Chapter 824: Standing Ovation
In a flash of white light, Thalric appeared within the open space of the Coliseum. Seeing him appear, the entire Coliseum and planet were drenched in silence.
Who didn’t know Thalric Wargrave? Brother to the top ranker. The one who held the third rank and never once dropped. They had seen him tear through everything in his path with his sabre. They had seen him step into Negative Zones and walk out like nothing had happened.
And best of all? They all fucking loved his Decay affinity.
They had literally watched him raze kilometers of land to the ground by simply letting his Decay run rampant and uncontrolled on the second day. And precisely because of this, spectators around the world argued that if Thalric Wargrave could reach the Crownstar Life Rank, he just might Decay the world if he wanted to.
Many of them had made money off his head. Although his odds weren’t high, they still won a bit of coin, which was still something. Many of them had looked forward to him fighting in the next round. They had speculated that he could match Arianna Haellight, who was said to be the most likely to win this competition.
All in all, he had his own fanbase.
So, seeing him lose at this moment made their hearts tighten. It wasn’t even a proper loss; his opponent didn’t even fight him to the end. He, Thalric, had dominated his opponent within that few seconds of clash they had, and his opponent immediately used the White Flag. How could they accept this? How could they glance over this?
Thalric himself stood dumbfounded... he was simply too stunned to speak. He hadn’t expected Acker to be the holder of the White Flag. The only reason he hadn’t seen the Flag in time was because Acker had hidden it, showing just how cunning and shrewd he was. Because if Thalric had seen that Flag from the beginning, he would have simply Decayed it before Acker could react. After all, Acker didn’t know how his ability worked.
Thalric’s fingers clenched into fists as his fingernails dug into his palms. His mood was sour. How couldn’t it be? He had been working hard these past two days, just to simply lose.
And besides, throughout his life, he had never lost against someone of his generation. Not against his classmates, not against his age mates... simply no one.
Although he didn’t lose in the truest sense, as he knew deep down that if he fought Acker Holloway without the White Flag in play, the Buddhist would lose.
But... a loss was a loss.
In battle, only winners existed and losers didn’t. It didn’t matter what methods were used to achieve victory. The end was all that mattered.
Although Thalric thought this and tried to rationalize it, he couldn’t just gloss over it.
As he was lost in thought, he heard a clapping sound.
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
Thalric’s black eyes rose toward the two million live spectators. And there they all stood, each clapping with every bit of strength they could muster as they stared at him. Although Acker might have won, Thalric had the people’s hearts, and Acker now had a target painted on his back.
"YOU ARE THE TRUE WINNER!!!" one of the spectators shouted as he clapped.
"FUCK THAT AMITABHA GUY!!!" a woman shouted as a tear dropped from her eyes.
Some shouted that they were against the result and that Thalric should qualify regardless of the stupid rules. Those who knew these rules could never be changed simply bowed toward Thalric as they acknowledged the ridiculous power he possessed at the mere age of twenty.
Seeing the love and support he was receiving, Thalric took a deep breath as he unclenched his fingers. He looked at the crowd one more time and spoke, "Thank you for the love and support."
The moment he said those words, he turned and left, his destination: the exit.
The standing ovation continued for five whole minutes even after Thalric left. Thomasinho and AlyxAtlas could do nothing about it; they couldn’t even speak into their microphones as the spectators had taken over at this moment.
Although everyone cheered and clapped for Thalric... well, the betting organization was definitely clapping more than anyone as they swam in their coins. People had placed bets on Finch to find the White Flag, and now they had all lost. They had all believed in Finch’s luck, but they had all been disappointed. How couldn’t the betting organization take pleasure in this?
Even Baron Whale had lost five thousand gold coins in this bet. But it didn’t shake him. With the ridiculous profits he made from other bets, five thousand gold coins was nothing more than a drop of water in an ocean.
Within the Wargrave Luxury Viewing Box, every Wargrave sat in silence as none of them spoke. They had no words at this moment. They had all already guessed a few days ago that the youngest was definitely going to be the overall winner, coming to the understanding that their platinum coins were already down the drain.
But at least they had expected Thalric to reach the end of the competition. Seeing him get eliminated in the first round of the finals left them shaken and unable to speak.
Elder Morthen’s eyes couldn’t help but shift toward the Ruler’s Viewing Box, his gaze focusing on the Emperor of the Vandross Empire, where Acker Holloway hailed from. After thinking about it for a while, he sighed and shook his head.
There was no need to do anything or cause trouble. Acker Holloway had won fair and square. He could only sigh at Thalric’s luck. After all, he and the weird crying boy had run into each other on the last day. They were practically the only two members of the top ten who had even met each other.
"Wuthenya, go bring the second youngest," the First Elder, Castle, spoke as he sat with an expressionless gaze.
Wuthenya rose to her feet and went to carry out the order she was given.
None of them were exactly angry... this was simply the way the world worked, and everyone understood it. The world was never fair and just. If it was, then the Wargraves wouldn’t be special and wouldn’t be an overpowered family, as a fair world would make everyone equal.
At the Ruler Luxury Viewing Box, Emperor Aetherion Khaelor Vantheos couldn’t help but frown. He had sensed a killing intent for the briefest of moments, but now it wasn’t there anymore.
’Did I sense wrong?’ he asked himself.
The moment he thought that, he shook his head. He was a Crownstar Life Ranker and was two centuries old; how could he sense wrong?
’Azaron?’ he thought. ’No, it’s definitely Malrik,’ he concluded.
But he wasn’t panicking or anything like that, as he knew Malrik wasn’t going to make a move and only attacked those who looked for his trouble first.
Instead, a small smirk couldn’t help but appear on his lips. After all, the Wargraves had suffered a defeat at his hands. Although he thought this, he didn’t dare say it aloud, as he was sure Emperor Zolthemir would simply clap back with his impotence as his defense.
And with that, the greatest injustice since the dawn of Astra Energy came to an end.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: This Chapter is dedicated to Thalric Wargrave, the Ninth Sun. I know you all didn’t like the direction this went... but it was necessary for the plot. Thalric or any Wargrave for that matter can’t lose a 1v1 for any reason. I can’t have Thalric losing to these foreign Empire geniuses or even the FL. So, this was the only way.
And yes, Thalric is stronger than Isaac and Acker, in case you are inclined to ask.
