"You saw what happened to your guild mate, right? The same fate awaits you as well." Player number 6 walked up the stage, loudly announcing.
His voice echoed in the big silent auditorium, which now only had five players in total. Crimson Aybss no longer had the monopoly. Their three had become two.
The mysterious unknown player gazed at Derek up and down with a menacing look in his eyes. He then revealed a smug expression as if he knew everything about Derek.
Everyone watching the fight was also excited because after the last match anything could happen! They saw the confident expression on the opponent's face and turned to look at Derek.
Not just them but the opponent as well looked at Derek, eyeing him for some sort of reaction considering what happened in the last match. However, the man simply stood staring squarely ahead.
He did not seem to care at all that Mia was defeated or that this was an important round of a tournament. He simply stood like he was waiting in line at DMV.
His reaction made the audience perplexed and the opponent surprised. "Are you planning to concede like that other beta spineless jackass?" The guy further probed Derek.
"Don't think I will go easy on you just because you concede. I hate cowards like that. Ptui." He waited, but Derek was still staring blankly.
This made the person even more furious as he now looked more and more annoyed. His menacing gaze also turned into something even more dark and sinister.
He took out an axe from his inventory and banged it on the floor. This axe was gigantic. It was so much bigger than the one Derek was currently wielding.
It had a golden luster to it which was an indication that it was a powerful weapon, but the most notable thing was the aura this axe was emitting. It was strangely bloodthirsty.
It fit perfectly with the guy that was wielding it. The man and the weapon, both combined, looked the part of an evil overlord waiting impatiently to slay millions.
Derek was still calm, but there was a strange glint in his eyes now.
"So he also noticed…" Liam murmured, sitting on the sidelines. His gaze was particularly fixated on the weapon the person had just drawn. "If what I am thinking is correct, that weapon is influencing him. This is not going to end well."
Kyuuu? Next to him, Luna cocked her head, paying close attention to what Liam was saying. Startling the little fox, a loud gong sounded, and the two players in the arena were teleported.
The match was officially starting!
The battleground this time was simple barren grounds with a hard rocky surface. There was absolutely nothing special about it at all.
Many of the onlookers cheered seeing this because, on this battleground, there weren't any possibilities for trickery.
It was a straightforward battleground, so chances were that Derek wouldn't suffer the same fate as Mia. This was a good thing.
Only Liam did not look pleased. His frown deepened watching the display. He did not have a good feeling about this.
His eyes narrowed, observing the two players on the battleground, one of whom sinisterly chuckled just then. The person lifted his axe and licked the sharp edge of the weapon with a psychotic look on his face.
In just a few seconds, his temperament had completely changed. He was up to no good even before, but now he had a maniacal look.
It was a very drastic and abrupt shift in behavior. There was a madness about him that was unsettling.
"OOOOOOOO! It started!" He shouted and came rushing at Derek.
Derek immediately shifted his stance to block him, but the person's pace was too fast. He dashed forward like a mad dog, not paying head to anything.
Derek didn't take out the shield and blocked the opponent's axe attack with his own axe. The two of them collided.
ZING!
A loud noise resounded as dust kicked up. When everything settled, Derek was holding back the maniac with both his hands gripping the axe tightly.
He had successfully blocked the attack!
However… Derek's face was no longer expressionless.
He was grunting and gritting his teeth as if he was being pushed back, and the maniac in front of him was licking his lips without showing the slightest remorse.
"Ke Ke Ke" His grin widened as the other party retreated first. He wildly swung his axe around and twisted his body to make a 360 turn, and attacked Derek once more.
Zwing! Derek did not falter and blocked this one as well.
But his challenge was just beginning. The mad dog howled as he twisted and contorted his body in weird crazy angles and kept attacking Derek relentlessly.
Zwing. Zwing. Zwing.
Dust and rubble lingered in the air as nothing was visible. Only the sound of continuously clashed metallic weapons could be heard, but the rhythm of this clash was unfathomable.
Just how fast were these two players moving?
And the way that their flesh shuddered and body vibrated showed that the strength involved in this fight was also unthinkable.
This was a fight between two top-ranked tanks! Their steps were thundering, and their attacks were deafening. At the same time, their agility seemed to be a notch above even thief class players.
When the betting first began, no one had paid any attention to Derek as he was mostly unknown, and his previous stint at the PVP tower was long forgotten with the rift battles and everything else that was going on in the game.
But now, after seeing this fight, everyone got goosebumps on their body. This was a tank. They did not even know who to route at this point.
If the previous fight was full of stealth and trickery, this was a straightforward head butt. So it was much more blood pumping.
It was as if a live high-speed boxing match was going down, except the players here were ten times stronger than those players or perhaps more.
Zing! Zing! Zing! Zing!
The fight continued relentlessly as everyone held their breaths and watched.
Derek was completely drenched in sweat. His white face was dirt brown with the dust and dirt sticking to his sweaty face. However, he couldn't care about that right now.
His usually blank eyes looked alive, and just like the person he was facing, there was also a sort of madness in his own gaze.
This madness became more and more pronounced as the opponent continued to push him back further and further. With every swing of the axe, his moves became stronger and faster.
The opponent as well did not look deterred by this. The maniacal grin widened as he as well continued to swing his axe without retreating.
The both of them exchanged blows as if they had forgotten where they were in the first place and what they were doing. One person was a bloodthirsty lunatic wanting to kill, and the other person was unyielding.
Surprisingly, this clash went on for an entire minute and then some more.
With every attack happening in a fraction of a second, this was a long time, and the two sides did not look as if they were giving up.
However, things were also not completely even. After the first minute, there was clearly a person coming on top.
Derek was panting, and the other player was howling energetically. The aura around him was growing thicker and thicker. It was now visibly red and dark.
"No." Liam clenched his fist.
He suddenly felt that something was off. This fight was no longer about winning and losing. He stood up and clenched his fists. A grave look appeared on his face.
"Derek! Give up!" He muttered under his breath. He hurriedly tried to open the interface and send him a message, but Derek's name was greyed out.
He had already expected this, but he still tried in desperation. No, there was nothing he could do now.
He looked up to see Derek struggle more, and then he also took out a rage potion from his inventory to gulp it down.
This helped him regain the foothold he was almost losing and once again fought back with everything he had.
Zwing! Zwing! Zwing! Zwing! The two of them clashed, with neither side giving up just yet. Every single player watching this scene in the huge displays felt their blood boiling.
However, Liam alone looked more desperate. "Derek. Just give up. Please give up." He muttered. Unfortunately, there was no way for his words to reach the person on the battleground.
He continued fighting with everything he got, and clearly, conceding was the last thing he had on his mind.
And seeing Liam in this state, the old man at the top of the tower finally cracked a smile after so long. "Ba ha ha ha! Little brat, this game is just starting. I will make you feel true despair soon."
