Silence hung in the air, but Juniper''s teammates didn''t wait for her to speak. They carried on with their own rhythm.
Four versus five. It was a tough fight. But this was Neverfall Navigators. Even outnumbered, they showcased incredible teamwork, pushing through the difficulty to take down three of the opposing team''s members. Still, being a yer down was a fatal disadvantage.
Thirty minutester, Digital Sabers had pushed to their base, closing in on Neverfall Navigators'' main tower. The defense was grueling.
The audience, both in the arena and watching from abroad, felt they could already see the oue. Neverfall Navigators couldn''t hold on for much longer. Continuing the fight was just dying the inevitable. Sooner orter, they would lose.
Just as the fans'' hearts sank and the Neverfall Navigators members braced for defeat, a voice cut through the tension.
"Not bad."
Juniper, who had been sitting silently in the corner, suddenly straightened up, a slight smile ying on her lips. “To hold out this long with only four yers... I can see you haven''t been cking off these past two years."
The team, including MystiCat, nced over. Was Ms. Payne finally going to coach them?
To their surprise, she wasn''t just moving her lips this time-she was moving her hands.
"This ends in fifteen minutes,” Juniper murmured, cing her hands on the keyboard. “The traffic gets bad if we leave toote.”
She hated traffic; it interfered with her dinner ns.
"Huh?"
Before they could process it, the character for yer 3, which had been idle for some time, was suddenly sprinting toward the heart of the battle.
Mysticat and his teammates stared, their eyes wide and their minds buzzing. Was Ms. Payne actually subbing in?
"Defend!" Juniper''s fingers flew across the keyboard as her sharpmand cut through their shock.
"Yes, ma''am!" MystiCat responded over thems.
Once Juniper joined the game, her
character leveled up with
astonishing speed. She expertly located an enemy hiding in the. bushes, dragged them out, and unleashed a brutalbo. The opponent tried to fight back but waspletely outmatched. They tried to flee, but there was no escape. Their health bar was shredded to nothing, and their character dropped to the ground.
As if that wasn''t enough, Juniper made her character stomp on the digital corpse twice before walking away.
The crowd was stunned by the substitute who had just entered the game and was already dominating.
Wait a second. Judging by her technique, she actually knew how to y. No, it was more than that. Not even the top eSports pros had mechanics this fast. No one except... Demon.
Digital Sabers members were equally floored by Juniper''s performance Her speed and ystyle were terrifying Their yer 5, who was no slouch himself, had been eliminated without even a chance to fight back. It was absurd. Cóntent
“Ms. Payne, you''re incredible," MystiCat said, giving her a thumbs-up, his praise genuine.
"Focus," Juniper shot back, ncing at him with a cold warning. "Enemy in the bushes to your left. Dodge."
Mysticat instantly teleported away. A momentter, a massive ultimate ability exploded right where he had been standing. If he hadn''t moved, he would have been toast.
"yer 4, stay i
inside the tower. Don''t
move," shemanded. "yer 1, go to the bottomne and stop. roaming. yer 2, head to the topne. If they engage, run. If it''s clear,
push forward and hide in the bushes. near their tower. MystiCat, you''re with me in the midne."
With a rapid-fire series ofmands, Juniper instantly corrected Neverfall Navigators'' chaotic rhythm.
They engaged in the midne. Two from Neverfall Navigators against four from the enemy team.
"Don''t hang back. Go in," Juniper ordered, her voice sharp over thems as her keyboard ttered.
"Go in?” MystiCat hesitated. A head-on sh seemed far too risky.
"Now!" Juniper red at him, her eyes chillingly intense.
“Yes!” Intimidated, MystiCat shivered and followed her lead, unleashing a barrage of abilities.
Digital Sabers never expected Neverfall Navigators to be so bold, engaging them two-on-four.