Blood and flesh rained down from the sky like a crimson storm.
The students on site stood frozen, paralyzed with fear.
It wasn't as if they had never seen blood before —
But such brutal scenes had only ever played out on videos, distant and detached from reality.
To witness it firsthand, to feel the fresh blood splatter against their skin, was an entirely different matter.
What made it worse was that the one who had just been crushed into bloody pieces had been one of their own —
A peer who had stood beside them just monts ago during the assessnt.
This overwhelming fear sent many of the students spiraling toward the brink of collapse.
Soon enough, those with weaker ntal fortitude began to break down completely.
One after another, they dropped to their knees, sobbing and begging:
"Please... please let go!"
"I'm willing to join the Moon Worship Sect! I'll do anything you ask, just don't kill !"
"I'm a genius among humans, I have so much talent! If you take in, I'll surely be of great value to you!"
Watching these kneeling students, the leader of the Moon Worship Sect smiled with satisfaction.
He turned slightly and instructed his subordinates:
"Bind those few and take them away."
"If they are willing to join our Moon Worship Sect, then they are no longer outsiders."
"With their talent, they'll surely find a place within our church."
Hearing these words, the students who had knelt down showed expressions of wild joy, as if they had just grasped a lifeline.
They didn't even wait for the Moon Worship Sect leader to say more —
They imdiately turned to persuade the others beside them:
"What are you waiting for? Kneel! Beg for your life!"
"We're all talented individuals — the Moon Worship Sect won't kill us easily!"
"Don't just stand there! Get down! Do you really want to die for nothing?"
So students' faces twisted with hesitation.
Choosing between death and survival...
For them, it was a gut-wrenching, agonizing decision.
At that mont, the Moon Worship Sect leader cleared his throat again and spoke coldly:
"My patience is running thin.
You have one minute left."
Hearing this, those who had still been wavering quickly dropped to their knees.
In just a few breaths, out of the original fifty students, nearly half had already knelt.
Link glanced around —
Barely thirty students were still standing.
Another thirty seconds passed,
but no new students yielded.
The Moon Worship Sect leader swept his gaze over the remaining students.
In his eyes flickered a cold, aningful light.
"So... you few intend to be stubborn to the very end."
"Very well. Then co up one by one to die."
"Let your forr classmates witness firsthand just how stupid and pathetic your so-called 'pride' really is!"
"Anyone among you brave enough to challenge ?"
The faces of the remaining students turned increasingly complex.
Though fear gnawed at their hearts, and though the dread of death lood heavy,
a flicker of blood-born pride still burned within them.
They could not bring themselves to kneel and betray their own kind.
Yet not kneeling was one thing —
To step forward and challenge the enemy directly, knowing it ant certain death, was another matter entirely.
After all, at their young age, very few were truly ready to embrace death with open arms.
The Moon Worship Sect leader's gaze slowly circled around the room, his voice growing more mocking:
"Since none of you wish to volunteer,
then allow the pleasure of choosing my opponent."
Before he could even finish his words,
soone unexpectedly took a step forward.
It was Seraphine.
Her body trembled violently with every step she took,
yet her pale, delicate face was etched with unwavering determination.
After all, the ancestral creed of House Roland was clear:
"You may die standing, but never live kneeling."
As everyone's attention was focused on Seraphine,
another figure suddenly stepped out in front of her.
"I'll go."
Seraphine froze, stunned.
She instinctively looked up —
and saw that it was Link.
Sohow, without anyone noticing, Link had moved ahead of her.
In his hand, he gripped a bloodstained longsword tightly.
At that mont, Link seed almost godlike —
A warrior standing tall, fearless before overwhelming despair.
Facing the leader of the Moon Worship Sect, his gaze was unwavering.
Truthfully, even now, Link hadn't co up with any brilliant solution.
The situation was simply too desperate, too hopeless.
Therefore, to break this deadlock, he needed to introduce new variables.
His plan was simple —
Use this challenge to probe the Moon Worshipers, and hopefully uncover so critical clues.
In the best-case scenario,
he would die at the hands of the enemy —
thus triggering the full exposure of their talents and abilities.
If he could survive long enough to bring this information back,
he might just have the leverage needed to persuade the camp's higher-ups later.
Standing there, facing death once again,
Link's heart was as calm as still water.
After all, he had died many tis before.
And perhaps it was an illusion,
but just a mont ago,
Link had thought he caught a fleeting glimr of admiration — even approval — in the eyes of the Moon Worship Sect leader.
"Not bad," the leader chuckled.
"To think you still have the courage to stand tall."
"But since you're the one offering yourself up,
don't bla for being ruthless."
"Save your breath. Co at ."
Without hesitation, Link unleashed everything he had.
The massive Rocksolid Greatbow materialized in his hands,
and in an instant, a Shadow Arrow coalesced upon the string.
This spellcasting speed — instant-casting —
stunned even the elite students who watched.
They understood the significance:
Instant-casting was a mark of true mastery, sothing exceedingly rare among their peers.
But Link had no ti to bask in their awe.
He imdiately loosed the string —
and a rain of Shadow Arrows filled the sky, hurtling toward the Moon Worship Sect leader like a lethal storm.
However,
to the enemy, Link's attack was full of flaws and openings.
The leader lazily raised an arm —
and with a casual wave,
the entire storm of Shadow Arrows shattered into scattered, twinkling motes of light.
He snapped his fingers.
Instantly, a gigantic spiritual powers fist materialized in front of Link.
Boom!
Link was sent flying backwards like a kite with its string cut.
He vomited a mouthful of blood in mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground, motionless, his fate uncertain.
"How boring."
The Moon Worship Sect leader clapped his hands lightly,
as if brushing dust from his palms after so insignificant chore.
Seraphine stared at Link's crumpled figure,
her hands trembling and clenching tightly into fists.
An inferno of rage exploded within her.
She shot forward like an enraged lioness, charging straight at the enemy.
The Moon Worship Sect leader snorted coldly.
He casually raised a hand —
and effortlessly caught the blade of Seraphine's sword between two fingers.
"Little princess of House Roland,
are you ready to greet your death?"
In the next instant, the sword in Seraphine's hand suddenly pulsed with an ominous black light —
so dark it seed to devour the surrounding air.
"Feel it.
The true despair of death."
A chill ran down Seraphine's spine.
She realized imdiately that sothing was terribly wrong —
and without hesitation, she released the sword and dove to the side.
However, to her horror,
the black blade moved even faster than she anticipated.
No matter how desperately she tried to evade,
she could not outrun death itself.
There was no escape.
Accepting her inevitable end,
Seraphine closed her eyes tightly,
her heart sinking into utter despair.
But just then —
an unexpected change occurred!
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