Their first encounter was a strange one. For the boy in question was strange himself.
Half a decade ago, a day that couldn't be discerned from any other.
"Oh, this kid must've gotten lost." Was Bal's first thought upon seeing himself. He looked incredibly out of place in the hunting hall. "Well, everyone else is just ignoring him. Guess I'll be the one to help him out."
He waved at the one before him. The boy seemed shocked to even be talked to.
"Hey, what are you looking for? If you wanna put a quest up you gotta go to the receptionist."
"No, I'm… I'm here to hunt."
"Seriously?" He thought, before trying to form a response. "You know there's an age requirement, right? You can't just-"
"I'm already eighteen."
Bal didn't respond.
"Don't give me that look of disbelief."
"Sorry, it's just- difficult to comprehend." Bal rubbed the back of his head while thinking. "Well, I'm kinda worried about this guy now. Will he really be okay?"
"How about this? You seem kinda new, so I'll go hunt whatever you want with you. Show you the ropes and stuff. You wouldn't mind, right?"
The short man paused.
"No, that would be very helpful. I'm Lotus."
"Huh?"
"That's my name. Lotus."
"That's gotta be fake." He thought, before responding "I'm Bal."
They took a beginner hunting quest. Bal had the novice hunter follow his lead, just expecting a basic lesson.
What followed exceeded any expectation he could possibly have held. The ordinary hunter completely devastated the target the moment combat began. Even for someone who had been hunting for a few years, it was extraordinary.
Yet the hunter in question seemed to have no awareness of this, only turning around and asking "Was that good enough?" after the fight had concluded.
"I've just had an idea. Do you want to form a group? I've been fighting on my own for a while now, I'm starting to get tired of it."
"Really? That feels way too quick.."
"No, I've got a feeling. That we've got a good chance of going far."
Three members of the DBA kneeled down, each wearing a headband that said "Loser". Zara seemed proud of her handiwork.
"So? Any excuses?"
"Mary's the only one that got knocked out, so only she should wear it." Laura argued.
"No, you all lost. The objective wasn't fighting, it was getting to the goal. But now that I think about it, how did you get knocked out?
"Um, well. The girl on their team with the longsword. Milla, I think? She just ran up to me and… sunk her teeth into my neck. I don't think she even took that much blood, I was just so shocked that I passed out."
The rest of the group stared at her.
"That's concerning."
"It wasn't that bad. Actually, it was a little… nice." Mary blushed while saying that.
"That's more concerning."
Jean stepped between them.
"Don't listen to her! I'm on your side. Love is love!"
She gave a thumbs up, much to Mary's confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Spence asked. "She just bit her. That doesn't really have anything to do with that."
"You'll understand when you're older."
"That isn't true." Isa argued "My brother would never be able to understand a single thing, even with time. Now can we stop getting off topic, we've got some fancy hunters to beat up."
"Beating them up isn't really the point." Mary pointed out.
"Metaphorically."
"You've got some guts to think we can still win." Zara told her.
"Why did you stop believing? They just got lucky, we've still got monsters-"
"Don't fall for the same trick we did." Fen interrupted. "Their skills are on another level to ours."
"Yeah, maybe yours."
"Do you want to start a fight? I'm not in a great mood right now, just warning you."
"Those wearing the loser headband lose the ability to talk back." Stated Zara.
"Then how about you listen to me so that you don't have to wear one as well."
"Oh, guess I left myself open to that one. Fine then, you've earned the right to speak for now."
"I don't need permission anyway. Well, there isn't much else I had to warn you about beyond the fact that they're strong."
"Then why'd you make such a big deal out of it?"
Fen paused momentarily from irritation. "Well if you'd let me continue, I would've suggested making a plan that involves all the members of the team. They must've been at this for years, compared to our few months together. While it's so obvious we probably took it for granted before, we need the same level of teamwork as them. I guess a start would be identifying how strong each member is."
Laura finally started paying attention.
"Oh, that bird guy was pretty strong."
"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't really have much to do with it when he's already gone."
"No, but- the disappearing thing he did. When he went super fast and disappeared." She pointed to Spence. "Why can't you do that?"
"I have no clue what you are talking about."
"Going so fast you disappear."
"How did he do it?"
"I dunno. I couldn't see him."
"I don't think this will really get anywhere like this." Commented Luke.
"Then I'll just go ask."
"What?"
She left the circle before anyone could respond.
"Hey, what's up with your speed? Come on, tell me this time."
The irritable girl in the Starward Diamonds stepped between them.
"He can't answer you, stupid. He's deaf."
"He's death? That's pretty hardcore."
"No, with an f at the end."
"Yeah?"
Vicke sighed.
"Oh, you're doing this on purpose."
"She's not." Mary finally caught up. "I'm very sorry."
Mary turned to Laura.
"She's trying to say that he can't hear. Which is why he can't talk back to you."
"Oh." Laura studied him for a few moments longer. "So that must be the secret behind your speed."
"What?" Vicke asked.
"Uh, there's gotta be some correlation, right? Like not having his hearing gave him superpowers or something."
"What? How would that even work? Are you sure you're not being stupid on purpose?"
"I'm not stupid at all. Ok, but the bird head's got to have something to do with it."
"No. That's just because he likes it."
"I'm so glad she asked those two questions before I could." Mary thought.
"So, have you worked out their weaknesses yet?" Zara suddenly appeared behind them.
"N-no, we were just getting to that." Mary sighed, before studying the remaining members of the group.
With three having gone, six remained.
The captain, Lotus, remained the same as he was. In spite of his size, there was a fierceness to him.
Bal seemed nicer. But since he was the tactician, there was a good chance he would be a difficult opponent.
The others were largely unknown. Except for Doctor Professor Science. She could reasonably assume he was a scientist.
"Even if we work out what's up with them, we've still got a problem. We don't know who's going to be going next round."
"Only half of them will go up." Spence pointed out, even though no one needed the explanation. "That gives us uh… a sixty percent chance of being right or something."
"I think there's one who's more or less guaranteed to go this round." Judah finally spoke. "That'd be Bal."
No one responded, yet Judah didn't continue. Jean finally caught on.
"Can you please enlighten us to your divine reasoning, oh great captain?"
"That's a bit much."
"Just spit it out already, you worthless pile of trash."
"That's also a bit much."
"Explain."
"Too little. Ok, we really have to get on. I'm sure of it because their vice-captain already went. Knowing Lotus he'll probably wait for the final round, in which case it'd be best if I also waited until then."
"Huh? If he wants a fight with you so bad it'd be funnier to deny it, right?" Zara asked.
"I think if we do that we'll be sealing our loss if we do that. This isn't me bragging, I honestly don't think anyone other than me would be able to stop him."
"How humble."
"I just said it wasn't bragging. I'm trying to give you an idea of his strength. This is still getting distracted. Bal is a good tactician, he's the only one other than Lotus that I've met before. Since their vice-captain went before, I can't see anyone more fit to lead in the second round than him."
"Ah, I guess we're in a similar situation." Realised Luke "Mary's already been, so who's gonna lead this time?"
The other eight stared at him.
"Yeah, that's… you, right?"
"...What?"
"So the team that we're going with is Luke, Spence and Jean. That right?"
Zara looked to Judah.
"That's right. We need to win both of these rounds. I'm still cautious about the third round, so I don't want to go all out here. Luke's probably the smartest here and Spence is probably the most agile. Those two alone should be enough to take the round, provided we avoid the same mistakes as before."
"Wait, you forgot me." Jean pointed out.
Judah stared back.
"Music is also useful. For encouragement."
"Huh, really? Never knew."
"But you're a musician?"
"Sometimes I wonder too."
"I really wanna go too." Isa admitted "But beating up the captain sounds like fun. So I'm trusting you three to win this one for us."
"You don't need to pressure them that much." Mary tried to cut in. "They're really strong, so don't feel bad if you lose."
"No, don't go easy on them." Zara told her, holding up three more headbands. "You better win, or else."
Luke looked down. Spence wrapped his arm around him and smirked in the direction of those two.
"Don't even consider it. You're gonna be the only ones wearing those."
"No, we're on the same team." Mary interrupted. "We don't want that."
"Then let's just go over to the other team and make them wear it. Right now."
"That's jumping the gun a bit."
"What are you talking about?" He put his helmet on while speaking, finally completing his Thunderlord Zinogre set. "It's already a given that we'll win. Because I can't lose."
The room went into silence, broken only by Spence stepping towards Zara.
"Hand over the headbands, I was serious about wanting to do that."
The three of them walked towards the start point.
"So, are you feeling sure about this?" Jean asked.
"Nah." Spence replied, taking Luke off-guard.
"But you just sounded so confident."
"Well it's not like I'm gonna lose, I'm just worried. Mostly about that tactician guy."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He's bald."
"Huh?"
"I totally get what you mean." Jean replied. "There's just something unsettling about that."
"No, he just doesn't have hair. I'm pretty sure that's normal."
"But why would he?"
"I… dunno, I think it just happens. What would you do if your dad's bald when you finally find him?"
"I'd kill him."
"Wouldn't that beat the point?"
"Not entirely."
"Hmm? What's this about his dad?"
Spence ignored the question, continuing with his own argument. "Okay, I have a good reason to feel so uneasy. Just imagine this scenario."
He began to describe a potential outcome of the fight.
Spence and Storm stared down the bald man, who grinned sinisterly in response.
"Damnit, everyone else is dead! We're gonna be the ones to avenge them! It's just us left, you bald bastard!"
Bal laughed evilly.
"Hold on, why are we dead?"
"It could happen. Just calm down, it's a what if, you're not actually dead."
"I didn't think I was. I'm just confused how that would happen in a training exercise."
Jean posed.
"I'm the type to have a fake-out death, so I'm not worried."
"That doesn't help me."
"You're both getting too off-topic, lemme finish."
"Foolish hunter and monster, you cannot hope to beat me!"
"He doesn't talk like that." Luke interrupted.
"That's totally the type of line a guy says before he gets beaten." Jean added.
"Shut up. I wasn't asking for feedback."
Spence and Storm both went for an attack, but their opponent refused to take action.
"Haven't you figured it out? So long as the sun remains in the sky, I am invincible!"
"What?"
As he asked that, Spence saw the evil one's shiny head shine. The light bounced off his head, creating a laser that destroyed half of the planet in an instant.
"See, that's what we gotta look out for."
"I really don't think that we're at risk of dying from a laser."
"Oh no, I wouldn't die. It'd just sting."
"No, you said it devastated the planet, how would you make it?"
"It's just about the angle you take it at."
"I've survived plenty of hits like that before." Jean added.
They finally found themselves before the other three.
Jean scanned them. "Ah, guess the boss was right. Damn, the normal guy's here too."
Bal stood in the middle of the group. Next to him was a tough looking man, Michael, and the incredibly plain man, Stanley.
"You three finally ready?" Bal asked. "We've been waiting."
"Oh, just remembered." Spence walked towards the group, breaking the silence. He handed each of them a headband.
"What?" Michael asked.
"You'll need it. In a few minutes."
He read the words on the headband.
"Oh. Guess you'll be dying first."
"I'd like to see you try."
"You will."
The two stared each other down.
Bal stepped between them. He readied the balloon and released it, the coin tied to it floating away.
The groups waited.
"Oh, it's been on my mind." Jean announced.
"What has?" Spence asked back.
She pointed to Bal.
"Why are you bald?"
"Y-you shouldn't just ask that." Luke said.
"It's by choice, to show my determination."
"That sounds cool. I still don't get it though. Why lose your hair of all things?"
"Well, it's simple. We'll all lose it eventually. When we're just skeletons."
The other four seemed to become melancholy because of this reasoning, but Jean simply replied "Good thing that won't happen to me."
The time drew near. Both sides readied themselves, before bursting forward.
The DBA was slightly more successful in keeping up this time.
The two groups ran parallel to each other.
Luke studied the weapons of the other side as they ran.
The bald man carried a folded up rifle on his back. To his right, the tough looking one seemed to have an insect glaive. Finally, the normal member of the group seemed to have some kind of axe.
They drew closer to the target.
Bal suddenly turned, making eye contact with Luke.
"Hey, I need to check something real quick."
"W-what?"
"You're not planning on suddenly going on the attack to distract us while your glaive boy there runs off, right? Just checking."
Luke froze. His inaction gave everything away. In that same moment, the other two members of the Starward Diamonds went on the attack. As they dodged in response, the two groups were brought to a halt.
A stand-off followed. Luke remained frozen.
Spence was the first to go on the attack, being blocked by Michael. The two fighters studied each other, before Storm jumped at him, forcing him back.
Before the fight could continue, Michael yelled out the first thing that came to his mind.
"Why don't you use your glaive properly? You don't even have a kinsect!"
Jean gasped to add some drama.
The group turned to him. Spence looked around uneasily.
"I just don't like it, okay?"
"Huh? It's a vital part of the fighting style, you can't just not like it."
"I'm doing fine without it. Besides, my kinsect ran off about a week in. Getting a new one's a pain."
"I don't think it helps your case to tell him that." Luke informed him.
"Nah, it makes sense. That quitter ran off after a week. Meanwhile Storm here is still with me. So clearly fighting with him is a better idea than using some little bug."
Michael smirked at his excuses, irritating him.
"Then we'll just see who's left standing at the end. That's the easiest way to see which way of fighting's better."
Michael readied himself to fight again.
"Now you're speaking my language."
The two men dashed forward into a clash, taking the group's attention. Luke was so focused on it, he only barely noticed Bal charging up a wyvern's fire out of the corner of his eye.
He slammed his gun into the ground, the blast shaking it up.
A dust cloud floated up. The fighting stopped, leaving the DBA in confusion.
As the dust settled and they readjusted, only one enemy was left behind. The others had fled. Stanley, the most normal one of the group, remained there.
"He seriously ran away after talking all that?" Spence asked, before turning to Luke. "Hey, let's go after him."
Luke stared back.
"No, but if we do that then the one they left will slow us down. But if we deal with him then they'll get ahead. Either way, we can't let them get that far ahead. If we lose track of them after they get the coin we won't be able to come back. So what would be best?"
"Hey, answer already. You're just blanking out."
Luke snapped back to reality.
"We've gotta do both."
"What?"
"Oh yeah, that was in my head wasn't it?"
"Seriously, what?"
"You and Storm go after them. We'll beat this guy then catch up. I think- that should be the best. Probably. But then aga-"
Spence slapped his back and gave a smile.
"I'm trusting you, then."
Luke looked back, before giving an uncertain thumbs up.
"Yeah."
As Storm jumped away, he was almost stopped. Jean slammed her hunting horn between the attacker and the target.
"Hey, lemme in on your little bromance moment too!"
Luke pulled his gun from his back.
"I'm sorry. We're going to defeat you and move on."
Stanley stared at him blankly for a few moments.
"Ah, I just remembered. You didn't get to hear what my job was earlier, did you? Because the captain cut me off."
"Yeah, I remember. But I don't really see what that has-"
Panzer blocked an axe swing that was aimed directly for Luke's neck, pushing him back in the process. A second aimed for Jean, which she barely slipped under. It cleanly cleaved through the tree behind her.
Stanley took a step back, turning his charge blade back into a sword and shield.
"I'll introduce myself fully this time. I'm the Starward Diamonds' Executor."
Luke and Jean stared back at him.
"Hey, bossman."
"What?"
"Permission to run?"
"Aren't you meant to be an optimist?"
"I consider optimism to be making the best out of things."
"So do a lot of people."
"I never said I was being different. But even that has limits. I need something positive to grab onto, no matter how small it is. And right now I am feeling nothing but fear."
"Don't sound so happy about that."
"That's just the optimism working."
"You seem to be forgetting what's going on." Stanley cut the back and forth off. "Should I remind you?"
"No, we're perfectly alright."
Two men climbed through the trees, only stopping when they heard yelling in the distance.
"Get back here, you cowards!"
"I think that's your cue." Bal told the one next to him.
"Yeah."
Michael moved back in the direction of the voice, intercepting the wild charge.
"Look who finally caught up."
"You're talking so damn confidently for someone who just ran."
"Our objective is getting the target, not fighting. So of course I'd prioritise going after it over a fight I already know I'm gonna win."
"Huh? You're acting like you're better than me now? Why don't you put your mouth where your money is. I'll show you how to run away like no one's ever run away before. After I kick your ass, that is."
"You don't even make any sense, did you go crazy? The only one who's gonna be running here is me, stupid!"
The two unsheathed their glaives, exchanging swings. Storm joined in, pushing the opponent back. But he was stopped by some shots from above.
The two of them finally noticed Bal standing in the trees above, rifle placed on the ground.
"Hey, having him here's cheating."
"You scared?"
"Of course not."
Storm boosted Spence into the air, he headed directly for the sniper. Bal started to retreat.
Michael vaulted into the air as well, attacking from behind. The two boosted themselves around the air, trying to avoid one another. All the while, Bal continued to fire at Storm.
Becoming annoyed, the wyvern pounced towards him. Bal just barely slipped under his attack, nervously grinning. As he did, something slipped out of his hand. Storm lost focus on his target and studied it, before becoming blinded by a flash of light a moment later.
He thrashed around in response leaving him completely open to more shots from the rifle. Preoccupied with his own fight, Spence had no chance to take notice of the situation.
More shots were fired from the trees, hitting the back of Storm's head before he could move out of the way. As he collapsed, Spence rushed over.
"Storm, are you okay!? Are you- oh, you're just sleeping. What the hell? Don't scare me like-"
A shot hit Spence's back, causing him to stumble slightly.
"Hey. That was a tranq round just now, wasn't it?"
"I really don't know whether to be impressed that you worked that out just from the impact or disappointed that you didn't when your buddy passed out." Bal remarked, before firing again.
Spence went to dodge, but the tranquiliser had already taken some effect, slowing his movements. He was unable to escape before passing out.
The group of four continued to struggle against Stanley's might. Even with their advantage in numbers, he was still too much to handle.
The overwhelming power was unlike anything Luke had seen before. He found himself completely unable to fight back.
In spite of his appearance, Stanley was a warrior beyond their ability to handle.
Jean and Tama were also completely unable to stop him.
Luke raggedly caught his breath.
"What do I do here? Spence and Storm are just getting further and further away. We can't both run, but if one of us stays they'll barely be able to hold him off. Damnit, I should've kept everyone around. I'm pretty sure those two could've dealt with him. Damnit, I-"
He heard movement from nearby. Coming back towards them. As the sounds got closer, they became clearer, which caused him to regret his decisions. Two humans drew near.
Bal entered his line of view, followed by Michael holding the coin. Bal made eye contact with him.
"Your glaive guy's back the way we came. You should probably go wake him up."
Luke didn't respond.
"It probably looks to you like I'm being overly cocky, doesn't it? But your loss was pretty much decided from when I guessed your plan back there. You didn't have anything else, did you? That's why it failed so easily. How old are you, eighteen?"
"Yeah."
"It's seriously messed up that people ten years younger than me can be hunters now, but at least I can give you some advice I wish I had when I was your age. A good tactician doesn't bring one plan, they bring a hundred. Maybe even a thousand, depending on the situation. If one fails, then you switch to the next. You can't ever tell for sure how things are going to turn out."
He took a breath, having already said too much but still feeling like he needed to keep going.
"Life's full of failures. It's just natural. I know a bunch of guys your age already think they're done growing, but I don't really agree. What makes you an adult is how many of those failures you can keep stepping over. So you shouldn't feel bad over this outcome. It's just another thing that you two'll learn from. Let's go."
He left, Michael and Stanley following behind him.
"We haven't lost yet, idiots!" Jean yelled before turning to Luke, awaiting some more orders.
"...Let's go get Spence and Storm."
"Wait, no."
Despite Jean's protests, the group made their way towards them. They found the two sleeping on the ground and quickly woke them up. Then Spence was quickly informed of the situation.
"Hm, got it. So? What's next?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Come on, that's obvious. How are we going to come back from this situation?"
"We've pretty much already lost."
"The flare still hasn't gone up." Jean told him. "So we're still in this."
"But they're still so far ahead. I don't just mean just how close they are to the goal, but their abilities are so far above ours."
"So?"
"Don't just ask that like it's nothing!"
"I don't think it's nothing. But me and Storm don't plan on losing again. Responsibility and all that. If they're better than us, all we gotta do is beat them down until that gap's closed. Simple as."
"That's easy for you to say, but it's still just-"
Jean lightly slapped him.
"Never give up!"
"There's a limit to how reasonable that can be."
"She's right though. You're the smart one here. Giving up like this'd just be lame. If we don't try anything then there's no point."
Luke thought to himself in the silence that followed.
"Bal was right, though. I'm still inexperienced. It wasn't even a proper plan, just one that Judah suggested before. Of course it was going to fail. Well, that's it. I'll learn for next time. Just like he said, I'll keep learning. …Is that okay?"
He felt like he was sinking into his own mind.
"Is that really okay? Am I fine with that?"
The one in front of him kept on walking away, uncaring for those behind him.
"Of course it isn't. I'm frustrated. The fact that he's ahead of me pisses me off so much that I want to throw up. If I can't at least bring him back then what am I good for? As long as I'm good enough for that, I don't need any more strength. There's no way I can just wait years to get there."
His head finally flared up, carving through the fog that felt like it was wrapped around it. Expectations constantly weighed on his mind. He wanted to win. He wanted to show that he was good enough to keep going. Even if it was a trivial match, if he couldn't win something so meaningless then what meaningful act could he possibly accomplish?
"I'll show you. I'll show you how I catch up."
"Huh?" Jean and Spence went in unison.
"Ah, that- that part wasn't meant to be aloud."
"Hm, weird." Spence then smirked slightly. "But from the look in your eyes, it feels like a safe bet to say you've finally worked something out.."
"Yeah. I'm feeling better now, thanks."
"So, got a plan?"
"A few."
Jean spun around.
"Then let's start the operation to smack his bald head."
"No, that's not part of any of them." Ignoring Jean's suggestion, Luke turned to Panzer, petting the brute wyvern's head. "I don't want to just keep letting you down forever. I'll show you that I can improve, so can you trust me?"
The three from the Starward Diamonds continued travelling through the forest.
"I still feel bad, damn it." Bal thought to himself as he moved. "But I guess it's fine. They should bounce back from this. I get it, I've been through the same thing. Geniuses like my captain can pick themselves up from anything with no sweat, but for normal people like us it's way harder. Maybe I was too harsh, I'll give them some more encouragement after they get back."
His thoughts were cut off as he heard footsteps drawing closer.
"Get ready. We're not gonna be able to outrun them."
As he said that, Storm crashed into view with Spence atop his back. He went directly for Stanley.
The others lacked the time to focus this, the ground near them shaking as a brute wyvern closed in.
Panzer charged through, separating Bal and Michael. As Bal moved away, he saw Luke atop his back.
"I didn't expect them to make a comeback like this. It seems like it's just an attack out of desperation." He looked up, finally locking eyes with Luke. His confidence in his assertion slightly lowered. "Unless… Well, there's no way. But if you were also one of those annoying geniuses, then things might be different."
Michael noticed Jean and Tama approach.
"Come on, you really think you've got a shot?"
"What? Think we're too weak?"
"Obviously."
"Looks like you've still got a lot to learn. How about you start by learning this." Jean closed in with surprising speed, grabbing him. "Musicians are great actors!"
She attempted to lift him into the air, to no avail. Even after having lost her moment, she continued to struggle to move him.
"D-damn. You're too heavy. I wanted to do a suplex, y'know?"
"I really cannot understand how you thought it would work."
"I'd have said my line then lifted you up. Then over. Then into the ground. Pretty simple."
"Not what I meant."
He went for a punch, but his fist was stopped.
"Hey." Spence began. "We meet again."
"Didn't you already lose?"
"Huh? I don't remember anything like that. Fighting you was just so boring that we couldn't help falling asleep. That's all."
"That so."
"No more running. Let's decide who the strongest here is already."
"This competition ain't just about fighting, stupid."
Spence kicked him in the stomach in response. He stumbled back slightly, dropping the coin he held. Jean snatched it and began to sprint away.
"There, now you don't have to worry about it."
Michael paused, before grinning back in an irritated way.
"Then we'll do things the way you want to. Don't start crying when you lose."
"That's my line."
"No it isn't, idiot!"
He threw a right fist which connected with the side of his opponent's face. Spence continued, undeterred.
"It totally is!"
He threw a punch in response. The two of them continued exchanging hits, before both being knocked back.
They paused, staring the other man down.
Spence began walking forward, chuckling slightly. Michael did the same, raising his voice ever so slightly higher than his opponent's. Spence broke into full on laughter in retaliation, but Michael quickly matched him. Laughing as obnoxiously as they possibly could, they threw their weapons to the side and rushed forward into an immediate cross-counter.
The others continued through the forest, leaving the fight behind.
The hunters with monsters led the way, the other team barely keeping up. The goal wasn't that far away. They recognised that they had to act quickly.
Bal moved close to his ally.
"The Mizutsune's a bad matchup for me because of how slippery it is and I don't think that even you can stop a Barroth mid-run. So let's play to our strengths. Get ready to attack if the gunner passes the coin to that musician.."
Stanley nodded, getting ahead slightly.
Bal stopped running and drew his rifle, firing tranquiliser rounds once more. They hit Panzer, but the brute barely seemed affected. Luke noticed this and took action.
He pulled his arms back and threw something in Jean's direction. She made a big show out of receiving it. The enemy side reacted to this impossible to miss showing immediately.
Stanley launched himself towards her, not leaving any time to dodge. In the split-second before impact, Jean smirked and opened her hands. Nothing was there.
Despite her expression clearly indicating that she thought her attacker would suddenly stop when he saw that it had been a trick, he had already gained enough momentum to launch her off Tama's back in an instant.
As if trying to take advantage of the distraction, Panzer picked up the pace.
"Keep her here. I'll go after the coin." Was all that Bal said as he ran past his ally.
The chase continued. Tranq shot after tranq shot collided with him, causing the Barroth to gradually lose speed.
"Is this all you had? Just hoping you'll last long enough to reach the goal. Shouldn't have gotten so unreasonable with my expectations. You're just as regular a human as I am. Let's get this struggle over with."
Panzer finally lost to his tiredness, sending him crashing to the ground. Luke was knocked off his back from the force, but he quickly rose to his feet and started to sprint.
"He's not even gonna try something new? Guess that's desperation."
Bal reloaded, before firing once more. Luke barely avoided the first, but failed on the second. He felt like he was about to collapse. But a familiar sight appeared in the back of his mind, spurring him to dig his nails into his neck to wake himself back up.
He kept running, even as the weight on his mind dragged him down.
"Not yet… it's still not here yet. That's why I've got to keep going. Until it arrives."
Even as he was on the verge of falling into unconsciousness, his eyes stared only at what was ahead, burning brightly.
As Luke finally started to lose the battle to stay awake, he felt it. He threw the coin with all the might he could muster up.
It soared through the air, its destination unclear.
"So he just gave up? This… doesn't feel right. It was just desperation, right? It's…"
Bal finally realised what he had overlooked. Luke's only mistake was at the end. His final throw was so full of hope, that it simply didn't make sense for it to amount to nothing. That was the hint that revealed everything. He had been unable to understand until now why they kept dragging the fight out, why they separated. It was all for this perfect moment.
Seeing no way to overcome the enemy before him, Luke instead chose the road of trickery. He made himself seem weak on purpose, made the other side underestimate his group. He made them think that they'd already solved the puzzle of victory, all for this once in a lifetime chance at attacking from their blindspot.
Bal turned. The others were too far to help. It was up to him and him alone, regrettably. He tried to run for the coin, but it was too late.
Storm burst out from the trees, grabbing it and rushing away without a moment's hesitation. No matter how Bal chased, he was unable to catch him.
It didn't take long before Storm reached the goal.
The others looked at him in confusion, not sure how or why he was here by himself. The first to notice the coin in his mouth was Laura.
Bal only caught up a minute later, by which time the DBA was already ready to celebrate their victory.
"Just wait a minute." DPS argued, "We never decided whether it would count if the monster made it back."
"Well of course it should." Fen responded.
"How about we put it to a vote?" Suggested Lotus.
Bal ignored this conversation, walking to the flares.
"W-wait!" Isa tried to stop him. "We're still not done talking here."
He grabbed the blue flare and fired it without a word. The entire group was left bewildered.
"It's our loss. Nothing more to it."
Michael was finally knocked to the ground with a fierce punch. Spence caught his breath, before glancing upwards and seeing the green flare.
"Knew they could pull it off."
He picked his opponent up from the ground, carrying him on his shoulder.
A few minutes later, Michael woke back up.
"Woah, seriously? You're way too durable. The match is already over, though."
"I guessed as much. Oh well. I feel bad for losing, but I guess my team winning is more important or something sappy like that."
"No."
"What?"
"We won this one. It was blue."
"No way."
"Yeah way."
"...You guys are crazy. You especially."
"Well thanks."
"It's pretty insulting to have lost even after you sent your monster off."
"Ah, that wasn't me taking it easy on you. That was just part of the plan. You're still plenty strong, don't worry. It's just… as long as I'm wearing this armour, I can't let myself lose."
"Pretty sick."
"I know, right?"
Meanwhile, Jean was busy laughing at Stanley over her team's victory.
"So what exactly did happen?" Mary was the first to ask.
"I've got the same question." Lotus added. "I never even considered that you could lose at this."
"Overhyping your group just a little there." Zara muttered.
"I certainly never expected it, either." Bal told his captain. "I'll start from the beginning."
He recounted the details of the match, the initial defeat before the turning point.
"My mistake was never counting the hunters and monsters separately. Seems obvious now that I think about it, but I guess it was so obvious that I overlooked it. The reason he won is because he caught onto that error of mine and used it for every bit of its worth." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "A guy like me can't compete with something so daring."
"I sure did get full of myself when I gave him that advice." Bal thought to himself, regretting his actions. "This is just embarrassing now. The hell was I saying about failures helping you grow? I've still got a bunch to go, clearly. Congratulations, kid."
A short distance away, Luke lay unconscious on the ground. For once, he seemed to have a satisfied expression on his face.
TO BE CONTINUED