He looked up at the dense crowd of players falling from the sky like stones, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he couldn't contain the grin creeping onto his face.
In an instant, he simply placed a dirt block on the puddle, which made the water disappear.
By the time the falling players realized what was happening, it was already too late.
"What is he doing?"
"Fuck, the pool is gone!?"
"Oh shit...."
"Argh!"
One scream after another echoed through the canyon.
The dozens of players who jumped down didn't have time to adjust their trajectory and fell heavily onto the solid ground, and were immediately eliminated.
The players still arriving at the cliff edge looked down and witnessed this tragic scene. They stopped in their tracks as their faces turned pale with shock.
They were furious and completely enraged this time, feeling like fools who had been played like puppets by Alto.
From the chase to the cliff jump, every flashy move had been part of his calculations all along.
This wasn't even a battle; he simply no-diffed everyone with his mechanical superiority and knowledge. And thus, the players on the cliff trembled with rage.
Watching Alto vanish from sight, the players began searching everywhere for him, and slowly, more players were becoming aware of what had happened.
"Over a hundred people against one, and dozens of you got killed instead? And you let him escape? Do you even know how to play the game?"
Someone started flaming them instantly. Jose's eyes turned red with fury upon hearing the mockery from the arriving players.
"Damn you, take this!"
He swung his sword directly at the person. "I'll show you if I know how to play!"
People around them immediately pulled the two apart to stop the fight.
"Don't be impulsive, calm down! Let's talk this out!"
"Don't stop me!"
"Stop the infighting and go find him already!"
A short while later, in a different location, a dirt block on the grassy ground was suddenly dug open.
Alto's head popped out cautiously.
He happened to emerge right behind someone's back. As the player walked forward, he climbed out quietly.
"Hello!"
The player froze for a moment and instinctively stopped. He scratched his head in confusion.
"Who's talking?"
Looking around, he was startled to see Alto suddenly standing right behind him.
Then it clicked. Wasn't this the person they were looking for?
"He's here! Everyone, come quickly!"
He shouted while immediately rushing forward with his weapon raised.
'He is worth a million coins.'
"Take this!"
But Alto gave him no chance and used his flint and steel to ignite the grass block beneath them.
With a whoosh, flames surged up. The opponent cried out from the burn, and Alto followed up with a few basic attacks to finish him off.
By then, other players had heard the screaming and were closing in on his position.
Alto didn't dally around any longer and turned to flee into the depths of the forest while silently calculating the time.
He listened to his internal clock and felt it was about right.
He fled through the terrain with the players in hot pursuit behind him.
Relying on his quick assessment of the landscape, Alto wove through the dense forest with practiced agility.
Every now and then, he would look back to toss some cobwebs or set traps to delay his pursuers.
The players behind him were relentless as their numbers continued growing. They even split into teams to flank him from different directions in an attempt to corner him.
"He ran this way! After him!"
"Don't let him get into the woods! Split into two teams to circle around him!"
Jose shouted orders, and the players immediately adjusted their formation. Some pursued from the front while others circled around the sides.
As he ran, Alto kept an eye on the movement behind him. Sensing their flanking maneuver, he decisively changed direction and headed toward the mountain peak.
Seeing this, the players were invigorated. They thought Alto was heading to the peak because he had nowhere else to go.
"He's heading up the mountain! Everyone, hurry! We'll corner him for good this time!"
Finally, he climbed to the top of the highest peak.
Behind him, dozens of players had already caught up and completely blocked the path up the mountain.
Each held a weapon as they closed in on Alto step by step with confident smiles on their faces.
"Run! Why aren't you running anymore?"
Jose panted heavily while staring intently at Alto. He was clearly the one who had pursued him most aggressively.
Alto slowly backed away until his feet reached the edge of the precipice. His silhouette looked increasingly isolated against the sky.
He glanced down at the cliff below, then looked back at the approaching players. There was no panic on his face. Instead, a playful smile played on his lips.
This time, there was no pool at the bottom.
"Die!"
In the final second before the players lunged forward, Alto leaped off and vanished over the edge of the cliff.
The pursuing players stared down at the scene below with wide eyes.
"There's nothing down there this time! He's dead for sure!"
"If he dies like this, who gets the kill credit?"
He had just jumped, and the players were already discussing how to split the reward. Unfortunately, their joy didn't last long.
Upon landing, Alto performed a classic maneuver.
He pulled out a water bucket and executed a perfect MLG water clutch, hitting the ground completely unharmed.
The players still at the peak were stunned. "What happened? Am I seeing things?"
"I don't accept this! How is that even possible?"
Some didn't believe it and thought there was something unusual below, so they jumped down too. They were sent back to their respawn points amidst screams.
While they were arguing, a figure flew through the sky.
"Alto, Alto, I'm here!"
"Oops!"
Whether intentional or accidental, Helena crashed right into Alto's arms because she braked too hard.
The two of them ended up in an embrace.
Finally, under the gaze of the devastated players, the pair flew into the sky and gradually faded into the distance.
Some let out long sighs and took a break in defeat.
After all that effort, it had all come to nothing. In the end, they had no choice but to return to the main battlefield.
Meanwhile, the main battle was still in a heated state.
Relying on the advantage of respawn points, players would immediately revive and return to the fray with replenished equipment after dying.
Although the pillager army was fearless and well-equipped, they had no chance to respawn. For every one that fell, their numbers dwindled permanently.
During this time, some players tried to teleport directly into the obsidian tower through the Nether portal.
But Alto had anticipated this move long ago.
Every player entering the portal from the Nether was sent to a lethal obsidian trap chamber.
The shouts of battle in the arena reached deafening levels, and the players' equipment was replaced batch after batch.
Yet no one backed down. They knew that as long as they held on, victory would eventually be the.
Time ticked away steadily, and in the blink of an eye, the competition had reached its final three hours.
With the players' relentless charges and grinding attrition, the pillager army was finally nearly wiped out.
Ravagers collapsed to the ground as their bodies gradually dissipated into particles.
The vexes summoned by the evokers were also cleared one by one, leaving only a few scattered pillagers putting up a final desperate resistance.
Boshita seized the opportunity and led several players in diamond gear to charge forward. He precisely slew the pillager captain, and the black banner crashed to the ground.
As the last pillager fell, the monster army created by Alto was completely annihilated.