A couple of minutes later…
Almost all players had arrived at the center of the maze. Letomar was aiming the camera on every new addition to the silent party.
"Disfigured Beauty and Bloodrites have finally found their way." Letomar commentated as he showed those two hiding behind a wall that was just a bit further from Felix's position.
When they retreated from Felix's fight, they were forced to find another path lest they end up meeting again.
"Only Battlegod Orca and Hebra from the giant race had yet to arrive."
Letomar's eyelids twitched after seeing those two make a full circle twice after entering the same path like morons.
The viewers weren't surprised by this as both Orcs and Giants didn't have the best memory or intelligence out there.
Though, they make it up with their monstrous physical strength that surpassed any player in this game, uncanny rejuvenation, and Ultra instincts.
"Why do I feel like we have walked through here before?" Hebra scratched his beardy chin in puzzlement as he looked around him.
He was five meters tall and appeared like a giant version of a Mr. Olympia with his bulky and well tones exposed muscles.
"You think so too?"
Orca spoke with a furrowed brow as he stopped walking at once before an intersection.
He was slightly shorter than Hebra but his green muscles were just as packed.
"Let's pick the left path this time." Orca suggested as he walked towards it.
Hebra followed after him without complaint.
"Finally, if they kept going in this path and turned left, they will reach the center."
Letomar facepalmed as he sighed, not knowing how to react at the realization that those dumb-dumbs actually owned a nuke.
'Wait, maybe it's a good thing.' Letomar smirked cunningly, 'The other players are too patient and smart enough to wait for others to make a mistake, but those two do not share those specifics.'
Letomar was right in his assumption since the Orcs and Giants were known for their straightforwardness and lack of patience.
So when they reach the center, the deadlock was bound to break sooner or later!
…
After a few more minutes Orca and Hebra finally made it to the center.
However, no matter how dumb they were, they still knew that it wasn't smart to dash to the black box as soon as they arrived.
'What now?' Hebra inquired telepathically while peeking with one eye at the black box.
'I am thinking.'
Battlegod Orca sat next to him while resting his chin on his palm, appearing like he was contemplating the truth of the universe.
Alas, a few moments later, he started massaging his temples with an irritated expression, 'Too much thinking, brain hurts.'
Battlegod Orca wasn't faking his pain. Orcs truly suffer from complex thoughts due to the small size of their brains.
That's why they prefer handling everything with their fists.
'How about we throw the nuclear bomb at the black box and make it explode after one second?' Hebra suggested while scratching his bald head.
'Then what?' Battlegod Orca raised his eyebrow in intrigue.
'Run towards the exit as fast as possible after the explosion?'
'Idiot! We might be tough but we are not faster than most players here.' Battlegod Orca still had some common sense as he rejected Hebra's plan.
'But we can resist most abilities thrown at us compared to others.' Hebra added while pumping his bulky chest.
Battlegod Orca had to agree with that notion.
If there was one thing that he was confident about was his defenses and resistance to elements.
So, if the players tried to stop them by using elemental abilities, he could literally dash through them while suffering minimal injuries, unlike other players.
'How will I know that you won't attack me after we do this?'
Battlegod Orca narrowed his eyes at Hebra, remembering that their partnership contract will break the moment the black box gets blown up.
Hebra titled his head and answered, 'We can change the terms to stay as allies even after the black box gets blown up.'
'So we turn it into a fair race to the exit?'
Battlegod Orca liked the idea since he knew that he was slightly faster than Hebra.
'I guess so.'
Seeing that Hebra was cool with the plan, Battlegod Orca didn't hesitate to adjust the contract terms and forward to it.
Hebra signed it under the eyes of the confused viewers, who had no idea what they were discussing all this long.
Just as Letomar wanted to switch the camera from them to other players, his finger froze in its way after he spotted Battlegod Orca beam the golden hectagon bomb!
"IT'S STARTING!" He shouted excitedly as he fixed his sitting posture.
The viewers were siked as well to see that finally someone was brave to make the first move!
The camera zoomed on Battlegod Orca as he tightened his giant hand on the bomb while affixing his eyes on the black box.
He took a deep breath and requested the Queen to set the timer at one second!
Before the Queen could confirm it, Orca pitched the bomb as hard as he could!!
Booom!
The sound barrier got blown up by the bomb's speed, forcing all players to drop their discussion and stare at its source.
When they spotted the golden shimmering hectagon bomb glued to the black box, shivers coursed on their spine.
High doses of adrenaline started pumping in everyone's bodies, making them able to spot the timer on the bomb.
0.4 sec!
'CRAP!!'
'F*CK!!'
'MOVE!!'
Everyone instantly pulled back their heads or jumped behind the nearest wall with terrified expressions.
They were smart to react this fast as the moment the nuke went off, the entire center of the maze was engulfed within a white blinding sphere!
Yet it kept advancing until all the paths connected with the center had been enveloped as well!
Then…Booooooooooomm!!
The explosion noise finally caught up, shaking the players in their positions! Some of them had their ears ruptured while some were fast enough to protect them from the soundwaves.
Thankfully, the explosion withdrew as quickly as it appeared, leaving no aftermath behind besides the disappearance of the black box!
When the players realized that the hellish heat had disappeared, they all opened their eyes while clutching their racing hearts and bleeding ears.
Even though they didn't see the explosion, the deafening sound of it and the heat it produced were enough to make them understand that the system didn't bullshit them!
They would instantly die if they got caught inside the explosion!
'Your alliance contract has been voided after the destruction of the black box.'
Abruptly, the Queen notified all the parties who had at least one ally!
'Shit!!'
The first thing everyone did was pop defensive abilities instinctively while jumping away from their allies!
Felix and Pengfu did the same!
Thud Thud Thud!!
However, before they could reconstruct their thought process, everyone looked at the center of the maze after hearing rapid heavy footsteps.
When they spotted Battlegod Orca and Hebra sprinting as fast as they could towards a humongous wide-open gate, they felt their heart sink instantly!
'F*ck, who said that orcs and giants were dumb! We have been played by them!' Felix's expression hardened after realizing that Battlegod Orca and Hebra had planned for all of this!
In his mind, he believed that Battlegod Orca and Hebra had changed the terms of their contract to stay as allies even after blowing the black box unlike them!
Because their alliance contract was broken, naturally no sane player would leave his back in the open next to his ally that wasn't held down by the contract!
Since almost all players were allied with each other, it meant they wouldn't risk putting themselves in such danger to go all out and stop those two from reaching the gate!!
This was a brilliantly simple plan that didn't cross Felix's mind since he was focusing on complex plans to outsmart other players!
Unbeknownst to him, those two didn't actually think that far ahead!
Phew Phew!..
The Executioner tried his best to stop them by swinging his wind katanas rapidly in their direction!
His attacks weren't visible but Hebra and Battlegod Orca's bodies began to showcase long light gushes, caused probably by thin wind blades!
Alas, those light wounds didn't even slow them for a split second!
The Executioner didn't just attack them and remained still but actually chased after them as fast as he could!
However, since he was hiding far away from the center due to being a solo player, everyone believed that one of the giants would exit the maze before him!
"Is this how the game is going to end?"
Letomar was completely flabbergasted by the sight of those two giants getting closer and closer to the gate while most players were frozen in their positions with their guards up.
Even the primogenitors were left speechless by the unexpected turn of events.
The dumbest players in a puzzle format game were going to clutch the victory under the eyes of two champions?
They wouldn't have considered it even as a joke!
