It was correct that the math didn’t exactly add up since one would have to step down and thus make it into a 3v3 vote, but that would only hold true until one considered the fact that if a head stepped down instead of getting killed, they could still cast a vote on who would their successor be.
Everyone was looking at Black Fang with wry eyes. Even the only other woman in the group, the human trafficker, looked at her as if she were a complete psycho.
“Booo…. So boring…” Black Fang sighed, losing interest and going back to petting the soul-destroyer. However, she soon spoke up again. “10,000 gold coins on Devil. If you can’t pay, I accept financial contracts with a 10-year repayment plan. None of you are incompetent enough to not earn that much, right?”
Her extremely mocking tone made quite a few of them glare at her furiously, though when she raised her head to look back into their eyes, they quickly averted theirs. That didn’t stop them from cursing inwardly, ‘Incompetent? Us?! Orianna is the one who does everything in your stupid drug empire, you incompetent snake bitch! You just sit in your poison bath all day every day so that your skin stays young and healthy because you can’t accept having a single wrinkle!’ Many similarly rude thoughts were sent her way.
However, in the end, none had the face to sit out after being looked down by the crazy snake bitch, so a wager of 50,000 gold coins was created on whose prospect would end with the highest score in the next event, which was just starting.
The monsters were freed from their chains and they rushed into the arena from multiple gates.
The arena erupted into chaos as soon as the gates burst open and the captive monsters were freed, unleashing an unholy swarm of furious creatures into the vast battleground. Goblins and hobgoblins screeched their war cries as they swarmed like ants and they lunged at the first moving thing they could find.
Orcs and ogres bellowed their deafening war cries while smashing through the weaker creatures with wild abandon as their sheer size and brute strength asserted dominance.
Werewolves immediately displayed their specialties. They were feral and fast as they darted through the chaos while picking off stragglers for easy kills.
The dozen or so war trolls thrown into the mix were the strongest monsters present. With their toughened hides, extremely potent regenerative ability, and massive clubs, they presented the biggest challenges for the contestants. They were the only monsters above level 20 and thus worth the greatest amount of points. The war trolls roared challenges to anyone foolish enough to approach. Their sheer presence quickly made the goblins and hobgoblins shiver in existential fright.
And then, the gates for the contestants opened.
Hundreds of participants poured into the fray. Each team had the chance to draw up a simple strategy. Some were gunning for scoring high on the ladder while others only wanted to survive without needing healers to stitch them back together. However, the battlefield didn’t care about their plans.
One team that consisted of a hulking berserker wielding a massive battle axe and a ranger with a longbow, charged headlong toward a group of orcs. “We take them down fast, and then we grab points off the weaker teams!” the berserker roared.
The melee fighter cleaved through the first orc with ease. His sheer brute strength was superior, while his ranger picked off stragglers with well-placed arrows. However, their aggression caught the attention of a nearby war troll.
The massive creature barreled toward them, and its club soon found itself smashed into the berserker, sending him hurtling across the arena as a bloody pulp that barely resembled a human. His armband activated and he disappeared.
The ranger tried to flee, but she was no match for the troll’s speed. Despite war trolls specializing in Strength and Vitality, their Agility was still terrifyingly high.
Thus, with a single crushing blow, their dreams of dominance ended in a cloud of dust and blood as she was sent to the healers after her partner.
In stark contrast to the previous team, another one employed stealth and cunning. The melee fighter, a dual-dagger-wielding rogue, moved in tandem with his ranger partner, a woman wielding an enchanted crossbow. They avoided the larger monsters and instead targeted other teams, slipping into the shadows to ambush distracted opponents.
Their first victims were a team locked in battle with a group of hobgoblins. While the melee fighter engaged the goblins, the rogue emerged from behind and slit the ranger’s throat, claiming their points in an instant. Before the melee fighter of the opposing team could react, an arrow from the crossbow pinned him to the ground.
“We move on.” the rogue decreed to his partner. They melted back into the shadows before anyone could track their movements while their points tally rose with minimal effort.
One team was evidently more focused on survival than glory as they created a defensive perimeter. The melee fighter who was a towering knight in gleaming heavy armor, stood guard while his ranger partner perched atop a pile of rubble, firing arrows at weaker monsters.
A pack of werewolves circled them before snarling and attacking. The knight’s shield blocked the first lunging attack and his blade retaliated with a slash that sent a werewolf yelping. The ranger provided support with her arrows finding their mark, but the relentless assault from the beasts began to wear them down.
Their salvation came in the form of another team, but not out of charity. A pair of contestants – one a spear-wielding lancer and the other a mage- intervened to kill the werewolves whose backs were turned toward them. Once the beasts were dispatched, the lancer turned on the knight who easily deflected his attack. However, the mage deflected the arrow shot at him and set the archer on fire with his spell taking their points without hesitation.
The archer was quickly sent to the healers, and as his ‘flag’ was taken, the frontliner was automatically taken – after all, this was a capture the flag event at the end of the day, with the rangers being the flags.
A duo of less skilled contestants stayed at the fringes of the battlefield as they scavenged points from weakened teams and monsters. However, their strategy wasn’t foolproof. A nearby team noticed them as easy pickings and quickly dispatched them.
The monsters were not passive participants. War trolls claimed entire swaths of the battlefield as their domain while mercilessly swatting aside monsters and contestants alike.
The werewolves worked in packs, ambushing unsuspecting contestants and tearing apart weaker teams. Ogres stomped through the chaos as they bellowed after hurling contestants aside like ragdolls.
One ranger made the mistake of hiding too close to a war troll’s domain. Before their melee partner could intervene, the troll’s club crushed the archer into the dirt, instantly disqualifying their team.
“Whirlwind my son, go!” The finance department head shouted. Now that the stakes were this high, they got all invested in the event much more than ever before. “Atta boy!” He clapped gleefully as the twin-blade wielder mowed down an entire werewolf pack before turning his swords on another team.
“Selene, you treacherous fox! You vile woman, I’ll pamper you with my support if you keep it up!” The army head decreed as he watched her desecrate multiple teams at once.
“I knew putting my money on Ice was the right move…” The slaver stated with a happy smile when Ice froze an entire monster swarm mid-move.
However, their attention was snapped toward Black Fang’s voice. “He’s finally making his move…”
