"How many points do you think we earned?" Taren asked, breathing heavily as they sprinted through the forest.
"How the heck should I know?" Jadel replied with an irritated tone that made Taren's skin crawl.
'What happened to him? Why is he suddenly like this?' He asked himself, his mind racing as he noticed a strange shift in Jadel's behavior.
Jadel's eyes gleamed with a twisted delight as he suddenly spoke. "Should I kill you?" A crazed smile spread across his face. "I wonder what your blood will look like."
'This Psycho!! He is blushing while uttering such words.' His heart started to beat quickly, and his thoughts raced as he saw Jadel gripping his daggers.
"Wa-wait, you can't kill me," Taren stammered, trying to mask his fear.
"Why?"
"Whyy?! Because I'm your teammate id–" He swallowed the rest of his words, realizing that offending Jadel might be a fatal mistake.
"You see, there are still many participants out there, why not kill them instead?"
"Mmm… you're certainly right."
"Right, and we still have to take down Asher, right?" Taren suggested, desperately trying to redirect Jadel's murderous intent away from himself.
"Right, I have to kill that fucking fucker," Jadel muttered, his voice cold.
'What's up with him? Did he become dumb?
Suddenly, a surge of bloodlust oozed out of Jadel's body, suffocating him with its intensity. Before he could react, Jadel dashed away, his figure a blur.
"Hey, where are you running? Do you even know his location? Fuck, how is his power keeping on increasing?"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Shreya was locked in combat, her irritation growing with every passing second. "Why are there so many participants? Shouldn't they have died by now?" She grumbled, launching a lightning spear at her opponent.
Boom!
The spear exploded upon impact, but her opponent quickly defended with a barrier, causing Shreya to click her tongue in irritation.
Swoosh!
An arrow passed in front of her face, narrowly avoiding her, and pierced the participant behind her.
"Watch your back," Lucy said calmly, notching another arrow.
"I don't need your help, dammit." Condensing a fireball, she finished the guy Lucy hit with the arrow."
The weapon clashing sounds and monster growls resounded in the jungle; as of now, this place looked no different from a real battle field. The participants and monsters fought with each other, and there are still more participants and monsters approaching this place.
"Fuck, there is no end to it," Aiden cursed, seeing the incoming monster horde. Turning around, he saw Aaron, Asher, and Marcus fighting with another horde of monsters.
'More of them are coming; I need to reduce their fighting power so we don't get tired quickly.' he thought, activating his skill.
「Shadow Monarch」
Aiden's whole body was shrouded in shadows, like he had turned into the shadow itself. A dark hue emanated from him as he moved with a ghostly speed.
「Wayner Style: Shadow Blades」
In an instant, Aiden disappeared, only to reappear in front of the monster horde. Gripping his daggers, he passed through the monster like black smoke. Once the monsters approached Asher and others, they could see visible gashes on the monster's body, their vital areas.
"He is literally a ghost." Marcus commented, watching Aiden's swift movements.
Shadow Monarch is a technique developed by the second patriarch of the Wayner family. It helps users to move soundlessly, enhancing their speed to the point where they appear to phase through objects. At higher mastery, users can move through the shadows and appear in another person's shadows. With a hundred percent mystery, users can teleport into others shadows.
A technique derived from DNA. Only Wayners could use this technique; if anyone else uses it, their bodies will explode to pieces. That's how this technique is created, preventing others from stealing it.
"How are the others doing?" Asher asked.
"Not so great; more and more participants and monsters are coming," Marcus replied, scanning the battlefield and observing if the main cast were holding up.
"The thing keeps on shrinking; if my calculations are correct, that thing will shrink to a 100-meter radius circle in 10 minutes," Asher said while fighting with monsters.
"Good thing they are all low ranked monsters." Aiden said as he approached. "If not, we might have been gravely injured or eliminated by the time.
Clank!
Slash!
The clash of swords and the cries of monsters filled the air as the fight continued. And at that time, a single thought ran through the minds of all the participants's 'Something is wrong.'
"Hehe, hehehe, Found~you~"
A loud voice resonated through the battlefield, sending jolts to their bodies. All of them suddenly halted their movements as fear gripped their hearts. Their hands started to shake, their bodies stiffened, and some of them grasped for breath.
To the owner of the voice, the monsters scattered in fear, clearing the way for a white-haired individual. The white haired guy walked slowly, his face twisted into a crazed smile.
"Let's have a hearty meal~~" He said, his smile widening, his face flushed with delight. But his eyes, cold and emotionless.
All the high-ranking students were alerted by the intense bloodlust oozing out of the figure. Mana churned around Jadel, clearly forming an intense hue of crimson red, the bloodlust becoming visible to naked eyes.
Sensing the imminent threat, an elf immediately rushed to him. The efl's hands started to glow brightly, fire crackling on her palms as she aimed to stike at him.
Crackle! Crackle!
"I like fireworks, so I will take you with me for the show, hehe."
Jadel tilted his head and avoided the strike. Grabbing the elf's hand, he twisted it, and taking the dagger, he sliced her neck. But it didn't end there, he bent her neck back, widening the cut, and plunged his hand into the gaping wound, ripping out her bone.
Crack!
Splash!
Blood sprayed across Jadel's face and he licked with moan of pleasure. As they saw brutality, some students faces paled, and some had lost the will to fight and thrown up.
Seeing the white haired figure throw the lifeless body casually, all the participants minds crossed with one thought: 'kill or be brutally murdered by this maniac' Taking out all their courage, they prepared to attack the white haired figure.
"Next is you, lady again." Her face paled as Jadel suddenly appeared in front of her. Before anyone could do anything, he had already stabbed her in the head. With a spin, he kicked the dagger, causing her head to burst into pieces. The dagger flew to another participant and pierced his leg.
"Arghaa!"
"J-Jadel?" Aiden muttered garnering the attention of everyone that's close by. Aiden looked at Jadel observing his fighting style. 'The aura and the pressure he emitting, there is no mistake, he is Jadel.
"Fucking hell, he flipped again." Aiden cursed upon realizing he is indeed Jadel .
"What do you mean by that? And Jadel?" Asher asked.
"Yeah he is Jadel but not the Jadel you know." Aiden said.
"What do you mean?" Asher asked, and others gave him a questioning looks.
"I don't know the details, but we siblings are an experiment subject for our father, and this caused him to have a mental problem," Aiden said, gritting his teeth.
"So that guy flips sometimes, and when that happens, his battle awareness skyrockets to a dangerous level," he explained.
"So you're saying he is a battle maniac now?" Shreya asked.
Aiden nodded. "We can overwhelm him with strength, but with pure battle awareness, he is on par with Aaron... Or maybe surpass him."
"We are exhausted, but we can take him down; his stamina is not at the same level as ours," Marcus suggested.
"That's the problem. Can you see red veins all over his body? Because of that, his stamina and strength will continue to increase as he battles."
"Huh?! Can you elaborate–"
"I will explain later; we have to take him down now or the students will get PTSD." Aiden cut off the question, focusing on the immediate danger.
"Are you talking about me?" Aiden's eyes widened as he saw a dagger flying towards his face.
"Not so fast." Asher blocked the attack and counter attacked Jadel. Coming from behind, Marcus also attacked him.
"Two of them, huh?" With a spin, Jadel avoided both sword strikes, jumping, he kicked both Asher and Marcus.
「Wayner Style: Shadows Blades」
"Brother~~" Jadel called him happily.
「Consecutive Slashes.」
"I'm sad"
「Dagger art: Dark Slash」
「New Style: Consecutive Slashes」
"Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank.
'Did he imitate my technique?' Aiden thought in shock.
"Out of the way, Aiden." Lightning crackled around Shreya as she made a triangle shape with her forefinger and middle finger. Her eyes completely turned white, lightning danced around her eyes.
Next to Shreya, a girl held her bow, aiming at Jadel. Her eyes shone with a golden glint, and an arrow materialized in her bow, shining with a golden glow. Two seconds later, dozens of arrows manifested in the air.
「Magica Lighting Style: Rain of Spears」
「Creation Magic: Arrow Manifestation」
"Release."
"Woa, woa, woa, I'm bathing in a bunch of lines. "
「Shadow Monarch」
"Hehe Behold"
「Dagger art: Dark Slash」
「New Style: Consecutive Slashes」
Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank boom boom boom Clank Clank boom boom boom boom Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank boom boom Clank Clank.
Smoke and dust filled the place where Jadel stood. Everyone looked at the place, unsure of the outcome but holding on to hope. After all, who can survive this bombardment?. Asher? No, he will be dead. Aaron? There is a chance, but heavily injured.
As the smoke started to clear up, there was a small figure standing there.
"What, no way!"
"He survived that?"
"That's impossible," Lucy muttered in disbelief.
"How can he survive that?" After the smoke cleared up, everyone saw the clear figure of Jadel, completely unscathed. There were no injuries to his body as it all got blocked by a water barrier, and something was enforcing the barrier, making it overpowered.
「Emperor of the Ocean」
「Gyrokinesis」
「Combined Skill: Emperor's Vortex Ward」
Without hesitation, others started to rush at Jadel, but all of them halted their steps because of one person's voice that held a commanding tone in them.
All of them looked at the owner of the voice as he walked to Jadel. He had white hair, sharp red eyes, and a build that was uncommon for boys at this age.
"Aaron!" Asher called him out, but Aaron completely ignored him, continuing to walk towards Jadel.
"I always thought, what would have happened if we continued that fight." He said gripping he Spear tightly. "I wanted to know if I fought with the you, who would have won."
His words left confused all the main characters except Aiden. "What does he mean." Lucy asked to Aiden, her face expressing an explanation.
Aiden spoke after staying silent for a few seconds. "Just like how we are, Aaron was also a test subject from his family."
"And?"
"A tests for the subject happened, that's when we found out Jadel was a failed subject and in that test his personality completely changed."