Chapter 718: The King’s Crown (I)
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"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the livestream. We are your hosts, Paul..."
"...and Lisa."
"And you are watching the Second Stage of the Heavenly Star’s Millennial Tournament!"
Cue in cheerful music and explosive cheers.
"Man, it’s so good to be back, isn’t that right, partner?"
"Indeed it is, Paul. I can’t believe we had to wait for a whole month for the tournament to resume. I didn’t think that my patience could endure, but it did! And now, this day has finally arrived. Oh, I just can’t wait anymore."
"Same here, partner. Same here."
"I could only imagine what you, our dear viewers, felt waiting this long. So, to relieve you of any further agony of waiting, without any further ado, we will be explaining how the Second Stage works so we can begin as soon as possible."
The screen transitioned, and it displayed a huge board that flashed with giant words. Now, it indicates: ’Seeded Participants’.
"A new batch of participants will join our previous batch in the Second Stage. They are the Seeded Participants."
"The Seeded Participants are disciples and/or members of ancient sects and organizations scattered across the entire realm. They are a bunch of talented men and women who rose to extraordinariness."
"If you thought that the participants you saw in the preliminaries were already strong, then I can guarantee that our seeded participants are beyond that."
"Because even within these ancient sects and organizations, these seeded participants were the cream of the crop. We bring you nothing but the best of what our current generation could offer. So please, stay in tune because we will get to know these seeded participants as we go."
After this, the giant screen flashed again, and a new set of words was displayed.
’The King’s Crown’ is what it said.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the contents for the next stage is called ’The King’s Crown!’ Allow us to explain how it works."
Behind Paul and Lisa, the giant set of letters dissolved. Then, the screen switched and was now displaying a visual image of how the King’s Crown will go.
Lisa pointed at the crown’s image and said, "This is the King’s Crown."
"A hundred of these crowns will appear all over the Red Stone Planet. Some might appear between stone formations, somewhere deep in a cave, in the sky, or even deep underground."
"Our participants’ task is to take the crowns and wear them. Please be aware that one person could only wear a single crown at a time."
"As soon as somebody wears the crown, a timer will start and their names will appear on the leaderboard. The final rankings will be determined by how long an individual had worn the crown."
"Of course, since this is a competition, confrontations couldn’t be avoided. There will only be 100 King’s Crowns, which is nowhere near enough for everybody."
"Since the rankings will be determined by the length of time, the main way to compete is by taking the crowns from those who got them or defending the crown you already have from those who are trying to get them."
"Note: The crown can only be removed by disabling its previous wearer. Killing is prohibited in this round; any deliberate attempts to kill, cripple, or maim another participant will result in immediate disqualification and punishment from the council."
"To spice up this competition even more, the locations of the crowns, worn or not, will be revealed to all participants for five minutes every hour. Additionally, a zone will be generated after 24 hours have passed."
"This zone will shrink in size every 2 hours. Those who are caught outside of the zone after five minutes will be disqualified. If the participant outside the zone is wearing a crown, the crown will be removed from them as soon as they are hit by the forbidden zone’s storm. The crown will then reappear somewhere else within the safe zone for others to compete for."
"Last but not least, this round will last for only a week. A countdown will be visible for everybody to see for clarification."
"As a final gambit, for those who are wearing a crown by the end of the countdown, a six-hour bonus time will be added to their final score, enough to make an actual difference."
After explaining the mechanics of the second stage, the screen returned to its usual appearance, and the camera focused on Paul and Lisa again.
"With that out of the way, we will be giving out participants an hour to make their final preparations. After that, the Second Stage of the Heavenly Star’s Millennial Tournament will ultimately begin! Ladies and gentlemen, please stay tuned!"
Cedric saw the large virtual screen disappearing after that; it was replaced by a countdown for the start of the second round.
If the atmosphere hadn’t been tense before, it certainly is now.
With the addition of the seeded participants, the total number of participants climbed to 1100.
100 Seeded Participants, 100 King’s Crowns. The subtle hint wasn’t lost on Cedric. If this wasn’t a sign of bias, then he doesn’t know what it is.
In their minds, those who passed through the preliminaries just had no way of competing against the seeded participants. Not even him. It’s not that they’re looking down on them; it’s simply just the difference between those who came from huge backgrounds compared to those who didn’t.
And for Cedric, that’s fine. He liked the challenge. He’s been looking forward to it, even. For his fellow participants though, specifically the ones who passed the preliminaries just like him, this was a blatant insult, one that they just couldn’t stomach.
He could already sense them glaring and sizing up the seeded participants. He was certain that as soon as the second stage began, these folks would use all kinds of excuses to fight the seeds, and whether that’s a good idea or not remains to be seen.
As for him, he stayed put. He had no preparations to make whatsoever. At least none that he hadn’t already done. Cedric even felt that the one-hour countdown was unnecessary.
Alas, he’s not the one in charge, so he could only endure.
He’s still in the same cave he holed up in earlier upon arrival here. The seeded participants have seen him coming here, and he wasn’t hiding from them. Once the second stage starts, they’d know where to find him.
His confidence made the seeded participants react in varying ways, but the common factor is that they all think that Dawnbringer needed to be taught a lesson.
Time flowed, and soon, the countdown ended.
Paul and Lisa returned once more, but they didn’t stay for long. They just announced the start of the second stage before disappearing again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Not even a minute passed since the start of the second stage, and the battlefield already erupted in activity. The earth quaked and winds howled. Explosions of all shapes and sizes became dots on the field, and colorful lights showered everywhere.
The King’s Crowns appeared without any prior warning or signs. Some saw it materializing before their eyes, while most started searching for the rest.
True to the mechanics of this game, as soon as a participant wore the crown, their names appeared on the leaderboard and their time began ticking.
Some of the wearers faced badluck right away, being spotted by other participants and experiencing a siege. They were forced to defend themselves against a wave of enemies who were aiming for the crown on their heads.
The clever ones immediately employed every technique, skill, or spell they knew to conceal themselves and the crown. Doing this wasn’t considered a violation, so it’s valid.
All they had to worry about was the scheduled reveal of the crown’s location every hour. Other than that, if they could continue hiding, then they have this in the bag.
As expected, shortly after the crowns appeared, most of them already had owners. Said owners were, to nobody’s surprise, the seeded participants. It’s as if it was meant for them to begin with.
The other participants tried to compete, and some of them managed to, briefly, but the Seeded Participants were just on another level. They couldn’t resist at all.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that they’re giving up. Some even teamed up to deal with them. Wearing the crown means painting a giant target on your back. Most of the time, it’s not a worthy endeavor, but in a unique competition like this, it must be done.
The real kicker is that there was one seeded participant who didn’t get a crown while everybody else had it. And it’s not because he’s being specifically targeted or anything; it’s simply because somebody who’s not a seeded participant got it before he could.
And this person was none other than Cedric himself.
The funny thing? He didn’t even need to compete for it. The crown quite literally landed on top of him. It’s so bizarre that even he was surprised.
And of course, since he’s already holding it, he might as well wear it.
What’s funnier is that Cedric had the crown the longest so far because of this, and thus, his monicker was listed at the very top of the leaderboard right away, much to the indignation of the seeded participants.