The air around us was thick with dust, ragged gasps, and the sharp scent of fear. The thunderous rumble of over a hundred Rabid Roosters behind us was like the accelerating drums of death.
"Soone has to do sothing!" yelled a contestant in GOTE Academy’s olive green uniform, his face slick with sweat and gri. "We can’t keep running like this! They’re faster than us over distance!"
My mind raced. I glanced back, estimating the numbers. Roughly a hundred. Maybe more. But I also surveyed the group now clustered around —thirty-one contestants, faces etched with panic, anger, and exhaustion, but also... potential.
Thirty-one Awakeners, mostly Rank A, so Rank B. That was not an insignificant force. Until now, they’d been fighting alone and scattered. But if they could cooperate...
"I have a plan," I said, my voice cutting clearly through the stomping feet and monster roars.
"A PLAN?!" shrieked the blue-haired contestant, his face full of disbelief. "What kind of plan? To get us killed faster? This is all your fault, you bastard!"
"Yeah, what’s your plan?" asked another, his voice dripping with skepticism. "It better get us out of this, since you started it!"
"If your plan doesn’t get us out of this situation, you should just shut up!" added a red-haired woman from Lockfield Academy, her eyes blazing.
"Listen first," I cut in. "We can’t keep running. Look at our condition."
I pointed around. Several contestants already looked pale, their breathing shallow, their knees trembling. "Our stamina is limited. Theirs isn’t. They’ll chase us until we drop one by one, and the system will extract us."
"So what are you proposing?" asked the GOTE contestant from earlier, his voice still tense but with a note of curiosity.
"We turn around," I stated simply. "We attack."
A brief silence. Then...
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" several voices yelled in unison.
"Over a hundred Rank A and B chickens, plus one Rank S! You want us to commit suicide?!"
But amidst the protests, a different voice erged. A short woman with wavy black hair cut short and sharp eyes, wearing Drakefield’s charcoal black uniform, stepped forward.
"That... is not a bad plan," she said, her tone flat yet firm.
All eyes turned to her. She shrugged. "He’s right. Running isn’t an option. We’re getting tired. Every minute we run, we lose stamina, they get closer. Better to use our remaining strength to fight, on ground we choose, with preparation."
"But... how?" asked a young contestant, his voice trembling. "Even if we pool our strength, that Rank S monster... we can’t defeat it."
All their eyes returned to . That was the core question.
"The zone boss," I began, making sure every word sounded confident. "The Giant Rabid Rooster. I’ll deal with it."
A heavier silence fell. Even the Drakefield woman raised an eyebrow.
"Just you? Alone?" asked the burly man, skeptical.
"Yes."
"And how will you do that? You’ve thrown your sword at its body multiple tis. It didn’t work!"
"I can sever its head," I answered, though I wasn’t entirely sure myself. But I had to make them believe. "But I need you all to cover . Hold back its horde. Give the space and ti to focus on the boss."
I looked at the Drakefield woman. "You. What’s your na?"
"Raven," she answered shortly.
"Raven. Can you coordinate them? Split into groups, so holding the front, so attacking from the sides, so guarding the rear?"
Raven glanced at , then looked at the other still-doubting contestants. She nodded. "I can. If they’ll listen."
"You hear that?"
I looked around, eting each pair of still-fearful, uncertain eyes. "This is a tournant. We’re here to fight, not run. Every monster you kill is points for your academy. And if we work together, we can clear this entire zone."
In so eyes, fear began to shift into glimrs of resolve.
"But... if we lose..." whispered one contestant.
"If we lose, the system extracts us. Sa as if we keep running, exhaust ourselves, and get taken down by these chickens," I explained.
The contestants exchanged glances. Rapid whispers. Raven looked at them, then nodded at . "They agree."
"Good," I took a deep breath. "Raven, organize them. Form ranks. Defenders in front—those with shield abilities, enhancents, or long-range weapons. Those with wide-area attacks, ready to thin the horde. The rest, guard the flanks and rear, make sure nothing slips through."
Raven imdiately moved, her authoritative voice cutting through the last doubts. "You and your group to the front! GOTE and you with defensive abilities, make a barrier! You to the left flank, attack with precision! The rest follow on the right, hit fast and fall back!"
The previously disorganized group began to move, following her commands with a sudden alignnt of survival instinct. They might not fully trust each other, but they trusted structure, a plan.
I looked towards the end of the street, where the shadow of the Giant Rooster was beginning to appear, surrounded by a sea of thirsty red eyes.
Under Raven’s firm direction, the thirty contestants had ford a rough but effective defensive formation. At the front, contestants with defensive abilities—the burly man from Atlas Academy projecting a shimring yellow energy shield, a group summoning stone walls from the cracked earth, a woman emitting a translucent blue barrier—stood in a line, a living wall.
"Hold! Don’t let them break through!" Raven yelled from the right flank, where she led a fast-attack group. She already held a pair of short, dark-aura gleaming axes.
The first wave of Rabid Roosters—about twenty—slamd into the defense. The sounds of impact, scraping claws, and shouts filled the air. Energy shields vibrated, stone walls cracked, but they held. For now.
"Wide-area attackers, NOW!" Raven commanded.
From behind the defensive line, a group of contestants—likely from elent-specializing academies—unleashed their attacks. Fireballs, pillars of ice, lightning spears, and shards of sharp stone rained down on the roosters trying to breach. Small explosions erupted, instantly killing so Rank B roosters and wounding the Rank As.
anwhile, I wasn’t idle. I stood slightly behind but still on the front line, my gaze fixed on one target: the king.
The Giant Rabid Rooster paused, watching its minions being held back. Its four eyes blinked, as if processing this new situation. Then, its tooth-filled maw gaped open, releasing a roar that made the ground tremble.
ROOOOAAARRKKK!!!
It stomped forward, crushing so of its own Rank A roosters in the process, intending to charge directly into our defensive line. That would destroy everything.
"Not so fast," I growled.
[Mindrender] was already back in my hand after my last throw. I swung my arm back, then hurled it again with all the strength in my body.
The sword shot forth, embedding itself right between two of the Giant Rooster’s eyes, at the base of its beak.
THWACK!
SKREEEEEEEE!!!!
Unbelievable pain. The Giant Rooster halted its advance, its head thrown back by the impact. Black blood gushed. And most importantly—its attention was now fully on .
Its blazing red eyes, filled with pure hatred, locked onto . It forgot the defensive line, forgot its minions fighting. For it now, there was only one target: , the one who had wounded it repeatedly.
"Good," I whispered. "Co here, big chicken."
I turned and started to run, but this ti not away. I ran along the side of the battle, drawing it away from the main group. I wanted it focused on while the others handled the horde.
The plan worked. With a roar of fury, the Giant Rooster changed direction, following . Its pillar-like legs crushed anything in its path—wrecked cars, building debris, even so Rank A roosters that didn’t dodge in ti.
"Cover him!" a man yelled in my direction, swinging his axe at a Rank A rooster’s neck. "We’ll handle the rest!"
I gave a sharp nod, keeping up my run. But I didn’t run too fast. I maintained distance, ensuring the Giant Rooster kept following but couldn’t get close enough to attack effectively. I made sudden turns, forcing it into awkward course changes, fueling its frustration.
Behind , the battle between the thirty contestants and the eighty or so remaining Rabid Roosters intensified. Shouts of command, monster roars, and the sounds of ability explosions echoed. They were cooperating—defensive groups rotating as one tired, attackers focusing fire on wounded monsters, flanking groups like Raven’s launching quick strikes and retreating.
anwhile, I led the Giant Rabid Rooster to a more open area—a shattered parking lot surrounded by ruined buildings.
I stopped in the middle of the lot and turned. The Giant Rooster halted about fifty ters away, its breath coming out in plus of black smoke from its maw. All four eyes fixed on with boiling hatred.
"Okay, big chicken," I said, summoning [Mindrender]. I gripped it tightly. Now, ti to face it directly. No more running. I had to defeat it.
The Giant Rooster raised one massive leg, then stomped it down.
BOOM!
A shockwave spread, cracking the ground. Then, with surprising speed for its size, it charged.
The true one-on-one battle had just begun.
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