As time passed, the tournament neared its end—and its final climax.
After several rounds of eliminations, only one remained before the long-awaited Call-Out Challenge.
Once that final round narrowed the field to ten contestants, lots would be drawn for the Call-Out Challenge. Then the audience would see duels shaped by old grudges and fate.
But first came the last elimination round, and the audience could hardly wait.
In this round of twenty down to ten, every contestant was a top-tier fighter who had survived layer after layer of selection. Not one of them would be easy to beat.
Some, like Superalloy Darkshine and Golden Flash, had been favorites from the start. Others were dark horses like Greedy Wolf, whose strength had seemed unremarkable at first but who had grown tremendously through battle after battle, taking the audience by surprise.
With fighters like these facing off in the final, brutal elimination round, sparks were bound to fly.
Even before the schedule was announced, anticipation had run high online. As usual, Vought International would release the next round's details at eight the night before the matches. Curious fans flooded the company's website well ahead of time, until even opening the page caused delays for those who came later.
At eight that evening, the schedule went up right on time.
The very first match of the final elimination round took everyone by surprise.
Tomorrow's opening match would pit Greedy Wolf against Superalloy Darkshine.
The news exploded across the major forums.
Greedy Wolf had won over most viewers with his dazzling performances. In matches where few had favored him, he had pulled off thrilling comebacks from the brink of defeat. The audience had watched his strength grow rapidly with every hard-fought victory.
That extraordinary growth, plain for all to see, had raised expectations for