Chapter 239 - Round Three
The day was hot and humid. An artificial beach was created just outside the gates of the city. A beach with a large sea that spanned to the what should be the foot of the mountain. It was where the third event will take place.
The vast seas was made by a lot of Son of Heaven followers by pouring saltwater into the large open crater they created. The Royal Guards do not possess magic the Son of Heaven has. All of them have the same set of skills designed to fight through melee combat.
The Holy Crow meanwhile registers his followers through a guild, which is also their religion. It was made like this so his followers can enhance their magic instead of having the same system and same level of power.
The sand on their beach was also made by the Holy Crow's followers. The sand traveled to the water and down to the depths of their seas, perfectly mimicking a beach and sea.
A veil was also put up on the edge of the water feature they made. It showed an endless sea that trails to the edge of the horizon, meeting the blue skies.
"They can make something like this?" Elliot gulped as he watched from the arena's entrance. As always, they formed a line and waited for their guild to enter.
"They have thousands of followers," Ed said. "They could do things like this."
Compared to the other two rounds, Round Three had significantly less participating teams. It was down to more than a quarter of the original number of teams, considering it's the Top 75. This would compose the guilds that would participate in the yearly Parade.
"Mr. Elliot!" Elliot spun to where the voice came from. It was Daniel with his teammates.
His teammates had a weird tension clouding over them. It was a feeling that was familiar, yet so unknown to Elliot. They were hiding it the best they could but at the same time, they want to let people know they weren't feeling good.
"Hello, Daniel," Elliot smiled. "Is everything good?"
"We made it through Top 75!" Daniel cheered. "Somehow, we got the spot. It was weird since the original Top 75 and the other 9 teams after them forfeited."
"What?" Aquarius asked after hearing this. "10 teams backed out?"
Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir. It was so weird why they would back out after reaching this far. And little old us who could barely keep it together made it."
"T-That's great," Elliot smiled. In his mind, he now knew why the other members weren't looking so great.
Maybe in their minds, they didn't deserve their slot in the Top 75. They were already out of the Championship of the Greats but then ten teams forfeited, so they could come back. It wasn't the greatest thing to be proud about.
Elliot smiled at them and spoke, "Guys, it's fate doing its thing for everyone. There are a lot of things fate does that is completely questionable, but at the end of the day, it fits just right."
"Next!" The guards announced, signalling Elliot's team to pass through the inspection.
"Good luck to us!" Elliot cheered before running to the entrance.
Daniel was waving his hand at him until they all turned around and entered. He spun and looked at his teammates with a bored expression.
"Chill down," Daniel snickered. "You're blowing my cover. I made your guild come this far, don't make me stumble because of your bad acting. At least pretend to be inspired because you're Top 75."
"Y-Yes, ma'am," the elf girl, Patricia, whispered. "We're up next in line."
"Oh, really?" fake Daniel chuckled. "Let's go then."
–
"What a great and wonderful day!" Irv yelled through his scepter. "Today, we wil commence one of the most anticipating event in the entire Championship of the Greats. Round Three, and the Final Elimination round."
"Does everyone know what's at stake here?" Zia added. "We won't forget this time. Besides, most of you know that this round will determine the Top 10 guilds and the ones who will participate in the Battle of the Champions."
"What will they do at the Battle of the Champions?" Irv turned to his partner. "Will they fight?"
"There's going to be a whole lot of that and many more, but this time, let us focus on Round Three," Zia chuckled. "The game is simple, there are spawns that will enter the beach in one minute. The ten guilds who can defeat the most number of spawns, will proceed."
"But there is a twist," Irv added quickly. "The beasts have different points. In this chart…" he waved his hand and a screen appeared behind him. "You will learn the points."
In the screen displayed the list od different beasts with their corresponding points. A large crystal crab has one point, a fanged sea lion has two points, a giant steel shark has three points, and a question mark has five hundred points.
Above the chart was a timer that was set for one hour. This means that they should slay the spawns in under that time.
"The question mark is a spawn that is a surprise," Zia chuckled. "This beast is a game changer, because of its points. And there is only one of its kind."
The guilds started to whisper among themselves. Some planned to take on the sharks, which are in the waters along with the seals. Others are trying to play safe and collect crabs instead.
"We will not manually count spawns," Irv reminded. "Remember, everyone has their pins and if you don't, make sure you have yours. The spawn scans the pin after its death and will add the points to your guild."
"Does everyone have their pins?" Aquarius asked. "We're on water. This should be easy."
"Oh!" Irv suddenly gasped. "To be fair, I need to inform everyone that you have one specific opponent that may be the cause of your problems."
"The holder of the title, God of the Seas, Aquarius Alorde is a participant!" Zia cheered. "Everyone, watch out or else you will fall into his formidable water magic."
Aquarius chuckled and shook his head, "Of course they have to announce my presence."
"Of course," Midnight patted his back. Midnight looked pale and he looked weak. "Good luck to–"
"Silly Midnight," Hope chuckled and brandished his large sword. He used it to cover Midnight, although the sword barely covering his entire body. It was large and wide but it was only covering Midnight's face.
"We need everyone in here," Hope said. "So don't go fainting on us."
Midnight took a deep breathe and clicked his tongue. He raised his hand and conjured a laced umbrella using his magic. "Thank you, Hope. I appreciate your help."
His eyes turned pitch black and a smirk appeared on his lips, grinning from ear to ear.. "Now, let's do this."