Chapter 22: Fight to Death (pt.3)

'Kill him!'

Kristin could hear a voice screaming in his head, it was deafening. The crowds' cries no longer reached him, the urge to escape and save himself had also dissipated into thin air.

That was not what he wanted. His heart was weeping, his brain was screaming, and his body was wilting beyond his control.

Oh how badly he wanted to kill Alastor now.

That was not only the voice in his head, or the Chaos Mana that was throwing a tantrum in his veins. Rather, it was his genuine emotions. Kristin was being filled with hatred and rage with every passing moment, knowing he would be used.

His life no longer was in his hands, he was forced to desire killing his monstrous opponent. Which was only going to lead him to his demise.

The Chaos Mana made him stronger a bit, but it was also insanely destructive. 'Was this the true meaning behind his chant? Is that why he no longer hid it?'

If someone tried it, their body was doomed. And Alastor did not seem to be an exception, he was laughing, but his eyes were turning bloody. His nose was bleeding, and he seemed to struggle to gulp something.

Alastor was destroying both of them.

'That punk…'

Feeling that struggling anymore would only be a waste of time, Kristin finally embraced the truth and launched himself forward.

His chains rattled, creating a shockwave as they whipped at Alastor, only to be deflected by the Scythe.

"Yes, this is what I'm calling a fight, entertain me, Kris!"

Arisa watched in amazement and shock, unable to pinpoint her feelings. Was she supposed to be happy that their fight now was so intense?

Although, Alastor was clearly having the upper hand.

That did not change how intense their clash was . None of them were getting hurt by each other, but they were both losing their power…

'No,' she realized, 'Alastor is the reason that Kristin is acting this way. The reason Kristin is losing his footing eventually is due to the strange Chaos Mana that was injected in his body earlier.'

Which meant, Alastor was now stalling. Kristin was coughing blood when he was finally able to grab Alastor's ankle, throwing him hard against the wall.

"Ha!" Kristin rejoiced, then sent a wave of chains, trying to pierce right through Alastor's vital organs.

"Ugh!"

Alastor groaned, feeling dazed from the blood loss. His body was aching, from the collective internal and external damage. With difficulty, he rolled away from the chains that were chasing him.

To be frank, Alastor did not hate how he was feeling now. The pain, the urgency to survive, and in addition to that, the thrill of fighting.

What was the last time he got in a good fight? In his world, he had no enemies. Rather than making him happy and proud, that actually saddened him.

Now that he was having difficulty, he felt some joy. Unlike the egoistic people he had met before, Alastor was filled with happiness at the idea that he can create someone who could hurt him.

Even if only for a short time.

For that, he did not hesitate anymore. The Scythe got wrapped by another layer of Chaos Mana with his wish, and soon enough, he was behind Kristin.

"Hello~"

Kristin, who just thought he may be able to win, heard the devil's whisper and threw himself away. What did dignity mean in a battle of life and death?

'Fuck everyone and everything, my life first, shame come later!'

Declaring that to himself, he took off his coat and threw it aside. Distracting Alastor for a moment as he could not understand the need for that.

One moment was all Kristin's needed.

He created a small knife without anybody's notice, and tried to throw it at Alastor. Alastor was able to see it easily, he gave a bored sigh and caught it with his hand.

"Come on, give me a challenge~"

"...Remember that you were the one asking for it."

Kristin grinned as the knife pierced through Alastor's palm and headed directly towards his chest.

"What the-"

"Alastor!!!"

Amidst the crowd's excited screams, two voices were buried. One was of the princess who found this so hard to believe, to the point she was about to curse. The other was Vian who felt rage engulfing her, white sparks surrounded her body as she was ready to run for Alastor and save him.

But Alastor was the calmest between them, the knife was created by a mixture of Iron Mana and Chaos Mana, which was easy to control for him.

"Oh, you silly boy."

The knife stopped right in front of his heart, and Alastor only mumbled that before swiftly waving his Scythe.

"Thank you for entertaining me…"

Thud.

The hall fell into a terrible silence.

"Confidence is good, but being cautious is a must. Even if you thought you were winning, how silly."

Coughing, Alastor finally stepped back and fell right beside Kristin's head that rolled to the ground earlier.

He took a deep breath and allowed the Chaos Mana to be absorbed back by him. His body was now only grumbling, already a bit used to the abuse that it was forced to endure.

Vian ran towards him, ignoring his bloody state and the prying eyes, she hugged him tightly. Her rage and fear were yet to calm down from earlier. Looking at the head next to them, her eyes darkened as a twisted thought came to her.

But she soon hid that as she asked Alastor carefully, "Are you okay? You are losing so much blood, are you dizzy?"

"No, no need to worry about that."

Alastor smiled and stood up, he staggered a bit but held his hand to Vian while looking around secretly.

'I suppose the princess is unwilling to give her attention to me, she has already left?'

"What are you waiting for, Instructor?" Vian questioned, then motioned to the headless body on the floor, "He is dead, the Ascension Battle, announce the result now."

The Instructor, still in shock and terror, could only nod his head and shakily announce the results.

"T, The Ascension Battle has been concluded… The winner is Alastor Radian, and he's now a student of class 2!"