4 days ago
Eunji and Rinka managed to meet up to a spot the two would always go after scouting and finding a suitable spot for their hideout. "I saw some good supply run spots that could last us for three days worth." Rinka reported as she sharpened her daggers while Eunji nodded as she felt a presence before unsheathing her blade as she got into her stance while Rinka followed. The two were ready to fight until a familiar black haired male appeared. "Huh? OH FUCK!" Rei panicked as he drew his scythes out, proceeding to get into his stance as he was worried if this is how he was gonna go out.
Eunji and Rinka sighed as they both withdrew their weapon back into their sheathes. Rei looked confused but noticed their behaviour of not willing to put on a fight as he did the same by putting his scythes back into his sheath as well. "Why are you two not gonna try eliminating me?" His question made the two girls dumbfounded before Eunji answered. "You think you can win this time?" Her answer gave Rei an obvious hint of how it would end if they were to fight. "Anyways, what are you doing here?" She asked while Rinka went back to sharpen her daggers as if she was waiting for some action to happen.
"Supply run and scouting… it's a hassle since I mostly end up returning with some supplies that could last me til tomorrow from how much I have to fight against others who want my head since I'm the vessel…" he groaned while Rinka responded. "Why don't you stay with us then? We could help you-" Rei interrupted her as he proceeded. "I don't know but after seeing you two. I think I have a better plan now." He grinned which made Rinka sweat as she remembered the time Eunji got manipulated into doing someone's bidding which was not that serious but it ended in a serious conflict with the headmaster, a couple of staff and Eri to break it off.
Eunji smiled in an amused manner as she folded her arms which surprised Rinka from seeing her being amused. "Really? Then what is it?" She asked while Rinka leaned in to hear what he had to say. "Since everyone is after my head… Why not let them target me as I continue to keep eliminating them without any of you doing any work? And as well to let the other people not know that you two joined in." His reasoning sounded fair although they let him continue since it looked like he had more to say. "I say that once the final day kicks in. I can try distracting Haru and another guy who manages to reach into the third spot! So that you two can eliminate lots of participants before the final day to overtake their spot permanently." It sounded like a good plan as Eunji and Rinka looked at each other before nodding in agreement. "Sounds good though we'll try to keep ourselves in the fourth and fifth spot." Eunji said while Rinka added. "The leaderboard only shows the top three so that's a great advantage to hide our presence throughout the event." Rei nodded at her as he continued to add more. "And as well… Try to keep the elimination count by two or three differences compared to whoever is in third place." The two girls nodded at the statement as they thought of his plan as a solid idea.
Rei was about to leave but decided to add more as he wanted to secure a good victory.
"I'll head to this same place during the last day. I might as well bring some of my friends if they need help or not. Only if I manage or they manage to find me." His statement made Eunji sighed but understood what he meant since it was inevitable to abandon some people who you considered close. They eventually split ways as each of them went to their respective places for the rest of the remaining days before the final countdown. Their plan, all solid and ready to execute when the time comes.
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Haru was frustrated at how everything was going downhill. From being unable to go higher than Rei to being in a dangerous spot to losing his place ever since he felt Eunji and Rinka's mana signature. "Cunning fucking bastard!" Haru shouted before compressing black flames on his palm as he reached out to Rei who dodged it while countering back with shooting ice bullets out of his mouth which pissed off Haru even more as he received the hit right to his face. Rei pulled away immediately as he watched him stumble before getting his bearings back. "Flame Control: Great Devastation!" Haru struck his blade to the ground before clasping his hands together.
Rei felt the massive mana spike as he countered back to either diminish the damage or to block it off completely. "Crystal Formation: Pillar Awakening!" He chanted as he slammed his hand on the ground as a crystal grew up to form a massive pillar that acted like a wall which cracked from the devastating black flames that were thrown at him. He noticed how quick the flames were extinguishing along with how much chunk was destroyed from the impact.
"The flames… Are they only strong with the amount of mana that's used?" Rei wondered to himself before he dodged another slash from Haru. "If so… Let's see how this works…" He strengthened his resolve as he parried Haru's blade before kicking him in the guts to try pushing him off as far as possible. Haru sensed Rei's technique from the mana he was emitting as he prepared himself to either counter back or dodge if possible although the latter would prove itself to be impossible as he was surprised to see Rinka's blood technique and Eunji's crystal technique combining. "Fusion Art: Hemokinetic Crystal Release." Rei manifested huge chunks of blood-like crystals that piled up into a sphere above him, his left hand reaching up while the scythe that was supposed to be held with it now laid with his other hand. Haru felt the immense mana output as he executed his technique to counter or block it off as he tried to match up with it, the black flames forming a dome around him. "Vampiric Spear Rampage!!!" He shouted as pulled his hand down hard, the sphere now decompressed as it unveiled a large amount of blood-like crystal shaped spears resembling a fang of a vampire. The technique was so powerful that every spear that struck down to Haru immediately shattered his defenses which pierced through the ground deeply.
"Damnit… I have to increase its power." Haru thought to himself in frustration as he poured his mana into the active technique once again, the black flames now arranging itself in a new form of a barrier. Despite the attempts, Rei's technique was still devastating as cracks continued to form around the barrier. "Just a little longer…" Haru muttered as he waited out for Rei's technique to finish while he tried to both gather and pour his mana into his defenses and reserves.
"Hemokinetic Crystal Release: Dracula's Fangs!" Rei caught him off guard as his scythes now coated in blood-like crystals along with the emitting mana waves of crimson red hue. Slashing through his defenses like butter as he broke through, he slashed him from the bottom right of his body to the left shoulder. Haru winced from the pain as he tried to fight back desperately except Rei didn't give him any chances as he kicked him harshly which sent him flying far onto the giant tree. The impact was painful yet Haru tried to stand back up but failed. He wasn't eliminated yet as he wasn't glitching out of the event. "Fucker… Goddamn fucker!" He screamed as he tried to gather up his mana to execute a technique although it was futile as he was already too injured to make any moves.
Rei stances up as he wasn't about to relax himself after the fight since he still needed to buy time for his friends. He felt a killing intent as he barely dodged the attack, something sharp grazed his cheek as he noticed the small dagger struck on the ground which had some purple flames coating it slightly. Suddenly, he felt a heavy hit to his left side as he flew over to the cliff which threw him off guard as he felt every impact in which grazed him while he could feel a couple of broken bones worsening in each fall every since of the heavy attack. His scythes snapped in half from the fall since the outer blade and inner blade couldn't handle the fall especially when the hit had a heavy amount of mana imbued to it.
He struggled to get up as he could feel every part of his body burning and breaking yet the high pain tolerance was kicking in slowly from the adrenaline rush he was feeling. "Wow! You're fucking durable!" A male's playful voice emitted from the top of the cliff as Rei used every ounce of his mana to execute a healing technique to heal himself. "I'll guess that you are Neon…" Rei said as his eyes glowed a brighter hue of red, the mana waves he was releasing slowly emitted his body as he was able to stand a bit properly although not properly healed except it was enough to keep himself going. Neon chuckled before flaring out his mana which made Rei shuddered from the intensity. "Can't play with you since it's almost time anyways ~ So I might as well leave you a gift ~" He mocked playfully before executing his technique. "Fourth Seal Release: Demonic Judgement."
A sea of purple flames started to burst out as it reached out to Rei. The intense heat already made him consider not wasting any time left since he would be critically injured if he let those flames hit him. "Hemokinetic Crystal Release: Great Wall!!!" He chanted desperately as he manifested a blood-like crystal wall in front of him which blocked the incoming flames. The impact was devastating as it took a lot of chunks of his defense. "Damnit!" Rei muttered before picking himself up while taking his broken scythes with him.
Neon was surprised to see him retreat since he had a promise with the Sasaki Clan. Exterminate or made Rei lose to Haru. "Flame Seal. Open." Purple flames emitted on the palm of his hand as he mimicked an archer except he was actually aiming with something even more powerful. "Susanoo's Authority." He smirked as he let go of the flame which projectiles itself almost instantly. Rei saw the flames about to hit him until he felt his own body being lifted away from it.
"How cute." A familiar voice which Rei recognised as he saw Keith manifested himself. "A contract is still a contract and this situation calls for me to step in." He said playfully before back-slapping the flame away which made Rei and Neon surprised. "For someone who has these flames… You are quite useless with it." The ancient being mocking Neon before flicking his finger with the same hand he had used when slapping away the flames. Neon immediately felt a sharp pain as he was suddenly slashed with something sharp. Blood drew out of him almost instantly as he kneeled into the ground, trying to get his bearings and the sudden injuries he had sustained.
"For someone who's arrogant and prideful… You should understand the difference between knowing your own strength…." Keith's voice sounded ruthless which made the two sorcerers tremble in fear but Rei was able to tolerate it for a while since he had felt his immense presence before.
Although, Neon only saw what seemed to be the embodiment of something that every single existence should cease to. The immense presence of authority that emitted divinity and malevolence.
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Eunji saw the whole ordeal from the beginning when she almost arrived too late. She was about to try using Sylvie's time manipulation prowess to speed herself up or to freeze them up until she felt Keith's mana being released. The intense divinity and malevolence once again being spread through the area. "Shit." She muttered as she had two things to deal with, look after Keith despite the contract she had heard and witnessed between the two before, and to try eliminating Neon if possible with the remaining time left.
She was stunned upon witnessing Keith back-slapping the purple flame with his own bare hands which was a bad idea to do normally. After all, the hottest flames that were ever recorded in history were golden flames which stated that a single spark is enough to burn everything within its vicinity. The second is white flame, a flame that was stated that it had purifying properties that could extinguish evil itself without stopping until everything is gone. Third, black flames, also known as Amaterasu's flames, it was almost the same as the white flame but the only difference was the properties since it didn't possess any of it except for the burning until everything is burned til nothing is left or if the mana that was imbued in it to burn is emptied out. The next one is purple flames which Neon possesses. The flame is similar to the black flame except its special property was the total control of manifesting a special permit to summons. Lastly, a well known flame known to every sorcerer nowadays, fox-fire which is the fox-spirit unique flames.
Despite the other four flames being hotter, the fox-fire is unique as while it is hotter than normal fire that sorcerers possess generally, its unique property was being able to let it exist for a long duration which could end up becoming a familiar instead of a technique. It also can gain consciousness as well which terrified lots of sorcerers which became the sole reason for extermination of the entire fox spirit species although they were spared later on from such cruel acts.
Eunji was stunned at first as she started to approach them slowly rather than rushing in like moments ago. The sudden slash that happened to Neon shocked her even more. Her passive picked up on a mana that Keith had used as she can see the mana shaped into a unique slashing like technique that he had used to slash Neon. Was this the very reason why he was a calamity? She pushed those thoughts away as she soon saw Keith concealed himself into Rei which signalled her queue to head in. She immediately catches Rei as she could tell the injuries he had sustained base from the soul that she was seeing with the passive of her prowess. She immediately started healing him as she could feel each part of him in so many wrong places.
"Fuck…" Eunji looked over to Neon's defeated figure. Her selfishness was kicking in her veins to stop healing Rei to get rid of him but was it worth it? The thoughts went through her mind before she felt a comforting hand behind her. "It's alright, Eunji." Rinka said as she manifested a blood-like spear which pinned Neon on the ground by piercing through his shoulders and hand.
"Time's up! The first event is now over!!!"
The announcement brought relief to the remaining participants as the leaderboard had now been updated. Every single one of them paid attention before almost all of them were not shocked at the results that were being shown.
Haru was already ashamed of his hard loss with Rei from such an unexpected strategy but the fact that he had to see the results sent more rage in his veins.
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[Day 07 Top Survivor]
[Rei Nishimura] Total Elimination: 524
[Eunji Jeong] Total Elimination: 519
[Rinka Yamashita] Total Elimination: 510
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For all the things Haru has done and tried for the past few days to catch up to Rei and secure his spot then only to turn up like this. His rage was boiling to its point but he wasn't eliminated yet since there would be another event coming over soon.
"I'll get you in the one… Just you wait."
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"That was impressive." Tengen said after realising the whole ordeal of the match. "Rei's plan is not cunning but creative… using himself as the target while Eunji and Rinka slowly worked their way up instead of competing with him fairly… I'd say this year's batch has great potential to surpass the previous generation. This may be the golden age coming back." Headmaster Sho nodded his head in agreement. "Indeed, although they still need to grow to the best of their ability to surpass the golden age." Tengen nodded at his statement before he stood up as he left the spectator side by teleporting away.
Headmaster Sho immediately went on to the stage to continue the announcement in his place. "I hope everyone had fun participating and watching the event." The spectators cheering since this match was a great opportunity to see the new batch of students who lost or have won shined even brighter than their highlights from the previous event. "Today's Survival of the Fittest match concluded in its end with great highlights of our students who'll be able to shine brighter than the ones who have graduated or left this academy." Videos of the match, highlighting each student's great performance ranging from Eunji and Rinka's efficient elimination process to overtake the second and third spot to Rei's outstanding performance of fighting and lasting until Haru's loss. It was a spectacular thing for almost everyone to witness except for the Sasaki Clan, after all, their prodigy and golden child has lost to such one that wasn't even a noble- in fact is a traveller and a vessel to the ancient being.
"We approximately have 100 participants left." Every student who was still being escorted out of the field that participated in the first match and barely survived tensed up as they heard the headmaster's statement. "Since we did not expect this much survival despite the rules… We have to skip the second match and proceed with the third one."
Rei who was currently being helped by Eunji and Rinka while his friends followed as they exited the field heard his statement. "No way right?" Rinka sweat dropped since she wasn't expecting this compared to last year's event.
"Today's preliminary match will be search and destroy. With this, we could lessen the numbers up to 50 or 20 students remaining."
Eunji sighed as she explained the match to Rei. Normally, it would be a team of 3 participants with the role of to secure objectives that are given to them or to seek out and eliminate particular staff or honoured guests. "No kidding right?" Rei asked as everyone with him nodded their heads which made him sigh. The group went on to a vacant spot where the rest and everyone could rest except for Eunji and Rinka since they've barely done anything but help him and his friends. "I wonder…" Eunji caught the groups attention while Rinka just played around with her hair and blood manipulation prowess by shaping out various of figures to pass the time.
"How many members of teams are needed to form for this one…" Rinka paid attention as she responded to her. "Could be 4 or 5 to be honest…" Eunji nodded at her but the headmaster shocked them.
"There'll be 10 members! So 10 teams will participate in the match!" Haruki panicked as he was surprised by the amount of members to form up a team. "10?! That's outrageous." He expressed as Eunji sighed as she wondered on either joining Rei's team or form her own. "If I join his team, we would need 4 more members to fill up the vacant spots but…" she looked over at Rei as she watched him interact with his friends without any worries of what was happening.
"We would like to forfeit!"
The sudden declaration of the other participants made everyone surprised. After all, this event wasn't something for someone to skip over. Haru smirked as he saw some other participants withdrawing themselves from the event.
"Maybe the first one was just a test… and the next one could maybe prove my strength…" Haru thought to himself.