CHAPTER 232: LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

Location: Stanford Bridge Stadium, London.

Date: End of Matchday 38.

The night London will never forget.

After conquering the Crucible in a titanic battle against Cross Guild, Echelon returned to their fortress, Stanford Bridge, as undisputed league champions of the 12th English Pro Alliance season.

They were so imperious that no other club managed to win against them once.

As for them? They won against the other 19 clubs in the English Pro Alliance at least was.

That was how dominant they were this season.

From Heathrow to the heart of Chelsea FC, the hired stadium, Stanford Bridge, it was as if the entire city breathed in Echelon black.

Tonight was Echelon’s night.

It was a night of champions, and the celebration already started from the moment that the final bell rang at The Crucible in Bristol City.

Tens of thousands of fans pulled up that night, gathering in Stanford Bridge, awaiting the return of their heroes.

The moment their team bus pulled up outside the stadium, the atmosphere detonated into chaos, but it was beautiful chaos. Flares, chants, drums, fans beating on the glass, waving flags like it was a World Cup final.

Inside, Stanford Bridge had transformed into a glowing cauldron of sound and light.

The upper stands were a sea of lights, fans holding up phone flashlights like constellations. The lower tiers were deafening with chants.

"NO... AH! NO... AH!"

"ECHE... LON! ECHE... LON! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS...!"

In the center of it all, surrounded by fog machines and glowing LEDs, the trophy pedestal sat under a lone spotlight.

Waiting.

The English Pro Alliance league trophy. The Crown of Ascension, as it is also officially known, is the 2nd most prestigious symbol of victory in the English Pro Alliance, an awe-inspiring artifact that reflects both the elegance of eSports and the gravitas of traditional sport.

It was the one trophy symbolizing league dominance in a season.

Standing at a height of 85 centimeters, just under 3 feet, and weighing 13.5 kilograms, it was forged from a rare alloy of platinum, obsidian glass, and polished steel, with gold-leaf accents along the edges.

Its base was a solid obsidian pedestal with each of the past winners engraved in spiraling runes around its circumference.

The upper part of the trophy formed a five-pronged crown, symbolic of the five starting players required to win a match. Each prong is shaped like an upward-rising flame, representing skill, strategy, synergy, resilience, and heart.

Floating inside the crown is a levitating crystal orb, suspended by hidden magnetic fields, engraved with the current season’s number in Roman Numerals, XII for the current season.

The org glowed faintly, adjusting color depending on lighting.

And of course, the league trophy had its symbolism.

The ascending prongs symbolized the climb from the bottom of the league to the peak of competition. This season, Echelon embodied that symbolism.

The floating orb represents the ever-changing, dynamic nature of the game and the shifting crown of dominance.

The obsidian base reflects the roots of eSports and Warstar in general; dark, gritty, born from basements and LAN cafes, and how far the video game had come.

Hidden beneath the base is a Latin engraving.

["Virtus. Sapienta. Gloria."]

In English, it meant,

["Virtue. Wisdom. Glory."]

English fans affectionately call it the Halow Crown or The Ascendant.

The English league trophy, it’s considered the most photogenic trophy in global eSports. Players lifting it often do so under spotlights, creating a divine glow as the crystal orb reflects stadium lights.

When lifted, the trophy emits a low harmonic hum, a built-in resonant frequency meant to symbolize victory’s song. Barely audible, but very real.

And tonight, Echelon was to lift it.

In the hands of Noah at Stanford Bridge, the Crown of Ascension looked less like a trophy and more like a coronation.

And f or the rest of the league, it stood as a reminder of what it takes to rise to the top... and how hard it will be to take it back.

For the first time in 5 years, the English Pro Alliance had a new league champion not called Phoenix Rising.

And then, the moment of truth.

Time seemed to stop, breaths held, and then...

Noah raised the trophy high, and Stanford Bridge exploded.

BOOM!

Confetti cannons fired. Fireworks lit up the sky above. The stadium shook from the sheer weight of joy and euphoria.

The players rushed him, Genevieve leaping on his back as she could not hold herself. Benjamin soon lifted him from behind like a goofy powerlifter, Aria snatching the trophy to kiss it and to yell.

"I told you so!"

"I f*cking told you so!"

Caleb actually teared up, a truly crazy sight from a man so big, though he later claimed it was confetti dust.

Even the two substitutes, Jeff and Rosalind, were pulled into the dogpile as the entire squad paraded the trophy around the stadium, handing it between themselves like it was sacred.

The crowd clapped, sang, cried.

This wasn’t just a championship. It was vindication. It was legacy.

To Noah and his crew, it was their comeback.

From the executive box, Nightingale, popular hip hop star and enigmatic owner of Club Echelon stood watching.

Usually reserved in matters relating to Club Echelon, this time he stood, arms folded over his chest, his expression soft, the shadow of a smile curling across his lips as he stared at them amid the celebrations.

His silver hair glimmered in the floodlights.

The camera cut to her. Nightingale gave the smallest nod.

In reality, it was taking all his willpower to stop himself from charging into the stage and stealing the shine from his players, celebrating like a mad man.

’We did it,’ he thought, clenching his fists. ’We actually did it!’

He didn’t need to speak. The entire league now knew.

Nightingale had built a dynasty.

...

That night, London didn’t sleep.

Cars honked until 3am.

Pubs stayed open.

The Thames shimmered under fireworks.

Fans climbed telephone booths waving scarves, strangers hugged in the streets, chants echoed from alleyways to rooftops.

This was not just Echelon’s victory, this was the third London coronation.

Over a decade ago, at the inception of the English Pro Alliance, a London club exerted their dominance over the league as the Kings... Cyber Squad.

With God Noah at the helm, in their prime, Cyber Squad was unstoppable, crushing any obstacle in their path.

Of course, they had rivals, brutal rivals in a prime Lionheart Legacy, a prime Juggernaut, Scarlet Rose, and the rest, but Cyber Squad still dominated, right until they no longer dominated.

For a while, no other club was able to take the mantle of total domination from them, until a 2nd London club burst into the scene... Phoenix Rising.

When Phoenix Rising burst into the scene, nobody took them serious until they destroyed every obstacle in their path, barging to the double of the league trophy and the Warstar RPG Champions League trophy in just their 3rd season in the English Pro Alliance.

And from then on, the Phoenix Rising dominance started.

Gabriel was no longer Gabriel, he became the new head of the new King in England, the new King born in London.

He became God Gabriel.

For 4 straight seasons, he dominated with his team, obliterating records, chasing Cyber Squad’s history down with dominant final wins, the recent one being their win over Scarlet Rose last season to claim not just the Warstar RPG Champions league trophy, but the league trophy too.

But finally, just like Cyber Squad was dethroned years ago, Phoenix Rising was dethroned this season.

The culprit? Another London club.

The 3rd London club to burst into the scene... Echelon.

But this time, though it was a new club, it was not entirely unknown since popular names were at the helm of this new club.

Names like God Noah, Sword Saint Aria, those were the guys in the new club.

And now, it was time for a new London club to steal the show.

Right there in Stanford Bridge after lifting the trophy, the English Warstar executives presented the final awards of the season.

After crowning them League Champions, they presented the MVP award for the 12th season of the English Pro Alliance.

There was no debate. Noah was the deserving winner.

Noah won the 6th MVP of the Season award of his illustrious Warstar career.

The Best Support of the Season award went to Genevieve. Though she was mostly quiet, her teammates stealing the show, her solid skills was what kept Echelon in the game week in week out, helping them to keep on competing.

She was a deserving winner.

As for the Breakout Star of the Season award, Jeff snatched it after an impressive season under God Noah’s tutelage as a Combat Mage.

As for the Play of the Season award, Benjamin won it for his tower dive triple kill vs Imperium Tyrannus.

Aria won the Most Feared Duelist award.

Caleb won the Best Strategist award.

Echelon claimed a clean sweep of all the awards, another new record in the history of the English Pro Alliance. Never had one club claimed all the awards, before tonight, before this season.

And as the lights dimmed on a historic season, one truth remained unshakable.

The Pro Alliance belonged to Echelon now.

And the rest of the league would spend the off-season trying to catch up.

But tonight?

Tonight was for the champions.

And their city.

And their dreams, fulfilled.