Let the games begin! [5]

[3rd person Pov]

"[Fireball]!"

A big ball of fire was shot from Mike's hand, with the purpose of incinerating the princess in front of him. Before it could make it even halfway there, a spike of ice interrupted its journey making it explode. *Boom!*

Not missing a beat, Trisha readied her bow and started to shoot arrow after arrow toward the haughty man, but John didn't let them reach their target.

"[Wall of Wind]!"

Winds started to surge upwards from the ground as to then compress enough to block the incoming arrows. However, he quickly made it dissipate to save mana, and instead, the two men quickly answered by sending another fireball and several arcs of compressed air.

*Boom! Don, Don, Don!*

Dodging to different sides, the girls avoided getting incinerated and cut to death, making the spells hit the ground behind them. Adriana appeared to have figured out that in ranged combat, they would be on the losing end and she was the reason for it. So instead she drew her rapier from its sheath and quickly approached Mike.

"No, you don't!"

John began to send another barrage of sharp winds toward the girl who parried them with her rapier, almost looking as if she didn't even break a sweat. Trisha also started to target the green-haired man with arrows, just to make sure that Adriana could comfortably close the distance.

The reason why John was the one who had to try and keep Adriana away was that although his spells lacked the same power as Mike's, he was able to cast several of them without having to channel his mana for as long as Mike had to.

Now no more than two meters away from the fire mage, Adriana readied herself to get into close combat. Before she could stab Mike though, another fireball was launched, a fireball that she countered in the same way as before, with a spike of ice.

*Boom!*

As the explosion was pretty close this time, Adriana raised her arm to protect her face from the heat. When the dust settled, she got to witness Mike standing there with a giant smile. "Got you...!"

Suddenly, Adriana could feel mana from the ground below her, and, as she looked down, she saw a big red rune glowing. "Shit!"

*BOOM!*

A much larger explosion rang out, as the mine that Mike had planted while John was defending them with the wind wall detonated. "As I said before, you didn't make it out of here after all! Hahaha!?"

From the dust cloud, a rapier glowing in blue had come surging out, threatening to stab him right in his throat. "Shit!" Somehow, he managed to take a step back, making the rapier instead stab his right shoulder, creating a deep gash. "Argh!"

Quickly retreating, while holding his bleeding shoulder, he turned his gaze up towards the dust cloud again. As it dissipated, Adriana was standing there fully suited with armor made of ice which had protected her from the blast.

"Cough!" Unable to hold back, she coughed up blood, staining her chin and showing that she hadn't come out unscathed from the trap. Wiping the blood off her face, she darted towards Mike once more, this time resolved to end the fight while she could still stand.

Seeing the condition of the princess, Mike saw a clear way of winning. It was obvious that she was on her last legs, her organs damaged from the blast. Even if the armor saved her body from the fires, it didn't completely protect her from the impact it made.

"Argh!"

Unfortunately for him, his attention was caught by his lackey falling down to his knees while screaming.

Trisha had managed to bring him down by endlessly pressuring him with ordinary arrows, reserving her mana as much as possible. John, on the other hand, didn't have any other tools than his magic, thus he was placed in a situation where he had to try and bring her down before his mana depleted.

Although Trisha's body was full of small cuts, she was still standing, making it obvious that she had endured until the end, an end she had brought me sending a [Power Shot] into John's left calf which forced him to his knees.

Recognizing their imminent defeat, Mike was desperate, "Wait! Adriana, listen to me! We should help each other! It's only natural that the higher nobles and royalty should each other's backs."

Lowering her rapier a bit, Adriana was intrigued. Not intrigued by his proposal, but intrigued at how pitiful humans could be, she pretended to dance to his tune for a moment, "So, what is there for me to gain from all of this?"

Mike's pale face started smiling a bit, thinking he might have planted a seed that could be cultivated in the mind of the princess. "If you spare us now, we will help you fight everyone else and, in the end, we will surrender, leaving you two as the winners of the whole event!"

It was a pretty attractive proposal. Having four people in a group would surely make the competition a lot easier. Sadly, Adriana could feel the mana that Mike was subtly injecting below her as he was trying to make another fire trap. "Sorry, teaming up just to gain an advantage? There is no royal who would stoop so low."

*Splurt!*

She pushed her rapier into the head of Mike, making his body dematerialize. At the same time, Trisha pulled the trigger when she saw how her partner had responded, firing another shining arrow and ending the virtual life of John.

After making sure that they both were eliminated, Adriana fell to the ground and disappeared. Her body was too badly damaged to continue, so after they had finished off Mike and John, she accepted her fate. A fate that had been unwillingly forced upon her by a raven watching the whole thing.

"I forfeit."

Feeling like there was no point in continuing without the brains of the operation, Trisha also ended her run in the competition, making her body disappear in a blur.

Another two pairs of participants had been eliminated, with there now being only four left.

****

[James's Pov]

"Kraw! Oh, I mean, that was fun!"

I was very happy about the little play I had managed to write, but I didn't forget to think about the actors who made it come to life. 'You all did great! I'd love to arrange another play with you as the cast in the future!'

Modern tragedies just didn't have the same charm as the ones from the Shakespearian era. Romeo and Juliet, Titus, Macbeth and so many more. And what did they have in common? Everyone died in the end.

Sadly, it was impossible to reenact the same scenes with the actors that were left at my disposal, the main reason being that I would have to be one of them. As night started to emerge, I was mentally going through the tricks I had left in my bag, thinking as hard as possible of how I could make it so I was the last one standing.

****

[Arthur's Pov]

'What do I do now?'

Having finished grieving my very hungry hippo, no, friend! I meant friend! Anyway, having finished grieving the elimination of my partner, I had to make plans for myself.

Having no idea how many members were left, the most natural decision was to try and steer clear of trouble. 'I can't stop moving...'

Last night, we had slept in shifts, making sure one of us was always keeping their eyes and ears open, but this was no longer possible. So when night came, I kept walking, albeit slowly to make sure I conserved as much energy as possible. I couldn't even use my elemental affinity to create a light, as it would reveal my secret. A secret that was necessary to keep away from prying eyes.

The only one I had told so far was Sophie, who had told me that she found it ridiculous that I didn't just use it to grow stronger, but she didn't realize what the implications could be. My family already died because I had this damned light inside of me, as they had been casualties when the demons attacked.

Even worse was that I somehow survived. I survived and had to live with the pain of being the cause of my parents' deaths, and the Manual I awakened after that reminded me of it every day. A 7-star Manual wasn't worth much when it had come at the cost of their lives.

"Hey, Arthur. What's up?"

As I was getting into my own head, a familiar voice woke me up. A very clean-looking James was standing in front of me, his figure only showing because of the light of the moon illuminating him.

Seeing the pristine state he was in, I assumed that he hadn't been struggling at all in the forest, most likely just beating everything with ease. Still, no matter how much I looked up to the man, right now we were enemies. Readying my sword, I got in position to fight him.

"Hey, wait! I'm not here to fight! I promise!"

Frantically waving his arms, he was trying to clearly show me that he was not here to fight, a silly but clever act as it showed that he held no weapon in his hands. With a sigh, I let my sword fall toward the ground, "Haaa... Fine. What do you want then?"

Somehow, a malicious grin emerged on his face as I relaxed my posture, sending shivers down my back. It was hard to imagine that such a small man could create such an imposing aura just by smiling.

"I'm here to ask if you want to make a deal..."