Chapter 10—| No Place For Pity.
Chapter 10—No Place for Pity.
"Gling! "
[Alert: Magical anomaly detected.]
[The remaining 6 monsters have merged under the influence of a hidden royal order.]
[Current Enemy: Shadow Alpha (Temporary S Rank)]
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[Danger: Critical, a standard frontal combat will require more than 65% of your divine power.]
The creature emerged from a misty cocoon three meters high, its scarlet eyes shining with fierce hatred.
She let out such a powerful roar that the walls of the labyrinth cracked.
The king wanted to force himself to reveal himself.
kaelen... This thing is on a whole other level... Lyra said, stepping back, feeling her knees buckle under the monster’s spiritual pressure.
She couldn’t move an inch, paralyzed by the effect emanating from the hybrid creature.
Kaelen took a step forward, positioning himself in front of her. He couldn’t use his divine abilities directly, under penalty of being executed by the king. He had to use another method.
"Lyra, prepare an arrow of light... concentrate all your mana. I’m going to immobilize him." Kaelen said.
Before she could act, the shadow alpha charged at an insane, lightning-fast speed.
Kaelen closed his eyes for two seconds, using his new "Evil Eye" skill to read the exact trajectory of the hybrid.
At the last moment, he used his Shadowstep limited to 35%, slipping under the beast’s claws.
As he passed by Lyra, he discreetly grazed the back of her arrow, injecting a tiny amount of his own divine energy into it, camouflaged by the luminous glow of Lyra’s magic.
’Shoot.’ Kaelen yelled.
Lyra released my rope. Carried by Kaelen’s invisible divine boost, the magic arrow became a blinding beam of light. The projectile pierced the Alpha’s chest, purifying the dark mana.
The monster let out a final roar before exploding into a thousand pieces, projecting a shockwave that dissipated temporarily the surrounding fog.
"Gling !"
[Area boss eliminated: 12/12]
[Sovereign’s suspicion gauge: 5%. (The King attributes the feat to Lyra’s arrow of light).]
Thanks to the dissipating mist, Kaelen and Lyra discovered that they had just reached the great central crossroads of the rocky labyrinth, where the three gates of the Eclipse finally met.
At that precise moment, a familiar figure emerged from the right-hand column.
It was Tsubaki-iwanome; his clothes were immaculate, his silver blade bore no trace of blood, and the corpses of monsters from his area crumbled behind him, overwhelmed by his technique.
Tsubaki stopped abruptly when she saw Kaelen and Lyra. Their eyes met in the middle of the courtyard.
A heavy silence settled between the two S rows. A silent competition ignited in their eyes as the doors to the final phase of the arena began to open before them.
This stare-down was brutally interrupted by a explosion echoing to their left.
The door of the third column shattered into pieces, blasting debris of fine rock across the entire courtyard. Through the thick smoke, the red-eyed boy emerged calmly, acting as if nothing had happened, surrounded by a dark and unstable aura. His cruel gaze swept across the area, locking abruptly onto Tsubaki and Kaelen.
In his wake, heavy footsteps and groans could be heard. The few surviving nobles from the other columns finally reached the crossroads, limping, covered in dust and blood, still trembling with terror after brushing so close to death.
Seeing the calm of Kaelen and Tsubaki amidst the chaos, their noble pride collapsed instantly. In this arena, titles of nobility meant absolutely nothing.
Tsubaki then took a step forward, his right hand resting smoothly on the silver pommel of his sword. Without taking his eyes off Kaelen, he broke the silence in a low voice, calm and sharp as a blade:
"Don’t get in my way, commoner. The real test will begin soon."
Kaelen said nothing. He simply slipped his hands back into his pockets, maintaining a perfectly indifferent expression.
It was at that exact moment that the Academy Director appeared like a flash of lightning.
" Congratulations to you all. You fought with brilliance, determination, and courage. Now, this part is over, and you have earned a good rest with a good meal. The King sends you his highest regards. That is all we need to say, because out of 820 candidates, only 50 of you remain. So, my congratulations. Enjoy your leisure time, drink, and eat, because the Final Phase promises to be truly intense," the Director said, smiling with a resounding voice.
Everyone was preparing to leave when a candidate spoke up:
" This is not what we expected. I want to go home," said the commoner candidate. Kaelen glanced at him.
"Very well, if that is what you want, the door is wide open," the Director replied.
The candidate took a step forward, intending to cross the courtyard to reach the main gate, when suddenly, a flash of a blade sliced him in half in a single "slash".
Instantly, everyone was gripped by fear.
" It seems you didn’t read the clauses. When the phase is not fully completed, no one can leave the confinement of these walls. If you try, this is what will happen to you. So now, let’s forget about that good food and fine wines await you."
Muffled screams of terror erupted among the survivors; the sight of the body sliced in two instantly shattered the last bit of courage they had left.
Lyra clenched her fists, while the nobles recoiled, trembling. In the midst of this general dread, only three silhouettes remained unbothered. Tsubaki sheathed his sword with a fluid, indifferent motion. The red-eyed boy let out a light laugh, and Kaelen merely stared at the Director, his hands still casually shoved in his pockets. For those three, pity was an obsolete concept.
Driven by fear and the scent of blood, the remaining fifty candidates quickened their pace to leave the courtyard and head toward the rest area.
The contrast was striking. A vast, luxurious room worthy of a royal palace awaited them, with long tables laden with hot dishes, roast meats, and fine wines. But despite the hunger, the atmosphere was icy. The nobles ate in silence, their eyes vacant, starting at the slightest sound of guards’ footsteps.
Kaelen, for his part, settled down apart with Lyra.
Without hurrying, he ate efficiently, discreetly analyzing Tsubaki’s reactions out of the corner of his eye, and the red-eyed boy, who each stood at opposite ends of the room, isolated like predators in their cages.
Once the meal was finished, the candidates were led to the communal dormitories.
The silence of the night was heavy, punctuated by the sighs and nightmares of survivors traumatized by the arena.
Lying on his bed in the darkness, Kaelen closed his eyes, but his mind remained perfectly alert.
This rest and feast offered by the king was not an act of kindness.
The sovereign was simply fattening his cattle to ensure that the final phase would be the greatest of spectacles.
For Kaelen, this night of enforced rest was the perfect opportunity to take stock. In his mind, the system interface opened again, glowing with a bluish light invisible to the naked eye of the others.
"Gling!"
[Current player status: Divine Energy restored to 100%.]
[Note: The King’s suspicion gauge remains stable at 5%. Stay vigilant and focused during the next phase.]
Kaelen let out a slight smile. The ruler of this world thought he controlled the game, but he didn’t yet know that a true contender had slipped in among the lambs of his academy.
A few hours later, dawn broke abruptly over the dormitories. It wasn’t the song of a bird or a bell that woke the fifty remaining candidates, but rather a dull vibration that made the floor shake beneath their beds.
The stone walls of my room began to sink into the ground, noting that the dormitory was merely a mobile platform.
The daylight struck Lyra’s face, and she woke with a start, her hand instantly resting on her bow and sword.
Around them, the nobles were already screaming in panic, believing it to be another monster attack.
The platform stopped with a tremendous roar. They were no longer in the rock labyrinth but in the center of a gigantic open-air combat arena.
The stands, built of yellow marble and rising to the clouds, were black. Thousands of spectators, dressed in silk tunics and sparkling jewelry, shouted with joy, pointing at the survivors.
At the very top, on a golden throne floating above the arena, the King’s overwhelming presence dominated space and time.
"Look at them..." Lyra murmured, her voice trembling as she stared at the crowd. "We’ve become freaks for high society."
Kaelen stood up, casually dusting off his clothes.
A few meters away, Tsubaki was already standing, his cold gaze fixed towards the Royal Box, while the red-eyed boy displayed a sadistic smile once again, visibly excited by the shouts of the crowd.
Suddenly, the director’s voice, amplified by magic, resonated again, rising above the tumult in the stands.
Everyone was becoming aware that the sequel was already here, and the atmosphere gave off a truly strange, breathtaking, magical aura... And fatal."The affinity selection is simple, selection," boomed the director’s voice, his smile sharper than ever.
"Look above your heads and contemplate your destiny."
In the center of the arena, a giant cloud of magical smoke materialized, transforming into luminous letters of blood.
"Gling ! "
[Alert: The final phase, "The Butcher’s Arena," begins.]
[Current Objective: Survive the Royal Massacre.]
Kaelen stared at the bloody screen, his hands still calmly tucked into his pockets.
The King’s game was finally becoming interesting...