* * *

At a certain room, waiting for their name to be called, were several humans that were discussing with one another. Since they have managed to win two times in a row, most of them were a lot more confident in their own skills.

Tatsuya was keeping everyone active as a way for them to formulate an unbreakable plan in case they would find themselves in a dire situation. A situation if their healer was injured, or a case where they would encounter an enemy that could be much stronger than them.

All kinds of possibilities were being discussed until Tatsuya noticed how Lily and her group were staying separated from them, uninterested in what was going on.

Being ignored like that wasn't something that Tatsuya appreciated, that's why he couldn't let this go anymore.

“The fact that you aren't interested in our group discussion means that you all plan on dying alone? If so, make sure not to drag us down with you.” Tatsuya spoke in a cold tone while looking at the unbothered girls that surprisingly were uninjured until now.

Tatsuya knew that they were not weak, that's what pissed him off even more since none of them were interested in working as a team.

“Thank you very much for your concern, but we won’t drag you down.” Lily responded in a cold tone as well, unbothered by the leader of Sakuru’s strongest team. “We came here on our own, and we don’t plan on playing house with any of you fools.”

“Tch.” Raiden clicked his tongue at the cocky way Hatsuko’s sister was acting. He already tried hitting on her, and the results were pretty clear to him. He knew what happened and he didn't plan on letting go that easily. [ I’ll make you pay back! I’ll make sure of it. ]

Tatsuya on the other hand gave another soft glare before looking back at his girlfriend who was staring the whole time, that's why he changed his expression back to a smile in order not to worry her.

Later on the whole group of students continued their discussion until a certain elf entered the room to notify everyone about their next round.

Everyone was still nervous because they hadn't had enough rest from the previous round, which made things seem strange at first. However, it didn't really matter because none of them could refuse the countless angles present there.

The whole group of humans entered the battle arena only to realize that they were up against another human being.

“We’ve witnessed that the human species have become more capable of what they used to be.” A sudden loud angelic voice that could be heard throughout the entire stadium spoke. “This is why we have decided that in the next round, these humans are going to be facing one another until only one of them survives!”

But this kind of announcement wasn't taken that positively by the humans that were all full of confidence until now.

“W-what?!” Hanna’s eyes widened to shock after hearing what these angels were planning on doing next.

“So in the end they still are just playing around with us.” Jue said in a disgusted tone as she looked at the confused looks of her friends who would have to die just for the sake of entertainment.

Tatsuya’s eyes narrowed as if considering the battle between his own comrades that fought by his side this whole time. He didn't have to do this, but still… There were way too many angels around them just to run away. And running away isn't something that he wanted to do.

“Those fucking bastards tricked us from the beginning!” Shun glared as he refused to fight any of his comrades.

All of the Sakuru students were filled with different kinds of emotions that almost burst them in anger from the peer pressure of fighting in this kind of place.

“We have no other choice.” Tatsuya grabbed everyones’ attention, making their bodies shiver in fear at the suggestion that he just made.

“B-babe, you c-can’t possibly consider us to fight with one another.” Hana tried pleading with teary eyes who couldn't believe that her boyfriend considered this.

All of the other students of Sakuru were either startled or had emotionless expressions on their faces at the thing that their leader was considering. The fact that Tatsuya was the strongest was what troubled them all, yet even so, a couple of them were considering fighting the strongest human. They weren't planning on going down that easy.

“I was kidding.” Tatsuya softly smiled at the frightened girl on his side before directing his eyes towards the other human on the other side. ”What I really meant was that we should get rid of him first.”

Gulping sounds were heard in relief from some of the Sakuru warriors before understanding that they might get away with at least killing the other human that was thrown in the battlefield. Since they were a team and essentially did everything together ever since angels started fighting on their planet once more, the mere thought of having to battle their own teammates made them feel terrified.

Raiden turned towards the human that was wearing a cloak covering most of his body. “Seems like it's decided pal. Sorry but you’re gonna have to face us all.” He smirked as he was ready to jump towards him.

But as the angels were becoming more vocal about holding this back for so long. That is why, all of the Sakuru students moved into their battle position.

The same applied for 8 other girls that were simply on their side, in a separate group from the Sakuru students. They understood that their situation could become more dangerous.

But that didn't matter to them right now. For as long as they were together, they were willing to fight all of the strongest humans in Sakuru.

“The rest of the angels will not be satisfied with simply killing them. What should we do after that?” Chloe inquired, considering the fact that they might have to blow away their cover as intruders.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“If those idiots consider fighting us.... We’re gonna need to stick together no matter what.” Lily informed everyone as she analyzed every other human for any sudden movements. “After all they aren't considered as the strongest humans for nothing.”

“If necessary, I’ll transform in my real body and break us out of here.” Akemi suggested after seeing the tense bodies of her so-called family.

“No, that’ll drag even more attention from the angels. We’ll find a good chance and run away from this tournament. I have been analyzing the whole place this whole time, and I have found a gap that might lead us away from the barrier surrounding the stadium.” Lily explained her plan after making another confirmation on her tablet that she was carrying the whole time.

While the twin sisters were on the stand by so they could create their utmost strongest barrier if necessary.

Shiro was glaring with hatred at the Sakuru students in case they would try anything funny. [ My master would never run away! ]

Chloe had her daggers out, ready to attack at any moment if there would be any dumb person approaching them. [ I won’t allow any of my sisters to die anymore! That's the promise I made to you…. Hatsuko…. ]

Akemi had her body loose, carefully looking around her to see if there could be somewhere she could break through without having to transform into a dragon in front of thousands of angels watching. But if it was necessary, she was willing to reveal herself as a dragon for as long as her family would survive.

[ I won’t let anyone else die! Not anymore! ] Akemi vowed to herself.

Ichika was already in her battle position with her bow out. Her face did not show any fear, and the fact that she had come this far, proved to herself that she could do this! She had to do this for the sake of her loved one who was killed by an angel.

Hina, on the other hand, had a calm look on her face, afraid that something terrible would happen once again. She had lost her family, her fiance, and everything that held something important to her. And thanks to Hatsuko, she was able to find happiness once again. She was happy while it lasted. But she wasn't angry, or sad. She was confident that despite the death of the person that she loved, she was left with a family that had her back.

[ I won’t let you down! ]

All of the girls, together with the strongest humans of Sakuru, were ready to face off one another. They were armed up and in position for the battle to begin.

There was a moment of silence before the sole human with a cloak revealed his face from the sudden breeze of air through the field. His sharp green glowing eyes were looking at everyone in the stadium, his body very loose but active the whole time.

Everyone was ready to attack….. Or that's what was supposed to happen before anyone could even notice, a certain girl from the Sakuru group walked alone towards the tall boy with long hair and green eyes.

“....Hatsuko?” Rei called out to the boy, her legs continuing to move forward with the hope that what she was seeing wasn't another dream. “T-that’s you, right?”

The rest of the Sakuru humans looked confused at the sudden change of behavior that their healer was making. Usually, Rei would stay behind their lines so she could heal any of their injuries without showing any sort of emotions.

But now, after a long time, she seemed to have finally lost it…

“What is she doing?!” Jue inquired in worry at the sight of Rei approaching the enemy without a care.

“Who told her to act on her own?” Dai asked in anger at seeing how their formation could be destroyed just because a single person decided to act on her own. This wasn’t a practice battle, that's why most of the students were in alarm of what her dumb empty head was doing.

“Hey! You stupid bitch! Get over here if you don’t want to die!!” Tanaka ordered after seeing how Rei was no longer listening to anyone.

They assumed that after all of this time, she had finally broken and was seeing things from all that had occurred to her up to this point.

But no matter how many times everyone called her, she no longer listened to them. She rushed towards the long-haired boy who didn't seem to attack as well, and hugged him with all of her might.

“It's you!!” Rei cried as she continued to hug the boy very tightly. “It's really you! It's not a dream! I’m sorry that I wasn't able to help you back then Hatsuko!!”

Hatsuko simply took the feelings of the girl and gently placed his hand over her head in order to calm her down. He seemed like he wanted to say something back, but couldn't because of some reason.

“...Did she just call him Hatsuko?” Raiden asked in confusion as he looked how that tall boy with green eyes wasn't doing anything to the healer girl.

The rest of Sakuru students were either confused or left with an angry look as they were ready to attack at any time now. But no matter how they looked at him, that boy with green eyes wasn't hostile.

They knew that there was no way that this boy was the same person as the one Rei was claiming to be. They all thought that she was basically hallucinating after losing it from the pressure of this fight.

[ What is going on? ] Tanaka thought to himself.

The other group of girls were also shocked at the fact that the name of their loved one was mentioned by one of the girls. And from the fact that this human wasn't doing anything, proved that he didn't seem to deny being called that name.

But once Rei calmed down from crying, Hatsuko took a few steps away from her before receiving a punch that sent him crashing at the border of the stadium.

Everyone’s eyes widened to shock at the power that was within that punch and the overwhelming strength that a single girl held this much power. Hatsuko was continuously punched by a silver-haired girl whose eyes were filled with hatred and sadness.

“How dare you….” Akemi said with a low, deep voice as she panted from the punch she just delivered. “... How dare you show up here after all this time?! Hatsuko!!”

After a few moments of the dust clearing up, the tall boy with green eyes found himself pinned down by Akemi. She was sitting on top of his body which was laying on the ground and began punching his face, her strength slowly fading away each time she saw his face.

“How dare you! How dare you!” She loudly told as her hands began to slow down, tears beginning to fill her eyes. “.... Why haven’t you showed up… after this long…”

Akemi’s warm tears began dropping on Hatsuko’s face as the dragon girl couldn't bring her strength to continue punching him. She was broken, but finding out that your most loved person was alive at this point was heartbreaking to her.

Why didn't he come back to them after this long? Why? Why?.... Why didn't he come back? Why didn't he come to her?

The other seven girls looked with sheer disbelief as they saw how Akemi acted towards this guy.

Hatsuko? There’s no way that Hatsuko would be here. He already died by the hands of an angel… Or at least that's what they saw with their naked eye as Hatsuko was brutally killed by an angel.

Lily looked bewildered as she observed the characteristics of the tall boy, Hatsuko, to whom two of the girls were clinging. She would recognize her own brother, that's why she found it hard that he was the same person as her beloved brother.

Chloe and Ichika could be seen slightly trembling at the boy that had the same name as the person they loved. Could he be him? Could he be the same person as Hatsuko? Was it really okay to have hope once again… after this long?

Hina and the twin sister could only stare with a blank expression on their faces, their voices unable to come out as they didn't want to say anything unnecessary. If he really was Hatsuko, then why hasn't he come back to them after this long? Was it because Hina used to treat him like trash at first? Was that really the reason he didn't show himself up until now?

The warriors of Sakuru were also confused by the sudden turn of events, and how two other girls were calling this other human to be Hatsuko.’

Was he really the same person? Or were the girls losing their minds from being in this battle of death?

.

.

.

.