The final round had arrived, and with it came the kind of tension that made the air taste electric. Spectators crammed every inch of the coliseum, standing shoulder to shoulder, craning their necks for a better view. Above the field, magical screens floated, displaying live feeds from every angle. Betting slips fluttered through the air like confetti. Commentators practically screamed over one another, debating whether the dark horse team, Linked Hearts, had any chance at all against the elite-ranked guild known simply as Vanguard Eternis — a name so pompous it came with matching cloaks.
The elite guild was legendary. Their members wore enchanted armor forged in dungeons, wielded named weapons, and had actual theme music that played when they walked in formation — magically enchanted, of course. Their leader, a silver-haired, chisel-jawed perfectionist named Albrecht, radiated protagonist energy. He had glowing swords, a flowing cape, and the posture of someone who flossed with destiny.
Meanwhile, Linked Hearts... well.
Jax stumbled in late, half-asleep with a bottle in one hand and a lute in the other. Kaela was arguing with her boar, again. Kira was threatening to backstab anyone who looked at her sideways. Luna clung to her staff like a lifeline, quietly muttering prayers to herself. Lina and Iris were both doing stretches while throwing side-eyes at each other. And MC? MC was busy trying to tie his boot, tripping, and faceplanting just as the match was about to begin.
The crowd laughed. A lot.
Albrecht sneered. "This is the team we're facing? Are you sure this isn't a charity match?"
MC picked himself up, brushed off imaginary dust, and grinned. "Oh yeah. We're not here to win with skill."
Albrecht frowned. "Then why are you here?"
"To win with surprise tactics," MC said confidently, even though he didn't actually have any yet.
The horn blew.
And then chaos — beautiful, absurd chaos — began.
Albrecht launched forward like a missile, his sword glowing with holy light. MC immediately activated a copied teleport spell and reappeared behind him — upside down — falling directly into a puddle of magical ink. Somehow, this startled a nearby owl familiar, which panicked and dropped a pouch of enchanted fireworks it was carrying for some reason. Those fireworks ignited in midair, bursting in front of Vanguard Eternis's rear guard and blinding them long enough for Kaela's boar to charge through like a divine bowling ball.
The audience gasped. The commentators shrieked. Albrecht yelled, "What is even happening?!"
MC staggered out of the ink puddle, now covered in black and glowing faintly from a passive spell he'd accidentally copied from Luna earlier. "Surprise tactics!"
He activated another copied ability — an earth-based skill meant to create a wall — but instead tripped mid-cast and summoned a rock slab directly beneath Albrecht, launching him skyward like a trebuchet shot. The proud leader of Vanguard Eternis screamed as he flailed through the air, flipping end over end.
Meanwhile, Iris time-skipped into a flanking position and whispered something to Lina, who nodded with suspicious excitement. They triggered a fused attack — not the love explosion one this time, thank the gods — but a combined fire-time distortion pulse that cooked enemy spells mid-cast and made their timing fall apart like a badly written opera.
Kira snuck through the shadows, gleefully disabling traps that Vanguard Eternis had spent hours setting. She even left little notes that read "Too slow ;)" with sparkles around them.
Jax, drunk out of his mind, began playing a battle ballad… backwards. The tune was so baffling and discordant that it confused the enemy mages into thinking they were under a mind-warp curse.
MC finally regained his footing and copied one more ability — a wind spell. He meant to use it to lift debris and provide cover. Instead, he summoned a localized tornado that picked up magical chickens from somewhere — where did those even come from?! — and rained them down like feathery meteors across the field.
The elite guild crumbled. Strategists panicked. Their battle lines disintegrated. Albrecht, returning from his impromptu flight, landed in the middle of a chicken pile and passed out cold.
Silence fell across the arena.
Then the cheers erupted.
Linked Hearts had won.
Not by precision. Not by raw power. But through an ungodly combination of misfired magic, awkward fusion, wild animal interference, bad music, and pure, unfiltered chaos. And somehow, that had been enough.
As confetti rained from the enchanted ceiling, MC stood in the middle of the battlefield, blinking, blinking again, and slowly raising one hand in a half-victory pose.
"Did we… win?" he asked.
Lina clapped him on the back. "Somehow, you madman, you did."
Kaela snorted. "Never let him plan anything ever again."
Iris just smiled. "He doesn't plan. He improvises."
Jax was already passed out on the sidelines, cuddling a chicken.
The guild name Linked Hearts flashed in golden runes above the arena.
They weren't just survivors anymore.
They were champions — of absolute madness.
END OF CHAPTER 47