Voices of terror and panic filled the air. Dissatisfaction, fear... Even members of the Black Hawk team wanted to surrender on the spot. However, in the empty world of the chessboard, devoid of sun, moon, or even wind, the system completely ignored their pleas.

It was too late to surrender now. The chat channel was also silent. No team wanted to face the Dawn team so soon, so they understood exactly how the Black Hawk team felt.

"Brothers, go ahead, we’ll avenge you."

"If you have any information, remember to pass it on to us, thanks!"

"We will remember your contributions. Remember, you must fight with all your might! Waldo will definitely kill you, so you must retaliate at all costs, make him pay, understand?"

"Fight, fight, fight! Brothers of the Black Hawk team, we are your strong support. Even if you fail, we will avenge you!"

Other challengers, each with their own thoughts, spoke one after another. Whether the members of the Black Hawk team, who had been selected, saw these messages was unknown. At this moment, the Black Hawk team had already been teleported to the arena.

Everyone was extremely nervous. They couldn’t see what was happening in the arena and could only try to imagine and wait anxiously for the outcome.

...

The next moment, something surprising happened. A challenger claiming to be a member of the Black Hawk team suddenly spoke up. "Attention, in addition to Waldo, the Dawn team also has the Loli Demon King and Kong Ming, two major entities from the black list..." Suddenly, his voice stopped abruptly! The abrupt end to the voice was ominous and self-explanatory.

???

"The Dawn team has two other black list entities? Is that true?"

"Our previous guess wasn’t wrong, indeed, the Loli Demon King Little Rabbit and Waldo are on the same side. How can this be?"

Having Waldo in the Dawn team was already invincible, now with the Loli Demon King and Kong Ming as well, how can we possibly fight?"

For a moment, a huge storm erupted among the challengers. The next instant, the system’s voice announced:

[The Black Hawk team has been defeated, all team members are dead!]

[Next, the system will randomly select another team to go to the arena! All teams, please be prepared!]

...

As the system’s announcement sounded, many challengers’ faces showed slight changes, with expressions of struggle. "What should we do? The Dawn team is too strong, we can’t possibly be their match!"

"Yes, if we’re unlucky enough to be chosen, we’ll probably only have a path to death!"

"Indeed, the strength of our team is just so-so, and the Dawn team is too murderous. Plus, even if Waldo is eventually killed, it’s hard for us to get a share of the rewards."

"Should we surrender?"

"Let’s surrender, there won’t be any serious consequences anyway. At worst, we can’t get the ruler’s treasure and have to spend more time to pass the assessment with a lower rating!"

"Yeah, I agree."

...

"Our Dune team has an average strength of 180, which is on the lower end among all teams. There are thousands of teams ahead of us."

"Right, the previously annihilated White Dragon and Black Hawk teams were ranked ahead of us, and they were killed in a very short time. As for us, once we encounter the Dawn team, we probably only have a path to death!"

"So what do we do?"

"There’s no need to surrender too quickly, we can wait and see. After all, with so many teams, there will always be one that eventually takes advantage and benefits. Why can’t it be us?"

"That makes sense."

Members of a team were communicating internally. There were too many challenger teams. The system’s random selection wouldn’t necessarily pick them. In fact, the probability was really low.

...

Teams were discussing in their respective team channels. The strength of the Dawn team was overwhelming.

So powerful that 99% of the teams felt despair. Winning against the Dawn team? Difficult! Extremely difficult! Therefore, gradually, some teams chose to give up and surrender. They were very self-aware and did not believe they could gain any advantage among the numerous teams. So, they decisively chose to give up.

However, most of the teams still harbored some hope of luck. Maybe they would get lucky and defeat the Dawn team when their strength declined. Wouldn’t that be a huge gain? Overall, many still had a gambler’s mindset.

"Due to the powerful strength of the Dawn team, the system will now select two teams to go to the arena. These two teams can join forces against the Dawn team. If victorious, the two teams can jointly face new challenges. If they ultimately win, the treasure will be shared by both teams!"

"Attention, within ten seconds, teams will be randomly selected, all challengers, please be prepared!"

"Ten! Nine! Eight..."

As the countdown ended, two teams were immediately selected. A total of ten challengers, enveloped by a powerful force, were directly teleported to the arena inside the ruler’s palace.

...

"Two teams, ten challengers?" Waldo looked with interest at the ten figures descending. With a cold laugh and without wasting words, he shot out like a cannonball at high speed, engulfed in a storm of blood and ominous energy. A huge blood shadow, like a thin fog, accompanied by a sudden gust of wind, obscured the entire arena.

The next moment, the arena was filled with fragments of limbs. The ground was covered with a thick layer of blood, remnants of previous battles. The tide of blood rapidly spread in the eyes of every challenger who arrived there. Feelings of fear and panic wildly spread.

"Waldo!"

"Why us?!" The terrified voice came from a tall, muscular beastman with golden curly hair and a gentlemanly demeanor. His eyes widened in horror as he watched Waldo pounce.

With a splat, his voice stopped abruptly.

A large, vigorously beating heart was torn from his chest and throbbed powerfully in Waldo’s palm. "No..." With a soft squeeze, the heart burst into a bloody mist, rapidly dispersing in the air. The pungent smell of blood was almost suffocating. Death.

The other challengers quickly reacted. After all, they were beings who had survived countless battles. Amidst shock and anger, they each deployed their methods to counter Waldo.

A shrill howl echoed in every challenger’s ears, violently tearing at their eardrums. Waldo ferociously swung a huge battle axe, tracing a massive black blade in mid-air. It seemed as if it split the entire space in two, an aura of terror and destruction coexisting.

The enormous blade descended from the sky. No one could stop it.