Chapter Sixty-Nine: Escaping Danger

Just as Oni and Milan were about to rush over to save the two unconscious people, they saw the spot where the two had been lying suddenly sink into the ground. At the moment Oni and Milan thought the two were doomed, they realized that no stone pillars emerged. The bodies of the two were drawn down beneath the earth, and the sunken ground gradually returned to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened there.

Oni and Milan exchanged a glance and relaxed; it was obvious that this was a trick set up by the Academy, probably to prevent the wounded from participating in the remaining tests. After all, the entire secret realm had been established by the Academy—arranging such things should be well within their power.

“If I’d known this would happen, I would have taken their badges!” Oni thought regretfully. Wouldn’t it have been better to take them rather than leave them behind?

“Let it go; how could you have known in advance?” Milan walked over to comfort Oni.

“Watch out!” Milan sensed something and shoved Oni aside.

Oni reacted immediately, dodging a stone pillar.

The teams that had just gathered here were now scattered in all directions by the surging stone pillars, everyone too busy dodging to care about anything else.

Hughes was separated from Oni and Milan. Though the stone pillars moved rapidly, Hughes’ agility, combined with the assistance of his chip, allowed him to manage.

He noticed many people heading for the vortex gate. Checking the time, he saw that there was only a short while left before the vortex gate would open and the trial would end.

“I have to hurry, or my score won’t be enough,” Hughes thought. He saw several people struck by the stone pillars, unable to get up, and assumed they too were rescued by the sinking earth.

He realized he needed to pick up the pace. With fewer and fewer people, points would become harder to obtain.

Hughes gripped his bow, dodging stone pillars as he searched for suitable prey.

The relentless surge of stone pillars made it nearly impossible to find a stable spot to stand for long.

“Will these stone pillars never end?” Hughes was thoroughly disgusted by them.

“What’s that?” Hughes caught sight of a familiar figure deftly evading the pillars. Though the person looked a bit battered, their speed was impressive, dodging each stone pillar with precision.

“Encore?” Hughes recognized the figure and couldn’t help but smile.

“So, it’s you!” Hughes decided to make Encore his target. Encore’s team had been large; his points must be considerable.

With his target confirmed, Hughes moved swiftly, bow in hand, weaving through the stone pillars as he closed the distance to Encore.

“Damn it!” Encore felt he was about to burst with frustration. First, the people he recruited proved useless—two third-level apprentices couldn’t handle a single opponent. Even when he’d risked injury to exchange blows with Oni, the sudden appearance of others had ruined his plans. Now, his team was down to just himself, and he’d have to pay the resources he’d promised to others when he returned. The thought of it stung—he’d saved those resources for so long, and now not only had he gained nothing from this trial, but he was also battered and bruised.

Cursing the Shadow Ring’s trial under his breath, Encore continued dodging the surging stone pillars.

“Hm?” While dodging, Encore caught a glimpse of another familiar figure from the corner of his eye.

With a sweep of his gaze, he saw someone bounding toward him, bow in hand.

“It’s him!” Encore vividly remembered Hughes’ arrow from before and hadn’t expected to encounter him again.

“Not good!” Seeing Hughes approach, Encore immediately understood the intent—he was being targeted.

“Did he spot me?” Hughes saw Encore trying to put distance between them and sped up.

The gap between them shrank. When Hughes judged he was close enough, he activated his chip’s targeting assistance, drew his bow, and released an arrow.

Encore felt a chill on his back, heard the arrow slicing through the air, and dodged by instinct. He managed to avoid the arrow, but the tail still grazed his face, leaving a stinging cut.

“Hughes!” Encore was furious, but it was useless now. He had never been hunted by someone before, but he was no match for Hughes—the power of his bow was overwhelming, and with the secret realm’s current state and his own injuries, he stood no chance.

The two of them raced through the secret realm in a relentless chase.

The entire area was in chaos, everyone looking out for themselves; no one paid attention to Hughes and Encore, assuming everyone was fighting for survival.

“Heh, not running anymore?” Hughes taunted as Encore’s stamina began to wane.

Encore turned to face Hughes, who seemed unaffected by the chase, and looked at him as if he were a monster.

“I can give you my badge!” Encore finally stopped. He knew he would be caught sooner or later; his stamina wouldn’t last much longer.

“But you have to let me go!” Encore glared at Hughes, memorizing his face for payback once they returned to the Academy.

“Agreed!” Hughes grinned—this was exactly what he’d been hoping for.

With great reluctance, Encore handed his badge to Hughes.

Hughes grabbed the badge and examined it. A bold number 4 was on display.

“That seals it!” Hughes had suspected Encore’s score would be high but hadn’t imagined it would be as much as four points. Adding it to his own five, he was almost guaranteed a spot in the top ten.

Standing beside Hughes, Encore watched as his hard-earned badge was taken, and his heart ached. All that effort, now benefitting someone else.

“Are you done?” Encore snapped, irritated by Hughes’ greed.

“What’s the rush?” Hughes quickly transferred the points from Encore’s badge to his own.

Seeing his score jump from 5 to 9, Hughes smiled with satisfaction and tossed the now-dull badge back to Encore.

“Why give it back?” Encore stared at the lifeless badge in his hand, feeling a pang of anguish.

Hughes ignored Encore’s resentment. He had gotten what he wanted, and with the vortex gate about to open, he needed to get there quickly. With his score, he was sure to earn the vitality potion.

“What’s happening?!” Encore’s cry made Hughes, who had just started to leave, turn back.

He saw Encore’s body slowly sinking into the earth, only his head still visible.

“Goodbye,” Hughes called out. The earth swallowed Encore entirely, and the ground returned to normal.

“Looks like those with zero points or serious injuries are immediately sent out,” Hughes mused, thinking back to the earlier unconscious pair.

“Now it’s time to run!” Hughes checked the time—the vortex gate was about to open, and he needed to head that way.

Without hesitation, Hughes unleashed his full speed, dashing toward the vortex gate.

His agility far surpassed other third-level apprentices. Many only saw a dark blur streak past, and before they knew it, he was already far ahead.

“Who’s that freak?” one third-level apprentice exclaimed as Hughes sped by.

This apprentice was himself a wind-element apprentice, light and swift by nature, with several spells to boost his speed. He’d always been confident in his speed, but now he’d been overtaken by someone who showed no sign of magical energy. It was hard to accept.