"Wait, do you hear that?" Lala said.

Alfred responded, "What is it?" At the same time, they noticed that Michael had already drawn his sword. Lala informed them that she sensed people nearby. Michael replied, "Stay alert, no one loses focus."

A figure emerged from the trees, moving swiftly and attempting to attack Alfred with a magical claw strike, but Michael quickly intercepted the blow with his sword.

"Behind you, quickly!" he shouted.

Alfred and Lala turned to see two more warriors attacking them. One wielded a circular shield in one hand and a spear in the other, while the other warrior remained atop a tree, using a magical staff to enhance the strength and health of the two attacking warriors.

The attack began with direct spear thrusts, which Lala managed to block with an ice shield. Alfred then countered with a thunder fist attack, but the warrior blocked it with his shield, which changed color and launched a counterattack, sending Alfred crashing into a nearby tree. Lala quickly followed up with an ice spike attack, but the warrior blocked it with his shield once again.

"Damn, his shield is hard to penetrate," Lala remarked. Alfred responded, "But he only blocks from one side, so we'll try attacking from both sides. And don't forget about that sorceress boosting their power from the tree."

Lala agreed, "Then we'll attack her directly."

Meanwhile, Michael was fighting the Moon Wolf and had already taken some hits from his magical claws due to his great speed. Michael was distracted by watching his team during the fight. "Damn, I need to get rid of him quickly before those two fall," he thought.

Wolf shouted, "Pay attention here!" Michael disappeared from his spot and reappeared behind Wolf, stabbing him with his dagger and injuring his shoulder. When Wolf tried to attack Michael again, a "fire slash" appeared from the side, forcing Wolf to dodge.

Michael quickly moved towards the other warrior fighting Alfred and Lala. He reached him swiftly, placing his foot on the shield and pushing it down, then attacked with his sword to cut off his head. But Wolf intervened at the last moment and blocked the strike. "Your fight is with me here," Wolf said.

Michael then engaged in another clash with him.

A voice echoed in the sky, "Attention all participants, two teams have now reached the end of the first challenge. Few spots remain, please focus and move quickly."

Wolf mocked Michael after injuring his leg, "What's wrong? You seem distracted. Don't you trust your comrades?" .

Alfred and Lala were already engaged in a fight with the other two warriors and seemed to have sustained some injuries.

"I have no choice but to finish you here and then move to your team," Michael replied.

"Try it then," Wolf responded.

Michael disappeared in the blink of an eye, then "fire star" attacks appeared from all directions. Wolf, thanks to his skills, jumped up and dodged them. While in the air, Michael appeared with his daggers ablaze and struck the wolf in the liver. Wolf tried to hit Michael, but the attack was not smooth in the air. Michael then used the wolf's giant clawed hand as leverage and stabbed him in the mouth with the second fiery dagger, narrowly missing the neck.

Lala attacked the sorceress directly with her ice attacks, but the sorceress dodged the strikes and teleported behind Lala, hitting her with a powerful magical energy strike, causing her to fall to the ground with a severe injury. At the same time, Alfred activated his thunder fists and began attacking the warrior, who relied on his shield to block them. The warrior then struck Alfred with his spear, injuring his arm.

"Damn, we won't fall here," Alfred said. He struck the ground, causing a powerful thunderous roar that blinded the warrior. Alfred then used his thunder fist to surprise the warrior and punched him directly in the face, knocking him to the ground. He quickly moved to save Lala, but the shielded warrior recovered quickly thanks to the sorceress's healing technique and threw his spear with great force, hitting Alfred in the back and piercing his chest. Blood poured from Alfred's mouth as he fell to the ground.

Lala, enraged by the scene while fighting the sorceress, created an ice sword and unleashed a snowstorm, quickly cutting off the sorceress's arm holding the staff before she could cast another spell. She then struck the sorceress with an ice explosion, trapping her in an ice block. Lala left the sorceress in that state and headed towards the fallen Alfred and the warrior who had pulled his spear from Alfred to stab him a second time.

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"Get away from him now!" Lala shouted at the shielded warrior and launched another ice storm attack with ice spikes. Some of the spikes hit the warrior lightly as his shield had flown from his hand due to the storm's force. Alfred gathered some strength to stand and surprise the warrior with a thunder strike, hitting his abdomen and causing a severe injury.

"Now, Alfred, another attack and finish him off," Lala said.

"Alright, thunder fist now," Alfred replied. Just as he was about to attack, both of them were paralyzed by a strange force. "What's happening? I can't move," Alfred wondered.

"It seems to be a magical curse," Lala answered.

"But the sorceress is trapped in ice, and the staff is not in her hand," Alfred said.

The sorceress freed herself and spoke, "You cut off my arm, but my hand is still holding the staff. I can control it with my mind."

"Damn," Lala cursed.

The sorceress then used a healing spell on the other warrior.

"Thank you. Now, get rid of them while I retrieve my shield from the top of that tree," the warrior said.

"Alright, what is Wolf doing now?" the sorceress asked.

"I don't know. Did he get rid of the other warrior?" the warrior began to say before Wolf shouted from afar, "Watch out behind you!"

The warrior turned to find Michael in front of him, who cut off a quarter of his right side. The warrior survived the full cut by moving at the last second. Michael then attacked the sorceress to stab her, but Wolf appeared and blocked the attack with his claws, though he was injured in the process. The sorceress then teleported her team to another location. In the midst of the teleportation light, Wolf said, "We'll finish this fight later," and they disappeared from the place.

Alfred asked, "What do we do now?" Michael replied, "Let's move quickly. The challenge will end soon, and everyone is heading to the crossing area."

The team started running and moving quickly between the trees. Lala sensed several warriors moving in the same direction.

"There are many warriors, and from the nature of the magical energy, it seems they are killing each other," Lala said.

"No doubt, few spots remain, and the killings will increase now," Alfred replied.

They were then attacked by an explosion, which Lala blocked with an ice shield. Alfred countered with a thunder fist and killed the attacker. "Damn, I killed him,"

. "Focus now, keep moving," Michael replied.

At the same time, three warriors appeared nearby, using magical weapons.

"Damn, their numbers are endless," Lala said.

Lala attacked the first warrior and knocked him down with an ice tornado. "Watch out behind you!" Alfred shouted and pushed her aside, taking a stab in the lung from the second armed warrior.

Michael then cut off the warrior's head with a fire slash attack, quickly moved, and cut down the remaining warrior before he could draw his weapon. Finally, he burned the last warrior who tried to get up after Lala's attack.

Lala tried to bandage Alfred's wound. Michael said, "Let's move quickly."

"But he's severely injured," Lala replied.

"It's okay, I can move," Alfred said with difficulty.

A voice echoed in the forest, "Attention all participants, half a minute remains before the crossing closes, and few spots are left."

Lala said, "Come on, Alfred, hold on now. We'll treat you after reaching the gate." They moved quickly for ten seconds and finally saw the crossing in the distance. Lala said, "Isn't that the Wolf team? They've crossed the crossing."

Alfred, pushing himself through exhaustion and injury, replied, "Damn, three spots left. Let's move quickly."

Suddenly, three warriors supported by wind power from one of their team members sped past them.

"No, they've reached the gate. It's impossible to catch up with them," Alfred said.

The three wind users laughed as they reached the crossing gate, finding the Golden Knights watching the end of the first challenge

After the three placed their feet on the line, the fire knight Iliana raised her rifle to fire the announcement shot for the competition.

"Baaam!"

It wasn't the sound of the shot exploding, but rather the sound of the three heads exploding in that second, in a gruesome and terrifying scene that shocked the Golden Knights.

At that moment, Michael, Alfred, and Lala arrived and crossed the line. Iliana fired the shot while still in shock at what had happened.

The first round of the Golden Knights tournament had ended