-( ??? || Inter-class competition; Location: Floor 13)-
Wosh- Wosh-
Two figures dashed through the forest.
The first figure had a spear in his arm. The other one, who seemed to be running behind him, was carrying a katana with a blade made from a light blue material.
Both of them were sporting 1st-year combat department uniform of Ward.
"We'll engage the moment we make contact with others." The spear-carrying youth ordered the golden-eyed teen.
"Taking on 6 Cadets with only 2 of us? Isn't it too much even for you... Nathan?"
Leon's foot froze and he looked around.
"You only need to hold back 2 of them. In the meantime, I'll defeat the other 4 four and help you after that." The spear-carrying youth also stopped and looked back at Leon in confusion.
The youth's voice was full of confidence when he said he could fight 4 Top 25 Cadets by himself. However, this wasn't the reason for Leon's shock.
"What are you doing here...? Aren't you one of the Overseers?"
"What are you talking about? I'm the team leader of our class. Why would I be an Overseer?"
Leon tried to make sense of what was happening, but his thoughts were muddled and slow.
"No, you are Over... Yeah, you are our team leader. What am I talking about?"
Leon tilted his head in confusion.
Nathan was the team leader of Katana-Class for the inter-class competition. How can he be an Overseer?
Shaking his head, both of them continued their journey.
A few minutes later, they engaged with the Cadets from the other classes.
As Nathan had said, all of them were among the Top 25, however, he defeated them easily.
Two overseers came down and took the eliminated Cadets away.
"Were you always this strong?"
Nathan was sitting on the ground, sipping water, when Leon questioned him.
"It wasn't because I was strong, but because they were weak. They were among the weakest Top 25 cadets, so they weren't much trouble. Rather, are you okay? Why are you asking weird questions?"
"No, but....."
Leon's thoughts trailed off. Right, Nathan was among the most exceptional Cadets. Of course, he could handle those Cadets.
Although he had low talent and potential, his combat techniques with spears were unmatchable.
Nathan had been offered tutelage by the Headmaster to become her disciple. The big three families were no different, trying to bring Nathan under their wing. Everyone was competing to recruit Nathan. After all, as long as they found a Potential increasing Elixir, Nathan would become a feared force to be reckoned with.
'Weird. Why did I think that Nathan was weak?'
Leon was about to go to the next location when he, for the first time, looked at Nathan carefully.
He did not doubt that Nathan was stronger than him, but there was something else that was bothering him. Nathan was....
"Why are your eyes green?! Did you lose your stigma again?! Dammit, I knew it, whatever the Royal Demon did to you wasn't normal!"
Leon jumped to his feet and checked on Nathan in panic.
However, he was stopped by Nathan.
"Whoa, wait for a second, calm down first."
"But your eyes and-!?"
"My eyes have always been green, and the Royal demon was defeated by the Student Council, he did nothing to me. As for my stigma..." Nathan raised his hand.
Clank- Clank- Clank-
Chains erupted from the ground and thrashed around.
"I can also use my stigma. There is no need to panic."
"B-but your stigma.... was...." Leon blinked and looked around."...was.. chains."
"See? Everything is alright." Nathan worriedly looked at Leon and tapped at his device.
Beep-
-Cadet Nathan Hunt, what is the reason for contacting us?
"Cadet Leon Barns has been injured and will drop out of the test"
Beep-
Leon opened his mouth to protest against the withdrawal, but Nathan spoke before him.
"This is my decision as the Team Leader. You clearly aren't in the condition to continue so, go take a rest."
Nathan was firm and did not let Leon continue the class competition.
Crestfallen, Leon turned around to leave with the Overseer that had come to escort him out.
'Why am I acting weird? My head also feels heavy. Maybe I should rest."
Sighing, Leon was returning when his head throbbed suddenly and he fell to his knee.
The headache did not last for long and Leon recovered quickly.
Slap-
"Leon! Snap out of it!"
A crisp echo rang, and Leon felt a burning pain on his cheek.
"Take everyone and leave!"
Bloodied, Nathan was helping Leon to search through a burning forest.
Leon felt fear grip his heart as he looked around.
The forest was on fire, and the smoke from the blaze was creating a hellish atmosphere.
Before Leon could understand what was happening, his mouth moved on its own.
"Where do you think we should go?! The exit has been locked! We can't leave the Tower until the Abomination dies!"
'Why is everyone injured? Weren't we going through the competition?' Leon's thoughts raced, nevertheless, his body was working by itself. "Our only chance is to stall the Abomination until Administrator intervenes!"
Nathan did not answer Leon and helped the Cadets who were injured.
A dozen minutes later, when everyone had been gathered, Nathan finally answered Leon.
"Administrator won't be coming. She lost a portion of her [Authority] and is currently recovering."
"What...?"
"Leave with Anna and others to Floor 14, and keep moving to higher floors. You need to enter the Trials, the Abomination wouldn't be able to set foot there." Nathan calmly narrated the future actions the group needed to take. "Don't clear the Trials and wait for a few months there, Administrator should recover in the meantime and kill the Abomination. The restrictions will be removed after that, and all of you should be able to leave the Tower."
"What about you?" Susan asked while helping a few Cadets herself. In her arms was Lilith, who had been gravely injured by the Abomination.
Nathan stared at her before answering.
"Someone needs to stop the Abomination, or it will follow after you guys."
Susan nodded with a grim expression.
"Be quick, and remember, the Abomination has the ability to kill others inside the Tower, too. No matter what, do not fight with it." Nathan advised everyone for one last time
"Don't die." Susan did not question Nathan about how he knew so much information and led the group toward the boss zone. They needed to defeat the Floor Boss to go to Floor 14.
Within a few minutes, the only people left were Nathan, Leon, and Anna.
"Why aren't you leaving?"
"I'll fight with you!"
Nathan turned to Anna and nodded. Anna nodded back and also left after the group.
Only Leon and Nathan were left.
Nathan sighed and muttered something incomprehensible to Leon.
"Although this timeline is another failure, there is a chance that you might make a breakthrough. You can't die here, Leon."
'Timeline?' Despite his confusion, Leon couldn't ask Nathan what he meant. He had yet to gain control over his body.
"The Abomination defeated the combined might of all the Cadets here! You can't stop it by yourself! I'm not leaving you alone!"
Leon was hell-bent on staying and fighting till the end.
"haaa…."
Shaking his head, Nathan smiled helplessly.
"Aren't you undermining me too much?"
He clenched his spear and looked up.
"Even if you can't remember, what you are saying is no different from an insult to me."
Vrrooooom-
Air thrashed and the earth upturned. Fissures began appearing on the ground as Nathan eyed the Abomination, who had discovered their location.
"When I said I will hold it back, it wasn't out of desperation..."
Phzzzzzzt-
Raising his head, Leon found...
"It was my declaration as the King"
...hundreds of weapons covering the sky.
*
"Hufff.... hufff...."
Leon's eyes shot open and he looked around.
"..and 0! Since you aren't going to wake up, I guess I'll have to do it~"
Lilith brought her face close to Leon with a mischievous smile and closed her eyes.
"L...lith?" Leon, who saw her, called out to her with a strained voice.
"You are awake? But it's too late no- wait, why are crying?"
Lilith closed in on Leon to tease him, however tears suddenly fell from Leon's eyes.
Without thinking anything else, he hugged her tightly.
"W-wait! What are you doing?! S..stop..."
"It was a dream." Leon muttered with a thankful expression.
Unlike his other dreams, Leon could remember clearly what he dreamed about this time.
The forest in front of him overlapped with the burning forest in his dream. He recalled the lifeless eyes of everybody, the Abomination who suddenly appeared on this floor, and...
"Where is Nathan?!"
"T...there"
With burning cheeks that felt as if they were on fire, Lilith barely managed to point into the sky.
A smile appeared on Leon's face and he wiped his tears off.
The 5 overseers were hovering in the sky, and one of them was looking down at him...
"Nathan!"
...a red-eyed youth standing on a flying sword.
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