Chapter 728: Finalists and Reactions
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The King’s Crown has been concluded.
To nobody’s surprise and to the dismay of the Ancient Sects and organizations, Dawnbringer dominated the leaderboard, sitting firmly at the very top without a competition. The second place couldn’t even come close.
Amongst the 100 seeded participants and about ten thousand ordinary participants, 90 of the former lasted until the very end, and only three from the latter did the same.
As for those moving on to the final stage, 95 came from the seeded participants, while the last 5 were from the ordinary participants.
Even though only 90 of the seeded participants remained until the end of the round, the five who got eliminated had worn their crowns longer than the rest. And since this round only counts the length of time somebody has worn the crown, it didn’t matter if they got eliminated in the end. They were in the top 100 ranking in the end, so they move on to the final stage.
As for the ordinary participants who managed to squeeze in to the finals, they are Cedric, of course, Fabros, Stoneheart, Tyrone, and the last one was called Elise—a female participant who got lucky and barely made it to the list.
Stoneheart and Tyrone made it safely. The former did due to his unique skill, and the latter did thanks to his artifact.
As for Fabros, he was actually quite clever.
The reason why he remained untouched since getting his crown was because he dug an underground passage all the way beneath where Cedric stayed. Meaning that whenever his location was broadcasted, it was overlapping with Cedric’s position, essentially hiding him and keeping him safe.
Of course, there were some who discovered where he was, but even so, they didn’t dare to approach him because getting to him was the same as confronting Dawnbringer. And while most are confident of dealing with Fabros, they can’t say the same with Dawnbringer.
Cedric didn’t mind. He respected the hustle. But he wasn’t really protecting Fabros; that’s just everyone else’s assumption. If they had come for Fabros, he wouldn’t have interfered; the underground was free for everybody. Alas, nobody really thought of it that way, so Fabros sailed through the end using him as a cover.
Was it shameless? Maybe. But it worked. It got him to the final round. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what anybody says about his method. Sometimes, you just have to do what must be done to reach the goal.
**
With the conclusion of the King’s Crown, everybody was given three months of rest before the final round.
This was definitely needed because the previous stage turned out to be more demanding than anybody ever expected.
What should’ve been a free round for the seeded participants turned into a whole mess because of what Dawnbringer did. Even though most of them made it in the end anyway, they were still spent beyond their expectations.
Of course, the effects of the events that happened during the second stage weren’t just limited to the battlefield. They also have far-reaching influence on the backgrounds of the participants, especially the seeded ones.
The supporters of Fabros, Stoneheart, Tyrone, and Elise were pleasantly surprised. Although they knew that their representatives only made it out due to luck and Dawnbringer, the fortune this brought to them was real and substantial.
So what if their representatives just got lucky? Luck is also a part of someone’s strength!
Even if their representatives couldn’t make it far in the finals, their current results were more than enough to last for a lifetime. If they’re wise about this, they could ride this fortune for a very long time and see some real improvements to their status.
Contrary to what they felt, the backgrounds of those who got eliminated felt gloom looming over their heads.
The results they’ve expected from their representatives turned into a disappointment.
See, it would’ve been fine for them if their representatives were beaten or eliminated by other representatives of other ancient sects like theirs, preferably stronger ones, but no. They were beaten by commoners who worked together.
The worst part is that the elimination couldn’t be rebuked since it’s within the set rules of the tournament.
Because of this, a dark and uncertain future was set for them. Their hopes and wishes were dashed because of the elimination. They’ve invested far too much only to receive nothing in return. This will certainly have a large and lasting impact on them within the foreseeable future.
As for those whose representatives still remained, they all felt relieved.
When they saw how their representatives lost their crowns because of that devious prick called Dawnbringer, they felt their hearts drop. Fortunately, their children made it and secured their place in the leaderboard. Still, that was scary.
Of course, not everybody was satisfied with just that.
The elders who were expecting their representatives to achieve a higher ranking were disappointed with the final result. And once again, this could be traced back to Cedric. If he had just stayed still and didn’t cause a mass disruption, their representatives could’ve reached a higher ranking in this round.
A higher ranking means more resources and opportunities from the council.
But just as there were those who were disappointed, there were also those who were impressed and happy about the ending.
Take the sect behind Ragnar, for example. They sent two representatives for this tournament. They heavily invested in one and neglected the other simply due to the difference in their talents.
Alas, their favored child was first to be eliminated, bringing endless disappointment to their sect. Although there’s still the other representative, they weren’t expecting much from him.
However, that child proved them wrong in the end. While he might not be as strong and talented as Ragnar, in terms of survivability, he far surpasses him.
They were already satisfied that he remained in the leaderboard; they didn’t dare to expect much from him. But the child clearly has expectations for himself.
In the end, he managed to squeeze himself to the 15th rank. He hid, ran, and avoided confrontations all the way, focused on just securing his crown and lasting until the very end. As shameful as that might seem, it didn’t matter because he still had a respectable outcome in the end.
Because of his efforts, the disaster that Ragnar brought to the sect was alleviated. At the very least, the sect wouldn’t have to go hungry or be demoted from their status. They’d still receive a warning from the council, but at the same time, they would be rewarded with a decent amount of resources and opportunities.
And it’s all thanks to this neglected representative of theirs. The sect now has a duty to repair their relationship with him.
But if there were people who felt truly fulfilled and satisfied at the results of the King’s Crown, it would be the organizers and the audience, of course, because they just watched a show of a lifetime.
A close second would be Philip and the Golden Bangle Bank.
Philip was drunk and hasn’t stopped laughing because of his joyous mood. He truly didn’t expect to hit the jackpot with this random investment of his. Cedric just brought him too many surprises.
His business was booming. His e-mails were blowing up with so many messages, congratulating him and offering some form of partnership.
Philip couldn’t even begin to express how happy he was. He already emptied his secret stash of fine wine, yet he still felt that it wasn’t enough to show just how happy he truly was.
At the same time, his mind was also working overtime to adjust his plans. With this development, he could expand his network even further, and if he played this right, he could become one of the most influential men in the chaos realm. Hell, he might even become a councillor in the future.
Then, there’s the Golden Bangle Bank.
Truthfully, they weren’t expecting this either. Although they don’t have many Scarlet VIPs, most of them were purely philanthropists. Dawnbringer was the first one who had the actual strength to protect his riches without the bank’s help.
They never pressured him to perform this well because they really never thought he’d come this far. But to their surprise, he did. He even went beyond and sat firmly at the top.
This brought a lot of traffic to their business, and for a bank like them, this was the grandest gift anybody could give. Therefore, they are now deliberating on how to repay him for this.
The bank couldn’t be stingy, especially with a client like Cedric. And with how intense their discussion has been so far, it seems that their compensation is bound to be really huge.
As for the epicenter of all of this, he’s currently relaxing on a bed, munching on some free snacks provided by this nice hotel he’s staying at.
Cedric felt unburdened by what he did. He didn’t care whether he offended some of the ancient sects or not. What’s important to him was that he had fun, and to a certain degree, he did.
Now, he just needed to wait for the organizers to reveal the contents of the final round.