บท 116: ''It's time for war.''

At Cross Island.

Three days later, the classes had finally been called for the beginning of the competition. As Arima had already explained before, the eliminations were to be a 'one class vs another' format.

The whole elimination will unfold during a single day and the students couldn't even have the time to rest for the next day when the main competition was scheduled to ensue. It was made on purpose for the students to learn how to save their forces and also to compete under pressure.

The morning of that day, Arima led his class to a similar arena as the one found in PA, a closed area within a spatial barrier. Their opponent this time was one of the classes from Heriz Land.

Of course, Arima didn't have any kind of information about the students composing that group.

But the moment he laid his eyes on them, he was already sure of the victory. He just sat down in the stands and closed his eyes, waiting. His class followed and casually waited together with him. The teacher on the other side felt provoked and sneered.

Soon after, the ten judges arrived and took their places in the center of the arena. Arima didn't find Raal and Karia among them which meant that they were overseeing another match.

"It's time to begin. We'll start off with Heriz's class. Students, please release your auras at the same time. Also, please keep in mind that the use of the soul contract or a soul beast is prohibited for this test," One of the judges instructed and the concerned participants readied themselves.

They then all started to release their aura to their full potential. All of the judges breathed in and concentrated to precisely evaluate the magnitude. After a minute, they signaled them to stop.

"Alright, let us talk for a moment," The judges gathered and discussed for a minute.

"We decided on the final result. The strongest aura we sensed was at the seventh level, the lowest was at the fourth. We then counted the number of people for each level and counted points corresponding to their level. The final result is 210, the multiplicator attributed will thus be 2.1," He declared.

"Now, it's time for the Main Land's representatives," The judge added and Arima's students confidently showed off their strength.

When the aura hit them, the judges were stunned. For this evaluation, any enhancement by soul resonance of any sort wasn't allowed. But the strongest aura they felt was at the eighth level. And the fact that there were even two of them was even more astounding. Even after that, they felt five at the seventh level.

The two who were releasing the biggest auras were, of course, Ferzia and Gaodu. The latter had undergone a huge boost thanks to his inheritance and the former was overwhelmingly talented from birth. And then, there were the seventh levels like Ofia and her sister. But it was also important to say that almost everyone was at least at the sixth or fifth level thanks to Arima's insights and training.

"That's enough," The judges finally said after their momentary shock.

"The final results are 245… they will be given a multiplicator of 2.45 in consequence," He announced and Heriz's class' mood plummeted. 2.1 and 2.45 didn't seem to be that far apart but it actually demonstrated a huge difference in ability and practically established their opponents' victory.

"The next part of this evaluation will be on aura manipulation and killing intent control. For this, please release your aura and make it as calm as possible. Then, release your killing intent and do the same whilst maintaining your aura. The two classes can try at the same time. Tell us individually when you are ready to be scored," The judge explained and the students immediately did as they were told.

It only took around ten minutes for the judges to analyze every student's control.

"It's over. We have rated you with a score ranging between one and ten. We will add up all of those scores and make an overall score for the class and then apply the multiplicator," The judges announced and concerted a bit before giving the results.

"Main Land, 303; times 2.45: 742. Heriz Land, 304; times 2.1: 638," The judges gave the results and the classes were surprisingly almost equal. But with the multiplicator's effects, Arima's class still won easily. It was also true that Arima didn't teach them a lot about control. He just told them that it was important but never emphasized any kind of training method for it.

"Okay, it's time now for the theory evaluation," The judges didn't wait for the students and just announced the start of the next part.

"We'll start with the Main Land for this round. Please come on the arena one by one" The instructions were given and the first one to enter the arena was Isla. She just went first without telling anyone and her comrades could only look as she jumped on the arena.

"Let's start then. We need to be quick since there are a lot of people to test. So, show us your best theories. In both elemental and non-elemental categories"

Isla smiled and nodded. She decided to first go with mind magic. She gathered her spirit and released a powerful mind wave around her than even made the judges frown. The theory was strong thanks to Arima, but it should be stronger than that with the exact theory Arima had taught them. But it always depends on everyone's capacities.

Magic theories can be different for everyone, they can even be of opposite senses for the same element. Basically, a magic theory just needs to make sense and the more logical and deeper it is, the stronger the magic will be.

For this test, the students are graded based on the efficiency of the magic, how strong was the magic compared to the mana used, and the time spent casting. But you could also be evaluated on particularities such as, for example, what Isla performed just afterward.

She cast the 'Eternal and Infinite Water' technique Arima had given her. The moment the magic was conjured, the judges were completely overwhelmed this time. They couldn't understand the theory behind it at all. They could only see something like a jelly that could transform into vapor at will. They also understood that it was extremely strong and efficient.

"You can stop now," One of the judges said with a bit of sweat on his forehead. The judges then talked through telepathy and nodded at each other. "We give you an eight for your mind magic and a ten for your water theory. Your final score is nineteen."

Isla received her score and smirked before returning to her class. Her friends welcomed her and Arima watched with a smile.

After that, it was a simple 'butchery' for the other class. All of Arima's students had a high score on theory. The most talented in that category, like Ofia and Balan, even got a ten out of ten for both parts of the test.

Nobody got a score under seven during the entire test. The team from Heriz felt even more downcast. They also underwent the test and the final results were given shortly after.

"Main Land, 351; times 2.45: 860. Heriz Land, 304; times 2.1: 638," The judges gave the results that everyone anticipated.

After announcing them though, they looked at each other and all turned toward Heriz Land's class.

"Do you want to surrender? If you choose to continue now, you won't be able to step down," One of them suggested. The teacher of the class concerned sighed and raised his hand.

"We surrender. I do not wish for my students to face such humiliation," He lamented.

"The winner of this round is the Main Land's side. That's all for this match," After that final announcement, Arima laughed a little and his students felt extremely awkward. This was the third time in a row that their opponents surrendered at the last test.

"If Raal was here, he would have gone on a rampage," Arima remarked as he left the arena.

Arister yawned. "Well, that was quick."

Chulainn's yawn followed. "Why did we need to come here in the first place? Don't tell me you were worried about those little monsters?"

"To be honest, I never thought once that they would lose," Lanya chuckled and stated.

"Same here," Night and Karma affirmed simultaneously. The whole class heard their conversation from behind and spent the rest of the day being smug about it.

******************************************

Back in time by a few weeks, to the moment Karez went through the Hell gate.

The former Hell convict's vision went black for a second then completely white until he could reopen his eyes. He was welcomed by the sight of a red desert.

Karez looked around with his lifeless eyes, his expression barely changed. His figure disappeared once he pinpointed his location.

"I need to hurry. It won't take long for the Devils' side to realize Kerberos didn't return," Karez muttered as he crossed a thousand miles in a few seconds. The red sand below him was lifted by the air-piercing speed.

"(I wonder; how much time do I have before Heaven's forces arrive? A few minutes? A few hours?)" Karez thought. "(It's regrettable that Time is distorted here,)" His eyes sharpened and an odd dark aura spread around, its power seemed to be as strong as a Second Divine's aura.

His speed increased once again as flew over an outlandish forest made of ashen earth and red plants. If you looked carefully, you could see small figures walk on the ground. They were all either exhausted to death or screaming for their lives as if they were being tortured.

Karez couldn't care less and reached his goal ten minutes after entering Hell. He landed in the middle of a volcanic area, perfectly representing how people would picture Hell. He extended his hands and the dark energy he controlled escaped his body.

It started infiltrating the earth and after a moment of silence, the ground started shaking violently. The volcanos spurted out lava and magma rocks. Countless crevasses opened and a crimson fire blazed from inside of them.

Even Karez had to fly up to avoid the flames' destructiveness. Meanwhile, within this chaotic and fiery land, ominous and strident voices echoed.

It took a full hour for multiple auras to suddenly invade Hell's surface. Hands emerged from below the ground and from the crevasses, completely unhindered by the flames. Numerous silhouetted came out of the ground to stand on firm ground.

Giants, demons, beast-men, humans, beasts, monsters; some of every race. They all came out of the ground at the same time.

The ones that stood out the most were a certain she-demon, a beast-man, and a terrifying monster.

The demon was a gorgeous woman with eyes that appeared to be made of precious stones and everyone around her acted as if they were her servant.

The beast-man was an old-looking man with a white beard, white fur, and dog tails and ears. The ones near this man acted differently compared to the demon; they did not bow to him but instead retreated away from him in apparent fear.

The giant monster looked like a devil taken from the most horrifying tales. Huge horns, the lower body of a goat and a humanoid upper body. His head seemed burned and covered in blood. His fangs were sharp and numerous as they could be seen without him opening his mouth. There wasn't any better description than Devil.

The final touch that made Karez grin widely was their overflowing life force. The forces of those three particularly were undoubtedly at the Third Divine. And although everyone else was way below that, they were all still at least at the Fifth Sky of the Earthen Realm.

"It's time for war," Karez's expression twisted as he laughed like a madman.