Especially not with “second chance” in the name.

We still have three tokens. No need to take chances if their king is involved. If we play them all now, they can’t possibly win.

A smile creased the kobold’s scaled lips.

They moved their closest pawn forward, taking the contested tile with Talia. But before relinquishing their turn, they silently activated their three tokens and looked up to the trembling girl to see what would happen next.

She glanced down nervously at her king, then moved Mala onto the same tile, challenging Talia.

“You fell for my trap!” Lord Draxas roared with laughter. “I activate my tokens and move Mo’han, Aaron, and Mandor to join this tile. AHAHA! Game over!”

“Y-y-you what?” The timid girl trembled.

The players could inspect every piece on the board, and the girl could no doubt see that Mo’han, Mandor, Aaron, and Talia were a serious challenge, even for someone like Mala.

“I-I-ah…” she shook her head, lost in indecision.

“It’s not so bad. You came up against a genius, and you fell short. Most do,” Lord Draxas said, smugly picking at their nails. “Come on now. Finish your turn, and let's get this over with. Your king is against our three greatest rankers. You mightn’t have realized it yet, but they are truly unstoppable elites! HAHAH! We must say, your mammoth was impressive. But they are done for now.”

The timid girl glanced down again, shaking even more than before. “S-s-sorry,” she stuttered.

Mala looked up at the Frostborn player. “Don’t you dare! Grow a spine, girl! I do not need weaklings to help me! I have told you enough times already!”

The girl shrank back into her chair, even though she couldn’t hear Mala. Not that she needed to. The giant mammoth looked furious and was shaking her massive fists at the girl.

“I-I kn-know… B-b-but…” the girl swallowed. “I-if we f-f-fail here, w-we-we’ll b-be k-k-kicked out. S-s-sorry, Queen M-mala. P-please forgive m-me. I a-activate t-t-two t-tokens.”

“Oh? So the little girl has some fight left in her, does she?” Lord Draxas said. “No matter. Your warriors have already proven so weak.”

She didn’t respond; instead, moving her remaining bishop and knight and dragged them into the same tile as the mammoth.

The girl couldn’t even look at Mala, shrinking down into her chair to hide beneath the chessboard.

“Shameful!” Mala spat. “I didn’t need assistance to defeat these fools! You stain my name with your presence!”

The two humans brought in to assist her didn't look too happy either.

“Er, sorry, Mala. Please forgive us.”

“We didn’t choose this! We would have happily let you deal with it!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Yes, he’s right. Please, spare our world from your wrath!”

“Bah!” She shook her head. “You had your chance. Your disobedience has been noted. Your worlds shall be integrated into the beast empire.”

The two men looked at each other, terror in their eyes, and just nodded.

“You and me, A-ran, this should be fun,” Mo’han fist bumped Aaron.

“Too right, mate.”

A second later, System energy began to swirl around them, and a moment later, they were standing on a grassy field. On one side, Mala and the two humans from Frostborn. The other, Talia, Aaron, Mo’han, and Mandor.

“Quite. A. Team. We. Have.”

“Is this supposed to be soccer?” Talia said, looking across at the two netted goals.

“Sure looks like it,” Aaron nodded.

“Soccer? This game was on your world, too, A-ran? We called it football on mine. Kids play it. It is nowhere near as popular as Droughtball.”

Get ready for the ultimate game of Blast Ball League

As mentioned earlier, Respawns are activated! But be warned, death incurs a 30-second respawn timer.

The objective of this game is to put one’s ball through the net of the opposing team by any means necessary. But holding onto the ball for more than two seconds will result in a System Smite.

You do not need to hold back; all materials within the arena are nigh on indestructible. Go as hard as you please; the spectators will appreciate it.

HOWEVER! Your Skills have been disabled. This is a contest of raw athleticism!

Match starts in 30 seconds…

“So soccer without rules basically?” Aaron said.

“Rules are for children, anyway!” Mo’han cheered. “I must say, I much prefer the sound of this version of football.”

“I have a feeling this is going to get rough,” Talia said, stretching out.

“No. Skills. But. Weapons. Are. Okay. It. Seems.”

“What about Traits?” Aaron said.

“Doesn’t. Mention. Traits.” Mandor clicked.

“Alright, that suits me,” Aaron said, cracking his neck.

The other team did not look so cheerful. Mala was glaring at them from across the field, while the two men stood several feet back from her, looking terrified.

Interval Room

The bar had become backed up as the game was about to begin. The final confrontation on the sixth floor had gotten everyone well and truly excited. And word of a strange, Mythical objective got them talking.

“What do you think it is?”

“Me? No idea. The System is no doubt pulling something on us. It better not screw us, though! The Obsidian Sector has damn well earned our spot already, I say!”

“Here, here to that!”

“Eh, that team doesn’t look like it’s got anything on us anyway. Sure, the mammoth looks strong. But the rest of them? Bah! No way they’re beating Mo’han, let alone Aaron and Mandor as well.”

“Hundred percent. Those guys are fucked. They just don’t know it yet.”

Everyone sure seems very confident, Soohyun thought as she eavesdropped on other spectators.

She wasn’t so sure, herself. It wasn’t just because Frostborn had gotten this far. She had paid close attention to her match against Elmira, and Mala had displayed interesting techniques.

The way her body moved seemed to defy logic. Twisting, turning, and changing shape at will. She hadn’t been entirely sure of what she was witnessing, but if she had to guess, she’d say it was some form of spatial manipulation Class, and it looked terrifying.

Then again, if Skills were disabled, then perhaps the mammoth wouldn’t be anything to worry about.

On the other hand, she had little doubt that she was going to get a lot of good data from this.

“Wait, is this a fucking football game now?” One man said, scratching his head. “What’s even going on? Is this even a Dungeon anymore?”

“Ah, shut up, Mal. It is what it is.”

“Hey, who are you telling to shut up?” The other man grabbed him by the collar.

“Quiet down, you idiots! It’s about to start!”

The room quieted down as the two teams stared each other down, and the timer ticked down to zero.

“Here we go! Go team Obsidian!”

“Woo! You show ‘em, Aaron!”

“Steamroll them, purple beast!”

“WOO! Go get ‘em, CLICK CLICK!”

Soohyun was busy detailing everything, her eyes darting up and down as the match began.

The crowd went wild as the ball entered the field, and superpowered people flung themselves at it.

Except one. Instead of going straight for the ball, Mala—the huge mammoth—she dashed straight for Aaron.

Is she even playing the game?

Soohyun blinked as she charged straight into Aaron. Without her Skills, Mala wasn’t the same. She wasn’t teleporting and changing shape all over the place. But she was strong. Incredibly strong.

She crashed into Aaron with the power of a semi, blasting him to bits in an instant, his gaze having been firmly fixed on the ball. And the moment she was done, she turned toward Talia.

Is her strategy just to kill everyone?

If Mala obliterated their team, then it might not matter if her companions were weak. With a thirty-second respawn timer, she could stomp around, crushing them as her companions walked the ball into their nets.

But before she even reached Talia, Aaron’s body pulled itself together, and with a burst of aether, he was back.

“WHAT?!” Mala swung back around.

“BAHA!” They laughed and cheered.

“That’s our boy!”

“You get her, A-ran!”

“The bastard that’s too stubborn to die!” Another cheered, and the crowd went ballistic, roaring Aaron’s name.

Meanwhile, Mo’han had taken the ball and charged straight through the opposing team’s two defenders, blasting them to bits with raw strength and carrying the ball through the net.

Unfortunately, Blast Ball was not Droughtball, and Mo’han’s customary celebration of throwing the ball triumphantly toward the sky the moment he stepped over the line disqualified the scoring attempt.

And the scoreboard above them flashed brightly.

0 — 0

“WHAT? I SCORED! What trickery is this?” Mo’han demanded, but turned back to his opponents when the ground began to shake violently.

It was Mala stampeding across the field, and she looked angry.

The crowd didn’t seem too worried about Mo’han’s failed scoring attempt, cheering wildly and drinking furiously as the ball came back into play.

It was four against one now, and it was hard to see how team Obsidian couldn’t win.

Up until Mala collided with Mo’han, and the crowd went silent with a gasp as the asura went tumbling across the grass.

“Huh?”

“Did that really just happen?”

“Did she just overpower Mo’han?”

A second later, Aaron came flying into a tackle, grabbing one of her massive legs and pulling her down.

Talia joined in a second later, but without her shadows, shield Skill, avatar, she was out of her depths, and barely a second later, she was crushed.

“Three against one,” one of the spectators said. “And only a few seconds before the other teammates are back on the field!”

Suddenly, the outcome didn’t look so obvious, and the interval room quieted down as people inched up to the edges of their chairs in anticipation.

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