The green lights in the holographic forest arena blazed brightly, and the deafening siren echoed, signaling the start of the battle between Team C and Team D.
The air in the PILAR headquarters felt heavy, mixed with the hum of advanced technology and the artificial earth scent deliberately created for the simulation.
Towering holographic trees swayed as if blown by wind, while thin mist floated in the air, obscuring corners of the arena. The holographic grass moved slowly, creating dynamic obstacles that forced both teams to think quickly.
Team C, with their steel vests glowing according to their role colors, scattered towards their base in the southern end of the arena. Radhif led with his shield emitting a faint red protection, his short sword ready in his right hand.
Dzoavha activated his mini drone, which buzzed softly while scanning the environment through his augmented reality glasses.
Nadhyfa checked her medical bracelet, ensuring the vital monitoring feature was connected to the team.
Ryn adjusted his rifle scope, though his face was slightly scowling because the rifle's energy was only at 79%.
Dhoost had already vanished into the shadows, his camouflage cloak making him almost invisible.
"Focus, guys! We need to claim their base as quickly as we can!" shouted Nadhyfa, her voice full of spirit, though her hands trembled slightly as she held the medical bracelet.
"Dhoost, you're in the bottom lane, right?"
No answer. Dhoost, with the glowing folding knife in hand, was already moving like a shadow in the arena's bottom lane.
Within the first 30 seconds, he darted past holographic obstacles, deftly avoiding electric shocks with agile movements.
His camouflage cloak blended perfectly with the artificial trees, making him undetectable by the swarm bots of Katarina, Team D's Techno.
With precision, Dhoost threw his folding knife, destroying three swarm bots patrolling the lower path. The small explosions from the bots emitted electrical sparks, disrupting Team D's communication signals momentarily.
"Nice, Dhoost!" muttered Ryn, who was monitoring from a high position behind Team C's base, his holographic scope catching Dhoost's faint shadow.
"He dares to go to the enemy base alone."
Radhif, standing firm in the main central lane, nodded, but his brow furrowed.
"He's effective, but we can't just rely on him. Dap, what does your drone see?"
Dzoavha, busy directing his drone, frowned. His AR glasses' display showed environmental data, but there was a strange interference.
"The enemy bots are moving erratically, like zig-zagging without a pattern. I can't lock onto their positions!" he complained, directing the drone to rescan.
"This must be their Techno's doing."
On the other side of the arena, Team D didn't panic even though Dhoost had disrupted the bottom lane.
Jackson Craig, with his gravity shield and double-bladed energy axe, stood in front of their base, his posture upright like a living fortress.
"Chill guys, we'll counter slowly," he said in his distinctive Australian accent, his eyes sharply scanning the arena.
"Katarina, Hanni, start. NOW."
Katarina nodded without looking away from her tablet. Her fingers nimbly typed, controlling the micro swarm bots that were now spreading across all lanes, not to attack, but moving randomly in a confusing zig-zag pattern.
"Their Techno will be confused reading our movements," she murmured.
"Focus on their Shadow, he's too aggressive."
Hanni activated her mist launcher. A thin, white nano-mist spread across the central and right lanes, masking the body heat of Team D's members.
"The enemy drone won't be able to detect us now," she said calmly, her eyes noting each teammate's position through her bracelet.
"Jackson, push the center. Minji, start the maneuver."
Minji, in her bright yellow suit, appeared briefly on Dzoavha's drone radar, her energy bow glinting as she fired a tracking arrow towards a holographic tree, deliberately drawing attention. Then, with steady but slow steps, she moved to the top lane, as if separated from her team.
"Their Shadow will definitely chase me," she whispered to Kazuha through the communicator, a small smile on her lips.
Kazuha Nishimura, the Shadow from Japan, had vanished from the radar. With her nano-based stealth cloak, she infiltrated through the left lane, her movements undetected by Dzoavha's drone.
The magnetic shuriken in her hand was ready to be thrown, but she wasn't attacking; she was only observing, her sharp eyes following the shadow of Dhoost, who was now moving towards the top lane, drawn by Minji's signal.
"The fish is approaching the bait,"whispered Kazuha, her voice cold and calculated.
"Let's trap him."
Dhoost, now in the top lane, saw Minji's silhouette in the distance. His heart beat rapidly, not just from adrenaline, but also because Minji's confident gaze, for some reason, made it hard for him to focus.
His camouflage cloak made him invisible, but he didn't realize that Kazuha, with a far more advanced cloak, was already behind him, her shuriken ready to strike Dhoost.
"Is this all the Asian representatives have?" muttered Dhoost, unaware he was stepping into Team D's trap.
Meanwhile, at Team C's base, Nadhyfa began to panic. Her medical bracelet showed Dhoost's heart rate increasing, but his position was too far.
"What is Dhoost doing? Why is he always alone!" she complained, turning to Radhif.
"Dhif, we need to cover him, it seems he's gone too far!"
Radhif nodded, activating his energy shield and moving forward into the central lane, but his steps halted as Jackson appeared in front, slowing his movement. Jackson's axe swung, creating strong vibrations that made the ground shake.
"Come here first, Anchor!" challenged Jackson, his voice echoing.
Dzoavha, still trying to track Team D, suddenly exclaimed,
"Bro,my drone is jammed! Their swarm bots are too random, I can't read their pattern!"
His AR glasses flickered, showing errors due to Hanni's nano-mist. Ryn, from his high position, tried to shoot one of them, but Minji's arrow suddenly hit the tree next to Ryn.
"Ugh, I've been spotted..." he complained, realizing his rifle energy was depleting faster than he thought.
Amid the chaos, Dhoost moved closer to Team D's base, confident he could claim it. But behind the shadow of a tree, Kazuha lurked, ready to throw her shuriken to disable Dhoost's vest.
Team C,relying too much on Dhoost's lightning attack, began to fracture, while Team D, with their gradual and coordinated strategy, prepared to turn the tables.
The arena felt increasingly suffocating. Artificial mist drifted low, obscuring the slowly swaying holographic trees that seemed alive.
In the center of the arena, Radhif and Dzoavha moved cautiously, their vests emitting faint red and blue glows under the shadows of the artificial foliage. Dzoavha's drone buzzed above them, but his AR glasses' display kept flickering, showing chaotic data.
"Dhif, is my drone hacked or what?" complained Dzoavha, his fingers dancing on the tablet to stabilize the signal.
"Their swarm bots are moving illogically, like they're deliberately confusing us!"
His eyes narrowed, trying to understand the random pattern deliberately spread by Katarina, Team D's Techno. Suddenly, his AR glasses caught a strong signal from the central lane, a fast movement, as if a group of enemies was approaching.
"That must be them!" shouted Radhif, raising his energy shield that emitted a red protection.
The short sword in his hand glinted,ready to face the attack.
"Dap, monitor the central lane! Nadhyfa, prepare your bracelet for recovery boosters, we're about to be attacked!" He stepped forward, his posture firm, ready to withstand the enemy's push.
But at Team C's base, Nadhyfa frowned, her medical bracelet blinking, showing Dhoost's heart rate spiking far away in the top lane.
"Dhoost is really,really far. He's near the enemy base, but... something seems off..." Her voice was anxious, her eyes shifting between the bracelet and the arena.
"Ryn, can you cover him?"
Ryn, holding his position high behind Team C's base, peered through his rifle's holographic scope. His rifle energy was down to 67%; Minji's earlier shot had forced him to be wasteful.
"It's hard, the nano-mist in the top lane is too thick. I only see their shadows, but it's not clear!" he complained, his fingers tapping the trigger hesitantly.
"What is Dhoost doing? He's gone way too far."
Meanwhile, in the top lane near Team D's base, the nano-mist grew denser, creating a faint white curtain that obscured everything.
Dhoost, with his camouflage cloak blending perfectly with the environment, sneaked without a sound, his folding knife glinting in his hand. No alarms. No swarm bots approaching. Only Minji, Team D's Marksman, stood alone in the middle of the base area, her back to the entrance. Her energy bow hung at her side, as if she was unaware of Dhoost's presence. The distance between them was only a few meters.
Dhoost raised his folding knife, his movements as smooth as the nano-mist surrounding them. His heart beat fast. Minji suddenly turned slightly, her tied hair flowing gently in the arena's artificial wind. Her gaze, sharp and confident, made Dhoost freeze. His resolve wavered, his mind drifting.
"Will I get to see her again if she gets eliminated?" a small voice whispered in his head.
The knife in his hand felt heavy,and for a moment, he forgot he was in the middle of a battle.
At Team D's base, Hanni monitored her motion-detecting bracelet, the small screen on her wrist showing Dhoost's position now just a few steps from Minji.
"STRIKE!!!" Hanni whispered through the communicator, her voice calm but full of satisfaction.
"Kazuha, Jackson, now!"
From behind the base, Jackson Craig emerged like a storm. His gravity shield, a round protection with a glowing red core, hummed loudly. With one powerful swing, he released a gravitational pressure wave that made the air around Dhoost feel like walking through mud. Dhoost's camouflage cloak fluttered, but his movements slowed drastically, as if his feet were stuck in quicksand.
"Trying to run?" shouted Jackson, his energy axe glinting as he stepped closer, ready to deliver the final blow.
Dhoost tried to dodge, exerting force to jump sideways, but Jackson's gravity wave made every movement feel like slow-motion. His cloak was dragged, his vest's signal began blinking red as the gravitational pressure interfered with his camouflage system. He glanced at Minji, hoping to attack, but Minji's gaze had now changed, no longer passive, but cold and calculated. Her energy bow was raised, a tracking arrow already locked onto Dhoost's position.
"Sorry... we're here to compete," she said, her voice soft but deadly.
From behind, Kazuha Nishimura, who had been undetected thanks to her nano-cloak, emerged from the shadow of a tree. The shuriken in her hand spun slowly, ready to be thrown to eliminate Dhoost completely.
"Not bad," she whispered, her eyes sharp like an eagle stalking its prey.
Meanwhile, in the central lane, Radhif and Dzoavha were still trapped by the false signals from Katarina's swarm bots. Dzoavha's drone detected rapid movement, but every time they chased, there was only an empty shadow.
"This isn't right!" fumed Dzoavha, his AR glasses full of glitches.
"They're deliberately pulling us here so Dhoost is alone!"
Radhif gritted his teeth, his energy shield flickering as it blocked random attacks from the swarm bots.
"Nadhyfa, check Dhoost now! We need to reformulate the plan!" he yelled, but his voice was drowned out by the arena's hum.
At Team C's base, Nadhyfa panicked. Her medical bracelet showed Dhoost's heart rate spiking into the danger zone, and his vest signal was weakening.
"Dhoost is trapped! We need to help him now!" she shouted, but Hanni's nano-mist blurred their vision.
Ryn, still in his high position, tried to aim towards Team D's base, but Minji's tracking arrow again disrupted his focus.
"Damn, energy down to 65%! I can't help Dhoost like this!" he complained, his fingers trembling on the trigger.
Dhoost, now trapped between Jackson's gravity wave and Minji's cold gaze, was too late to regret his actions. His mind was still picturing Minji's smile, but now he knew, she was the bait.
Kazuha's shuriken shot from the shadows, heading straight for his vest, and at that second, the red light on Dhoost's vest blinked rapidly, indicating he was almost eliminated.
TO BE CONTINUED...