Chapter 374 - 267: From City Hero to Influencer (Part 2)

Chapter 374: Chapter 267: From City Hero to Influencer (Part 2)

This is how Abaddon won his last game against the War King.

The Devil General wasn’t one to be defeated so easily, of course. He sent troops to drive away the parasitic devil, but he didn’t kill it. The thing was too fast; chasing it down wasn’t cost-effective.

Leon’s parasitic devil just stayed put near the base. Theoretically, it posed no threat.

’Did he suddenly pick a Devil just to gamble on a base-rush tactic?’

The Devil General’s mind raced.

’Impossible. I can tell Leon isn’t skilled at controlling that parasitic devil.’

’Then why?’

’Right! This is a map for booming, with lots of Mines.’

’Could it be that Leon wants to create the illusion of a rush, forcing me to set up defenses while he secretly speeds up his own development?’

’Yes, that’s probably it.’

The Devil Camp isn’t suited for the late game; it’s better for early-game combat. Picking Devils so suddenly was also part of the act—to look like he was going for a rush, when he was actually trying to stall for development. In any case, a Devil-versus-Devil matchup in the late game wouldn’t be a disadvantage for him.

’A clever idea.’

The Devil General smiled faintly.

’Too bad I saw right through it.’

No matter what late-game strategy Leon had prepared, the safest plan was to end the match in the early game before he could ever use it.

The Devil General produced a Little Devil—the Devil Camp’s Engineer—and had a faster Pervert Demon carry it as it rushed toward Leon’s base.

He was going for a base rush.

Just as he expected, the Pervert Demon charged into Leon’s controlled area and saw numerous Inferior Demons mining.

’He really is booming.’

The Devil General’s tail began to wag smugly. Victory was in his grasp!

Because Leon’s forces were focused entirely on mining and lacked damage output, they failed to stop the base-rushing squad.

The Devil General’s Little Devil successfully entered the base.

"I’ve won!" he shouted, raising his arms to celebrate.

Leon replied calmly, "Your base."

"My base?"

The Devil General’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at his own area and saw the same thing: a Pervert Demon carrying a Little Devil, already near his base.

The ultimate tactic: a base trade.

’Recall the Thorny Demons to defend! No, wait... to prevent the parasitic devil from stealing the Thorny Demons, I pulled them all away. They’re too late to get back in time.’

’Pack up the base and move it. Buy some time for the Thorny Demons to return.’

In a panic, the Devil General had just packed up his base.

"Thanks," Leon said suddenly.

’Thanks? Thanks for what? The base trade failed...’

’Wait, the parasitic devil!’

The Devil General remembered the parasitic devil from the start of the game that he hadn’t dealt with. It could only infest a base in its packed-up state.

He tried to deploy it again, but it was too late.

Base trade successful.

It was all part of the plan.

Now, neither side could produce any more buildings.

The Devil General was stunned for a moment.

He had still underestimated this Human kid.

’No, this isn’t the time for reflection. The game isn’t over until all the buildings are destroyed.’

The Devil General snapped out of it and quickly assessed the situation.

Leon had spent all his early-game resources on producing Mines and mining Pervert Demons, so his immediate combat strength was lower than his own.

’But he’s mining faster than me. If this drags on, he’ll be able to produce more High Level units... no, wait, he’s already producing them.’

’I have to use the army I have now to destroy Leon’s High Tier Devil Incubation Camp. If I can destroy it, Leon will be stuck in the awkward position of having Magic Energy Stones but no way to spend them, while I can still produce units.’

Having made up his mind, the Devil General quickly gathered all his forces and attacked Leon’s High Tier Devil Incubation Camp.

Leon’s defensive forces gathered quickly, but they were no match for his opponent’s.

The Devil General chose to bypass Leon’s defenses and attack the Incubation Camp directly. A prolonged fight was not to his advantage right now.

The health bar above the Incubation Camp was dropping rapidly.

Meanwhile, the defending Pervert Demons were attacking the Devil General’s Thorny Demon forces.

He made a quick calculation. ’I can win this!’

’I can take out the Incubation Camp before my Thorn Demon Corps is wiped out.’

A small, ineffective wrench twisted back and forth over the Incubation Camp, attempting to repair it.

But it was no use.

The Incubation Camp was down to a sliver of health, on the verge of exploding.

What!

The Devil General’s pupils dilated in an instant.

He saw the health bar, which had already almost disappeared, suddenly shoot back up by a large chunk.

’No, why?’

The Devil General watched helplessly as his Thorny Demons were completely wiped out by Leon.

’Was there something I didn’t see?’

’I didn’t see it!’

The Devil General suddenly remembered a cheap trick that people only ever used in matchmaking.

Because the camera angle in the Red Alert sandbox couldn’t be rotated, the isometric 45-degree view meant that buildings would inevitably block the view of certain things.

And a Little Devil or an Engineer was just the right size to be hidden. When they entered a friendly building, they could instantly restore its health.

’Did Leon hide an Engineer in the Incubation Camp’s blind spot?’

It sounded useful, but since it required keeping a Little Devil on standby, the opponent only needed to select non-building units to find it and could then just kill it first.

That’s why it was almost useless in high-level matches.

But in this, the highest level of competition, the Devil General had not selected non-building units to check.

’I lost to a cheap matchmaking trick?’

No, Leon had used a whole series of smoke and mirrors, including verbal taunts, to conceal this cheap trick.

The Devil General was unwilling to believe it.

He had been racking his brain, trying to figure out what high-level strategy Leon was preparing, guarding against every possibility, but he failed to notice... failed to notice the trap Leon had dug for him at the most fundamental level.

At that moment, even the most casual viewer in the audience, even the City Lord, could see that Leon’s victory was sealed.

Leon was now rapidly producing Deep Prison Demon Refiners, the Devil Camp’s highest-tier unit.

On the Devil General’s side, his Magic Energy Stones were depleted, and he couldn’t build any new Mines.

The Grand Arena erupted.

Leon’s army of Deep Prison Demon Refiners parked itself at the Devil General’s front door. They didn’t attack; they just sat there watching, like a Cat toying with a captured mouse.

"Don’t you like to stall? Pick a number. How many minutes do you want this game to end in?" Leon asked mockingly.

The Devil General was stunned for a long time. No one knew what he was thinking.

「A few minutes later.」

He let out a long breath. "Good game." Then he chose to surrender.

After giving his worthy opponent, Leon, a round of applause, he turned and left the stage with his head held high, preserving his dignity.

’I did the best I could. Maybe I made mistakes, but who doesn’t? I have to admit, my opponent played beautifully.’

The moment the surrender was declared, the roaring crowd broke through the security line, surged onto the stage, and lifted Leon high into the air. For a time, his status nearly rivaled that of Soron. In that instant, it was as if he were bathed in Holy Light.

This terrified Grace. If someone in the crowd had ill intentions and hurt Leon, her cash cow would be gone.

"Relax, he’s fine," said Zog. "Don’t you think he’s glowing?"

"Huh?" Grace thought Zog was speaking metaphorically, but when she looked closely, he really did seem to be glowing.

"8th Ring Holy Light Protection Technique. The Zog Group’s tournaments have more than one layer of security," Zog answered. "Go celebrate. I have something else to attend to."

With that, he flapped his wings and flew toward the backstage area.

In the Devil Team’s locker room, the General looked at the other dejected Devils.

"Heads up. There’s no shame in our defeat."

"No, I’m just worried about whether we’ll survive," Abaddon replied. "Are you confident?"

They all understood that pools of lava were waiting for them back in Hell.

They could run and not return to Hell, but their chances of survival would be less than thirty percent.

After a moment of silence, the General simply said, "It was an honor to fight alongside you."

"Ahem, excuse me." A cheeky voice came from the doorway.

"Hope I’m not interrupting your sentimental moment."

"Duke Zog?" The General was surprised.

Because he had connected Hell to the internet, Zog now held an honorary Duke title there.

"What brings you here?"

Zog picked at himself, flaking off a few broken scales and engraving Runes on them.

"Take these. They’re fireproof. You can sell them if you want; they’d count as Legendary items."

There were five scales in total, one for each Devil.

"Swim back," Zog said with great solemnity. "I never thought I’d say this as a blessing, but swim back."

"Why?" The General understood that everything has its price.

"It’s mainly for you; the other four are just a bonus. You’d never played any games before Red Alert, had you?"

"That’s right."

"You’re quite talented, then, to play like this in your very first game. You should consider going pro. A healthy competitive gaming market needs skilled players. I’ll have a word with your Duke."

After saying his piece, Zog left the locker room.

Just as he said, for esports to be exciting, there must be fierce competition. If one player dominates, everyone else loses their motivation and eventually quits altogether.

Therefore, he needed to find some opponents for future tournaments who had a chance of challenging Toto.

Not only was she incredibly strong, but she was also long-lived.

The skill level on display today was no threat to her. ’Hopefully, these Devils can train up.’

’I regret giving Toto a direct invitation. I should have had her become a commentator instead.’