Like I said before about the amulet bringing forth a catastrophic doom if I don't take it quickly after the beginning of Stage #10.
Now that I had dealt with Frostina, I only needed to get the amulet away from that young girl.
Fortunately for me, she was still standing in the corner of the arena, shivering from the coldness of the blizzard.
Soon, the snow was slowly but surely melting away after Frostina fell unconscious.
Afterwards, I walked toward the young girl, trying my best not to seem like a villain in her eyes.
On the other hand, I guessed that my villainous face wasn't helping me at all, since the girl got frightened by how I suddenly acted nice after I just finished a fierce battle.
When I got close, I exhaled a long sigh to express how tired I was from the fight, then crouched down to meet the girl's eyes.
The moment our eyes met, she became more afraid of me, trembling immensely while holding onto her amulet.
"That. Give me it." I pointed at the amulet with a serious expression on my face.
The girl trembled again before shaking her head left and right, nervously stuttering. "N-No! I..I.. won't..!"
It appeared that she remained unable to hand that amulet over to me, but I could see why she wouldn't give it to me.
If a stranger were to ask you to give them something that is special to you, you would obviously refuse to do it.
However, I couldn't afford to be nice and considerate toward this girl's feelings and belongings.
Thus the moment I moved my hand closer to the girl's amulet without letting her notice it, I grasped it tightly.
But before I could grab it, the ground began to rumble terrifically as if an earthquake was taking place.
With cracks deep enough to kill those who fell into it, formed on the surface of the earth.
I was losing my balance a little, trying to stabilize myself from this insane earthquake which caused me to be unable to get the amulet.
A ray of green light accompanied with vines sprouting out from the cracks as it started to expand itself to the whole arena and the battle stadium, causing the vicinity to change to a forest-like place.
Trees grew from the vines, grass proceeded to cover all the ground and flowers bloomed beautifully within the area.
With the situation turning out this way, I instantly reached my hand to grab the amulet.
But a vein of vines growing out from the small crack underneath the girl, blocked off my way of getting the amulet.
The vines enclosed the girl completely with the amulet glowing bright green, shimmering the atmosphere with green particles to strengthen the nature surrounding us.
I attempted to cut through the vines, making sure that I didn't harm the girl by accident.
On the other hand, what inside the vines suddenly enlarged itself, causing the vines to outspread bigger and bigger.
No matter how much I cut through the vines, it continued to regrow itself back to normal as if I didn't cut it before.
Later, the radiated light began to shine from inside the vines which told me that I was too late to stop the disaster from happening.
[Stage #9 has been postponed due to an unnotified error!]
Even the ‹System› noticed this change occurring in Stage #9, including the baffled angels who were floating above the battle stadium.
[Due to an error, Stage #10 has begun!]
[Stage #10 : Boss Battle ‹I›. ]
+
Stage Information: A dragon who had slept through over a decade of years, finally woke from its slumber to begin its hunt for food.
Stage Task: Defeat the Mother Nature Dragon 'Amaranth'
Time Limit: 24 hours
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
+
After reading the Stage's information, I clenched my fists with pure anger.
The reason this was happening, was because of Stage #9.
The ‹System› analyzed how long all players had fought and the amount of Mana as well as skills they had used during the competition.
Including with the damages that me and Frostina did to the surrounding area, the ‹System› came to a conclusion that the players in this Stage was too powerful than the previous Stage #9 in the past.
Which was why to fix this problem, Stage #10 forcibly started faster than anticipated.
[The Boss of this Stage has arrived!]
When that message appeared, the vines that were supposedly holding the girl inside, bursted open to reveal a mythical creature in front of me.
A creature as massive as a cruise ship with a body made out of tree trunks, along with a few heart shaped leaves protruding from different parts of its body.
Tree branches with leaves and flowers unveiled itself when the creature unfolded its magnificent wings, flattering from the slightest breeze of the cold wind.
In the center of its body rests a body of the girl that had the amulet around her neck, the girl now looking as if she was a part of the creature, couldn't move nor talk.
However for the amulet, it was flickering with green light, perfectly representing this creature's heartbeat.
The moment the creature opened its eyes, anyone could tell that the Dragon finally awakened from its deep slumber.
The Dragon unveiled its eyes, showcasing its irides in the color of green and its pupils in the shape of a hexagon with the color of ocean blue.
Wearing a flower crown made of the Amaranth flowers, it was actively giving the humans clues of the Dragon's name.
[Humans, It is time for your judgments.] The Dragon spoke with a soft and kind voice, sounding like a mother with the warmth of its aura.
I stood there, dazing on the Dragon in front of me while also paying attention to its every word.
[You have awakened me from my slumber earlier than expected, nevertheless; I shall do my duty as a judge to give judgments to your abilities.]
The Dragon noticed how there was a tiny problem ahead of him. [It is indeed rude that this Mist is ruining my moment.]
The Dragon with just a stamp of her foot, gave rise to an earthquake, vibrating the ground which caused it to form a hole underneath the Mist.
Not just that, a bunch of vines rushed out of the hole and grabbed hold of the Mist firmly, dragging the Mist down while taking the Players to the surface.
Then all of the Players who were under the Mist's control, got transported to their seats.
The Dragon flapped her wings after confirming everyone was here, soaring through the air as fast as the wind current.
———
Sapphire and Ruby witnessed this scene, bewildered as to why this situation was happening.
"Why did Stage #10 start?!" Ruby bawled, having a face that described how screwed she was.
Sapphire was a bit speechless by this sight but remained composed. "This.."
"Ah..! I'm gonna get punished by Emerald!"
"..."
"What should I do?! Sapphire! Think of something!" Ruby pleaded to Sapphire, holding her arms and shaking her to the point that Sapphire felt dizzy.
"Okay, okay. Stop!" Sapphire had enough and calmed Ruby down by flicking her forehead.
"Ow! Could you stop doing that?"
"We can't do anything in this situation, since this was bound to happen when we let the Empress battle the 'Last' player."
"If you knew, then why do you still let her in?!"
"I presumed that the 'Last' player would have lost the moment the Empress attacks him.. but I guessed wrong."
"What must we do no-" Ruby was shortly cut off by a sudden loud voice.
It was the Dragon who was behind the 'Helpers', floating in the air. [May you leave as well? I do not wish to have angels to oversee my judgment time.]
Ruby was furious by the fact of being casted away from her duty to oversee everything. "What?! You can't kick us out!"
Sapphire quickly covered Ruby's mouth before she could speak rude words to the Dragon.
Sapphire whispered to Ruby's ears. "Please refrain from angering the Dragon."
"But why?!" Ruby said in a loud voice instead of whispering back to Sapphire.
[This is taking too long. I do not have the patience to stand and watch both of you argue. So pardon my rude actions.]
The Dragon with the flap of her wings affected the wind current to knock the angels back.
"What the..?!! Eek!?!" Ruby groaned, blocking the wind using her wings.
The angels attempted to fight back against this strong wind, flapping their wings to control the will of the wind.
But despite their struggles, they were pushed back further from the area.
[Now I can judge freely without any interruptions.] The Dragon who seemed to be happy after seeing the angels were gone, formed a chilling smirk on her face.
The Dragon's head looked down upon the players below her, roaring at them.
She predicted that no one knew her signature move which she does every time she was awakened from her slumber.
Thus, the Dragon gathered all the leaves and flowers that were in her wings, shaping them into a big leaf beside her heart which was the amulet.
She thought she was finally going to get a free meal, since the players here must already be exhausted from the competition.
But..