Domon came forward. But before Callan could present the rewards for the elder martial artist, Domon said, “I would like to forfeit the prize and request for this council’s elite force aid.”
The audiences were surprised and confused by Domon’s request. Didn’t he see how good the rewards were? Who in the right mind chose to forfeit them? And what the hell was this about the elite force aid?
Callan was similarly surprised. His eyebrows were lifted. He never expected an outworlder to know this ancient rule to their tradition. Almost no one ever use it even for the native tournaments, but there was indeed such a rule. How did this outworlder know about it?
“If you know about this rule, then you know we need more than just your forfeit,” Callan said.
“I do,” Domon replied.
“In that case, stand aside. We will wait for the others before we deal with your request,” Callan said. He then called, “Champion of the Rogue section, Wong of the Orc race, come forward!”
Wong walked out to the stage. He was looking at Domon who was standing by the side. His expression showed that he was also wondering why Domon knew about the secret feature and why he asked for it. Was he asking the elite force for the Themisphere kingdom? He did hear that the Themisphere was embroiled in the power struggle between the three princes, although not an open conflict as it was in Liguritudum.
He didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. He had a job here. He only cared about completing his. He said after arriving before Callan, “I want to forfeit my reward and request for an item from this council’s vault!”
The audiences were murmuring now. What was this? Two champions had forfeited their prizes. This was completely unconventional.
Callan’s brows were creasing now. “Item request from our vault this time, eh? Well, in your case, you should know that we need another champion to forfeit, don’t you?”
“I do,” Wong replied.
Ronald came out from the crowd at this time without being called. “I am with him in forfeiting my prize as the champion of the Archer section. We request an item from your vault,” he declared.
Callan looked at the two of them back and forth. He then sighed. “A rule is a rule. What do you wish from our vault? Since you know this rule, I understand you should know the limit of the items you can ask for.”
“We understand,” Wong replied. “We would like to have the Draconic Suppression Crystal.”
Callan’s eyes narrowed. These outworlders even know what was inside their vault? He wondered what else did they know?
He nodded. “All right. If that is what you wish, we will honor it.”
“It is,” Wong confirmed.
Callan looked at Ronald, who nodded. He then called for Myson who was standing by his side. After speaking a few words, Myson bowed and went inside the temple behind the stage. Jack was expecting the vault to be the golden orb Callan was holding. It appeared it was not so.
<br/>”You can wait for the item you requested. We will proceed with the remaining champions,” Callan said. Wong and Ronald stood to the side, opposite Domon.
“Champion of the Mage section, Blackhole of the Ethereal race, come forward!”
After coming forward, Blackhole said, “I’m joining the champion of the Warrior section to claim the council’s elite force aid.”
Callan nodded, he seemed to have expected it. The audience, on the other hand, couldn’t stop gaping. Aside from Arthur, all the first-place winners had been forfeiting their rewards one after another. What the hell was going on here? Did they think super rare grade weapons and set equipment were cheap things to be thrown away?
Blackhole stood next to Domon.
Before the team match, Jack had gone to speak with Anotherday about this. Anotherday then took Jack to discuss with Blackhole. Blackhole found it weird at first why the human winners wanted to forfeit their winnings.
He was also wondering why they didn’t just go for the item that had first come for, the Draconic Revival Blood. Jack explained that since they had failed to stop the heavenly enforcers from getting the Draconic Suppression Crystal. Getting this Draconic Revival Blood would only bring the matter to a stalemate. It won’t improve the situation on Wilted’s side. Hence, they should go for the big gun.
Blackhole was at first skeptical of Jack’s claim. They already bagged the human and the mage sections. The team section, on the other hand, had not yet started at the time. Although he saw how powerful Jack was, his team was very messy. The orc team, on the contrary, had very good teamwork. After the dwarf team showed how it was possible to win the match without clashing directly, Blackhole actually thought the orc team had a better chance of winning. He was pleasantly surprised to be proved otherwise. Thought the reason was simply that the orc team chose an honorable, yet in his opinion was also a foolish, decision.
Callan called out the last winners, “Winner of the team section, the human team, come forward!”
As Jack and the others approached, Callan asked, “Considering the circumstances, I believe your team wants to forfeit your prizes as well?”
The elite force aid required three winners to forfeit, one of them needed to be the team section. So, it was not unforeseen for Callan to guess.
“Forfeit? Hell no!” Yellow Death uttered. “Why would we want to do that?”
Callan’s eyebrows were lifted again. ‘Well, this is surprising, again,’ he thought.
But Jack soon said, “The human team would like to forfeit our rewards to claim the council’s elite force aid.”
Yellow Death turned to Jack, “Is this supposed to be a joke?”
Jack turned to him and said, “This is for the greater good. I’m doing this for all of us. You will have to trust me.”
“Trust my ass! I don’t have to do anything you ask.” Yellow Death then turned to the divine priest and exclaimed, “I disagree with the forfeit. I want my prize!”
“Well, ain’t this a turn of an event?” Callan muttered. He then told the five humans before him, “Forfeiting the team’s prize can be done but you will need the majority of the team members to agree to do that.”
“What? Majority? Shouldn’t it be a unanimous decision?” Yellow Death said with surprise.
Jack was not so. During his talk with Anotherday, he had asked him the condition required for the team to forfeit, whether they needed all members to agree to it. He was glad to find out that it was not so. It would be a headache to convince everyone on his team. He might need to resort to killing some if so. He was extremely glad he didn’t need to go that far.
“So? I can see one who agrees and one who doesn’t,” Callan said. “What about the three of you?”
“I forfeit,” Giant Steve declared.
“I do not!” Princess Purple uttered. “I didn’t go through all these troubles to go back empty-handed!”
Jack gave her a side-eye. ‘The heck, you almost didn’t do anything!’ He said in his mind.
All of them now turned to the only remaining member of the team, Red Death, who stayed silent.
“Well?” Callan was also staring at her.
Princess Purple was confident that Red Death would say no. She was after all part of their camp. Jack’s request was doomed from the start. He only had Giant Steve as an ally in this team.
Yellow Death, on the other hand, wore a worried look. Jack and Red Death had gone away for a talk before this. He didn’t pay attention at the time. When he was about to use his Drone to search for her, she had come back. So, he was not aware of what the two were talking about.
“Red, if you say forfeit, you will be openly betraying us,” Yellow Death said to her. “Think carefully before you act.”
Jack turned to him, “There is a reason why we need that elite force aid. I’ve said that to you before. This is for the good of all of us. I’m sure your guild leaders will understand after knowing the reason.”
“Reason my ass! Whatever it is, I won’t agree to it! Let me tell you now, if you…”
“I choose to forfeit,” Red Death declared.
Yellow Death’s words stopped abruptly after hearing. Princess Purple was gaping wide. “What… Why…?” She couldn’t bring herself to understand.
“All right, if that is your will,” Callan said. At this time, Myson came back out bringing a large crystal with a dragon carving. It gave off an ominous shine.
Callan motioned for Wong to approach. He then handed the crystal to the orc monk. “This is the Draconic Suppression Crystal.”
Wong accepted the crystal with a nod. After storing it in his storage bag, he asked the divine priest, “We wish to leave now. Is that all right?”
“Once the team match ended, you are free to leave if you wish,” Callan answered. “However, we have a special event after this ceremony. An event that was available to those who won first place. You can get additional rewards if you join. Can you stay for this special event?”
