Fifteen minutes had passed since the tournament began, and by now, Liliana had managed to gain five more tokens, placing herself at the top of the leaderboard. As she moved toward the central area of the forest, the sounds of fighting grew more frequent, and she knew she couldn't waste a second.
Approaching one of the areas where explosions were heard, Liliana could see from the top of a tree two groups fighting: one composed of elves and the other of humans.
From the top of a tree, Liliana pondered what she should do. Although she could also use aura, she knew it was a trump card that should only be used in case of danger. This left her with the only option of using her magical abilities...
'Hmmm… it will be difficult to attack them all at the same time; there are at least ten elves and fifteen humans…'
'If I want to get their badges, the only way is to use my illusions, although if they are smart, they will realize something is wrong when their numbers decrease…'
'Hmmm, that's what I'll do then.'
As Liliana prepared to attack, the fight between the elves and humans was reaching its climax. The elven mages were casting their abilities while being supported by archers, preventing some humans with assassin-type skills from sneaking into the rear. Explosions of fire and lightning lit up the forest, and the sound of clashing weapons echoed in the air.
Boom!!* Rumble! * Rumble!* Boom!!*
The leader of the human group, seeing they were at a disadvantage, stopped trying to take down the mages with stealth attacks. Turning to one of the people with him, he said with some frustration in his voice, "Prepare to cover me, Gareth. I will launch an attack strong enough to create a breach in their defense. Signal the mages to use their abilities."
"As you say, sir," Gareth replied, quickly signaling the mages to get ready.
Meanwhile, the swordsmen of both sides continued fighting fiercely, making hundreds of cuts and thrusts in a few seconds, causing their bodies to accumulate wounds.
Clang!* Clang!* Clang!* Clang!*
Liliana watched from her elevated position, evaluating the best way to intervene. With a thought, she activated one of her area abilities, 'Illusion Weaver'. As one of the swordsmen prepared to defend against an attack, his heightened senses heard the whistling of an arrow. In an attempt to dodge the arrow, he moved to the side. Taking advantage of the swordsman lowering his guard, one of the elves made a quick cut across his chest, incapacitating the swordsman.
Schlk!*
Just as the elf was looking for another opponent, several arrows were launched in his direction.
Whoosh!* Whoosh!* Whoosh!* Whoosh!*
With a quick movement, his sword clashed with one of the arrows. Seeing that upon touching his sword the arrows turned into particles, he realized it was an illusion. Just as he was about to alert his companions, he heard his leader say frantically, "Mages, defensive position! Raise the shields!"
Looking up, he saw a massive fireball falling in his direction.
Whoosh!*
Back to the human leader.
"The spell is ready. At my signal, the mages will also attack," said the leader. Then he shouted, "Let them burn! 'Solar Scourge'."
"Yes!" the mages responded in unison.
After he finished speaking, the temperature began to rise on the battlefield. Feeling a great flow of energy, the leader of the elven group quickly said, "Mages, defensive position! Raise the shields!" With that, he also began to gather mana quickly and, while wiping the sweat from his face, exclaimed, "Water Dragon!" When he finished speaking, elemental mana began to gather at a single point until it took the form of a Western dragon. With a signal, the water dragon launched itself at the fireball.
The mages on both sides increased their defenses by creating mana barriers to protect their fighters. After Gareth gave the order to attack, several elemental attacks tried to take down the dragon, but when the attacks touched it, they were canceled.
Seeing the chaos created, Liliana took advantage of the opportunity. Canceling her illusions, she prepared her short swords and activated another ability called 'Ethereal Dream', a technique similar to poison that, upon contact with the skin, causes the victim to fall into a deep sleep. She watched with satisfaction as her swords were covered with a layer of mana. With a leap, her body disappeared from the tree like an illusion.
Whoosh!*
Appearing a few meters from where the elven mages were, Liliana's body began to transform. Her white hair started to darken, her skin took on a more bronzed tone, and finally, her face changed completely. Now, mixed among the mages, she used them as a shield.
At that moment, the water dragon collided with the fireball in the air.
Boom!*
The resulting explosion was immense, creating a shockwave that knocked down nearby trees and threw the fighters into the air. Several mages collapsed from the strain of maintaining the barriers.
After a few minutes of chaos, the shockwaves subsided. Liliana, taking advantage of the confusion, moved quickly among the elven mages, cutting them with her poisoned swords. The elves began to fall one by one, falling into a deep sleep. On the human side, another Liliana moved in the same way, using her swords to lightly cut the skin of her opponents, causing them to fall asleep.
Once everyone was asleep, Liliana collected the badges, managing to obtain a total of fifty-four. Apparently, the teams were distributing some of the badges among their members while the leaders had the majority. It was an effective strategy, as the main goal was to qualify.
After collecting everything, she looked at the leaderboard. With a small smile curving her lips, she headed to another location.
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1 Liliana Everstall Duskmire - 61
2 Ember Nefarius Darkstorm - 56
3 Thalia Sanguinis Lunaire - 51
4 Thalgrim Nefarius Darkstorm - 45
5 Selene Initium Tempest - 41
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Several kilometers away from Liliana's location, Selene was surrounded by thorny vines. One of the abilities Selene had obtained at birth was a special affinity with plants, allowing her to manipulate them at will. At that moment, hundreds of vines had several people trapped, taking the form of a cocoon. So far, her battles had been easy, catching several contenders off guard, which had allowed her to position herself in the top 5 of the leaderboard.
Feeling that her targets had been transported back, Selene stopped using her magic and said, while looking in a certain direction, "It seems it's time to hunt bigger prey." With that in mind, she moved through the forest.