—
After ending the video call with Khaos, Kieran caught a glimpse of something horrifying.
Kieran looked up to bear witness to Ronan indifferently stepping upon the coliseum stage and walking towards its center before the round began.
"This is the final round of the first stage! It will determine how many of you step into the next stage. That said, let's dive into the last round! Begin!" General Zieg exclaimed.
The stands erupted into the loudest cheers heard thus far, as most of them cheered due to Ronan's presence on the stage. Many onlookers heard rumors of his strength and couldn't wait to see it in action.
How strong was the individual cultivated by one of the High Generals?
Surely his strength existed in an echelon separate from the rest of the contestants. Because of this thought, many viewed Ronan as the individual to claim this year's special prize.
However, the actual conclusion of this event remained unknown.
Once General Zieg announced the start of the round, Ronan raised his gigantic cleaver over his head and let it drop as if it were the most natural of acts. The entire platform drastically changed as gravity seemed to increase by the second.
"Gravitational Suppression: Inexorable Drop!"
BOOM!
Almost as if gravity gained a tangible form in the shape of a large disk, everyone on the stage was flattened to the ground and knocked unconscious, leaving only Ronan standing amidst a sea of down enemies.
Even General Zieg blinked in disbelief after watching the round end within 3 seconds of beginning. The result—utter domination. Incredulity was the most prevalent emotion in the room.
The stands grew pin-drop silent, holding their breath in horror, disbelief, and tremendous shock. It took some time, but the events eventually registered in everyone's mind as they began chanting Ronan's name.
"Ronan!"
"Ronan!"
"Ronan will be the champion!"
At that moment, General Zieg's voice hitched before filling the stadium with a magnetic tone.
"T-... The end of the first stage is upon us! The total number of contestants remaining, as it stands, is 2,144! This means less than half of you will enjoy the luxury of stepping inside the War Deity Council's grand embrace."
"We of the council will give an additional 30 minutes of respite for the challengers to recuperate," General Zieg announced.
Many of the people partaking in this challenge released a sigh of relief. If they were forced to fight earlier due to how quickly the 8th, 9th, and 10th rounds ended, several fighters would only be battling at a fraction of their original might.
Thirty minutes wasn't an extremely long period, but it was enough time to regain a large portion of their exhausted energy.
Meanwhile, Kieran had already returned to full strength due to the effects of the potion Isadora gave him. The potion's effects lasted 12 hours, but slightly less than half of that time had elapsed.
During the recuperation time, General Zieg used the opportunity to divulge the rules of the second stage.
"Although 1,000 nominal members shall be accepted as official members of the War Deity Council, there can only be so much contention for the special opportunity. So the next round strives to reduce the numbers as much as possible."
Unlike the first round, General Zieg disclosed that the second stage didn't have a time limit. It would continue until he was satisfied with the remaining numbers. Furthermore, there were no additional points for surviving a certain amount of time.
The main objective shifted from surviving to eliminating your opponent as quickly as possible. Although there was no time limit, there were a few important things to note.
If eliminated after reaching the top 1,000, the contestant's place as an official member would be retained.
However, this stipulation only applied if the number of standing people was equal to or less than 1,000 people during the individual's elimination. If eliminated before the number of remaining participants dropped under 1,000, the individual faced total elimination.
In addition to these new rules, General Zieg revealed that the distribution of points would be arranged in a way that sought balance. In other words, someone with the least amount of points would be paired in the same group as the individual with the most points.
This trend would appear throughout all of the matchups.
Another change that took place was the stadium.
Several sturdy walls rose, dividing the platform into 100 equal arenas. Due to the platform's size, each partition could easily accommodate 25 or more fighters.
After listening to the changes in the rules, Kieran glanced at Yashua and Azahara.
"Every group will face mass elimination very quickly, especially those unlucky enough to be with Ronan and the other top contenders."
"I agree. But that's just the way it is. Sometimes the fairest separation seems the most unfair. Seeking balance sometimes unbalances the scales. We merely take what we can get and adapt accordingly," Yashua nonchalantly replied.
"Everyone who has made it this far should understand that nothing is ever truly far. Some must succeed, and others are irrelevant. Whether they succeed or fail is of no relevance to the top brass," Azahara chimed in.
Kieran nodded in agreement. He honestly didn't have an opinion on the matter.
Whether the matchings were fair or not truly made no difference to him. In the end, fighting against the monstrous contenders was inevitable, especially since his sights were set on the ultimate prize.
While speaking with Azahara and Yashua, Kieran noticed a difference in Yashua. After returning from his round, he seemed more composed and confident, which prompted Kieran to revisit his information.
「 Lv.50 Yashua Dabura, The Destructive Halberd (Epic NPC)
Class: Fatal Halberd
Health: 26,137,000/26,900,000 (99%)
Affiliations: ?War Deity Council? ?Dabura Family?」
"!!" Kieran's brows shot up after looking at Yashua's information.
He had leveled up!
An NPC leveling up so quickly was unprecedented, which made Kieran suspect Yashua was on the precipice of leveling up beforehand, or he possessed an abnormal growth rate.
Growth rates referred to how quickly an NPC could level up or rank up.
The higher one's growth potential, the easier it was to rise through the ranks. But learning this sensitive information was difficult because it required a Servant Pact, which few NPCs would agree to perform.
The easiest way for players to increase their chances of successfully entering a pact with an NPC was to increase their favorability. However, there were a few catches.
Not only did the NPC need to submit to the player, but their rank also couldn't surpass the player's class by more than three rankings.
In other words, a player with a Normal Class couldn't successfully enter a Master-Servant Pact with an Epic NPC.
'Yashua's potential could be fairly high, maybe even higher than Azahara. But this is pure speculation at this point. I wouldn't know until I gain more information on him.'
…
Meanwhile, inside the Medical Facility…
Nemean practically buried his face into the screen after watching Kieran face off against Ambak, Agna, Vex, and a few other contestants. Many tried to push him aside to obtain a better view, but Nemean's build in real life was exceptional.
He screamed out passionately a second later.
"D-did you see that? Kieran kicked that fool directly out of the ring! God damn, I wish I was there."
"No one can see a thing with your fat ass head in the way! Move!" Bastion snarled and rammed into Nemean.
Bang!
The two glared at each and got into a physical scuffle, rolling back and forth inside the training area.
"Uh, Altair, aren't you going to say anything?" Alice blinked with a slight grimace. This wasn't the first time the two had broken out into a fight.
It happened once before after Bastion asked for a quick break and Nemean declined. Bastion hadn't complained throughout the entire training, so he felt his diligence deserved a break.
However, Nemean felt differently. He felt Bastion should train until he dropped dead!
"Hahaha! You still hit like a sissy Arthur," Bastion cackled loudly. "I see the army has taught you nothing. You can't even throw a punch!"
"Nah, there's just something wrong with you. You're a bear in a human's body!" Nemean quipped back.
"I'm a sexy bear," Bastion chortled.
"More like a gummy bear," Nemean corrected.
After listening to the two bicker and fight, Altair lightly shook his head with a helpless expression. "I'd rather not. We've completed our training for the day and taken our X-hancers, so they're free to do as they please."
Paying those two no mind, Altair returned his attention to the screen to witness Bracca and Ronan's fearsome display of power. "Kieran will have to go up against the likes of them. Do you believe he'll emerge victorious?"
Alice analyzed the video silently before giving a slight nod. "If it's Kieran, I'm sure he'll surprise us. Besides, weren't you curious about what he has been up to these past few days?"
During the past few days, their Friends' List told them that Kieran rarely logged out. And if he did, it was for no more than a few minutes.
Being logged in for that long could only mean he was engaging in something intense, perhaps to prepare for this moment!
"We'll see," Altair nodded.
Although he hated to admit it, that scene of Ronan annihilating everyone in his round left a deep impression on Altair. Still, it wasn't enough to shake his faith in Kieran.
'Show the world something amazing. We've already vowed to conquer it, so what's a little attention?'
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