บท 68: Who is that boy? – Chapter 24
A tanker versus a small girl with unexpected white hair.
Who would win? Was what many people watching from their seats wondered. To some, this fight was obvious, while others were genuinely curious and surprised at this unfair-looking match.
"His name is Leonardo," The gray-haired knight suddenly began, "He is known as the strongest adventurer in Holl Town, who also holds the rank A."
"Due to his tough body and armor, many mercenaries and adventurers have challenged him, offering a crazy prize to whoever wins." The black-haired knight continued, her eyes sternly watching from above.
"Eh?" The princess looked at the holy knight on her side and said, "You mean that he put a prize over himself for whoever defeated him? Is he really that strong?"
There wasn't any need for a response. The princess could already discern from the imposing stature of the tanker that he possessed formidable strength, a testament to his immense power.
The battlefield was silent as the tanker observed the small girl that was several meters away from him. However, after making his decision on his head, he softly closed his eyes before pulling out one of his axes from his back.
However, right as the massive man was about to begin his first move, his eyes widened to an extent before his instinct kicked in, moving his ax in front of his face and blocking a powerful blow.
He wasn't sure what had happened other than getting attacked. However, when his eyes were fully focused on where that attack had come from, he saw as the white-haired girl blinked and then appeared behind his back in an instant once again.
Even though it was a split second, he noticed how her body was glowing white, boosting her speed to the maximum as she appeared behind him. This was a surprising turn for the tanker, which is why he was left with no choice but to pull out his second ax as well.
Aya, on the other hand, wasn't going to let him get the upper hand, which is why she continued increasing her speed to the fullest while giving slashes and scratches all over the armor and his face.
In contrast, the tanker's movements were sluggish yet lethal, impeding his ability to maneuver effectively. However, after a few additional minutes of carefully assessing his blind spots, the tanker abruptly swung his axes in a wide arc, spanning from his front to his back, almost creating a circular motion that could cleave through anything within its range.
This menacing move prompted Aya to swiftly retreat, avoiding the imminent danger.
"I have to say to you, brat," the tanker said, his eyes covered by the shadow of his massive figure, "You are indeed quite fast... However, I won't allow myself to lose here."
* * *
Within the stadium where some participants were waiting, Hiroki, who now possessed the body of Nagisa, waited for his turn at the corner of the waiting room until several adventurers approached him.
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here."
One of the adventurers that seemed to be in his teens said with a smirk on his face, earning a few other smirks from the group on his side.
"If it isn't the lowest of the low."
"...." Hiroki remained silent.
"Why is trash like you in this tournament?" The boy continued as he walked in front of Nagisa, who had his hair tied behind his head.
Based on the way they were talking, this group of adventurers seemed to know the body that Hiroki was possessing. However, what these boys didn't know was that Hiroki was now in control.
"Hey, hey, hey. Why are you ignoring me? Or did you already forget who I was?" The boy persisted as he crouched in front of Nagisa in order to see him directly in the eyes.
However, what this boy saw wasn't what he was expecting. Nagisa possessed a pair of piercing red eyes, accompanied by a few unruly strands of gray hair jutting out. These eyes, devoid of any emotion, left the boy uncertain about how to react.
"You lads, you need to sign your names before coming here." A guard said to the group of adventurers.
After seeing that there was nothing else to do with the emotionless Nagisa, the boy froze for a moment before walking away as if nothing had happened.
"Tch, we'll deal with you later, trash."
He said this as he walked away, followed by the group of adventurers that seemed to be around his age as well.
Nagisa's red eyes stared at the group of adventurers with an emotionless expression before also getting up in order to join the tournament.
He walked towards the entrance of the main field until he reached several guards and medics that were on standby.
Upon getting closer, one of the guards holding a document called out to Nagisa and instructed him to wait on the side until it was his turn.
From where he stood, Hiroki could clearly see the current fight between Aya and a tanker, who were clashing with each other. While the tanker was trying to catch his opponent, Aya continued to increase her speed until dust filled the air, blocking the audience's sight.
What had happened? No one was sure until a few sounds were heard.
*Swish* *Clang* *Thump*
The audience waited for the dust to settle until they noticed the white-haired girl panting heavily as she stood atop the unconscious tanker.
"S-she…. She actually did it!"
"No way…"
Two guards watching from the side commented, their eyes wide open at the unexpected win.
Hiroki watched with an unchanged, emotionless expression as he looked at the way Aya defeated a man who was several times the size of her body.
But right now, even though he mentioned to Aya that he was going to meet her and congratulate her for her amazing efforts and her courage to participate in this tournament, he wasn't going to reveal himself in this form. At least not until he finishes what he came here to do.
After the match was confirmed to be over with Aya's victory, the field was cleared out of any unnecessary objects and the unconscious tanker before the guards gave Nagisa the confirmation to enter the field.
From here, he could see how many people could see him with wondering and rather surprised looks at his appearance.
After Aya's amazing performance, everyone was rather curious and excited to see what potential this young boy held as well.
Meanwhile, while Hiroki was waiting for his opponent to show up, back at the VIP zone, the gray-haired knight could be seen softly smiling with his eyes shut in satisfaction.
The princess wondered for a bit about the reason behind his sudden reaction, but after a few more moments, a guard came towards them with the same white-haired girl that won the tournament beside him.
"Sir, I've brought her as you instructed."
The guard said this before getting a nod of confirmation from the gray-haired knight.
Aya, who was still a bit perplexed about being brought here, looked at the three individuals that were looking at her with slight confusion, annoyance, and satisfaction.
She wasn't sure why she had been brought here. However, she knew that now that she was in front of the royal princess, she had to act with manners.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, princess." Aya said as she slightly bowed in front of the confused princes.
However, after a few more seconds, the princess showed an excited smile.
"You must be the adventurer that Sir Ryosaki has been talking about." the princess said.
"She is quite strong for her age, and I must say that she holds quite the potential." The black-haired holy knight commented with her stern shut eyes, "However, I see nothing special for her to be brought in front of the young lady's presence."
"Aww, don't say that, Sofia." The princess responded as she looked at the perplexed, white-haired girl. "She is so cute. Now I understand why Sir Ryosaki has taken a liking to her."
While Aya continued looking with a rather suspicious and confused stare, the gray-haired knight turned back to the princess and Sofia.
"I think you're misunderstanding something here." He tried explaining.
"Hehe, it's okay; I understand." The princess smirked as she responded, "But leaving that aside, Aya, you can come and sit next to me."
"Eh?"
Aya's eyes widened for a split second as the princess patted the seat next to her, offering to sit there.
"I don't think someone like me has the right to sit next to the princess."
"Aww…. Even though I offered for you to sit next to me. To think that you would reject me so harshly…." The princess reacted with a sad look on her face, as fake tears could be seen forming in her eyes.
"Ah, no…"
Aya worriedly looked at the princess, not sure how to get out of this situation. She was well aware that she was from royalty, which is why she thought it wasn't a good idea for her to be sitting in such a situation. But on the other hand, she seemed persistent in wanting to sit with her.
"T-then, if it's fine with the princess, then please excuse me." Aya said, earning a sudden smile as a reaction from the princess.
After Aya sat down right next to the princess, she began noticing how close her shoulders were to the blonde beauty. Even though she tried sitting on the very edge of the seat, the princess seemed to be leaning closer to her, giving her almost no freedom over the seat.
The gray-haired knight had noticed this sort of behavior, which is why he couldn't help but give a chuckle at the sort of pattern he was noticing.
Meanwhile, back at the field, a young boy seemed to have entered. That person was none other than Nagisa, or, to be more exact, Hiroki, who was now in complete possession of his body.
The whole audience was rather worried about younglings participating in this dangerous tournament; however, after what Aya had proved with her strength, curiosity was growing much larger than their concerns.
After a couple of more minutes, on the other side of the ring, entered several other adventurers that also seemed to be in their early teens, equipped with basic armor and light clothes that would allow them to use their bodies more efficiently. However, upon closer inspection, none of them possessed any sort of weapon.
"Well, well, well, to think that fate brought us here today once again." A smirking boy at the front of the group said as he glanced at the motionless Nagisa.
The group of Elementalists that were on the other side were the same adventurers that seemed to know who Nagisa was before he was sold as a slave on the black market.
Hiroki was aware of that as well. However, he didn't try to pry into his possessions past life, or what those bullies seemed to know about him. However, this provided a nice opportunity to not only get the attention of the princess but also bring out the best skills that this new body held within.
Hiroki looked through his possessed eye's as he analyzed every single one of those bullies that seemed to like to mess with Nagisa.
'They all seem to be around the same age as Nagisa. Meaning, that they were probably in the same academy or whatever place they learned to develop skills —or, to be more exact, elements, as they call them.'
Hiroki thought in his mind, analyzing and inspecting those teens who were all smiling in confidence.
'Well, whatever the relationship these kids had with this body, that won't bring anything to my side, so getting any intel from them won't be necessary for me.'
"Hey, why aren't you speaking, or did a demon bite your tongue?" The same boy smiled as he watched Nagisa unmoving, thinking that he had scared him into motionlessness.
However, there was a problem with this sudden match. Especially through the sudden confusion with the audience, which seemed perplexed about this unfair match. This whole tournament was supposed to be a fair match, so how come this sole boy had to be facing a group of five other Elemetalists?
The same thoughts were going through the gray-haired knight, watching with worry from above.
"Maybe I should talk to the administrator about this unhonorable match." The gray-haired knight said as he prepared himself to interfere in the match.
"Wait."
However, he stopped when the voice of the princess suddenly called out to him with a stern voice.
"I'm sure that there must've been a reason behind this," she said, "I want to see how this match will turn out. If that sole boy can't handle it, I give permission to halt the tournament."
The gray-haired knight thought for a bit before softly closing his eyes in agreement.
"As you wish, princess."
As the match was on the verge of starting, a wave of unease washed over a portion of the audience, perceiving the lopsided nature of the impending confrontation.
Nagisa, or more precisely, Hiroki, stood poised, awaiting the commencement of the duel. Meanwhile, on the opposing side, the same smirking individual stood alongside several cohorts, exuding an air of confidence and superiority.
"It is unfortunate that you got this unfair match," the smirking guy began, "but you need not worry because I'm not as unfair as I used to be." His smirking grew wider and darker. "That's why if you beg for forgiveness and lick the bottom of my shoe just like the old days, then I'll let you off with a few kicks in your face."
Nagisa, on the other hand, remained unflinching, his eyes staring right back at the bully who tried intimidating him.
"....."
"Tch! Fine, you want to remain silent? Then congrats, because you've earned yourself the worst beating that will make you beg me for yo—"
*Ding* *Whoosh!*
While the pissed-off guy was continuing what he was about to do to Nagisa's silence, his words were cut in half by the sudden ring heard through the whole tournament, indicating that the match had already begun. However, right in that same moment, a swift swoosh was heard in the next split second before the whole group on the other side facing Nagisa fell unconscious.
No one saw what just happened other than Nagisa, who was the only one remaining standing on the field.
"What just…."
"...happened…"
Said a few guys from the audience as they saw the young boy silently walk out of the field once none of the other opponents were giving any sign of reaction. It almost felt like they were all knocked out by him in an instant.
The same reaction couldn't be the same for the ones watching from the VIP zone.
While Aya and the princess gave a rather surprised look, the two knights had their eyes narrowed as they watched Nagisa.
'In that split moment, I'm sure that I saw that boy create a long water whip which knocked everyone out,' the dark-haired knight thought in silence, 'he used his element so fast that normal people wouldn't even be able to react….'
Leaving behind the unexpected match that almost left everyone speechless, the tournament continued with many new potential adventurers who seemed very eager to show off what they were capable of.
The number of participants was slowly getting lower and lower as they all came to the semi-finals.
Who were left were Aya, Nagisa, a party of two, and several other known adventurers that seemed to have quite a lot of potential in their eyes as they watched from the VIP zone.
And right now, there seems to be a new sort of special match that was prepared by the organizer of this match. Since there seemed to be another group of two individuals that were in a party together, Aya and Nagisa were temporarily paired up together in order to decide which one of them was going to go to the final round.
Right now, after this change was explained to the contestants, they all waited in the open field for the match to begin.
On one side were Nagisa and Aya, who seemed to be silent and not speak with one another, while on the other hand, they were the same party of two. One of them was the dark-haired swordsman named Danial, and on his side was a slim beauty with brown hair and a dark dress.
"Hey, we meet again." Danial smiled in confidence as he greeted his opponent with white hair.
"I suppose that you won't be inviting me again in this situation." Aya responded back with a rather mischievous smile.
Danial's smile widened even more in excitement.
"Well, that won't be as much fun as this was planned out, won't it?" He continued, "I saw the way you fought in the previous fights, and I won't lie that you got me excited a little bit. Even though I wanted to have you at my party because of your special features, I never expected you to be this strong."
"I can say that back to you." Aya responded.
Nagisa watched the two in silence as he noticed something at the highest point in the area. From here, he could see that it was a pitch-dark spot that no one would notice that easily.
That small dot was a dark-cloaked, dark-haired girl watching the whole thing from above.
'A few more moments…. and it will begin….' She said in her mind as she locked eyes with Nagisa for a split moment.
Going back to the match, Aya remained in her guard before turning her eyes towards Nagisa. For some reason, she felt rather weird and suspicious of this young boy who showed no emotion whatsoever.
Right now, she knew that in order to win this match, Nagisa would have to cooperate with her as a team.
Since there were a few more minutes of last preparation before the match would begin, she turned towards Nagisa with the attempt of making a quick plan in order to finish this match smoothly without getting in one another's way.
"Nagi—"
However, right as she was about to call out to him, her voice was cut in half by a sudden noise, which not only attracted her attention but also the attention of everyone in the whole arena.
A sudden rumbling noise could be heard through the whole place, as if the skies were falling apart. But after a few more seconds of staying on guard, the whole sky turned dark as if it were swallowed by something, isolating everyone in the stadium from escape.
Both Sofia and Ryosaki stayed on guard with their arms almost over the princess in case something would happen as they watched this unsure phenomenon unfold in front of them.
The princess also stayed silent in worry while trying to remain calm about this situation. Even though she could be the primary target of this sudden thing, of which many were unsure what it was, she tried to keep her composure in order not to make the knights' job much harder.
Nagisa, who seemed to remain calm the whole time, watched the sky with an unimpressed expression as his eyes began showing the true color that his ghost form had.
Everyone who was seated in the stadium also began to worry as the realization hit that this wasn't part of the tournament.
"Hey, what's going on?" "What happened to the sky?" "Is this part of the show?" "Look at the sky!" "What happened?" "Look up!"
But worrying about the sky right now was the least of the problems everyone had at the moment, as in the next few minutes, several individuals who seemed to be worried about the sky as well noticed their own skin was becoming swollen.
They weren't sure what was going on other than scratching their own skin. However, the moment they noticed bulges growing on their skin, their eyes opened in terror after seeing this unnatural, horrifying thing over their own skin and bones.
"W-what? A-AGGHHH!!!"
The skin continued growing swollen until his whole body began deforming into this kind of monster with sharp, long fingers, a deformed face, and blood dripping from every hole of his body.
The ones that were nearby watched in horror at this kind of transformation, which left them with widened eyes and bated breaths.
"A-A a MONSTER!!! A MONSTER IS HERE!"
"Run AWAY!!!"
"""AAAGHHHH!!!!!!!"""
"N-NOOOOOO!!!"
"Get Away!!"
Terrified by this sudden transformation into a zombie-like creature with features that would scare even adults in their worst nightmare, they all tried to get away from this particular monster that used to be another human.
(Reference: A similar image of these monsters would be like Scary Terry from Rick and Morty.)
But the end didn't stop there, because it wasn't just the lone spectator who underwent a monstrous transformation.
Throughout the entire stadium, numerous individuals, numbering well over a hundred, also began undergoing the same transformation. They morphed into grotesque creatures, bearing humanoid shapes with terrifying features that could only be described as monstrous.
The zombie-like creatures let out a long, roaring cry as they looked around them.
"GWAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" "RWAAAAAAAAA!!" "GWWAAAOOOO!!"
"RAAWWWWWR!!" "WRAAAAAAAAAAWWW!!!" "WraAAAAAWwww!!"
The ex-humans that had now transformed into monsters continued crying in pain before beginning to jump and kill the humans that were near them. Their attacks were quick and deadly, leaving their target dead on the spot as they would plunge their knife-like fingers into their target's stomach or throat, then eat, tearing their guts out with their own sharp teeth.
"N-NOOO!!!"
"G-get AWAY FROM ME!!"
""No, NO! Please!!"
"AAAGHHH!!!"
"My LEEEEG!!"
"SOMEONE HELP!!!"
"NOOOO!!!"
Cries from the remaining thousands of humans could be heard all over the stadium. Many were getting killed, while the rest tried to get away from the monsters as far as they could. But no matter how hard they tried, their plea for help wasn't heard by anyone as the number of monsters grew, making it even harder for anyone to seek shelter or escape.
Seeing the unexpected situation, the brown-haired boy carrying a sword in his hands looked all around with a narrowed expression before directing his eyes towards Aya and Nagisa.
"I think we're going to have to delay our match for a bit," Danial said.
"I think we can both agree on that."
Aya understood that working together to get out of this place was the right choice, which is why she embraced herself for the upcoming monsters.
As the monsters jumped from the front seat rows towards the field, Danial swung his sword once, causing the monster to flinch before its whole body fell apart in two complete directions.
"Usually, in times like this, escaping would be the obvious option," Danial began as his eyes watched the zombie-like monsters come towards him. "However, I don't think that I can leave this whole thing be."
"The whole place is being surrounded by a weird barrier, so escaping from here isn't that much of an option right now." The slender, dark-clad beauty remarked, her gaze fixed upon the somber sky.
"Is that so?!" Danial said before swinging his sword once again at the monsters that were trying to kill him and the group behind him.
"Yes." The brown-haired beauty in a dark dress responded with a calm expression.
"For now, I can hold off some of these monsters with no problem, but we need to come up with some sort of plan in order to increase not only our safety but also that of those few people that are trying to hide." Danial added.
While Aya already had her daggers out, the other brown-haired girl remained calm as she directed her sight towards the direction where Nagisa was supposed to be.
"Wasn't that boy...." she attempted to inquire, "here just now?"
Aya also turned to her side and realized that Nagisa was nowhere to be found. Even his presence was gone from there, as if he wasn't there to begin with.
* * *
In a dim hallway that resembled a dungeon, Nagisa — or to be more exact, Hiroki in his new slave body was calmly walking around with a blank expression. His eyes wandered around in thought and expectation before coming to a halt.
'This new body was in terrible shape when I first bought it,' he thought to himself before peeking at the status of this new body.
[ STATUS ]
Name: Nagisa
Race: Human
Title: Slave bound
INT: 67 STR: 5 AGI: 4 VIT: 130 DEF: 10
[ Skills ]
<Demon's curse> <Water element>
'I did try leveling it up as much as I can, but there's so much I can do while staying hidden in a town,' he continued, 'but what caught my interest even more…..'
[ Information! ]
Skill: <Demon's curse>
Effects: Is an insidious emblem that plagues its user with the curse of annoyance and anger. Those around the user will find themselves inexplicably irritated and upset. The curse has a unique ability to mimic skills, allowing it to blend seamlessly within the user's body without their awareness.
'This boy has come in contact with a demon….'
Once Hiroki had determined the status of his possessed body, he pressed forward once more through the seemingly endless palace that resembled a labyrinthine dungeon. The long, dimly-lit hallway stretched out before him, with no discernible end in sight, no matter how far he walked.
However, after walking for several more minutes, he soon found himself in a wider hallway where an individual seemed to be talking with another white-clothed knight.
"...when you find the right moment, make sure to bring me the head of the princess."
The one to say that seemed to be a rather chubby man with white clothes who almost resembled someone from the church. The right word to describe him would be an archbishop.
"I understand, your excellency!"
The knight responded before running away from there towards the other position. The archbishop remained still for a moment before directing his eyes towards the other side of the hallway.
"You…." The archbishop suddenly said in a deep, low voice, "How did you get here?"
"So this is where everything was planned out?"
Hiroki responded, earning a vein pop on the archbishop's head.
"You seem to have a lot of guts despite being just a brat, don't you?"
The archbishop sternly asked before pulling out a dagger from his pocket.
"But not that it matters right now. If you don't plan on telling how you got here, then death is what you'll get!"
Then, as the archbishop stated, he pointed his dagger towards the boy before several zombie-like humans started forming out of the ground. Monsters that were similar to the ones that transformed were once spectators who were trying to enjoy the tournament.
However, right before the monsters could properly form, Hiroki raised both of his hands, showing that he wasn't planning on fighting.
"?!...."
"H-hold on! I think there was some sort of misunderstanding!"
Hiroki tried persuading him using Nagisa's body. But despite that, the archbishop still glared at the boy with a pissed-off look.
"???!!..."
That was until that boy lifted up his shirt and revealed something visible on his belly.
"...That….Why do you have that?"
What Nagisa had on his belly was a dark tattoo with weirdly shaped forms right below his belly.
"That should be clear to you why I have that." Hiroki sternly responded.
"...."
Left behind with an unsure decision, the archbishop thought to himself.
'I was never informed about another blessed one…. So how come?....'
There could be many speculations and outcomes about this situation. There was also a chance that the boy showing the tattoo was a spy. But that contradicts it because he had the tattoo below his belly.
That alone couldn't be faked unless they were blessed.
"Boy, if you don't mind. Can you come with me? I know that this may sound rude saying this to another fellow blessed one, but I need to make sure since I was never informed about your arrival."
"No, not at all."
After a long thinking process, the archbishop finally came to a decision before giving the suggestion to the boy, which Hiroki didn't seem to mind.
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