Immediately the last firebird was slain, Reve and a few other candidates collapsed to the ground in pain. Reve's body spasmed multiple times as he reverted back to his base form.
His blood spilled out profusely from his open wounds that refused to be healed. Also, the burns on his skin left him looking like a half-baked chicken.
A light blossomed above them. It revealed the appearance of a large pillar that shot to the sky. The candidates looked at the pillar with complex expressions.
It was the throne pillar, belonging to a certain god that put them in this situation!
Before they could express themselves loudly, Amethyst smiled at them, "Haha, I never expected this. Well, I didn't calculate an outcome but still... The halving of the candidates. What I wanted was for a final victor to arise from the corpses of the firebird but this works. Hahaha."
As always, Amethyst's words were too ambiguous to mortals' ears. He always had a way of hiding his meanings in idyllic statements. Reve didn't even consider trying to understand the annoying god. He was badly injured and any attempt at processing complex information would fail tremendously.
Heck, he couldn't even move his body!
"Hmmmm….what do I do? Some of you are beyond recovery," squeaked Amethyst.
Who knew what evil plans were hiding beneath his handsome young face?
"...and I can't just kill you. I have to possess a reason and I'm also not willing to interfere with things. Hence....."
Amethyst smiled and snapped his fingers once more. Of course, in his lying position, Reve couldn't see this but he could hear it loud and clear.
Instantly, he found himself in a dark space. There was nothing but blackness everywhere. It resembled the void he was at after his assumed death but Reve knew that was not the case. The void resonated with one's existence while this place just felt…...dark.
Suddenly, torches of light went aflame at each corner of the dark space. They illuminated the place with red vibrance.
Reve flipped his body and tried to stand up. He ended up on his knees but it was certainly progress.
His eyes beamed as he scoured his location, 'It is like some kind of hall. A dark hall that oozes a dark vibe as if this is a place of rituals. My senses are tingling. Ahhh, that damn god!'
He spotted a door at the end of the hall. The door screamed, "go through me."
Reve assumed that that was his objective. He was to escape through that door…..wait, escape?!!
His muscles suddenly tensed and he rolled away from the spot as a sharp beam of light weaved through the air. A sharp pain coursed through his bone as he yet again stressed it beyond its limit.
Behind him, a young teenager, looking about as old as humans' seventeen years old, walked quietly.
Reve was only able to sense his presence a few seconds before he had attacked.
From nowhere, Amethyst's voice rang in the hair melodically, "You survived that….? That's good! Now, to reduce the numbers yet again, I have prepared the ultimate obstacle. Normally, at times like this, the situation would call for a mirror. You know, the absolute copy of any being. It would be the perfect way to test one's efficiency and mental prowess. However, just recently, I thought of something different...…."
As Amethyst informed, the young boy was moving closer to the grasp of the flame torches.
The boy was dressed in light armor wear. He had a slim longsword on his right hand and leather bracers on his wrist. As for his features, he was nothing short of spectacular.
He donned the blackest silky hair Reve had ever seen with a heterochromatic set of eyes like Reve. One was purple while the other one was icy blue, as icy as the harsh winds near Amethyst's palace.
The young boy was of a slim stature and the way he dressed told of his fighting style. He was one that preferred speed above anything else.
Perhaps, an odd thing about him was the thin chains that coiled around his left arm. It connected to the hilt of the sword, but Reve couldn't decipher what uses they were for. However, he figured that the sword was probably the weapon behind the attack that almost killed him.
".....Rather than mimics of you, wouldn't it be more interesting to find something peculiar. Something that has the same level of raw power as you. Wouldn't it be more fun to fight it and discover who can use his raw power the best? To discover the perfect one?! I present to you, the shadow!"
What scared Reve the most was that the young boy was too calm. He had intelligence. It was obvious when looking at its face. However, the boy didn't see the need to talk. He only observed every inch of Reve's defenseless body as he went into deep thoughts.
Reve could hear his own heavy breaths as he found himself in yet again another annoying situation.
".....The shadow! An entity not from this world but I tweaked him a little bit. He would now be able to use Ki for his normal attacks. The shadow is the best example of efficiency. Good luck!"
With that, Amethyst's voice wasn't heard anymore but Reve didn't bother about that. He wondered how he was supposed to fight against the boy with his damaged body.
The boy looked at him and rubbed the ring on his right finger. A spatial portal opened in the air and a small bottle flew out. The boy grabbed it and threw it at Reve, who dodged it obviously.
After a while, seeing as the boy kept looking at it, he moved closer to the small bottle and inspected it. It was a milky white bottle with a pill inside.
Reve opened it and smelled the medicinal scent it gave. At that moment, he knew it was an alchemy pill made by an alchemist. Circe had taught him how to appraise stuff like that.
With no further thoughts, Reve had an inkling of what was going on, he opened the bottle and swallowed the pill.