Arc 1 Chapter 42 : Battle in Ruined City

[Raul POV]

The following morning, Valeria and I were scouting the city center in search of food supplies carried by the other participants.

"Raul, there's a group at your seven o'clock," Valeria said. "They're moving this way."

The two of us were hiding on the rooftop of a building, giving us a better view of the surrounding area.

I turned toward the direction Valeria had pointed.

Sure enough, I spotted six participants running through the streets of the city. They were being pursued by another group of participants who seemed to have the same objective as us—to acquire supplies.

"Chase them! Don't let our food supplies get away!" one of the pursuers shouted.

I gestured for Valeria to move closer to the two groups so we could begin our own operation.

The six people being chased suddenly came to a stop. Thick white smoke erupted around them, apparently created by one of their mages.

It seemed these six were merely bait, and their eight pursuers had already fallen into their trap.

—Bomb! Bomb!

Explosions echoed from the battlefield, followed by the screams of someone caught in the chaos.

"Valeria, get ready to attack them when I give you the signal," I whispered.

"I understand."

I began sneaking through the surrounding buildings, gradually closing the distance between us and the participants.

Once the white smoke finally dispersed, all eight pursuers had already been defeated.

I noticed two people standing on top of a nearby building. They appeared to be members of the group that had been chased.

"Yes! Our plan worked!"

The two people on the rooftop climbed down and approached their companions.

"I told you, didn't I? This plan was brilliant," the man said proudly.

"Well... You took this tactic from that Rotten Noble during the first-stage exam, didn't you?" the mage in their group remarked.

"Hey, wise men say experience is the best teacher, you know," the man replied half-jokingly. "Yesterday's first-stage exam taught us a lot of useful things."

Hoho... So you realized it too.

Practical experience really was far more effective at teaching students than sitting inside a classroom listening to theory.

I actually felt a little guilty about eliminating them now, especially after everything they had learned.

"Save the chatting for later. Hurry up, take their food supplies, and get out of here," said a man carrying a sword. "I'm afraid another group will arrive soon and force us to fight endlessly in this area."

Well... It seems they already predicted that other participants—including me—would come looking for them.

This was the result of what I had taught them during the first-stage exam: how to fight effectively on an actual battlefield.

As their group prepared to leave the area, I raised my hand and gave Valeria the signal to attack, instructing her to target their mage first.

Valeria nodded and fired a wind-element spell toward their mage, sending him flying through the air.

"Enemy attack! Take cover behind the buildings!"

The seven remaining participants immediately scattered, hiding inside or behind nearby buildings to protect themselves from Valeria's magic.

Unfortunately for them, none of it would matter.

It was my turn to act.

I activated Acceleration and immediately dashed toward one of the participants hiding behind a building wall.

His face instantly changed when he saw me approaching.

"Y-You! Why are you here, Rotten No—"

Before he could finish his sentence, my sword had already cut through his neck.

The man collapsed, clutching his bleeding throat. Moments later, a magic circle appeared beneath him and swallowed his body, signaling that he had been eliminated from the exam.

Without wasting another second, I rushed inside the building.

Two more participants were hiding inside.

Beside them was a large sack filled with food supplies.

"Damn it! Why is that Rotten Noble here?!"

"We really are unlucky!"

The two men glared at me in frustration.

Each of them drew a sword.

"Damn it! We won't lose without putting up a fight!" one of them shouted as he charged toward me.

He launched a series of reckless attacks, deliberately keeping up the pressure to make it difficult for me to counterattack.

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Behind him, his companion patiently watched our battle.

He was probably waiting for an opportunity to cover his partner if I managed to counterattack.

These two are pretty smart.

But...

—Clang!

Our swords collided.

However, the man was knocked sideways because he lost the contest of strength between our blades.

Seeing his defense suddenly exposed, I immediately dashed toward him, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.

From behind him, I noticed his companion moving to intercept me.

But that is exactly what I wanted.

I abruptly twisted my body and changed targets, swinging my sword toward his companion instead.

He couldn't block or evade the attack because the sudden change had caught him completely off guard.

"No, Jason!" the first man shouted.

I didn't stop.

My sword pierced through Jason's chest, and a magic circle immediately appeared beneath him, swallowing his body and confirming his elimination from the exam.

"Well... Let's deal with the remaining four."

I walked toward the building's window and looked outside.

Four members of the group we had attacked were already fleeing.

"They're smart," I muttered as I watched their quick response. "They realized their enemy was far stronger than them, so they didn't hesitate to run away and abandon the spoils they'd worked so hard to obtain."

I picked up the large sack of food supplies and left the building.

Valeria also descended from the rooftop where she had been positioned and approached me.

"The rest of their group escaped, Raul," Valeria said. "Shouldn't we chase them?"

"There's no need to bother. We already got what we wanted," I replied, rejecting her suggestion. "It's better to leave before more participants arrive and start targeting our food supplies."

---

[3rd POV]

Not far from Raul and Valeria's position, near the Town Hall of Edessa, several groups of participants were engaged in a fierce struggle over their food supplies.

Nearly seventy people had gathered in the center of the city.

Each group occupied one of the surrounding buildings, using them as defensive positions. Spells flew through gaps and windows as the participants exchanged attacks with one another from their respective shelters.

Inside one of the buildings was a group consisting of six participants.

They were an alliance formed from three separate teams and currently possessed a considerable amount of food supplies.

"Ugh... We shouldn't have stolen food from the other participants here!" a male mage complained. "There are way too many people in this area. We've been trapped inside this building for hours!"

"Keep firing, Russel!" ordered a man wielding a spear. "Stealing supplies here was part of the agreement we all made! You agreed to this plan too, didn't you?"

"Watch out! A fire spell is heading toward our building!"

Hearing their companion's warning, everyone inside immediately dropped to the floor.

An explosion erupted outside.

Black smoke filled the room as part of the building's wall was destroyed by the fire spell.

—Tap... Tap... Tap...

Footsteps echoed through the smoke-filled room.

The participants inside the building looked toward the entrance and saw a blond-haired young man accompanied by a red-haired woman.

"That's Brian... and Scarlett..." one of them muttered.

"It's over. Those two are going to defeat our entire group!"

Brian's expression immediately twisted into annoyance upon hearing their words.

Scarlett had previously fired the powerful fire spell at the building under Brian's orders.

But now that Brian had arrived, he was disappointed to see that his enemies appeared to have already surrendered before the fight had even begun.

"Tch. Cowards!" Brian shouted. "At least fight me and lose with some dignity!"

Indeed, Brian and Scarlett's strength was more than enough to overwhelm them.

There was hardly anyone who could match the two of them in direct combat except Elena and Raul.

"Fire Punch!"

Scarlett charged forward and attacked the group with her flaming fists.

Brian, meanwhile, had already lost interest. He merely eliminated the participants because he had to.

"Scarlett, hurry up and take their supplies. We need to leave this place," Brian ordered, clearly no longer in the mood to fight.

Scarlett simply nodded and lifted the large sack containing their food and drinks.

The two of them then left the building.

However, a flash of yellow lightning suddenly appeared before them.

Brian immediately assumed a combat stance.

—Clang!

Elena suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked Brian with her sword.

"Well... Princess Elena. Looks like I've found an opponent worthy of my time today," Brian said with a grin.

"We'll see about that, Brian," Elena replied as she began gathering mana. "Let's see whether you can stop me here!"

The two immediately clashed.

Elena unleashed slash after slash, forcing Brian to struggle against her relentless attacks.

On the other side, Scarlett stood face-to-face with her younger twin brother, Geralt.

"Sister..." Geralt murmured.

Scarlett lowered her stance and prepared herself for battle.

Unlike her younger brother Geralt, who relied on his sword, the red-haired girl fought using the style of a Brawler.

"We're going to take this fight seriously, Geralt," Scarlett said, finally speaking after remaining silent throughout most of the second-stage exam. "Give it everything you've got against your big sister!"

The two twins charged at each other.

Scarlett attacked with her fists while Geralt fought with his sword.

Battles erupted throughout the area surrounding the Town Hall.

On the fourth day, the participants continued fighting one another in order to secure enough provisions to survive the final day and reach the finish line.

Explosions from magic erupted everywhere.

The screams of participants echoed through the streets like the sounds of an actual battlefield.

Yet they failed to notice the group of monsters approaching them.

A horde of blue-colored monsters with brown legs had surrounded the area.

"Huh? Why are there so many monsters all of a sudden?" one participant exclaimed.

The participants immediately stopped fighting one another and turned their attention toward the newly arrived monsters.

"Attack the monsters!"

Dozens of participants launched an assault.

At first, the monsters fell easily beneath their attacks.

But then—

"Damn it! Why won't these monsters die even after we cut their heads off?!" one participant shouted as the monster he had just decapitated suddenly stood back up.

"Not only that! The monsters we've already cut apart are splitting into more of themselves!"

The participants began to panic.

They were quickly being overwhelmed.

Desperate, some of them fled toward other groups of participants, hoping to force them into helping fight the monsters.

Meanwhile, Elena and Brian were still locked in combat several minutes later.

Brian's uniform was already torn in several places, and his body was covered in wounds.

"Not bad, Brian," Elena said, complimenting the blond-haired man. "But your abilities are still inferior to Raul's when it comes to pure martial skill."

The moment he heard Elena compare him to the man he hated most, Brian's expression darkened.

"Don't mention that man while you're fighting me!" Brian shouted as he began gathering mana. "I'm going to become the strongest knight in this country!"

Hearing that, Elena gave a mischievous laugh.

"Fufufu~ Is that so? You certainly have an ambitious dream, Brian," Elena said as she prepared to attack once more. "But before you can achieve that dream, you'll have to defeat me first!"

The two charged toward each other, preparing to unleash their attacks.

**—Groooaarrrr!**

But their movements suddenly stopped when a tremendous roar echoed through the city.

"What was that?" Elena asked, canceling her spell.

Brian also canceled his spell and pointed toward one of the nearby buildings.

"I think it came from over there!"

**—Grooaarrr!**

Suddenly, a gigantic monster emerged from behind the building Brian had pointed toward.

The creature stood approximately **seven meters tall**.

Behind it came a horde of similar monsters, though considerably smaller, each standing around two meters tall.

"Oh, Goddess Diana... How could a monster this enormous possibly be allowed to roam freely during the exam?!" Elena exclaimed, visibly shocked by its appearance.

"Help us!"

"These monsters can't be killed!"

Moments later, other participants from the surrounding area came running into view, desperately fleeing from the monsters chasing them.

Brian stared at the chaotic scene in confusion.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered.