The Author's POV

'My goal is one minute and twenty-eight seconds...'

Setting a goal in his mind, Ren watched as the world around him lost color and his emotions disappeared alongside it.

Fear, nervousness, confidence, any and all emotions just disappeared.

In his mind, there was only one goal.

Reach one minute and twenty-eight seconds.

Regardless of the costs.

'”Beep!

Following the beeping sound, Ren closed his eyes.

Ta.Ta.Ta. Fiddling with a small ring on his finger, Ren calmly stood rooted in his spot. Within seconds the dummies were already upon him.

Lifting his head slightly, Ren opened his eyes and placed his hand on the sheat of his sword.

A second passed and over thirty dummies appeared within inches of his body.

'”Shuaa! '”Shuaa! '”Shuaa!

The sound of the air splitting reverberated across the space as each dummy swung their dulled weapon in Ren's direction.

To those that were spectating, it looked as though Ren had just given up.

Even as all of the dummies were attacking him at the same time, Ren stood still.

Some of the spectators couldn't watch anymore and turned their eyes away.

Although they knew that the contestants were going to be safe, just the visual impact of Ren getting attacked from all sides caused them to turn their heads away.

"Move!"

"What are you doing!"

"Gyaaaa'”!"

Screams echoed across the stands as some spectators stood up and shouted at the large monitor above.

The screams intensified even more once everyone could no longer see Ren's figure displayed on the screen.

All they could see at the moment were a pile of dummies on the same spot he was standing before.

'It's over.'

Everyone thought.

It was then that something shocking happened...

'”Click!

Following a subtle clicking sound, the volume of the arena grounds decreased.

The spectators who were watching Ren's match couldn't find any words to say as their mouth's hung wide open. Some even started stuttering as they pointed at the monitor above

"W-what just happened?"

"How is...this possible?"

"My god..."

Murmurs and discussions echoed across the arena grounds as everyone stared at the large monitor above.

They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Standing in the middle of the room was Ren's apathetic figure. His calm and indifferent eyes were displayed for the whole world to see.

From his demenour, it looked as though this was nothing to him.

Most shockingly, around him, over half of the dummies present in the room had turned red as they formed a small circle around him.

This scene was deeply etched in the spectator's eyes as they all stood up and cheered.

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

The spectator's blood was boiling. How could it not?

Watching as Ren singlehandedly dispatched over half of the dummies in a single move caused almost everyone to be shocked.

Furthermore, no one knew how he did it as the cameras were blocked by the dummies.

The battle was still not over though.

Ren had only gotten rid of half of the dummies. Everyone also noticed this as they quickly stopped cheering and kept their eyes glued on the large screen.

They didn't want to miss a single second of what was about to come.

...and they were glad they didn't.

Without even letting Ren take a breather, the remaining dummies attacked him from all sides.

Click. Click. Click. Subtle clicking sound resounded across the arena grounds as more and more dummies fell on the ground.

No one could see Ren's movements, but his cold and indifferent image was deeply imprinted in their minds.

He looked like an awe-inspiring general that reaped through the lives of all of the enemies that got in his path.

Every second a dummy turned red. Such a shocking scene repeated over and over again as the dummies around Ren turned red without him even moving.

It was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, even though Ren had taken down half of the dummies, there were still a lot of dummies left that relentlessly attacked him from all sides.

Most of the time there would be rings around Ren to block their attacks, but sometimes an attack would make it past his defense and hit him directly.

At first, they thought it was because Ren's defense wasn't that great.

But it was then that people began to realize...

Ren was doing it on purpose.

He was purposely using his body to absorb the impact coming from some of the attacks so that he could make a quick counterattack.

sacrificing his body to reduce the

couldn't help but feel their hairs stand. Just how could anyone put their body under

Everyone wanted to know.

seconds passed, it became plain to see for everyone present that Ren's physical state was worsening by the

was either broken

...yet.

the whole time. Dodge, get hit, kill.

breathless. They couldn't remove their eyes off of the screen. They watched the fight as though they

'”Beep!

coming from the speaker of the arena's marking the end of

was indifferently looking at the last

"Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!" "Huaaa'”!"

across the

Dover; Time ➤ 1:

Ren's name was

***

finals ended. Inside of a

is why I don't use this skill

I felt my lungs burning. They felt like they were

move forward, I could barely keep my eyes focused as everything

person, I roamed around the corridor of the arena

my best to look fine after I finished my game, once I arrived

it, I

indifference throughout the whole game, I was unable to properly control

its own to achieve the goal that I had set in

had completely overlooked the fact that under Monarch's indifference, I wasn't the

I cared nothing about anything else. Even if it resulted in me getting

by the dummies as I stood

of the dummies. It was the most appropriate move given the time frame

was also what resulted in me sustaining

the contestant was too severely injured, from how I was still not kicked out, my injuries were not enough

the fact that I

to aim for

whole game, I felt immeasurable amounts of pain being transmitted

my body completely ignored

of my imagination, my body ignored everything and aimed to kill the dummies in the fastest and most efficient

how much damage I

after everything was over, my overall time

than

I got out and felt countless stares coming from the spectators, I

and saw Aerin's score, one minute and forty-eight seconds,

that I had

was much higher than it was supposed

"Damn you Meliss'”pfffftt..."

up my throat. Not long after,

"Ah, shit..."

blood-stained hands, I cursed underneath my breath. My vision soon

'”Thud!

***

"I'm sorry brother."

other hand, Aerin returned to her academy's waiting room. Standing before her brother, Aerin's head hung

that I

as

confident that she could win the match. She really did

she saw her score of one minute and forty-eight seconds. It was the

Yet...

found out that her opponent's time was even

close margin. A whopping seventeen

crushed

okay. I'm

Aerin on the

as skillful as you. You're both the same rank and from the looks of it, his sword art specializes in speed. Furthermore, he also had a mysterious skill that I presume specializes in targeting multiple opponents at once. This outcome

eyes squinted as he turned his head towards a nearby TV. Displayed on it were

"Aerin."

"Yes"

replied as she lifted her head

your opponent put his

"What do you mean?"

her head

the TV screen displaying

replay of the match, compared to you where you directly avoided and dodged all of the dummies and counterattacked, Ren

"More reckless approach?"

of confusion in Aerin's

dummies attacks and directly used his body as a shield. Take a

her brother's instructions, Aerin turned her head and directed her attention

his body to defend some of

some of the attacks. Though it could've gone wrong as he could've been eliminated for getting too injured, if done well, this strategy would've without a doubt have been the most optimal for getting

a second

victory explains the huge gap between you two. Your

"I see..."

she looked at the highlights displayed on

'Brother's right.'

how frustrated she was at her loss, Aerin did not have time to see Ren's

why she lost. It was because she put it her all like Ren had

of respect for her opponent. If he was willing

Nicholas satisfyingly nodded his head as he

risk getting injured severely to win. You didn't lose without merit.

"Understood"

her mood improved

right, nothing's lost

she lost this game didn't mean that everything was over. There were still the

redeem myself

herself as her fists

are really

as he looked at Aerin who seemed

performances, but Aerin was not at her best

No.

her best when she

one could

***

"Ah..."

groan left my

pungent smell of alcohol invaded my nostril as my eyelids

the