A breakthrough in the middle of the crater has evolved into something that is considered to be catastrophic. With the sign of the blazing hot particles, followed by the clouds of dust and thick smokes circulating through the open land, the whole place has succumbed to the Witch's dancing stage.
With Aran's forceful landing on the ground, he tried to push himself up by maintaining a good balance with his legs sliding on the soil. As soon as he get the grip, using his knife, he stabbed the ground and tried to back up.
Nikki, without any formidable handle to grab, slid through the ground and took a little bit of scratch to her arms and legs. The explosion of Aran's magic fireball created a distance between them and the witch and that saved them some interval.
While viewing the destroyed debris, the consecutive flow of the thick smoke gradually dissipated into the air, providing a transparent sight that revealed their location. Soon enough, Thalia's unwavering presence did manage to appear right in front of them. Aran took a little step back as he glared at her.
She didn't even take the damage, who on earth is this lady? He gritted his teeth.
Thalia didn't bother with the magic explosion that Aran has orchestrated, instead, she was scratching her cheek from where Aran slit it. Her blood dripped, and soon after that, she cast a temporary magic healing spell.
"I am quite surprised, boy... You were the first one in my entire life to scratch my beautiful face. Do you even know how precious this is? Huh? Do you even know what it takes to have a beauty like this?" Her lovely tone from the beginning of her presence vanished in an instance. It looks like her mentality has been fed up with Aran's previous attack. He grabbed his Carnwennan knife and made a defensive stance, preparing for any attack that the witch is going to throw.
"You... Hmm, It is a good thing that you have a quizzical, innocent, and cute face. Otherwise, I would have drained your mana and soul and killed you in an instance. Very well... You seemed to be far more interesting..." Her slight temper and amusement barged in a combination of intricate expressions.
More zombies have embarked themselves, pushing their bodies from the soil. The summoning of the revolution of the undead is marked to be successful and it will not end until Thalia's source of power is completely depleted or destroyed. The curse that was inbound with her powerful magic accumulation is beginning to interfere with the physical world.
Contrary to what she had said earlier, the looks on her face were disgustingly adorable. The smirking witch is beginning to fantasize something about Aran.
"Nikki... Get away from here." His voice was trembling in fear, the pupil in his eyes was shaking. His voice was getting farther and farther away. But his stand is firm and his resolve is solid. Aran wouldn't want another comrade to get caught up in this dangerous situation.
"But..."
"GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Aran's compressed emotion burst out. Everyone including Eunice's group has realized that Aran is getting angry.
Nikki was shaken and took a little bit of a moment to comprehend what Aran said. She gulped and stood up. After that, she ran away from fear but for some reason, the expression on her seemed to have suggested that she was conflicted.
"Great job on letting her go, you made my job harder than it was before. But since you insist on playing with me, I will have you to try and protect her." Thala realized the idea that Aran was imposing right from the start. Despite the injury that Nikki has taken, she still managed to run at a stable speed.
The whole location is pretty vast and it will take some adequate time before she can reach the hall for safety.
"I won't let you take her..." He hung his head down with his bangs covering his intense eye. His defensive form stiffened in fear, but his resolve to save someone is increasing as the second passed. With the immense feeling of determination, he gripped the handle of the knife with more strength.
"Aran!" Eutara, who was following him on his back landed on the ground. She was encapsulated by numerous zombies who appeared to be weak. She punched them into the ground and started the berserker skills.
"Now then, are you ready?" After placing her staff down into the middle of the field, Thalia created a weapon based on blood magic and curse magic. By setting down the souls and transpiring mana, she created a blade, a medium-sized knife with its blade covered in blood, a beet-red color of a combination. She was eager to have a fight with him.
"Tsk!" Aran dashed forward with his arms on the side of his belly. Thalia licked her lips and started running as well. They are both have equal speed and footing.
The first strike of the two blades immediately blew the entire parameter with a strong wind shockwave.
After the first strike, Aran flew on mid-air but instead of landing, he immediately set his weight and started pressing forward on Thalia's location. With this strategy, he is able to throw a lot of swings without worrying about his balance and footing. Despite the amazing attack on his part, Thalia was not having a bad time dealing with it at all. There was no guarantee or game-changer that can easily beat her. She dodged all of the swings that Aran has threw and some of them were deflected using her red blade.
Thalia slapped his right arm and placed a destructive wind magic spell to throw him onto the ground.
"Agh!" He ripped his own balance and started rolling onto the field. As soon as the friction negated the impact, he stood up very quickly and started throwing more slashes on the way. Thalia tried to dodge it but Aran's speed became sharper for a second. Using her blade, she attacked the motion in order to counter it.
A clanging of blades echoed all throughout the venue. The sparkling streak of its heated metal continued to blast, there was no telling on who's overcoming who.
After a slice on the left, Thalia jumped through the side and started kicking Aran on the cheek. The blow on his face instantly destroyed his focus on the match. He took it and lost his bearing.
"Damn it!" He punched the ground while glaring at her.
"Hmm... You move well and you're very agile. However, your form and style are weaker. I am guessing that you don't really know how to fight with bare hands." Thalia's observations were proven to be on point. Aran's surprised look shattered his imposing positive energy.
She's right... I have managed to dodge some of her attacks with my speed but when it comes to offense, I don't have any means of methods to get through. And despite my sharp instincts and perceptiveness, she was still able to throw a punch on my face. Normal attacks wouldn't work on her. Aran gently raised his legs upward and jumped from the ground to gain his bearing.
"I am really impressed with you... You are really wonderful. However, It doesn't seem like you have the magical power to be my perfect subject. After I am done dealing with you, I will kill that girl and have her as the representative..." She giggled in her own plan.
"Representative for what? What are you planning to do with her?!" Inquisitive, he asked a question.
"With her elemental power and mana capacity, I will be able to build a revolution that is far greater than this. And when it does happen, I will revive the old dark lord who once carried his foot onto this land. I will prove to you humans that you don't deserve to be in this world. All of you should perish. This is a habitat for my lord!" There was no ache or shock on the plan that she revealed. There was no lie either, she was serious about reviving the demon lord and wiping out the entire humanity under his command. It is a strained and deep opposition to how the world perceives the whole truth.
"Ahhh! Just thinking about it flutters my heart! It is so great to be powerful! Killing almost every human being in the overworld. Nothing soothes my heart more than the horror and screams... All of these vented feelings! I wonder how everyone will beg for me to spare them!? I will start by selling your souls to my demon and gather all of your mana!" She laughed hysterically.
This is troubling... I am starting to feel my body being crushed bit by bit. I still have a lot of mana imbued on my knife. How can I possibly consume it?
Starting by observing the whole venue, it turned out into a declaration of a newly born battlefield. Zombies are rushing in, scattered in their self-less location. The knights have arrived to help the other people that were stuck in the debris.
"Eunice!" Huck arrived on the battlefield.
"Huck?! What are you doing in here!?" She asked as she sliced the head of three zombies.
"I figured that I should help, where is Aran?"
"I don't know, he must be dealing that Witch or something. Let's help him by killing these undead first."
"O-Okay!"
Huck joined the battle, with his body enhancement magic, he punched a lot of zombies on the way and managed to gobble them up in one direction. With his brute strength kicking in, zombies are going to be weaker.
The other candidates that were stuck in their position did what is more optimal in the situation. Trying to hide and running away won't do anything, they stood up from their position and using their magic, they started drawing the zombies all together and fired a lot of magic attack.
"Who are those?" Riggord asked Huck.
"They are from section A... I guess. Since they use magic." He answered.
As more people come by to help apprehend the zombies, the knights had their job easy on saving those who are innocent and injured. The primary objective is to save a lot of people on their way as much as possible. but the zombie summoning has disrupted the idea. And so, many Fosier Candidates decided to help. With this view, Aran wouldn't have to worry about the others, he can fight freely.
"Hmm... What a surprise. Seems like some of your friends joined..." Thalia felt the number increasing, she didn't expect it to be like this.
"Aran!" Lisa and her other friends from Section B arrived at the scene. With their supposed strength, they have managed to kill a lot of zombies on the other end of the venue. Since the location was large enough, with 700 plus yards, most candidates have remained to stall instead of running away.
"Alliere's Sunflower Sword Techniques: Falling Petal!" By casting her spell plus her technique, her movements began to shift. With its intense speed, she killed at least fifteen zombies on her way with a zigzag shape of steady balance. She was unstoppable.
One portion of the area is being covered by Lisa's group with the rest of the candidates coming from Section B. They were able to suppress the landing of other zombies from the side of the venue. This prevented them from going on the way outside to kill more people. It is such handy to have them on the side. Aside from this, David and Wency decided to help the other fight the large horde of zombies with their large-scale magic attack.
"Ack! This is such a pain in the butt!" Without even chanting the spell, David raised his arms forward. A magic spell that decays the subject started appearing out of nowhere. And after that, it was followed by Wency's powerful wind magic by slicing them up with compressed air. Their hard work did the rest of the things and it was proven to be more helpful.
"There is more over there!" Someone said.
"Let's go!"
"Yeah!" The rest did their best to finally came up with some strategy to apprehend the other cover.
"Jones! Go outside and try to revitalize things..." Julia instructed
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I am going to help them, of course!" With that firm answer, Julia jumped through the ground and started unleashing her water magic. With a combination of fire, she started producing steam with a little acidic compound. After that, she sprayed it on the horde of zombies and they started to melt. She has great power and accurate maneuver of her magic power.
"Awesome..." Jones mumbled to himself as he left the balcony.
On the other side of the venue where they prioritize the third bout for the running event, Mahrisse and some of Section A's best magicians have gathered in a form of a line.
"Everyone! Get in the position. Our objective is to kill all of the zombies that are surrounding the area. If you ever see someone in danger, immediately help them!" Mahrisse shouted her instruction as if she was the leader of the whole group.
"All right!" Everyone hold forth on their position and started dealing with the other zombies on land. Having Mahrisse on the side is a greater advantage since she can deploy many different spells.
With Mahrisse on lead, they started gathering some of the zombies in the center. And when she opened her eyes, the whole place sunk to its deeper catastrophic phase. Mahrisse power is overwhelming. She has improved her magical spell in a week.
"Advanced magic activation! Retribution of Hysteria" She raised her arms forward and after that, a series of glittering lightning fell onto the zombie's head. They were a retribution spell that kills and paralyzes everything in one strike. She is definitely one of the most powerful mages out of all Section A candidates. She continued her spell until all zombies on the other side have perished.
With all of the reinforcement coming up, the zombie onslaught was put on hold. Thalia's plan to revolutionize the area has fallen into the ground in an instance. Aran can see her gritting her teeth and getting angry. It was such a remarkable plan to finally kill the zombies and save the other people.
However, her anger has an opposite reaction. She laughed after a long silence.
"Even if you kill all of them, they will still continue to rise of the ground. In order to put a stop to this, you need to kill me or deplete my source. You guys are a fool!" She giggled.
"Damn it!" Aran shouted.
"Now then, let's go back to hour game, shall we? I am not done with you yet!" Thalia didn't waste any time. After she recovered herself, she instantly burst through Aran's parameters. Using his perceptiveness, he tried to take it off by flailing his knife inwards to dodge some of the strikes that she was giving. With this, their strategy has clashed once again with so many attacks being executed.
Aran used his perceptiveness to a second level in order to predict her move.
"That's not going to work!" Thalia warned him. As soon as she gets closer, she slashed Aran's chest, pulling off in an instant. He received a long scratch on his chest. It was painful, he rolled to the ground.
"AHHHH!!" Aran screamed in agony, it was a fatal blow that cannot be undone.
"Hahahahahahaha!" She continued to attack. However, despite the pain that he was resenting, Aran rolled his body backward to get back up.
Thalia did not stop in her tracks, Aran gradually dodged some of the slashes and clashed their blades forward. The banging sound of the blades has erupted. With an all-around twist of his arm, Aran made a cut-through move in order to trick Thalia's feint attack. After that, he kicked her in the stomach. Thalia broke through the ground and made a thud sound. It was a surprising move even for the injured.
"Impossible! How did you do that?" Thalia coughed, she was definitely hurt over that blow.
"I may not be experienced in fighting, but I am smart... I will have you to the ground and bury your soul into the deepest parts of the hell!" He screamed while in pain. His hoarse voice was brimming with determination and fear. But his resolve to fight is what made his foundation of adrenaline pump up even more.
"AAAAAAA!" One slash, two slashes, three slashes, four slashes, five slashes, a single strike. He didn't stop it. The writhing was oppressive but the intense amount of thinking has put him at ease. The pain while enduring the scratch is unappealing to him but he didn't stop slashing her. He still tried to barrage the witch with a lot of combinations he learned from William's style.
Thalia stepped back because of Aran's sudden assertive and aggressive stances. It is like he was bound to kill her if she makes a mistake.
This kid... since when did he become fast! She was taken aback in an instant. Aran's speed became faster after that scratch she made.
Seeing Aran's change, Thalia realized something while dodging his slashes. The world suddenly turned into a slow-motion of things. An inevitable force moved through the ground as she stepped back.
Aran revealed his form, his face was on the clear ends of her eyes. The reflection was so emphasized that she felt scared by something.
As soon as he looked up, Thalia noticed that Aran's left eye is turning yellow with his pupils thinning out like a snake. Several nerves have put an impulsive amount of pressure onto her end. As he opened his mouth on the stress, she also noticed that Aran had a little fang growing over on his left jaw. It was like dealing with another person— Or a wolf.
The attempt to slash failed, Thalia was put in her place after that. She tried to recover by placing her blade on the defensive form.
"You..." She glared at him.
Aran was panting really hard. The scratch on his chest that destroyed her clothes was dissipating and clotting immediately. It is like an auto regeneration. But he is not using his magic. His blood is returning onto itself and tying over the wounds. He dropped his shoulder as he made another stance.
"Tsk!" Being wary of his power, Thalia used her staff to cast a spell. She immediately destroyed the distance between her and Aran. With the rod of lightning, she strikes Aran on the body. He flew away with steam brimming up from his chest and arms.
"Aggh!!" He fell on the ground, the strength that he was feeling up earlier was gone. She retributed the fact that Aran is weakened from Magic type attack.
Another spell was cast, however, seeing through her figure, Aran used his Carnwennan knife to cancel and leech the magic that was coming from Thalia's staff. It was a good reflex and he managed to survive the wave of the beam.
"What?!" She was surprised by this event.
"If you decided to leave her alone, I can still forgive you and let you out... But... If you lay your hands to her... I won't hesitate to kill each and every one of your kind, including you..." His tone grew deeper and more menacing. Thalia gasped at this remark. She stepped a little and started preparing for another magic-type attack.
With many fireballs appearing on each side, a circular ring of pacific flare pressured him. However, as it fires along with the ring of fire, it completely vanished in an instant. Aran's knife started glowing, emitting some strange peculiar hieroglyphs on the blade. The glowing also bestowed some particles that were lighting up the handle.
"Tsk! What is happening?! How are you canceling my attacks!" She exclaimed with anger. It looks like she is already panicking.
I can't let her move freely, If I do so... Nikki will be captured... I am running out of energy and Mana... If I continue to stray she will eventually kill me... I need to finish her off before I pass out... With things as of now, I think they would be able to help me in time... I just need to... Aran's legs were on the verge of failing down as he started dropping. The scar on his chest has stopped the regeneration, the pain was going back to its state. His eyes returned to normal.
"Heh! It looks like you are out of gas, huh?" Thalia's fear vented. She knew that Aran was about to fall on. She just needs to push him out.
"I won't let you touch her..." He made a pose with arms in a perpendicular order. He was protecting the direction on where Nikki has escaped from.
"Get out of my way if you still want to live... My original business here is with that girl. If you promise not to interfere, I will not harm your other friends..." She made a deal and it looks serious enough.
Aran's glaring intensified even further.
"Don't be ridiculous, as if I am going to believe you!" He shouted in agony. Blood was dripping out of his head, it must have been damaged when he falls to the ground.
I have no choice! I have to use it now! Or else, I won't' be able to save Nikki! Aran took a peek at the surrounding, he noticed that everyone is a little bit far away from the source of impact. He knew that if he used his powers now, there won't be any casualties on using so. He dropped a sigh in his place and started scratching his cheek.
He smiled.
"Stop resisting... I will kill you if you don't make a deal with me..." Thalia's bearing grew larger as she approached Aran. With a little bit of inspection, it is pretty much clear that she took more damage based on Aran's barrage slice. Aran's power has grown on her part. She started respecting him as a fighter.
"Stop... Nothing's going to happen if you keep that up!" She grew more intense, desperate for Nikki's part in the ritual.
Aran was silent, he didn't respond to any word she had warned. Thalia grabbed the blade that she was using earlier and swung it back and forth.
"You know... For someone as young as you, you are the one who broke this heart of mine. It is sad that you are a part of the human world. No... Actually, I realized something, you're not actually a human, are you?" She asked.
"What are you talking about...?" he lifted his head.
"Well, if you still haven't realized it then that's fine. That's at least what I can do to expect greater results from you. You have shown more determination. However, as I loved your personality, I won't hesitate to kill you... I am sorry..." The idealistic woman that he had met on the previous encounter suddenly disappeared as if Thalia is beginning to change. Her attitude was so strange that Aran's eye grew larger, perplexed with her replies.
He gripped his knife. He had no choice but to use his trump card or else, she would kill everyone and take Nikki.
"Come forth! Apollyon!"
[You got it...]
The loudest shout was made. Everyone stopped in their tracks while fighting the zombies, seeing the illuminating light on Aran's end.
"What is that?!"
"Aran!"
"It can't be?!!"
The fluctuation in his energy leaked, it was uncontrollable. Aran's body enhancement has reached the most powerful level. With the format of his aura inducing a large-scale tornado of wind and transparent lights, he unleashed the power that was inside of him.
Thalia was beginning to realize what was happening. The force was shaking her away and the distance is getting larger.
Nikki noticed this power-up and stopped running.
"Aran!"