Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Third Layer of the Supernatural Realm
In the audience seats, a huge cheer erupted from the demon race side after the tree-eyed demon's win.
This was the name of another race: Demons.
Monsters, Demons, and Humans.
The three-eyed demon was a participant belonging to the Demon race.
On the human side, morale was low.
The battle that Natalie just fought had a significant impact.
She was widely recognized as the strongest student among the freshmen.
Now that she had lost to the three-eyed demon, it had indirectly dampened the morale of the human side.
This made everyone think that humanity was probably out of the running for the championship in this fighting tournament.
Because if the strongest one lost to the three-eyed demon, then who could win against it?
Although Natalie's loss dampened human morale, no one blamed her.
People weren't blind.
That three-eyed demon was indeed ridiculously strong, and its abilities were also unpredictable. It was even immune to such fire attacks.
Natalie's powers were completely ineffective against the demon, so continuing to fight would only be a reckless act of suicide.
It was better to surrender outright and save her life.
...
"Natalie. How are you?"
Matthew looked at Natalie's bloodied shoulder and her ashen face.
He was extremely irritable right now.
If he encountered that three-eyed demon on the stage later, he would definitely go all out and kill him instantly, without giving him any chance to surrender.
"I'm fine."
Seeing Matthew's concerned expression, Natalie smiled sweetly and said, "It's just a superficial injury, nothing serious. It will heal once we leave the Supernatural Realm."
This was an Amnesiac Layer.
As long as someone could leave here alive, even the most severe injuries would heal completely.
Although Matthew knew this, he was still angry.
If Natalie hadn't been quick and dodged in time just now...
He might lose this proud and spoiled fiancée of his.
"It's good that you're alright. Sit down and rest for a while. We'll treat your wound once we're in the rest area," Matthew said.
Natalie nodded. "Okay, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Leave it to me, you can rest assured."
Hearing those confident words, the girl smiled.
After the two finished talking, the others stepped forward to express their concern.
...
A moment later, it was Matthew's turn to take the stage.
His opponent was the crocodile monster—the one who eliminated Denis Read.
Although Matthew was filled with anger and wanted to vent, he didn't show his true power after going onstage.
He seized the opportunity, grabbed the crocodile monster by the tail, used brute force to throw the crocodile monster out of the ring, and then won.
He deliberately presented himself as someone with only brute strength to mislead the other participants.
His primary purpose was to confuse the three-eyed demon.
Matthew wanted the tree-eyed demon to underestimate him. That way, in the next round, the demon could be one of those challenging Matthew to take the ring from him.
When Matthew returned victorious, he was immediately greeted with admiring glances from everyone.
Only Denis Read looked at Matthew, seemingly lost in thought.
Denis Read had fought that crocodile monster before and knew how astonishing its power was.
Unexpectedly, Matthew defeated it with brute force.
So, what was Matthew's strength attribute?
...
Two hours later, the tenth and penultimate round of the tournament had finally come to an end.
4,779 people successfully advanced to the final round.
Natalie's team participants were reduced to just Matthew.
Even the strongest freshman, Natalie Russell, was eliminated.
The other teams fared terribly as well.
The qualifying rounds were finally over, and the final round was next.
However, before the finals began, the Supernatural Realm took pity on everyone and gave them 10 hours of a break so they could rest and be at their best.
After all, if everyone wasn't fighting at their best, would those finals really have been a fitting conclusion?
When the teleportation portal appeared, everyone stepped into it.
After such a long period without proper rest, everyone was exhausted.
After entering the restaurant area, Matthew told the other team members to eat first, while he took Natalie to the team's room.
In the room, there were some basic medical supplies. And Matthew could use them to treat Natalie's wounds temporarily.
"Natalie, can you take off your top? I need to clean your wound first before bandaging it."
Upon hearing this, Natalie's pretty face turned bright red.
However, she complied and took off her top, leaving only a sports bra.
-Hiss
Matthew gasped sharply.
He never expected that this girl would have such a great figure beneath her cold exterior.
Her fair skin, flat stomach, and slender waist without any excess fat were truly captivating.
...
It took a full hour for Matthew to help Natalie bandage her wound.
Anyone who didn't know better would think Natalie was seriously injured. It was unbelievable that she needed to be bandaged for so long.
Afterwards, the two met up with Filip Walker and the others at the restaurant.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they went to the team's room, gathered together, and discussed their following plans.
Seeing everyone looking dejected.
Matthew snorted coldly: "What? Are you just going to give up like this? You don't want to win the tournament and become champion anymore?"
Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this.
Sam Harris asked curiously, "Matthew, you're the only one left who hasn't been eliminated, and the tournament has already entered the finals. How can we win the championship? Is there any other way to make a comeback?"
"Of course there is," Matthew affirmed.
Everyone was surprised.
Then Filip Walker seemed to realize something and asked uncertainly, "Matthew, you don't want to become the Ring Champion, do you?"
"What? Am I not allowed?" Matthew asked with a smile.
Sam Harris and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.
Even with this guy's simple intelligence, he knew how risky it was to be the Ring Champion.
That meant facing the challenge of all the other participants.
If Matthew were to do that, in everyone's eyes, it would be practically suicide.
"Matthew, calm down." Anastasia Bradley said quickly. "The becoming Ring Champion is too dangerous. Even if you are powerful, you can't possibly last against all other participants."
"Yes. Matthew, the Ring Champion, had to accept challenges from all the participants. This is simply an impossible task."
"Matthew, don't be impulsive. One bag grade is nothing. At worst, you can fight again in the fourth level of the Supernatural Realm. With your and Natalie's strength, it's not difficult to get an SSS-grade mission rating again."
Everyone offered their advice.
The idea of becoming the Ring Champion was just too crazy.
Seeing this, Matthew's face darkened, and he snorted coldly, "Don't you trust me at all? Or are you afraid that if I lose, our team's points will be wiped out?"
"We didn't mean that..." Filip Walker quickly explained, "You and Miss Natalie mostly earned these few points. It's fine if they're wiped out. We're just worried that something might happen to you and you won't be able to go back..."
Suddenly, Denis Read said, "Matthew, I support you."
Everyone was surprised to hear Denis Read's supportive words.
"Oh? Denis, are you supporting me?" Matthew laughed.
"Right."
Denis Read didn't care about others' surprised looks and explained, "Before coming to the third layer of the supernatural realm, I took a test. With my current strength, I know very well how much resistance I can withstand after being hardened."
"I was injured by that crocodile monster's tail before. Based on my deduction, the crocodile monster's strength attribute is at least 800 points."
"But Matthew was able to grab its tail and throw it off the stage..."
At this point, Denis Read looked at Matthew and asked, "Matthew, your strength attribute has already exceeded 1,000, right?"
"Not bad, Denis."
Matthew laughed heartily, then nodded in agreement. "That's right."
Everyone was shocked when they heard Matthew.
---------------
Author's Note: You folks can also read up to +50 chapters on my P@treon Pages as an early access privilege.
www.patreon.com/spell_merchant
P@treon Page Name: Spell Merchant
www.patreon.com/vanguard_v
P@treon Page Name: V For Vanguard
Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.94: Becoming the Ring Champion
Ch.95: I'll Kill You Later
