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"Co on, guys, do your best." Cedric chuckled as he stabbed another guy, leaving one less enemy to deal with.
Only 22 are left.
He could sense them struggling, especially up this close. They’re probably exerting effort like they haven’t before just to get rid of this restriction.
It’s not going to be easy, but Cedric was rooting for them.
Also, he didn’t just sense their struggle. He could also sense their annoyance and irritation towards him.
They’re probably resenting him for playing with them like this. Because everybody knew he could’ve damn well ended everything right here and now, yet he’s doing this instead. In their eyes, his actions must look like a deliberate attempt to make them look bad in the eyes of other people and humiliate them.
But in Cedric’s mind, it’s different. He’s doing this out of fairness.
If we were to look back on it, wasn’t this exactly what they were trying to do to him in the beginning of this match?
They went out of their way to rewrite the rules of this world, turning it hostile towards him. Then they proceeded to bully him with their numbers.
Well, ’bullying’ might be a strong word to describe it. Could the situation even be described as such if it never worked?
Regardless, that’s what they tried to do to him. They didn’t succeed, but they sure hoped to, at the very least.
And Cedric has always reciprocated what he received from other people. If they treat him with kindness and respect, then he shall do the sa; sotis, he’d even go above and beyond if he truly likes them.
Obviously, he responds the sa to negativity.
Cedric never tries to start any conflict, but he often tis ends it.
The sa thing is happening now.
He’s just returning the treatnt he received from them. They used this world against him. If they could do that, then he could do it too.
In fact, he’s already being rciful here. Because in truth? He could’ve done way worse. All the reality warping they did using their combined efforts? He could do it too, even way better than all of them combined. He could’ve easily reversed the overwrite, making this world incredibly hostile to them instead. He could even make it so much worse by amplifying the concept laws here, elevating them to the Great Law level, and making their lives a living hell the longer they stayed here.
But he didn’t do that. Instead, he just cut off their concept of motion. That’s incredibly ta compared to what they tried to do to him, yet here they were, struggling to break free.
If this wasn’t rcy, then what else could it be?
Schick!
Cedric’s sword stabbed another one, bringing the enemy count down to 21.
By now, they should’ve noticed that Cedric was being thodical. He’s eliminating people based on their ranking, going for the lowest ranked first and proceeding from there.
And he’s taking his ti doing this. Everybody knew that he could’ve ended them all within a single second, especially with them being immobilized like this.
As much as they’d love to believe that it shouldn’t be this easy for him, that maybe the reason why he’s going so slow is because he’s burned out too, and that could be their chance to turn the situation around, the awful truth is what was forced down their throat.
Cedric was simply too strong for them to handle.
21, 20, 19...
One by one, they fell. And the more of them that got eliminated, the heavier the pressure they felt. They also felt more anxiety and urgency to break out of whatever restriction he placed on them.
Alas, without understanding exactly what kind of restriction was imposed upon us, the harder it is to get rid of it.
If they couldn’t even identify the problem, how can they solve it?
Fortunately, the top 25 weren’t all incompetent. At the very least, a few of them realized what Cedric did to them and already knew how to break free.
So realized it quicker than the rest; others were slower.
But see, recognizing it was the beginning, not the solution. Having the ability to recognize the problem was impressive, but it’s aningless if they don’t have the ability to solve it.
And unfortunately for so, this was exactly their problem. They recognized how he immobilized them but were completely unable to do anything about it simply because the skill level required to undo whatever he did was sothing they don’t have.
And so, they could only sigh in bitterness as they awaited their turn on his blade.
18, 17, 16...
Their numbers kept dropping, and still, nothing has changed.
The more he eliminated, the more despair they felt. Their desperation was so intense that even the audience could feel it.
It also didn’t help that the livestream added special effects to make the scene more terrifying than it’s supposed to be. They dimd the colors and focused on the terrified and anxious eyes of the immobilized people. They also increased the shading of Dawnbringer’s rendered image, making him look scarier and intimidating as he slowly but surely stabbed his opponents one by one with a smile on his face.
They’re making him look like a deranged madman just for the sake of entertainnt.
But as Cedric was about to bring his enemy count down to a single digit, a change finally occurred.
Pah!!
A soft yet unmistakable popping sound was heard. But before anybody could see exactly what happened, Dawnbringer was attacked.
The blow wasn’t deadly. Cedric easily received it and was completely uninjured. However, he also knew that the attack wasn’t ant to kill him; it only served to push him away, and that it certainly did.
Cedric smiled and didn’t do anything. He didn’t even continue to approach them.
The one who broke free was none other than the person who took 1st place in this round. His na was Fabros, which might very likely be his real na rather than a codena.
Fabros was a genius who was supported by many people. And really, if Cedric wasn’t here, he could’ve been the brightest star of this tournant.
Alas, it wasn’t ant to be. Fabros gave it his all. He participated in this tournant thinking that he’d be the center of attention, only to be proven wrong on multiple occasions.
With Cedric here, Fabros could only be in second place. That’s already been proven during the first and second rounds.
When Fabros discovered the sheer gap between him and Dawnbringer, he was overwheld with unwillingness and despair. He couldn’t accept it at first, but there’s no way he could refute it either.
It was vexing to be compared to Dawnbringer. And it’s even more painful to him because he sincerely believed that he’d be the biggest surprise in this tournant, the best of them all. Being proven wrong was both humiliating and painful.
The plot twist in the final round didn’t make him happy either; it wasn’t even remotely comforting. Fabros has indeed taken the first place finally, but it felt incredibly cheap.
It’s like they told him, ’Alright, damn! Here! Take the first place for now and stop crying.’
They said they did it for flair and dramatics, to prevent the tournant from becoming boring and stale. To him, this was bullshit. And a slap in his face that he’s forced to take and was expected to be thankful for.
And the worst part? This Dawnbringer dude was nice. That’s the worst part.
Because you see, Fabros was born with the ability to sense good and evil from people. This talent saved him countless tis and took him all the way to where he is right now.
The virtual world perfectly assimilated this talent too, aning that his talent works in the virtual world the sa way as it does in the real world. It has been proven and tested multiple tis, so he’s certain of it.
And Dawnbringer was a really nice guy. From startupto this point, Dawnbringer hasn’t shown even an ounce of malice or ill intent against them. He was warm, kind, and gentle. Hell, he could even be worshipped as a saint if others could sense him the sa way he could.
He wished that he could show so arrogance or malice, because at least that way, his frustrations could have an outlet, but no, he couldn’t even be angry at him even though he wished that he could.
Fabros lanted that he wasn’t as strong and as talented as Dawnbringer. Alas, his feelings won’t magically solve his problems.
After breaking free from his restrictions, Fabros pushed Cedric back.
His goal wasn’t to confront him on his own. That won’t work; he will die before he could do anything worthwhile. That much he understood. And that’s why he only pushed him back.
Because at this distance, he could at least help his teammates break free from their restrictions too, and maybe, just maybe, they could give this another shot.
Fabros had co too far to back down now. He swore that he’d fight tooth and nail for the first place, and if that ans working with others to get what he wanted, so be it.
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