Victor walked over to stand beside the arena in a threatening fashion well before even the referee could call out his name.
His mere presence erupted a wave of uproar and commotion in the arena.
Obviously, he was showing off, and their guild members also did a good job of spreading the news to get some positive publicity for a change.
On the other hand, Derek only joined him later when their turn actually started.
Victor had an arrogant and lofty expression on his face as if he had not just lost two consecutive fights while Derek was as blank as a sheet of white paper.
Neither of them looked visibly excited.
Meanwhile, the crowd around them was going crazy.
Seeing that these two were again going to clash, everyone fervently opened the system interface, and almost instantly, a series of gasps echoed in the arena.
This time the betting pool unexpectedly exploded!
The betting pool was now 50000 gold coins!
Their match had actually garnered an all-time high amount of 50000 gold coins. Since the update happened and the PVP tower opened up, this was the biggest bet amount.
And that too, with the current exchange rate of 1 silver equalling 1 dollar, these many gold coins amounted to a whopping 5 million dollars!
Such an astronomical amount could make or break a low-tier guild.
Even for a guild like stormtroopers, this amount was most likely their entire guild's liquid wealth, and such a ridiculous amount was actually being used as a bet?!
Everyone knew that they could never get a piece of this pie as the major share of the winnings will go to the major contributor of the betting pool on the winning side.
But still, it was good... just to look at it…
It made everyone's blood boil and some even stood up to leave the tower and actually start playing the game seriously.
If they could also win a million dollars just like that… their lives would probably completely change overnight.
However, in the midst of this rowdy crowd, almost everyone drooling and daydreaming over the betting pool, there were still two people who absolutely did not care about any of this.
One was Liam, as he knew that all cash was about to become completely obsolete, while the other was Derek, who was still only focused on his match.
He was not even aware that this betting was happening.
Liam had asked him to participate in the fights, so he trusted him and did it, not worrying about where the money would come from.
And the player himself was prohibited from betting on his own fight, at least in these lower levels, so he was completely unaware of this huge event that was happening around him.
Derek, as usual, walked over and was about to hop into the ring when suddenly a message appeared. Seeing that it was from Liam, he immediately stopped and opened it.
When he had stopped abruptly the last time, almost everyone noticed him and were terribly nervous as to what surprise he was going to bring.
But this time, no one showed any such emotions.
Not only Victor, but every person in the crowd knew full well that the outcome of this match was already decided.
There was nothing that the other person could do to change that. It was a pity, but the truth was that talent and skill could only last for so long.
The two fighters were already almost evenly matched to begin with, but now three unique-grade equipment were also added to the mix, so what other outcome could this fight have?
Except for Liam and a few other people who liked to always bet against the odds, almost every single wager placed was on Derek losing.
At this moment, Derek stopped getting into the ring and suddenly started taking out something from this inventory.
"Huh? What is this guy doing now?" Victor cocked his eyebrows and stared at him with disdain.
He watched the guy take out his old rusted chest guard, revealing the big and bulky muscles underneath.
Some of the players in the crowd shouted at this display, making Victor's face grow a shade darker.
Unlike Derek, the only thing he had was a potbelly which made him feel very self-conscious.
"What are you doing? Are you also changing your equipment?" Victor sneered at the man's lame attempt to copy him.
"Do it. Do it. Take out whatever you want. You will never be able to beat me. You won against me by a fluke two times, but now it's game over. There is nothing more to be done."
Victor continued talking while at the same time keeping an eye on the item the other party was taking out.
Since a lot was riding on this, he panicked a little inside, feeling that something was off. Why can't this bastard simply get into the ring? He had to stop and also change gear?
"Hey, Derek. You can stop with all this nonsense. It doesn't matter what you do. This fight is already over."
"Instead, I will give you another way out. Give up right now and turn back. I will make sure that your family is taken care of and you get the money that you need."
"Though we have suffered a huge loss because of you this time, I can talk to the guild and make everybody take you back."
"I am only saying this because I know your condition. Just give up now and go back to our guild rendezvous point. We can talk about things there."
Victor made sure that he was not too loud as he continued persuading.
He had full confidence in winning the fight, but the thing was, he also had the responsibility to recruit this bastard back. So he decided that it was best to take certain steps.
However, unfortunately for him, the other person was not even giving him the least bit of face.
"Hmmm? Still pretending as if you can't hear me?"
"Whatever your decision is, you need to make it now. If we fight this time and you lose, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"You will never be able to step out of this city. I will personally make sure of this. Aren't your mother and your sister dependent on you? You need to think about them also."
Victor tried all sorts of approaches, but the other party was deeply engrossed in his own thoughts and still checking the item he took out of the inventory.
"What the fuck is he looking at?" He tried to look, only to see another chestguard in his hand. Derek was dazedly staring at this chestguard for the past few seconds.
But weirdly, it didn't look like it was anything special.
The chestguard looked a bit dull, lacking any glow or shine. It was pale black in color with a small tinge of purple added to it, and it did not even have any engravings on it.
Typically higher-end weapons had several engravings on them, which helped upgrade the weapon's rank.
So the fact that this chest guard did not have any and looked like a plain and simple sheet of metal bent into shape was only more proof that Victor did not have anything to worry about.
If this garbage gives you so much arrogance, then shouldn't I be a lot more arrogant for actually having a unique-grade weapon and a unique-grade defensive guard and also a unique-grade pair of boots?
He snorted coldly and watched Derek equip his new item, stepping into the ring finally.
"Think about it. If you fight against me now and lose… the consequences… This is really your last chance. Make a wise decision."
However, his warning was drowned in a sea of applause and the referee's voice indicating the start of the battle.
"Fine. As you wish, bastard. I will teach you a good lesson today. Some people only learn things the hard way."
Hyuup! As soon as the gong sounded, Victor pounced like a tiger. His speed and his movements were clearly different compared to the last fight.
Every single action he did was a notch or two better. This was the advantage of having one's attributes boosted.
And of course… his weapon's special effect…
Serrate - Has a small chance to ignore the defense of the target
Victor was itching to use this as he rushed forward to swing down the saber in his hand. However, before he could take another step, Derek was already in front of him.
Huh? Huh? Victor did not even have the time to blink when the rusted ax slashed down, aiming at this throat.
He tried to evade, but the move was already executed, and now Derek was behind him, the weapon in his hand once again striking down at him.
Did [Warcall] not work? What the hell is happening?
He tried to rally and find an opportunity to strike back but how could that be possible? The opponent's movements were barely visible to him.
Everything was a blur. It was almost as if the person he was fighting against was ten whole levels higher than him.
And before he even had a chance to find one opening, DONG!
The fight came to an end abruptly!