New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

The arena was dead silent as the dust fell back down. The victor was clear as day, standing alone in the arena, smiling widely.

The people around the world watching erupted in cheers. The players in the arena were dead silent, contemplating the effect of this win.

The players could see the competitor's numbers on the chart, and knew very well Astaroth was one of the last ones to qualify. That also meant he was one of the lowest levelled present here.

And Phoenix had been one of the first to qualify for the tournament. That meant the level gap between them should have pushed the balance of victory in her favor.

She also used a super powerful ability, pushing the boundaries of her class. And yet, this player had won.

The player named Astaroth had just vaporized one of the most talented players in the tournament, maybe even the world, with a single attack. What's more, that attack had chewed through Phoenix's attack first.

This was overwhelming for most of them here. To them, that meant this man was not only talented, but he was also monstrously powerful.

They shivered, thinking about how they would have to measure up to him someday. The players on the loser's side of the stands all looked at the other side, glancing at the other mysterious monster in their midst.

Khalor, unaware of the stares directed at him, was grinning madly while looking at Astaroth.

'That power! He didn't have that power last time! This is a marvelous development,' He thought.

'We might have a chance this time!' He internalized, losing himself in his thoughts again.

Astaroth was teleported out of the arena, as it magically fixed itself once more. He was still vibrating from all the mana and Aether his body had channelled.

He was also shaking because of the excitement of facing death and winning. There might also have been some exhaustion from draining his mana so quickly mixed in there.

But he currently didn't care about exhaustion. He had made it.

He was in the finals!

Astaroth had to use every ounce of his mind, just to keep himself from bursting out in tears of joy.

'I did it! I'm in the finals!' he screamed internally.

He had a quick thought to his parents, most likely smiling at him from the afterlife.

'Now I hope he makes it too. So I can get some answers,' Astaroth thought, glancing down at the arena, where Khalor and his opponent had been teleported.

Khalor was not even looking at his counterpart, too caught up in thought. When the gong resounded, he didn't even snap out of them.

That didn't mean he was going to lose, though, as his three strongest undead came out from his body to guard him. Not a minute later and the fight was over, with an overwhelming victory for Khalor.

He hadn't lifted a finger, as his manticore, raven, and death knight trampled all over his opponent. It was a pitiful sight to behold for all the onlookers.

'Monster!' was the thought in everyone's head.

The power discrepancy between Khalor and his opponents had been terrifying all along the tournament. Everyone always hoped another monster in the lineup would eventually beat him, but that didn't come to pass.

They had their hopes up, though, seeing who was going up against Khalor in the final round. It would be a titanic fight.

As with every other round end, chairwoman Constantine appeared in the sky again, delivering a long winding speech about giving their maximum.

She raved on and on, complimenting every player that had taken part in what would be history someday. She also talked about the last two players, talking in length about how they had been dark horses.

Astaroth and Khalor weren't listening as she talked about them, though, as they were busy staring each other down. The pressure around both men was almost visible to the other players present.

Phoenix, who was now on the other side of the stands, was silently rooting for Astaroth. She knew his odds were bad, but she hoped nonetheless.

After almost fifteen minutes of long and boring monologue, which was only a PR stunt for Constantine, She finally announced the start of the final round of the tournament.

The round where the strongest player in New Eden would be crowned. This was the culmination of all this event.

"Now, for our last round, seeing as our two contestants are too powerful to be bound by this arena, the devs and I have decided to bring about a venue change," Constantine announced.

"We will relocate all of you there shortly, as you discover all at the same time. I hope this brings about more interesting plays from the part of our finalists, as they play in a wider field," she added.

"So without further ado, let us begin this final round!" she finished, as the environment changed.

Everyone in the stands was teleported away as the two finalists reappeared in an open field. This field was familiar to them, as it was the first round's map.

The other players, for their part, were teleported into the sky. They were now looking down at the combat about to happen from a bird's-eye viewpoint.

A lot of players panicked at first, from reappearing so high up, but they calmed down when they saw they weren't falling. They all tried awkwardly to get in a comfortable position to watch.

It was a fun sight to behold, as no one had ever been in a zero-gravity environment. It was like watching toddlers flailing around in their parent's arms.

Down below all this, the two last contestants were taking in their surroundings. Both of them recognized the map and didn't linger any longer on it.

Astaroth looked Khalor in the eyes.

"We both made it here. Now, you owe me answers," He said.

"I do. And you will get them," Khalor responded.

Both men were mentally prepared for the sound of the gong. This was it.

For one, this was his time to get answers. For the other, it was time to cement his supremacy.

*Gong!*