The five Rabid Roosters seed to sense my presence, or maybe they just slled potential prey. Their grotesque heads swiveled towards , red eyes locking on. Black drool dripped more freely, sizzling faintly as it ate into the asphalt where it landed.
GRRAWWKK!
One of them, the largest, let out a war cry before charging forward. Its muscular legs tore up the asphalt, its speed astounding for its size. Two others fanned out to the sides, trying to flank . The remaining two stayed back, as if keeping watch.
They had tactics. Even as simulations, they retained the pack-hunting instincts from their original data.
"Good," I whispered. "Let’s play."
I didn’t wait for them to attack first. I shot forward, eting the charge of the lead rooster head-on. My speed, enhanced by high Agility stats, made look like a blur to the normal eye.
The rooster tried to peck—or more accurately, bite—with its tooth-filled maw. I sidestepped at the last mont, letting its gaping jaw snap past my shoulder by re centiters. As I spun, [Mindrender] swung.
Swish!
My blade cleaved through its neck cleanly. The monster’s head flew into the air before exploding into red and blue data particles that quickly dissipated. Its headless body crumpled, then also began to glow and vanish, leaving only a black stain on the asphalt.
[POINT 30] flashed montarily in the air before , then disappeared.
One down. Four to go.
The two roosters flanking from the sides arrived. One tried to rake with the knife-like claws on its hind leg, the other attempted to bite from the opposite direction.
I jumped back, avoiding the claw swipe that ripped through the air right where my stomach had been. As I landed, I used the montum for a low sweep of my sword, slicing through the leg of the biting rooster.
The creature collapsed with a shriek, but I didn’t give it a chance. Before the other could attack again, I leaped, landing on the fallen rooster’s back, and drove [Mindrender] into the back of its skull.
[POINT 30]
Two.
The rooster whose attack I’d just avoided was now frenzied, lashing out with wild bites. I pivoted, parrying a flurry of snapping jaws with my sword. The creature was strong, each bite carrying enough force to crumple steel.
But I was stronger.
With a sudden burst, I thrust my sword forward straight into its open maw. The [Mindrender] blade pierced through the roof of its mouth and out the back of its skull. The monster convulsed violently before exploding into data.
[POINT 30]
Three.
The last two roosters, who had been watching from the rear, now seed... hesitant. Simulation or not, they appeared to have AI sophisticated enough to recognize a threat. They took a few steps back, emitting low, guttural growls.
But I had no intention of letting them run.
I darted towards them. The first one tried to fly—its tattered wings flapping, lifting it a few ters into the air. But I jumped higher. My sword swung, cutting upward from below, bisecting it mid-air.
[POINT 30]
Four.
The last one, seeing its companions gone, finally lost its simulated courage. It turned and fled, scrambling toward the ruins.
"Not so fast."
I grabbed a chunk of concrete the size of my head from the ground and, with full force, hurled it. The rock shot like a cannonball, striking the fleeing rooster’s back with a satisfying crunch. The beast tumbled, and before it could rise, I was already upon it.
One final slash.
[POINT 30]
Five. Done.
In the sky, on the giant scoreboard, sothing changed. In the TOP 10 CONTESTANTS column, a na appeared at the bottom:
1. ADAM SOCHERON (NINE STARS) - 150 POINTS
And in the academy ranking, Nine Stars Academy jumped from zero straight to first place with 150 points, surpassing other academies that were still at zero or had maybe just scored a few points from Rank C or B monsters.
I glanced around. The two contestants I’d seen in the distance earlier were now staring at with wide eyes, a mix of awe and fear. They’d probably just taken down one or two Rank B monsters, and then witnessed wipe out five Rank A’s in under a minute.
I lifted [Mindrender], watching the black bloodstain on its blade fade away.
.
.
.
Outside the simulator, within the roaring Aegis Grand Colosseum, all eyes were fixed on the massive screens dividing their focus among the various ongoing battles.
The host, still floating on his hoverboard, was as excited as a kid in a candy store. Caras and spotlights imdiately shifted to one screen showing my brief fight against the five Rabid Roosters.
"LOOK! LOOK, EVERYONE!" he yelled, his voice full of dramatic admiration. "FROM NINE STARS ACADEMY, ADAM SOCHERON! THE SON OF THE LEGEND HIMSELF, THE SWORD SAINT! AND HE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!"
"Just monts into the simulator, and in less than a minute, he’s already accumulated ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS! Five Rank A monsters at once! That’s incredible efficiency! Simple yet deadly swordsmanship, astonishing speed, and undeniable power! The fruit truly doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?!"
The cara feed imdiately cut to the Guardian Council stands, specifically to Delilah. The Star Witch’s normally calm, dignified face now radiated warm, genuine pride. Her lips were curved in a smile, her golden eyes gleaming as she watched her son enter the top ten.
But as expected from a tournant of this caliber, the leaderboard was a fluid ga.
"OH! BUT LOOK! THE TOP SPOT HAS ALREADY CHANGED!" the host scread as the main screen switched.
The screen now displayed Leonhardt Halstrom from Arclight Academy.
The handso young man was in a simulated forest, surrounded by a pack of Rank A Shadow Wolves. But he didn’t look pressured.
With a gleaming longsword in hand, he moved with the grace of a dancer. Every swing of his sword was precise, every step asured. He wasted no energy. In a beautiful, flowing sequence, five Shadow Wolves were sliced apart into dissipating data.
[LEONHARDT HALSTROM - POINTS: 220]
His na instantly shot to the top of the contestant leaderboard, claiming first place.
"LEONHARDT HALSTROM OF ARCLIGHT ACADEMY! ELEGANT, PRECISE, EFFICIENT! LIKE A NOBLEMAN PRACTICING IN HIS GARDEN! THIS IS THE BEAUTY OF ARCLIGHT’S IRON DISCIPLINE!" the host comnted.
But that first place didn’t last long.
The screen switched again. This ti, it showed Seraphina Grimgear of GOTE Academy. The nearly two-ter-tall woman was laughing heartily as she swung a giant war hamr—so massive it seed impossible for a normal human to lift. She was in a cave, facing a Rank A Stone Lizard the size of a truck.
"SERAPHINA GRIMGEAR! PURE RAW POWER FROM GOTE!" the host cried.
Seraphina didn’t dodge. As the Stone Lizard lunged, she stepped forward instead, swinging her hamr in an uppercut from below. The hamr connected with the monster’s jaw with a thunderous force, sending it flying into the cave ceiling before it crashed down and exploded into data.
[SERAPHINA GRIMGEAR - POINTS: 205]
"ASTOUNDING POWER! NO WONDER SHE’S CALLED THE LADY TITAN!"
Then, the focus shifted to another screen. Isaac Moonfall of Drakefield Academy. The short guy was nowhere to be seen... until the cara caught sothing moving at incredible speed among the ruins.
Isaac moved like lightning, almost invisible, leaving only after-images in his wake. He used a pair of short daggers, and every ti he paused for a split second, a monster—Rank B or A—would already be falling with vital wounds. He hunted silently, efficiently, and lethally.
[ISAAC MOONFALL - POINTS: 210]
"ISAAC MOONFALL, THE PHANTOM HUNTER! ASTOUNDING SPEED AND ACCURACY! HEIGHT TRULY ISN’T EVERYTHING!"
The screen then split its focus, showing Maximus and Isabel from Nine Stars. Maximus fought with a brutal, offensive style.
He used his fists, pulverizing Rank A monsters with combo punches that made the ground shake. There was an aura of anger in every attack, as if he was venting sothing.
Isabel, on the other hand, fought with cold grace. With a thin, gleaming rapier in hand, she danced nimbly among attacking Rank B monsters. Every thrust was precise, piercing eyes or gaps in defenses with deadly accuracy. When a monster tried to ambush from range, Isabel didn’t even need to move.
As if plucking it from the air, she retrieved a long, sharp-tipped arrow. She fitted the arrow onto the hilt of her rapier, which suddenly transford into a slender, silver bow. One draw, one release—the arrow shot out at high velocity, piercing the monster’s head from a hundred ters away through a gap in the ruins. Before that monster even hit the ground, Isabel had already grabbed another arrow, firing again with the sa deadly accuracy.
They both quickly accumulated points, their nas climbing the leaderboard.
But then, sothing happened that sent a hush over the entire colosseum.
The main screen rged, displaying a single scene.
Yukie Iceblood.
She stood in the center of a vast city plaza. Surrounding her were dozens of monsters—a mix of Rank B, A, and even so clearly Rank S based on their size and the dangerous aura radiating even through the screen. There were Fire Trolls, Earth Dragons, terrifying creatures of various elents and forms.
Yukie simply stood in the middle, her white eyes looking straight ahead, as if the horde of monsters didn’t exist.
Then, she raised one hand.
And the world froze.
From her feet, ice spread at an unimaginable speed. In an instant, the entire plaza—easily as large as a football field—was covered by a layer of ice several ters thick, shimring coldly. The ice wasn’t just on the ground. It crept upward, encasing every monster where they stood, freezing them into perfect ice statues.
A low rumble and the sound of cracking ice filled the colosseum speakers.
Then, Yukie clenched her raised fist.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
Every single ice statue, along with the monsters trapped inside, fractured, then shattered into millions of tiny, glittering crystals before vanishing.
The point counter on the side of the screen for Yukie went wild.
The numbers skyrocketed— 5, 30, 30, 100, 30, 5...—until finally settling on a total that left everyone gaping.
[YUKIE ICEBLOOD - POINTS: 1120]
She didn’t just climb to first place. She soared so far above everyone else that the gap felt like a joke.
The colosseum was silent for a mont, then erupted into the most thunderous cheers and applause of the night. Even the other contestants inside the simulator, through their sky displays, must have felt that shockwave.
The host almost fell off his hoverboard. "INCREDIBLE... ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! YUKIE ICEBLOOD! THE ICE PRINCESS! DAUGHTER OF THE WINTER KNIGHT! ONE MOVE! JUST ONE MOVE AND DOZENS OF MONSTERS ARE ANNIHILATED! THIS... THIS IS POWER ON ANOTHER LEVEL! A TRUE PRODIGY FROM NINE STARS ACADEMY!"
Quickly, the leaderboards in the simulator sky and on the colosseum screens updated.
TOP ACADEMY:
1. NINE STARS ACADEMY - 1870 Points
2. GOTE ACADEMY - 480 Points
3. ARCLIGHT ACADEMY - 455 Points
4. DRAKEFIELD ACADEMY - 430 Points
5. ECHELON ACADEMY - 380 Points
6. NOVA PRI ACADEMY - 375 Points
7. ATLAS ACADEMY - 360 Points
8. LOCKFIELD ACADEMY - 340 Points
9. GRAVEWATCH ACADEMY - 320 Points
10. ... and so on.
TOP 10 PARTICIPANTS:
1. YUKIE ICEBLOOD (NINE STARS) - 1120 Points
2. LEONHARDT HALSTROM (ARCLIGHT) - 220 Points
3. MAXIMUS TREYBERN (NINE STARS) - 215 Points
4. ISAAC MOONFALL (DRAKEFIELD) - 210 Points
5. SERAPHINA GRIMGEAR (GOTE) - 205 Points
6. ISABEL RCEDES (NINE STARS) - 185 Points
7. ADAM SOCHERON (NINE STARS) - 150 Points
8. IVY SILGRACE (ECHELON) - 145 Points
9. SIENNA FROSTELLE (DRAKEFIELD) - 140 Points
10. ATTICUS ASHBORNE (LOCKFIELD) - 135 Points
"SPECTACULAR! ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR!" he yelled, his voice nearly cracking. "As many predicted, Nine Stars Academy rcilessly takes over the top of the leaderboard! With four students in the top ten, including Yukie Iceblood who just delivered a display of power beyond reason!"
He spun on his hoverboard, facing the audience stands. "BUT REMBER, EVERYONE! This is just the beginning! Only the first few minutes of a three-hour battle! Rankings can change at any mont! Stronger monsters may appear! And let’s not forget... contestants can also encounter each other. And when that happens..."
He paused, making the atmosphere ominous.
"...we might witness clashes even more explosive! So stay in your seats, because the show... HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN!"
His cry was followed by a renewed, fervent roar from the excited crowd. The tournant had truly kicked off with a bang, and the stage was dominated—for now at least—by the undeniable giants: Nine Stars Academy and their terrifying Ice Princess.
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