CHAPTER 194: SEMIFINAL
As soon as Érica’s vision stabilized, she with her wand in hand scanned the surroundings for any presence.
She found herself on what appeared to be a mountain in the center of a crevice several meters deep.
The place was cold, and it was a good thing for her, though the sunlight was coming from outside, dimly illuminating the interior.
She had heard that Leslie had run into an enemy as soon as she appeared, so Érica relaxed at the sight of no one.
However, her relaxed expression was short-lived.
She was in the semifinal!
Facing a powerful academy whose numbers outnumbered them and whose strength was remarkable!
They were her former allies, and now they were facing them.
Érica, even though she related quite well to the Cernunnos Academy students, was ready to give it her all.
Looking at her holographic watch, she realized that they had not yet activated the network, or perhaps she was not within range.
Not giving it a thought, she began to fly using the artifacts and cautiously exited the rift.
She had spells to protect herself in case of an attack but was dazzled to notice the scenery she had arrived at.
She was on a rather large mountain and at the foot of that mountain was a small forest with a plain in the open and a barrier covered everything.
All of this was the battle scenario.
A wolf howl echoed amidst the mountain that looked like complex cliffs and crevices weaving in and out of each other.
Remembering that a C-Rank archer had a howling wolf, Érica stood on guard.
Unlike the Hero Academy, which had to set up a communication network to begin organizing, the students at Cernunnos Academy had it easier.
While they appeared in random areas just like their beasts, they had a connection to their beasts and allowed them to know their partner’s position through the contract.
Those advantages showed in their first confrontation against the druid academy, and everyone had analyzed them, marking them as a threat in the beginning.
Each magical beast and student were taken as different individuals, so defeating one didn’t mean the other would exit the tournament... They would stay until they were defeated!
That meant she was outnumbered, and they had the initial advantage.
*BOOM*
An explosion was heard on the plain as lightning struck the ground.
That was Edward’s attack, but the power level was too excessive and it was pretty sure it would be his signal.
Looking calm, three flashing lightning bolts flew across the sky, shining even in the daytime.
That signal was the order that some students might attack.
Instead of taking the advantage in the middle or late period, when Andrés would take control of his opponent’s communication network, this time they were taking the initiative.
That didn’t mean Andrés would stay on the sidelines; he had his own moves, as did other small groups.
In this case, Érica was from the assault team and could move as she wished to deplete the enemy team’s forces.
The Cernunnos Academy students having communication with their magical beasts had the advantage, however, it was not all good, as they could appear in two different places.
They would try to take advantage of that disadvantage.
It was for such a reason that Érica moved in the direction where the howl had come from.
Instead of flying, she hovered above the ground, and activating stealth, she went deeper into the mountain.
Passing through the crevices, Érica advanced with her wand in hand.
That was the problem with being in such a large scenario, it was hard to run into enemies at the start.
“Grahh...”
A growl from a beast echoed in the distance, and Érica slunk closer.
She wasn’t good at stealth and could only rely on her suit for concealment, she wasn’t good at scouting either, so she had to concentrate to sharpen her senses.
Approaching carefully so as not to be noticed, she advanced to the top of the cliff and at that moment; she heard voices.
“Come on, attack!”
“We need to kill it fast!”
“It’s hard...”
The voices sounded unfamiliar and what made Érica’s eyes sparkle like a hunter’s.
When she reached the top of the cliff, she could notice some young men fighting against a large bear at the entrance of a cave.
The B-Rank fighter whose partner was a thundering gorilla, the C-Rank archer with his B-Rank howling wolf, and finally there was a C-Rank knight whose partner was a magical Addax.
All three young men were fighting, but only the archer had his partner fighting that big bear.
A rank-A bear... Érica thought calmly, observing.
The bear seemed tainted by the chaos and the only oddity was that it had several wounds on its body, which didn’t seem to be caused by the group attacking it.
Érica analyzed carefully and when she observed the cave, she could notice the reason why they were facing such a weakened enemy.
Inside the cave, a glow could be noticed that illuminated the surroundings.
The same glow gave by some weapons, or artifacts that could be used in this tournament.
Those weapons always had powerful spells that could cause trouble to any opponent and, in some cases, were powerful enough to turn the tide of battle.
In their first confrontation, they used one, but in a sense, they could not fully show the effectiveness of such artifacts.
Hesitating whether or not to attack, in the end, she moved now, recognizing that if the magical beasts of the other students arrived, she could not do anything.
First Érica prepared an [Ice Cannon] to fire, intertwining it with the spell [Ice Spikes] inside and at the same time turning the spikes into spears, adding her best spell [Ice Spear].
All the spells were prepared as secretly as possible and she tried to keep the magical energy from leaking out so that her opponents would not perceive it.
To her luck, because of the battle, the students in the group were not given of the waves of magical energy emitted from the spells.
If Érica were an S-Rank Archmage, she could launch this type of attack by manipulating the ice element without needing to create three different spells, but she had not yet reached that point.
However, her concentration was high and so was her affinity for the ice element, managing to steady the spell at the tip of her wand.
Standing up a little, looking at the group that was about to defeat the bear, Érica made a large sphere of ice grow on the tip of her wand.
“Isn’t it too cold?”
When one of the young men asked that question, Érica felt a sense of danger and her expression changed.
Casting her spell and jumping off the cliff without hesitation, at her back, she could see the Silent Eagle cut off the position she had been in.
“Shit!”
“Watch out!”
A simple warning sounded from the three young men as the spell exploded at the feet of the large bear and the C-Rank archer.
*BOOM*
The explosion released a wave of ice that froze several meters of the ground and in the next instant ten spears shot out into the surrounding area.
The C-Rank archer was frozen to disqualification by the barrier, while the B-Rank fighter jumped for cover behind the bear’s body, leaving the poor C-Rank knight using his shield and activating the barrier.
Then the cold wave passed and the ice spears arrived, piercing the bear in a tragic way and hitting the knight on his shield.
The difference in strength was clear, and the knight flew through the air, hitting the wall.
Other spears were sent into the cave and in other directions, one of which went to Érica, who was falling.
She in response employed the flying artifact and, taking control of the spear, fired it back at the Silent Eagle that was flying in the sky.
The eagle managed to dodge and while it took no damage; it was enough to make it cautious in attacking.
“What the fuck attack was that!” the fighter exclaimed, getting up and looking at the ice spreading around, he muttered. “There’s more than one monster at the Hero Academy.”
Although he sounded quite calm, Érica could tell that he had already reinforced his body with magical energy and was ready for battle.
On the other side, the knight opened his helmet and upon seeing her; he stood up again, keeping the frozen shield in a ring.
All this while the Howling Wolf looked at her with anger and resentment at having lost his companion.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“Don’t be reckless, kid. We’re going to make her pay,” the wrestler said to the Howling Wolf and, looking at Érica, he stated. “Nothing personal, but we have to avenge our fallen comrade.”
Érica’s expression didn’t change as she saw that they were surrounding her, pressing her against the cliff wall from where she had fallen.
On the right, the howling wolf who was clearly growling in agreement with the fighter, in the middle was the B-Rank fighter whose muscles were straining, and on the left side the C-Rank knight, who had pulled out a new shield.
That side was the weakest, but on that side was the cave and there was no escape.
In addition, in the hidden sky was the Silent Eagle and the tamer Daisy might have been moving.
No, the fighter’s thundering gorilla and the magical Addax could also be approaching.
In the face of such enemies, Érica’s expression did not flinch but gave a smile.
In the previous fight, a group from the paladin academy also cornered her, but just like that moment, Érica could not help but feel excited.
All her companions were revealing great strength, and she was the only one missing.
She was waiting for her best moment... Unfortunately, this was not it.
Fluttering began to be heard behind the fighter’s back and when they all looked, they noticed hundreds of small red eyes surrounded by darkness, covering the glow of the ‘treasure’ inside.
The first to emerge was a thirty-centimeter-long bat, like a small ball of fur that had no noticeable features other than its red eyes and slightly large fangs.
It was a ‘Vampire Bat’.
Easy to kill, easy to take down, and individually they were extremely weak, being D-Rank or C-Rank with a slight size up.
However, there was a problem with such enemies.
Another bat came out and then another, then from two they went to five, and from five to ten, and from ten to fifty.
“A swarm of bats!” the fighter shouted as he recognized it, but when he looked at Érica, she was already running at high speed.
Using his wand to create a barrier of ice, the wolf cut through that barrier and when he tried to stop her; he realized she was already running to flee without looking back.
Taking down a few vampire bats was extremely easy, but a swarm... Érica wasn’t prepared enough to do that.
“Shit! They’re coming for us!” the knight growled as he ran.
“Run! Run, tin knight!” shouted the fighter to his heavily armored companion.
Perhaps unconsciously, but the entire group was running in the same direction as Érica and she, hearing the shouts behind her back, couldn’t help but look.
Her expression trembled as she saw an enormous swarm of bats, as if some final boss was following the knight at the end.
Without a minute’s hesitation, she generated a huge ice barrier behind her back to close the path and she flew, squeezing through a crevice, trying not to get caught by the eagle.
“That was a dirty trick!”
Hearing that scream behind her back and the noise of battle, Érica couldn’t help but laugh.
Strangely, she was having fun.
******
Alice glanced at her surroundings.
She could hear some battle noises in the distance and Edward’s lightning flashes echoing, perhaps hunting students.
When two groups were S-Ranked, it was ideal to arrange for an A-Rank team to try to contain one or have another S-Rank take over.
It was quite possible that Daniel would follow the sound of the lightning and go to stop Edward.
However, that battle was not her problem and Alice just opened a bag of chips and continued walking around.
She had come to a random position, but this time she went farther than others, so for several minutes she did not encounter enemies.
Using her black arms to move through the trees calmly, without having to be bothered with brush and branches, Alice just continued to eat her chips.
While she could move swiftly to scout or extend her senses to locate students, she preferred not to.
Having a Hero Academy student defeated meant more pressure for her fellow survivors.
And being pressured meant, in a way, having to get better at surviving.
Passing through the trees and reaching where thick and tall trees stood, an arm shot out, turning into a spear and pierced through a killer chameleon that was camouflaged.
“...”
The corpse fell to the ground and Alice’s gaze wandered around the surroundings until it focused on a shadow at the foot of a tall tree.
The trees were very thick and tall, managing to have a space between them, and this particular shadow was darker even though sunlight could pass through the treetops.
If someone looked at the tree quickly, they would pass it by, but if one concentrated, they could tell that it was a darkness striking enough to hide something.
Ta-ta-ta.
The sound of a machine gun echoed, and Alice covered herself with her arms like a cocoon before the bullets could touch her body.
Inside the cocoon, Alice did not sharpen her sense but watched as the black cocoon became translucent, allowing her to see the other side.
From the outside nothing could be seen, but from the inside, everything was visible as normal and she could see Jaffar riding the night scorpion.
The night scorpion pincers could crush an enemy and the sting was as sharp as the sword of an A-ranked swordsman.
Jaffar fired the entire magazine of the machine gun at it and when Alice came out of the cocoon, they both looked at each other.
“...”
Jaffar’s expression was tough.
While he was an A-ranked tamer with an A-ranked partner, he had a personal strength of a B-ranked mechanic who used excellent weapons.
He had fired penetrating bullets at it, but none went through the cocoon.
At that look that revealed great tension, Jaffar...
“Run! The glutton is coming!”
With a single shout, the night scorpion he was riding ran at full speed, fleeing amidst the large trees.
Alice’s expression trembled for a moment, not knowing how to react, but she could also see the Komodo Dragon fleeing along with its tamer riding it.
Was it a plan?
Such a question popped into Alice’s mind and in response, she laughed, slightly amused.
The title ‘gluttonous’ did not bother her and was more than she thought it was correct, only now it sounded strange.
Jaffar gave the impression that he was being followed by a monster and such an idea was amusing to Alice.
After all, she could become a monster if she wished.
Watching the students run, Alice put away her chips and pulled out four pairs of black arms, and transformed them into grotesque spider legs.
The legs became sharp, while sharp protrusions appeared and the very smooth blackness turned into scales that decorated the former black arms.
It was easy to give her all kinds of details and in seconds she turned her former black arms into real, sinister legs of a grotesque fantasy spider.
Alice thought about covering herself from the waist down with her darkness to turn it into a spider ‘body’, but as it could traumatize the students and onlookers, she resisted, not wanting to cause trouble.
It was bad enough that an S-rank with sinister spider legs was following them.
If they were treating her like a monster... Why not be one?
A charming smile spread across her face and her first ‘step’ with her spider legs went through a tree and pushed her dozens of meters in a second.
When Jaffar heard the noise and looked back, his expression was filled with true terror.
Now he could truly tell that a monster was chasing them.
******
Edward threw several bolts of lightning at Ruby and her companion, the female thundering gorilla Lucretia.
*BOOM*
A wall of earth rose up to cover them both and an explosion echoed.
Edward had taken out two students, being the crafting student and someone protecting him.
He had also trapped three magical beasts, being the sky jellyfish and the flying eel, whom he could sense thanks to them both controlling the same element.
The third was a B-Rank queen bee, but Edward was sure that Daniel and his partner Jane were also hunting several Hero Academy students.
*BOOM*
Waving his hand back, another lightning bolt struck, causing an explosion that shattered the earthen wall.
“Go away, I’ll take care of stopping him for a few seconds,” Lucretia growled as she waved her staff, sending earth arrows.
That thundering gorilla was tenacious when using earth magic, and one could tell she had studied well.
“No. I’ll stay with you,” replied Ruby, casting a healing spell that gave Lucretia greater agility.
She then waved her wand, throwing fireballs thanks to the wand’s ability.
It was a touching scene for the onlookers and Edward, who watched, waved his hand in response without changing his expression.
This time lightning surrounded him, shattered the earth arrows, and then devoured the fireballs, then like snakes, they were shot at the duo.
“GRRr...” Grunting loudly, Lucretia once again raised a dome of earth for cover.
Unlike Alice, who was taking a supporting role as if she was in a game, Edward was taking this tournament seriously.
It was for such a reason that even though these students were his former allies and their scene was in itself touching; he generated ten thick lightning bolts and threw them against the dome.
*BOOM*
The first ones shattered the earthen dome with a huge explosion, burning the surroundings and when the second one was about to arrive, a sword slash made with pure sword aura deflected it.
Edward immediately used the others to shoot it where the sword cut came from and could see Daniel dodging it with overwhelming S-Rank speed.
Edward’s gaze was on Daniel, but his concentration was on the surroundings looking for Jane.
The Himalayan Tigress was powerful, and agility was a weapon that could be lethal in ambushes.
If he wasn’t careful, he could be taken down with a single claw slash, and that was because the barrier would activate and disqualify him when an attack became lethal.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Edward said with a smile, managing to make the sky start to turn dark.
He made it look like he was casting his [Storm Domain] spell, but he was actually emanating his magical energy to change the weather.
It was an excellent trap to trip Daniel up and, just as he hoped; it worked.
“HA!” Letting out a shout, Daniel waved his sword, producing a deep sword slash that extended towards Edward.
However, that attack concealed the real threat.
Edward, without hesitation, used his blink and could see a white blur pass by his position, landing near Daniel and turning around.
“Grrr...”
Letting her sharp claws and fangs show, Jane let out a growl as she looked up at him.
The Himalayan Tigress was four meters long and two meters tall and the big body was no hindrance to her agile and quick movements.
A magical beast that in its habitat would be a predator at the top of the food chain, it was in this place watching.
Had the scenery been snowy, Jane with the fur might have been able to hide.
However, the surrounding greenery did not detract from the tigress’s lethality.
“...”
Without giving any sign, they both charged straight towards Edward.
From the right, Jane from the left Daniel, neither let any opening be seen, and as if that wasn’t enough, they charged at the same speed.
Edward, with no chance to draw his wand, waved his hands as he backed away.
A wave of lightning was fired at both of them and Jane leaped upwards, dodging it, while Daniel slashed with his sword aura, making a path for himself.
Although Jane had dodged creating platforms under her furry paws, neither actually lost speed and began to close the distance.
Edward’s expression did not change and surrounding his body with lightning, he flew into the sky, throwing all kinds of lightning to stop his enemies.
This time, the lightning chased their targets, no matter how they moved, and such spells made Daniel’s expression change for a moment.
Without even looking at each other with his partner, Daniel performed several slashes that were sent to Edward, with the only disadvantage of having stopped for a moment.
Edward’s vision was covered by such an attack, but from his experience, he knew that this was not the real attack.
At the same moment, he had that thought he sensed a subtle danger, and using the lightning covering his body as a means caused him to be pushed aside.
For a second, he noticed a white blur slashing through the air with its claws, not letting any sound come out.
The terrifying Jane could explode with overwhelming speed, making it so that an S-Rank mage couldn’t see it completely.
Edward didn’t have time to appreciate that tigress, because Daniel used the ‘blink’ movement of the suit to reach her back and slash with the sword.
The teamwork was excellent... It was noticeable that they both shared all their thoughts through the connection that was surely very deep.
All Edward could do was to activate his barrier to protect himself and then push Daniel with his lightning bolts.
“...”
Even so, the sword pierced through his barrier and shallowly cut his shoulder and part of his tunic.
All while his lightning struck Daniel’s barrier, he recoiled.
Feeling a subtle pain in his shoulder, Edward’s expression turned solemn and, from the black clouds, dozens of lightning bolts fell on his body.
Jane, who was cunningly waiting to cut him to pieces, didn’t stand a chance and stepped back.
“...”
Without explosions or anything flashy, the lightning covered Edward, surrounding him to protect him.
Both S-ranks looked at each other and in the air, the tension could be felt, along with the solemn atmosphere.
The lightning literally crackled between the two, waiting for everything to explode.
*BOOM*
At that atmosphere, so tense an explosion echoed from a part of the nearby forest and when they both looked, Edward’s expression trembled.
“Just run! God, why am I so unlucky?!”
“Stop yelling and run!”
“Move, you two idiots!”
Guided by Gregorio, Frank and Niels ran out of the forest at full speed without noticing them in the sky.
At the group’s back, the trees shook and fell as a charging rhino was knocking down everything in its path.
As if that wasn’t enough, at the innocent’s back was a muscular bear and a giant black spider with their respective tamers.
They were charging after the Hero Academy group like a stampede.
Seeing that trio running around throwing skills to stop their pursuers, Edward didn’t know how to react.
Before Daniel could act from the mountain, a black cloud of hundreds of vampire bats approached.
Perhaps they were weak individually, but by their numbers, they could make up an S-Rank threat that would undoubtedly create a major massacre in a city.
What was worse was that both groups were on the opposite side and were heading in the same direction.
“What the fuck, don’t come this way, you idiots!” shouted Niels, slowing his presence and turning around.
“Just run away! The tin knight disappeared in a few seconds!” shouted the fighter, bringing the swarm.
From the pallor and exhaustion, it was obvious that he had run with everything to get down the mountain and the worst thing was that he seemed frustrated at the number of enemies chasing him.
And as if that were not enough, in the middle of both, a night scorpion and a Komodo Dragon came out among the large trees of the forest.
Hearing so many screams ahead, Jaffar, who was riding his night scorpion, did not seem to want to be left behind in this chaotic scene and charged forward with even greater force.
He looked like a soldier wanting to flee from a calamity and...
“Run away! The glutton has arrived! The monster is here! She’s here!”
His voice sounded more tragic and more pitiful, but at the same time more impressive than all the other two groups.
Both of Rank S, who were watching from the sky, trembled as they heard that tragic warning as if a calamity was chasing him.
And in the midst of that, Alice, with spider legs sticking out of her back, came out as if she was a monster.
Everything had turned into chaos.