Martial Online.

Snap!

After a single snap, the lights in the room lit up brightly, illuminating the entire space.

It was a dome-shaped room with thirty-two doors lining the walls, and in front of them were platforms to stand on.

At that moment, a figure appeared from thin air and stood in the middle of the room with a majestic presence.

This time, he didn't look illusionary but instead real.

Graham stood with his hands behind his back, and he was dressed in a fancy overcoat with golden buttons and a top hat.

The overcoat had a velvet collar and a silk lining with intricate embroidery that sparkled in the dim light of the room.

It seemed to be perfectly tailored to fit his slender frame, accentuating his stature and giving him an air of elegance and sophistication.

As he waited for something in silence, suddenly a golden camera appeared amid a flash of golden light and pointed straight at him.

"Hello, everyone from all around the world." Graham spread his arms wide and smiled. "The third and final round of the early tournament has finally ended, and there are exactly thirty-two teams that have qualified!"

The viewer ratings shot up as everyone waited eagerly to find the thirty-two teams that had qualified.

In total, sixty-four players from over a billion players managed to qualify for the final stage of the tournament. Only the strongest were remaining.

"Now, I shall announce the qualified teams."

Graham said, pointed towards the first door right in front of him, and smiled as the tension around the world grew thicker.

Creak—the door slowly opened, and the first team to qualify stepped through, their faces filled with surprise as they expected there to be another challenge awaiting them.

"Congratulations, Team Caramel!"

"We made it through…"

A lean-bodied man whispered in surprise. He had his arms tattooed with a design of cracked rock that made his arms look like they were made of stone.

His name was Rockborn, and beside him, a man with a quite square-shaped head smiled, which was a rare sight, and his name was Blockhead.

They were the first team to qualify for the finals of the tournament!

…

Caramel Town, Knucklefist Bar.

"They did it!"

Screams reverberated throughout the bar as the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.

Music started blasting through the speakers while many drunken customers hugged each other and danced in celebration.

In Caramel Town, it was widely known who the two strongest players were—Rockborn and Blockhead.

They weren't really familiar with each other before the tournament, but the mayor of the town convinced them to team up as they were both very powerful—so powerful that no one else in their town could compare to them.

At the corner of the bar, the mayor of the town raised his cup of beer and toasted it by himself before taking a long, satisfying gulp.

He looked like he belonged to a motorcycle gang, but in Caramel Town, he was a very respected individual.

"Atta boy…" He chuckled to himself and enjoyed his beer.

"Aye, aye, they named their team after this town. I suppose we'll be having more tourists in the future just to see where our new local legends lived."

…

As Rockborn and Blockhead stopped on their platform, they turned to look at the door beside them and saw that it was slowly opening.

"The second team to qualify is Ignite Get Rekt!"

A handsome, black-haired young man stepped through the door, smiled charmingly, and waved at the golden camera.

A cold-looking young man, who was equally handsome and slightly taller than his teammate, stepped through the door and glanced at the golden camera briefly before turning his focus on Graham.

"Ah, we made it through." Anthon laughed and rested his hands on his waist.

Cauldron nodded and glanced to the side at their upcoming opponents. They were also staring at them like hawks.

"Ignite has not arrived yet. I wonder if he made it through." Cauldron said curiously.

"Ahah, I doubt it. Didn't he choose some random person in the streets to be his teammate?" Anthon laughed. "I wonder if he gets mad at our team name."

…

A classroom erupted in cheers that shook the teacher, who was writing something on the chalkboard. She almost lost her balance and fell to the ground.

She then turned to look at her students to see what was happening and saw everyone talking excitedly while looking at something on their phones.

She only heard the names of Anthon and Cal.

'Anthon and Cal?' She curiously approached one of the students to see what the wuss was about.

She was aware that they weren't coming to school today because of the famous tournament. It was already impressive that they made it to the third round of the tournament, which made them popular in the rest of the city.

As she glanced at one of her students's phones, she saw them standing in some kind of strange room with smiles on their faces.

"Uhm, Mel, what is happening?"

Mel, a student of hers, turned to her with an excited look and said, "Anthon and Cal qualified for the finals!"

"What?!" The teacher exclaimed and was very much aware of how incredible that achievement was.

Her children were also attempting the tournament but didn't make it through the first round.

However, they watched the tournament whenever they weren't at school, and they always talked about it at the dinner table.

So, even she was aware of the ongoings of the tournament as she listened to their stories and watched alongside them.

'I wonder how they will react when I say that two of my students reached the finals?' She wondered with a sly smile.

In the corner of the classroom, Ignite watched from his phone with a smile and chuckled.

"They made it through, huh? Also, what the hell is that team name? Those bastards…"

He was proud of his friends, but he was also disappointed that he couldn't make it through.

At first, he and his teammate failed to qualify through the second round and ended up in the Wild Card competition.

Unfortunately, the dragon there killed them.

…

Anthon and Cauldron were talking to each other carefreely, but then, the third door beside them opened with a loud slam, as if it were being slammed open by a powerful force.

"Yawn!"

A loud yawn sounded from the door, and then a handsome, crystal-haired man stepped through with a smile on his face.

As soon as he entered, a powerful pressure silenced everyone in the room.

Following him, an equally powerful, if not more powerful, pressure entered the room.

Julian and Zadkiel had arrived!

"Those two…" Cauldron narrowed his eyes. "Are strong!"

"Yeah…" Anthon's lip twitched and he chuckled. 'What a pair of monsters.'

"What a boring last battle." Zadkiel crossed his arms and looked at Julian with a smile. "After defeating that loser, Moriarty, all the challenges after that were bland."

Julian didn't speak a word, but he nodded in agreement that the last challenges were underwhelming after fighting against Ambrose.

He then glanced at the other opponents in the room and nodded thoughtfully.

'They aren't here yet. I wonder if they made it through the Underworld.'