Chapitre 68: Pop!
"Wahaha! They just keep swarming me! I've never felt so popular!" Caddel Spade shouted while slashing a sword as broad as his torso.
Huge gusts of wind were generated as he swung the huge broadsword that pushed away the blood from where he stood. The little bits that did land on him weren't enough to hinder his forceful movements.
It was unclear whether he was doing this purposefully or he had not realized the adhesive nature of the black blood and was simply enjoying himself.
"Face the wrath of my Dragon Slaying Sword!" he shouted while skewering two monsters simultaneously.
His sword was a Rare grade treasure that was similar to Yeon's Mountain Annihilation Blade. There was no sheath and no hilt. It was just a huge slab of precious metal that had been melted into a shape of a sword with a handle attached to it.
Although Caddel Spade gave off a slightly brainless impression, the weight of his sword was a testament to his strength. When it came to power alone, he was by far the most developed of all the participants.
Elsher Elrod, who was making her way towards Caddel Spade, was much more precise. She displayed the best qualities of both Mia and Emily, showing both practised precision and impressive instincts.
Her blade had no curve and fit her upright character. She was the perfect orthodox swordsman that any Elder in the Sapling Sword Sect would love to teach.
Unlike Caddel Spade who was madly slashing away, Elsher Elrod had spread out her awareness to look beyond the approaching monsters.
She knew that Yeon was approaching them while dragging Reuben Fastilla with him.
"I won't be able to catch Cultivator Yeon and his lovers," she said.
She looked at the angry man chasing after them with eyes full of derision.
"But that stuck-up fool has completely lost himself to rage…" She measured the distance between herself and the approaching group.
She would just miss Yeon's group but would collide with Rueben Fastilla.
Her face warped into a snake-like grin as she thought of repaying the humiliation Rueben Fastilla had forced on her.
"Rueben Fastilla… You're no better than me and on the noble name of the Elrod Clan, I will prove it.
She fully believed that she would have come first if not for the arbitrary nature of the first trial.
Yeon led the two girls as the spearhead and the two followed closely behind him.
They were focusing much more on pushing past the mindless monsters rather than killing them and so their points were stagnating:
Yeon had killed one and assisted another to bring him to 37 points. Mia and Emily had killed one each and Mia had taken the assisted kill to bring them to 31 points and 29 points respectively.
"Yeon, I don't feel safe. Why are we running towards the monsters and not away from them?" Mia asked worriedly from behind him.
She trusted that he had a plan wholeheartedly, but she still wanted to know what it was.
"We're not running towards the monsters but what the monsters are swarming towards," Yeon answered her while cutting off the arms of a nearby monster.
"We're running to other disciples? Do you really think that they'll help us?" Emily asked.
There was no reason for others to help them, especially when they were up against the number one prospective disciple.
"No. They won't help us. Humans are worth half the points they have if you kill them."
"Then wh-… Ah," Emily said stopping as her thoughts processed faster than her words.
"Exactly. Its Elsher Elrod and Caddel Spade. I don't know about Caddel Spade, but Elsher Elrod will definitely attack. She's a flower with thorns, for sure. We're banking on the fact that they will attack us," Yeon explained without looking back.
"Then won't we get attacked by both sides? Isn't that even more dangerous?" Mia looked behind her to see Rueben Fastilla chasing skewering through the monsters like a rampaging bull:
"I don't want to face two or three of the top three participants at the same time. I think Young Master Fastilla is enough…"
Yeon laughed at Mia's voice which was almost like a whimper. Maybe it was because he was becoming more aware of her, but her every antic was adorable.
"Haha, don't worry. We're going to offer something Elsher Elrod can't resist," he looked over at Caddel Spade who was in a world of his own, rampaging by himself:
"And I don't think Caddel Spade will attack us either…"
Mia wasn't quite sure what he meant but she had understood the gist of the plan, and that was enough for now. She focused more on killing at least one more monster while running.
"Fairy Elrod!" Yeon called out.
Now they were close enough that they could see each other above the monsters.
"…What is it?" She asked.
Yeon's voice was like a beautiful Siren song which she couldn't help but answer, but his mischievous tone annoyed her since it felt like she was about to be used for his benefit.
And she wasn't too far off the mark.
"I ask that you don't attack us while we pass. We've run into a bit of trouble."
"I can see that…But I don't see why I should. You might take a while longer, but I reckon the girls behind you wouldn't be too hard to kill."
Yeon was slowing down ever so slightly but she couldn't understand why. If he had kept his pace, she wouldn't even have had the opportunity to attack them.
"How cruel, Fairy Elrod! It pains me to hear such distant words. Even though I've brought this gift for you…" He shouted as he ran.
He looked behind him to see Mia and Emily anxiously awaiting his next plan of action. To them, it seemed like the negotiations were breaking down.
"Yeon, you didn't bring that 'gift', he just followed after you of his own accord. I'll accept it gratefully alongside your lovers."
Rueben Fastilla was still single-mindedly chasing after them, his score having racked up to an impressive 93 points.
He was only 15 paces away, a single pace decreasing every few seconds. He was making rapid ground.
"Reverse triangle," Yeon told the girls. This was one of the formations they had used while hunting Sub-Kanjus in the mountain where Yeon stood at the back as support.
With the girls leading at the front, their speed decreased even further and the distance from them to Rueben Fastilla and Elsher Elrod was almost equal.
She had long changed her trajectory towards them so that she could attack either Mia or Emily before facing Rueben Fastilla. Considering their distance from Rueben Fastilla, this meant that she was confident in killing at least one of them in a single blow.
13 paces.
"Y-Yeon! She's coming after us!" Mia screamed in fear and confusion.
12 paces.
"Don't mind her! Don't change directions, charge ahead!"
11 paces.
"I trust you, Yeon. But I trust you a tiny bit less right now!" Emily shouted. She could see Elsher Elrod's yellow eyes gleaming with bloodlust and excitement.
10 paces.
"Just a bit more…" Yeon replied trying to ease their nervousness.
9 paces.
"Hahahaha! Not so fast are you now, you rogue!" Rueben Fastilla shouted while gripping his sword handle tightly enough that they turned as white as the monsters.
8 paces.
"Just a bit more…"
7 paces.
"Fairy Elrod!" Yeon shouted at the top of his voice, attracting the nearby monsters to him as much as he could.
He spun around to face Rueben Fastilla.
6 paces.
"I don't care, Yeon. Your lovers are dying at my hands," she replied coldly while readying her blade.
5 paces. At a distance of 3 paces, Rueben Fastilla's sword would reach Yeon, and Elsher Elrod's would reach Mia who was closest to her.
Mia squealed while readying her sword to defend the oncoming strike as much as possible.
"But my gift! I'm confident in my packaging!" Yeon shouted.
"Huh?" Elsher Elrod let out a confused sound. He was still going on about the gift, he was starting to sound as mad as Rueben Fastilla in her eyes.
Yeon's shout had attracted monsters to him and two were coming in from the right side.
He swung his long blades at them as hard as he could, but just before his sword met their body, he flattened them and placed them on top of each other so that their surface area would increase to the max.
4 paces.
Both Elsher Elrod and Reuben Fastilla were about to begin their swings.
But not before Yeon's huge Mountain Annihilation Blade hit the first monster square on and just clipped the second monster with the tip of his sword.
"Pop…" Yeon mouthed playfully.
True to the heaviness of the blade, both the monsters exploded as if they were hit by trucks, their black blood and white flesh splattering all over the unsuspecting Rueben Fastilla.
"AGHHH!" he shouted. He gargled the viscous fluid in his mouth and tried his best to spit it out.
Because Reuben Fastilla had raised his sword to swing down, his eyes and face were left uncovered, and they were covered in black blood.
The blood had also drenched his robes and limbs, greatly limiting his mobility.
'Chance!' Elsher Elrod screamed internally as she abandoned her swing midway and launched herself towards Reuben Fastilla.
His body was already open from beginning a swing, his vision had been limited, and his movement had effectively been sealed.
She couldn't afford to let Reuben Fastilla wipe off the blood from his face and take off his outer robe. She was confident about killing him, but she didn't know much damage she would take when confronting him.
She would probably lose a limb at least, and she had no confidence in fighting through such pain with no prior experience.
The large 93 floating above his head looked far more appealing than the comparatively meagre 31 above Mia.
Yeon had already turned around to chase after the escaping Mia and Emily.
As they passed each other, she said her thanks:
"I appreciate your gift, Cultivator Yeon," she was so pleased with him that she even included the honorifics she had ignored earlier.
"It was my pleasure, Fairy Elrod," Yeon replied cordially.
It was like they were exchanging pleasantries over tea, except one was about to commit murder and the other was a topless man who was her accomplice.
Reuben Fastilla wiped off the blood from his eyes, only to see a rapidly descending blade.
His body moved instinctively to protect itself and he raised his hand to fend off the oncoming blade.
"Got you," Elsher Elrod smiled gleefully as she sliced off his dominant hand.
His right hand fell to the floor still gripping his sword.
"AHHHHH!" He screamed as he felt pain from where his hand should be.
The onset of phantom pain was immediate as he could visibly see his hand on the floor, but his screaming didn't last long as Elsher Elrod swiftly finished him off while he was distracted.
She had now earnt a grand total of 201 points, but her points were capped at 200.
Elsher Elrod, covered in the blood of Rueben Fastilla, smiled brightly. She was like a delicate green and red flower in full bloom.
[Participant #078, Elsher Elrod has surpassed the threshold of 200 points. The illusions world will come to an end.]
An announcement rang out for both the crowd and the participants to hear.
Elsher Elrod opened her eyes to the spectators cheering her name and couldn't help but feel a bit thankful to Yeon.
"Hmph, his help was negligible at best," she told herself while rising from her lotus position.
She waved at the crowd chanting her name and bowed towards the Elders who were looking at her approvingly.
Caddel Spade who had been nearest to the whole affair, but clueless all the same, was seen dumbly looking around with his arms stretched out as if he were still holding his blade.
With that, the second trial came to an end.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
loti_apathae
loti_apathae I'm discussing the trial with my 28 stone friends.
Elsher Elrod is a pretty cool gal.
Standoffish and a bit cold, but she's still cool.
But the door.
I can still hear it.
Its voice is like a nail scratching at the door.
Continuously
Day and night, not that we have day and night in the box
Honestly, It's kinda like a background noise by now.
BGM ya feel me?
Maybe I'll redecorate the room to match the vibe.
Going for a spooky horror aesthetic
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone