Twelve people remained of one hundred and twenty candidates, and after one more round of battles, only six candidates would remain.
The twelve candidates, including Bloed, were tense. They were looking at each other while wondering who was going to be their next enemy.
Inwardly, Bloed was praying that his enemy was not Liu Ying. The probability was not zero, though. He had realized that some beastmen were not very happy with a human and a demon participating in this competition.
Unaware of Bloed's concerns, the king stood up and looked at the candidates.
"Each one of you is very outstanding, and to be honest, I'm sure none of you will shame the name of the Great Savannah if you are chosen, however, only six of you can participate in the mission.
"And only the six strongest will be chosen.
"Thus, I have paired the battles according to the strength you have shown until now.
"Rana, Liu Ying, Aya, Rhone (The batkin), Bloed, and Atai. You six had the best performances until now, so you will have a slight advantage in this round. As for your opponents, Cho, Arno, Greta, Cliff, Gorde, and Deana, the performance of you six have been slightly below them, so you will have to fight them if you want to get a position in the six chosen.
"The first battle will be Rana vs. Cho!"
Rana and Cho nodded and walked towards the stage.
Cho was a wolfkin young man. He was almost two meters tall, with a burly body and a savage aura.
He fought using his bare hands like claws, with a very wild battle style. All in all, he was not bad.
As for Rana...
This girl had hidden her abilities very well. She had not shown much of her capabilities in her last fight.
Even until now, Bloed was not exactly sure how strong this rabbitkin young lady was.
But he knew he could not underestimate her. As someone able to reach this place while hiding her strength, she was definitively very strong.
The two of them went to the stage.
The wolfkin, Cho, was sporting an ice-cold expression. As for Rana, she was smiling innocently, as though this was an outing.
The referee looked at the two of them and confirmed they were ready before opening his mouth.
"Start!"
Instantly, the wolfkin kicked the ground and charged forward.
At the same time and just like in the last duel, Rana waved her wand and cast a spell.
[Mana Arrows].
But that was not the end.
[Sharpening].
[Acceleration].
[Lightning Enhancement].
[Explosion].
[Enhanced Penetration].
…
…
Several different spells were cast on with mana arrows!
Bloed was surprised.
That was–
"Multi-casting… And such a number at that… Sigh, this girl can be considered almost invincible in the B-Rank." One of the people in the stand said without hiding his admiration.
Several people around him nodded while looking at Rana on the stage.
Multi-casting.
As its name indicates, it means casting several spells simultaneously.
It's not very uncommon. Quite the opposite, any qualified mage is able to do it after a bit of training.
But casting more than sixth spells simultaneously, and so easily, is something completely different.
It's not something a normal B-Rank should be able to do.
But Rana did it with just a wave of her wand and a smile on her face, as though it was not hard!
Even Eve and the king showed expressions of admiration.
Tens of arrows hovered behind Rana. They aimed at the wolfkin waiting for Rana's orders.
With a slight smile, Rana snapped her fingers and the first arrow was shot.
The wolfkin's expression was grave. He hurriedly tried to evade the first arrow, but he soon found it was impossible. Under Rana's several spells, the arrow was too fast to be avoided!
Instinctively, the wolfkin circulated his mana through his entire body and increased his defenses as much as he could.
But even so–
*Puk!*
The first arrow penetrated through his defenses and exploded!
*Boom!*
Arcs of lightning burned the wolfkin's skin. The wolfkin grunted and barely endure the attack while sustaining light injuries.
Seeing he managed to block the arrow, the wolfkin sighed in relief.
But when he looked up, he saw the remaining arrows shake.
Then, as though mocking his hopes, they descended too.
The wolfkin's eyes shook briefly, but the determination in his face remained. Suddenly, his muscles expanded and his mana turned wild.
*ROOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!*
With a roar of rage, all his muscles erupted with strength. His right punch was wrapped in mana and flew forward to receive the arrows without showing fear.
But at that moment, a sigh sounded.
"It's enough."
Then, all the arrows were stopped.
"Let's stop it here. If the battle continues, perhaps the lad will die." An expressionless voice came from the stands. "Is it alright, your majesty?"
"… You are right, miss Eve. It's obvious Mr. Cho can't endure this attack." The king nodded.
Rana was stunned. She could feel that her mana was completely frozen. She could not budge it an inch.
It was the same for the wolfkin. His body was completely paralyzed in a punching stance.
The two of them looked at Eve in fear and admiration.
This was the power of a demigod.
without giving Rana or Cho the time to recover, the king continued.
"It's Miss Rana's win for this round. She is the first one to be chosen. As for you, I'm sorry about this. The two of you, return to your seats."
"O-Okay."
"... Understood."
Rana said hurriedly. Cho, the wolfkin, bit his lips unwillingly, but in the end, he nodded.
In his heart, he knew he did not have a way to stop Rana's attack.
Meanwhile, in the stands, Bloed was wearing a serious expression.
He was surprised by Rana's strength.
That girl, she was much stronger than he expected.
Even he would have found it hard to stop such a spell.
Seeing the rabbitkin girl hopping towards them with a carefree smile, Bloed once more realized how powerful the geniuses of a race were.
While he was lost in his thoughts, Bloed felt the seat beside him stirring.
He then noticed Liu Ying standing up with a smile.
"It's my turn."
"Good luck. You can do it." Bloed said.
Liu Ying nodded. For an instant, she considered asking for another kiss from him.
But when she saw Regina's ice-cold gaze, she decided to stop tempting her luck.
Regina had been already very generous when she allowed the first kiss but based on her current expression, it was obvious she was not in the best of the moods.
With a slightly awkward smile, Liu Ying walked towards the stage.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels