Despair Bridge Standoff
Battle Survival had begun, and Chris had faced elimination threats seven times already.
In the forests, from swordsmen.
On the coastlines, from archers.
Enemies from all sides targeted him relentlessly, simply because he was part of Arcana's party.
A month ago, Chris would have surely been knocked out in those crises. But thanks to Zien's special training, he survived.
"...Footsteps."
The dimly lit buildings near Despair Bridge had become Chris's main stage.
"How many this time? Three?"
Chris's eyes pierced everything. He assessed the enemies' weapons and numbers through the walls. And that wasn't all.
—Two of you go in front, and I'll target from behind.
His eyes could even read their strategy from the shape of their lips.
The ever-useful Clairvoyance and X-Ray Vision.
In that short time, Chris had adapted to his magic tool.
They're splitting up, huh.
Through various perils, he had grown into a guerrilla warfare prodigy.
Two with maces and swords. All close-range weapons. Bad party composition.
Chris cracked his knuckles and stretched languidly. Compared to the action he needed to pull off now, it was simple warm-up.
If I'm still in, party leader Zien must be alive too. What about Isabel? Or have they already met?
As the enemies drew closer, Chris cleared his idle thoughts. To repay Zien's faith, he had to survive.
His eyes gleamed colder than ever.
With the atmosphere settling into calm focus, Chris drew his twin daggers from his waist.
"There he is!"
The mace-wielder shouted at Chris toward his comrades. Chris hurled a dagger at the mace guy.
"Yeah, right here."
Clang!!
"Where?!"
The mace-wielder casually swatted away Chris's dagger and spun his mace overhead. Furniture shattered just from grazing it. Against a mace, the only option was evasion.
Blocking means instant smash.
Then Chris twitched his fingers.
The dagger, custom-made by the Mage Tower, had a recall function.
Whoosh! Thunk!
"Gahhh!"
The returning dagger stabbed the mace-wielder in the back.
It was the same technique Chris had used on Zien in sparring.
Of course, it didn't work on Zien.
But Chris's opponent wasn't Zien.
And Chris wasn't the Chris from a month ago. He was a survivor who had held his own against top students from other academies.
Chris closed in on the mace-wielder, unleashing a barrage of smoke bombs.
"You cowardly bastards—showtime!"
They always came at him 3-on-1 or 6-on-1.
But Chris had seized the advantage against numbers using these smoke bombs every time.
"Guhhh! Where is he?!"
"Cough cough!! That's why I said we should've rushed together!"
"Hey, the window! Smash the window!"
The enemies panicked in chaos.
One groped along the wall toward the window.
"It's cold out—gonna open a window?"
Chris sneered at him. A devilish grin the foes couldn't see. His twin daggers whipped through the smoke.
Simple enough.
Whoosh—!
The blind mace's trajectory.
Sword strikes guided by pure instinct.
The enemies' attacks appeared crystal clear in Chris's vision. And here, a new magic tool unlocked.
Blue mana flickered in Chris's eyes, inverting the world's colors.
A monochrome realm of black and white alone.
Chris's eyes now bordered on foresight. He could predict every enemy move and know exactly how to counter.
Movements. Stance. Angles. Everything's a hint.
Dodging the trio's assaults, Chris swung his dagger. Agile, precise movements. Then, a faint green trail emanated from his dagger.
That green was the sole exception in the black-and-white world.
Unconsciously, Chris followed the green path with his dagger.
Swoosh!
The dagger sliced air smoothly. It grazed past sword and mace by a hair's breadth.
Slash!
"Gaaack!!"
A gritty death rattle.
The mace-wielder was eliminated by Chris's strike. But the next problem arose.
Crash!
Another participant's sword shattered the window, clearing the building's haze. The fight hadn't lasted long, but Chris was drained physically and mentally.
"Hah, hah."
You have consumed all your MP.
Current MP: 4 / 2100
Chris heaved ragged breaths.
His body creaked in protest, MP at rock bottom.
And his eyes burned like fire.
All symptoms of backlash from using an advanced magic tool beyond his current level.
Damn! My eyes hurt—can't focus.
He'd failed to pace himself, but no regrets. Facing 3-on-1 solo left no choice. Chris barely blocked the enemy's sword.
"Nngh!"
Clang! Crack!
"You were pretty slick earlier!"
The enemy knocked Chris's dagger to the floor. He'd lost the vision advantage from his magic tool, and he lacked the stamina to hold off two foes.
This was really the end.
Gasping heavily, Chris opened his mouth.
"Hah... Honestly, holding out this long is pretty good... You guys admit it, right?"
Exhausted, but his eyes sparkled with delight.
Chris's grinning smirk wasn't aimed at his foes. It was for someone behind them.
"Admit it. You fought pretty well."
"Good job, Chris."
Four hours into Battle Survival.
Zien, Isabel, Chris. Arcana's party finally reunited.
After a brief regroup, Chris pointed toward the bridge.
Despair Bridge.
The one-kilometer span essential for crossing from the outskirts to downtown.
Once Round 2 started, Croa Academy had seized it.
"I tried crossing because of Croa Academy and failed. Those guys just now were the same. Well, thanks to that, I linked up with you."
Finishing his words, Chris chugged mana drink like water.
"Couldn't be helped—they had guns."
"Guns?"
Zien raised a question at Chris's words. Guns weren't handheld like bows, swords, or spears. Even skilled Sabers struggled to infuse bullets with mana.
Why guns specifically? Magic tool guns?
Unlike with Lucia, Zien had zero intel on Ichef. But Chris was an eyewitness to it all.
"No ordinary guns. Definitely magic tools. Participants got one-shot."
As Chris said, normal guns didn't faze 3rd-rank Sabers or higher.
But Croa's party leader.
Ichef's gun was different. He was the only Saber with a sniper rifle magic tool. Though Sabers now wielded magic tools, Battle Survival's original staple was guns.
Ichef held the most optimized magic tool for this event.
Croa Academy defended Despair Bridge behind such an Ichef.
"If that's true, we're in trouble."
Nom.
Isabel mumbled around a huge bite of bread. The premium loaf from the golden box was on another level. In good spirits, she swung her legs and continued.
"Can't cross the bridge, and we're out."
The moment Round 2's convergence battle began, the uninhabited island crumbled from the outskirts. It sank slowly into the sea. That was the meaning of the "Convergence" event.
"Actually, crossing the bridge has another issue."
Chris pointed beyond the window to the water below the bridge—more precisely, to "something" lurking beneath.
"Their party members' magic tools were no joke either."
On the Central Dome's screens, sniper god scenes left even spectators breathless.
[Release the Sea Dragon now.]
With the order, the gun spat fire.
Bang—!
The bullet easily surpassed sound speed, tracing a straight line. One might even call it lightspeed, trailing mana like a comet's tail in beautiful flight.
Then, impact.
Participants crossing the bridge dropped out limply.
[Groooar!]
A massive sea serpent raised its head amid splashing waves. The Sea boss, Sea Serpent, guarded the bridge alongside Ichef.
[Gahhh!]
Two hit by bullets dissolved into particles, and the Sea Serpent swallowed the last one whole.
It could have seemed mundane one-sided hunting, but Croa Academy had perfectly inserted itself into the Arcana-Celia rivalry.
Ichef shattered balance with overwhelming magic tools. Viewers went wild at the unexpected standout performer's exploits.
"Three down just on the bridge! And controlling a boss mob—what kind of magic tool is that?!"
"Two magic tools of a type I've never seen. Incredible."
Vernon raised his voice excitedly, Bluma intrigued. The main cam showed Croa Academy.
Though Lucia had one dropout, Croa's duo was the strongest on Despair Bridge limited.
Vernon dubbed them the Absolute Defense.
"Artifact synergy. Magic tool handling. Positioning. A strategy near-perfect scores across the board!"
Hidden with the artifact [Cloak of Stealth] that turned him invisible when still, Ichef sniped from afar.
Party member Roman controlled the sea lord [Sea Serpent] with his magic tool. To cross, one had to dodge Ichef's sniping and fell the boss.
"Breaking this front seems impossible for any participant."
But as host, Vernon knew which team lingered on the outskirts.
Arcana Academy!
Two of the PD-noted protagonists had met.
Ichef vs. Zien? I'm dying to see the outcome...
Thirty minutes ago, Vernon would've bet on Zien. But the terrain and strategy were too flawless.
Can a sword pierce that defense?
How to bare-handedly traverse the straight road of Despair Bridge with no cover? Vernon couldn't fathom it.
If Arcana drops here, it's Croa vs. Celia rivalry? Maybe hype Ichef now...
Then, the main cam switched.
Three figures stood boldly before the megabridge. At the now-familiar members, Vernon bellowed stadium-shaking.
"Arcana and Croa face off across the bridge!"
Spectators and participants alike. All tension and focus converged on the bridge.