Chapter 115: ZONE TWO: SURVIVAL

Chapter 115: 115: ZONE TWO: SURVIVAL

The atmosphere before them looked like a vast circular battlefield. The entire scene was chaotic at best.

The floor of the space wasn’t completely flat at all. There were different layers and levels throughout the area—enormous broken pillars, ruined statues, ancient stone structures, floating pieces of rock, glowing cracks in the ground, small raised platforms, collapsed bridges, and energy streams moving through the stone.

A lot was happening.

The atmosphere was consumed by soft, bustling winds that carried floating pieces of rock across the vast space.

The six of them stood there, staring around at the different scenes before them.

"This feels uneasy..." Simon said as he pulled out his staff.

Kael did the same. "I think we should be armed now..."

Simon stretched out his hand and held Finn’s for a brief moment, their energy syncing in perfect rhythm.

June reached out toward Nyx, who immediately held his hand. The two smiled as June felt their energy seamlessly blending in perfect unity. He could read through Nyx’s energy, and everything was in perfect shape.

Kael stood there with his weapon in hand, staring around when Ryan tapped him on the shoulder.

"We should sync or something. To be safer."

Kael stared at him before casually shaking his head. "I don’t need that. I’ll be okay."

He turned and continued observing the atmosphere.

Ryan scoffed. "How rude. Don’t beg me when the time comes."

He shook his head and looked around as well.

[To get past this zone and move into the final zone, contestants need to get through the purple portal ahead.]

June and the rest looked ahead at the purple portal standing at the distant opposite end of the battlefield.

"It’s not far, though..." June observed. "Do you think the Elite 5 have gone past it yet?"

"If they had, then we would have heard the announcement of them getting through," Simon said. "Which means they’re still in this zone..."

June blinked as he looked around the chaotic atmosphere.

"Still here...? If the portal is just there and the Elite 5 haven’t gotten past it yet, then..."

"That’s fishy." Ryan adjusted his glasses as he looked around.

"Let’s get going," Finn said. "The faster, the better..."

They slowly nodded before turning and making their way toward the portal ahead, running past fallen pillars and broken stone structures.

But before they had even been running for a minute, an intense gust of wind suddenly came from nowhere and blew directly toward them, sending all six of them flying through the air.

A massive tornado appeared, trapping the six of them within its orbit and violently sweeping them around for several moments before throwing them into different directions.

Simon struggled to hold himself firmly in the air with his staff, controlling the wind surrounding him and gradually bringing himself back into balance. He caught sight of someone floating nearby and immediately reached out, grabbing Finn and pulling him toward his side.

The two continued swirling through the air before crashing onto the harsh floor.

But while they struggled to get back to their feet, the wind suddenly took the shape of a lion and landed on the ground before them.

"That is..." Finn stared closely.

"A Dungeon Monster..." Simon said, adjusting his staff. "Clearly part of the challenge..."

He turned toward Finn.

"Stay here. I’ll handle it. Don’t move."

---

The wind blew the other four violently through the air as they struggled to regain their balance.

Nyx and June caught sight of each other while being thrown through the sky, and both desperately reached out, trying to grab one another.

But the wind suddenly snapped between them and sent them flying in completely different directions.

June found himself crashing directly into Ryan as they both fell hard onto the ground.

"Ouch..." Ryan struggled to sit up as he looked around the rocky scenery. Purple glowing rocks floated above and occasionally landed on the surface around him.

June also sat up, running a hand through his hair.

"What the hell was that...?"

"The gate..." Ryan stared into the distance. "It’s nowhere to be seen anymore..."

The two stared around but couldn’t see the portal they had been heading toward.

"Fuck. Did that stupid wind blow us into another planet or something?"

June and Ryan struggled to their feet, carefully looking around.

"I knew it was a scam. Now we have to find the damn portal..." Ryan muttered, standing with both hands on his waist.

Just then, they heard a sound from above.

Looking up, they saw a purple crack opening across the atmosphere.

A huge black eagle flew out of it.

It began circling above them.

June gasped as he staggered backward. "At least a strange bird found us..."

The eagle stared directly down at them with burning purple eyes. It flapped its enormous wings, causing purple dust to scatter from its feathers.

Then, without a moment of hesitation, it suddenly dived toward them.

"Do we look like Espers to you, you damn bird?!" June snapped as he turned. "Run! Opposite directions!"

The two immediately took off in opposite directions, running for their dear lives.

But when June glanced behind him, he was speechless to see the eagle actually flying closely after him.

"Oh dear, I know I’m pretty and stand out with my beautiful yellow hair, but can we not do this now?!" June snapped as he ran for his life.

He jumped over rocks, rolled beneath fallen bridges, and made abrupt turns to evade the eagle, even to the point where he felt like his waist was about to crack.

"Oh, sweet heavens! I think I’m getting old. I can’t remember the last time I exercised! At this point, I doubt I’ll have my waist intact by the end of this damn contest!" he yelled while running.

He reached into his pocket, but there was no sign of his phone.

"Fuck, I can’t use that trick again..."

The only thing he had now was his skill—Manipulation.

But he couldn’t literally stop halfway through the chase and request eye contact like:

"Please, Mr. Bird, can we stop playing tag and let me stare into your eyes for at least five seconds?"

Or say:

"Are you feeling itchy? Let me scratch you for like four seconds, maybe?"

The bird would squash him in a second if he ever stopped running!