"Rankers and respectable viewers… I give you the champion of this year's Titus tournament. Tuan Aag!"
Gladius greeted his audience as soon as he stepped out of the array-generated golden gates. He had his platform that started levitating off the ground as soon as he stepped on it. The contestants' platforms also started levitating at the same time before surrounding Gladius in a circle.
Tuan's platform was levitating at the same height as Gladius'. Others' platforms were located at a bit lower altitude.
Gladius first talked about the Top 10 contestants, starting from the Top 10th position. He depicted each of their battles and gave them appropriate praise for their accomplishments.
The battle scenes of each ranker were shown on the spectral screens as Gladius addressed them and their accomplishments. The audience also listened attentively, applauding their respective idols from time to time.
It was a while before Gladius moved on to finally address Tuan and his deeds.
"Dear viewers, this year's tournament was about strength, courage, and cunning. The strength to surpass the odds. The courage to face your fears. You need cunning to outsmart your opponents.
Tuan Aag has done all of that and then some more, outshining his competition by a large margin in each of those segments. And that's why he is standing as the winner of the tournament in front of all of us."
One had to say that Gladius was an excellent host. His way of putting the narrative forwards was impeccable and flawless. He depicted Tuan's achievements in such a heroic way that even the butcher doubted whether he really was the hero they thought he was.
Gladius also came up with valid reasons for each of Tuan's actions. He declared that Tim and Langdon were caught rigging the array setup the subspace had and hence were kicked out of the tournament.
'How do you feel when the dead bear the blame for something you do? It's almost like a pattern now. First Dom. Then these guys. Hehe!'
Alephee commented in the butcher's head as she also listened to Gladius' tweaked narration of the events. The butcher smirked at her comment but chose to remain silent. In his defense, both those circumstances weren't planned by him.
Gladius's patchwork of events continued.
"The Field Boss' job was to intimidate the rankers. But do you guys know the other reason for the monster's existence in subspace?
It was to test the contestants' courage. Had any of them chosen to form a raid team and initiated the attack on the monster, it would have meant that those involved in the team were bold and brave-hearted enough to take on something that was beyond their limits."
Gladius looked at the audience. Then he looked meaningfully at each of the contestants with a smile on his face before continuing.
Not just Tuan. If any one of the rankers, either collectively or individually, had tried to raid the monster, they would have come to know that the monster was only a test of their courage. He could have been dealt with easily if any of them had just tried to attack him.
Only Tuan was bold enough to attack the Ogre Lord solo. If that isn't enough of a testament to his unparalleled level of courage compared to other Top 10 contestants, then I don't know what is."
Drin looked down and narrowed his eyes when he heard Galdius explain about placing the Field Boss as a decoy. Then he looked at Tuan as if trying to understand something about him.
'I checked that Ogre Lord myself. He was no decoy. At least he wasn't when I checked him out. Did they only make him weak on the last day? Or did Tuan find a way to solo-kill a quasi Ogre Overlord?'
Drin was just thinking along those lines when he heard Gladius' words.
"The Ogre Lord was only supposed to get weak when you approached him intending to fight. This was a test of courage. It would have lost its meaning if everybody could figure out that the monster was a decoy."
Drin smiled mirthlessly when he heard this aptly placed explanation. He stopped thinking about his loss and sighed. He thought that maybe he was getting jealous of Tuan because he snatched his first place.
Almost every other contestant had the same thoughts as Drin running in their heads. They finally put it to rest when they heard Gladius speak. But for all of Gladius' talks, his rational explanation was a cover-up. He didn't want people to know that the Ogre Lord's array setup had malfunctioned after all.
"Tuan has not only won our hearts with his display of courage against the Ogre Lord but also has won a genuine transcendent-grade artifact that he received as a monster drop.
Ace Tuan Aag, all your efforts have made it possible for you to have these achievements. We thank you for showing us the valorous way with which you fought these days. Please accept this gift as your championship reward as well."
Gladius sent a sophisticated-looking ammolite stone toward Tuan using levitation magic. The latter caught it instantly and infused it with his mana. Due to its precious and fine workmanship, it was also an expensive storage space artifact.
In the next moment, a large spectral screen was emitted from the stone, which displayed the contents inside. Loads and loads of Extols were displayed by the spectral display, indicating that Tuan had indeed received 100 thousand Extols that was promised to him.
'Damn. They could have given this to me normally. There was no need for such a flashy display.'
Eren sighed and kept the storage space. He then bowed towards Gladius, letting him know that he was fine with the gift he had received. The latter smiled and talked more about his performance.
Eren's platform was finally sent back when Gladius was done speaking about him. By bringing Drin's platform forward, he then started speaking about him and his battles. Drin was going to receive 40 thousand Extols as a second placeholder.
Eren knew that the subsequent prize money and items for the rest of the rankers were only going to get lower in terms of their value as the rank decreased. This was the reason the contestants were fighting about better ranks even though they knew they wouldn't be able to win the tournament anyway.
When Gladius was finally down with the last contestant, Silvera Rehrook, he concluded this year's Titus tournament and bid adieu to his viewers. The contestant also joined him by waving hands at the viewers that had slowly started to leave the premises.
Just when Tuan thought he could move on to his next set of plans, Gladius told all the contestants that there was going to be a celebratory banquet for all the Top 10 placeholders tonight.
