"What?! Why did Rain attack the fairies?"
"Has he gone mad?"
"F*ck that idiot! He got kicked out!"
A commotion suddenly erupted among the members of TwinThieves. Coarse insults were thrown around. The used language was definitely not something suitable for the ears of children.
Meanwhile on one side of the wall, the guild players remained silent. They felt a suffocating chill spread through the air. Just looking at Sevrance caused their legs to shake. They knew that Rain was in for a harsh scolding after the guild war was over.
Sevrance was gritting his teeth, but he knew that they now had to act quickly if they still wanted to participate in the race for first place. The guild leader messaged one of his members, warning them not to fail, before selecting them as the next candidate.
However, the format of this challenge made it difficult to catch up as the new candidate had to start from question number one. If the other guilds made no mistakes, it would be basically impossible for TwinThieves to recover from this setback.
And the others certainly didn't look like they would slip up any time soon. Infinito's candidate treated each question seriously, browsing the bookshelf if he didn't know the answer. He remained calm throughout, showing the qualities befitting of someone running the intelligence network of a big guild like Infinito.
Glorious Sunrise also appeared calm from the outside although some spectators got suspicious as the man didn't stop reading throughout the challenge. It was impossible to tell if he even advanced in the challenge. Perhaps TwinThieves actually had a chance to catch up to him.
Meanwhile, Liam was clearly unreachable. The spectators didn't know it but after a while Dream Avenue's candidate was already facing the twentieth question.
"Amazing, candidate! This might be a new record. We have already reached the final question!"
"If you get this right, you will complete the challenge successfully, so listen closely:"
"What is the name of the devil who promised to work together with the order faction to push the void out of hell?"
Liam raised his brow upon hearing the final question. This was a well-hidden secret among the order faction. Even if Liam wanted to search for the devil's name in books he wouldn't know where to begin. Only during the big event which would start in a while would the players learn more about this devil. Before that, there would at most be small clues in some obscure lore books.
Luckily, Liam could rely on the memories of his past life, answering calmly:
"Basnimn!"
A realization hit Liam as he spoke this name. Suddenly he was already in this new world for three months and the game had advanced to a point where this devil began showing up. His new life so far had been greatly fulfilling with great friends and a cute little sister.
However, sometimes he couldn't help but think about his old life. He didn't know if he had entered a new world or even an entirely new timeline. Did his old world exist somewhere out there? Were people worrying about him? Did he cause a sensation as people might think he had been kidnapped? Well, in a sense this wasn't wrong…
Just as Laim's thoughts wandered off, the fairies brought him back to reality.
"Wow, wow, wow! This is correct!"
"Candidate, you are so amazing!"
"Oh no, I think I am falling for this candidate!"
"To answer the twentieth question so quickly… simply unbelievable!"
The fairies cheered and danced in the air. Brilliant, magical lights flickered around them creating a celebratory atmosphere. Seeing them like this, even Liam had to smile faintly. The fairies congratulated him for a few seconds longer before sending him back to his guild.
Liam reappeared in the stronghold surrounded by fellow guild members. It took a moment for everyone to realize the situation. But when Dream Avenue's arena turned back to normal while all the others remained the same, loud cheers immediately erupted.
"Haha, Mirage took first place!"
"Mirage! You're the best!"
"He's not only an incredible fighter but also so knowledgeable! Is there something Mirage can't do?"
Dream Avenue's players laughed brightly. The hidden worry disappeared, and a lot of pressure fell off as the guild finally took first place. Now they only had to defend it during the four challenges that were left.
While most members were celebrating, the mood in the core member chat was different.
[Cyclone: Well, Mirage aced the challenge. I would be shocked if literally anything else would have happened.]
[Balm: I know, right? That's just the most expected result ever.]
[Silent Acacia: Perhaps the rule that every player can only be a candidate once was introduced by C to nerf Mirage?]
[Cyclone: Hmm, that's not out of the question.]
Reading through the chat Laim couldn't help but chuckle. He naturally knew that his friends were joking around.
[Bleary Mirage: Well, I'm glad you are that confident in me, but I almost slipped up there. I actually answered a question wrong. One more mistake and I would have been kicked out.]
[Cyclone: Haha, sure. Nice joke.]
[Balm: You know, if you want to make a joke it should at least be somewhat believable.]
[Melodious Edelweiss: I don't understand. It doesn't sound as if Mirage was joking…]
Cyclone and Balm looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. Of course, they believed Liam when he said he made a mistake. They stopped their teasing and inquired earnestly.
While Liam faced the challenge, the rest of the guild had defeated the zombie-throwing ghouls one by one. Thus, his friends were behaving rather leisurely right now. They asked Liam to tell them about the challenge while watching how the other guilds fared.
However, as everyone kept spectating the ongoing challenge, they were more and more astonished by Liam's performance. It took almost five minutes until Infinito's candidate completed the challenge and ended in second place. Before Beast Den and TwinThieves came out, C already announced challenge number thirteen to Dream Avenue.
Cyclone smiled brightly, knowing that using their trump card had paid off massively. She and Balm quickly discussed what to do with the next challenge, which was called 'King of the Arena'.
C asked the guild leaders to choose three teams containing three people each. One would defend Dream Avenue's arena while the other three teams would be sent to the other arenas as attackers.
Realizing that this challenge was involving PvP the two women glanced towards Silent Acacia. Although they were reluctant to send more of Hotpot's members, they knew that if they didn't choose Silent Acacia their friend would definitely be upset for a long time.
Thus, Cyclone and Balm quickly came to a decision. They chose Silent Acacia, Settler, and Lenn the Rightous as the team to defend their arena. As only the defending team mattered in the completion of the challenge, they opted for stronger players here while sending weaker teams to attack the others.
Cyclone and Balm confirmed their selection, and a teleportation sent Silent Acacia, Settler, and Lenn into the arena. C quickly told them the rules of the challenge. Overall, it was rather simple. Each of the other guilds would send one team. Dream Avenue had to defeat them one by one to complete the challenge. Should they lose, they would be kicked out of the guild war.
Watching the big water screen above the arena, Cyclone and Balm could see the smile forming on Silent Acacia's face. They knew they had made the correct decision.
Simultaneously C's voice rang in the ears of all the other guild leaders:
"Please select three candidates to participate in a fight against the team chosen by Dream Avenue. You have 30 seconds before the candidates will be chosen at random."
Instantly the faces of all the guild leaders fell. Especially TwinThieves and Beast Den were shocked as Dream Avenue was now starting with the thirteenth challenge why they themselves hadn't even completed the twelfth challenge.
Fat Tiger gritted his teeth as he chose three players. His eyes didn't leave Glorious Sunrise, cursing inwardly as his fellow guild leader kept reading in the library as if they had all the time in the world.
A short while later Silent Acacia's team faced their first opponents. It was a team of three assassins sent by TwinThieves. As soon as the fight started Silent Acacia and Settler stayed close to their tank Lenn while the assassins went into stealth.
Instantly the atmosphere became tense. Silent Acacia sent out Korn to fly through the battlefield, perhaps forcing the enemies to make a mistake.
And Silent Acacia was indeed lucky. Korn came too close to one of the assassins, forcing them to dodge out of the way. The movement was spotted by Silent Acacia who instantly unleashed his skills at the assassin. Settler joined in and together they nearly killed the opponent.
But at that moment the other assassins saw their chance. They suddenly appeared behind Settler, aiming to take out the mage first. However, Dream Avenue's trio was prepared. Settler instantly used his [Seal of Ice] skill to protect himself while Lenn threw out his dummy to draw the aggro to himself. Silent Acacia continued firing at the first assassin and managed to take him out with Korn's help.