The Author's POV

In a different area of the dome. 

SHIIIIING!

A black dagger pierced through the air in a lightning-fast manner. 

KWANG! 

Colliding with the metal body of a rapier, a defeating sound rang out, creating hot embers that scattered out.

At the same time, the dagger clashed with the body of the rapier, appearing on the right side of JIn were two twin swords. Raising his left hand, Jin slashed with all of his power.

KWANG!

Once again, a powerful sound rang out. The result of the clash ended up with one person getting pushed back. 

"Brother!" 

"...He's strong." 

Nicholas muttered. Next to him was his sister, Aerin. 

Lifting his sleeve, he wiped the blood that trickled down the edge of his lip.

Turning his attention towards his sister, Nicholas asked. 

"Aerin, are you injured?" 

"No." 

"...Good. I'm afraid we have to go all out. We might lose if we don't." 

"I agree." 

In response to her brother's words, Aerin nodded her head. 

"Haaaat!" 

Then, with her brother next to her, she charged forward. Their speed was not something anyone could follow with their naked eyes. Within seconds, they were already in front of Jin. 

Thrusting forward with her rapier, Nicholas accompanied her movements as he thrust his twin swords forward. 

Claaaang—!

This time, it was Jin's turn to be pushed back. The twin's attacks were meticulous and calculated.

Alternating between each other, with no lag in their movements, they both aimed for the most vulnerable part of Jin's body.

Be it heart, lungs, head, liver; they aimed for all of the important organs. To make matters worse, because of how synchronized their attacks were, to Jin, it felt as though he was facing three opponents at the same time. 

Slowly, cuts started appearing all over his body. For the next minute or so, Jin was slowly but surely being driven towards a corner. To the spectators, it looked as though he was about to lose. 

But. 

"Tsk." 

Jin suddenly clicked his tongue. Almost instantaneously, a tremendous hue wrapped around his daggers.

Taking a step forward, his body suddenly melted into the darkness. 

SHIIIIING!

Appearing right in front of them, Jin thrust his daggers forward as he performed an odd combo. His first strike was a powerful strike that shot up like lightning, followed by consecutive strikes that could seemingly sever rivers.

With each strike, the dagger's pattern became more and more eccentric. At one point, one of the daggers followed a path that was similar to that of a snake. Almost impossible to predict. 

Under the barrage of attacks, Aerin and Nicholas both cooperated with each other and tried their best to defend themselves against Jin's weird attacks.

However, they knew that they were once again at a disadvantage. Even though they were going all out, they were still losing.

"Khhh...Aerin" 

Pushed back, Nicholas painfully groaned. 

"Yes, brother!" 

"Let's use that." 

"...but—" 

"If we don't use it, we will lose. There is no point in saving it." 

Nicholas quickly cut her off. 

It became painfully obvious to him that they were about to lose. Their opponent was just too strong. 

"Understood." 

Biting her lower lip, Aerin nodded her head as she raised her rapier in the air. 

A blue light suddenly enveloped the area. Standing next to each other, the twins connected their weapons together. A powerful current of magic power rose up around their weapons, heating up everything in their vicinity. 

"Now!" 

Slashing down, a light enveloped the area. A majestic vertical blue beam shot in Jin's direction. 

SHIIIIING! 

Tracing behind the beam was a beautiful light blue trail.

Coldly staring at the incoming attack, Jin's brows knit together. 

"Huuu..." He then took a deep breath. "Light eye. Mana conglomeration" 

Activating his skill, light eye, Jin's world suddenly slowed down. Looking at the approaching attack, he tightened the grip of his daggers as he channeled all of his mana towards them. Within seconds, the dagger dangerously glowed as all of Jin's mana flowed there. 

Taking a step forward, he slashed down with both daggers. He was trying to meet their attacks head-on. 

BAAAM—!

Enveloping the area was a bright light that illuminated everything within the vicinity. It was soon followed by a thunderous explosion that rang throughout the whole dome. Almost all of the students present heard it. 

Dust and debris flew everywhere hindering the spectator's sight.

'Who won?' Everyone wondered as they eagerly anticipated for the dust to clear out. Then, within a minute, everyone finally got their answer. 

With both daggers in his hands, standing in the same position as before, was Jin. Though his clothes were a mess and cuts appeared all over his body, compared to the twins that were on the ground struggling to get up, Jin looked to be in a much better condition. 

He was the victor. 

—WHIIIIII! —WHIIIIII! 

Right, when Jin was about to finish off his opponents, the whole building turned red, and an ear-splitting sound echoed across the whole building. 

[Attention to all students. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the trials will now shut down. Please stop whatever you are doing and evacuate the premises. I repeat, please stop whatever you are doing and evacuate the premises. For those who are unable to leave, an instructor will quickly come to aid you.] 

*** 

"Damn it!" 

Cursing out loud, Kevin bent his neck slightly as he dodged a sword attack. Raising his sword, he deflected two more attacks coming from his left and right. 

KWANG! KWANG!

Whilst he was fighting, Kevin's eyes would look towards his right from time to time. Right where the portal disc was located. 

'...I was careless, damn it.' 

It became painfully apparent to Kevin that someone had found out about his snooping. If not they wouldn't have sent so many people in one area. They must've added additional support at the very last minute to get rid of anyone that was trying to stop their plans. 

Although Kevin had taken this option into consideration, given that he had done a thorough check of the surroundings, he only thought that there were four people within the area he had selected. 

...but he was wrong. Using some sort of artifact, four more people hid around the area and waited for him to act. 

He had been too careless. 

KWANG!

"Khh..." 

Groaning, Kevin took a step back and parried another attack. Stomping his foot on the ground, Kevin raised his sword and looked at his opponents. 

'...I need to cut down their number.'

It was an eight vs one scenario. He was at a severe disadvantage in number. The only way he could have a shot at winning was by reducing their number. Everyone here was weaker than him. As long as he got rid of some of them, his situation would become much easier. 

"Huuup!" 

Right when Kevin was about to execute a special move, something strange happened. 

"Kuak!"

Out of nowhere, one of the individuals suddenly tripped. Though confused, Kevin took advantage of this situation and swiftly stabbed his sword towards his back. 

Cwaaaaang—!

Caught by surprise, the individual was unable to defend himself. Stabbing towards his back, a shield suddenly appeared on the student's body as he fell on the ground paralyzed. 

This all happened within a second, and it threw everyone off. Needless to say, Kevin took advantage of his opponent's confusion and once again attacked. 

Thrusting his sword forward, Kevin watched as his opponent flustered;y tried to block the attack. Unfortunately for him, it was a faint. Right when it was about to hit him, Kevin's sword magically reappeared by his throat. 

Cwaaaaang—!

His attack was once again blocked by the small protective shield that all students had. Nevertheless, his opponent was down. 

"Haaa. Haaa. That's two down." 

A faint smile appeared on Kevin's lips. Still, the smile did not last for long once he realized that he still needed to get rid of six more opponents. Kevin wasn't conceited to the point that he didn't know that the only reason he had gotten rid of the two opponents was due to luck. Had his opponent not tripped this would've never have happened. 

"...guess I have no choice" Therefore, taking a step back and glaring at his opponents, Kevin prepared himself to go all out. 

"Overd—" 

—Click!

Disrupting the fight, was a subtle yet powerful clicking sound. Kevin, who was struggling and was just about to use overdrive, abruptly stopped whatever he was doing. The edges of his lips curved upwards. 

"...you're here." 

—Thud! 

Collapsing on the ground was one of the six remaining individuals. Behind him, was Ren's cold figure. 

"Wh-at" 

Caught by surprise, everyone turned to look at Ren. With cold and apathetic eyes, Ren merely glanced at everyone present before placing his hand on the handle of his sword. 

—Kracka! 

Lightning crackled in the air, and a white hue shrouded Ren's body. Taking advantage of the confusion, Ren attacked once again. 

The first movement of the [Keiki style] : Quick flash

—Click!

Yet again, another clicking sound rang out in the area; a beautiful blue line drew in the air. With a large thud, another student was eliminated, leaving behind only four more people. 

—Thud!

"R-ren, you!"

Opening his eyes wide, Kevin flusteredly looked at Ren. With a trembling hand, he pointed at Ren and shouted. 

"Do you realize what you have done!" 

With cameras broadcasting the event worldwide, the whole world had just found out that Ren was practicing the Keiki style. He had just placed a massive target on his back for no reason whatsoever. 

"..." 

Ignoring Kevin, Ren once again placed his hand on the handle of his sword. 

—Click!

Once again, the all too familiar clicking sound rang out in the area. Unfortunately, this time his opponents were prepared as two of the four opponents stood next to each other and blocked the attack. 

KWANG! 

The sound of metal colliding rang out in the air.  Staring at Ren, Kevin's grip on his sword tightened. 

"...Damn it, Ren, you better answer me after this is over!" 

Clank—!

Turning around, Kevin easily parried the incoming attack. Only needing to deal with two opponents, Kevin's life was now much easier. In fact, now that Ren had joined him, he was a lot more relaxed. 

This became more apparent in the fight as Ren and Kevin were slowly but surely gaining the upper hand against their opponents. 

With no restraints on him, Ren dominated his opponents. His lightning-fast attacks were not something his opponents could easily parry. Slowly but surely, wounds were starting to appear all over the opponent's bodies. 

Within a minute, Ren would be able to get rid of his opponents. 

"...Do it!" 

Just when Ren and Kevin were sure of their victory, something unexpected suddenly happened.

Looking at each other simultaneously, all four of the remaining individuals took out a black pill from their mouths and swallowed it. 

Fuuum—! 

Their auras suddenly skyrocketed as a small gust of wind swept the area. 

"What's going on?!" 

Taking a step back, Kevin shouted. 

"...Demon pill."

Ren softly muttered. Hearing Ren's remark, Kevin turned to look at him and asked. 

"What's that?" 

"...Th—" 

SHIIIING—!

Unfortunately for him, right before Ren was about to respond, two of the four individuals attacked Ren whilst the other two attacked Kevin. 

Raising his sword, Kevin tried to deflect their attacks. Once his sword collided with his opponent's weapons, a dull metallic sound rang out in the area. 

KWANG! KWANG! 

"Khuak!" 

Taking two steps back, Kevin let out a strange sound. Staring at the two opponents before him, Kevin's face became serious. 

"...They've gotten a lot stronger." 

Click. Click. Click. Ren's situation was also not that great. Despite his repetitive lightning-fast attacks, his opponents were now able to block the attacks more easily. Of course, this only applied to just regular attacks. 

Once Ren used any of the movements, injuries would appear on the bodies of his opponents. Unfortunately, he couldn't use those moves often as they consumed a lot of mana. 

"Kevin, the effects of the pill will only last for one minute. Play defensive." 

Ren calmly said as he dodged an attack coming from his opponent. 

"...understood." 

"Y-you, how do you know?!" 

Overhearing the conversation, one of the students, opened his eyes wide in shock. Turning attention towards his companions, he shouted. 

"Mission failed, activate plan B" 

"Understood." 

All four of them shouted in unison. At once, the bodies of three of the four individuals radically changed. Red threads of mana appeared on their bodies as their eyes became bloodshot and their muscles enlarged.

"Go!" 

One of the individuals roared. He then, along with his other two companies shot towards Kevin and Ren. 

"——!"

They were so fast that Ren and Kevin barely had time to react. Punching out, Kevin was pushed back a couple of steps. 

Ren was in a worse state. Compared to Kevin, he had two individuals attack him.

BAAM! 

"Kuh"

Crashing against a tree, a small groan escaped from Ren's mouth. Even though his face did not change upon impact, the pain was not something a loss of emotion could get rid of. 

Still. 

"...I'm fine." 

Within seconds Ren had already stood up. Though his legs were a bit shaky, he looked completely calm. 

"Thank god..." Kevin sighed in relief.

Turning his attention back to the trio, Kevin closed his eyes. 

"Overdrive."

At the same time, Kevin muttered those words, an inexplicable power burst from Kevin's body as he charged forward. Because Ren was injured, Kevin wanted to take them all at the same time. 

"Haaaat!" 

Slashing down, initially, Kevin was at a disadvantage. However, as the seconds passed, his disadvantage became less and less apparent. In fact, the disadvantage slowly turned into an advantage as he was slowly gaining the upper hand. From the looks of it, his opponents were also in a similar state to his overdrive, but the length of time they could be in that state was much shorter than Kevin's. 

—Thud! 

Before long, there was only one individual standing before Kevin. 

"Haaa. Haaaa." 

Kevin's breathing was rough. But even so, a smile appeared on his face. He was close to winning. 

However. 

Just as he was about to finish the last opponent, Kevin's ears perked up. 

Ka.Ka.Ka.Ka.Ka. A crackling sound rang out in the distance. Stopping whatever he was doing, Kevin watched as black lightning covered a metal disc in the last student's hands. 

"Ren, stop him!" Staring at the student in the distance, Kevin opened his eyes widely. "He's trying to break the core! He's trying to blow everything up!" 

With his hand already on the grip of his sword, Ren channeled all of the remaining mana he had in his body. Right as Kevin's words fell, he disappeared from his spot. 

The third movement of the [Keiki style] : Void step

—Click!

Leaving behind a beautiful blue trail in the air, Ren appeared right before the student and thrust his sword into his throat. 

Caught by surprise, the student fell on the ground paralyzed. Unbothered by this, taking the disc on the ground, Ren looked at Kevin in the distance. 

"....It's too late."