"Hey, long time no see!"
Raven looked behind at the man behind him. He was tall, probably over seven feet, and lean. He was deathly pale, had curly black hair and, unlike the other figures, only wore simple black clothes.
The Prefect rubbed his temples. "Yes, hello. I would truly love to say it is a pleasure to see you again, but I prefer my lies to be somewhat believable."
The man laughed. "Oh, what a funny joke! Don't lie, I know you love me~ Anyways, I am going to conclude this little trial of mine, and induct some new members into the guild! So, please, sit back and make yourself comfortable."
The man stroked his chin. "With all your hard work, you must be thirsty, right? Would you care for some refreshments? Wine, perhaps?"
The Prefect smiled, shaking his head. "Thank you kindly, but I must refrain. You see, I am actually on a 'no poison diet'. It would be a shame to break my 373-month streak."
The man huffed. "What a prude... anyways!" After that, he teleported right behind the Prefect, and then stepped past him. He smiled, looking at each of the players. "Congratulations! You have all survived, and you should be very proud of that! As the leader of the Shadow Guild, you have my utmost respect and admiration!"
The leader of the Shadow Guild paced back and forth. "Now, we are almost done with this 'Battle Royale', we just need two of you to die. So, if you could decide how tha-"
Two silent arrows shot through the air, tearing into the two players closest to the leader of the Shadow Guild. The first arrow absolutely destroyed the girl with a spear. Her torso was shredded to pieces, spraying guts and gore everywhere.
The second one had much less force. The arrow jutted out from the throat of the player wearing civilian clothing. He fell to the ground, grasping at his neck as blood squirted out.
The man next to the muscular girl sighed, as he set down his bow.
The Shadow Guild's leader smirked. "Well, that settles that! So, once the dumbass bleeds out, the contest will be over! Then, we ca-"
"Hold on a moment."
All eyes turned towards Raven, as he stepped forward, calmly looking at the leader of the Shadow Guild.
"I accepted this quest mostly for the TP reward. To me, the words 'Shadow Guild' are completely worthless. Right now, I have no reason to join you."
The leader cocked his head, looking intently at Raven. "Is that so?"
Raven nodded. "Yes. At this moment, I don't plan on joining. However, that can change. Obviously, having an experienced master would be extremely beneficial. Of course, that is all assuming you are worth my time."
The leader smiled. "Of course. Please, go on."
Raven smiled. "So, I have a simple solution; prove yourself! Defeat all three of the remaining players."
The leader's eyes glinted, as he smiled. "Sure, that's easy enough, but first..." he turned towards the other two players. "What do you think? Are you interested?"
The pink haired girl grinned. "Fuck yeah! The only reason I even joined was to fight strong people!"
The blue haired man sighed. "Good grief, I just want to get this over with. Let's finish this quickly, please."
The Shadow Guild's leader laughed. "Okay, that's fair! However, just defeating you all would be too easy. I will add some conditions." He held up a finger, and listed off several conditions. "First, I can't kill you. Second, it starts as soon as your quest is completed. That means once the poor sap over there bleeds out. Third, I will not attack at all for the first minute."
Raven smiled. "That sounds good to me."
The leader turned towards the Prefect. "Hey, you have a stopwatch, right? You don't mind lending a guy a helping hand, do you?"
The Prefect took out a watch from his pocket. "Of course."
The leader smiled. "Thanks! Anyhow, please prepare yourself. If you don't put up a fight, you can kiss your apprenticeship goodbye. I don't waste my time with weaklings~"
Then, everyone waited.
The pink-haired girl had a smug, confident smile. She had taken a few steps back, and was cracking her knuckles.
The blue-haired man looked relaxed, but his eyes were sharp. His bow was already in his hand, and his body was ready to move. He knocked an arrow, and readied a shot.
The leader of the Shadow Guild had a mischievous grin. He had a dagger in his hand, but didn't look like he was taking this seriously.
Meanwhile, the Prefect looked bored, his hand on his hip as he looked at the stopwatch.
Raven was focused, his sword gripped tightly. He had a slight frown on his face, as he tried to figure out how he was going to approach this.
'This guy better not be a disappointment...'
The plaza was near silent, as the air grew tense with anticipation. The only sounds that could be heard was the gurgling of the player bleeding out from the throat. He was near death, as most of the blood had left his body. Quickly, his movements began to slow, as the life in his eyes began to dim. Then, he finally stopped moving.
___________
Quest Completed!
Quest: Win Shadow Guild's Battle Royale
Expected difficulty: Immense
Reward: 5 TP. Apprenticeship with the Shadow Guild.
___________
All three players immediately began their attack.
The pink-haired girl immediately charged forward. She was incredibly fast, and her fists were a blur.
The blue-haired man was still calm, and fired an arrow. The shot was completely silent, even as the arrow shot through the air with so much pressure it created a shockwave.
Raven, meanwhile, stayed back as he readied a dagger.
The leader of the Shadow Guild seemed relaxed, but his eyes were intense. He moved his hand, and the dagger he held started to glow with a black light. He easily deflected the arrow, changing its' course.
At that moment, the girl arrived. She launched a barrage of attacks, punching with immense speed. Her fists glowed with a furious red energy, and her attacks cut through the air.
The leader calmly dodged or deflected every single punch.
As he was focused on that, however, Raven teleported in one small spot out of sight of everyone. In an instant, he threw his three remaining daggers.
At the same time, the blue haired man shot several arrows in quick succession.
Daggers, arrows, and fists all shot towards the Shadow Guild's leader. The timing was near perfect, and cut off all routes of escape.
The leader merely sighed, as a dark Aura enveloped his body.