Novel Full Chapter 531: King of the Hill
Chapter 531: King of the Hill
Just a minute before the scheduled start, Klein appeared in the air above the holding area.
He hovered effortlessly, his green eyes sweeping across the gathered qualifiers as he did a final headcount. His expression remained calm and approachable.
After confirming that all two hundred participants were present, he descended slightly and began.
"Welcome back, everyone. I trust you all managed to get some rest after yesterday’s first stage. Whether you slept well or didn’t sleep at all, the second stage begins now, and your performance from this point forward is what determines whether you make the cut to the next stage."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"Two hundred of you stand here. Only one hundred and twenty-eight will advance beyond today’s stage. That means many of you will not be moving on. Don’t take that personally. Most people would never reach this point in their entire careers, and many of you will go on to do extraordinary things even if today doesn’t end the way you hoped. But for now, focus on what you can control. Fight hard. Survive. And make it count.
Based on your performance today, you will likely be recruited by powerful groups, if you aren’t part of one already, which would provide you with many benefits."
Klein gestured forward, "Now follow me. The arena is ready and the spectators are waiting for you."
Klein turned and rose higher into the air, beginning his slow drift toward the main arena. The two hundred qualifiers followed behind him.
When they arrived at the open arena, the crowd immediately grew restless.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators, filling every row of the stadium. The cheering rose to a deafening roar as the qualifiers entered, banners waving, names being chanted, the entire venue filled with anticipation.
Klein hovered above the central platform and raised his hand. The noise died down slowly, the spectators closing their mouths.
"Citizens of New Avalon. Distinguished guests from across the kingdom. Welcome to the second stage of the Spirit Art Tournament."
A fresh wave of cheering exploded across the stands. Klein raised his hand, and the crowd settled down.
"Yesterday, two thousand of the kingdom’s strongest young Evolvers entered the bracket. Through twenty-four hours of combat, that number was reduced to two hundred. The competitors you see standing before you today are the elite. The survivors who had proven to the world that they are the best of the best."
The crowd cheered again.
"Today, we will reduce them further. Of the two hundred standing before you, only one hundred and twenty-eight will advance to the next round. Seventy-two will be eliminated by the end of this stage. The battles you are about to witness will be the most demanding the bracket has seen yet."
Klein smiled, the energy in the arena swelling around him.
"Without further delay, let me explain the second stage."
He raised his hand. From beneath the arena floor, the structures rose.
Two hundred massive earth pillars erupted from the ground in one movement, the rumble of their ascent shaking the entire stadium.
Each pillar was a wide, flat-topped column of dense earth, it was large enough for a single competitor to stand on with reasonable space.
The pillars rose to about three meters in height, spread across the arena floor in a grid pattern with considerable distance between each one.
The crowd gasped at the spectacle.
Klein continued, his voice carrying easily across the arena.
"The rules are simple. You will be playing King of the Hill."
He gestured to the pillars.
"Each of you will be assigned a pillar. Your only job is to make sure your pillar remains standing by the end of the stage. The pillars are made of reinforced earth and have a substantial durability pool. They can take significant punishment, but they are not indestructible. The more damage your pillar accumulates over the course of the round, the lower your ranking will be at the end."
He paused.
"Teaming up is not allowed. Any cooperation between competitors will result in immediate disqualification of both parties involved. This is a free-for-all. You are alone on your pillar. The only relationships that matter today are attacker and defender."
The crowd murmured with rising excitement.
"In case less than seventy two pillars are destroyed, then the remaining competitors whose pillars have the least durability remaining at the end of the stage will be eliminated. The remaining one hundred and twenty-eight will advance. Among those, the top ten by pillar health, and competitors eliminated will be ranked highest going into the third stage."
Klein smiled wider.
"You will be given five minutes to assess your pillar, choose your position, and prepare. After that, the stage begins. Good luck."
Klein drifted upward and away from the central platform, leaving the qualifiers to find their pillars.
Moon had already analysed the pillar formation during Klein’s speech.
The pillars formed a precise grid across the arena floor. The grid was symmetric, which meant every pillar had effectively the same defensive value on paper. But not every pillar was equal in practice.
Pillars near the edges of the grid only had neighbors on two or three sides. Pillars near the center had neighbors on all four. That meant edge pillars faced fewer angles of incoming attack, while center pillars were exposed in every direction. On the surface, edge pillars looked safer.
But edge pillars also drew attention. Everyone running toward the edges would create clusters of strong fighters near the boundaries. The neighbors there would be the most aggressive, the most prepared, and likely the most willing to deal with the difficulty of taking down a defended pillar.
The corners were even worse. Two sides only, which meant the corner competitors would become priority targets for everyone with line of sight, since taking out a corner pillar meant one less angle to worry about going forward.
Moon’s eyes moved to a specific spot.
A pillar near the middle, slightly off-center.
The competitors that had already darted to occupy the positions closest to it weren’t the strongest fighters in the bracket.
Moon broke into a run, his legs pushing off the arena floor with explosiveness. Around him, most of the other qualifiers were doing the same thing, sprinting for their preferred positions across the grid.
Halfway to his chosen pillar, Moon noticed movement converging on his target position.
’You will not be taking this one...’ Moon thought.