A God's Game

“Surprised to see you here so suddenly, Xavier. What’s the occasion?” Shaun smiled. With that, Xavier charged at Shaun and swung at him. Shaun jerked his head back, dodging the attack. Shaun then said, “Is there really a reason for us to squabble like this again?” Xavier continued with follow-up attacks. Miguel, with all his attention on the fight, activated warrior mode. He thought, What’s going on? He has a green arrow over his head, meaning he’s on my team, so why is he attacking Shaun? Never mind. I’ll ask about it later. Xavier kept up the assault, but Shaun managed to block or dodge all of Xavier’s attacks. As Xavier went for a punch, Shaun dodged again, and Xavier was thrown off balance. As Xavier fell forward, he caught himself with a handstand and surprised Shaun with a swift kick. Shaun thought as he tried his best to react with a block, Clever. Taking a tumble to make me lower my guard. Shaun was able to raise his hands to embrace the impact but was still knocked backward. Xavier was ready to follow up but didn’t when he heard footsteps storming up behind him. He dodged a swing of a dagger coming from Miguel. He countered Miguel’s attack and then activated his own weapon. When Shaun saw the gauntlets appear on Xavier’s hands, he said, “Is this really necessary?” “I told you what would happen if you tried anything,” Xavier growled. “And I told you I’ll do what is necessary,” Shaun said. Joshua hid behind the pews as he peeked his head over, watching the whole thing go down. Shaun brushed off his clothes as he stood up. He summoned his weapon as Xavier came at him. Shaun fought defensively as Xavier continued to push him. Xavier occasionally defended a strike from Miguel as Miguel jumped into the fray as well. As Xavier came at Shaun, the two were caught in a hold. Miguel saw an opportunity and charged at Xavier’s back. “Wait, Miguel!” Shaun shouted as he saw what he was doing. Xavier noticed Shaun was distracted and got a solid hit on him. The hit caused Shaun to jump back in pain and Xavier to dodge Miguel’s strike. The battle continued as the church’s doors opened once again. Nina and Jess entered, followed by Rift and Axel. “Over there!” Axel shouted, pointing at the brawl. Nina and Jess ran over to the altar. The two girls got in between Xavier and Shaun before they could clash again. Nina stopped Xavier as Jess held back Shaun. Nina said, “Why does it always go this way when you two meet?” “You said it yourself, right? Shaun is going on the attack now. And considering the time, I bet you knew something about what Jess was planning to do, yeah?” Xavier said as he struggled to get by Nina. “Clever deduction. Tell me—did you figure that out yourself, or did Nina piece it together for you? Either way, yes, the plan was for Jess to take out Rift while I dealt with a player from Allgomac’s team,” Shaun said as he looked over to Rift and Axel, who were running up closer. “But considering none of us got any alerts that anyone died, it’s safe to presume we are still exactly where we started the day.” “Wait—so you both knew what the other was doing?” Axel asked Jess. “Shaun told me about the idea. The only way I could save—” Jess was interrupted when Shaun slipped out of her grasp. Shaun held his sword firmly as he ran toward Rift. Joshua and Miguel watched in shock, and Xavier tried to intervene but was still being held back by Nina. Rift and Axel both planted their feet nervously as they got ready to defend themselves. However, Shaun’s assault was cut short when Jess tackled him from behind and held his arms down. “Enough,” Jess said. “Enough fighting.” “So this is what you’re choosing? Giving up the revival of your friend—for what? This temporary state of peace?” Shaun said. “My friend would have wanted me to move forward without her. Something I didn’t realize until now,” she said. “All the more reason to attack now! Everyone, don’t you see? We are running out of time and options! And right now, two people from the other team are right in front of us! We could easily overpower them in a six-on-two, but you all would rather do nothing,” Shaun said with his face against the ground. “It doesn’t have to be that way, Shaun,” Rift said. “That song is already getting old. Face it: you have no plan or strategy. And another lottery is coming up soon. I won’t just patiently wait for empty promises any longer,” Shaun said. “Then I’ll come up with a plan and inform you of it before then!” Rift shouted.