Black smoke billowed beneath the orange sky as the figure of a boy stepped out of the smoke, his white hair now darkened.
The young man's expression showed disgust. He scratched his arms and neck as if he had just been splashed with filth.
Sweat dripped from the forehead of the white-haired youth. Every time sweat appeared, he hurriedly wiped it away with a handkerchief.
The white-haired youth walked toward someone. With every step he took, shouts could be heard around him. Dozens of people were fighting one another.
And with every step the young man took, a dirty handkerchief fell to the ground.
The white-haired youth's footsteps stopped, his gaze now directed downward.
There, a black-haired young man was crawling.
The white-haired youth frowned.
"Please, Jiro. Let's just end it here."
Jiro looked at the white-haired youth while wiping the blood coming from his mouth.
"How could that be possible, Arthur? Damn it, you suddenly attacked! Why don't we just form an alliance to take down Julian?"
Arthur shook his head while scratching his skin, making it turn red.
"No… no… I just want this to end quickly, and I was asked to be the first in this simulation."
Jiro swallowed.
"Then my class and I can help you! We'll take second place."
Arthur sighed while scratching his skin.
"You know? My sister is watching. I'll be thrown into the lake if I cooperate."
Arthur looked at Jiro. This time he stopped scratching his skin. From both of his hands now emerged a red glow.
Jiro's eyes widened. He stepped back to keep his distance.
"Damn it, Arthur!!"
Arthur looked at Jiro, his expression now turning sympathetic.
"Forgive me, Jiro. If you were at least rank C-, I would consider cooperating."
Jiro swallowed, his eyes focused on Arthur's hands that were emitting a red aura.
Arthur channeled mana throughout his body, then stomped the ground to attack.
Bar!
The ground he stepped on cracked. Arthur shot toward Jiro.
Jiro flowed mana through his entire body, then took a deep breath until his cheeks puffed up.
"Fuuuuh."
Jiro released his breath. From his mouth came a cloud of black smoke accompanied by lightning surrounding it to block Arthur.
Arthur shook his head.
He prepared his right fist, even though the distance between them was still wide and blocked by the black cloud.
A faint voice came from Arthur's lips.
"You still have a lot to learn, Jiro."
His right fist, coated with a red aura, punched forward, but it did not hit anything.
Even so, a gust of wind was heard, brushing Arthur's hair.
From behind Arthur's right side, a giant red hand appeared, following the motion of Arthur's punch.
The giant hand pierced through the black lightning cloud released by Jiro.
Jiro's eyes widened, a resigned smile appearing on his face.
"Damn you, Arthur!!!"
BOOM!
Jiro was thrown several meters back, crashing into a large rock behind him.
The attack caused other students fighting nearby to stop their battles.
Some students lowered their heads while others cheered loudly.
"Yeah Arthur!"
"Our first prey!"
"Let's hunt that bastard Julian!"
Arthur sighed while looking at the sky and scratching his skin.
Someone walked closer. He was a green-haired boy wearing glasses.
"Arthur, how are you?"
Arthur looked at the bespectacled boy while showing his reddened hands from scratching.
"Bad. Very bad."
"Let's finish this quickly. Let's beat Julian and hurry up and leave this place, Pyo."
Pyo adjusted his glasses.
"Unfortunately we can't do that now."
Arthur frowned.
"What do you mean? This fight is short so we can go straight to fighting Julian."
Pyo sighed while looking around at the students of Jiro's class who were being captured.
"We're not all like you, bastard. We fought fiercely against Jiro's class. You're the only one who defeated your opponent easily."
Arthur lowered his head.
"Then how about tomorrow morning we launch a surprise attack on Julian?"
Pyo shook his head.
"If we want to defeat Julian and his class, we should at least do it on the third day. And since we already gained capital after defeating Jiro's class, I think it's time to search for logistics."
Arthur sighed, now wiping his sweat.
"Damn it, I want to take a clean bath."
Arthur looked at Pyo.
"Alright, let's rest and send a team to search."
Pyo nodded and walked away.
Arthur looked back at the sky, but now he smiled. In his sight a blue butterfly was gliding through the sky.
Arthur raised his left hand, closed his right eye, and aimed at the butterfly with his index finger.
From his index finger came a red aura.
Fwosh
The red aura shot like a bullet, destroying the blue butterfly flying in the sky.
The smile remained on Arthur's face.
"Still using the same trick, huh? Rina?"
In the observation room, a girl's shout was heard.
"Yes…! Beat them all, Arthur!"
The girl raised her fist toward the ceiling while smiling, her white hair tied in a bun.
The pink-haired young man beside her clicked his tongue.
"Tsk tsk, isn't it still too early to celebrate, Kartika?"
Kartika turned her head.
"A win is still a win, Arkan."
Arkan sighed and moved closer to Kartika, whispering.
"By the way, the headmaster and the others have been gone quite a while, right? Do you think something serious happened?"
Kartika shrugged.
"As long as he doesn't call us, isn't that basically a vacation for us?"
Arkan nodded.
"Yeah…"
Arkan's gaze now moved to a smaller monitor.
"Sir, could you enlarge the image over there?"
The operator nodded.
Now the smaller screen showed another battle taking place.
The rumble of battle could be heard everywhere beneath the orange sky as hundreds of students fought each other.
In one corner, two girls were fighting.
One had pink hair, holding a flower-shaped sword in her right hand, attacking the other girl with a horizontal slash toward her stomach.
Slash!
Blood burst from the other girl's stomach as she stepped back several steps.
Her heart pounded rapidly. Her long hair tied in a ponytail swayed as her breathing rose and fell.
The girl held her stomach and looked at the pink-haired girl with the flower sword.
"Shouldn't it be Julian fighting me, Eve?"
Eve looked at the ponytailed girl.
"Tch, why should Julian come down? If you can't even fight me, right Billa?"
Billa gave a faint smile. Her hand was no longer holding her stomach, though blood was still dripping out.
"You underestimate me too much, Eve."
Eve's brow furrowed as she returned to a ready stance.
Billa smiled. She spread both of her hands, and from her palms appeared two silver axes.
Billa spun them several times as a warm-up.
Her right hand holding an axe pointed toward Eve.
Billa smiled. She channeled mana throughout her body, and the axes glowed.
Eve gripped her flower sword tighter with both hands.
A breath escaped from Billa's mouth.
BOOM!
Her stomp left a crater.
Billa shot forward at a speed that would be difficult for an ordinary person to match.
Eve's eyes widened as she channeled mana throughout her body.
In the middle of her dash, Eve jumped. Her jump made her look upward.
Billa slowly descended.
Both of Billa's hands holding the axes prepared for a vertical slash.
Eve prepared herself.
BOOM!
Shockwaves spread as the axes and the flower sword collided.
Crack
The ground beneath Eve cracked, causing her footing to sink into the earth.
The sound of Eve grinding her teeth was heard.
Billa smiled as her feet landed back on the ground.
Their weapons were still locked, but Billa tried to pull away. Eve lost the strength contest, causing her flower sword to slip from her grasp.
Eve's eyes widened, and Billa smiled.
Billa launched a straight kick infused with mana toward Eve's stomach.
"Blurgh…"
Eve's eyes widened and blood burst from her mouth, sending her flying several meters away.
Fwoosh
Just as she was about to crash into a rock, Eve's flying body was caught by a blond-haired, blue-eyed young man.
The young man held Eve's shoulder and looked at her.
Eve looked at him and smiled while pointing toward Billa's position.
"Beat her, Julian."
Julian smiled.
"Of course…"
Julian then handed Eve over to the healer in his class.
Julian stood facing Billa.
"You've improved, Billa."
Billa sneered.
"Finally the playboy prince shows up."
Billa twirled her two axes.
"Come here. I'll chop you into two pieces."
Julian smiled as he pulled a white sword from his smart bracelet.
"You know? Now you're the only one left."
Billa's eyes widened as her gaze shifted around.
The sounds of battle that had been filling the area were now silent.
Sweat dripped from Billa's forehead.
Her expression turned into anger, her teeth grinding hard.
Her axe pointed toward Julian.
"In that case, I just need to defeat you, right?"
Julian smiled as mana flowed through him, smooth yet deadly.
His body slowly lifted from the ground toward the sky.
Billa swallowed, watching Julian rise higher.
Julian's voice could still be heard clearly despite the distance growing.
"I'll give you a special attack, Billa. Of course that's because you've risen to C-."
Julian smiled.
"Consider this my gift to you…."
Julian raised his sword with both hands, preparing for a vertical slash. Mana flowed more intensely.
Around his sword gathered blazing fire, wind swirling to support the flames, and sparks of lightning forming the final touch.
Billa gritted her teeth, channeling all of her mana into both axes. Blood dripped from her nose.
A gust of wind was heard, and then the air seemed to split from the slash containing fire, wind, and lightning.
Fwoosh
Billa attacked the slash with both of her axes. A massive explosion echoed, followed by a flash of lightning.
BOOM!!
A tornado appeared afterward, then slowly disappeared, leaving only the orange sky and a crater where Billa had been standing.
Julian sighed and descended back down.
In the observation room, the air felt suffocating after seeing that scene. Even the operators stopped their work for a moment.
A young man's voice brought those watching back to reality.
"Damn… he's gotten even stronger."
The young man looked to the side where a girl with her hair in a bun was biting her nails.
"So? Do you still dare to bet against Arthur? Hahaha."
The girl hit the young man on the head.
"Be quiet, Arkan."
Arkan held his head.
"Arthur already defeated Jiro from 1D, and Julian already defeated Billa from 1E. Isn't this close to the end, Kartika?"
Kartika sighed.
"There are still two others, right?"
Arkan nodded.
"But isn't it already certain? You know, that Ken guy and that boy might have many unexpected combinations, but Julian and Arthur have absolute power, right?"
Kartika sighed while massaging her forehead.
"Sir, please look at Class 1C and 1F's location."
The operator nodded and changed the screen.
When the screen showing Class 1C and 1F appeared, the observation room fell silent again. Now everyone seemed to have confused and shocked expressions.
Arkan broke the silence again.
"What are they doing?"
Kartika smiled.
"It seems they don't want to just become punching bags."
"Isn't that interesting? Watching a group of ants trying to fight two elephants, Arkan?"
Arkan swallowed and nodded, still wearing an expression of disbelief.