Ten minutes after the second match ended, the third began in quick succession.
Before the match could start, the Sandbox Arena still had to be generated.
Under the gaze of countless spectators, a bizarre environment took shape.
In a sea of boiling magma, enormous bubbles constantly surging to the surface, stood dozens of black pillars, each over a hundred meters tall.
Each pillar was less than a meter in radius. Their tops were smooth, their sides perfectly straight, with nothing to grab onto or cling to.
The appearance of this arena left the spectators stunned. The magma below, bubbling and rolling without end, made for a terrifying sight to human eyes.
“If you fell in there, you’d probably be burned to ash in less than a second...”
That was what most of the human spectators thought.
Just then, the commentator’s voice rang out. To everyone’s dismay, it was still the same guy who had narrated the first two matches.
“Welcome back! This time, the competition arena is the Blazing Rock Platform, another classic arena setting.”
“The two competitors will fight atop dozens of towering pillars. They’ll have to watch out not only for their opponent, but also for the pillar tops, which are so smooth it’s hard to stand on them.”
“If they lose their footing and fall, the flowing magma below, which is hot enough to melt anything, will turn them into part of itself in an instant. How terrifying!”
The commentator’s information gave many human spectators a headache.
It was bad enough that they had to fight while standing on the pillars, but the smooth surfaces raised the demands on a competitor’s balance even further.
Who would be chosen this time?
The seven remaining people from Tianshui Star were all wondering the same thing.
Some wanted to fight, while others prayed they wouldn’t be picked.
After all, every Ascendant had an environment best suited to their fighting style. If the setting didn’t suit them, their combat ability would be greatly reduced.
For some of them, this arena was simply too hostile. They would have to devote a great deal of effort to making sure they didn’t slip off, leaving them unable to focus on the fight.
The teleportation light pillars began rotating. When one fell on Guan Tong, for a brief moment, he thought this time it really would be his turn.
He wasn’t afraid of the arena. The reason was simple: he could fly.
That was right. He didn’t care how slippery the pillars were or how scorching the magma below was. Once the fight began, he could unfurl his Shadow Wings and fly through the air, minimizing the effects of the environment.
But once again, things didn’t go his way.
The teleportation light pillar moved on. Despite the one-in-seven odds, he hadn’t been selected.
Who would it be?
Before long, the teleportation light pillar appeared atop one of the arena’s pillars. The next moment, a huge bird with an odd human face and four massive legs appeared!
“Daqiang, from the Face-Seeking Owl Civilization, has entered the arena!”
As the strange bird named “Daqiang” appeared, the commentator introduced it, and Guan Tong instantly remembered something.
Face-Seeking Owl?
He remembered seeing it in the Gambling Space... That was right!
Guan Tong still remembered that during the Doomsday Rule, Gamble – Hunt for Lives, Life-Hunting Demon’s clone had played a card game against him, betting on whose cards had the higher value. One of the cards bore an image of the Face-Seeking Owl!
He hadn’t expected to see a living creature from that civilization in the Furnace Arena, let alone one appearing as humanity’s opponent.
This was trouble.
Guan Tong looked at the two large, reddish-brown wings on the Face-Seeking Owl’s back, and his heart sank.
He’d just thought that if he entered the arena, his Shadow Wings would let him fly and avoid the disadvantageous terrain.
But now they were up against a creature that could fly with wings of its own. No matter which human faced it, they would be at a disadvantage before the fight even began.
Just then, another beam of teleportation light appeared, enveloping a pillar not far from the Face-Seeking Owl.
When the light faded and the figure emerged, Guan Tong clenched his fists.
Shi Jingyi, dressed in a white martial outfit, stood atop the pillar, calmly watching her opponent.
“The Face-Seeking Owl Civilization’s competitor will face... Shi Jingyi, from the Tianshui Star Civilization!”
The commentator’s booming voice announced the result.
“It’s Shi Jingyi!”
“She got picked this time...”
“Damn it! In an arena like this, she has to face a giant bird monster with wings that can fly. That’s completely unfair to us humans!”
“This is bad. Shi Jingyi was supposed to secure us a victory, but now she’s facing an arena that puts her at a disadvantage. Her odds of winning have dropped considerably.”
The moment Shi Jingyi appeared in the arena, the human spectators erupted.
In the minds of many participants, Guan Tong and Shi Jingyi were sure to bring
</path> home two victories between them!
Now Shi Jingyi had ended up in an arena where the environment worked against her. Her chances of winning had undoubtedly fallen, and many people simply couldn’t accept it.
“Big Sister Jingyi...”
“Dean Shi is at a disadvantage now!”
“If she’s an Awakened One, she should be able to overcome it, right?”
“I wonder how strong that Face-Seeking Owl is. And why does that thing even have a human face?”
Many people who knew Shi Jingyi were worried for her, but the one most concerned was naturally Guan Tong.
“Jingyi...”
Guan Tong instinctively walked to the edge of the Myriad Sense Net Bubble, his brow furrowing without him realizing it.
He had great faith in Shi Jingyi’s abilities, and before arriving at the Furnace Arena, he had been absolutely certain she would secure a victory.
But after the first two matches, the gruesome fates of Lovska and Tasitado had inevitably shaken his confidence.
None of the opponents humanity faced was easy to deal with.
Even someone as average in strength as K-17739 could exploit the arena’s rules and drag Tasitado into a mutual death by running away and avoiding the fight.
The Face-Seeking Owl was certainly no pushover either. Its ability to fly gave it an enormous natural advantage in this environment.
Guan Tong stretched out his hand, but a soft force stopped him. It was one of the restrictions around the Myriad Sense Net Bubble, preventing participants from leaving.
He silently withdrew his hand, but had already made up his mind. If anything went wrong, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch from here. He would do everything he could to find a way to help.
“A competition between the human civilization of Tianshui Star and the Face-Seeking Owl Civilization. What an interesting coincidence!”
The commentator didn’t seem eager to start the match. Instead, he went on and on about the background of the two civilizations.
“Would you believe that the Face-Seeking Owl Civilization originated from the destruction of a human civilization?”
“Scientists in that human civilization used artificial breeding to create a highly intelligent bird. They never expected its intelligence to grow so rapidly. In the end, it got completely out of control and wiped out the human civilization.”
“But those birds still retain a final shred of affection for humans, so they tear off human faces and keep them as trophies... This traditional habit persists to this day!”
The commentator spoke with great relish, but the human spectators listened in growing horror.
Something straight out of a horror movie had actually happened in the universe? And it had happened to another human civilization...