MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

The event continued for two more days and came to a conclusion with the complete destruction of seven kingdoms and the near destruction of three of the strongest kingdoms.

Alex's team earned a total of 31 million points, but with the ten million penalty and no performance points because of their kingdom destruction, their final ranking for the third stage was twenty-seventh, yet their overall ranking was not affected.

The Olympian guild was ranked second, with them only having 19 million fewer points than Shadow Oblivion, but that didn't mean they had the second closest chance at victory because, in truth, all top ten teams had a similar chance of becoming the champion.

The only thing that would matter in the final battle would be contribution, so regardless of how spectacularly one performs, their ranking will be based solely on their contribution.

At the moment, Alex and the team were standing inside the invisible room above the mythical island that had undergone many changes, but now, once again, it was back to its lush and otherworldly appearance, with all its diverse elemental biomes on display.

"This is fascinating, as it does appear much different from elemental energy," Alex said, looking at the pitch-dark finger as he scanned it with his unique eyes.

"I have tried releasing the mana through just my void fingertips, but it always fails because the void energy makes the mana react much quicker than normal, in turn overpowering it, making the spell collapse or removing my control over space," Venedikt said, making his figure return to normal.

Venedikt had shared the discovery of the new energy that, while very minute, circulated through his veins and coexisted with the mana, not changing it nor reacting with it.

Yet when Venedikt manipulated it and focussed it on his figure tip, it came to a life of its own, removing all the present mana automatically oozing out of his figure and changing its form.

The strangest thing was that this phenomenon only happened when he focussed it on the figure tip of his hands, as he tried it on his feet, eyes, ears, and even his heart.

Venedikt could sense the much quicker reaction of mana and concluded that it could also provide some enhancement to the spell because of how little the mana was wasted, but it was all speculation until he could execute a spell.

"I hope you can learn to wield it quickly, as it will surely be beneficial to you and the same to you, Andrei," Alex said as he shifted his eyes back to the vast island.

"Brother, I have a question for you," Andrei said, and Alex welcomed his brother's inquiry with a nod.

"I understand that winning the event is very important, but don't you think you should have kept some of your cards hidden, knowing the players are not your competition," Andrei asked, knowing enough about his brother to know he was not a showoff.

"While I was hoping to keep my true strength hidden, it's not every day I am forced into situations that make me push my limits, giving me the chance to grow past them,"

"And, revealing everything would be a problem if I stopped growing stronger, and knowing the figures I am up against, even an unlimited trump card will fail whether those opponents are prepared for it or not," Alex said, not revealing the little trick he had kept hidden in the form of soul attacks, even though the chances of it working then it not working were similar.

"It's starting," Alex said, shifting his eyes to Zero, who appeared in the distance in his usual tuxedo.

"Ladies and Gentleman, Esteemed participants, I welcome you all to the final stage of our thrilling event,"

"The event has given us incredible moments of both thrill and tension, gave us rising stars, gave you all rooting for the proven dominates or the less recognized underdogs, and let's hope that the final stage would surpass what we have seen so far," Zero said, his voice robust with authority, surged forth like a tide of contagious excitement, reverberating through the immersive virtual experience, captivating all who heard it with its commanding presence.

"The fourth and final stage will be one of hunt, one of competition, and one of flashy and hard battles, pushing every team to their limits, but it would also be one of patience, trust, and teamwork,"

"In the final stage, there will be two hundred wild 7★ star mythical creatures spawned all over the island, with their strength ranging from early Sixth Rank to pseudo Elemental Ruler and depending on the difficulty and their strength, points will be rewarded,"

"The goal of the stage will be to hunt all of the two hundredcreatures, and at the end of it, the team with the most points will become the champion of this event,"

"The champion team will earn the bonus of 250 Million event points, with the runner-ups earning 125 million, third a hundred million, fourth-ranked 70 million, and the remaining ranks receiving ten million less than the team ranked higher than them, with the tenth and the last one earning ten million," Zero said, and after a small pause continued.

"However, if the players fail to kill all two hundred creatures, a single 8★ creature will pawn whose strength will rival any top tier peak Seventh Rank individual, yet he will not be capable of using open or closed Elemental Domain but he will not be weak by any means,"

"To keep the spirit of the competition alive, teams could kill each other, but if the final summoned creature is not killed, then the crew with the highest points will be declared the winner, and if defeated, then point distribution will be according to the contribution,"

"The night and day cycle will remain normal, and all the normal services will be available," Zero said, and after letting everyone get comfortable with the info, he continued.

"Let the final game begin," Zero said, and with that, all of the eighty-four teams that had survived the last round of elimination got teleported to the island in various familiar yet also different surroundings.

"Well, he didn't throw us into five different locations, so that's good," Andrei uttered as he took a breath full of poisonous mist permeating the air.

"The creatures are not marked on the map, and nor is there any service available to locate them, so it seems the final big fight with all groups on the same side is inevitable," Venedikt said after checking his question the moment he was free to do so.

"It just means we need to find a hunting dog to locate the 7★ creatures," Alex said, his gaze scanning the surrounding world in black and white.

Alex knew that while the final fight was inevitable, he could farm marks by killing 7★ creatures because each of them would give, on average, half a million points, and the best way to locate them was by controlling one of their own.

The island didn't just have two hundred creatures, but just like before, it had creatures ranging from 1★ to 7★, and there was a whole ecosystem with bustling clans and territories belonging to the strong creature, and the intelligent beast knew a lot of their surroundings, making them the best guides.