??Tournament of Supreme Talents, Final Day.


    The Final Match, 9:00 A.M.


    *Ladies and gentlemen! The long-awaited hour is upon us now!! We have reached the finals of this tournament!*


    Today is special because all of the candidates were now allowed to leave the waiting area freely, and they were all given seats in the stadium to watch the match with their own eyes.


    Now that the final match is here, all candidates are given the opportunity to learn from the fight between the final two candidates.


    Lia, Liam, and others all sat down in their designated seats to watch this match.


    Even the audience is divided into two factions today.


    The majority of the audience members are Link''s supporters or fans; only a small portion of the audience is here to support Rio.


    Link''s fan club is massive; there''s no doubt that he is extremely famous.


    Not to mention his amazing background, his own capabilities and talents are already enough to make people feel awe towards him.


    Moreover, Link is indeed very handsome; girls on the inte fawn over him a lot.


    On the other hand, Rio is the exact opposite; neither is he handsome nor does he have any big backgrounds. All he has is the path he carved out for himself with his own strength.


    The majority of his supporters are those whoe from poor families or have poor talents.


    They see him as a source of motivation and want to be like him.


    They want to climb up to the peak of the world just like Rio has done, even though he came from a humble family.


    Although fans all over the inte are fighting each other and saying that Link is stronger or Rio is better, things are different for Link and Rio.


    Both of them don''t think of the other party as weak or strong; they treat each other as ''Equals''.


    ...


    VVIP Area.


    "What do you think? Who is likely to win this match?"


    Hearing Ryul''s question, Ashtel shook his head and replied in a solemn tone.


    "I don''t know either... It''s impossible to distinguish weak or strong from them two... They are more like ''equals''; one is extremely talented in martial arts and the other is good at swordsmanship..."


    "It''s difficult to assume who will win..."


    Not just Ashtel, but all the other SS rankers were just as clueless as him.


    Although they have seen Link and Rio''sbat capabilities, it''s still very difficult to say who has the upper hand in the fight.


    If it were some other martial artist, then Rio''s speed would have been an advantage, but Link has such an insane defense that Rio''s speed has no proper advantage over Link.


    Furthermore, Link is not in a favorable position as he is unable to deliver a sessful hit against Rio.


    In other words, the situation between them is simr to when two professional gamers engage in a pvp duel; neither of them is able to hit or damage the other party, and it appears as if they are fighting and missing every attack.


    Gradba sighed and said,


    "Well, no matter which one wins, it''s ultimately the victory of your team, Astra, this time... Humans are the winners of this tournament this time, and this is already a solid fact..."


    Other SS rankers also nodded their heads.


    Regardless of who wins between Rio and Link, the victory will belong to the human race.


    Aside from the SS rankers, the whole inte is also boiling over this fight.


    Link is indeed famous, but people have seen Rio''s capabilities too. It''s tough to dere Link a winner so easily when Rio is fighting against him.


    Even the audience sitting in the stadium can''t help but gossip about this match. ...


    Reserved seats.


    Sitting on the seat prepared for her, Lia was feeling quite excited today.


    She has yet to see Rio''s true capabilities, and today is the best opportunity.


    After all, even Rio will have to go all out when fighting someone like Link; thus, she was already ready to analyze their fight and learn a lot from it.


    Ellie, who was sitting right beside her, was already munching on popcorn with stars shining in her eyes.


    Only Liam, who was sitting beside Ellie, was in a solemn mood.


    His whole attention was on the ground at this moment.


    Although he lost to Rio, he hadn''t used Ellie''s true powers in that fight, so he doesn''t think of himself as inferior.


    Today, he is nning to watch Link and Rio''s battle and improve his abilities to counter them both.


    Liam nced at Lia and asked in a calm voice,


    "Which one of them do you think has a higher chance of winning?"


    To Liam''s surprise, Lia shook her head and said,


    "I don''t know... Although I would like it if Rio won, it''s impossible to say who has a higher chance... Both of them are extremely talented in their respective fighting techniques..."


    "It is very difficult to make a proper guess…"


    Although Liam was surprised that Lia didn''t take Rio''s side, he also nodded his head after hearing her words.


    "Indeed, this fight can go in any direction… I think the oue will likely depend on the exact conditions of that moment… There''s no solid way to prove that one of them can certainly win."


    "This match might even end up in a draw, in my opinion…"


    This match is longer than the others.


    The duels before this match were only half an hour long, but this match is going to have a one-hour time limit, which means Rio and Link will have twice the original time to end this fight.


    If this battle ends in a draw, both of them will end up bing the champions, and both of them will get the rewards equally.


    …


    *And now! Our first contender is entering the battle area! Please wee the ''DarkStar'' who carved his path with his own hands! Rose, from humble origins! The holder of the legendary rank skill ''Sword Intent''! Rio sh!!*


    Rio entered the stadium grounds at the end of that long introduction.


    Although being praised like that in front of the whole world felt quite embarrassing, Rio''s facial expressions didn''t change even a little bit. He remained as expressionless as ever.


    He walked over the middle of the stadium ground with slow and steady steps, waving his hand at the audience without a smile on his face.


    ''Ah, there she is…''


    Only when Rio''s eyes met Lia did he smile a bit.


    He saw her wave at him.


    ''Hmm, she''s cheering me up… Well, with her watching me, I better not lose…''


    Lia was cheering for him, so Rio didn''t want to lose, and his confidence got a boost after seeing her beautiful smile.


    (Seeing that Lia was there to watch his match, Rio knew it was time to lock in!)


    *And on the other side! We have the one born with talent to rival the whole world!! The only son of the strongest man, Ashtel Rex! the holder of the legendary rank skill ''Dao Rhythm''!*


    *The one who is rumored to be the strongest in the younger generation! The one and Only! Link Rex!*


    Link walked into the stadium, and a smile hung over his face as usual.


    He had already gotten rid of the anger from thest time, and now he was in a normal mood.


    He was looking forward to fighting Rio.


    His every step seems to carry a heavy aura, and his handsome face caused many girls in the audience to scream.


    But Link wasn''t focused on all that; he nced around the stadium, feeling a bit disappointed after not finding that one particr person.


    Although thousands of fangirls were cheering for him, Link''s eyes were only searching for that one na?ve-looking girl who was not even here at the moment.


    ''Sigh, so she didn''te to the final match either… I am going to scold her when she returns; she promised that she woulde to support and cheer me on in the finals…''


    Link shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    The massive fan base that was cheering for him didn''t matter to him at all; in his eyes, all those people weren''t even worth mentioning.


    Link walked toward the center and shook hands with Rio.


    "It seems we fulfilled our promise of meeting in the finals. I am looking forward to this battle now…"


    Link''s words were calm and carried a hit of excitement.


    He has fought five matches in this tournament, but he wasn''t able to go all out in any of the matches.


    Today, however, is different; he can unleash his full potential against Rio. He doesn''t need to hold anything back; instead, he will lose if he holds himself back.


    Today will be the day when he can fight freely and gain new insights.


    Rio''s thoughts were the same as Link''s; he was also nning on going all out today.


    Of course Rio won''t use soul splitting on Link even if he ends up losing this match; he''s not aiming to kill Link after all, and this is a friendly match between two rivals who are best friends with each other.


    But even without Soul splitting, Rio still has prepared other ways to counter Link, and Link has also prepared ways to counter Rio''s speed.


    Today, both of them are nning on solidifying their own strengths.


    After shaking hands, both of them stepped back a bit and made some distance between each other.


    They were already ready to go at any moment.


    …


    …


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! And here we go! The fight between ''equals'' has started; let''s see which one of them ends up seizing the title of the winner now…


    Question of the day.


    Doesn''t this scene feel like when you have to go against your homie who identally joined another team in a game battle?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.