The Author's POV

In a different area of the dome.

SHIIIIING!

A black dagger pierced through the air in a lightning-fast manner.

KWANG!

Colliding with the metal body of a rapier, a defeating sound rang out, creating hot embers that scattered out.

At the same time, the dagger clashed with the body of the rapier, appearing on the right side of JIn were two twin swords. Raising his left hand, Jin slashed with all of his power.

KWANG!

Once again, a powerful sound rang out. The result of the clash ended up with one person getting pushed back.

"Brother!"

"...He's strong."

Nicholas muttered. Next to him was his sister, Aerin.

Lifting his sleeve, he wiped the blood that trickled down the edge of his lip.

Turning his attention towards his sister, Nicholas asked.

"Aerin, are you injured?"

"No."

"...Good. I'm afraid we have to go all out. We might lose if we don't."

"I agree."

In response to her brother's words, Aerin nodded her head.

"Haaaat!"

Then, with her brother next to her, she charged forward. Their speed was not something anyone could follow with their naked eyes. Within seconds, they were already in front of Jin.

Thrusting forward with her rapier, Nicholas accompanied her movements as he thrust his twin swords forward.

Claaaang—!

This time, it was Jin's turn to be pushed back. The twin's attacks were meticulous and calculated.

Alternating between each other, with no lag in their movements, they both aimed for the most vulnerable part of Jin's body.

Be it heart, lungs, head, liver; they aimed for all of the important organs. To make matters worse, because of how synchronized their attacks were, to Jin, it felt as though he was facing three opponents at the same time.

Slowly, cuts started appearing all over his body. For the next minute or so, Jin was slowly but surely being driven towards a corner. To the spectators, it looked as though he was about to lose.

But.

"Tsk."

Jin suddenly clicked his tongue. Almost instantaneously, a tremendous hue wrapped around his daggers.

Taking a step forward, his body suddenly melted into the darkness.

SHIIIIING!

Appearing right in front of them, Jin thrust his daggers forward as he performed an odd combo. His first strike was a powerful strike that shot up like lightning, followed by consecutive strikes that could seemingly sever rivers.

With each strike, the dagger's pattern became more and more eccentric. At one point, one of the daggers followed a path that was similar to that of a snake. Almost impossible to predict.

Under the barrage of attacks, Aerin and Nicholas both cooperated with each other and tried their best to defend themselves against Jin's weird attacks.

However, they knew that they were once again at a disadvantage. Even though they were going all out, they were still losing.

"Khhh...Aerin"

Pushed back, Nicholas painfully groaned.

"Yes, brother!"

"Let's use that."

"...but—"

"If we don't use it, we will lose. There is no point in saving it."

Nicholas quickly cut her off.

It became painfully obvious to him that they were about to lose. Their opponent was just too strong.

"Understood."

Biting her lower lip, Aerin nodded her head as she raised her rapier in the air.

the twins connected their weapons together. A powerful current of magic power rose

"Now!"

A majestic vertical

SHIIIIING!

the beam was a beautiful light blue

staring at the incoming attack, Jin's brows

He then took a deep

Jin's world suddenly slowed down. Looking at the approaching attack, he tightened the grip of his daggers as he channeled all of his mana towards them. Within seconds, the dagger

he slashed down with both daggers. He was trying to meet

BAAAM—!

illuminated everything within the vicinity. It was soon followed by a thunderous explosion that rang throughout

debris flew everywhere hindering

Everyone wondered as they eagerly anticipated for the dust to clear out. Then, within a minute, everyone

his hands, standing in the same position as before, was Jin. Though his clothes were a mess and cuts appeared all

He was the victor.

—WHIIIIII! —WHIIIIII!

his opponents, the whole building turned red, and an ear-splitting sound echoed across the

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the trials will now shut down. Please stop whatever you are doing and evacuate the premises. I repeat, please stop whatever you are doing and

***

"Damn it!"

his neck slightly as he dodged a sword attack. Raising

KWANG! KWANG!

look towards his right from time to time. Right where the portal disc was

was careless,

about his snooping. If not they wouldn't have sent so many people in one area. They must've added additional support at the very last minute to get rid of anyone that

check of the

wrong. Using some sort of artifact, four more people hid

had been too

KWANG!

"Khh..."

foot on the ground, Kevin raised his sword and looked at

need to cut

at winning was by reducing their number. Everyone here

"Huuup!"

Kevin was about to execute a special move, something strange

"Kuak!"

took advantage of this situation and swiftly stabbed his sword towards his

Cwaaaaang—!

individual was unable to defend himself. Stabbing towards his back, a shield suddenly appeared

second, and it threw everyone off. Needless to say, Kevin took advantage

it was a faint. Right when it was about to hit him, Kevin's sword magically reappeared by

Cwaaaaang—!

by the small protective shield that all students had. Nevertheless, his opponent

Haaa. That's

wasn't conceited to the point that he didn't know that the only reason he had gotten rid of the two opponents was due to luck. Had his opponent not tripped this would've never

back and glaring at his opponents, Kevin prepared himself to

"Overd—"

—Click!

a subtle yet powerful clicking sound. Kevin, who was struggling and was just

"...you're here."

—Thud!

was one of the six remaining individuals.

"Wh-at"

surprise, everyone turned to look at Ren. With cold and apathetic eyes, Ren merely glanced at

—Kracka!

and a white hue shrouded Ren's body. Taking advantage of the confusion, Ren attacked once

of the [Keiki style] : Quick

—Click!

in the

—Thud!

"R-ren, you!"

his eyes wide, Kevin flusteredly looked at Ren. With a trembling hand, he pointed at Ren and

what you

out that Ren was practicing the Keiki style. He had just placed a massive target on his back for no

"..."

his

—Click!

in the area. Unfortunately, this time his opponents were prepared as two of

KWANG!

the air. Staring at Ren,

Ren, you better answer me

Clank—!

Kevin's life was now much easier. In fact,

as Ren and Kevin

no restraints on him, Ren dominated his opponents. His lightning-fast attacks were not something his opponents

would be able

"...Do it!"

sure of their victory, something unexpected suddenly

simultaneously, all four of the remaining individuals took out a

Fuuum—!

as a small gust of wind

"What's going on?!"

a step