[Max's POV]
Pure Slaughter: generally I don't enjoy violence, but being able to release a fraction of my power unabashedly was satisfying and somewhat cathartic. The 4-hour duration of Round 3 was simply carnage.
The side I had chosen was not filled with monsters or groups of players tactically taking down monsters. It was littered with remnants of multiple elements; the ground has become frozen wood, sand, and blood mixed to give a different texture to the floor.
Scorched marks, damaged floor, and broken metallic parts of all the weapons used to kill monsters were scattered around.
The shadow monster disappeared after being killed, and a new monster took its place, so the field in front of me was a painting of multiple elements used for nonstop killing.
I had kept my mana detection at maximum; firstly because of the fight, and secondly, I felt some eyes and killing intent aimed at me. But it seemed they were intelligent enough not to tangle with the monster who was floating in air and dispatching monsters like nothing.
Infinite Stamina and Mana were really the best and most used traits if I leave Infinite Mind. Well, at the end hour, some players were tired, and many were taking turns to kill monsters; some were chugging potions and tonics like they were on sale.
As the duration reached 4 hours, the monster stopped appearing, and the system chimed with a notification.
[Round 3 of Phase 2 ends now]
[The top 1000 players from every branch will be teleported to Root Realms for Phase 3]
[721st Branch Leaderboard]
1st – Max 'The LimitBreaker'
2nd – Gravanor Ironroot
3rd – Arden Kallus
4th – Lytherian Willowshade
5th – Thalara Stonefist
6th – Valdros Bloodlune
7th – Aeris Faerhal
8th – Rhyxan Mar'thul
9th – Kavira Sol'Tresh
10th – Selicia Nocturne
...
...
'The Leaderboard was diverse, Titans, Elves, Vampires, and even a human on 3rd ranking. Nice. Those two slightly weird names must be players from Harune,' I thought.
Murmurs started happening as players saw the name Max 'The LimitBreaker' on the leaderboard, and then they looked towards me.
I had my head and face covered slightly with the hood of the cape, so they only saw a boy with a blade on his back, which I never used in this battle.
I felt movement towards my right side; a boy with dark blood-red armor was walking towards me with a friendly smile, but I still kept myself on high alert.
He came near me and extended his hand with intent to handshake and addressed me, "Hello, I am Valdros Bloodlune. Nice to meet you. It's my first time seeing a non-vampire using a blood element with such finesse."
I looked at his eyes; there was genuine surprise and respect, so I forwarded my hand to complete the handshake and replied, "Thanks, I am Max. Nice to meet you too."
Before he could say anything further, the system chimed in with another notification.
[PHASE 3 | ROOT REALM RAMPAGE]
[Participants – 1 million]
[Advancement Slots – 50 Thousand]
[Duration – 24 hours]
[Each player will be placed in one of 10 Root Realms]
[Realm Capacity – 100,000]
[Scoring Parameters – ]
1 – Monster kill (×1 point)
2 – Mid-Boss Eliminations (×5 points) (spawn every hour)
3 – Realm Boss Elimination & Damage (×20 points) (spawn every 4 hours at Realm Pit)
4 – PvP is allowed but will not provide any points benefits.
[Every player has 1 minute to buy any potion, tonic, etc.; the System Shop will not be accessible for 24 hours once in the realm]
[All qualified players will be transported to Root Realms in 1 minute]
Everybody read the notification and hurriedly started buying to fill their empty cache of tonics, mana, and stamina potions.
Valdros looked at me apologetically and said, "All the best for the tournament. It seems I need to hurry."
I nodded and replied, "Same to you."
He went sideways to purchase whatever; after a minute, the system chimed in again.
[Initiating transportation to Root Realms....]
I readied myself for teleportation, but just before I was teleported, I sensed a very high killing intent aimed at me. I turned to look in the direction of intent, but I vanished from the wooden boxing ring to a new destination.
I landed in a crouching position; the previous sensation of killing intent disturbed me for a moment. I was sure it was not from Valdros; it was somebody else, but I shook off the thought for now and looked around.
Only two words came to mind. Powerful and mesmerizing.
The system panel interrupted me from admiring the view.
[Root Realm – StormRend Plateau]
[Participants – 100,000]
[Duration – 24 hours]
[Realm Structure]
– Shattered Plains
– Tempest Ridge
– Voltrum Canyon
– Maelstrom Highlands
– Skyfury Nexus
[You are in Shattered Plains]
[Monster spawn for 24 hours continuously]
[No safe zones]
[The death penalty remains the same as in the previous phase]
[Survive]
I read all the notification and they were more detailed than previous phases. This tournament was really interesting, I dismissed the panel and looked at the surrounding again.
Players who appeared here started running in different teams. I floated a little higher in the sky to take in the amazing view of the Realm.
The land was uneven with cliffs, and small plateaus were visible from this height. There was the sound of thunder almost every second, which causes goosebumps every time you hear it.
There was rain but instead of natural rain it was raining lightning and thunderbolts.
I could see the silhouettes of monsters charged by surrounding thunder running towards players.
The sky seems to never get any rest from this forever storm of lightning and howling of strong winds.
Lightning would fall down on some boulder, which would shatter it immediately, but lightning continued like an uncaring child.
I took a deep breath, exhaled, and spoke, "Well enough sightseeing. Let's get to business. 5 zones, the Realm Boss will appear in the center, but staying in the central zone is a waste."
"Hmm...wandering slaughter it is then," I decided and moved towards near-visible monsters.
As soon as the monsters became more visible, the system notified their names.
[Thunder hare sprinters]
[Rank – D]
[Storm Hyena packs]
[Rank – C]
"Nice warm-up." I muttered as I neared them.
Earth and wind orbs hovered around, the best counter to the lightning element. I was actually thinking of using the Lightning element, but I'll hold that thought for now.
Thunder hare charged their claws for attack, I erected a earthen wall towards them.
Strom Hyenas started howling in a group, some kind of group attack. I made a wind barrier to stop the sound from reaching me.
Their attacks were nullified. I grinned and spoke, "My turn."
Spikes from both earthen walls and the wind barrier shot towards both groups of monsters.
The earthen spikes skewered the Thunder Hares immediately.
The wind spikes blew multiple holes in Strom hyenas, caught off guard.
I continued further, killing monsters with spikes while flying in the air, giving me the best vantage point.
Suddenly, I noticed a giant creature in a windstorm. I hurried towards it.
There I saw a gigantic wolf bathed in lightning with sky blue fur. It growled as it sensed me and moved towards me.
The system provided me with information.
[Mid-Boss – Stormfang Behemoth]
[Rank – B+]
[Skills – Thunder Pounce, Static Maul, Howl of Ruin, Storm-infused Regeneration]
"Wow, it has skills too," I commented.
It growled fiercely at me. Lamina hummed in its sheath, ready to fight.
"Chill, girl. We have 24 hours of nonstop combat," I spoke.
I looked straight into the behemoth's eyes and declared, "Well, let's see whose lightning is better."
I changed the orb to crackling lightning orbs.
The Behemoth fixed his paws on the ground, ready to pounce.