Chapter 85: Point of no return

Somewhere overlooking the tournament….

“You’re submission to this event, Andre, is quite the talk of the evening.”

“Quite. She is doing well. Old friend.” I watched the screen that followed Apollinaris's every move. She was doing quite well, all things considered. It was a little touch and go when she fought the big guy, but she overcame it in a very unorthodox way. I wonder where she learnt fire magic from. Or was it fire magic? It looked a bit odd to me….

“I never said thank you, by the way.” I chimed as I took a sip of wine

“For what?”

“For Convincing those pure spirits to attend, they have been a great motivation for my pupil.”

“Hahaha, no problem. Honestly, seeing a pure spirit get roughed up occasionally is cathartic. They always like to walk around like they own the place. However, what I'm curious about the most is your pupil… Just what did they do to her? Sure, I've hated people before, but nothing like that.”

“Honestly….. I have no clue. I just knew she didn’t like them.” What did they do to her, indeed? I've tried to get it out of her, but every time I mentioned them, her face would twist into that of a demon. Hence the name and mask, but whatever it was, it must have been awful.

I took a sip of my wine as I watched Apollinairs run around the arena, leaving a trail of mushroom spores behind her. Just what is she doing?

“How much longer do you think this will last?” He chimed, “ This match has been going on for some time now.”

I ignored him as I watched intently on the screen. Could be possible she is……. I  let out a small chuckle.

“If my Kusamure is doing what I think she plans to do. This might be over sooner than you think…..”

*******

“I think I'm done…..” I said in between deep breaths. If my calculations are correct, I've laid a 100-meter by 100-meter square perimeter of my mana-rich spores. I'll be honest: this is the first time I've properly field-tested this spell. I'm not 100 per cent sure it will work, but here's hoping. I peeked my head out onto the street. The clock tower was not far just needed to-

“Woah…. There she is, lads! FUCKING RUSH HER”

SERIOUSLY. Can't these people leave me alone! I jumped onto the street. I turned to face a group of four people rushing towards me. One had a sword and shield, and the other a set of brass knuckles. The group also had mages in their ranks, and one had a belt filled with what looked like 10 throwing daggers and other tools. Nothing I can't handle.

“I dont have time for this.”

I sent mana to my hands and shot off a hail of seeds towards the group. The shield-bearer instantly raised his shield, blocking it, but the others weren't so lucky. The seeds tore into the mage, ripping them to shreds before they could cast a spell. At the same time, the seeds tore into one of the brawler's arms, rendering it useless.

“YOU BITCH” the shield-bearer cried as he charged at me and swung his sword; I quickly dodged to the right letting the sword sail past me. As the sword missed, I shot my fist up and punched his hand, sending the sword flying out of his hand and out of the way.

The shield bearer reacted quickly and raised his shield up to shield bash me. I quickly pulled my fist back before quickly sending it back into the shield. The force of the blow stopped him dead in his tracks. The sound of metal crumpling and bones snapping hit my ears as my blow crumpled his shield and shattered his arm

Another loud scream followed shortly as I pulled my fist back and delivered a second blow. I pulled back for a third time when suddenly something flashed in the corner of my eye. I quickly grabbed the shield user and moved him around, putting him in the line of fire.

Before he could react, the sound of several blades piercing his back hit my ears, and just like that, he was dead.

“Nooo!-How could!- You will pay for that!” I pulled his body to the side in time to see the person holding several throwing daggers. “Don’t get angry at me because you killed him?” I said mockingly. Their face twisted with blind rage as a flurry of blades got thrown at me. I quickly raised his body like a shield. Suddenly, the sounds of more blades piercing his body filled the air

<I think that was all of them> I raise his body just in time to see her fade away, So she is a rogue-type character. I'll have to keep an eye out on-

“Did you forget about me!” I dragged the body to the side just in time to catch the fist of the brawler.

“No, I didn’t. but thank you for moving closer; it saves me the trouble of chasing you.” I quickly threw the body towards the brawler, knocking him down to the ground with a loud thud. The man cursed, swore and groaned as he tried to lift his body off himself.

“Give up. There is no way you're lifting a man that heavy off the ground, especially with your arm.” I said as I walked over to his body.

“FUCK YOU”

I rolled my eyes as I placed my foot on his neck. “you should've just left me alone.”

“Go die you you fucki-“

*SNAP*

His body went limp as all the life he had left him. I looked up just in time to see the rogue appear again.

“Y…you!” She grit her teeth and tried to grab a blade, only to feel nothing. I let out a small chuckle.

“Unlike you, I was counting.”

Her face twisted in rage as she looked at the bodies of her dead friends. “this won't be the last time we meet” Suddenly, a plume of smoke erupted at her feet, covering my entire body. I felt the lenses in my eyes shift multiple times, filtering out the grey smoke the rogue placed. I watched as she darted down an alleyway to the right.

<Do you want me to track her?!>

<No….She’s gonna die either way. Let's head back to the clock tower…..>

The little one landed on my shoulder as we quickly ducked in between alleyways and back streets before finally arriving at an alley connected to the central square where the clock tower stood as the centrepiece.

<Is the coast clear?>

He nodded. With a burst of speed, I shot towards the clock tower, and before I knew it, I was in front of the large oak doors. I quickly pushed them open and stepped inside the hollow innards of the clock tower. There was nothing but a set of stairs that winded up to the top.

Not wasting any more time, I bolted up the spiralling staircase, going up several flights of stairs in a flash until I finally arrived at the top.

“Are you here, pure spirit?”

Suddenly, the wall beside me twisted and warped as she revealed herself.

“You're here…… I thought you were dead.”

“Did anyone see you?”

She shook her head. Good

I  moved to the edge of the clock tower and sat down. And started channelling my mana.

“What are you doing?”

“Watch…..”

*******

Po:  the unnamed rogue…..

I skidded around the corner and dove into a nearby building. Dammit, that was close! That bitch….How could she just…. My mind replayed the fight over and over. It was 4 on 1! We shouldn’t have…. It was impossible for us to….. God. Mindy, Jakob, azi…… I'm sorry. Coming here was- Please forgive me, all of you.

I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. I can't be shedding tears. Not now, at least. I need to focus on surviving into the top 5. That’s the important thing. I slowly made my way to my feet. I started to assess the situation. As of right now, I have no more throwing blades. Annoyingly, that evil devil was right. I should have been counting, but I was just too…..

It's not important. What is important is that I get to safety. That bitch could be following me for all I know.

I went back towards the door and quickly peeked through it. The street was empty. Nothing but the sounds of distant fighting filled the air. Good. I quickly phased into the shadow and started moving down the street. I made it a few. Feet before, I spotted another group of people. Quickly, I ducked into a nearby alleyway.

“guess I'll have to go around....”

I deactivated the spell and started moving down the alleyway. I should be clear  once I make it past-

*poof*

“What the….” I Stopped dead in my tracks as a giant mushroom suddenly erupted in front of me. I quickly turned around to head the other way, but just as I started moving back, another loud poof hit my eardrums as another mushroom sprouted, locking me in.

“Dammit, has she found me? How?!!” I quickly scanned around, looking for any signs of her, but nothing. I looked at the mushrooms; they were tall. Very tall. They dwarfed the nearby building and blocked the light. They had large grey stems and deep green gills. I wanted to see what the tops looked like, but they were so tall that I couldn’t get a glimpse of them.

I ran back to the previous mushroom. I have to get past. Even if it's huge, it's still a mushroom; there is nothing I can't brute force through. I sent my fist into the grey stem of the mushroom and immediately regretted it. Pain shot down my arm as I recoiled away. This thing was harder than a boulder!

Not giving up, I reached into my belt and pulled out a strip of blast paper. I slapped it onto the tree, ignited it with my mana and ran as far away as I could for cover. I turned around and watched as the fuse hissed away until it finally hit the paper. In an instant, there was a large ground-shattering explosion that shook the entire alleyway and blew holes into the nearby building.

I looked back towards the stem. It was still unscathed, except it now had a black scorch mark. “Dammit, I wanted it to blow it out of the way. But I'll work with what I got. I ran to the holes the explosion made. I'll have to go through the building and-

*SWOOOOOSHH*

A loud noise erupted from the mushroom-like it was sucking in air. I Looked up just in time to see the gills glowing a bright green.

“Just what is goin-“

*WHOOOOSHH!*

A powerful burst of wind came from the mushroom, sending me flying backwards into it. I tried to move, but before I knew it, my vision and everything around me was swamped in a musky green fog.

Suddenly, the strong gust of wind was replaced by a shallow breeze that allowed me to move.

“Just what *COUGH* *COUGH* IS HAP- COUGH*

I dropped to the ground as my lungs and throat burned. Pain dominated my entire body, overwhelming every sense I had.

“Got….to…escape….for……my…. team” I don’t know what's going on, but I have to go. I can't stay here.

It took all I had to stand on my feet. I looked towards my arms. My skin had gone bright pink; my blood vessels stood at attention all down my arms. I could hear my heart pounding like a drum in my ears. It was agony.

I shuffled my feet forward, taking one step every few seconds. I need to get away. I HAVE to get away! I kept moving as more and more of my body started to give. Eventually, I made it through the hole I had made, out of the building, and finally out into the street.

“Finally *cough, coughhaa euaghhaaaa!”

I dropped to my knees as the Pain became too much. Tears moved down onto my face. Is this how I die….?

*Shuffling*

I looked to the side in time to see a man shamble like a zombie towards me. His face was swollen and bright red; his eyes were bloodshot and dilated. The more I looked at him, the more horrifying it became. The vessels in his arms and legs were jet black; his feet were bursting out of his shoes as blood collected at the base of his feet. And worst of all was the sound he made. He groaned in agony with every movement. It was as if just existing at this moment was suffering.

I looked around and saw more people crawl out of the alleyways and onto the street, more of these soon to be dead people.

*Thud*

The man from before collapsed in front of me. Unable to go on. Blood leaked from his feet as his skin ruptured.

“K…..i..lll…..m.eeeee..ee”

I nodded. I understood. Trust me, I understood.

My swollen hands trembled as I reached into my pack for a strip of blast paper.

“I'm…sorry…..guys. i…couldn’t make*COUGHT*

Suddenly, smoke erupted from the fuse as it lit in my hands. At least I'll go out on my own terms.

“T…..thank you….”The man groaned one last time as the fuse finally hit the paper. Suddenly, there was a bright flash, then nothing…..