First match winner: Essence Stalker!

  2nd Match: Deployed Soldier vs Loving Aunt!

  Deployed Soldier calmly climbed up the stage on the left, while Loving Aunt jumped onto the stage from the right. The two faced off for a while, the former calm but solemn and the latter smirking silently.

  When Amber called for the match to begin, the two activated their full powers at once.

  Extreme Finesse!

  ｢Passive 1 – Extreme Finesse: The user is able to maximize their swordsmanship to an extremely high degree while in possession of the sword. The speed of attacks is raised by 120% while the critical rate is increased by 60% per strike.｣
Speed!

  ｢Active 2 – Speed: This increases attack and movement speed by 300%. Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 7 days.｣
Muster!

  ｢Muster – Active skill

  Effect: Troops that have signed under your banner will be summoned to the battlefield regardless of where they are in order to fight against their Commander's enemies.

  Cooldown: 20 hours｣
Deployed Soldier's army came out from the portals in full force, exactly 40,000 NPCs at Rank 3. They were fully garbed and ready to slaughter in the name of their Great Commander!

  The moment they arrived, Deployed Soldier flourished his blade as multiple passive skills boosted his troops.

  Commander's Aura!

  ｢Commander's Aura – Passive skill

  Effect: Immunity to all status effects for troops under the command of the user. 3.5x boost to all stats during wartime conflicts for all troops.｣
And there were also the new skills Deployed Soldier had acquired once he reached Rank 3.

  ｢Great Commander - Legendary Class (Rank 3)

  Skills: Evolvable Warriors (Passive), Ever Victorious Army (Passive).

  Exp gain rate: 150%

  Rank up difficulty: 110%

  Class weapons: Any non-magical

  Class skills: Any non-magical｣
｢Evolvable Warriors – Passive skill

  Effect: All soldiers under your banner will randomly evolve during battle, growing from mere footmen to skilled fighters, chargers, corporals, captains, and even majors depending on their experiences and talent. The evolution status is permanent. ｣
｢Ever Victorious Army – Passive skill

  Effect: Your army grows with every kill. All soldiers in your army gain the permanent status effect 'Ever Victorious' during any battle, every kill increasing their Damage and Defense by 0.1% with no cap.

  Note: The increase only applies to each individual soldier, not the army as a collective.｣
Empowered, the army of Rank 3 soldiers roared with power. In the downtime since Deployed had last called them, they had been training furiously so that they could live up to the Great Commander's standards.

  Deployed Soldier was a careful and meticulous man, never arrogant or callous. However, with his valiant poise and his army before him, his aura seemed to change as his confidence shot through the roof.

  He was fully in his element.

  Loving Aunt was far calmer than him as she too unleashed her skills.

  Toxic Supremacy!

  ｢Toxic Supremacy – Passive skill

  Effect: The User emits a toxic mist that takes away 1.5% HP per second of all enemies within 3 miles of them. All toxic skills and techniques are boosted by 40%.｣
Acid Rain!

  ｢Acid Rain – Active skill

  Effect: Spew corrosive acid into the air, turning it into a rain of poison that pours over the area of 3 miles around the user.

  Duration: 1.5 minutes

  Cooldown: 20 hours.｣
Toxic Cloud!

  ｢Toxic Cloud – Active skill

  Effect: Create a cloud of noxious gas that spreads over an area of 3 miles around the user, hampering, and harming all enemies within. This deals 5% poison damage per second.

  Duration: 30 minutes

  Cooldown: 20 hours.｣
Poison Ivy!

  ｢Poison Ivy – Active skill

  Effect: Summon a forest of vines to trap and lash out at every enemy within a 3-mile radius. The damage of the vines depends on the location of the cast.

  Cooldown: 1 day.｣
Poison Shower!

  ｢Poison Shower – Active Skill

  Effect: Spray out a shower of toxic discharge over an area of 300 meters. This skill deals 400% poison damage.

  Duration: 2 minutes

  Cooldown: 8 minutes｣
These plethora of skills were unleashed over the arena, instantly creating the death zone where any person would die in under a minute for sure. It didn't matter whether Deployed Soldier had one troop of 10 million, it was all the same to Loving Aunt.

  Her class was built for PvP and crowd control. The more enemies she faced at once, the more she flourished and succeeded. If it weren't for the fact that they were confined to an arena, Loving Aunt would not have passed the first round.

  That was why despite owning everyone she had met so far, she was only 13th on the Universal Rankings.

  Deployed Soldier's face became stiff when he saw this, but he had expected as much from this powerhouse. However, he too had his means to avoid her death trap.

  First and foremost: Unstoppable Charge!

  ｢Unstoppable Charge – Active skill

  Effect: Rush with one's troops in an organized charge towards a location within 9 km, gaining invulnerability for the duration of the charge and dealing 500% extra damage on the first attack from troops within the charge.

  Cooldown: 20 minutes.｣
The army roared as one and charged at Loving Aunt with gusto, their steps thundering the entire arena. Anyone who had to gaze at 40,000 people rushing at them armed and ready to kill would probably shake in their boots.

  However, Loving Aunt only sneered. "Before you were born, I genocided more than 6 million people. You think this can faze me?"

  She could use her bloodline abilities to overcome this, but didn't see the need to waste her energy when it could be used for better things. As such, she directly unveiled her trump card for dealing with Deployed's Army.

  ｢Extreme Attraction – Passive skill

  Effect: The User exudes an endless amount of pheromones, enthralling sentient, and non-sentient beings alike. Enemies affected hesitate to attack the User.｣
｢Beauty Trap – Passive skill

  Effect: You are able to mark those who have been affected with your pheromones and possess carnal desire towards you. Such targets suffer 20% more damage from you while you suffer 20% less damage from them.｣
The ferocious men and women who were clamoring for her blood suddenly paused their charge, canceling the skill forcefully. They milled about with confusion and desire on their faces as they gazed at Loving Aunt, wanting more of her but not confident enough to disturb her peace.

  The expression on Deployed's face became thunderous, knowing that things had taken a turn for the absolute worst. Since players were still using Virtua Helmets, the effect of Loving Aunt's passive was much weaker on them.

  Against NPCs and monsters though, it worked at full blast and more. Not only that, since his skill got canceled, so too was the invincibility of his army, something which Deployed had been relying on.

  They began to take damage from Loving Aunt's array of D-O-T skills, and by the time 5 seconds had passed, most of them had already lost 30% of their HP.

  Deployed waved his sword and leapt forward, aiming to battle down Loving Aunt while moving his army strategically. With his speed - and the boost Amber gave him for nerfing his army - he reached Loving Aunt's side in a second.

  Immediately, he activated the Condense skill!

  ｢Active 1 – Condense: Concentrate all sword movements into one strike, unleashing every single sword-related skill or technique you have on a single target. The power of this skill depends on the number of sword skills/ techniques known by the user. Cooldown: 1 day.｣
With Loving Aunt right before him and unable to escape, she would bear the full brunt of the skill! Since Deployed was moving too fast to be affected by her passives, he was certain she would be dead by the time this skill was over.

  However, all Deployed saw the next moment was blackness, feeling a pain around his neck that came out of nowhere.

  If Deployed could see outside himself, he would be shocked to see that a portal of sorts had appeared above him, from which the head of a giant black snake appeared and directly chomped down his head while he was in the midst of his skill animation.

  Loving Aunt had shown off her scary combat skill and awareness by predicting Deployed's movements, timing, and trajectory as well as using the Basic Manifestation Technique at the right time to deal a fatal blow when his attention was elsewhere.

  Deployed was not someone who let down his guard easily, and he technically hadn't even then. The problem was that he had fallen into a trap and had overinvested everything into a single strike out of desperation.

  His body turned into pixels as his army was forcibly desummoned. He appeared by the side with a still confused expression until Cobra explained to him what had happened.

  Upon understanding how he lost, he could only sigh and carve it in his heart as a lesson. A Great Commander who allowed desperation into his heart, forcing himself into the enemy's flow, was a failure.

  Second match winner: Loving Aunt!

  Loving Aunt didn't bother to leave the stage, waving her hands casually to Amber. After all, the next battle was the last, so what was the need for such a pointless act?

  Amber was excited as she galvanized the crowd. "That brings an end to the Semi-Finals! Now, my dear viewers, there is only one thing left and that is…"

  "THE FINALS!!" The entire crowd roared as one, deafening the entire stadium.

  "That's right! With that last match, the Individual Tournament will conclude! I hope all of you are as excited as me to see how this one will play out given what we've seen so far!" Amber riled up the crowd even further with her lively tone.

  Final Match: Essence Stalker vs Loving Aunt!

  Essence Stalker teleported onto the stage with his halberd, his usually casual expression gone which was replaced with solemnity. He was certainly the most powerful member of Umbra aside from Draco and Eva, but Loving Aunt was a barrier even for him.

  Not only was she the Pseudo-Mother of his Progenitor/cousin Draco, she was also - just like with Draco - the one who taught Essence Stalker everything he knew about his bloodline and the Serpent God Inheritance.

  There was probably no one he respected more than her, and no one who knew his weaknesses more intimately. This was going to be a very eye-opening battle for him.

  Amber hovered close and gazed at the two with a charming smile. "Let the final match… begin!"

  Despite calling for it to start, neither side acted right away. Loving Aunt folded her arms and gazed at Essence with a pitiful expression like she was being severely bullied.

  "Little Aaron, are you really going to hit your teacher and your aunt just for some measly trophy?"

  Essence's face twitched. Despite knowing her, he couldn't believe Loving Aunt's shamelessness for trying to guilt-trip him like this.

  Actually wait, he could believe it. Draco had warned him profusely that Loving Aunt was a troublemaker and he should not let himself be swayed by her tricks, or he would be played to death.

  After all, there was a reason why despite being so beautiful and sexy, Loving Aunt remained unmarried. Every man who had shown interest in her had eventually run away with his tail between his legs!

  Essence sighed. "Aunt, I would never hit you. How could I resort to such a barbaric thing?"

  Loving Aunt beamed, though her eyes flashed with a craft glint. "Little Aaron is so good to me. I'll make sure to reduce the intensity of the next set of lessons as a reward."

  A portal had silently manifested behind Essence, and the black serpent which had killed Deployed Soldier was slowly inching forward, anglings its jaws to strike at the back of Essence's head.

  Essence smiled. "That won't be necessary. While I won't hit you, fortunately, there are other ways to win in this tournament."

  Loving Aunt's eyes narrowed as she punched behind herself, expecting to strike Essence or her own serpent which could be transferred over to her.

  She had expected Essence to say something like 'I won't stop you from hitting yourself' next, so she had been ready.

  However, to her utter surprise, nothing appeared behind there. Rather, Essence closed the gap between them, easily dodging her black snake's sneak attack, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Instinctively, Loving Aunt punched at Essence, who turned incorporeal and opened a portal behind him. Then, using the other's momentum, he simply pushed her inside.

  The next moment the Enchantress found herself was standing on the fake grass outside the arena. She just stood there speechlessly, disbelieving that she had been eliminated so easily.

  The crowd and core members too were speechless, especially those who had fought Essence and Loving Aunt. The former realized that he had been toying with them all this while as he could have cleared them easily while the latter felt like it was unfortunate that it was her he had to face in the final round.

  Only Kiran was unbothered as he knew that this trick would not have worked on him. Essence wasn't safe in his own portals and void from him, how could he have the luxury to throw him out of the ring?

  Amber's lips twitched at the anticlimactic ending and hovered above Essence.

  "…and here is our winner, Essence Stalker!" She managed to mutter out with resentment.

  Crowd: "…"

  Core members: "…"

  Essence though, was quite pleased with himself, cupped his fists, and bowed to the crowd.

  "I thank everyone for cheering me during that tough battle. We traded 300 blows in a second and I barely managed to win. I shall now return to recuperate from my severe injuries."

  Amber: "…"

  Crowd: "…"

  Core members: "…"

  Loving Aunt: "…"

  AI: "…"

  And that brought an end to the Individual Tournament.

  Amber so tallied the scores and displayed the results on the leaderboards.

  1st – Essence Stalker: 1st Place, 5000 points. (Mexico)

  2nd – Loving Aunt: 2nd Place, 4900 points. (Italy)

  3rd – Gentle Lamb (Kiran): 3rd Place, 4800 points. (India)

  4th – Deployed Soldier: 4th Place, 4700 points. (Central Country)

  5th – Quiet Blade: 5th Place, 4600 points. (France)

  6th – Rambunctious Buttlover: 6th Place, 4500 points. (Canada)

  7th – Alpha Male (Uno): 7th Place, 4400 points. (Mexico)

  8th – Slim Fatty: 8th Place, 4300 points. (Central Country)

  9th – Killer Queen (Keira): 9th Place, 4200 points. (Japan)

  10th – Eyepatch (Boyd): 10th Place, 4100 points. (Ghana)

  11th – Gentle Flower: 11th Place, 4000 points. (Canada)

  12th – Noble Soul: 12th Place, 3900 points. (England)

  13th – Tunder Power: 13th Place, 3800 points. (Mexico)

  14th – Dreary Traveler: 14th Place, 3700 points. (Brazil)

  15th – Silent Walker: 15th Place, 3600 points. (England)

  16th – Sublime Notion: 16th Place, 3500 points. (England)

  17th – Young Duel: 17th Place, 3400 points. (France)

  18th – Gentle Light (Lucia): 18th Place, 3300 points. (England)

  19th – Kicked Bucket: 19th Place, 3200 points. (France)

  20th – Shani: 20th Place, 3100 points. (Ghana)

  21st – Maple Forest: 21st Place, 3000 points. (Spain)

  22nd – Wee Cunt: 22nd Place, 2900 points. (Scotland)

  23rd – Slight Breeze: 23rd Place, 2800 points. (India)

  24th – Happy Scholar: 24th Place, 2700 points. (England)

  25th – Panty King: 25th Place, 2600 points. (Japan)

  26th – Loli King: 26th Place, 2500 points. (Japan)

  27th – Great Caster (Hera): 27th Place, 2400 points. (Japan)

  28th – Warm Spring: 28th Place, 2300 points. (Central Country)

  29th – Cold Summer: 29th Place, 2200 points. (Canada)

  30th – Joker: 30th Place, 2100 points. (Canada)

  31st – Brother Is Best (Bella): 31st Place, 2000 points. (France)

  32nd – Heaven's Son (Ao Potian): 32nd Place, 1900 points. (China)

  When looking at the difference between first and last place, the hearts of the crowd couldn't help but tremble. Even though those near the bottom looked like losers, the simple fact was that they were in the top 32 of the entire competition!

  Those who played Boundless especially knew for a fact that any of these 32 names could cause wind and waves to thrash about within Boundless. Any of them could likely take down an army on their own.

  Heck, they were literally one man armies/portable nukes with the kind of power they had.

  Hmm, maybe not Potian though. That guy was too much of a loser.

  "And now, let us check the country rankings!" Amber waved her hand, allowing another screen to come to life.

  ｢First Inter-Player International Competition

  Country Rankings Top 15 (Overall):

  1. England - 43,824 points (+1)

  2. Central Country - 39,230 points (-1)

  3. France - 38,398 points (-)

  4. Mexico - 34,989 points (+3)

  5. Canada - 34,090 points (+3)

  6. Japan - 33,524 points (-)

  7. India - 30,319 points (-2)

  8. China - 26,646 points (-4)

  9. Ghana - 25,631 points (+4)

  10. Italy - 23,370 points (+2)

  11. Brazil - 23,110 points (-1)

  12. Russia - 20,082 points (-3)

  13. Germany - 18,612 points (-2)

  14. Scotland - 16,969 points (+1)

  15. Spain - 16,793 points (-1) ｣
The change was pretty great this time around, England had retaken first place, and with a 4,000 point gap against the Central Country. As was the usual British predilection, they made noise and generally irritated everyone by acting superior.

  The rest of the world glared at the Central Country with irritation. You fellows once taught that unruly bunch a lesson, why can't you do it again?!

  Meanwhile, those of the Central Country were quiet, gazing at each other as if they had come to a decision.

  It was time to toss some more tea!

  France were cool, but Mexico and Canada were jubilant at having climbed back up. Their gazes towards their champions were filled with passion. Especially Tunder, Uno, and Essence, who the Mexican Latinas looked like they couldn't wait to devour.

  Japan were happy to keep their place while India were a bit down about falling, but they only really had two good fighters for the Combat section.

  China were absolutely furious, especially while the Japanese were giving them the ojou-sama laugh without even bothering to look at them. As for the Ghanaians and Africa in general, they were celebrating, mostly just happy to be here.

  Italy were also pleased to have climbed up in the world for a bit since they only really had Loving Aunt, and Brazil were filled with despair at their slowly dropping rank. Russians were still dancing, doing the full Gopnik shuffle.

  Germany didn't dare to act unhappy if the Russians were calm and the scots were playing their bagpipes in excitement after finally having left 15th place.

  Spain were shattered, and they began angrily planning another inquisition no one would expect!