5.15. Broken Plans

{ESSENCE AVAILABLE: 593}

– Points increased incrementally.

BOOM!! BOOM!!

Reese was thrown to the edge of the field. Drops of blood covered the ground as she landed harshly on her side.

"So this is all you amount to?"

Crackle!

A golden spear fell from the sky and ruptured the earth.

BAMM!!

Reese sank into her tag, and alongside the momentum of the explosion, landed right next to a large boulder. She reappeared and leaned against the rock.

"How am I going to beat her haha.." Reese laughed, cold sweat running down her cheeks.

Her arms were bleeding, clothes torn. Compared to Matilda Erst who looked flawless in her academy uniform, Reese was in deep trouble.

Floating in the air, divine white wings grew from her back– a system gift that permanently altered the biological structure of a human being.

[Blessing: Seraphication]

With Matilda in the sky, Reese wasn't left with many options to take her down. Reese's fighting style typically involved maneuverability and dragging things into her shadow domain. The enemy had to be in physical contact with an expansive surface for her to be most effective.

"So troublesome."

In the first place, most participants specialized in fighting ground enemies, not those in the air.

Crackle!

Reese sank back into the shadow and fled. Where she once was, the boulder exploded.

White feathers danced on the field, sweeping up miasma from the ground and purifying the air.

"How long do you intend to keep hiding?"

Matilda eyed the shadow like a hawk. She didn't want to face any unknown tricks Reese had prepared, so she kept herself at distance. Reese couldn't possibly maintain her invulnerable state for long, so a battle of attrition was the best strategy here.

Reese rose from her shadow and held the two tags in her fingers. She dropped the first tag into the shadow. And as for the second, she redid the knot of the chain, enchanted it with antimagic and held it in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she peeked out of the cover.

Matilda's mint-blue eyes stared at her, raising her spear.

Reese touched the boulder.

Matilda hurled her holy-element imbued spear towards Reese with great force.

A shadow opened up in the rock.

The spear was engulfed within– Reese promptly disappeared the same shadow, and in the next moment, the spear reflected back towards Matilda with the connecting momentum derived from her initial throw.

She twisted her body in the sky to dodge. From the corner of her eye she noticed a black glimmer– Reese's tag which had somehow been tied on the shaft.

'Gotcha.'

Reese's voice seemed to echo–

Matilda's preference of using accurately calculated minimal movements to dodge attacks– it was a habit which served the purpose of preventing wasteful movements.

But, taking advantage of this 'habit' of hers, Reese had won the bet.

From within the first tag, the second black tag flew out. The chain made a boomerang and wound itself around Matilda's neck.

Matilda made quick attempts to tear it off– a black spike within the tag flew out and embedded itself into her palm.

"Ah.."

Blood poured heavily from the wound.

The shadow quickly moved to cover the clothes around Matilda.

Another black spike shot out somewhere and pierced Matilda's wings, one pierced her shoulders, another her feet. Her posture in the air faltered.

By this point, Reese could easily end the battle by sending a fireball to the jaw but.. gradually.. insidiously– Reese was going to harass Matilda until she had her fill of fun.

{ESSENCE AVAILABLE: 594}

– Her points increased again.

"No! No! No!"

It was a grave blunder on Matilda's part.

Screaming, panicking, Matilda wracked her mind to resolve the situation.

She, who had been working hard all her life for this opportunity, to win the tournament and earn the privilege to stand by the hero's side. As someone who had been bestowed by the Goddess a special blessing, she believed that she was meant to be something more. This tournament was the chance to prove herself, she couldn't just give up here..

She grabbed the abnormal shadowy areas of her clothes and ripped it. The more she tried, the further the shadow kept expanding. Her skin exposed underneath, blood poured, she gritted her teeth to the pain and embarrassment.

She had no way to stop it. It was like a curse: irrevocable, irreversible..

In the black space, Reese smiled.

Engulfed in shadow, Matilda disappeared from the field.

Gold dust sprinkled all around, signaling that one of the participants had been evacuated.

The crowd of tens of thousands were silent.

Clink–

The sound of a black tag falling to the ground rang out painfully.

Reese wiggled out of her shadow, appearing before the audience with her bloody figure.

It was an unorthodox fighting method utilizing her gifts to the utmost. Involving pure magic and strategy, Reese was a brutal example of what it meant to utilize a focused, limited repertoire of options to best even the best.

["Our new champion of the first ever New Dawn Series goes to Reese Rine from Riestallia Academy!"]

It was a declaration that marked a new history for the academy.

===

"I know the demon said it was tomorrow, but are you sure about this? What if this plan was their plan all along? Then wouldn't we get Sequencee in trouble?" Shiro said.

"We won't get him in trouble," Evelyn shook her head.

"You know, Hero Shiro may be right, I think you should just leave this to me," Reese remarked.

Shiro and Evelyn turned to her with a discomforting stare.

"W-What.." Reese covered her chest.

Shiro wasn't even looking there. Evelyn rubbed her temple.

As the winner of the tournament, Reese was now an unofficial member of the heroes party. While the official announcement of it would be carried out during the award ceremony tomorrow, Reese, who was too excited, had already forced herself into their lives.

"Whatever. We'll know what we should do once Risa comes back with the answer," Shiro muttered.

"I'm bored, are you bored Linzy?" Reese complained.

Evelyn sighed.

She disliked Reese. But for the performance she had shown in the finals earlier, Reese's potential couldn't be discounted. She was an important addition to their party. With her seemingly bottomless potential shrouded in shadow, there were many uses for a lunatic like her.

The door swung open.

"Ah, congratulations!"

"..."

Linton and Linzy came rushing into the drawing room.

"My, my, thank you," Reese stretched out her hands to them, Linton faltered.

Linzy's face turned sour.

"You're so cute, what's your name? I'm Reese."

Linzy hissed at her nonchalant reply.

"U-Uh.. sorry. This is my sister Linzy, I'm Linton. Nice to meet you Reese, welcome to the party," Linton greeted.

"Linzy and Linton, what nice names. Linzy, come here pretty please?" Reese blinked her eyes.

Linzy, who had been on guard, obeyed Reese's instructions all of a sudden. She sat on her lap with hazy eyes.

"Goog girl," Reese played with her hair.

Linton smiled like a brother proud of her sister on the surface. Internally, he was sweating buckets, knowing well that this girl here could brainwash people.

Linton, being a supporting member of the heroes' party, will also become one of the newest members of the group once everything settles down. To put it otherwise, he would be moving from Covenants Academy to Riestallia in the coming week.

===

"So that's what's happening?" Risa rubbed her finger on her chin.

"Yup. I'm just here to let you know, because I have no idea what to expect. We might mess up your plans, so what do you think?"

Schwii placed her cup of coffee down and pondered.

"Actually, where is this Simeon's Good Vibes tavern? What kind of tavern is this?" Risa asked.

"It's a busy tavern often visited by many established mercenaries that collect resources from the Black Ravine," Iona explained.

Risa nodded to herself. "It's naive to think that things will go smoothly."

"Firstly, could I ask about your plans?" Schwii questioned.

"We'll be bringing Sir Aaron with us, alongside a few questionable guards he said is good at undercover work."

"Wouldn't that just attract attention?"

"Disguising artifacts exist for a reason."

"Yeah, right."

"My brother was told that the meeting of the demons would be held somewhere in there."

"We were not told any specific venue. So we should assume that they had plans to bring us to Simeon's Good Vibes?"

The information Shiro got was different from the one stated in the letter addressed to Sequencee. On paper, it only mentioned 'come to the western side of Rika nation'.

"Risa, could you persuade them not to take action? Leave this to us," Schwii requested.

"Evelyn is being pushy about wanting to prevent any big problems. I don't know if I can persuade them.." Risa muttered.

What exactly should they do?

This was the biggest question mark they had. What if this was some trick to frame both the hero and demon lord? If so then should they meet up with Shiro and tell them the truth? Or would it be better to let things run their course?

"It's best if we could discuss it face to face," Sequence said.

Schwii shook her head to deny.

"Schwii?"

"I don't wish for things to escalate anymore than this," she said.

"But.. we should be able to do something at least, right?" Risa said.

"They requested only Sequencee and I to go. While we would also be bringing Iona and Reese alongside us as insurance, any further third party involvement would disrupt the point of this excursion."

"???"

"Risa, believe me. You don't want to see me during the meeting," a dark expression loomed on her face.

"Okay..?" Risa found Schwii's statement somewhat detached.

Sequence turned at Iona. She nodded in confirmation of Schwii's wish, as if she already knew what to expect.

"I can only hope for your cooperation in this, Risa," Schwii lowered her head.