Covered in tall smoke and small craters, the landscape on the battlefield had shown no signs of stopping. The sandstorm that had begun to worsen was only divided by the remaining bases' weather control devices, allowing the perimeter to remain unaffected and also allowing the combatants to freely fight without worry."Your Ice Magic was a tad more useful than that." Kikuo glanced down, talking down at Magi who had his right hand hidden."Perhaps, but you underestimate us too much." Magi glanced at one of Violet's sentries as three of them aided him in battle, wielding different weapons that had been infused with magic, sparkling in lightning in their gaps."Hah, you think a few tricks up your sleeves are going to make a difference against us?" Kikuo chuckled, swinging his musket around with ease. "Black Skulls is the strongest organization in the Elemental Magistrate, and we won't be defeated by a few measly sentries and their petty magic.""You talk a big game, Kikuo," Magi sneered,
The battle began to take its next phase as the Black Skulls began to lose momentum, their numbers dwindled and some had retreated. The bases were left undefended, giving Cian and the freedom of the other to move to the next.“Let's go! They're waiting for us!” Cian shouted as he ran ahead, followed by Vincent and Marina. “We were able to take care of the runaways. Where are the others?” Kurumi joined up with them as she was focused on the cleanup earlier. There was no chance that they were going to let Black Skulls regroup once more. Soon, everyone would reach the final base where a large barrier was. It was impossible to penetrate. “Tch! My Phantom Drive can't even go through.” Cian exclaimed as he stomped into the sand, frustrated that his skill didn't work.Not too long after, Kira and Evan would arrive on the scene, exhausted from running. Cian immediately came to them and helped Evan up as his feet twisted on themselves.“Ohoho... Thanks. I'm not good at keeping up with Miss
In no more than two hours, the barriers that had held the final base in began to break into pieces as they dissipate into the air. The winds of flame that rose to the sky had cleared the clouds, revealing the night sky. A heat wave would also slowly blast away as it poured out from the barrier, emitting a slightly hot temperature that traveled through the land. “The barrier broke! That means——?!” Cian exclaimed, looking at the others as their eyes create the same gaze. They all began to move in quickly as they could, past the barrier and into the bases that seemed to have caught on fire, but on the inside was but a large and deep crater that was dangerous to tread.“W-Whoa——!” Cian screamed, his feet barely stopping him from running into the chasm. “What the hell happened here?” Kira asked, looking for any signs of the Black Skulls. “There's... no one else down there,” Evan muttered as he focused his ability, Diagnosis, into the chasm and surrounding area. There were no other li
Amidst the battle against a normal contender in the Tournament that had finally opened up, Magi fought in the fifth match where his new ability was showcased.The host and people were shocked to see it as well but, for them, it was but a show to see, only putting aside those doubts for entertainment.Magi faced an opponent whose Grant was an Axe, boosted with rockets whenever they swung. Magi would only barely dodge the enemy's attack, while attempting to shoot right at his chest, only to realize that he had run out of bullets.“Hmm. I've run out of Ice Bullets, I'd have Kurumi make more tomorrow. This is quite inconvenient.” Magi hissed as he instead performed a back flip with one foot extended, knocking the opponent's head with a kick to the jaw.They were instantly knocked out, and without a dull moment on the ground, they shouted wildly as they celebrated his win once more.Despite him not being an Ice Magic user anymore, people still cheered his name as the Cold Mercenary, being
“I see. But why did you have to come here though? Isn't it good news for you guys? You can start bringing true order to the city of Newyark.” Teresa raised an eyebrow as she was still uncertain of Leonis' presence. He might have not known of the real reason for the people's migration from Newyark, but Teresa was almost certain that he could have guessed it easily. She was certain that it was just a front for something else that he needs. “Oh? I came here because... why not? I wanted to see my friends and borrow some money from the captain. I'm running out of funds, as you can see. I can't even afford my food right now!” Leonis would lean back as he placed a hand above his forehead, acting as if he was in distress with his dire financial situation. “If that's just it, then take this!” Cian kept on eating the other dishes as he swiped the air, sending something toward Leonis' digitalizer.The numbers on his digitalizer would go up from zero to half a million.“——Whoa?!”He fell back
Leaving out parts of conversations regarding Kira's insecurity about her age and marital status, Saeko's analysis of the report was finally done.“I-I've submitted it. We'll hear from the client soon when they see it.”The screen display of the consoles was still physical, using light to project color and create images. They were able to submit it by delivering the physical copy to their client using digitalization, a process in which a physical object is turned into readable data. They are usually done with documents and non-living things but if they do not have readable text, they only turn out to be a series of random characters.These digitalized objects are unable to be turned back into physical objects, unlike the present version of the digitalizer which is now widely used as storage.“But seriously, I might consider hiring this boy one day when you retire.” Kira casually placed her hand on Leonis's head, rubbing his hair all over. Leonis tried to get out of it, only to have hi
Under the light of the diffused blue light of the moon, the group began to walk home as they were finished with dinner. Cian was leading the way as he had both of his hands behind his head, casually taking huge, but slow steps as he waited for both Vincent and Saeko to catch up.“Woah. I couldn't believe Leonis had that kind of background. He must have admired his father.” Cian wondered, spinning around carefully as he traversed the street.“Well, he was indeed a weird one. He was always with us, but we barely even got to know him a lot. Kira had just trained him and went, creating a whole new team in Newyark. Though, he's putting real effort in.” Vincent raised his shoulders, gesturing his thoughts. He didn't know what Leonis was thinking, but he was certain that Leonis was successful in his ideas and missions, except financially, that is.“Now that I've noticed, why does he always seem to be broke? I mean, I and my brother had maintenance but, is it true that his Grant is very exp
The next day, Magi and the others were allowed to rest outside the Colosseum. Their matches were done as they neared the semi-finals of the second stage.Evan was defeated by a member of a Viper's Venom, which he was able to forfeit before he was injured worse. The only ones left in the competition were Kurumi, Magi, and Kira, to which almost all of the weak contestants were picked out, leaving only those with powerful and skillful combat prowess.“Hahaha, who could have thought that I'd be up against her.” Evan rubbed the back of his neck, laughing as he thought he had embarrassed himself by losing to a girl. “You absolutely stood no chance against her——” Kira immediately lays down the fact, casually saying it in front of the others. “Asa Narasu is a shapeshifter. But before that, she's a really flexible fighter. Fighting her is like fighting a snake. At least it's what I've been able to observe from her.” Sabrine began to share the details of her observation for the past week. T
Chapter 161 "Go back to Newyark after this is done, huh? I suppose I'm being treated like a Deux Ex Machina."Whispering above the roofs of the building, Magi kept himself hidden from the eyes of those who were below him. The Brainless were everywhere as few of them survived, moving towards the office as a battle ensued right outside it, wrecking the place open.However, in his position, he could also see Cian, trapped in a barrier with Mia. It looked like it was because of their technology, however, that wasn't something that they would normally do. "An evil man like me cannot be the hero of this day."Cian fired his pistol, his bullet breaking the barrier instantly before Cian could attempt to stab himself with his bare hands. Cian was startled at first as Magi observed him, but his eyes immediately went in his direction, looking up with a look of gratitude. Even after all this, Cian was still nonchalant with his actions. He still cannot believe that they were twins in blood.T
Chapter 160: "Watch out!"Barely keeping up with Dokuji's speed, Sumire and the others couldn't get closer to force him into a close combat battle as they tried to dodge his attacks.His ranged attacks were too powerful for them to normally dodge as each slash would alter the terrain and create such a large breeze."I can't use my Blood Shackles on him. If anything else, I could use it if he was his normal size!"As Michael stood behind Kalina and Saeko, he was being protected by the ladies.It was far-fetched for a man like him to be useless right now, but he had to admit that he can't do the physical feats they can do right now. As he is now, he'll be a burden if he tried to help them."Tsk. We gotta close the gap somehow. Two people aren't enough to stop him."Sumire's assessment of the situation was right as all of them nodded in agreement. Sumire, Saeko, and Kalina might be able to stop him even by a moment if they worked together, however, that meant leaving Michael to his o
Chapter 159 "Tch!"Flying around, Sumire carried Saeko around as they tried to dodge the debris that Dokuji began to throw, firing and destroying the small ones, but dodging the hopelessly large ones.Sumire couldn't move all that well with someone on her back, and just as she thought Saeko could be the only one that could disable Dokuji, his transformation made it far harder."This is getting out of hand! If we spend too much time here, we'll lure the other Brainless in!"As they looked around, their battle was beginning to attract the other Brainleas that survived their battles, gathering up near them as they slowly walked up them.Their men had been slowly wiped out by the others. However."Boss!"As a voice called them from below, three surging arrows would whistle out as it splits the wind, hitting the other Brainless right into their eyes as they fall, defeated with one arrow each. Their heads were impaled through the eye. This was but an easy fit for someone capable of contr
"R-Red?!"Before her, was the almost disgusting sight of Red whose body was half rotten. On his back, there was a tube that seemed to be suctioning something out of his neck, delivering it to a machine that seemed to produce material on a tube.It was a purple substance that dripped down into a tube that glowed, and as far as Kurumi knew about it, this could be the substance that that Brainless runs with as their blood. "Kekeke... You aren't supposed to be here...""—?!"From behind, a voice suddenly spoke, laughing silently as he lurked within the dark corner of the basement.His eyes glowed green and each of his steps sounded metallic as it stomped into the concrete floor.Kurumi had her guard up, her magic flowing in the environment as she was ready to cast magic."Sniff... Sniff... That's a sweet smell. Do you mind if I...?"Just as the crazed man stepped out of the shadows, he began to suck in air with his mouth, and just as he did, Kurumi felt like her magic was being sucked i
Chapter 157 "Just where the heck are they all coming from?!"Amidst their travel towards the red light, Michael and his mercenary companions encountered yet another group of Brainless.They've been seeing almost countless numbers of Brainless inside the city, and if they were to be released and known to the public, his image was good as gone. Rather, his image was already gone when the whole attack began. As the mayor of this city, he shouldn't have let those criminals fool him in the first place."Tch. Mayor! Go ahead, I'll have my team take care of this! You are to assist the Boss!"The leader of the mercenary group would wield their Grants, taking on the three Brainless with his other companions. He pointed in the direction where the red light originated, urging him to rush."Alright!"Michael nodded in response, following through with their suggestions.Their group of twenty became reduced as similar encounters would happen, leaving Michael with the last three mercenaries that
"Heh. What's wrong? You're making a sad face when you're winning. Are you pitying me?!"Looking at the skies, Violet stood there with a sad expression. Her expression kept quiet for a moment as if grieving someone."Oi! Face me when I'm talking to you—"Unsheathing her blade, Violet had already taken two steps past her. It was all too fast. Violet was just a few meters in front of Asa earlier, but now, she was walking past her, stopping before long.But only then she realized that something happened as Violet sheathed her blade away."GUAAAAAGH!"Her right arm fell off, rolling down as a lifeless limb. No blood came out, but only immense pain came with it as she saw the organic parts that were the inner parts of her limb. "You won't die even if I cut your limbs. This blade severs the limb but prevents the blood from going out of the wound. It was a blade for surgical operations, yet perhaps, for Gods."Asa rolled on the ground as she held her severed arm, crying out as it turned
"That's everyone.""Yep—. Pretty much."Dusting away his hands, Vincent would respond to Kira as they wiped the floor with the enemies. With Kira using her abilities more proficiently with range, Vincent didn't have to constantly teleport in and out, treating Kira as some kind of explosive whenever she attacks. "Let's go."After all that, they entered the backdoor, and just as they thought that things were going smoothly, the corridor was blocked by Sentient Guards."Oh no," Vincent muttered.There were five of them and with both Kira and Vincent blacklisted, they all fired on sight.With less than enough space to dodge, Vincent quickly held Kira by the shoulder and blinked past them."Run!"Both of them ran deeper into the corridor and took a turn, hoping that it would be the way to the office.The Sentient Guards dashed to follow them, but as soon as they took the turn as well, the two were already out of sight, proceeding to clear the corridors."..."Vincent and Kira were able t
Chapter 154 "You're not going out alive."Standing before Cian, Violet, and Mia was Asa Narasu. She was the only remaining enemy and with her absorbing the blood of the Brainlesses as her weapons, she might as well be the final boss of this fight. "That's stupidly overpowered!"Cian muttered to himself observing Asa wield that kind of power.The blood around her flossed and encircled her in a sphere and if any of them were to be caught in it, their powers would be disabled. "Oh? That's troublesome. I might have to put this one away."Although, as Narash had the Blood Shackles on, the flames that were enveloping her hands and the Gravity Magic that made her afloat became weaker, seemingly reacting to the Blood Shackles' ability to disrupt magic itself. They all knew that it was an ability that made a mage a normal person if they made contact with it, however, seeing Asa have trouble using it with other abilities meant that it wasn't built to be along with another.It made Cian thi
"Hup...!"Jumping out of a portal, Magi would end up on another roof again, avoiding confrontation with the others as he helped them from a distance. He was able to get an array of weapons from the helicopter before it exploded such as a pistol and an automatic firearm which was a type he never had used before. He knew weak weapons like this wouldn't work against wouldn't work on Brainless, but he had something that most of the people in the fight don't have. He had deadeye accuracy, and when it comes to the Brainless's weakness, it was the eyes.There was one problem, however. "This is troublesome..."As he aimed down on the surface, there was still a thick cloud of smoke coming out of almost everywhere. He could barely see Cian as he had his back against a building, facing three Brainless that were running after him. Considering the air and the distance, Magi estimated that the bullet would travel less than a second and hit the Brainless, but if he misses, the distance between