Novel Full Chapter 618: Ez
Chapter 618: Ez
The rule settled into the battlefield like a quiet execution order, and unlike most of the others who immediately spread out or pulled back to assess targets, Almond and the group did the exact opposite.
They rose.
Not jumped.
Not rushed.
They simply lifted off the ground and took to the air together, their figures clearly visible against the dull sky as they moved forward at a steady, unhurried pace that did not even attempt to hide intent. It was not speed meant for efficiency, nor caution meant for survival. It was something else entirely, something that anyone watching could understand without needing to think.
Stop us if you can.
The effect was immediate.
Heads turned.
Movement shifted.
People who had been stalking weaker targets hesitated, their attention drawn upward toward the nine figures cutting across the battlefield without a care for positioning or concealment. Some frowned. Some smirked. Some simply adjusted their stance as instinct told them the same thing at once.
Those were not easy targets.
And yet, in a place where everyone needed three kills, boldness itself became bait.
The first group took it.
Four of them, moving together, probably thinking the same thing most others would think in that situation, that a visible group like this was either overconfident or trying to intimidate, and either way, worth bringing down early before they became a bigger problem later.
They came fast.
Two from the front.
Two from above.
Coordinated enough to at least force a reaction.
Almond did not slow.
He didn’t even change direction.
“Don’t break pace,” he said, voice calm.
That was all.
The moment the first attacker entered range, the response came.
Saffa moved first.
Her hammer rose and came down in a clean, controlled arc that met the incoming strike head-on, not deflecting it, but stopping it completely before the follow-up could even begin. The impact alone broke the attacker’s rhythm, and the second motion ended it, the body dropping before it even understood what had gone wrong.
One.
Ainen turned slightly as one of the attackers tried to slip past the formation, his fingers snapping once as a narrow stream of flame cut across the path at just the right angle. It did not explode. It did not spread. It simply erased the target cleanly, leaving nothing but fading embers behind.
Two.
Natalia didn’t even fully stop.
She twisted mid-air, her baton flicking once as a compressed burst of sound struck the third attacker directly in the chest, not blasting him away, but collapsing his internal balance entirely, dropping him out of the air like something whose strings had been cut, though his insides did’t resemble any shape or size as everything in his body turned into mesh.
Three.
The fourth tried to pull back.
Too late.
Almond moved.
The Edge of Ruin appeared and cut once, the motion smooth and direct, the strike landing before the retreat could even fully form. The body split and fell, the faint echo of Ruin energy dissipating quietly behind it.
Four.
The group never stopped moving.
They continued forward at the same pace, not accelerating, not slowing, as if the entire exchange had been nothing more than a minor interruption in their path.
Around them, the battlefield adjusted again.
This time, people didn’t rush in as quickly.
They watched.
Measured.
Calculated.
But the requirement did not disappear.
Three kills.
Everyone needed them.
And now, the easiest targets were gone.
Which meant the next choices became harder.
The second wave of challengers came more cautiously.
Not a group this time.
Individuals.
Testing.
A blade user approached Natalia from a wide angle, trying to time his attack between her movements, but the moment he committed, the response came faster than expected, a tight sound burst disrupting his motion mid-strike, followed by a clean finish that didn’t leave room for recovery.
Kayla did not move much, but the ground beneath one approaching opponent shifted just enough to ruin his footing, and the follow-up from her roots ended the fight before it properly began.
Lily didn’t even look at one of her targets directly. A Dreadling surfaced at the exact wrong moment for the opponent, forcing a reaction that exposed him to a finishing strike from her, clean and efficient.
Gopu took one down with a single controlled impact of his hand extending into a giant claw with destructive energy as he used an enhnace-type card from his deck, noticeably restrained compared to what he could have done, but more than enough to end it without drawing unnecessary attention.
Clovelle didn’t chase.
She redirected.
One opponent found himself pushed into a losing position not by force, but by small, precise adjustments that left him open to a final strike she delivered without excess motion.
Fraisea moved quietly, her attacks clean and direct, eliminating her target with minimal display, her presence barely noticed until it was already over.
Saffa finished her second and third with the same grounded dominance, never rushing, never wasting motion, each strike final.
Ainen picked his remaining targets with the same calm efficiency, each elimination controlled, measured, almost casual in execution.
And Almond.
He didn’t hunt.
They came to him.
The first tried to test him.
The second tried to overwhelm.
The third tried to escape after realizing the mistake.
All three ended the same way.
Fast.
Clean.
Unavoidable.
Within minutes, it was done.
Not just for them.
For the veil itself.
The battlefield had thinned drastically, the number of participants reduced to those who had either already completed their requirement or were desperately trying to finish it before the remaining options disappeared.
The system voice returned.
[Requirement Fulfilled]
The space began to dissolve again.
Fragments of the battlefield breaking into light.
The remaining participants either vanished with them or were left behind.
And just like that, the violet veil released them.
They stepped into the second resting zone.
The shift was immediate.
Quiet.
Open.
Five kilometers of space where no one could attack, no one could interfere.
Behind them, the veil shimmered once more.
Ahead of them, the next set of veils waited.
But the difference was already visible.
People looked at them now.
Not casually.
Not curiously.
Carefully.
Because unlike before, there was no ambiguity left.
These Tier-6 slaves just eliminated a bunch of Tier-9 and Tier-10 powerhouses as easy as swatting flies, and they couldn’t figure out what was so impressive about them the way they killed their opponents so blandly, unlike many others who were showing off, some even desperately.
Natalia stretched slightly as they continued walking forward.
“Okay,” she said, a faint grin forming again, “that was easy.”
“Most of those who were Tier-11 and higher went in the first wave.” Almond cracked his index finger as his. “Let’s catch up. We have to get into top 100.”
“The next ones are oozing ten times the higher energy.” Ainen grinned. “I think those veils got something interesting in there.”