After a short regroup and congratulations, the group waited to be transported to the final round, where the players would fight for the title of Champion.
While the group was busy talking, Sumeri looked over at Ren. âNo wonder youâre so confident. So how did you manage to get your ATP that high?â
âA series of lucks.â
Sumeri only nodded without believing a word from Ren. âAnd I think that you wouldnât be able to tell me how much exactly? Or can you tell me how you did it?â She was curious and had to say that jealous as well. If she had that kind of ATP and skills, sheâd probably good enough to extract her revenge.
At that point, Ren looked at her, and her ocean blue eyes never failed to take his breath away. âYou shouldnât be concerned about my ATP and focus on the fight ahead. We might face Black Lion after all.â
Sumeriâs smile dropped, and her heart constricted at the thought of meeting Scar again.
âDo you think we will win?â she asked after some time.
Ren shrugged. âWho knows?â
âYouâre not confident, even with your ATP and skills?â
Ren huffed a laugh while shaking his head a little. âIâm only one person. I could only do much. There can be a lot of things going on in a fight that we donât know. So we shouldnât grow complacent.â
Sumeri nodded in agreement. âKnowing Scar . . . I bet he already has a unique skill from the books he acquired. And a special item that he probably spent millions over.â
âProbably . . . and itâs not only Black Lion that we have to be wary about.â Ren didnât want to be complacent. The championship fight would definitely be amongst the top guild.
After a few seconds, a wide portal swirled on top of the Arena, and the voice urged Ren and the others to enter the portal into the final war.
âLetâs go.â Ren led everyone to the gateway.
No one knew what to expect of the next war, so they were surprised when they heard roaring sounds of cheers and noises. And when they pushed through to the other side, the wide open stadium, the thousands of players sitting on the elevated platforms, and the widescreen over the horizon, stunned them.
âW-what . . . what is this?â Leonel gaped.
âI-is this where weâre going to fight?â Sumeri asked nobody.
âUrk . . .â Roxy clutched her stomach. âI suddenly miss that private arena before.â
âHey! Sis! Hey!â
Everyone heard that loud voice over the others, and they were surprised to see Rox, Tor, and their members who died sitting in the front row.
Everyone went to them and Roxy was about to pinch Roxâs cheeks when a barrier prevented her from doing that.
âHuh?â
Rox sighed, raffling his fringe. âYou canât come in here. Only dead players are on this side.â
âWhy do you seem proud?â
The hard line in Torâs face melted, and he seemed like he was going to cry. âI really thought that we wouldnât make it this far. You guys are awesome. Iâm satisfied to belong in the top one hundred. I can die happy now!â
âYou are dead,â Rox muttered.
âWhat do you mean satisfied?â Sumeri laughed. âWeâre going to take home the bacon.â
While everyone was speaking and catching up, another familiar voice rang in Ren and Leonelâs ears.
âRen, Leo!â
Looking over, they saw Isolde waving at them. Her face was beaming despite the fact that she had died.
âIsolde!â Leonel laughed and went closer to where she was standing. âWhat are you doing over there?â
Isolde only shrugged. âOur guild lost. They logged out, actually, but I remained here to watch the final round hoping I could catch you guys.â
âEgh . . .â Leonelâs smile dropped. âYou didnât make it?â
Isolde only shook her head.
âThatâs a bummer, and here I was hoping to fight you.â
âYou donât look sad, though,â said Ren with a grin. Too bad about Guns and Knives, but at least that was one powerful opponent down.
Isolde gave an elegant half-shrug. âItâs fine. I died in game two, and we got eliminated in the last war before this.â Isolde didnât care about winning. As long as she gave it her all, then she was good.
Though her family was another matter entirely. They were probably meeting at this point, and she was glad that she used this as an excuse not to be part of it. She didnât hold a high position in the guild, so she wasnât really needed there.
. . . I hope. Isolde thought.
Ren stared at Isolde. He knew her to be resilient, with good map awareness and impressive aiming skills. But since she was constricted with her guild, no matter how skilled she was, the whole team would suffer if the leader was incompetent. After all, with a patriarchal way of things in Guns & Knives, Isolde couldnât do anything but follow orders.
âI knew you guys could make it to the top one hundred.â Isolde was genuinely happy for Ren and Leonel.
She then leaned over and said with a mischievous voice, âKnow that my bets are all on you.â
Leonelâs brow arched. âYou bet on us and not on your guild?â
âGood thing I did,â Isolde said with a proud tilt of her head.
Ren was curious, though, and he asked, âYou said you got eliminated at the last war before this. Who did you face in the Arena?â
âUh . . .â Isoldeâs smile dropped, and her expression turned serious. âItâs Black Lion.â
â. . . I see.â Ren couldnât say that he was shocked. Now he knew why Guns & Knives lost. Without knowing, Ren briefly looked over at Black Lion. Tthe confidence in Scarâs smirk was concerning, but Ren welcomed the challenge nevertheless.
âBe careful,â Isolde warned, âScar had some kind of a weird spell.â
âWeird?â Leonel asked.
Isolde nodded. âI donât know the specifics since Iâm not there when my guild battled him. Xian told me itâs strange, and they were defeated because of it.â
Ren used [Probe] on Scar, and he only said, âI see . . .â
The noises and buzzes were hushed when a portal appeared on the stage. Swirling fireworks announced its arrival, and came a portal followed by a hand that stretched the gateway to accommodate its size. It pulled itself from the hole and came a tall, skinny Rabbit from the gateway.
It was two meters in height while its hat and ears were half its length. It donned in pants in black and white stripes while its leather vest was accessorized by an expensive metallic punk brooch and jewels.
Walking on two feet, Its face was ecstatic, and its voice over the mic it held was eccentric.
âHello! Hello! Hello! Welcome to the ever-first Guild Wars! All Guilds, please step forward and let the crowd see your beautiful and ugly faces!â
It was quiet for a moment, and everyone was shocked before they burst into cheers and noises.
âLetâs go.â Ren walked forward while Leonel winked and sent a wave in Isoldeâs way.
âWish us luck!â
While the Rabbit was busy with the introduction and the audienceâs attention was on the screen, displaying the gameâs setup, Ren was busy dissecting their last competitors.
He only needed to be wary of three among a hundred guilds rounding the Arena.
Black Lion, led by Scar. The number of members left was four.
White Unicorn, led by the mesmerizing albino twins Eric and Erica, with only three players left.
And Ferocious Ravens, which the goth Beatrix led with her loyal followers of three.
Of course, the other top guilds were also present, but they didnât pose any threat since the core members werenât present yet. Also, Ren used [Probe] as his bases for the threat level, so he didnât include the other top guilds whose core members were either dead or hadnât join yet. He also didnât include guilds with one or two players left.
There was also Poison Vipers and then Sleeping Dragon, led by the previous leader, Ying, with Cang Lu and Zack.
Renâs eyes glint menacingly. Though Sleeping Dragonsâ current members werenât the ones he dealt with before, they were collateral casualties. Blame their luck for choosing that guild.
Renâs hard expression and the tension in his muscles loosened a bit when his stare stopped at Iron Roses. Specifically at the girl with white hair braided back while a white porcelain mask covered half her head, showing only her pinkish lips.
Evie . . . Ren exhaled a breath with a complicated look on his face. There were only two members left in Iron Roses, including her. And Ren hesitated to use [Probe] on her because he felt like he was being invasive . . . he only felt it now while he didnât feel remorse about the others.
But Ren knew that not knowing her information might ruin his plans, so he inhaled a large amount of air and used [Probe] on her.
Sorry about this. Ren thought, and his guilt overflowed all over again. He felt like he was gathering her information like what he did in the past without her knowing. Even though it was exactly what he was doing.
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