The Struggle

Five minutes later…..

He knew he said that things were finally tilting in his favor but.....

"What the hell?!!"

Just when he was finally feeling in control, a large firebird had blitzed past him. It sent a stream of fire that burnt Reve's right hand. It left it utterly destroyed. Reve couldn't even use it to cast a spell!

The firebird clapped its wings and its fiery feathers rained down on Reve like a meteor shower. Normally, this sort of attack would be easily evaded by Reve, but there were too fast for Reve to evade!

They pinned him down instantly without Reve even realizing it. It was then he understood that this was a strong firebird. The ones he face before were weak.

The large firebird dived at him and pierced his chest with its claws. It screeched angrily and unleashed a torrent of flames at Reve, but the latter erected a basic ice shield to block the flames but it was to no avail. His skin and fur burned intensely to the point that his whitish bones could be vividly seen.

A tear escaped Reve's eyes as he became increasingly determined. Behind the firebird, a long red bone appeared. It drove into the firebird's heart and even punctured Reve's heart.

Reve yelped as he pushed away from the firebird. He drank the pure red blood that dripped out of the punctured heart. Afterward, he attempted to consume the flesh to recuperate but he suddenly found himself in the air once more.

Another firebird had swept him before he could heal. Reve screamed in anger, "Ahhh!"

Disregarding his health status, he carelessly dug his burnt hand into the bird's body and crushed its heart. The pure flames flowed to his body and burned it yet again but Reve didn't make any sounds.

As he free-fell in the air, he grabbed the bird's body and consumed it like a ravenous beast. However, his body wasn't healing.

He had damaged it too bad for it to heal. However, that just meant he had to slay more firebirds.

He landed perfectly on the ground and scavenged the bones of the firebird he had just killed.

Instantly, he shot out a sharp bone to his right and another firebird fell. The birds were not mature. They were lacking in intelligence. That was why he took advantage of that.

Still, it had to be said that only those chosen by Amethyst could disregard level differences and do that. That was what Amethyst was looking for; the ability to control the battlefield.

"Ahhh!"

All of a sudden, Reve looked at his chest and saw the beak of a firebird poking out. He had gotten attacked yet again by another fast bird.

Reve tried to sneak a bone behind it like usual but this firebird turned around with Reve's still fixed on its beak. It was just in time as Reve was the one to get injured by the bones.

He screamed in pain as one of them directly split his rib bone. Luckily, none of them injured his failing heart. Reve attempted to push his body away from the beak but he couldn't summon the necessary strength needed for that.

He watched as the firebird decided to use his body as its shield in the battle with the other candidates.

*Dooo!*

All the attacks thrown at it, Reve was left to tank them. He started slowly losing consciousness. His [Prime Mode] showed signs of waning. Not to talk of the burning temperature generated by the firebird.

*Fume!*

All of a sudden, the bird lost its flight ability, leaving Reve wondering what was happening but he couldn't turn back to check. Reve slammed into the frozen earth.

He realized that it was probably dead. With all his strength, Reve pushed his body out of the bird's beak, leaving a gaping hole in his body. He turned around to see the firebird. There was an arrow stuck in its hearts. The lights in its eye had gone out.

Reve quickly dug into the firebird's body. He didn't bother to check who killed the firebird. Healing came first!

Minutes later, Reve's body started showing signs of healing but it wasn't enough. He was still weaker than normal!

Reve sighed, 'When will this torture stop?!'

His body had been tested to its limits and all he wanted to do was sleep. A sharp glint coursed through his eyes as he sensed something.

He briefly dodged. A great fireball engulfed the position he had just rolled away from. Reve swiftly grabbed a new set of bones and hurled it at the incoming firebird.

The bird tilted its wings which gave it the edge it needed to evade the bone attacks. It dived at Reve with its flames.

*Whoosh!*

Reve cloned himself and regained control of the bones. By the time his clone was being chewed on, he appeared and smashed the head of the firebird with the bones.

He moved on to devour it like a great serpent.

Moments later, he grabbed the new set of bones and continued his hunt.

In the palace, lots of amusing situations were happening. It was not just Reve that had challenged death multiple times. However, he was part of the certain few that managed to survive.

In less than three hours, the number of candidates had halved. Nonetheless, they had reduced the flock of firebirds to a meager three. Everyone was fighting with all that they had.

There was no single candidate without an injury not worth bragging about.

*Whoosh!*

Reve killed another firebird. There were now two left. He was tired so he didn't bother to hunt the remaining two. After all, other candidates were embroiled with the last two.

Reve watched as the masked young man shot an arrow at one of the birds. It perfectly hit the heart of the firebird, making it fall.

The other firebird panicked and spread out a large veil of flames. It killed a few of the candidates.

The firebird was later killed when a figure appeared on its head, not being affected by the pure flame. The figure cast a spell that slew the last firebird.

Finally, it was all over