Four Champion Monsters appeared from every portal. No team was an exception, but they could choose whether to fight the dangerous monster or wait for it to disappear.
Of course, no one even thought about it, no one was going to miss the opportunity to earn extra points. For now.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
Grinding its long claws, a massive hyena emerged from the portal. Unlike the others, this one had black fur, blood-red eyes filled with rage, and long fangs capable of tearing anything apart.
However, like other hyenas, this one was wounded by various objects, which made it slightly less scary, though perhaps the opposite.
"What...? What is that?" One of the participants muttered, slowly stepping back. He was shaking with fear just like some of the people around him.
"Hey! Don't be afraid!" The girl exclaimed, with a mad grin clutching her axe, "Maybe this dog looks stronger than the others, but it's one and there are many of us! Let's go! Extra points are awesome!"
The girl ran forward, raising the others' fallen morale with her actions. The participants glanced around and followed her. The girl was right, one monster couldn't handle dozens of people, but there was no need for that.
Crackle.
The girl brought her axe down on the Black Hyena, stabbing the blade into the black fur.
"Agh...?"
Then, the girl's eyes went wide when she realized that the monster's long fangs had sunk into her neck, which was firmly clenched by a powerful jaw from whose grip it was impossible to escape.
With a sharp movement, the Black Hyena ripped a massive chunk of flesh from the girl's neck. A fountain of blood gushed outward, flooding all around, while the girl's eyes quickly emptied.
The dozens of people who could have attacked the monster at that moment and simply overwhelmed it in numbers stood there frozen.
Chains of fear bound them, slowly forming like roots, wanting to stay there and grow forever, until the end.
"Shit. Fucking cowards." Sara frowned, "Nitra, I'm going to have to step back for a bit. It won't be good if we lose more people. That thing needs to be dealt with as soon as possible."
"Sure." Nitra nodded slightly, and Sara immediately rushed forward. She ran fast as her powerful steps left footprints on the ground, though the soil was not soft.
Nitra sighed, shaking her head, "I'm lucky Sara decided to join me, but she acts too serious, like a soldier. She's overprotective of me. What could ever happen to me?"
A light current of wind blew, fluttering Nitra's short pink hair in front of her blue eyes, and then a faint shadow fell over her.
"Like this."
From behind came a calm, confident voice filled with arrogance.
"Agh...?"
Before Nitra could turn around, a palm covered her mouth, and the sharp tip of the knife was at her neck.
"Shh. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, do we?" Ethan whispered, leaning in close to her ear, "You know, I like strong women, but Sara... all things considered she's a real monster here. I'm not ready for that kind of familiarity yet. Don't move."
Ethan paced backwards, holding the knife tightly and observing the situation. No one was looking in his direction, all attention was focused on the Black Hyena and Sara, who had joined the fight.
Tap.
Ethan entered the tower and pinned Nitra against the wall, now nobody could see them.
Nitra's eyes were wide open, filled with shock and fury. If she could, she would tear Ethan apart right here and now.
Ethan glanced at the sphere, most of the cells were empty, but two of them were occupied by crystals.
"What did you spend 30 Points on?" Ethan asked, staring intently into Nitra's eyes.
Nitra remained silent.
Ethan shrugged, then his knee plunged into Nitra's stomach, causing her to experience a bright and searing pain that spread in waves throughout her body.
Nitra wanted to scream, and she did, but all sound was muffled by Ethan's palm. No one could hear her as well as help her.
"Hush, we don't want someone to come in here and disturb us, right?" Ethan whispered, "Now, answer my question."
"Thirty sets of leather armor..." Nitra struggled to mutter, "One set for one point..."
Ethan nodded as he looked away. Some of the participants were actually wearing armor, some had it already torn.
"Not the smartest decision, though I wouldn't expect any other from you." Ethan uttered, making Nitra's gaze filled with anger, even more than before.
"Why are you doing this...?" Nitra asked, "We were never enemies with you, before all this shit happened, we only spoke a few times...!"
Ethan didn't answer right away, he leaned forward, approaching Nitra closely. His face was hidden by the high collar of his coat, a black bandage concealed his lost right eye, so all Nitra saw was a single green pupil filled with unknown intent.
"Don't you understand? I'm just a loyal Knight to my Princess, who you treated like crap during the Third Trial. All I'm doing is carrying out righteous revenge, which will definitely accomplish its purpose." Ethan whispered like a death ghost.
"Bastard... You're not human... You just used her and everyone else to get the maximum score...! To overtake me!" Nitra exclaimed, barely holding back tears.
Ethan shrugged, "You can think what you want, but your lies are clear as day."
Tremble.
Three minutes later, the massive Black Hyena fell with a blank stare. Sara stood in front of the monster, she was breathing heavily and her axe was covered in blood, but she was uninjured. This fight was not her maximum.
[You have successfully defeated the second wave!]
[All 100 monsters were defeated, including Champion!]
[Your tower received 150 points + 100 for Champion = 250 points!].
Several messages showed in front of Nitra, then her card, Queen of Spades, appeared in front of her.
Crystals flew out of the card, but only five of them were red, two were yellow.
'What...? Shouldn't there be 25 of them? One crystal equals 10 points, doesn't it?' Ethan inwardly muttered, then his eyes went wide when he realized what was happening.
Crackle.
Ethan tossed Nitra aside and ran up to the sphere. Before Nitra could regain consciousness, Ethan's pockets were already filled with crystals. He took everything they had.
Then, without any words or caustic phrases, Ethan ran outside, like a shadow moving towards the academy.
"Help!" A few seconds later, everyone heard Nitra's piercing scream.
The first to react was Sara. She looked at Nitra and the empty sphere behind her, then her gaze shifted to the side, to the silhouette quickly moving away.
"BASTARD!!!" Sara shouted furiously like a barbarian and lunged forward with all her might. The amulet around her neck shone brightly as her body was covered in a scarlet aura, and her veins swelled.
Then, she rushed forward, and the ground cracked with her surge.
Ethan glanced at Sara, only to see a scarlet flash, a wild beast with an axe in its hand, charging at him with superior speed.
'Well, well, it's time to play catch-up, right? Too bad no one will give me extra points for this Trial.' Ethan inwardly uttered before stopping and jumping through the window, shattering it into fragments.