Chapter 356: Starfall Arena (iv)

The Heroic squad tried to raise their weapons, but the Evil side moved faster. They swept through the rooftop, dropping each Heroic player one after another — clean hits, quick takedowns, no hesitation.

Xavier watched as his entire escort got wiped out in seconds.

The moment the last Heroic player’s health hit zero, the Evil faction slowed, calming down, adjusting their armor plates, clearing the debris around Xavier like they were prepping for a ceremony.

Then one of them crouched beside him.

And the moment the visor lifted, Xavier saw it —

the look.

The same starstruck expression the Heroic fanboy had.

“Oh my god— it’s actually you—”

“Xavier, sir, are you hurt? Did the crash hit you? Did anyone hit you? Please tell me you’re okay—”

“Sorry you had to see that — the guy who fired the missile is being yelled at in team chat — I swear he’s banned from shooting anything for the rest of Phase One—”

Another Evil player shoved the first one aside.

“Move, man — give him space — Xavier, here, take my hand.”

Xavier took it and let them pull him up.

Half the Evil squad formed a respectful perimeter around him, weapons pointed outward instead of at him.

One of them saluted him like he was a general.

“Please follow us, sir. We’ll escort you to extraction. Safely. No harm will come to you.”

Another added quickly, “We’re huge fans, by the way. If anyone touches you without permission, we’ll team-kill that idiot immediately—”

Xavier almost laughed.

He was supposed to be a hostage.

A prisoner.

A prize.

But to them?

He was still Xavier.

The entire galaxy was tearing itself apart around him,

and every single player — Heroic or Evil — treated him like their cherished VIP.

He stepped forward with them, letting the Evil squad escort him across the rooftop toward the next checkpoint as alarms echoed through the city below and Phase One continued to unfold with a million eyes tracking his every move.

The Evil squad escorted him toward the rooftop stair access, moving in a diamond formation like they were guarding royalty. One of them kept checking his scanner every few seconds.

“Heroic movement on the streets below.”

“North side too — they’re climbing the towers.”

“Squads on every block — holy shit they’re desperate.”

Another player groaned. “Of course they are. They think we’ll lose if even a pixel of his HP drops.”

Xavier walked with them, hands in pockets, watching the city from above. The map was pure insanity now — tracer rounds lighting up alleyways, drones crashing into buildings, Heroic and Evil players clashing on the streets like two armies from different planets.

Far below, a Heroic squad sprinted across a highway bridge — only to be blown off it by a plasma mortar from some Evil tank. The bridge collapsed with a deep rumble, sending NPC vehicles flying everywhere.

One of the Evil players whistled.

“Damn, that’s a highlight clip right there.”

As they reached the stairwell door, the scanner guy froze.

“Movement. A lot of it.”

“Heroic?” another asked.

“No. Not Heroic. Something else.”

And right then—

the rooftop trembled.

A deep, metallic thud shook the ground like something massive had landed nearby. The Evil squad snapped into position, rifles raised, bodies tensing.

“What the hell was that—?”

“Is that an NPC event…?”

“No way— the devs didn’t mention any third-party faction—”

Before they could complete the thought, the far edge of the rooftop exploded.

Shrapnel and smoke blasted outward.

Players staggered back.

Xavier shielded his face from the blast.

Through the smoke, a towering silhouette emerged.

A Phase-One Titan Unit.

It was a mech.

A massive one.

Something the devs absolutely did not mention in the event notes.

The Evil squad cursed at once.

“THIS WASN’T IN THE PATCH NOTES—”

“WHY THE HELL IS THERE A TITAN HERE—”

“THEY SPAWNED AN NPC BOSS IN PHASE ONE?! THEY’RE TRYING TO KILL US—”

But then the Titan scanned Xavier.

Its visor lit with bright blue text:

[VIP DETECTED — PROTECTIVE MODE ENGAGED]

“What—?”

“Bro what?”

“IS IT ON HIS SIDE???”

The Titan stepped forward, positioning itself between Xavier and the Heroic squads that were climbing adjacent buildings.

Its voice boomed like thunder:

“VIP SECURE. INITIATING EXTRACTION PROTOCOL.”

The Evil players stared at Xavier like he’d just unlocked god mode.

“Bro… did YOU trigger this?”

“Xavier… blink twice if you bribed the devs—”

“There’s no way this is real—”

Xavier just shrugged with a small grin. “Looks cool though.”

The Titan extended a massive metal hand toward him, palm facing upward, like it wanted him to step on.

The entire Evil squad screamed at once.

“GO. GET ON. DO IT. DO IT NOW—”

And Xavier stepped onto the Titan’s hand.

The mech lifted him gently, placing him on its shoulder like a soldier hoisting a flag.

The city roared below.

Heroic players opened fire from rooftops.

Laser beams, rockets, stun rounds — all hammering the Titan’s armor, but doing nothing except bouncing off its shield in showers of sparks.

“SHOOT THE LEGS!”

“TRIP IT!”

“STOP IT BEFORE IT EXTRACTS—”

The Titan roared back at them.

“VIP PROTECTED. CLEARING HOSTILES.”

It raised an arm and unleashed a concussive blast that wiped out an entire Heroic platoon in one go.

Even Xavier had to blink at that.

Below, the Evil squad regrouped, cheering like maniacs.

“WE HAVE A TITAN?!”

“WE’RE ACTUALLY DOING THIS—”

“PHASE ONE IS OURS, BABY—”

“XAVIER IS LITERALLY ON A MECH—”

And then the real chaos started.

Heroic teams from all directions rushed the building — jetpacks ignited, grappling hooks fired, hoverboards zoomed up the sides of skyscrapers. A true army trying to reach him.

The Titan stomped forward, crushing rooftop barriers under its feet.

Xavier held onto a metal ridge as the mech leapt — actually leapt — across a gap between towers, landing on the next building with a shockwave that sent rooftop structures flying off the edge.

Heroic players swarmed like ants trying to close in.

But the Titan kept moving.

Roof to roof.

Structure to structure.

Until it reached the extraction zone — a massive circular pad glowing with red energy.

The moment the Titan stepped into it, the sky above them cracked open like glass. A beam of crimson light shot down, engulfing Xavier and the mech.

The world shook with the system announcement.

PHASE ONE — COMPLETE.

EVIL FACTION — VICTORY.

XAVIER SUCCESSFULLY CAPTURED.

The Evil squad exploded into cheers across the map.

Heroic players screamed in frustration.

Servers shook with reactions.

Then, there was an announcement on the server. [Phase one has ended with the victory of the evil faction. Phase two will begin shortly.]

Xavier sat on the Titan’s shoulder as the extraction beam lifted him upward.

He could see the entire city shrinking beneath him.

Smoke. Fire. Drones falling. Streams of players running across bridges.

All of it for him.

And the best part was that phase Two hadn’t even started yet.

He took a breath, bracing himself for whatever insane twist the devs had thrown into the next stage.

Because if Phase One was already this wild,

Phase Two was going to be a full-blown galactic riot.

The devs updated the results of ‌ phase one.

[PHASE 1 — OFFICIAL RESULTS]

TOTAL PARTICIPATING PLAYERS:

999,999

FACTION SPLIT:

• Heroic: 500,000

• Evil: 499,999

CASUALTY REPORT

TOTAL DEATHS: 376,982

• Heroic Losses: 223,289

• Evil Losses: 153,733

SURVIVORS MOVING TO PHASE 2: 623,017

• Heroic: 276,711

• Evil:

346,266

MVP RANKINGS (TOP 10 — PHASE 1) [Evil] Zer0Blade

Sniper responsible for 3,482 confirmed takedowns, including 12 Heroic squads from 1.4 km away. [Heroic] AstraNova

Pulled off 19 squad rescues and single-handedly held a rooftop for 2 minutes solo before getting vaporized. [Evil] Sektor-77

The lunatic who hijacked a plasma tank and drove it off a bridge just to crush a Heroic transport. [Heroic] LuckyLlama

Save-streak legend who revived 211 players before finally falling off a ledge because he slipped mid-emote. [Evil] NightMarcher

Close-combat freak with 2,044 melee eliminations. [Heroic] HeartCore

Shield-tank who blocked 1.2 million damage trying to reach Xavier’s rooftop. [Evil] JinKaz

Pilot of the mortar strike that erased two entire Heroic platoons at once. [Heroic] NanoPixie

Saboteur who disabled seven enemy drones with nothing but a knife. [Evil] LurkerKing

The guy who camped behind a vending machine all match and somehow killed 600 people. [Heroic] FrostEdge

The first player to reach Xavier’s building before getting blown up by the Titan Unit.FUNNIEST & DUMBEST DEATHSHeroic player “BigBoiHiro” accidentally blew up his entire squad by trying to “test the grenade physics.”

• Evil player “Lasergasm” shot the dropship carrying Xavier and got instantly team-banned by his own faction mid-match.

• “JuiceBoxJoe” tried ziplining across the towers… and the line snapped. Instant fall. Instant death.

• “Goddess4Life” (Heroic) attempted to block a Titan stomp by standing in front of it. Left a crater.

• “MrStealthy” (Evil) Forgot cloaking uses energy. Walked into a Heroic platoon completely visible. Instant deletion.BEST CHAOS MOMENTS The VTOL chase that ended with five Heroic squads pile-driving each other mid-air.

• The moment 300 players tried to breach the wrong rooftop because someone pinged the wrong marker.

• The Titan Unit spawn — which the devs claim “was absolutely not planned.”

• The bridge explosion that sent NPC cars raining across half the downtown map.

• The fanboy Heroic soldier screaming “I’M WITH XAVIER—” seconds before being vaporized.

DEV COMMENTARY

“We did NOT code the Titan to pick him up. It improvised. Trust us bros.”

• “Phase 1 should not have had this many explosives.”

• “We underestimated the playerbase. Again.”

• “The missile guy has been IP-banned from all future test servers.”PLAYER CHAT HIGHLIGHTS

Heroic Faction General Chat:

“WHO THE HELL SHOT THE CHOPPER???”

“BRO WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE HIM— NOT TRAUMATIZE HIM—”

“XAVIER IF YOU CAN HEAR ME I LOVE YOU I’M SORRY—”

Evil Faction Chat:

“WE GOT HIM BOYS LET’S GOOOO—”

“THE TITAN IS ACTUALLY ON HIS SIDE WTF—”

“WHO FIRED THE MISSILE?? WHO?? I WANT HIS HEAD.”

“HE’S ON THE MECH SHOULDER— LOOK AT HIM— KING SHIT.”

Global Chat:

“This event is already better than my entire life.”

“Dev team is crazy for this.”

“Phase 2 finna melt the servers.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep