Dungeon monsters, enraged by being piled on top of each other, poured out into the competition area, hungry for blood. Duke continued to create more and more in the cavern, pushing his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to the limits of its Master rank. The monsters flooded into the area in successive waves, bunching on top of each other and becoming a roiling mass of angry death. None of the monsters were less than Tier six as the dungeon itself had not been designed to include anything less than that. Duke could have created lesser monsters using his Ability, but that would have defeated his purpose.
He casually watched Kreen’s reaction when the first wave of monsters swarmed into the few remaining members of the red team. The communication network lit up with cries of alarm and panic as the remaining members were quickly overrun and fighting for their lives yet again. Fighting other Contestants had been difficult and an exercise in beating the odds as the remining three red team members had managed to survive being so heavily outnumbered but this was different. They weren’t outnumbered three or four to one, it was thousands to one and their path to retreat had disappeared just as quickly as the wave of monsters swept them up and flowed past them to completely surround the Contestants.
The blue team’s remaining ten members were just as overmatched by the dungeon monsters. Boss monsters are meant to be fought one at a time and are typically overpowered for their tier and level. When they were attacked by hundreds of boss monsters simultaneously with thousands waiting impatiently to join in, it was too much. Even organizing themselves into a defensive formation was just a delay of the inevitable.
All the remaining Contestants were elite fighters but even that came with limits. Hundreds of boss monsters died before the first Contestant fell, but with the death of Zyvara Xyneth, one of the anchor-points of the defensive line crumbled, putting more pressure on the rest of the group. Every consumable they had was used to hold off the press of monsters, but it was not enough. Soon, only Ragnar Volthorn remained of the blue team.
Ragnar was considered to be nigh invulnerable and proved it as he weathered blow after blow without effect. Claws sought his eyes, fangs struck at his joints, great beams of energy bathed his body in destructive energies, but still he stood firm, fighting off monster after monster as the wave continued to surge around him. He raged at the loss of his teammates even if they had only been working together for a short while, he had grown to actually like a few of them. He poured that rage out into the face of the horde, killing dungeon monsters by the dozen with his devastating attacks.
Still, he was not indefatigable. As the swarming monsters continued to attack, his exhaustion rose. The Mana that maintained his INVULNERABILITY started to run low and he only had so many Mana potions. Who would have expected that a thousand Mana potions would not be enough? With every monster he killed, he took a step forward, trudging his way through the deadly swarm, hoping to find the end of it. Unfortunately for him, the end of his Mana potions, and ultimately, his Mana reserves, came before he was able to find the edge of the swarm. He died cursing but fighting to the very end.
It took hours of constant fighting but only one fighter remained – Kaelion Varis. Varis had surrounded himself with a field of his destructive energy. Anything that touched it was annihilated. The press of dungeon monsters continually flowed into it to be killed instantly. He was gaining experience at an unheard-of rate and had already pushed into Tier Nine by the time the monster wave had killed the rest of the Contestants. The experience he was receiving had slowed as he progressed through the levels of the Tier to a crawl as he outleveled each monster coming at him.
Downing yet another Mana potion, Varis held firm, straining to keep his field intact around him. This was the most taxing use of his Ability, but he knew it was the only way he was going to survive this impossible wave of monsters. It had to have an end; he was sure of it. He just had to hold on long enough to survive this madness. And then he was going to kill whoever had done this. His Entity, the Master of Endings had assured him that he would emerge as the sole victor of this Contest. He had left his worlds unprotected to come here, his family, his heritage all hung in the balance. He would not fail!
Duke, for his part, split his attention between creating more and more dungeon monsters and speaking with Kreen. The insectoid was in full-blown panic mode as it stopped receiving communication from the rest of the team. It could tell that Varis was still on the network, but all communication had ceased.
“What is going on out there?” Kreen asked.
“They are dying. I don’t think even Varis can survive this.”
“We must help the hive…”
“Oh, feel free to step out there. I’m sure you’ll do better than all the dead Contestants out there.”
Kreen glared at Duke but did not move from its seat. It paused, an idea coming to its mind, “You got me to agree to withdraw from the Contest and now there will only be you and Varis left. Did you do this?”
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“What an interesting question. Do you really think it is possible for me to summon thousands of dungeon monsters out of the blue? That seems a bit far-fetched, doesn’t. My question for you is this, though. Are you truly going to withdraw? Even if Varis falls and it is just the two of us left?”
“Unlike so many other races, we are bound by our word. Once given, it is absolute. I would have already withdrawn if it was possible. I will cede victory to you whenever it becomes possible to do so.”
Duke had been watching Varis closely with his CLAIRVOYANCE. The press of dungeon monsters had not let up and the top Contestant was beginning to falter, beginning to lose control of his annihilation field. Twice now, it had flickered, allowing an attack to reach him. His wounds were slowly healing but he was starting to sag. Only a matter of time before he runs out of juice and they finish him. I had better get full credit for these kills.
“Then I will graciously accept your withdrawal from the Contest as soon as you are able to do so.”
“I do have questions for you, Duke. You came to the Contest so late that no one had time to figure out who you are and where you came from. How did you rise so quickly?”
“I came from a world on the edge of the Cosmos, a nothing place. As to how I rose so quickly? I’m lucky, I guess. Some people made some ill-advised moves and challenged me. They lost and my point total rose. The most blatant was Vexxorr. They grew way too arrogant in their easy success sitting outside the city gate and collecting points from the hapless creatures that tried to get past them. I just happened to have the perfect counter to them.”
“How did you know how to counter them? So many tried and so many died as a result.”
“I bought my information from an exceptional source. Something everyone here should have done.”
As they spoke, Varis’ field flickered off for a full second, allowing dozens of attacks to land. His field flickered back on briefly before the grievous wounds he had taken caught up with him. Seconds later, his field expired for good and the communications network was down to two.
Kreen ended the contact and looked over to Duke, “I guess it is just us then, unless there is a blue team member still alive out there.”
Duke shrugged and TELEPORTED the blue flag from his INVENTORY to the ceiling above his head. The flag fell down where he was easily able to catch it. The look in Kreen’s multifaceted eyes spoke volumes. It was unsure of the situation, whether Duke had caused the flag to appear or if it was somehow Zyphor the Arbiter’s doing.
He did not have time to question Duke as Zyphor appeared in the lobby with the two of them. The winged host spoke with radiating pride, “Congratulations red team. You have won this competition.” There was a pause while a look of confusion passed over his features before he continued, “There seems to only be two of you left in this Contest. That makes the next few rounds nearly impossible to run.”
“If I may,” Kreen interrupted Zyphor. He received a nod in response. “I am ceding victory to Duke here, as I vowed to do.”
“Are you certain?”
“My vow is sacrosanct. I will not change my decision.”
“Very well, this Contest is officially over. Our winner is Duke, sponsored by the Overmind. Our runner-up is Kreen, sponsored by the Queen of All. As no other of the top one hundred survived to this point, the remaining prizes are forfeit. Prepare for transit to the Sanctuary City arena where the official awards ceremony will be held.”
Kreen looked over to Duke, questions burning in his eyes but unwilling to ask them. Duke did not answer the unasked questions but instead spent his time before transit going through notifications.
*** Congratulations, you have killed sixteen more Contestants. You receive 6,134,750 (6,478,225) experience. You are now level 160 and have 1,400 Character Points to spend. ***
Duke paused his notifications to allocate his points to Psyche. Immediately, the pressure in his mind retreated to the point it was barely noticeable. He released a pent-up breath and went back to his notifications with a smile on his face. As he did so, he felt something shift in his subconscious. He wasn’t sure what it was but he felt better than he had for some time.
*** You have increased some of your Abilities.
Your DUNGEON ENGINEERING has increased to Master 72
Your MENTAL FORTITUDE has ranked up to Master 2
Your CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Practiced 17
You have emerged victorious from the Cosmic Contest. The rewards for this will be revealed to you at the award ceremony. Congratulations on winning this in the most unconventional way ever. ***
As Duke finished reading the relevant notifications, he was transported out of the dungeon and into a familiar room with its starfield-based décor. The Overmind floated before him and his XENOGLOSSIA showed him a sense of pride and anticipation. When he spoke, Duke could hardly believe what he was told.
“Duke, I have evacuated the city of everyone you showed any kindness or friendliness towards and those who supported you. They will not be part of what is to come next.”
“What are you talking about?”
The Overmind continued, “This is what you must do…”
Duke stared at the starfield around him in shock as the Overmind relayed the plan and Duke’s role in it. The very thought of it made his head pound with waves of pressure as his subconscious awoke once more, straining against Duke’s own MENTAL FORTITUDE to break free.
When they were joined by the Eye of Infinity who reiterated what the Overmind had laid out, declaring that it was how things must end here, Duke still resisted the idea. When the Eye of Infinity leapt into Duke’s mind and showed him what would happen should he not follow the plan he balked.
Can I really go through with this? Either path is horrible. Duke’s thoughts swirled as his stress level rose. This was locked in his mind as he CLEANSED and RESTORED himself moments before the transit to the stadium and the award ceremony.