Chapter 139: Winner

Splat!!

Fresh, warm blood fell to the ground as Tristan's shoulder was pierced by an arrow that carried tremendous force. He was kind of surprised that those elves were really not playing around.

Were they trying to kill off their best warrior here?

Tristan could clearly perceive the volley of arrows that were raining down on him and the other two. He could also somehow tell that both Elyon and Alanis had begun to slow down as they got closer to the finish line.

Well, it was to be expected as there was no way those elven archers made this last course easy to pass through.

Returning his attention to his own situation, Tristan was trying his best to predict the incoming arrows. Alas, they were simply too fast and too many for the current him to handle.

Splat! Another arrow successfully carved a place on his body.

'Dammit!' Tristan cursed as his body paused because of the sudden pain.

At the moment, his speed was arguably slower than the other two. Tristan realized that, within a minute or two, those two would reach the finish line. Meanwhile, he still had quite a distance to traverse.

Tristan knew he had no more time to hesitate. Therefore, he just carried out what he had planned in mind.

The plan was, instead of using his efforts to dodge the rain of arrows, Tristan decided to just advance forth and charge through the terrain toward the finish line as fast as he could. 

This was actually the crazy plan he thought of, and one that he hoped he didn't have to do. Unfortunately, it appeared there was no other way he could take if he wanted to win the Gauntlet.

Just like what those people said back on Earth, 'desperate times call for desperate measures.'

Splatt!

Another arrow hit Tristan shortly after he decided to abandon all forms of dodging. 

It certainly hurt like hell, but just like previously, his body seemed unstoppable. The pain only bothered him for a moment before he continued his relentless rush. 

As a result, the observers could see Tristan get hit by an arrow, grimaced in pain for a second, and kept advancing as if nothing had happened.

The sight incited countless gasps and murmurs among the audience.

Tristan ignored the commotion as his focus was placed on the finish line. His enhanced senses and Katra were driven into their utmost limit as Tristan paid attention to any arrow coming towards his face. Other than those things, he just kept running forward.

Splaatt!! Spallatt!! Splatt!!

Arrows continuously made their way and landed in Tristan's body. There must already be tens of them sticking on his body right now, but the man kept going forward as he completely ignored his condition.

However, this reckless, desperate, bordering on insanity action was certainly not in vain because Tristan finally managed to get past Elyon and Alanis. The two could only watch in shock as he ran past them with a body riddled by dozens of arrows.

Splat!

"Aaaaarrrgggghh!!"

Tristan screamed in pain because this arrow was stronger than the previous one. Even so, he kept his rush toward the finish line. Without him knowing it, the hundreds of elves who witnessed the scene were awed, as well as bewildered by his actions.

An elf running through the rain of arrows and completely ignoring the latter. Blood was soaking all over his body, but the man acted as if they were nothing as he kept charging forth.

This was definitely one of those acts that would be memorable to them for quite some time.

Especially so, when said elf eventually crossed the finish line and emerged as the winner of the Gauntlet.

The moment Tristan crossed the line, his body instantly fell due to the pain as he knelt on the ground.

Not long after, the expected notification came.

[Body's condition has become critical. Host needs immediate treatment]

[Restore health for 500 Blood Essence]

[Proceed?]

"No!" Tristan firmly rejected the notion in his mind.

500 Blood Essence was too much for him. Besides, he had finished the Gauntlet. Therefore, he just needed to endure the pain and waited for the treatment.

Several seconds later, the silk covering his senses was quickly being taken off and Tristan could clearly see three elves approaching him. Two people began to cast healing magic at him, while the last one was pulling arrows out of his body one by one.

He looked around and realized the crowd not far from him had been cheering at him.

Tristan gave his best to hide the smile that wanted to reveal itself. 

He couldn't lie.

Even though he didn't care much about the cheering crowd, winning did give him some satisfaction.

It took him several minutes of comprehensive healing before Tristan could stand on his own feet again. He could see on one side, the queen and the elders had been waiting for him.

In all honesty, Tristan felt his entire body was still aching with pain. However, he still tried to approach them with the coolest manner he could possibly exhibit.

As he got closer, Tristan could see the queen was looking at him with a wicked smile hung on her face. She was about to speak when an elf came running towards their direction, catching the attention of both parties.

The elf was Sindur. He was covered in dust and dirt, while dozens of bruises could be seen on his body. It was apparent that the fall didn't kill him.

'Hmm.. what a pity..' Tristan thought when he saw the pitiful appearance of the man.

Under the gaze of countless elves, Sindur came forward and knelt right in front of the queen.

"My queen, I must inform you that Tristan has cheated through the entire Gauntlet's courses."

The moment Sindur's words were heard by the crowd, innumerable whispers and murmurs started ensuing between the elves.

A frown appeared on the queen's face, but she still asked Sindur in a calm voice.

"What is the reason for your accusation? What did he do?"

A glint appeared on Sindur's eyes as he felt this was his opportunity to bring the damned outsider down. Hence, he kept his head low and opened his mouth, "My queen, he didn't really rely on Katra to win the Gauntlet! He has been following me and using other means to pass the courses."

Tristan wanted to laugh when he heard the elf's reasoning.

Naturally, he had countless ways to reject that 'reason', if it could be called one, but Tristan was more interested to see what the queen was going to do about this. But then, something unexpected happened.

It wasn't the queen who spoke first, but rather someone Tristan dared not imagine doing.

"Don't be a sore loser, Sindur. Just accept your defeat!"

It was the princess, the Valkyrie, Serene, who defended him.

While Tristan was dumbfounded by the unanticipated development, Serene turned to the queen.

"My queen, I believe… the.. Elf. has proven himself."

Tristan couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing now.  Did the girl take the wrong medication today? Or the sun rose from the opposite direction?

What is going on?

Either way, Tristan could see the queen was staring at him with the same wicked smile, as if she had expected this.

"Well said, my daughter!" She then turned to kneeling Sindur, her tone neutral. "Sindur, your accusations are baseless… Therefore, the winner of this year's Gauntlet is… Tristan!"

The queen proceeded to raise her hand and once again declared.

"My people, elves of the Vanyar, I present to you, the Champion!"

Hearing the queen's declaration, all the elves swiftly cheered for the emergence of their new champion.

It was obvious that the queen wasn't finished yet. She approached Serene and looked at Tristan.

"Tristan, with this, I present you my daughter's, the princess, hand to you. Do you accept it?"

Tristan shifted his gaze to the beautiful blonde elf, who was fidgeting under his gaze. 

With a well-hidden smirk, he firmly said, "Yes, my queen. I Accept."

The elves once again cheered. Tristan came closer to Serene, the two were facing each other while surrounded by the cheering crowd.

At this moment, Tristan wasn't sure what to say to her. All in all, he was grateful that the girl stood up for him. Therefore, he really should say something nice for once.

He stares at the beautiful blond girl in front of him and felt fortunate, but then he suddenly realized that Serene was actually holding a longbow in her hand.

"That bitch!!"