An incredible fight in the 5th round!

Two more rounds of Alliance Conquest were left for Ashun, a motivated racer, and his alliance, RoD. They had an almost impeccable record this season, and their goal was to keep it that way. The only defeat they suffered was against the one alliance that they wished to defeat most: BDR. They were the rivals of this season for the ultimate goal, obtaining the victory of the entire Ultimate Conquest tournament. It was the pinnacle of the event and RoD knew they could do it even against such fierce rivals and odds. Ashun was overwhelmed only at the thought of battling at such a high level again, it was an experience which he could not compare to anything else in the world, it was simply incredible. The adrenaline rush, the emotions, the tactics, speed and sheer power exerted, they were different from any other match.

These factors made practicing impossible in Ashun's mind other than a few races here and there, he believed that RoD could only practice properly if put under pressure. However, not many alliances could accomplish such a thing. The leadership, with B3nni at the front, was aware of this situation as well, and for this fifth round, they wished to face against a strong opponent that would put them through many difficulties.

The way that they reached a solution for this was simple: the timeslot would be changed in order to avoid BDR in their usual timeslot, but to still face against a strong opponent of a similar calibre. There was only one issue with this strategy, they could not know who it was going to be.

Ashun believed that RoD had the first chance of victory against any other alliance, with the exception of WxC, whom he was guessing to be the next opponent for the new timeslot. His wishes did not come true once the reveal by the Old Gods happened, however, they were still up against a fierce opponent, one of the top 5 alliances in Westeros: FFS.

They have a rich history and not only, their strength was incredible and so was their resilience and motivation to pursue greatness. This made them an alliance that could accomplish the goal that RoD had set out to for: proper practice.

B3nni was excited at the prospect of facing against FFS and seeing where RoD stands ahead of the imminent rematch against BDR from round 6. Everyone seemed to share the same consensus, they viewed FFS as worthy opponents for their development as a team. Ashun on the other hand, was also excited to practice his racing against FFS for the first time this season. He had faced them in the past, but his results were quite lackluster, he hoped that this time it would differ, but he knew that his run of form was quite terrible. He has not managed to win many buildings this season.

The races were a way to secure an early advantage, however in this match, B3nni believed they would not be as important, but practice was essential to progress and develop their skills further as well as overcome hardships. Every racer had their building carefully chosen, and that got them an advantage over FFS.

For this round, the warrior whom RoD had to be wary of was Vitoo, his strength was something to be feared among the Seven Kingdoms, not many fighters that faced him survived to tell the tale. He was going to give it his all in order to give FFS even the slightest chance of victory.

Once the races had begun, both alliances showcased why they were one of the very best. They both portrayed incredible speeds and were inseparable, capturing two buildings each. Despite Ashun giving it his all, he was unable to obtain anything, he raced with everything that was at his disposal, but the bad form continued in this match as well.

The match continued with tense swaps on both sides, and here was where a difference was shown between the two. FFS had many fiercer matches this season, and that gave them an edge over RoD. They had successfully achieved all of their swaps, and on top of it, they had intercepted one of RoD's. B3nni was surprised by the lack of reinforcements, but there was nothing to do now than wait for the warrior to unlock once more to try and attack it.

A waiting game ensued afterwards, with both alliances only waiting for the ports to unlock and race for them. Ashun was demoralised by his own skills, but was still going to give it his all. When the bubble dropped, he jumped onto the occasion, but found himself overwhelmed, he was just too slow. However, this time around RoD managed to capture and swap the ports safely. Both of them were in RoD's possession.

Vitoo on the other side of the battlefield was trying his best to make a building fall and be captured by FFS, however the RoD reinforcements were on-point. FFS had managed to damage the holders close to the point of capturing the buildings several times, they were keeping the match at a rally's edge, showcasing how fierce they are, but the awareness of the reinforcements kept the buildings each time.

B3nni did not want to stay only on the defensive. He wanted to dominate the map and secure the victory as early as possible for the alliance. This led him to start rallies on the most important building held by FFS before Casterly Rock unlocked: the tower of the warrior. This building provided incredible fighting buffs to the alliance that held it, it was no wonder why B3nni wanted to capture it. Rallies were thus raised and sped up without wasting any second, swiftly capturing the building and securing it from the FFS forces.

Not much time was left until the race for Casterly Rock ensued. Ashun knew he had no chance to win this race, but he was still going to attempt it, he had to try anything he could in order to break the curse of the bad form. When the bubble dropped, he sped up incredibly fast, but had once again failed. Thankfully for him once again, it was RoD that captured it.

FFS was not giving up just yet, their skills in intercepting swaps were just too great and they wanted to put them to good use. When RoD attempted a swap, this time the rally leader did not even manage to get inside Casterly Rock, FFS had intercepted it even before RoD had a chance to reinforce. B3nni was surprised by the precision displayed, it also informed him that RoD needed better practice for these occasions. Ashun believed that FFS was truly a worthy top 5 alliance with these interceptions and strength portrayed thus far, as they managed to hold onto a few buildings and make problems for RoD.

However as the match went on, the strength difference was starting to show as the reason why RoD was going to come out on top of this match. They were able to win most of their rallies and solo attacks, quickly capturing the remaining buildings on the map and establishing domination.

FFS knew this was coming, but they had done a masterful job already, there was no shame in losing this match. This match proved very useful for B3nni and Ashun alike, highlighting not only key issues for the races, but also other mechanics that needed to be improved should they wish to stand a chance against BDR in the next round.

All of these issues were going to be addressed and worked on, but the time was ticking, they had come out victorious, but these mistakes should not be allowed to happen ever again.

Ashun knew something had to change, he couldn’t go on like this. The rematch with BDR was coming and time was running out.