Gladius still had one last thing to clear with Tuan after taking care of all the investigative matters and getting into an arrangement of convenience. He coughed awkwardly before speaking up once again.
"By the way, Tuan, that Ogre Lord's Labrys. I suppose you have it. Frankly, that Ogre Lord was placed just for intimidation. We weren't expecting the contestants to actually slay it.
The artifact that you have… is kind of precious and rare. Would you mind giving it to us?"
Gladius asked and sighed. The double-bitted ax was supposed to increase the Orc Lord's destructive power, making it near impossible for the contestants to even think about launching a raid on him. The artifact was something that had been found in the ruined city. It wasn't supposed to be taken by any ranker.
"I… I really like that ax sir. Can… Can you consider that as my payment for cooperating with your investigation? Besides, the contestants as well as the viewers have already seen me using the ax.
So don't you think it would be bad publicity for the House Titus if the organizers make me give them the weapon I earned through the monster drop. Especially someone like me, the winner of the tournament?"
Tuan asked with an awkward smile on his face while scratching his forehead. This was the first transcendent-grade weapon he had laid his hands on. He wouldn't let it get taken away from him just like that.
Gladius Red heard Tuan's speech and pondered for a bit. Everything the butcher said made sense to him. So he contacted his higher-ups once again and had a brief chat.
Gladius then looked at Tuan with a bright smile before commenting.
"Tuan, good news. You can have the weapon. But you won't be able to have anything else apart from the 100 thousand Extols. You'd have to let go of other gifts we had arranged for you. Is that okay?"
"Deal." Said Tuan immediately.
The butcher didn't even ask Gladius about what other prizes were going to get awarded to him apart from 100 thousand Extols. That's because he knew that those gifts won't contain another transcendent-grade weapon. Therefore, he had no interest in them.
After settling a few more details with Tuan, Gladius was very satisfied with Tuan's way of handling things. He felt like he wasn't talking to someone hot-blooded guy but a guy as mature as him.
Finally, Gladius wrapped up the whole thing by adding further.
"Alright. Your fanbooth… no.. the entire Aranger stadium is waiting for you. It would be too boring to see them using the normal means. Hehe! Come with me."
Gladius chuckled and told Tuan to follow him. The two were soon out of his study room and went towards another hall that had an array etched onto its ground.
"We made some special arrangements for our winner. Go ahead. Stand inside the array eye."
********************
"Drin… Drin…. You did great, my man. That Tuan guy was too cunning. Had it been a mano-e-mano showdown, there's no way he would have won by defeating you."
"Katalina…. Marry me!"
"Hahahaha! Wayne Wilder is the true champion of this tournament, no matter what anyone says."
"Bianka would have made it into Top 3 with the way she was going had it not been for the safe area getting revoked in the middle of the night right? Did you see the kind of trap she had set for Katalina and the rest?"
"Don't beat yourself too much, Ketsu. You did really well for a ranger. But teaming up with Lily was a bad choice."
"Silvera Rehrook, we from the elf community are proud of your achievements. We would be happy to invite you on our Badlands exploration."
"Lily… marry me!"
"Wait, aren't you the same guy who asked Katalina to marry you?"
"Yeah… so what? I'd like to marry them all. Hahahahaha!"
The Top 10 of the tournament were received with various praises and a bunch of criticisms as soon as they all appeared collectively in the middle of Arangar colosseum. Each of them then proceeded to approach their respective fan booth to greet their loyal fans.
A raised platform was created in front of each booth to allow the contestants to stand up on it and listen to their fans. It also acted as a security set up in case any of the fans tried to breach the security protocol and get handsy with the contestant.
Each contestant knew what to do. They maintained their cheerful expressions while waving at their booth and the rest of the arena from time to time.
But there was one fan booth that did not receive any contestant greeting it. Tuan was yet to arrive at the scene. Not just his fans, almost all of the viewers present in the colosseum were waiting for his entrance.
As the sun was just about to set, the orange-red sky of the colosseum was lit up anew in a fiery light. This light came from the opening of two giant fire wings that bloomed in the sky out of nowhere.
The Fire Wings had a wingspan of 50 meters each. When they made a flapping motion, a haze wave was generated that traveled to the arena at a rapid pace. The colosseum's defensive measures kicked in and they created a thin mana membrane to stop the haze from harming the viewers, especially mortals.
"That… there's someone in the sky… flapping those wings."
"Holy…. That's Tuan Aag! What a badass entry! Woohoo!"
"Tuan….!"
"Tuan… you fucking cheater cock!"
"Tuan… my idol!"
"Long live the Flame Feathers! Our one and only god of flames!"
"Hahahaha! I knew Tuan from the moment he entered the city of Arangar. Look where he has reached now because of my guidance."
"Tuan… I… I'll give you what your cheating wife couldn't. My absolute and untarnished loyalty. Please… please marry me."
Tuan slowly approached the ground as the giant wings that were behind his back allowed him to descend slowly. He wasn't controlling those wings because they weren't cast by him. The organizers had hired an array master to pull this visual trick off.
Booom!
Again, various fireworks painted the sky in various colors just when Tuan touched the ground. Behind him, a huge golden gate made of eye-blinding brilliance appeared and out came Gladius.
"Rankers and respectable viewers…
I give you the champion of this year's Titus tournament.
Tuan Aag!"
