At this moment, Steve held dual axes, gasping for breath. However, his eyes were somewhat dazed. He seemed not to have anticipated this outcome.
The loud "bang bang bang" startled the somewhat dazed Steve. When he looked up and saw the timer stop, with the number of participants becoming 1, he finally came back to his senses.
"Fi…finished…?"
The situation just now was a close call. The reason Steve was dazed was that he hadn't expected Grayfist to actually choose to help him at the last moment.
Grayfist hadn't lost accuracy due to panic just now. His goal was to let Steve get that axe and finish off Black Blade.
Before entering the Divine Realm Competition, Grayfist had fought Steve before. Grayfist had also learned a new move—deliberately throwing his weapon first, then attacking quickly, and when catching the opponent off guard, swiftly retrieving the thrown weapon to counterattack.
Steve had seen this move before.
Though the two hadn't communicated or exchanged words, at the moment Grayfist threw the axe, Steve understood his intent.
Steve quickly approached, caught Grayfist's golden axe, and without a moment's hesitation, directly attacked Black Blade's face.
To strike Black Blade faster, Steve didn't even use a jumping slash. At that moment, Black Blade's health wouldn't have been instantly depleted without a jumping slash. Fortunately, Grayfist threw over his golden axe, adding enough damage.
The dragon slayer finally became the evil dragon.
Black Blade, in the stance of the "River God," ended Grayfist.
Yet, he never expected that he himself would also fall under Steve's dual axes.
Though Black Blade lost, he had already done his best in this match and indeed managed to suppress both Steve and Grayfist alone.
Only because Steve and Grayfist had known each other for a long time and developed a tacit understanding, along with some coincidences, Steve was able to win.
Otherwise, the final winner of this match would have been uncertain.
At this moment, the match was over, and the chatrooms of various livestreams were exploding.
"This is the most exhilarating match I've ever seen!! No competition!!!"
"Too freaking amazing?! This has to be the peak of player skill limits, right?!!"
"There are no losers in this match… Steve and Black Blade both showed their own charisma. Why didn't I mention Grayfist? Sorry, his character…"
"After watching this match, I became a fan of Black Blade. His aggressive playstyle is just too lovable!!"
"Black Blade is indeed cool… If you're a real man, you go all in on the attack! Defense? Not even a possibility!! Absolute alpha male!!!"
"Never expected Grayfist would actually have a change of heart at the last moment and help Steve? Like those TV dramas where villains turn good right before they die?"
"I don't believe for a second that Grayfist turned good. He's a complete egoist. He probably just didn't want the artifact to end up in Black Blade's hands since Black Blade is with HIM. If Steve has it, he can still scheme something."
"Oh, so that's why?! I thought they built a bond while fighting and was about to start shipping them~"
Judging from the livestream chat, there were almost no losers in this match.
Steve, Grayfist, and Black Blade had all won the respect and admiration of the players. Their spectacular performance also showcased the strength of the player faction.
Moreover, since Steve had acquired the artifact, and he had always been the symbol of justice for the player faction, under his leadership, the long-oppressed player faction could finally turn the tide.
———
At this moment, Xu Yuan at the shallows also received the final results of the Divine Realm Competition immediately.
He had just been watching the livestream on the forum.
Although Black Blade lost, Xu Yuan did not blame him. This battle—Black Blade fought it perfectly, and there was no fault to be found.
It could only be said that fate's trajectory was like this; Black Blade couldn't change destiny.
Seeing Steve's stunned expression in the livestream, Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes.
"What exactly is this final artifact?"
Actually, to Xu Yuan, things like artifacts didn't mean much. Xu Yuan already possessed a domain, and a domain was essentially the best artifact.
Previously, Xu Yuan wanted to compete for the final artifact mainly because he was afraid that the Divine Realm Competition might produce an overly overpowered weapon.
But thinking about it again, it was absolutely impossible for the Divine Realm Competition to produce the kind of god-tier weapons from those MODs he imagined.
If those weapons existed, the game would lose its meaning.
Though the developers introduced these MODs to empower players, they would never dig their own Grayfist by adding weapons that break the game's balance.
So, this artifact was unlikely to pose any real threat to Xu Yuan's safety.
Thinking from this perspective, Xu Yuan instantly felt relieved. Thus, he didn't care too much about the match results.
If Black Blade had won, that would have been ideal. If he hadn't, Xu Yuan wouldn't blame Black Blade or Pengpeng either.
Right now, Xu Yuan was just spectating the final artifact with a bystander's curiosity, wondering what it actually was.
If the artifact was beneficial to Xu Yuan, he would definitely go see Steve immediately. Thinking this, Xu Yuan continued watching the livestream.
———
After snapping out of his daze, Steve finally showed excitement on his face. He, too, was looking forward to what the final artifact would be.
Just as Steve was thinking, he suddenly noticed the ground beneath his feet shaking violently. Along with the intense tremors, the blocks on the island were rapidly disintegrating and collapsing.
Seeing this, Steve's heart skipped a beat.
"It's not over yet?!"
Steve started running quickly, trying not to fall off the island. But his running speed couldn't match the island's collapse.
In less than five seconds, the entire island completely disintegrated.
Steve fell directly, descending rapidly through the air.
Just then, a wise-looking giant salted fish broke through the clouds, swimming toward him. It rescued the falling Steve.
This salted fish was the same one that had acted as the reception guide when they entered the Divine Realm Competition.
Just as Steve was about to say something, he saw it suddenly flip.
It flung Steve into the air. Then, it opened its huge mouth—and swallowed Steve whole!
"WTF?!!!" Even Steve cursed out loud, showing just how speechless he was.
After Steve was swallowed, the livestream audience was left dumbfounded.
"?????????"
"What the hell? Don't tell me the real winner is this salted fish?!"
"Could this salted fish actually be the final artifact?!"
"For 303, it definitely is a divine weapon…"
At this moment, the only thing in the livestream was the sight of the salted fish continuing to float in the sky. The stream hadn't ended, so the audience hadn't left either.
Everyone was waiting for Steve to reappear.
———
Inside the fish, Steve found that he hadn't died. He was in the belly of the salted fish, surrounded by darkness. Only a faint glow could be seen in the distance.
Following the light, Steve cautiously moved forward. Gradually, the light grew closer.
When Steve saw the scene before him, he was completely stunned.
In the darkness ahead, several incredibly stylish weapons floated in midair. Compared to the existing in-game weapons, their designs were exquisite.
There were chain-like weapons, a diamond greatsword, twin diamond blades, a long-handled knight's axe, chain blades, and even uniquely shaped shields!
Many of these weapons were so distinct that Steve couldn't even name them. But there was one weapon he could name without hesitation.
Among all the elegant weapons, there was an out-of-place—floating salted fish…
Each weapon emitted various glows. Some shone with purple light, others green, others blue.
Among them, four weapons immediately caught Steve's eye.
A blue long blade seemingly made of diamond.
A purple-black long-handled axe that looked as if it was forged from obsidian.
A similarly purple-black long blade that appeared broken.
And a uniquely shaped shield emitting a blue glow.
Though the other weapons were also exquisite and radiant, they paled in comparison to these four.
"Are these the so-called artifacts…?" Facing such an array of stylish weapons, Steve guessed that they were all powerful.
But what puzzled him was—why so many?
"Am I supposed to choose one myself…?" At this moment, that seemed like the most reasonable explanation.
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