Guild Wars

Essence's halberd came swinging down on Loving Aunt, coated with enough Void Energy to even split a Cockatrice in half. She could only call out her Blue Water Adder to shield her, letting it take the fall for this hit as she retreated rapidly. 

Essence tsked but gave chase. 

As for the other arrow Tunder fired, it disappeared into the folds of space, becoming invisible, until it suddenly popped out and struck its target right in the forehead with them being able to react. 

The unlucky one was Selena, the summoner with the Serpent God Inheritance! 

She was currently using her summoned serpent to fight against the other two members of the Mexican team while being helped by the two psych ladies. 

Their goal was to eliminate them as fast as possible so they could deal with the troublesome trio of Tunder, Uno, and Essence using their full power. However, one thing they were ignorant of was that a true archer was a team's most powerful field controller. 

With their hawk-like eyes that could trace all the events of a battlefield, how could they miss such advances? They would easily be able to fire an arrow or two to disrupt you and give their teammates the opportunity they needed, which was exactly what Tunder had just done. 

To follow that up, he fired off three of his Epic Arrows. 

Two of them hurtled towards one of the psychic twins each and the final one at Uno. The Psychic twins were alarmed by the incoming arrow and Apported away. They were smart enough not to try and stop it with Telekinesis lest there be some trick involved. 

… in truth, there was. 

However, Tunder was well aware of the abilities of the Guildmaster, including Apportation. He stomped and let the arrows that were heading towards the girls explode, turning into two electrical swords that angeled towards them. 

The girls paled and Apported once more, but it was futile as the electric swords tracked them. Its speed also made sure that they wouldn't get a chance to Apport again, so they could only throw up whatever psychic barriers they could hastily. 

As one could imagine, this was useless. The swords smashed apart the barriers, making the two ladies spit blood, then pierced Evelina in the chest and head. 

Serafina was shocked and horrified. She had thought it would be one for each of them, which would definitely take a toll, but they would certainly survive it. 

However, Tunder wasn't someone who took chances. He was going in for the kill. He had made use of their assumptions to remove one of the two troublemakers. 

As for Selena, she had lost more than 85% of her HP after being struck by that Legendary Arrow. The girl was lucky that Spatio was more of an ambush/disruption arrow than an offensive one, else she would have been one-shot. 

This was enough for the other two Mexican team members to regain their footing and retaliate. In the meantime, Tunder checked up on Uno who he had sent a buffing arrow towards, seeing that the fellow was now in a false berserk state. 

He was like Boyd, with a red aura around him as his size swelled by three times, and his eyes were bloodshot. His power and speed had significantly increased, putting great pressure on Lucian who could barely keep up now. 

The fellow was beaten and bruised so bad that one could see the marks even on his red skin thanks to the Horned Demon True Body. The bell hammer continued to strike him all over while all his hits met Uno's shield, frustrating him to no end. 

No matter how fast Lucian adapted to Uno, Uno was also adapting to Lucian. Since the beginning, the advantage had been with Uno and he left the Lineage member no hope for a comeback. 

The poor guy felt like a piece of ingot being molded by a master blacksmith, only that he wasn't actually being refined, just destroyed. 

As for Loving Aunt, she was on the verge of defeat against Essence who was not showing mercy. She had lost both of her snakes, leaving her to fight on her own and rely on her poison. 

The inevitable problem was that Essence was usually in his Inner Universe, so the poison had no effect on him. He easily drove her to the edge of the arena and stood there coldly. 

"Aunt, please make this easy on both of us and go down voluntarily." Essence requested with a thin smile. 

Loving Aunt licked her lips dangerously and observed the battle. Evelina was already dead. Selena and Serafina were just like her, cornered and about to be kicked out, while Lucian was being beaten like a dog by Uno. 

On the other hand, Mexico still had its full team intact. 

Loving Aunt could only sigh and with a depressed expression signaled to the others. The next moment, all of them got off the stage simultaneously. 

The moment the match came to an end, the crowd erupted in cheers as they chanted 'Mexico!', as well as the names o the individual fighters. The five congregated in the center of the arena and smiled at the cameras. 

Essence and co raised their hands in victory, smiling widely, full of confidence and valor. 

Final match winner: Mexico! 

"And that brings a conclusive end to our Group Tournament Competition! Let's give a round of applause for our winners, Mexico!" Amber prompted, then waited for the applause to die down. 

She then continued as she brought up a few screens with a wave of her hand. "Now, lets us take a look at the rankings and scoreboard!" 

1st – Mexico: 1st Place, 5000 points. 

2nd – Italy: 2nd Place, 4900 points. 

3rd – France: 3rd Place, 4800 points. 

4th – India: 4th Place, 4700 points. 

5th – England: 5th Place, 4600 points. 

6th – Canada: 6th Place, 4500 points. 

7th – Japan: 7th Place, 4400 points. 

8th – Central Country: 8th Place, 4300 points. 

9th – Brazil: 9th Place, 4200 points. 

10th – Morocco: 10th Place, 4100 points. 

11th – Korea: 11th Place, 4000 points. 

12th – Russia: 12th Place, 3900 points. 

13th – Ghana: 13th Place, 3800 points. 

14th – Poland: 14th Place, 3700 points. 

15th – China: 15th Place, 3600 points. 

16th – Ukraine: 16th Place, 3500 points. 

17th – South Africa: 17th Place, 3400 points. 

18th – Singapore: 18th Place, 3300 points. 

19th – Portugal: 19th Place, 3200 points. 

20th – Germany: 20th Place, 3100 points. 

21st – Turkey: 21st Place, 3000 points. 

22nd – Spain: 22nd Place, 2900 points. 

23rd – Switzerland: 23rd Place, 2800 points. 

24th – Philippines: 24th Place, 2700 points. 

25th – Croatia: 25th Place, 2600 points. 

26th – Egypt: 26th Place, 2500 points. 

27th – Argentina: 27th Place, 2400 points. 

28th – Nigeria: 28th Place, 2300 points. 

29th – Australia: 29th Place, 2200 points. 

30th – Colombia: 30th Place, 2100 points. 

31st – Vietnam: 31st Place, 2000 points. 

32nd – Denmark: 32nd Place, 1900 points. 

"With the scores for the Group Tournament out, let's see how it affects the country rankings!" Amber announced as she waved her hand, changing the screen in display. 

｢First Inter-Player International Competition 

Country Rankings Top 15 (Overall): 

1. England - 64,010 points (-) 

2. Central Country - 59,817 points (-)   

3. Canada - 58,524 points (-) 

4. France - 56,599 points (-) 

5. Mexico - 52,888 points (-) 

6. Japan - 51,083 points (-) 

7. India - 51,005 points (-) 

8. Ghana - 42,809 points (-) 

9.  Italy - 42,573 points (+1) 

10. China - 42,396 points (-1) 

11. Brazil - 38,645 points (-) 

12. Russia - 36,928 points (-) 

13. Germany - 33,743 points (-) 

14. Scotland - 31,655 points (-) 

15. Spain - 29,297 points (-)｣ 

Around the top, there weren't many big changes. Just a few countries closing the gap, but England still stood strong at first place. Italy managed to surmount China, an event which was not that demeaning to China compared to being beaten by Japan, but meant a huge deal behind the scenes. 

Many were excited to see more. The Tournament wasn't over for sure, only standing on its last legs. Amber hovered above the crowd as she spoke. 

"Next, we have the Quality Battle and the Picking Game. These two are the last non-combat events before we use tomorrow as a rest and preparation day for the all-important raid on the final day!" 

Amber clapped her hands and removed the arena from the stage, changing the landscape into a sort of auction-like house. A few hundred NPCs of extreme clothing and seemingly great repute sat there, their eyes focused on the podium before them. 

The Quality Battle was not a direct competition, but a grading scheme. Here, all the creations and works of those in the first four categories would be graded and those who had the highest quality creations would rank as winners. 

"The NPCs you see here are the best in their respective Tradeskills and fields across the entire Boundless World. They cannot see or interact with any of you and have been contracted by us to perform this task, so do not try to interfere with them. Not only will it not work, but your country will automatically be banned from the competition." Amber announced with a cruel glint in her eyes, as if she was desperately hoping that someone would try so that she could make an example out of them. 

This worked counter-intuitively though, as no one got up to be the fool here. Amber could only tsk in disappointment and wave her hand lazily. 

"The event will begin soon. Each item made by a country's player will be graded by the appraisers for points, and this will be cumulatively added to your nation's points for the final score!" 

Amber folded her arms, and the arena was forcibly silenced, allowing everyone to hear the things being said by the NPC appraisers within. 

The Quality Battle had begun! 

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Author's Note: To show you the power of Flex Tape, I sawed this chapter in half!

Second one coming later.. Time for a nap.