Against All Odds

Five minutes was all that was left for the remaining teams that had survived till now, they other teams were thrilled but Rentaro's was slightly worried. He suspected that the stage would only get harder from here on and he was right. The screams of the Soul-Users from the other teams could be heard by everyone, the aggressive man beasts devoured them one by one.

"Look out!" Lucy exclaimed pointing her right finger forward as three man beasts attempted to grab and devour them. They moved swiftly and evaded the hands of the man beast, Lucy used her ability which she referred to as [Malovent Wave] to blast a hole in the forehead of one of the beast.

Daichi used his technique [Soul Cyclone] and delivered a high powered kick to the head of the beast and knocked it off cleanly. Finally, Rentaro used his ability [Electric Burst] and blasted a hole through the last remaining humanoid beast chest and they all fell dead to the ground.

[Team Rentaro has slain an A-rank beast!]

[You have gained 5 Soul-Essence!]

[You have levelled up!]

The system displayed the notifications from their accomplishment, like a rush of energy, Rentaro could feel his Soul-Energy increase on power, growing in strength as he levelled up but it was far from over.

[3:10]

They had less than five minutes to survive but it became only worse for them. The largest beast among all the beasts present in the city approached the trio, with each step it took the ground was shakened by it's massive weight. The beast had three eyes and a red body with sharp teeth, it was 25 feet tall and the largest creature that reigned terror upon the teams.

"I guess this is our final challenge for this stage." Rentaro spoke with no intentions of running away even with victory around the corner in mere minutes.

"Daichi smiled standing besides Rentaro, glancing at the monster. Lucy wasn't going to back down as well, if anyone stood a chance against what was in front of them it was her or so she believed.

"Let's do this." She spoke as all three of them dashed forward at the massive beast.

"So what's the plan?" Daichi asked just to make sure they weren't just rushing to their permanent deaths.

"Attack from every angle, prob for it's weaknesses," Rentaro replied, his voice steady with an unexpected clarity shining through the haze that had clouded his mind since he laid eyes on the beast. "You know the saying: the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Lucy stared at him, a mixture of both surprise and admiration flickering in her eyes. She had underestimated him, mistaking his earlier struggles for a lack of insight and childishness.

"Not bad." She complemented his strategy as they approached the beast.

"Uh guys!" Daichi exclaimed as they all looked up at the large beast, it's eyes turned red and it swiftly emitted a red beam of energy from it's eyes towards the three of them.

Alarmed, they all jumped off the way as the creature tore a huge hole into the ground with it's laser beam.

"Oh oh Yes!" Daichi exclaimed in excitement, this beast was the perfect opportunity to test out his true ability.

[1:59]

As Rentaro saw the time left for the first stage he glanced upwards at the creature, there was no time left so he had to defeat it quickly. He closed his eyes and activated his skill [Bloodlust Of The Assassin]

His hair casted a shadow over his eyes that glowed a faint white, his face became completely expressionless. Swiftly he moved in a way that caught up Daichi and Lucy off guard, bolting in the air like a lightning bolt that was hard to trace. His movements became extraordinary and his footsteps were not audible enough.

Rentaro ran up the body of the beast and attacked it swiftly, he delivered powerful barrage of kicks and blows on it's body which was difficult even for the eyes of Daichi and Lucy to follow.

'How is he doing this?' Daichi thought, as he watched Rentaro do what was supposed to be impossible for a D-rank Soul-User, his movements was swift, sharp and precise. Even the beast couldn't touch him as it tried to throw him of his body but Rentaro just evaded every attack it threw at him.

"This is not the movement of a D-rank Soul-User, just who the hell is he?" Lucy's eyes wavered, stammering as she spoke. At first her perception only allowed her to guage the attack potency of her target. She thought Rentaro simply hid a more stronger technique that he displayed, but that wasn't the case.

After several attempts on the hands and legs of the creature, Rentaro reached its neck and delivered a swift kick to the back of it. The creature stumbled forward reacting to the damage inflicted on him.

Lucy and Daichi's spread wide a bit after noticing the creatures reaction to Rentaro's kick on its neck.

"His neck!" Daichi exclaimed.

"That must be his weak spot!" Lucy exclaimed as well as Rentaro backflipped down to the ground behind the beast, his skill was deactivated as he smiled staring at the back of its neck.

[0:10]

The system displayed the time limit remaining for the first stage and the trio moved swiftly.

Lucy ran behind the creature and jumped above it before using her skill [Malevolent Wave] to fire a powerful wave of disorienting energy at the back of its neck. It's skin cracked showing it had a tough skin to protect it's neck.

[0:08]

"Soul Cyclone!"

Daichi used his ability [Soul Cyclone] and delivered a rotating high speed kick at the same spot Lucy's attack had hit. It's skin shattered and the beast roared displaying it's pain.

[0:03]

Rentaro ran up the back of the creature towards its neck as time was not on their side, arriving at its shoulder he attempted building the electric burst but the beast quickly stretched it's arms sideways disrupting Rentaro's movements, he lost his balance and fell off the creatures shoulder.

"Rentaro!"

[0:01]