Ziona, with a huge grin on her face, looked like a predator ready to pounce on its prey as she slowly walked into the broken gate of the Iron Fortress team's castle, with Kevin following closely behind her.
"Looks like it's finally my turn, huh?" Ziona said, excitement evident in her voice as she unsheathed her katana, which was now covered in a purple aura.
"YAHHH!"
Without warning, one of the remaining members of the Iron Fortress team lunged toward her, but Ziona's grin only widened.
Swash—Swash—Swash
In a blur of movement, she was past him, and in the next moment, he was sliced into pieces and disappeared in particles, eliminated from the match.
"...."
!?
The team members looked on in shock.
"Did she finally manage to learn Miss Bianca's Atomic Slash skill?" Kevin wondered to himself.
Although Kevin, Ziona, and Ares had all started practicing the skill together, Ares was the only one who had managed to learn it on the same day.
Ziona and Kevin had continued to train and get beaten by Miss Bianca every day, but Kevin had given up eventually.
Ziona, however, had persisted, training diligently every day without fail. Even after classes, she would rush back to the training room in her dorm to practice.
All of her hard work had finally paid off as she had mastered the skill: Atomic Slash.
...
[Ziona, be careful! There might be more survivors.] Erina warned through the voice chat.
"Haaa, I wish!" Ziona replied with a laugh. She moved around the half-destroyed castle, using her beastly senses to locate any remaining students.
As she walked around the castle, Kevin looked at her in awe. "Wow, she's like a ninja!" he thought to himself.
Suddenly, Ziona stopped in her tracks and sniffed the air. "I smell something," she said, narrowing her eyes.
!?
"W-What is it?" Kevin asked nervously.
"It's the smell of victory!" Ziona exclaimed triumphantly, swinging her katana with excitement.
"...."
Erina shook her head at Ziona's antics but couldn't help but smile. 'Well, she's certainly confident,' she thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Ziona continued to move around the castle, searching for any survivors. Her purple aura grew stronger as she sensed the presence of enemies nearby.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she called out, taunting any remaining Iron Fortress team members.
As she circled the castle alone, the smoke cleared, and the destruction caused by team Soreh Academy's attack became more apparent. The health bar of the Iron Fortress team's castle had dropped significantly, and it was clear that they were on the brink of defeat.
But with Ziona on the prowl, victory for team Soreh Academy was all but assured.
As Ziona moved deeper into the castle, she could hear the sound of footsteps coming from one of the inner rooms. She quickly dashed towards the source of the noise and burst through the door, only to find herself face to face with a group of Iron Fortress team members.
"Hehehe, looks like our plan worked. She's alone!" one of them sneered as they drew their weapons.
Ziona didn't flinch. In fact, she grinned even wider.
"Is this supposed to be a trap? Oh, you have no idea," she said as she readied her katana.
The Iron Fortress team members charged toward her, but Ziona was quick. With a flick of her wrist, she sliced through their weapons and landed a few quick strikes.
AHHHH—
"Is that all you've got?" she taunted as she continued to dance around her opponents, striking them down with ease.
"Argh, m-monster! How are you so strong even though we all have the same strength?" The last one of them shouted while on the ground.
Ziona shook her head. "That's not how it works. Power alone won't make you strong. It's the effort you put into mastering it that counts."
!?
"...I see—"
And before he could finish his words, with a swing of her sword, Ziona eliminated the final student in the room.
"Hmph, too easy," Ziona muttered under her breath, feeling disappointed.
When she first heard about the power restrictions, she was excited at the prospect of fighting opponents on equal terms. But now, having defeated them so easily, she couldn't help but feel let down.
'Hmm, maybe I should ask Ares to continue with our sparring again,' she pondered.
***
Meanwhile, Kevin had been busy securing the perimeter and looking out for any stragglers who tried to escape. He was about to head back to the castle to join Ziona when he heard a faint noise coming from behind a nearby boulder.
"Hmm, What was that? Is someone there?" He muttered as he cautiously approached, hand on his sword hilt, and peeked around the corner.
What he saw surprised him - it was one of the Iron fortress team members, badly injured and struggling to crawl away.
Kevin hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was a trap. "What are you doing here? Are there more of you?" he demanded in a low voice.
The team member looked up at him weakly and shook her head. "No, it's just me," she groaned in pain. "Please, help me. I don't want to die here."
Kevin was torn. He knew he was supposed to take out any remaining members, but seeing this beautiful elven woman in such a vulnerable state made him pause. "I shouldn't be doing this," he muttered to himself.
But in the end, he decided to help. He pulled the injured team member out from behind the boulder and offered her his hand with a smile. "Come on, let's get you out of here," he said kindly.
"Th-thank you," the team member stuttered, clearly surprised by Kevin's kindness.
"Don't mention it," Kevin replied with a shrug. "We're not all bad, you know—"
But before Kevin could finish his sentence, he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down to see a dagger sticking out of him and saw the injured elf woman with a twisted grin on her face.
"H-Huh? You–" Kevin gasped in shock as he stumbled back, clutching his wound.
"You're so gullible," the student hissed as she revealed herself to be a skilled assassin from the Iron Fortress team. "Did you really think I would be grateful for your mercy? You're just another victim in our plan to take you all down."
Kevin gritted his teeth as he struggled to stay conscious, his vision starting to blur as his HP dropped significantly. And he knew that he fucked up.
"...Man, I was such a fool," Kevin sighed, shaking his head while holding his wound. "I thought I could play the hero and save this woman."
!?
The assassin gave a sarcastic laugh and rolled her eyes. "Looks like someone needs a reality check," she remarked. "This isn't a fairytale, and there's no damsel in distress for you to rescue."
"Haa, at least can I have your number—"
Before Kevin could even complete his sentence, the assassin made quick work of him with a swift move.
Slice—
And just like that, Captain Save-a-Damsel was no more!
"...."
***
Ting! —
[Your teammate Kevin has been eliminated!]
A notification appeared on everyone's screens from the Soreh Academy team.
"W-What? But how? I thought we had everything under control!" Erina gritted her teeth and exclaimed.
!?
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