CHAPTER 226: RIVALRY [18]

---VICTORY---

[Steel Dominion: 4 points]

[Cross Guild: 6 points]

And just like that, a big upheaval took place at the tight end of the season, the period of the season where big clubs could not tolerate mistakes. They could not afford it, it was a luxury for the invincible.

But this season, apart from the unbeaten Echelon, no club could claim the authority of invincibles, and so Steel Dominion was screwed.

It was by far the biggest upset of matchday 36.

In a period of the season were all clubs of the English Pro Alliance were desperate to win games and amass points to end the season on a high, Steel Dominion faltered first.

And with it, the English Pro Alliance changed again, this time carrying an even bigger change compared to the changes of Matchday 35.

After all, unlike Steel Dominion, Nightfall won their game.

[English Pro Alliance League Table – Matchday 35]

1) Echelon – MP: 36; Points: 102

2) Phoenix Rising – MP: 36; Points: 97

3) Scarlet Rose – MP: 36; Points: 96

4) Cyber Squad – MP: 36; Points: 95

5) Juggernaut – MP: 36; Points: 86

6) Nightfall – MP: 36; Points: 79

7) Steel Dominion – MP: 36; Points: 77

Just like that, Steel Dominion were pushed down from the spot that they hustled for across 35 matchdays of the English Pro Alliance.

They fell below the top 6, stopping at 7th position.

And there were just 2 matchdays of the season left to play!

All of a sudden, Steel Dominion faced a crisis. The crisis of potentially not making it to the playoffs.

And in contrast, Cross Guild’s hopeless situation finally showed a glimpse of hope. Hope of goods things to come.

Cross Guild were ranked 19th position in the league, and the top clubs in 18th and 17th position were 2 points and 7 points ahead of them respectively.

But that was in Matchday 35.

After Matchday 36, Cross Guild was no longer ranked 19th position in the league. They overtook Helix Nova, taking their 18th position as the Birmingham City club failed to win or draw their home game.

And it was not just Helix Nova, the 17th ranked team in the league also lost their game, making the goal of escaping relegation no longer seem as impossible.

All Cross Guild needed to avoid relegation was to take just 1 more spot forward to 17th position in the English Pro Alliance table.

It was hard, but they were determined to do it.

The only thing separating them from their price was the 4 points with which their opponents gave them a sizeable gap still in the league table.

If Cross Guild was to jump to 17th position in the league and avoid relegation, the 17th ranked team would have to lose their 2 final games of the season, while Cross Guild had to also do their part and win their 2 final games of the season.

The 17th placed team may actually lose those 2 games, but even in such a scenario, Cross Guild still had a mountain to climb to qualify.

This was because among their final 2 opponents of the season stood the towering silhouette of Echelon, the only unbeaten club in the English Pro Alliance this season.

Against the likes of Phoenix Rising, Scarlet Rose, Juggernaut, and Cyber Squad, Echelon survived, winning most and drawing some games.

Against such a behemoth, could Cross Guild actually win?

Could they do the impossible?

No one knew for sure, and to Warstar fans, that was the thrill of following the English Pro Alliance.

...

Matchday 37 came like a thief in the night; unseen, sudden.

Echelon started the rout, not just winning, but ruthlessly extinguishing their opponents with a brutal flawless 10-0 victory at the Stanford Bridge.

Blazing Gryphons stood no chance against the unstoppable force called Echelon. With Lord Doom at the helm, Echelon could not be stopped.

These days, for every new matchday that Echelon managed to get a flawless 10-0 victory, they were breaking their own record for the most flawless victories gotten by a single club in a season, extending the record.

Tonight, they extended the record again.

And not just that. During the previous week, with the conclusion of matchday 36 of the English Pro Alliance, with those 3 points, taking their points tally for the season to 102 points, Echelon broke another record of the English Pro Alliance.

They broke the record for the most points recorded by a club in a single English Pro Alliance season.

The previous record was 100 points in a season, and the record was held by Noah’s Cyber Squad team. Now, he broke his own record.

Just like Echelon tore their opponents apart, their rivals were also ruthless, Phoenix Rising leading the line with a brutal 9-1 win against their opponents, while Scarlet Rose and Cyber Squad both won 7-3 and 8-2 respectively.

After Matchday 37, Gabriel and his Dain Ironvalor broke a personal record.

With the win on Matchday 37, Gabriel broke his personal record for the most wins in a single English Pro Alliance Warstar seasonal campaign.

Phoenix Rising was a team in imperious form, shattering records, but even with all that, they were still second spot behind an even more imperious and unstoppable team... Club Echelon.

Juggernaut also won their game convincingly.

As for Steel Dominion? They redeemed their matchday 36 blunder, ripping their opponents apart with a convincing 8-2 victory.

They were back on track, but the only blemish on their win was the fact that it didn’t take them back to 6th position in the league.

After all, Nightfall also won their game.

From the beginning of the season, Nightfall approached the season with modest expectations as expected of a team making their return to the English Pro Alliance for the first time in years, but the more they played, the more they updated their ambition and aspirations, till they now aimed for the final playoff spot.

The moment that Nightfall hunted Steel Dominion down, taking the 6th position in the league table, their demeanor and approach to games changed completely.

All they wanted and focused on now was winning.

Winning, winning, and winning again.

After Matchday 37, there was just 1 final game remaining in the regular season. That game was what separated them from glory.

Nightfall was ready to die to achieve their goal.

Steel Dominion could only gnash their teeth in regret. If only they had the opportunity to play Nightfall in their final game of the season, then their fate would be in their own hands.

But since both clubs played against different opponents, Steel Dominion’s fate was left to the gods, while Nightfall had their fate firmly in their hands.

They won’t miss it. They won’t lose!

They were determined. They would make sure of it.

...

Time was a mirage.

It moved and changed faster than you could think.

One moment, it was Matchday 37, the 20 clubs of the English Pro Alliance going at each other with no strings attached and the next, it was Matchday 38.

D-Day was here.

The final matchday of the 12th season of the English Pro Alliance was here.

[Matchday 38:]

[Day 1:]

[Main Event: Cross Guild vs Echelon]

The main event of matchday 38 was Cross Guild vs Echelon.

Matchday 38 of the English Pro Alliance followed a different format from regular matchdays.

On Matchday 38, all 10 games of the matchday would be played on the same day, at the same time.

The league winner, the top 6 clubs that would be qualifying to the playoffs, and the 3 clubs that would be relegated, all of it would be decided today.

Fans of the English Pro Alliance were doused in excitement and anticipation.

Cross Guild vs Echelon was the main event of the matchday, since it covered Echelon’s final step to solidifying their title as undisputed champions this season, as they never lost a game this season.

This was also a new record if they could pull it off.

Echelon would become the first club in the history of the English Pro Alliance to go a full season undefeated without losing a single game.

Another reason why it was the main event was because it also encompassed Cross Guild’s defiant push and fight against relegation.

If Cross Guild managed to do the impossible, breaking Echelon’s unbeaten run, and their direct rivals lost their game, they would avoid relegation.

It would become the greatest underdog defying fate story of the season.

All of these reasons and more made Matchday 38 of the English Pro Alliance the most highly anticipated matchday of the 12th season of the English Pro Alliance.

10 games, 10 different stadiums.

When time came, all 10 stadiums were filled to the brim with enthusiastic fans who came to watch the proceedings live.

The true population was not the fans that came to watch live though.

This season broke another record of the English Pro Alliance already, and this time it was an online popularity record, Matchday 38 recording 250 million fans who logged in online to watch the game live.

Matchday 38 was history being rewritten.