The top 16!

The initial matches were spectacular, full of great battles. The later matches proceeded without a hitch. These matches were much closer, and many contestants couldn't have reached the end had they not gotten lucky. The ranking list was based on their overall performance during their matches. Many on the list were predicted, like first place going to William, while other ranks were a shock to all, The Dwarf, for example.

The top guilds were all drooling at the thought of recruiting even one of them into their guilds/organizations. It can be said that if nothing extraordinary happens, then these 16 were basically guaranteed to become at least rankers. That was how much potential was within the top 16 of the Colosseum contestants.

William was the most eye-catching, with how he finished every match in a flash like he wasn't even trying his best. The people were not even aware that he was a Summoner until he summoned a wolf to fight against his opponent in the 10th round, which surprised everyone as even his strength alone was comparable to the top contestants.

Shiva is also quite famous by now since the round he summoned his skellies to back him up...rather, for him to stand at the back while they fought. 'It has been a while since a Necromancer with this much power appeared in the Tower', that's what was mostly discussed

After many rounds and various duels, the results are in for the ranks of the last 16 participants. Without further ado the top 16 were placed as:

rank#1, William, the Banished Devil (Summoner)

rank#2, Sasaki Kojiro, the Red Sword (Swordsman)

rank#3, Sanak Bramha, the Be*ahem!* Trinity's Descendent (Berserker)

rank#4, Cale, the Timid Demon (Martial Artist)

rank#5, Rudolf, the Incredible Giant (Warrior)

rank#6, Rebecca, the Elven Huntress (Archer)

rank#7, Mira, the Ice Princess (Ice-Mage)

rank#8, Tony, the Dwarf (Mechanic)

rank#9, Karna, the Shadow (Shadow Assassin)

rank#10, Shiva, the Dead's Ruler (Necromancer)

rank#11, Tyson, the Tiger Cub (Fighter)

rank#12, Skyla, the Daughter of the Church of Life (Spear-wielder)

rank#13, Chris, the Lone hunter (Magic-Swordsman)

rank#14, Chu-Feng, the Sleeping Dragon (Fire-Mage)

rank#15, Kannada, the Clown (psychic)

rank#16, Kenta, the Wandering Knight (Knight)

Each one of them was amazing, whether it's their skills, spatial awareness, weapon mastery, or special traits, the battle between each of these last 16 was bound to be a spectacle.

Among the 16 participants, except Shiva, everyone had Skills that justified them being on the level of Elites. If Shiva were to fight any of them without his skeletons, then he would surely lose 100 out of 100 battles. That said, why would he fight them alone? I mean, he is a God-d*mn necromancer after all! What need is there for him to fight a battle when he has his summons to do it for him?

The high-ranking guild recruiters watching the Colosseum matches just brushed him off, saying that 'there was no need to pay attention to him as he would almost reach the top 8 with his flimsy skeletons and he would get weaker as he climbs the floors since the skeletons alone couldn't clear the hard trails of the Tower' or some bullsh*t like that. I wonder what they'd say if they saw his performance on the 8th floor?

Little did they know that he hadn't even used his real summons yet, keeping them in his sleeves, waiting for a good opportunity to use them. Shiva was also smirking, thinking that he could surprise his opponents with his summons stronger summons.

He still didn't know what all 16 of them had hidden as trump cards, so he wasn't confident enough to say he could take them on even with his summons, but he figured they couldn't be as strong as a literal dragon.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please! The "Grand Matches" of the Colosseum are going to start now," the loud voice of the commentator rang throughout the arena.

"The first match is between the "Devil"ishly handsome, the unstoppable, the powerhouse, the "Banished Devil", Willian V/S the lone hunter, the man who uses mana and steel, the "Magic Swordsman", Chris. This match will begin in just a few seconds. Here come our challengers now, as they greet each other for what I can confidently say will be a GREAT match!", both William and Chris entered the arena. This time, William was wielding a sword, while Chris whose strong build was clad in black armor. A Great-Sword as big as himself was strapped to his back, looking intimidating as all hell.

"Match! Start!", the referee said out loud.

William with his sword charged forward, while Chris stood his ground, taking out his huge Great-Sword that looked like a mountain of iron.

Tang!

The sword clash created a shockwave and dust flew upwards, shrouding the arena with a sand cloud.

William was blown backward out of the dust, though he did manage to keep his footing as he stared at Chris. "You can't beat me in strength", Chris said in an indifferent tone as he looked down at William.

William smirked at his comment, "Well, it's a good thing, I was not even trying to fight you in terms of strength."

A wolf with grey fur and a red blood-colored mane appeared behind him and pounced at him with sharp claws and menacing teeth, all while William was talking.

Chris dodged to the side in a show of quick reflexes as he responded to the sudden sneak attack.

An animal that looked like a Rhino, but with three white horns, each one bigger than the one before it, appeared in the direction he was jumping to, to avoid the wolf.

"Tsk", Chris clicked his tongue in frustration as he could now see many grey-colored wolves surrounding him.

"Because I am a Summoner", From the beginning of the duel, William had no plan to fight Chris alone. After watching all the matches, he knew that every member of the top 16 was strong. He didn't want to lose just because of his carelessness.

I mean why would he fight alone? He wasn't a swordsman or a mage, he was a Summoner, and they were his core strength. That said, Chris was not a pushover either. If he were to go down just by this much, then he wouldn't have been qualified to stand there. He was not a Swordsman alone; he was a Magic- Swordsman.

"Sword Missile", Chris cried out in response, there was a reason why 'magic' was attached to his class. He had as much of an aptitude for combat as he did towards mana. It was a rare class that only a handful in the tower pursued because of the difficulty that arouse in needing to maintain both magic and swordsmanship to be around the same proficiency.

Numerous sword-like missiles were hovering above his head and started to shoot through the wolves surrounding him.

"Well, I am Magic-Swordsman" Chris stated in a determined tone while looking at Willian who still had an indifferent look on his face.

*****

(edited by JokeDagger)

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Let's add some goals guys!

from now there will be an extra bonus chapter,

->For every 300 power stones

->For every gift above 100 coins

->For every 100k views

->For every 1k collections

**-> extra two chapters if the novel reaches top 100 in ranking** (just hoping it would, what's wrong with dreaming?)

Thanks for the support guys!