With the bubbles of expectations forming in his heart even when he didn't want to, Drin looked at the updated ranking. But what he saw left him in a state of shock.
1st Place- Drin Dawn- 829,7935 Titus Points
2nd Place- Tuan Aag- 798,8241 Titus Points
3rd Place- William Shanks- 609,6969 Titus Points
Drin only paid attention to the first three rankings. That's because he had always been in the top three since he entered the tournament.
He had decided to play it slow and steady for a few days to gauge the situation. But then William started to gain on him by clearing monster nests after monster nests. Drin began doing the same after a few days.
The last couple of days had seen Drin and Willaim competing fiercely for Titus point earnings. Both of their fan booths were the most excited crowds among a sea of people attending the live telecast from the Colosseum.
Neither of them thought to attack the other. Because their Titus points spoke volumes about their battle potential. Drin and William both knew that taking care of each other was more difficult than handling Adept-ranked monsters. They both would end up injured in the best-case scenario, which would prevent them both from competing for the first spot.
Furthermore, they both knew that other contestants wouldn't shy away from playing spoilers in their duel if and when they battled. In that case, both of them would be eliminated by weaker contestants. This was something they both didn't want.
So it was a tacit understanding among the Top Three that they would never chase after one another.
Drin was glad that he was finally ranked first after all his effort and work. But he was surprised by the way Tuan had surpassed William and gained the second rank. That too, on the last day of the tournament. Just when only a few minutes were remaining.
This was the fastest growth Drin had seen a ranker record in a day. And that too, when William was still working hard to compete with Drin.
'How… How did he manage to do that? The last time I checked he was nowhere near us.'
Drin felt confused and shocked after seeing Tuan in second place. He then looked at the screen and found out that a bunch of names was missing from the list of contestants remaining on the last day.
'It doesn't make sense that Tuan gained so many Titus points in a day. Unless….'
Drin thought of a possibility and looked in a particular direction. The contestants all knew there was a Boss Monster in the subspace posing an almost impossible challenge for them to take on should they all decide to take on.
The Ogre Lord was only a step away from becoming an Ogre Overlord. As confident in their battle potential as both Drin and William were, they didn't dare step anywhere near that monster. Because they, along with all the other contestants, knew he wasn't mean to them. At least not by forming small raid teams.
They all needed to work together to take down the Ogre Lord. But who would do something like that and risk getting backstabbed by others?
'That Tuan is an interesting fellow.'
Drin thought and shook his head while laughing mildly. He thought that Eren had killed the ultimate field boss they had by forming an equally ultimate raid team before reaping the most benefits for himself.
Only a few minutes were remaining until the end of the Titus tournament. So Drin stopped worrying about his ranking position being taken by William. The guy was going to be a third-place holder in the tournament unless he found someone or something to give him a large chunk of points.
'Or… William could just target Tuan to make up for the difference in Titus Points.'
Drin thought as he stepped down from the Cyclop's chest he was standing on. The monster's spectral body started disintegrating soon afterward.
But just as Drin was about to sheathe his sword, he saw someone approaching him using their movement spell.
"Yo… Drin. Help a friend out here."
The approaching ranker had a male voice. Drin adjusted his eyes and kept his mana sense on the alert. Even though he didn't sense any threat from this approaching ranker, the one chasing the guy was an entirely different story.
"Tuan…"
Drin identified the face behind the voice when it came into his vicinity. He wondered whether Tuan wanted to fight him for the first position. But the latter clarified his intentions even before he asked about them.
"Help me… defend me from William. For your own sake."
Tuan circled Drin without approaching him any further than the latter felt threatened with as he said that. He was also sweating a lot, enabling Drin to know that he had been running away from Willaim with all that he had.
Drin was about to respond when he saw another ranker approaching him with even greater intensity than Tuan. He was none other than William.
William wanted to deal with Tuan as soon as possible to at least gain second place. He knew that first place wasn't possible because he couldn't defeat Drin in these last minutes. But with Tuan, he could at least try.
So all he could do was eliminate Tuan and take what he felt was rightfully his.
A stalemate had been reached at this point.
With Drin standing right between William and Tuan. This Top Three Showdown was shown live on almost all of the Arangar Collesseum's spectral screens. This was the climax scene viewers outside the subspace had been waiting for.
Almost every spectator was watching even the smallest of movements performed by Drin, Tuan, and Willaim with absolute interest. The betting houses were getting overcrowded with all sorts of betting scenarios.
This was the peak event of this year's Titus tournament.
"Drin… I hope you don't interfere between me and Tuan. I just want to deal with this fire bastard. I have no intentions of fighting with you or winning the first position any longer."
William offered a truce to Drin while narrowing his eyes on Tuan who was looking at him with a pleasant smile on his face. For some reason, that smile irked him the most. It was as if Tuan was mocking him for being able to snatch his place at the very last stage of the tournament.
His smile also seemed uncomfortable to Drin. It was as if he was okay with whatever result the final day of the tournament wraps up with.
Either that. Or Tuan knew what the result of the tournament was going to be with absolute assurance.
