The crowd cheered for the match that had just finished as Essence walked down the stage. Those from Mexico were especially exuberant, having witnessed the sheer supremacy of their representative.

China was deathly silent at this time, their already pale faces turning even whiter. They gazed at the collapsed Ao Potian with a mixture of emotions, but mostly pity. Usually, such a shameful performance would warrant their anger, but everyone had seen how things had gone.

The fellow had not held back giving it 120%, but it had been futile in the face of an unbeatable power. However, now that most of the world had gotten a good look at his power, they were left speechless and worried.

Some even began to cry out that it was unfair. After all, why how could one person have so much power? And why should he be allowed to compete? Wasn't it just be unfair to all other contestants?

It was truly intriguing, the mind of a random person. When they saw that Slim Fatty and co were so close behind Essence in the Individual Tower, they had thought that his power had been great, but only so-so.

With Mexico ending up second in the Group Tournament, this notion had been further reinforced. However, now that they had actually seen the gap in a PvP setting, they began to panic as they felt that no one could beat him.

The complaints from the fans of various countries drowned out the defensive roars coming from Mexico, and the various contestants gazed at their own people with shame and disappointment.

We are here to compete with our own powers and make a name for ourselves, not whine and cause trouble. We already saw the Universal Rankings before we got here, so why act like this is a surprise now?

Even the non-members of Umbra among the contestants felt extremely uncomfortable. They knew that the GloryGore Studios were famously quite hard-headed, but when so many people were complaining, could they really say no?

Well, the answer to that was quite obvious.

If the studio could metaphorically flip the middle finger to the World Council, they could certainly do so to the rest of the world.

Amber simply snapped her fingers, and all the protesting contestants were forcefully silenced. They opened their mouths to chant or whatever, but no sound came out. It was actually quite a comical and chilling sight to look at.

With a strange smile, Amber spoke coldly. "This is a warning. Next time, I will directly ban anyone who partakes in such a show from entering this game for at least a year in real-time."

The players were chilled down to their bones, thinking of how horrible it would be to be unable to enter Boundless for what was the equivalent of 4 years of in-game time. See how much progress everyone had made in just about 2 years.

Only a few countries didn't partake in the chant, like Ghana, Nigeria, Scotland, Ireland, etc. Mostly countries that knew winning was a pipe dream for them. They didn't care much about such things, rather looking forward to experiencing the show.

It was the likes of Central Country, England, Canada, France, Italy, India, China, and Japan who suffered the mute.

After this brief interruption, the event resumed.

3rd Match: Slim Fatty vs Joker!

Slim Fatty climbed up from the left side of the stage, her expression calm and unperturbed as she held Swordblade casually over her shoulder. Joker though, was far less amused as he walked up the steps to face this woman who was unofficially the fourth strongest player in the entire game.

When the toll for the match to begin sound, Slim Fatty wasted no time in swinging her blade forward, producing a powerful sword wave that cut towards Joker so fast that it created its own sound.

Joker though, smiled and removed a deck of cards from his inventory. He then shuffled them carefully even as the sword wave rushed towards him before picking the first card from the top.

The card had a blue background, showing a beam of light hitting a mirror and being sent back. The moment Joker showed this card, he tossed it out towards the sword wave.

Immediately, a mirror-like substance was projected from the cards, which the sword wave struck and instantly reversed, heading towards Slim Fatty even faster than it had been cast out.

Not overwhelmed by this reversal, Slim Fatty simply cut the sword wave with ease, dispersing the energy. She gazed at Joker without making a sound, seriously analyzing her foe.

Despite being far stronger than him, she didn't take him lightly as they both knew each other's strength and weaknesses. Joker had Classed Up into the Epic Cardmaster class, which granted him unique abilities that were hard to deal with.

｢Cardmaster - Epic Class (Rank 3)

Skills: Omnipotent Deck (Passive), Random Draw (Passive), Targeted Draw (Active), Instant Reshuffle (Active), Draw Two (Active).

Starting Stats: Str 10, Dex 10, End 10, Int 10, Spr 10, Cha 15, Lck 40

Exp gain rate: 130%

Rank up difficulty: 45%

Class weapons: None.

Class skills: Any Card, Luck.｣

｢Omnipotent Deck – Passive skill

Effect: As a Cardmaster, you naturally possess access to the Card God's Omnipotent Deck, though yours is only a replica. Still, this allows you to use any and all of the cards within the deck to their fullest abilities.｣

｢Random Draw – Passive skill

Effect: Randomly summon a card from your deck. The quality of the card is dependent on your specific circumstances, and the value of your Luck over your opponent. The higher your Luck over theirs, the more powerful the effect of your card.｣

｢Targeted Draw – Active skill

Effect: Decide on a specific card within the Omnipotent Deck to summon. Your chances of getting the card of your choice is set at 15%, but can fluctuate based on the value of your Luck versus your opponent(s).

Cooldown: 1 minute.｣

｢Instant Reshuffle – Active skill

Effect: Instantly reshuffle all your cards, sending those that have already been used back into the pile. Every time you reshuffle your deck, you have a 30% to get a better sequence than before.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.｣

｢Draw Two – Active skill

Effect: Randomly draw two cards at once from your deck. Both cards can be activated and used at the same time, or one of the two can be swapped before activation.

Cooldown: 5 minutes.｣

Remembering these details about his class, Slim Fatty's expression became cold. Joker had already gone through her abilities after Amber had revealed the match-ups. However, despite knowing what the girl could do, he could only smile bitterly.

Slim Fatty had used her sword wave, which was granted to her as a passive skill. This meant that she had literally spent nothing to make that attack, neither stamina nor mana. On the flipside, Joker too had not spent anything making that previous reversal.

He could draw the first card at the top of his deck each second, which functioned as his class' auto-attack. He had higher Luck than Slim Fatty by far, which was why he got a card he needed.

This was the only reason why Joker even dared to fight this female tyrannosaurus instead of throwing in the towel instantly. He had low hopes for an actual victory over her, but as the Guildmaster of the Myriad Cards Guild, he at least wanted to prove to the world that he was more than just 'Umbra's tamed lapdog'.

Her class negated all penalties from wielding any sword, which was why she could use the OP Swordblade that was heavier than a literal mountain. No exaggerations there.

As such, she didn't need Strength, because Swordblade could handle that. She also didn't need Endurance since she did not suffer penalties for the weight, so the sword felt like a feather in her hands, meaning it was effortless to swing it.

As such, she had put all her points into Dexterity, so she could wave this heavy sword faster and faster, as well as more skilfully. It was a sensible plan.

However, min-maxing had its flaws. It would certainly increase your strengths exponentially, but it also boosted your weaknesses by the same amount.

Joker continued the battle by drawing another card from the top of his deck. When he turned it to face Slim Fatty, it showed the image of a castle's hallway, with a knight in plate armor patrolling the route.

Immediately, he tossed the card downward and an actual knight emerged from it. The summon raised his lance and charged over to Slim Fatty, intending to run her through. Slim Fatty simply scoffed and summoned her array of swords.

They appeared behind her like a halo of a goddess, then shot out as they rushed towards the incoming knight and Joker himself. The ones aimed at the knight began firing our sword waves, to which the fellow brushed away by spinning his lance like a fan.

As for Joker, he jumped back and drew another card from his deck, this time showing a Defensive Knight who stood at the forefront of his group, taking on endless arrows upon himself.

When the card was thrown out, a Knight jumped out of it wielding two huge tower shields. He placed himself before Joker and blocked the onslaught of Slim Fatty's swords calmly.

Slim Fatty herself saw this chance and decided to use one of her skills to end the battle quickly. As such, he raised her sword, which began to burst and glow with a menacing light.

Joker's eyes flashed as he had predicted what was coming next. Right away, he executed two skills in tandem.

Instant Reshuffle!

Targeted Draw!

His deck immediately reshuffled itself, the cards he had already used and discarded coming back into play. This did not negate his already in-play cards like the two knights, but he could summon another version of them if he drew them.

With his Target Draw, he was aiming for the Reflection card. His plan had been to push Slim Fatty to use one of her overpowered Legendary Class skills in order to end the battle fast, then redirect her attack back.

To draw the card the first time had not been part of his plans, and was due to his Luck. In that same vein, when Joker drew this card, his high Luck also gave him the desired outcome.

Luckily, he did. He drew the reflection card and tossed it out forming a mirror before him.

At this time, Slim Fatty had already gone through the motions of her skill, swinging the sword down in a way that cut through everything before her. Despite seeing Joker's retaliation, she showed no worry on her face, and the crowd soon saw why.

The sword wave that her World Slash created was designed to bypass any defense, and this card could not stop that. Joker would have had a better chance drawing a card that gave him more health, as his mirror was cut in half, and so too was his body.

The fellow's eyes widened as he gazed at the valiant woman before him, his body splitting into two halves as it felt to their side.

Joker respawned in the constants area where the others stood, his face slightly pale and his expression one of accepted defeat as well as helplessness. He felt he could be praised for lasting so long against Slim Fatty, and many agreed as they renewed their opinion of Joker.

He and Happy Scholar had fucked up and angered the Evil Duo, but after mending things, they had proven themselves to be no worse than Gentle Flower or Noble Soul, which was the truth.

Third match winner: Slim Fatty!

Slim Fatty exited the stage and made way for the next match. At this time, Amber released the voices of those muted, so they could finally cheer they pleased. Humbled and ashamed by the way they had been treated, they remained decidedly silent for this one.

4th Match: Cold Summer vs Silent Walker!

Cold Summer climbed up the stage on the left side, wearing an aqua blue mage robe that had a cowl and a half-mask. He was tall and lanky, with a similar build to Fitter Cleric, only that he wore strange blue goggles and covered his nose and mouth under the cowl.

(Author's Note: if you don't remember, he's the one who looks like Shino Aburame from Naruto.)

Silent Walker was the opposite. Dressed in a stylish black suit, his extremely suave visage and slicked-back blond hair gave him the kind of flair that made him a looker no matter where he went.

The ladies of the various countries catcalled him, making the fellows speechless. Gender equality my foot, didn't you all say that we should stop doing this?!

This was another match that began without trash talk, as both parties hardly spoke even when their life was on the line. Cold Summer had previously been a Hydromancer, but had recently Classed Up into an Epic Aquasire.

This class was just below the Legendary Aqualord and the Divine Paragon of Water. It was the natural water-element class progression for the Epic stage, which meant that Cold Summer wasn't the only one in the guild with it.

Silent Walker was the Legendary Lord of Shadows, and his control of darkness overshadowed Cold Summer's control of water. As a battle between two elemental controllers, this was quite interesting to see.

｢Aquasire - Epic Class (Rank 3)

Skills: Semi-Perfect Manipulation (Passive), Aqua Supremacy (Passive), Flood (Active), Marine Summon (Active), Torrent (Active).

Starting Stats: Str 10, Dex 10, End 10, Int 30, Spr 25, Cha 10, Lck 10

Exp gain rate: 110%

Rank up difficulty: 65%

Class weapons: None.

Class skills: Any Water.｣

｢Semi-Perfect – Passive skill

Effect: The User is able to freely manipulate all forms of water and water bodies with their mind. All offensive and defensive moves created through this skill are buffed by 15%.｣

｢Aqua Supremacy – Passive skill

Effect: As an adept in the Water element, you possess a 50% immunity to all attacks using the same element. All your water-related attacks are increased in potency by 25%.｣

｢Flood – Active skill

Effect: Summon an overflow of water that submerges an area of 20 miles in water, drowning or hindering all those trapped within.

Duration: 1 minute

Cooldown: 55 minutes.｣

｢Marine Summon – Active skill

Effect: Instantly summon a random beast from the depths of the underwater world to fight for you. The power of the beats is capped to your Rank and Level, but its race and quality is random.

Duration: 10 minutes

Cooldown: 1 hour.｣

｢Torrent – Active skill

Effect: Summon a consistent and pervasive flow of water that possesses immense kinetic force. This can stun larger foes and submerged smaller ones, depending on the nature of the torrent used.

Duration: 10 seconds

Cooldown: 30 minutes.｣

The battle began with Silent Walker creating tendrils out of the ambiance shadows in the arena, sending them lancing towards Cold Summer to seal him. Cold Summer simply clapped his hands and created water lances from the ambient moisture in the air, sending them rushing towards Silent Walker directly.

Still calm and unfettered, Silent Walker created a shield of darkness before him which swallowed the water lances before disappearing. As for Cold Summer, he simply created a 360° water barrier that prevented the darkness tendrils from touching him.

The crowd was mesmerized by this elemental battle, watching with rapt attention. The two on the stage themselves paused for a bit to analyze the other and remember the details of their class.

In the light of this lull, the tension seemed to pick up, but it was soon broken by the duo as they decided to test out each other's limits using an active skill. After all, each match only had a 3-minute timer, and neither wanted to draw or be judged based on battle performance.

Flood!

Tendril Storm!

｢Tendril Storm – Active skill

Effect: Summon an endless amount of shadow tendrils that rampage around an area of 5 miles around the user, dealing unpredictable amounts of damage to all enemies within and trapping them.

Duration: 3 minutes.

Cooldown: 20 hours.｣

Immediately, a huge rush of water merged from Cold Summer's side, pouring in huge amounts onto the arena. The players at the side jumped out of range and watched with solemn expressions.

As for Silent Walker's side, with the outpour of water, hundreds of tendrils formed themselves and began thrashing about, looking for anything to latch onto and rip apart. When the water and darkness met, it created an amazing sight.

The tendrils formed barriers that blocked the water and lashed it aside while the pressure and continuous flow suppressed the tendrils and prevented them from acting. What broke this stalemate was Cold Sumer, who raised his hand and clenched his fist.

Riding the huge wall of water, it formed into three water dragon-shaped entities albeit the Asian variant. They roared silently and rushed towards Silent Walker's position, bypassing the wall of tendrils.

This was the power of the Aquasire class. Creating a Flood or Torrent wasn't supposed to kill, but to give the class user more ammunition to deal with their foe. After all, it wasn't like they would always be in the presence of water wherever they went, and the passive skill only allowed manipulation of water, not the creation of it.

The crowd gasped, wondering how Silent Walker would deal with this. The gentleman only smiled slightly before waving his hand horizontally across his body.

Dark Barrier!

｢Dark Barrier – Active skill

Effect: Create a power barrier made of darkness energy that negates 50% of incoming damage.

Duration: 1.5 minutes

Cooldown: 8 minutes.｣

Silent Walker didn't stop there though. With a wide smile, he made use of one of the passives that he had acquired when he hit Rank 3.

Shadowguard!

｢Shadowguard – Passive skill

Effect: Summon a squad of shadow warriors to form an elite guard to protect yourself. Depending on how much power you designate each one of them, you will be able to spawn between 1 to 10 at a time.｣