“And look how they move! Ahh, but as all of your blood enjoyers just heard, our ‘Crimson Scale’ wants us to be quiet about her and her team, right? I dunno about you people, but I would like to do a favor for our number one, right now. A bit more tension for our competitors, right? Seven versus the remaining 23. Who will win?”
“Tsk!”
“Tch. There goes the info, brother.”
The “Acid Killers” brothers, Greisha and Kraeger, were two black mercenaries experienced and versed in the art of killing with poisons and venoms. In the past, before they earned their reputation, the brothers managed to acquire the venom glands of an A rank venomous muck serpent through less… legitimate methods.
Having turned the two toxic sacs into catalysts, each brother each took possession of one of them, becoming infamous over the years for the toxic concoctions they could create with their catalysts. With their [Poison Creation] skill, they used the catalyst’s ability to absorb poisons and venoms of various sources, where they mixed them together in an alchemical process into even more potent toxins.
As such, the brothers’ forte was to poison their targets, and not monsters, but rather adventurers. Worldly wanderers who have grown their profiles through perilous trials and tribulations. Therefore, the more experienced ones would have skills making them highly resistant to ailments gained from common toxins. Some were even immune.
However, for the brothers, it was all for naught. The monster their catalysts were created from had a skill that allowed it to ignore various immunities. Meaning that their venoms could pierce through any resistance. This allowed the brothers to even take down B or A rank adventurers if they were prepared enough. Furthermore, even armies were vulnerable to their skullduggery. Their most known feat was the destruction of an entire A rank mercenary company and the murder of an Empire noble.
For this, the “Acid Killers” were very desirable assassins. And the reason why they were in this tournament? To acquire Yeostar’s blood. For whom? In their profession, their contracts came from neutral messengers, as their employers often wished to stay anonymous.
Although an open and public event like a tournament wasn’t their field of expertise, the pay was good enough for them to accept it. Although the principality of Yeos was a vassal of the Empire and beholden to their laws, the Empire preferred handling their criminals through the Lycerepth, the Empire’s law enforcers.
Through their sources, the brothers knew the Empire wouldn’t be coming to Yeos for the festival, which meant they had the freedom to move wherever they wanted, even if Elyonda knew they were inside their city. Even for the land of Yeostar, cowardice was still common, even if their knights wanted to hide it behind a “there are more important issues to deal with” excuse.
But there was still a problem they had to overcome, though. Although their toxins were potent, they weren’t the strongest fighters. They could be compared to B ranks like Gael when it came to direct combative abilities. What made them valuable was their tactical prowess, stealth, and, most importantly, their venom.
They could take down an army with enough preparations, but in the chaos of this tournament’s battle royal, it would be too tiresome to take all of them out one by one. In particular, there were too many all-stars to account for when they entered the battlefield. At best, through some under-the-table dealings, they managed to assure both brothers being in group A. Even the dungeon’s System could be outwitted with enough knowledge.
They knew before the tournament even began that the first battle royal would always be the battlefield of Schrade. Their pre-battle preparations included knowledge on operating Castle Fatalisa, which position was the best to start at, and how to efficiently “persuade” other contestants to work for them. Even though they were criminals, they were still professionals.
“Keep an eye out. I’ll check on the patients.” Kraeger informed his older brother before leaving one of the castle’s watchtowers to the lower floors, intending to check on their “allies” and reapply their “persuasion” on them.
Castle Fatalisa was expansive, filled with many rooms and other facilities to accommodate a defense force — a faithful recreation of the original. As the castle was designed to be used by the seven demons and their minions, flying would have been the most ideal way to move around the place.
As such, Kraegar had to walk extensively down the watchtower, through the castle square, all to reach the central weapons building, responsible for the fortress’s defence. When he did, he scowled at the people laying on the floors and benches, sweating profusely with flushed faces.
“Drink.” Kraegar placed a small wooden casket on the table, prompting the 20 to rush at it in a frenzy, desperately drinking the liquid as if their lives depended on it. Once they had drank and collapsed, breathing heavily on the floor, Kraegar addressed them again. “More time to live. Take down the seven remaining top rankers and we’ll give you the antidotes.”
“Krk!” Their “allies” groaned and clicked their tongues, too weak to respond before reluctantly returning to their stations — the control room of the Fatalisa’s defense systems.
With the most potent toxins, a skilled alchemist could also create a curative capable of healing even major or critical toxins. The brothers were smart, always preparing an antidote against their toxins before they use them. They were completely immune against common venoms, but they weren’t against their own.
And this reputation preceded them. Their “allies” were all enslaved by the brothers after they injected them with a venom. “Persuaded” by the fact no common tonic could cure them, they had to work for the brothers or die, as the dungeon’s protective aura wouldn’t cure them of venom, as Yeostar informed Hestia.
For ten minutes, the venom inside their body would be dormant, but once the time limit was reached, it would activate and begin killing their host. To prevent them from dying, the brothers gave their slaves a watered down version of the antidote. Just strong enough to push back the time limit and have the contestants work for them.
All so the brothers could operate Fatalisa with its dragonator, the various morphable weapons, and the barrier surrounding this place. The 20 people they threatened into working for them were divided into the main defense system, the main gate, and lookout. It was not even close to enough for a skeleton crew, but it was enough to defeat the remaining contestants.
To make sure they wouldn’t die, Greisha and Kraegar had to run around, delivering the weakened antidote to everybody. While it was tedious and they couldn’t help but feel like errand boys, the two mercs concluded it was necessary and didn’t complain. To move to the next stage, the brothers needed to remain professional.
However, while they initially thought everything would work out, they haven’t won yet nor could they find their opponents.
Where the hell are they?! The older brother, Greisha, cursed as he looked through the telescope, trying to find where Hestia and her alliance were. A sandstorm had hid them, and they just outright disappeared from sight afterwards.
Greisha had been relying on the announcer to inform him where they were. He knew the announcer took priority to hype up his audience instead of taking care of the competitive integrity of the tournament. Although the royal family of Yeos disliked it, the nobles and commoners loved such commentary. For the land dedicated to the God of Knighthood, Bravery, and Loyalty, its denizens weren’t the very image of these attributes.
As time went, another dose of the watered-down antidote was given to the slaves. The brothers were starting to get impatient. They hated if their plans weren’t going as planned. They prepared everything they could, but they could find and eliminate Hestia’s group.
They did their research. They knew of the other contestants and through the announcer, they learned who was with them in group A. As such, they knew “Auegor’s Blade” Larent Antonodius and “Demolishing Sandstorm” Naemon Humbabwa were their biggest threat.
They sent some of their men to ambush the mage while they planned on using the dragonator on Larent, planning to wipe the accomplished swordmaster without engaging him head-on. Unfortunately, both plans failed, and although they predicted Naemon might survive, they would never have thought anybody could have survived against the dragonator, which would kick any contestant out the moment it even grazed them.
And this was where their biggest mistake came from. They didn’t know of Aurora’s explosive leader. News of Hestia hadn’t reached the Empire yet, as her feats and reputation were only starting to grow within the western part of Altrust, so they had no way of knowing to look out for her.
If the brothers had asked about Hestia beforehand, they probably would have gotten some information on her deeds in Artorias and Aurora’s part in Estralia. However, they didn’t, and for underestimating the dark horse of this tournament, they now would experience what would happen if they let a dragon idol rampage.
“HEEEEEELLLLOOOOOOO!”
“Krrack!!!”
Greisha flinched, bumping his head against the telescope and fell onto his butt, closing his ears with his hands as a deafening sonic blast suddenly appeared out of nowhere. As it slowly disappeared, Greisha could feel his head ringing as he slowly stood up, feeling nauseous from the pain in his ear drums.
“Urgh, what was that?” The merc wobbled over to the watchtower’s lookout, trying to identify the source of that attack. However, the moment he did so—
“YOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Buwaaaargh?!”
— a dragonewt girl jumpscared him with a loud greeting, having boosted the volume with her [Aerokinesis].
“Krugh!” The merc squirmed on the ground in agony, having no time to let his weary ears rest before receiving another debilitating attack.
“Good day to you, Castle Fatalisa defenders! I hope you had the time of your life just now listening to my awesome voice, because let me tell you, it’s time to PAAAAARTTTTTTTY!” The dragonewt girl was none other than Hestia, flaunting around in the sky just in front of the castle while hyping up the crowd.
“AAAAAnd there she goes, people! The first attack after such a long time of nothing! A devastating sound attack just kicked down the elder of the brothers! However, what will she do now? Her voice might be strong, but the castle’s barrier is still up! The defenders just need to hide, and her attacks will become useless!” The commenter did the same, having taken Hestia’s acting as the signal for the incoming attack he was awaiting for so anxiously.
“Greisha!” Kraegar shouted as he heard this, storming out of the weapons room before having one of the lookouts point his attention to Hestia. “Fuck! Fire!”
With his command, the castle began to move, forming hooks from its walls, ready to shoot at any second now. Hestia gave a curtsey as she saw this, agitating Kraegar at her nonchalant attitude towards the threat in her face. However, before he could get the satisfaction of slapping a fly out of the sky, a purple magic circle appeared in front of Hestia before it suddenly struck Hestia with a massive lightning bolt.
This was the level four [Lightning Magic] spell, [Overload].
As it was a lightning elemental attack, Hestia’s [Divine Inferno] title didn’t go into effect, but any damage done to her would be immediately healed up with her white flames. And the moment she recovered from the shock, she twirled her body around like a ballerina, dodging the incoming harpoon by a hair’s breadth. With [Wind Blast] and [Dragoon Jump], Hestia launched herself away from the next couple of giant projectiles, creating some distance as she flew upwards with her rocket boosters.
Meanwhile, Kraegar commanded everybody to continue shooting, personally manning one of the weapon control terminals as it projected a blue screen for him to use. Although the merc had never seen such sophisticated technology before, from his time working with his party bracelet and the information he gained prior to his tournament entry, he had somewhat of a level of competency of it.
At the very least, shooting a weapon didn’t demand professional proficiency.
Down you go, fly! Kraegar morphed and shot giant projectiles, trying to take down Hestia. Knowing he hadn’t seen a white light fly up in the sky, he knew his brothers were still in the match. This logical conclusion gave him all the focus he needed to challenge Hestia with his “allies.”
However, Hestia was fast. Far faster than before, which caught the enslaved contestant off-guard. Not only did she fully buff herself with all her System-derived Agility spells like[Swift Winds] and [Haste], her usage of [Overload] gave her an impressive speed boost at the cost of her Health and Mana constantly being drained. The damage may have been offset by her white flames, but it still did accumulate arcane corruption.
Still, to win this match, Hestia was ready to give it her all to conquer Castle Fatalisa.
“In the midst of the desert ♫
A bright ray of light shines ♫
Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫
She was the ideal for me ♫
The bringer of children’s smiles ♫
Alas, the world seemed bleaker without her ♫”
And using this impressive speed boost, Hestia took the time to apply her next spell song — [The Heir of Hope].
“But all wounds must heal, we must force back the tears ♫
Her legacy remains for everybody to hear ♫
All these wounds will heal, mourning must end ♫
Our path is made clear through the loss of a friend ♫”
This song was dedicated to Saintess Eshe. Although Hestia had only known the Evidian woman for a couple of month, their time together had not only influenced Hestia but also nurtured her to become what Aurena had wanted — a true champion. Although Hestia tried to push it away as she understood being a hero for everybody was impossible, she still took up the spark of heroics when it was needed.
And in this moment, the melancholic but hopeful lyrics silenced the audience for a moment, entrancing them with Hestia’s angelic voice. As her powerful vocals grew at the chorus, the arena snapped out of it, returning to their cheers which had only gotten louder and louder at Hestia’s next action.
[Symphonie des Feuergottes]. Technically, Hestia’s second custom spell was being readied in the sky as the music continued. While [The Heir of Hope] was active, all attacks and spells caused by Hestia or her allies would also apply [The Light]’s holy element. Like [Shine] and [Sanctuary], they were especially effective against dark elemental and demonic opponents.
Yeostar informed Hestia, causing her to figure out a plan to force the “Acid Killers” to take her seriously. First, she would agitate the brothers to attack her, and then she would make it so they couldn’t take her eyes off of her.
It was a simple but effective plan.
And the moment the inferno waterfall fell down from the sky, basking the castle’s barrier in a sea of flames, everybody inside the weapon’s room was immediately attentive of the number decreasing in the left corner of their screen.
“The barrier is weakening!” One of the slaves cried out in a panic.
“Shit!” Kraegar cursed before taking out the notes the brothers made on the function of the castle. After looking through it for a moment, he found the solution he needed.
As a creation of the demons, the castle possessed an internal power source feeding all of the fort’s function. Like a dungeon core, if this object were to be destroyed, the whole castle would follow.
One of its functions was to redirect energy towards specific devices, and was historically the main reason why the dragonator could recharge fast enough to become a threat to the dragons. However, as it wasn’t possible for Yeostar to fully replicate demonic powers, only imitate it for its historic value, this power source couldn’t be used to its fullest.
However, it was still good enough to suck the mana from the air to repair the barrier.
Good.
Kraegar calmed down a moment once the fire waterfall stopped and he saw the barrier slowly recovering, however, in the next moment he body suddenly felt the heat on his skin. No, it was more accurate to say he was finally feeling it, as his adrenaline from before subsided.
“Argh! Why is so hot!”
“Argh, is the fever back? Shit! No, hey! Give me the antidote!”
The threatened contestants felt the heat around them; however, from their previous experience, they thought the cause came from the venom they had inside of them, not aware the temperature inside the barrier was skyrocketing.
Consequently, they eyed Kraegar, who flinched at what was happening. The venom couldn’t be active yet, he told them but the combatants were unimpressed. They were too disillusioned from the fear of death to listen to him.
“Stand back!” Kraegar shouted as he pulled out his catalyst and activated the enchantments on his armor and weapons. “Touch me, and you will die!”
His threat wasn’t a bluff, as even his mere touch could poison somebody. His shortsword and daggers were both made using the materials of toxic monsters, and seeing them glisten with a bright liquid made the enslaved combatants anxious. They backed off, too scared to make a move.
“Stay here and keep shooting! I’ll bring the antidote!” he ordered them before running out the building, where his face began to feel the full wrath of this sudden heatwave. “Krk, what in blazes—”
He didn’t care. To keep the captured contestants orderly, he had to dangle the cure in their faces. And the only one who had more of it was his brother. He ran over to the watchtower, ignoring Hestia flying around in the sky singing and shooting down spells. Although she still had to deal with a bullet hell, with all the speed buffs she now had active, she was zooming around with no one to stop her.
Greisha was still recovering from his injuries, Kraegar was running over to him, the weapon’s team were fully focused on Hestia alone, and the lookouts were too unsettled by all of this to think properly. The only team left barely undisturbed by all of this were the two at the gates.
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Up until…
Boom!
“Kuraaagh!”
“Waaaargh!”
Mission successful! Infiltration done!
Until a virigress snuck into the fortress using [Shadow Dash]. Hidden behind Hestia’s flamboyance, Rajah flew along a blindspot of the castle before teleporting towards one of the shadows. Although bothered greatly by the heatwave created not only by the fire waterfall, but also the coursing lava river Hestia created during all the down time, he still managed to begin his mission.
With the defence force in a panick and unnerved by the heat, Rajah took the opportunity as Hestia told him to and struck, throwing bombs Hestia just recently made, making them eligible for match. The explosion sent the guards flying away from this surprise attack.
“Ahhh, and here it goes, people! The castle siege! The castle breach! The castle battle! However, anybody bonded with the castle is naturally defended by a barrier! I see that bomb destroying the walls, but you ain’t killing anybody by that, little cat!”
Kraegar didn’t understand what the announcer just said, as the explosion was muffled by Hestia’s constant barrage of spells and the castle’s own weapons. However, Rajah did, as he confirmed Hestia's information from Yeostar. The guards weren’t kicked out, but were protected by a black barrier.
Quick!
He dashed over to the gate’s terminal while the guards were still dazed. As like most terminals in this castle, everything displayed a blue screen like a party bracelet and [Crystal of the Divine System]. After all, the demons’ technology was the source of many of Peolynca’s technological advancements.
And with a single click, the gate opened up, and with it, an opening in the barrier.
“Chaaaaarge!” And waiting right before the castle, under the earth, was the alliance of top rankers. And like any impromptu made team, there was little coordination between the two, however, they compensated it with quality amongst the members.
“Kraaaaaaaaagh!”
“Kuun!”
Larent, Ghorush, and Chahayat rushed right into the castle, their hearts beating with the drums of battle. However, unlike expectations, those three weren’t the first to take a kill, it was Alrond, riding on his manatech horse as he speared one of the recovered guards.
“““Wahoooooooooh!””” The crowd exploded in cheers as the first blood was drawn.
The frenzy of the arena returned as the hopeless gamblers began betting on this last assault, putting their hopes and money on who would acquire the most kills in this battle. Some, however, were still hopeful Larent could overcome Hestia when it came to kills and would double-down on it by betting him to acquire the most kills in this castle battle.
With this uproar, it became even louder as Hestia’s screen suddenly grew in size again. How did she do that when she was still distracting the weapon’s crew in the sky? The answer to that came from Hestia’s family and friends.
“Rajah, good work!”
“Take the opportunity, cub!”
Krim-Slak and Grazlahta cheered for Rajah as he took down the other guard by penetrating the barrier with his claws. Even from down here, everybody from the alliance could hear Hestia’s singing, as such, their attacks were boosted by the spell song. Not only did they receive an elemental boost, [The Heir of Hope] also boosted everybody’s stats by 10%, making them even more dangerous than before.
“Good work, Rajah!” Larent praised the virigress cub.
[“I got information! Come!”] Rajah stumbled on his words a bit, his blood pumping due to the battle’s start and his successful infiltration of the castle. He was giddy like a little child for helping his master out, finally.
The virigress led the alliance members deep into the castle. With the heatwave still affecting all the guards and Hestia looming above the castle while shooting spells down like an airship, it was hard for anybody to react to this sudden attack. When it happened, none of them were able to react in time.
“Joek, let’s go!” Naemon commanded his partner as both of them shot sand-based spells at the lookouts standing on the castle’s walls. Using their sand, they also boosted themselves up their, engaging the forces up there.
Meanwhile, the ground force found the weapon’s team, catching them out as some were trying to recuperate from the heat.
“Arlond, don’t take out too many, alright?” Larent commented as the young knight charged into the building.
“Haha! Don’t worry, Sir Larent! Allow me to pave the way for you!” Arnold stated with full confidence, having already planned to show his best to the beautiful rose flying up in the air. A womanizer, even on the battlefield.
And his confidence was warranted. The enemy were debilitated by not only the poison inside their System but also the stress of the work and the heatwave. The heat was also affecting the castle attackers, but the rush of battle coupled with [Music Resonance] stimulated them. They ignored all of it as they began slashing and stabbing.
“Kuwaagah!”
“Nooo, argh!”
“The cu— Kuuuruuuu!”
It was a slaughter.
“Ragh! Weaklings! Bring me the strong!” Ghorush shouted, but his wish wouldn’t come true with this crowd. Out of the twelve people Hestia decided were strong, the remaining ones were all inside this castle. The others had been taken out by the brothers, having deemed them a similar threat to the top rankers.
Like Hestia, the “Acid Killers” knew exactly who they had to be wary of. And even when cornered, these rats could fight back.
The moment the alliance members exited the building, wanting to search for the brothers, the inevitable happened.
“Arlond!” Larent called out to the younger man, but it was too late.
“Uwaraaaaagh!” With a direct hit to his chest, Arnold fell from his manatech horse, prompting it to revert back into the heavy armor he had on when meeting Hestia. There, on the ground, he squirmed and groaned in pain, enraging the older knight as he unleashed a blade of mana into the shadows.
Two silhouettes jumped out of it, but they quickly scurried back before a wall of sand blocked their way. As Ghorush and Chahayat approached them, bombs were thrown at them, exploding and releasing a poisonous gas. Both veterans jumped out of it immediately, barely dodging the deadly gas.
Before they could do anything else, their [Prediction]s activated and they jumped even further away, dodging crossbow bolts. As the projectiles flew out, they were also cleanly cut by Larent before he released a slash of mana into the mist, destroying the walls and finally forcing the pair to show themselves.
The “Acid Killers” were caught.
“Guraaaagh!” Arlond continued to cry out.
“Antidote, now!” Larent shouted, knowing who they were from the announcer’s commentary.
“You and your friend? Forfeit. And you will get it.” Greisha immediately bargained with Larent. This was the only way for the brothers to continue with their job.
Their shot was precise and calculated. From observing the fight at the weapon’s building, the brothers knew Larent had a relationship with Arlond. They knew the only way for them forward was to win this gamble. There were only ten participants left, and if they could coerce the dutifully Larent to surrender, then it was their win.
The brothers dangled their catalysts around, looking anxiously as Larent contemplated the deal. They didn’t make the antidote yet, but the moment a deal was struck, they would strike and kick both Larent and Arlond out with a cheap shot. With the poison in their systems, all they needed to do afterward was to slip through the arena.
It was their final gambit, and naturally, they were impatient.
“Hurry up! That venom can kill even B rank monsters without any problems. The longer you wait, the closer—”
“— he will be to death?”
The brother snapped their bodies around as they suddenly heard a female’s voice behind them. All they could see was the fog and the ruined walls Larent cut down at first, only to slowly hear the flapping of wings in the air. As a cold sweat fell down their spines, they raised their heads, where they saw Hestia floating above them with [Air Step], supporting her head with her hands.
“Yo, nice to see you two, again.” She smirked, causing the brothers to flinch back.
“Lady Hestia! Your plan worked out perfectly!” Naemon and Joek appeared from the corner, looking amicable at Hestia for what had happened today. Naemon, especially, was flabbergasted at how easily the attack worked, despite him not using his signature custom spells.
“Hey! Told you so, right?” She grinned before lowering the temperature in the area, relieving both Ghorush and Chahayat.
“Graaagh! This feels like the savannah with how warm it was…” the large leonid complained.
“My skin dried up…” On the other hand, Chahayat was showing signs of weakness from all the heat.
“This heat was a big rough, but we Evidians were tempered under the sun of the desert.” Meanwhile, Naemon couldn’t help but brag, having missed out on a chance to elevate his ego after Hestia executed her plan.
Watching the five of them banter around like this only annoyed the brothers, causing them to shout, “What are you doing! Accept the deal, or he dies!”
“We have the antidote, if you think—”
“Huh? Who needs an antidote?” Hestia tilted her head as she point at Arlond, who had stopped groaning a while ago, only for him to suddenly snicker.
“Hehehe…” Arnold stood back up, smiling brightly as a hint of a white flame retreated back into his armor. “Hahaha, Lady Hestia, did you seen my acting? Wasn’t I good?”
Hestia gave him a thumbs up, genuinely happy about it. “Sure, good enough. I was more impressed by Mr. Larent, though. How he shouted like that really made him look like he was actually worried for you.”
However, unlike the two, Larent cleared his throat as his face suddenly started to redden. “… Well, I had forgotten you had applied that spell on him. I overreacted, I apologize.”
He got fooled like the lowlives. Hestia and Arlond thought simultaneously, somehow sharing the same one.
“H-How?!” Kraegar stumbled as he looked at Arlond, mortified and baffled at how the young knight was okay after the toxin.
However, Hestia wasn’t willing to share that information. Instead, she landed back on the ground and snuggled on Rajah who had just returned from scouting the fortress for any stragglers. She praised and snuggled on the white-black tiger as she quietly dispelled all [Sanctified Blaze]s attached to the members of the alliance.
The reason for Arlond’s quick recovery was none other than [Sanctified Blaze], Hestia’s first white flame custom spell. By attaching the magic circle to a person like a tattoo, the flames would activate and heal and cure their host the moment something happened to them. They would even defend their host from attacks if they had to.
But what was important was Hestia’s white flames themselves. With the [Flames of Purification] mutation skill she gained after leveling the racial Job [Incandescent Blaze], Hestia could cure whatever toxin she wanted to, depending on the strength of her [Corrosive Fire]. Knowing the brothers’ reputation from the Empire men in the alliance, she attached a [Sanctified Blaze] on everybody in case the worst happened.
All without showing it to anybody as she discreetly hid it all from the arena’s audience. She even used [Telepathy] to inform the alliance of her plans.
And it all led to the brothers’ defeat. It was checkmate.
“No need for you to know,” Ghorush stated before grabbing Kraegar head, avoiding his poisoned armor, and slammed the flailing man onto the ground. In a streak of light, Kraegar was kicked out of the arena.
“And there was only one left! Greisha was stripped away from his brother, but don’t worry everybody, soon he will follow suit.” The announcer’s voice was like an omen for his Greisha’s own defeat.
“Shit!” Greisha cursed as he saw his brother fly away, only for a sharp blade to be placed next to his throat.
“Well, goodbye and good fight.” Hestia readied her glaive before swinging it down before Greisha could speak. With one swift movement, the battle royal of group A had finished…
“What?” Hestia exclaimed.
There were eight contestants left right now, but during the start of this siege, only 29 people participated. There was one contestant who wasn’t here. And this fact showed when Greisha was protected by a barrier of light from Hestia’s glaive.
In fact, all eight people inside the castle were surrounded by a brilliant light before they simultaneously sent into the sky, placed there for the crowd to see and cheer for. Even without the announcer, everybody knew what this meant — the match was over and they were the top eight.
However, everybody but Larent and Hestia questioned how Greisha was part of this ranking. After all, the former two knew exactly why this was the case.
Where is that assassin?! Both of them thought.
…
Down below was a single person, having jumped off the breaking cliff of the arena. Their skull mask hid their expression as they embraced their defeat and subsequent guidance out of the arena. To the general audience, this person had vanished from their thoughts completely.
Like a ghost.