Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 419

Chapter 419: Chapter 419: The Struggle for Authority in the Hall of Valor
But as the faint red circle beneath the mountains continued to shrink, the expressions of the players gradually turned grim. They were not foolish; they understood that in this situation, anyone who felt cornered would choose to strike at David, so they dared not provoke a fight.

However, the red circle was merciless.

That was an elimination zone, and anyone who touched it would be immediately disqualified.

Earlier, they had seen someone accidentally knocked back during a fight, only to touch the circle and be teleported away.

Suddenly, the opponent count on everyone else’s prompt panels decreased by one.

After a few minutes of silence, scattered shouts of battle rang out once more.

Initially, a few players had chosen their rivals and agreed to fight one-on-one, promising not to disturb David if they lost. Yet, some players had no sense of sportsmanship and, when on the brink of elimination, desperately unleashed their skills!

Two swift wind blades shot toward Sterl.

He continued to contemplate, not even lifting his eyelids in the Silent Domain.

Although the unsportsmanlike player had attacked, he was hit by a shockwave from another player, sending him right into the elimination zone. His form flickered and was teleported away!

His face was full of reluctance, but he also wore a wild grin.

“If I can’t make it to the finals, neither will you!”

The other players had no choice but to brace themselves and continue to block the attacks heading toward David.

The player who had been defending against the attacks was just barely knocked back to the edge of the elimination zone by the wind blades. Seeing this, the other players, sensing an opportunity to remove a competitor, charged forward like madmen.

Unfortunately, the player who had just defended for Sterl unleashed a molten ray once again!

It shot toward Sterl!

The other players could not afford to chase after their target; they hurriedly went to intercept the ray.

Chaos ensued!

The players watching from the outside were stunned!

Initially, they thought this selection process would be a siege—

They would kill David and have the others battle it out for victory.

Instead, with a single move, David had eliminated the strongest group of players, leaving behind those who had no hope of making it to the finals.

These people had no courage to confront David!

Their strategy for claiming a spot in the top 16 involved defending against the attacks of other players while desperately helping David lower his defenses to prevent this ruthless contender from going berserk.

It felt as if the assessment for this competition was—protect David!

“Damn it, what kind of situation is this?”

“This is a bit exaggerated…”

“Good grief, it feels like this competition is set up just for him!”

…

Players were buzzing with discussion about this Valor Combatants conference.

So far, all the spotlight and attention had been focused on a single individual.

Indeed, it was Sterl!

…

After more than ten minutes had passed, the match was finally coming to an end.

Sterl watched as two players exchanged skills and clashed together, arcs of electricity and flames flashing wildly, as if the very mountains were about to crumble.

However…

These two players displayed exceptional combat skills, managing to keep the residual waves of their attacks from reaching him.

“Die!”

“The ultimate victor will be me!”

The two players roared with bravado, one surrounded by a storm of lightning that transformed into the phantom of a celestial deity, the other engulfed in flames, charging forward with a colossal fiery fist.

In the end, the overwhelming forces of thunder and flame collided with each other, and many powerful spectators outside the arena couldn’t help but comment.

“Just low-skilled players fighting each other.”

“I don’t even know what the point of this match is; I could join in too!”

“Isn’t this just a waste of our time?”

…

Their expressions were all rather grim.

Flame and lightning, being the most basic elemental laws, were indeed commonplace, yet the two players in the arena had clearly mastered these foundational laws to a remarkable degree, showcasing extraordinary talent.

However, they were still far from deserving to battle for second and third place in the Valor Combatants finals!

One word could describe the feelings of the countless spectators: frustration, as many thought,

Damn it!

I could do that too.

While the Valor Combatants conference included many talented individuals from the Hall of Valor, there were also those who recognized their own limitations and knew they could not reach the finals.

The pre-final rewards weren’t particularly enticing, so they were content just to watch the matches.

Now, a group of weaklings had managed to advance simply because David had sent all the strong contenders away!

Countless spectators were envious to the extreme.

On Sterl’s side, he merely watched as the two players unleashed their final bursts of power, both succumbing to the clash of thunder and flame, leaving behind only charred remnants.

It was unclear who placed second and who placed third.

Yet in the end, no one dared to attack him!

“Not bad, quite easy.”

He nodded slightly.

…

With Sterl’s departure, the final selection of the Valor Combatants conference came to a close.

He left quite leisurely, but the other players who made it into the top 16, upon being teleported out, stood in the arena, both laughing and crying!

“We really made it!”

“Wait, I just wanted to go through the motions, and now I’m actually in the finals!”

“Entering the finals means we’ll definitely get a special reward from the Hall of Valor, no matter what our rank is!”

…

These players were so excited that their eyes turned red.

“Thank you, Lord David! Thank you, Lord David!”

“If you have any tasks for us, we will risk our lives without hesitation!”

“We will remember this kindness.”

…

Soon, they seemed to realize something, bowing and clasping their hands in the direction where Sterl had disappeared, their demeanor exceedingly sincere.

Nearby, other players looked on at these 15 fortunate individuals with intense envy. If it weren’t for the fact that these players had entered the finals and received the Hall of Valor’s high-level protection, any attacks against them would be met with the Hall’s punishment, even if the Honorable Kill privilege were activated.

Many were purely motivated by jealousy and wished to eliminate these 15 players.

However, within the cramped room in the arena’s space, the atmosphere was somewhat eerie.

“We don’t need to discuss this any further; none of us can match David in the finals. Let’s use that item.”

“No matter how much of a genius David seems, born to confront great tribulations, it has nothing to do with us. Even if he could turn the tide, it won’t prevent us from being easily killed in this calamity. We won’t have the chance to escape.”

“Exactly, we are only trying to save our own lives.”

The figures murmured among themselves.

“This is pretty much in line with our original plan. We initially aimed to deal with those players entering the finals; now we only have to handle David. The rest are too weak.”

“This way, we expend less energy.”

They showed no concern for the 15 lucky ones who successfully advanced to the finals; those players would also be trampled and annihilated by people like them in the finals.

There was only one crucial matter: eliminate David!

Among the 16 seeded players, six had reached quasi-divine level strength.

They recalled the simulation from the Hall of Valor and the power of the Silent Domain they had felt, which filled them with trembling and dread!

The quasi-divine players were resolute in their hearts: they absolutely could not come into direct contact with the black sun created by David.

Otherwise…

They would die!

Absolutely die!

…

Sterl, however, was unaware that he had once again become a target.

There were five days of rest before the finals began.

He continued to strengthen the legendary-level equipment he needed one by one.

On the other hand, the Twilight Guild, which had been fervently hunting various bosses, had left Sterl feeling…

That their efficiency was too slow!

He had originally wanted to take matters into his own hands to see if he could wipe out a few guilds and seize their contribution points, but he received unexpected news.

“You mean to say that many guilds are already fighting amongst themselves?”

At that moment, Sterl was lying on the bed, with Sosia resting beside him. The scent from the young girl wafted over, and as she spoke, her gentle breath brushed against his neck, creating a ticklish sensation.

“Yes, Master. For some reason, there hasn’t been any divine-level power emerging from the Hall of Valor for a long time, as if all the gods vanished overnight.”

“One of the members from a guild among the six remaining level-seven guilds leaked this information.”

“Their guild has received a mission. Depending on their level of control and occupation within the Hall of Valor, they will gain access to certain privileges.”

“This mission can only be accepted by level-seven guilds!”

“It is suspected that the departure of the gods is due to the Hall of Valor needing to reselect its administrators.”

“Apparently, soon will be the first phase of the mission. Based on the level of occupation, the Hall of Valor will be divided into several factions, and these factions can then battle each other to determine the ultimate ruler.”

Sosia provided this information with keen insight.

But she only looked at Sterl with admiration.

To gather so much intelligence wasn’t just due to abundant resources and a willingness to spend money; it was also because David’s name had echoed throughout the entire Hall of Valor.

With the gods absent, David was the strongest!

At this moment, the Twilight Guild hadn’t reached level seven and couldn’t theoretically contend for the management rights of the Hall of Valor.

However, if David took action to devour other guilds, reaching level seven would be a breeze!

The Twilight Guild itself was a strong contender for dominance over the Hall of Valor.

The existing six level-seven guilds clearly did not want this information to be exposed, but among these six guilds, some members believed that rather than remaining ordinary members within their guilds, it would be better to bet on Twilight!

By achieving merit, the rewards would be greater.

At this moment, Sosia also mentioned—

“Vinika, Swagger, Rosha…”

“These individuals are players from those level-seven guilds providing us with information. Their condition is that if the Twilight Guild successfully seizes some privileges, they want to join Twilight.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sterl nodded silently. The strength of those who had originally been in level-seven guilds was not weak, and bringing them in would not be a loss for him.