#3: Convest

"Wow! Look at that! A lot of people are already getting ready!" shouted Surya.

Yes. today is Convest.

The committees have started to build booths.

Food stalls, ticket booths, magic crystal balls, medical clinics, and more.

Extraordinary. Honestly, this is the first time I've experienced this festival after two years of college.

In previous years, the campus never thought about this because of the severe crisis in the country.

"Reno, I will go first. Medical departments are required to work." Tia said while holding my hand.

"Oh, yes. Be careful on duty."

Instantly the woman's face turned a bit gloomy. She let go of my hand and left saying, "Okay."

"I think my answer is wrong."

I went around with Surya while watching the committees who worked hard to decorate their booths.

Until we arrived at the sports building which was used as a medical room.

I could see Tia and her friends were having a briefing led by Eka. There was also Mr. Rinegerald who was preparing the clinic's equipment with his magic.

"Maybe we should take a look at the food section." Surya advise.

Yes. I think we should look at that part.

We continued our journey to explore places that were still affordable for the festival atmosphere.

Halfway through, Gilbert summoned the two of us to assist in lifting large and heavy items.

We continued to be additional workers without pay all day, until late in the afternoon.

All preparations are complete.

We have prepared in our respective places.

Tia and her friends were already standing guard at every booth and medical room.

Gilbert is now part of the history club on campus.

Surya and I were already getting ready in front of the food stall.

As soon as the giant holographic screen at the top of the Convex building opened, the rector of the campus, Mr. Agus, was already standing there.

His appearance is neat. It is appropriate to be an authoritative person.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight will be a ceremonial celebration for us entering the new semester. Don't forget that this will also be a celebration for prospective students who will eventually become part of us. So, without further ado, I hereby announce, Convest is open!"

Along with that greeting, the campus gates were opened.

From here, we can see a group of new students who are so enthusiastic.

Yes. Finally, Convest has started.

Unbeknownst to me, this was not the celebration I had hoped for.

***

Lively.

The new students immediately visited the various booths and shops that had been prepared.

However, the first step to enter this festival is to register themselves.

Through the vision and analysis of the magic crystal ball, the campus can record and find out the amount of energy capacity of each person, including the elements they use.

Furthermore, these new students will be directed to the administrative counter, which consists of ten. The data collection of majors is carried out as well as specialization in the use of magic.

Once finished, the group immediately participated in enlivening the festival.

"Hm ... it turns out that there are also many students who enter. Do you think the same applies elsewhere?" asked a man in a black robe.

"Yes. Even though it's not the same campus, this has become an annual ceremonial event in every country."

On the side there is a woman in the same dress who has been glancing here and there. No one know what she looking between this group, until finally, it was their turn in front of the magic crystal ball.

The woman pointed her hand at the object and a screen appeared. a holographic display that shows the number ten thousand and blood.

No one notices it, because no one can see it. The holographic display can only be seen by the status owner himself and the campus screen.

"Come on." she said coldly.

They walked towards the administration counter.

"Welcome! Please choose the direction listed—"

As if frozen, suddenly the administration woman couldn't move.

"This is what you are going to tell us: Please have fun. "

Instantly her body moved back to normal, but her gaze was blank,

"Please have fun."

As soon as the two figures left, the woman was cheerful again, as if she had been hypnotized.

"What happened just now?"

Ignoring the administration woman's confusion, they walked casually.

However, the woman's eyes kept glancing back and forth.

"Isn't this too much? How can we know his whereabouts among this many people?"

"That person said that he had someone like a lover."

"So we're going to lure him by holding his girlfriend hostage?"

"No. In fact, that woman is much stronger."

The man was a bit surprised.

"Ha, so weak. So what are we going to do? We don't know which one anyway."

But the woman just stayed silent and walked with her back to him.

"I know how."

They ended up walking towards the back of the Convex administration building. There is an exercise room that becomes a medical ward.

"Now what?"

Without further ado, a hand directly touched the man's back from behind.

Instantly he was sucked in.

"Ah! Y-you!...Damnnn… You... Lose…" the man finally fell and passed out.

"Excuse me! Please… my friend…!"

In a state of panic, she dragged the man's body.

Medical personnel immediately directed her to the patient's bed at the end.

"What happened?"

"I do not know! Suddenly he fell!"

They also began to check his blood pressure which was very low. Even the heart beats very small.

Various ways were carried out with medical magic, but the results were always to no avail. Until finally they decided to call someone else.

"Bet! Call Tia! Looks like she knows what to do! Can you wait a moment?"

"Yes, that's alright."

Finally two people left the medical ward. Leaving someone in charge of guarding this place.

As they left, the woman then removed her touch from the man's body. Unbeknownst to them, someone who guard the room had approached them.

"Sorry, What major are you taking?" she asked carefully.

"Ah, that… magical medicine too."

"Wow, that means you'll be my junior! Let me introduce myself, I'm Marni!" the girl offered her hand lightly.

The woman finally joined in greeting Marni.

"I'm Loselyne."

"Wow, what a name!"

"Yes. this is the only name my parents gave me."

"Hm… is there anything else? Aren't our names the only thing our parents gave us?"

Loselyne looked somewhat surprised.

"Hmm? Why?"

"Ah no. It's just that in my hometown, we got a lot of nicknames, including parents."

"Oh I see. I just knew that. Where did you come from?"

She was silent again.

Her lips seemed to want to speak, but she didn't.

"Ah, if you don't want to talk, that's fine. Don't force it. At first it was hard for me to say because the place where I came from was so isolated."

Loselyne looked at her with a somewhat pitying look.

"Sorry, but… why are you asking me wirh softly talk like this?"

The question suddenly silenced Marni.

With a small laugh, Marni said, "Why? I just wanted to talk to you! I'm bored anyway. During college I didn't have really close friends, only Tia. Tia was the one who invited me to meet new people. She was the first time to talk to me like this!"

She was like smoldering.

Her dark past has now become bright.

"Aren't you afraid because your races are different?" asked Loselyne somewhat doubtfully.

"Different? Who cares? I'm happy to be friends with Tia, because she is willing to help me at any time! In fact, when she said she was dating Reno, Tia still often confided with me." her face now looks red with those glasses.

As if she was hit by something very new. Loselyne was no longer as cold as she should have been.

"Oh, right! How about we just be friends? From now on, you, me, and Tia will be friends! It doesn't matter just because you're a dark elf! Tia is the same! We can be friends forever!"

That shining smile seemed to start to eat away at Loselyne. Although not clearly visible, her cheeks seemed to be red.

"Then, I—"

Before the dark elf finished speaking, she suddenly saw blood flowing from Marni's mouth.

However, she still smiled. Her eyes were closed, but her body didn't fall once.

"Ah, how troublesome! Damn you, dark elf!" shouted the man lying down.

As soon as Loselyne looked back, this goblin had returned to normal.

"So this is your plan? Make me sick first, so I can get the prey? What a sly woman! You made me bait, you idiot!"

Loselyne returned to face Marni, who had died with a dagger drawn.

Her warm face instantly turned cold again.

She stood looking down at Marni.

"Gardyk. We have to hide."

"What? Why—"

Without further ado, Loselyne pulled Gardyk to a hidden place in the room.

Before long, someone entered from the direction of the door.

"Marni, where is the person?" Tia walked towards the corner of the room.

In her view, Marni just sat quietly without taking her eyes off the empty bed.

"Marni?" Tia grabbed Marni's shoulder and turned her.

Her eyes widened at the blood-smilling face. Her eyes didn't open anymore.

"Marni? What the..."

Instantly her body froze.

From behind her, Gardyk appeared, walked over to Marni, and took the dagger that had been stuck in her body.

Tia was getting angrier. However, she couldn't do anything about it.

"The plan has changed a bit." said Loselyne.

Then she twisted all parts of Tia's body with her magic, until she died stiff.

"What has changed?"

"Take the silver cup in the secret room."

Gardyk was a bit surprised.

"Oh? What are you going to do? This is the first time you've ever wanted to use that guy's weapon."

"Tch! We'd better use it since he stupidly told us that himself."

Loselyne also recalled the events of last night when they were contemplating a plan to infiltrate Convest.

In the midst of their contemplation, her smartphone rang.

As soon as she picked it up, an annoying laugh sounded.

"So what? Have you guys thought about what you're going to do?"

"Tch! We already know. Now, what do you want? Our plan is perfect." snapped the dark elf in annoyance.

"Wow… calm down. It's not that I want to spoil your plans, it's just that… I have a little help in launching your plans ..."

Gardyk immediately became curious compared to Loselyne.

"What help do you mean?"

The mysterious figure laughed around and said, "My silver cup is in a room that almost no one ever touches. However, a human boy named William Corvorado uses it as a base for his friends. Well… now they don't visit it again after being defeated by Ouroboros."

"Silver… cup? Where is it located?" Gardyk asked quickly.

Loselyne wanted to get rid of this goblin too, but it seemed like it would be a good thing if they heard it a little more.

"All you need to do is go to..." That night, just as it was raining in the city.

They listened to the location and directions to the silver cup treasure that the person on the phone was talking about.

"How? It's an addition to my help with your plan. This will make it easier for you to find Ouroboros..."

Gardyk smiled, but Loselyne acted otherwise.

"No need. Just go to hell." without further ado, she immediately turned off the communication network with the figure.

"What are you doing? This will be a golden opportunity for us!"

"Tch! Do you realize that person is using us too? Using that cup is tantamount to worshiping it!"

"Ha?! You think I care? The most important thing is that I want to be able to torture them to my heart's content! Only that! And again, this guy's plan is even more brilliant! Just imagine! Don't you want a lot of blood?"

Gardyk's words felt even more true. Loselyne also became a little hesitant even though she was annoyed. But her stance remains. She refused the figure's offer.

Until now…

"Hurry up! I will start taking care of all those creatures slowly." Loselyne walked out of the medical ward.

Gardyk smiled before he finally disappeared, leaving also the gym room which left two helpless female figures.

***

Looks like someone's tired already?

Tia was immediately called by her friends to take care of a new student.

Dunno what happened.

But… why do I have a bad feeling?

Also… is this just my feeling or are there some students who seem weak? Some were even as silent as statues.

This packed crowd was limiting my view.

"Maybe we should try playing at the booth over there." Gilbert suggested while pointing in a distant direction.

I couldn't even see the booth clearly. Moreover, Gilbert is taller than me.

"Is your shift over already?" asked Surya.

"Now it's my turn to rest. But, I'm grateful… people in history are still willing to accept me after that incident."

Gilbert had really changed. Now he no longer boasts of knowledge.

But… it's actually troublesome to bring these two people along.

"Wait… did you guys smell this?"

I suddenly tried to smell the odor that Gilbert said.

"Smell what?"

"This smell… I… I know this smell… like the fishy blood…" His face became a bit gloomy.

Blood? The more I smell... the odor is indeed like rusty iron and fishy blood.

When I looked again, the person in front of us didn't even move a muscle.

"Besides, we have really stuck here a long time ago…" Gilbert said while observing.

Surya was also confused.

What is happening?

"We have to get out of this crowd first." I said as I barged into the less crowded field.

"Sigh… I feel like I'm about to die from that crowd."

Surya is right. The cramped space plus a pungent smell like that really makes me dizzy.

"Ouch! Damn, I need to go to the toilet first!" Surya immediately left while holding his pants.

The atmosphere was still lively but somehow filled with an irritating aura.

"Reno, I don't know how to put it. However, right now I recognize this energy… like dark magic."

Gilbert's words seemed to wake me up.

If you look closely, people's eyes are like drooping, their skin is somehow pale. They became like the undead.

"Gilbert, on your guard. Something's not right."

We both turned our backs on each other until finally, Surya came back.

"Whoa! This is really weird! The people in the toilet are like corpses!"

Surya's words strengthened our instinct to be vigilant.

BOOM!!!

What explosion was that?

Suddenly, Convest's condition became very chaotic. The Convest statue exploded and collapsed destroying the surface.

Suddenly the people who seemed to be still fresh immediately ran.

"What really happened?" Gilbert asked confused.

Where's Tia?

"Ren, looks like we should get out of here." said Surya.

"You see Tia?"

"Wait… she hasn't finished yet? What's really going on, anyway?"

The fire had also devoured the ceremonial statue of Convest like a burning giant.

Suddenly a woman appeared in front of us.

The whole body is dressed in black. Her face was covered by a hood and mask like an assassin.

"Who is that?" Gilbert began to be wary.

Surya automatically took cover behind us.

"College brats, do you guys know where Ouroboros is?"

He's looking for me?

Of course, the name was less familiar to Surya and Gilbert. They didn't even understand what she meant.

"We don't understand. Are you looking for someone?"

"Ah, you must be Gilbert Blizzard, right?"

Instantly Gilbert was taken aback.

"Your family really puts a heavy burden on us."

"W-who are you guys?"

Instantly a dark aura emanated from the woman.

As soon as she started pointing her palms, I immediately came to my senses and pulled Gilbert and Surya to run away.

But, we were late.

Suddenly our bodies could not move.

Even though I really wanted to move my feet, but still can't.

"Interesting, you seem to have good instincts, glasses boy."

She… can freeze her opponent? No… it's like a different thing…

"How? Shall we just kill them?" someone came again from the other direction. This time it was a rather short and stooped man.

I'm not sure, but his eyes are glowing yellow.

"Wait. I'm curious about this boy with glasses. Look at how fast his instincts are to dodge my magic.

"You mean this one?"

Damn. I just realized that this woman also does the same thing to lecturers and students.

Their bodies seem to freeze from the inside.

Blood? Can she manipulate blood?

"Hm... but if you look at him he's normal."

"Hm… that's right. It's actually dangerous if he turns out to be as strong as we think, it can be troublesome. Luckily, we managed to kill that dark elf girl while she was weak."

Girl.. Dark elf?!

Could it be… Tia didn't come because of them?

"Hey! You guys!"

This shout... Eka!

two of them turned to face the back.

Eka stood there breathlessly.

"Wow... is there anything you forgot to freeze?"

"No. I'm sure I've frozen everything, meaning I haven't met him since."

They look at the guy menacingly.

"Gardyk, immobilize him." this woman ordered.

This short man quickly disappeared. Instantly he was behind Eka holding a dagger that glowed green.

"Sorry, it's just business."

Shit! Eka will die at this rate, I should be able to break free—

However, I didn't expect that Eka would block the attack with telekinesis.

Eka… have magic too?

"So you guys like playing backwards, huh?" he quickly threw the man at the ceremonial statue of Convest.

I could tell that this woman was stunned.

"Strange… I can feel that you're already under my control… but, you can let go easily. Are you Ouroboros?"

Eka was just confused by the question.

"Sorry, but I don't understand your question."

"Hm… that's right. I couldn't feel the ferocious aura from within you… so you were careless too."

Eka was wide-eyed. As soon as he came to his senses, his feet had fallen to his knees.

"What's this?"

"You think I would just let myself be thrown off without a fight?" said the short man.

"Well, now..." this woman finally came forward and pointed her hand at Eka.

That's where Eka really didn't move. All of his face and body, were stiff and frozen.

"Gardyk."

"Yes I know! If someone like you is allowed to live, it could be worse our job later," said the man with a shrill laugh.

The dagger's eye was ready to be stuck in Eka's neck.

Consciously, I immediately kicked the woman with a strong force. But the kick didn't hit her at all.

It turned out that the man named Gardyk by reflex immediately took his friend away from me.

"What are you doing, Gardyk?!"

"Hey… you with the glasses. You just break free from the spell, right?"

He pointed at me with his dagger. The woman was surprised.

Eka was automatically released from the influence of the woman's magic and immediately rushed to my place.

"Reno, you're great too, huh?" asked Eka amazed.

"There's no time to think about that now. Somehow it looks like we have that woman's magic antidote so it can be released."

That's right, I just activated my temporary magic antidote. But different from other students and lecturers. They are just ordinary creatures. However, what is even more surprising is that Eka can also set himself freed from the influence of her magic.

Well that's that then. Now is not the time to think about that.

"You guys… actually ruined today's festival just to look for an obscure person? Even trying to kill us all?" I said.

"What the hell is he?!"

"Loselyne, how long 'till your abilities last?"

"One minute, why?"

"Okay, that's enough time." the man removed the cover of his face.

As I thought, that man is a goblin. His face smiled horribly.

He licked the dagger with his snake-like tongue.

I am ready to fight.

"I will finish him off quickly. Left alone, these two humans seem to have some unusual magic."

Gardyk disappeared in an instant.

As soon as he appeared behind me, I immediately turned around to throw a fist. But instead, he stabbed my fist with his dagger.

With a grin, he disappeared again.

Instantly was next to Eka and swung his weapon.

Eka knows that and uses his powers. However, unexpectedly the goblin actually appeared below and stabbed his thigh.

"Too slow!"

Then he turned to stab me. This time I'm not silent. While trying to keep up with his speed, I kicked Gardyk's wrist. But, he disappeared and kicked me back from behind.

Along with that kick, he swung his dagger at Eka's crown.

Learning from his mistake, Eka immediately grabbed Gardyk's hand and slammed it to the floor.

Before his back touched the floor, Gardyk disappeared and stabbed him in the back.

However, the stab never touched Eka's clothes.

"You guys are assassins, huh? No wonder you often plays from behind." Eka turned around and restrained Gardyk.

He lifted and tried to squeeze the goblin's body.

But, Gardyk just laughed.

"Your magic is amazing, but unfortunately I am your hard counter!" instantly the goblin disappeared and gave a different attack than before behind Eka.

"Eka-!"

The dagger shone a little brighter.

In one swing, a hot scar was engraved almost covering the man's entire back.

He finally fell because he could not bear the pain.

Gardyk laughed with satisfaction.

"Sorry, but we're the experts. Now you, the glasses boy. Haven't seen your magic since earlier, but your physique is amazing! Even though I haven't used my true magic just now, but your friend has fallen. Truly Disappointment."

I stood breathless. Damn, even though it's invisible but it hits the vital point of breathing.

Of course I realized it. Although I haven't seen the women in the back fight properly, but this Gardyk is indeed different from William and his group. They were truly professionals

"You… I'm really curious about your true power—"

"—Gardyk, hurry up and don't talk too much!" snapped the woman.

This goblin was silent while looking at me with a smirk.

"All right—" he disappeared again in an instant.

Definitely behind!

As soon as I turned around, there was no one.

I was wide awake. Not even looking up, a hand had grabbed me and slammed my head on the floor.

"Too bad, this will be our last meeting… goodbye!"

I could feel the dagger being swung and aiming for the neck up.

However, that didn't happen.

Suddenly the body that was pressing on me seemed to be lifted.

"You said you were my hard counter? Don't dream too much, I was still trying to read your fighting style." Eka was already standing there.

His hand reached up and gripped Gardyk firmly, but…

"Ha… you still haven't learned, have you? That telekinesis of yours is useless—!"

As usual, Gardyk now emerged from his opponent's blind spot.

But, Eka did not budge. Instead, he smirked.

"You're the one who's too arrogant."

Instantly a hot energy aura appeared like a giant pillar protecting him.

The shocked Gardyk didn't have time to dodge and allowed himself to be hit by the overflowing energy.

"You… a fire magic user? Wait… did you use runes too?! I didn't hear you chant!"

Eka turned around with a cold look.

"Runes? Chant? What do I need it for? I alone am enough to create magic with my will."

Without further ado, Eka raised him hand and quickly burned Gardyk's entire body.

"Kh! Damn it!"

He tried to release the fire, but it was too hot.

"Bah! Then…!"

Instantly a black liquid appeared from his dagger which then began to cover Gardyk's entire body.

"Do you see? Your fire has been swallowed by the DEVOURER. It's gone!" slowly his body began to appear again.

Gardyk who is now free from Eka's fire immediately tried to attack him again.

But, as soon as he did a shadow walker, he couldn't penetrate Eka's energy lump at all.

"What is it? I thought you were going to attack me."

"Okay! You asked for it, kid!" Then Gardyk took out the DEVOURER from his dagger.

The black liquid immediately swelled and tried to crush Eka.

Without further ado, Eka advanced towards Gardyk while throwing his fists.

"Kh! Crazy boy!" DEVOURER currently seems to be moving slower than Eka who has already thrown a fist at Gardyk.

"Interesting magic. But, you yourself are too weak to use it." With telekinesis, Eka gripped the goblin tightly.

However, suddenly he couldn't move anymore.

Wait, this means…

"Enough playing around!"

The woman's hands glowed red.

Now Eka's body is paralyzed by the dark elf's blood magic.

"Good!" Gardyk laughed happily, because now Eka was completely helpless.

"Kill him now, Loselyne!"

Following Gardyk's words, the woman then really tried to break all of Eka's joints and turn him in an unnatural direction.

"W-what are you doing? Crush him!"

Wait…

Why hasn't it broken yet? As if Gardyk also represented the question in my mind.

Why is Eka's body still the same as usual? It was as if something was holding back the effects of Loselyne's blood magic.

"I've done my best! But something seems to be holding him back!"

Then, this is my chance.

Without saying much, I immediately kicked Loselyne's body.

But the kick immediately stopped because it was within her reach.

"You're an idiot, aren't you kid?"

With the ability to temporarily dissipate the effects of magic, I managed to continue the kick just now. But, of course, this woman had already jumped away.

Suddenly a dagger once again grazed my neck.

Gardyk stood up while preparing to launch his attack.

"You guys are really troublesome brats!"

I just smirked

"You too."

***

His movement is getting faster.

"Eat this!" he shouted as he continued to scratch my body.

What an incredible speed for a goblin.

The runes he had were really a problem.

"How? Am I too weak for you now, stupid brat?!"

Xonos!

The black liquid then formed a large lump and exploded in front of me.

As a result, I had to bounce off the Convest field and hit the trees in the garden.

Not even breathing a sigh of relief, suddenly the goblin aura has come again.

He disappeared and swung his dagger swiftly.

From now on, every swipe of his dagger seemed to have been coated with DEVOURER. Every time the weapon left a wound, my body seemed to be gnawed away.

The black liquid appeared around and entangled my movement.

Suddenly he changed course and stabbed me hard in the back.

"Pathetic. Pathetic! Pathetic!"

Gardyk repeatedly stuck the dagger's eye and always avoided my counterattack.

"You'd rather die than be entangled in this dark world, brat!!" his dagger smoldered a dark green light.

He quickly slit my throat.

Coughing up blood. Even this red liquid flows faster through the door on my neck.

CHRATOS.

Instantly all the blood that came out of my body hole flowed profusely. Formed a monstrous hand that then stabbed me back.

It didn't stop there, as if all the liquid was holding me back.

"That arrogant face of yours is gone by now, brat." said Loselyne irritably.

"Should we torture first…?"

But, Loselyne didn't want to know. Her face was already filled with emotion because she had to take care of other things before getting their main prey.

"Shut up, Gardyk. Now I'll suck you dry, boy!"

I tried to hold it in, but the blood continued to flow until I could no longer feel my vision.

My body fell.

Even so, my heart is still beating.

"Ooo… are you going to give up now? Well, If you keep moving, you're going to die even more." Gardyk had aimed his dagger to pierce my brain.

All my red liquid was literally almost sucked out. Loselyne stood there trying to control it.

Then she managed to make enough blood sword to search my head.

"Any last words?"

Before I finished taking my last breath, the blade of the sword had split my head.

Instantly the red solid broke away, returning to its proper form.

"Huu… I really can't help but wonder, how can a college human like this almost overwhelm us?" asked Gardyk somewhat doubtfully.

"Even a great magician, if his blood runs out, then he is finished."

Loselyne turned and started to open her smartphone.

"We still have to confirm with that annoying person first."

The dark elf girl opened her smartphone and called the mysterious figure they hated.

"So? How?"

"This troublesome fellow is dead. Now, tell me where Ouroboros is!" he urged.

The figure then just laughed loudly.

"You guys are stupid, aren't you? Didn't you realize it all this time?"

"Ha? What do you mean?!"

"That person is Ouroboros!"

As soon as she heard those words, Loselyne slowly turned away.

Unexpectedly, all the blood was flowing back to the body that was formless.

"Loselyne, what are you doing?!"

"I do not do anything!" while quickly turning her cell phone back off, Loselyne quickly controlled the red flow.

However, it's uncontrollable. As time went on, the red liquid reentered the bodies of the corpses they had killed just now.

While sitting on my thighs, I got up and glared at them.

"Is that all you're capable of?"

"Y-you… who are you?!" shouted Gardyk.

Grinning, I replied "Ouroboros."

They glared.

"You were… faking it?!" Gardyk was furious.

"The power of the runes that you guys possess is truly extraordinary. But, to be honest it's still too weak for me."

So far they felt the best after hunting down and killing rune magicians. However, never thought of the right strategy, or accurate information. They don't care who their opponent is, the only thing that matters is to satisfy their own desires.

"Then, it's my turn to show strength." I form a chain from the void.

Each circle is made up of dust grains and compounds from this environment.

Bleeding with blood, I twisted the chain.

Slowly, the environment around us began to stir.

"Hey, dark elf! Freeze him!" snapped Gardyk.

"Shut up, Goblin!" Loselyne immediately raised her hand, freezing my movement with her blood rune magic.

"Kh! This sucks!"

ECLIPSE!

Instantly the black liquid appeared again from the eye of Gardyk's dagger blade.

This time, the liquid covered my entire body. Creates a black ball which then sucks everything in it.

"I do not care anymore! I'll finish it now!"

In his panic, Gardyk then tried to draw all the energy that was sucked from the ball. Allowing himself to be filled with the energy of The Void.

"I-I can feel it… this power…" he laughed so happily at the new thing. However…

JLEB!

A hand had pierced his chest.

"L-loselyne…!? What are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry, Gardyk. But one thing I came to understand after working with you for a long time made me realize… you are a tactician destroyer."

Loselyne instantly ripped out the goblin's heart. Letting the creature fall down helplessly.

"I'll take all your abilities too."

The energy from the black ball continued to flow into Gardyk's heart, until it finally formed a smaller energy ball.

"L-loselyne, you bastard! You are also the one who got this information wrong!"

Carelessly, the woman stepped on Gardyk's face. Started eating everything that the black ball had extracted from the creature inside.

Slowly, her skin changed. Her beautiful face is now covered with scales. Her eyes glowed yellow like a goblin. Her body also then became taller. Her fingernails were long like a witch's.

"I now have the power of a god." she laughed in a slightly hoarse, heavy, and sometimes shrill voice.

However, the black ball then started to break apart.

I chained Loselyne's neck as soon as I got out.

"What did you say earlier? real power? Let me show you what true power is!" This dark elf immediately grabbed my chain, her hands glowing.

There appeared the rune alphabet that had fused with her.

DEVOUR ARMOR!

Before the armor finally formed from the chant, I ran and punched this obscure creature until it retreated.

As soon as the chain that was strangling her neck was released, she immediately hit me back.

I tried to fend it off, but the longer it went on the stronger it got.

As soon as I was about to throw a fist, my body suddenly stopped.

Super hard kick directly hit my face until it bounced.

"What is it, Ouroboros? Don't you recognize your own strength?"

Just now she used his blood rune magic. Without the need to cast it, she can manipulate the blood in her opponent's body at will. Really troublesome.

No wonder She could take care of Tia without a single wound.

Suddenly I couldn't move my own body.

"I've always wondered… what if I completely destroy your physical body? Wouldn't it be faster and more efficient? But, the problem is that the only magic I have is bloodbending and Gardyk has a devourer of everything. However, his DEVOURER's speed is too slow… hence, this is what I thought. This way I can set the rune magic requirements myself!"

So that's how it was… she utilized The Void's energy that could generate an infinite source of power, mixing blood-control and devourer rune magic to increase effectiveness. Great.

"And now…"

ANTI-LIFE!

My eyes widen. My body aches a lot.

As if something was ripping from inside, I began to be unable to feel my hands and feet.

"You're dead, Ouroboros!"

As soon as it was about to annihilate my head, I try to hold it in.

This magic that devours everything from my own blood I immediately turn it off.

Loselyne was surprised by her ultimate magic that could be neutralized just like that.

"You still think you can use rune magic and my power properly? Yeah… you still need a hundred trillion light years to do that."

I quickly reshaped my body. Creates an anti-destruction magic barrier within it. Not forgetting, ordering all the blood in the body to resist control magic.

"Y-you…!? Impossible! This makes no sense!"

"Yeah, it's all nonsense. Against me with your strength like that is also unreasonable. Do you think harnessing my power will help you get better? You are wrong."

"What do you mean?! Here's the proof! Proof that I can have two different magics!"

"Not. You're not growing. Even with the existence of two different extraordinary powers, if the user still doesn't fully understand their potential, that power will just go to waste."

"Then, what about that dark elf girl?! I managed to kill her! I can even feel a very thick demonic aura within her! However, I managed to kill her!"

Her eyes reddened. This obscure creature didn't want to accept what she didn't understand and continued to choose to defend what she only saw and believed.

"No. You only paralyze her when she's weak. It wasn't strength, it was just a coward's self-defense. Making them lose in a weak state won't make you stronger." I explained while re-creating the same chain.

To be honest, with my current strength, I can only pull out this weapon of mine.

She is getting darker. Her face wrinkled and grimaced in annoyance.

"Didn't you learn from your mistake, Ouroboros? Your weapon is useless! You too now will be as well as being shackled from my rune magic!"

"No. Instead, I have learned from the mistake earlier. With the remaining strength, I have created an anti-magic of destruction and control. With this, I have more freedom..."

The circles of this chain moved by themselves.

"... but now you will see."

As I threw the chain at her, this thing suddenly moved against the ground. Creating enough vibrations to make her start to lose balance.

Then it headed back towards Loselyne and hit the creature's body hard.

Before the creature touched the ground, I was immediately right on the spot.

Adding thrust downwards with my elbow. She coughed up blood.

Without hesitation, I tied her up and slammed her repeatedly.

As soon as I was about to slam again, DEVOURER liquid appeared and pierced my body. However, it turned out to have no effect at all.

Loselyne then formed a scythe from Gardyk's body blood and fused it with the DEVOURER's liquid

"I'm not done yet!"

She managed to break free from the bonds and immediately slashed my body.

Luckily I managed to hold it while jumping backward.

She also unceremoniously swung that terrifying weapon skillfully.

Although it seemed to be restrained, my instincts told me to step back gradually.

Each swing scraped the ground, polluted the air, and devoured the surrounding energy.

"How about it, Ouroboros? This is my new innovation!" As time went on the scythe grew bigger and smoked with energy.

When it started to slash again, ten meters of ground had disappeared. A tree's head started to fall because its body was gone.

Even though I knew there was an anti-destruction magic shield, with the current state I'm not sure can withstand it.

As a result of all the energy consumed by the weapon, the attack power is getting stronger.

As soon as it is about to withstand the attack, my chain disappears by half.

This is bad. The effects of The Void's energy have begun to fuse with her.

If left undone, she might devour a city.

"Come here, Ouroboros!!" she created a giant hand of black liquid and blood to grip me.

But, I managed to hold it.

Damn. I was actually making my position look stupid. The scythe will come in less than a second before it finally devours my whole body.

Thinking.

What should I do—?

Wait. What should I do? Of course, that's obvious! Being in a human body allows me to limit myself to match my opponent. But… I also have the freedom to do as I please.

Once the scythe is near My head, I also immediately held it back.

She widened her eyes.

"W-what the...—"

"Your name is Loselyne, right? I've forgotten myself because I've been a human for too long. My way of thinking is different too." Grinning, I shattered the large hand and the scythe.

Everything happened because of my will.

She used The Void, which is me.

So, I also took back the bit of my power that she took, creating a distortion between the two rune magic.

"My body…!!! My body feels like it's about to explode!!!"

"You fused two rune magic with the medium of primordial power. Without that medium, you yourself cannot withstand the impact of the fusion. Hence, your body resists it."

"N-no way… I-I…!" she groaned so loudly.

It was pathetic… but in reality, she didn't learn the basics of using magic at all.

"I-I can't die like this…!!! Yo-Your Majesty is waiting for me!!!"

Your Majesty? That's right, I heard about it earlier. Who is 'Your Majesty' they're referring to?

This dark elf then turned around and crawled away with her turbulent body. Slowly Loselyne began to transform into herself.

She cried trying to endure the pain of the magic distortion.

"Your Highness …I…"

Her words suddenly stopped.

The howling of the wind disappeared as well.

The puddles of water could not be seen running under my feet.

As soon as I looked at Loselyne, a shadowy figure appeared there. He stood while scratching the dark elf's neck with his fingernail.

"Are you Another demon? I told you, stop disturbing the lives of me and my friends!"

His breath was heavy. The figure then broke Loselyne's neck with one hand.

"Ouroboros… so, you're the other one, huh?"

I was instantly taken aback. Why did I feel as if he knew me, but at a different time.

Then he chuckled.

"This is interesting. If you were at this age and maybe, he would also be here. Can you imagine? The two that are one meet each other..." His grin grew louder and louder. It echoed in my mind.

"What do you want!?" I also tried to walk toward him, but for some reason, there was no change in the distance at all.

Wait. Could it be that this figure…?

"You're the highness they mentioned earlier, right? stay away from my friends or you will die."

But, the figure was silent.

As if to pick him up, suddenly the sun shone very brightly. It was so bright that I had to take cover in my own arms.

And, when I looked at it again... everything returned to normal. Yes, everything seemed to have returned from the cessation of time, except that the figure had disappeared. Leaving the two bodies of the goblin and the dark elf behind.

***

I returned to the Convest area which had been a mess.

Eka slowly seemed to be free from the influence of the blood magic.

"Reno, are you okay?" he asked as he started walking toward me.

"Yes, I think." even though I said that, I immediately fell limp.

Eka immediately grabbed my arm.

"You... what happened?"

I couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "It's nothing, just teaching those two a lesson..."

Suddenly we heard the sound of two tremendous energies colliding.

so intense, that we could see the sparks of energy produced by the collision.

"What happened?" Eka immediately supported me as we both rushed towards it.

As soon as we saw Gilbert panting against William. Behind that person was Krusnik and also Bram watching.

"What exactly do you want from me, Wil? You're still not satisfied after removing me from the group?"

"Shut up! All I need is one thing: you die, Blizzard."

William also seemed to be preparing to launch his attack again.

"For what? So that you can be recognized by brother? That's what you think? If that's how you want to be acknowledged by him, just do it! but, I ain't planning to do this shit anymore. I'll do whatever I want without any restraint from anyone!"

His face was gloomy.

Beneath the darkness, his eyes were burning with emotion.

"Do you think your words can change my mind? Do you think that changing your personality can scare me? Big mistake." William immediately shot out the ice energy that had accumulated in his hand.

ICE: COUNTER WALL!

ice energy crashed into and stuck on the ice wall that Gilbert made.

However, as time went on the wall started to crack.

"Is this all your new magic power is? Are you can only learn defensive magic? Being part of a noble family doesn't require defensive magic! You just need to attack!" William shouted while laughing happily.

However, the ridicule was not taken seriously by Gilbert. On the contrary…

"No. You didn't learn anything just because you were royalty, Wil. My magic isn't just about defense, it's… strategy."

Instantly the ice wall seemed to absorb the restrained energy. Turning the solid molecules into more elastic so that they concave.

William was suddenly shocked.

"Didn't you understand my chant earlier? This is no ordinary defense magic."

ice energy was spinning faster and brighter.

COUNTER!

The wall instantly returned William's shot of ice energy with incredible speed.

Krusnik who just realized it immediately advanced into a shield with his physical enhancement magic. Likewise with Bram who strengthened their defense.

But, it was too late until finally, the energy ball exploded violently before they even got into a defensive formation.

We saw it. Gilbert now really proved to have become strong, even without the black thing back then.

Gilbert won. I was proud of that in my heart until finally he just fell exhausted.

We went over to Gilbert.

"Wow, you really are great." Eka even praised him

"H...is that right?"

"Yeah, to be honest I've been watching you all along, Gil. You're getting better."

Gilbert could only breathe a sigh of relief as he laughed bitterly.

However, this was not over yet. Behind the icy smoke created by the explosion earlier, William stepped out.

This time the expression on his face was truly grave.

His eyes were still burning with revenge.

While laughing, he said, "You're also here, weeb? Good! Too bad but, I haven't used all my strength just now!" he also reached into something from his pocket.

Don't tell me he will also use the same thing as that time.

"Wil, don't... you won't be able to withstand the effects!"

However, Gilbert's warning was heeded as William gripped the black object with all his might.

"Haha… I'll kill all of you—"

Suddenly a hand pierced out of his chest.

His eyes widened in surprise.

Even… I couldn't understand what was going on anymore.

"Ouch, I don't want you to cause trouble like those dark elf and goblin did…"

Behind the noble boy appeared a figure I never thought would do something like this.

"Surya… you…"

Surya stood there with a ghastly grin.