Bradley: "Stop pretending, I've already taken care of my side."
Ruby: "Stop acting like you're all that. A mere Earth Dragon Mage boss is nothing to be afraid of. One set of Dragon Blood Hero gear, and I'm set."
The two siblings fought hard and won their respective battles in the arena.
Ruby had good luck as the boss she faced specialized in magic attacks, which was perfectly countered by her hidden job's magic damage reduction.
As for Bradley, his opponent was the Xian family's Centurion, a level 50 lord-class monster with enhanced health and rapid health regeneration. Fortunately, Bradley was a Light-Dark Sword Saint, and with his light sword amplifying his abilities and the dark sword adding deadly power, he slowly wore down the lord through debuffs like defense and attack reduction and bleeding effects, ultimately winning with the absurdly powerful life-steal ability.
After the battle, Bradley was rewarded with a level 50 legendary sword and five pieces of level 50 hero-tier armor.
Meanwhile, in the Female Dorm God area, someone shouted with pride: "Quentin, we'll meet again some other time! You're a worthy opponent!"
The earth mage named Quentin screamed angrily, "Get lost! Crazy priest, I've never seen someone like you!"
As one of the top mages in the Unmatched guild, Quentin had never been humiliated like this before. He thought that with his flying mount infused with phoenix blood, taking down a priest from the Godslayer guild would be a breeze.
At the beginning of the fight, Quentin had a huge advantage. He flew in the air, spamming his skills on Stewart and nearly killing him several times. But then something unexpected happened.
A giant goat suddenly emerged from Stewart's side, its size increasing tenfold. The goat blocked every attack from Quentin, and as it took damage, its health didn't decrease—in fact, it started to regenerate!
The more Quentin attacked, the more the goat seemed to enjoy it, its health growing instead of falling. After exhausting his mana and being pushed to the brink of defeat, Stewart managed to survive until the gladiatorial match ended.
Inside Godslayer guild, there was another dramatic scene, the "Slave Contract Battle."
"Goddamn, scum! Give me back my gear!" Ride Donkey yelled.
God of Iron Cavalry shot back, "What's your problem? You're the one who ran into me. You want the guild leader position? Show me your power, don't talk nonsense."
The two went head-to-head in a two-and-a-half-minute long heated argument, and then immediately launched into combat. Ride Donkey, having learned from their previous encounter, focused on dodging Iron Cavalry's magic shield counterattacks. He used precise movement and positioning to land several successful strikes.
But Iron Cavalry was relentless, stacking multiple buffs using potions and food, boosting his damage resistance and attack power. The advantage he gained through his shield counterattack was too much for Ride Donkey, and despite his best efforts, he was ultimately overwhelmed and killed.
"Anger Blood Gladiatorial Battle has ended!" the system announced.
"All defeated players/NPCs and units will be forced to exit the Celestial Fortress!"
As the blood-red sky slowly faded away, thousands of white lights shot into the heavens, signaling the forced return of players to their nearest city spawn points.
On the ground, many NPC soldiers lay lifeless, and numerous players who had barely escaped alive drank potions to restore their health. It was clear that this battle had been incredibly tough.
Reaver: "This can't be! This isn't possible!!!"
A seemingly ordinary warrior player walked out of the arena, casually wielding a pair of legendary battle blades. In the most unexpected turn of events, this low-level B-class player had just defeated Reaver, one of the strongest A-class enchanted warriors in SSR!
Wild Gale: "Nothing's impossible. You're strong, no doubt, but I'm even stronger."
"Reaver... lost to a B-class?" DonutWizard couldn't believe his eyes. He was shocked beyond words, his gaze locked on Wild Gale.
Reaver, an A-class player, known as an elite of SSR, had just been defeated by Wild Gale, a player who had been booted from Dragon's Kiss Guild.
"This... this can't be happening..."
"Did Reaver get played? Or is it that... he's just not in his best form today?"
"And the Guild Leader lost too? Did he run into a Dragon or something?"
Other top-tier SSR players were equally stunned. Of the players at the top of their guild's rankings, only DonutWizard had managed to survive the gladiatorial space. The others were either dead or on the verge of defeat.
"How could Reaver lose to him?" someone muttered. "Wild Gale is a god-tier coach in our guild. Even though Reaver might have a higher rank, Wild Gale's expertise in the warrior class allows him to handle those matches with ease."
Heartbroken Loli smiled brightly and walked over to Wild Gale, surrounded by Iron Cavalry, Absolute Kid, and other top players, effectively cornering the remaining SSR members.
Godslayer guild had many players who had received guidance from Wild Gale, including some of the top amateurs. With his deep understanding of the warrior class, Wild Gale could manipulate every detail of combat and fight as if the world itself were his to control. Even with a low-tier awakening class, as long as he had good gear, Wild Gale could dominate any battle.
DonutWizard gritted his teeth and surveyed the situation. The enemies had fewer numbers, but they were almost entirely unscathed. On the other hand, SSR and other guilds had lost a significant number of players.
"Are you feeling tough because you have numbers?" DonutWizard sneered, his eyes flashing with killing intent. He started to summon his magic, and a six-pointed star glowed ominously above him.
Iron Cavalry quickly raised his shield wall to block DonutWizard's magic.
SSR-ICEMAN: "Annly, the Guild Leader says retreat! Don't fight here!"
DonutWizard clenched his teeth, realizing that this wasn't a fight they could win. Over half of the SSR players had died in the gladiatorial space, and the losses for Unmatched were even worse.
In contrast, Godslayer had barely suffered any casualties. Even though they weren't a large guild, they seemed practically unstoppable.
With the Celestial Fortress countdown nearing zero, Madman narrowed his eyes and made a quick decision.
"Let's pull back and regroup in the secret realm," he said. "We're not going to waste time fighting here. We need to stay alert for potential ambushes from other forces."
Just then, several massive shadows appeared in the sky, heading straight for their location. They were lower-tier dragons, heading straight towards them.
With the power core now under control, the Celestial Fortress was still at risk of being lost in less than two hours.
"It's better not to fight the dragons head-on," Madman muttered, concern evident in his voice. "We'll head back and regroup. No sense in charging in."
As they moved, the scene suddenly shifted. Orson, riding the Crimson Lizard King, hovered in the air, surveying the area. He was waiting for a barrier to be broken by his underlings.
The battle to control the Celestial Fortress was still ongoing, but as the clock ticked down, all forces were positioning themselves for the final showdown.
"Who's throwing a boss like this at me?" Orson suddenly exclaimed, spotting a massive boss crashing down in front of him.
"A Six-Winged Inferno Dragon?! Who in their right mind throws a nearly-dead holy boss at my feet?" he cursed, his smile turning to a grimace. "This is just too much!"