“Welcome to the special event of the tournament! Today we will witness a battle royale between all the schools! Each participating school will appear in specific locations and must be prepared to survive until the very end. Which school will be the winner?” the announcer shouts into the microphone.
That was only the final part of her entire speech. I’m still amazed, even from the first day, by her ability to handle a crowd. She can comment for hours and people hardly grow tired of her voice or remarks.
We are already positioned on our teleportation platform. Every school must be waiting for the moment just like we are.
“Leave the small fish to me. I’ll help you once I finish with them.” Areci taps my shoulder and speaks directly.
“If you take too long, you’ll miss the fun,” I reply.
She came to visit us again last night. She brought a proposal. If we encountered a school with a limit breaker, I would handle the biggest nuisance and leave the rest of the students to her.
Areci would help once she finished off all the students along with our group. It sounds like a perfect plan to me. My abilities are useful in almost every scenario; I can hold my own against any type of opponent without issue.
“Ready? Let’s go!” the announcer shouts, and I feel spatial mana slowly wrapping around us.
Huh? This feels different… the mana around me doesn’t feel the way it normally should. My knowledge isn’t deep enough to fully understand the difference, but this time it feels viscous. It tries desperately to trap me and teleport me, but not in a gentle way. It feels aggressive, almost hostile.
What’s happening? For a few moments, I feel like I’m in complete emptiness. Teleportation shouldn’t take this long. At the same time, I don’t feel entirely trapped, more like I’m being forced to remain here.
My Imra and my own spatial mana are acting differently. My body instinctively reacted in a defensive manner. My own spatial mana has me contained in this place, but not with malicious intent. My instincts tell me that. My body reacted to danger before I could even understand what was truly happening.
I feel like I’m drifting through this void for several minutes, though I don’t know if it’s been seconds or hours. I don’t even know if time exists where I am. I’m simply on my way somewhere else.
I should be able to force it if I try. If I focus on breaking apart all this space around me, I can do it. This space feels different from usual—fragile, as if someone designed it using the common spatial skill framework as a template.
I remember something similar years ago. I hadn’t felt it again until now. After analyzing it a bit, I realize where I experienced this sensation before. It reminds me of when I met Sus. It’s the same feeling I had when I was teleported to the capital city of the marquisate after winning the rookie tournament.
This ability feels even more fragile now. I can’t make an exact comparison because back then my knowledge of spatial magic was nonexistent, and I was focused on other thoughts.
Wait… if this is someone’s ability forcing the teleportation of the participants, does that mean someone has managed to bypass the tournament’s defenses? That should be impossible. There must be another explanation.
My brain refuses to accept the possibility of an attack. Security is managed by specialists, and there are several Diamond and Obsidian ranks here. It should be impossible. Yet my instincts are screaming something else—something bad is happening.
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Damn it. Right now I gather all my willpower into my Imra and, combined with my spatial affinity, I try to break this fragile prison around me. Little by little it cracks until it finally gives in to the enormous amounts of energy pouring out of my body.
Spatial mana wraps around me again, but this time it’s the usual kind—the one I’m accustomed to when I teleport or when platforms send me elsewhere. As my senses return, I realize something—I’m falling from the sky at full speed.
I force my gravity mana to stop my fall. After struggling for a few seconds, I finally manage to control my body and remain suspended in the air.
I look around to see where I am. Apparently, this is the same place as the second stage of the tournament. It doesn’t seem like I’ve been teleported to another dungeon or some strange location. I decide to get moving. I recognize some oddly shaped mountains. This is the same path I took with Brendu and Ogine.
I’ve been lucky to appear somewhere familiar. I know where to move, and it’s time to head toward the center of this place. I’m sure I’ll find some answers there. My instincts tell me so.
Point of view of Susan:
“Sadim, you called me. What just happened?” My voice sounds louder than usual. I even forgot to be polite with the emperor, but I don’t care right now. There are far more important matters to address.
“That lunatic managed to bypass our security somehow. We can’t figure out how he did it.” The emperor looks completely furious.
The tablet in his hands lights up with notifications. After reading them, he continues speaking. “We still don’t know how he bypassed our defenses, but we’ve managed to contact him. We must prioritize the lives of all the students right now.” His tone is serious.
“Yes, that’s the top priority.” I agree with Sadim. The lives of all of them are important—especially my precious children and my beloved daughter.
The huge screen in front of us changes after a second, focusing on a person. A one-eyed man with messy black hair, a thick unkempt beard, and a maniacal smile.
“What do you want? As long as your demands aren’t excessive, I can fulfill them,” the emperor says loudly and clearly.
“Nothing. I want nothing,” the kidnapper replies. I know this man. He used to work with the maniac Tiani captured when Maki’s territory was attacked. He must have recently ascended to Diamond rank.
Aaron the Torturer. He’s quite well known for working with that madwoman for many years. He also has hundreds of charges—torture, murder, kidnapping, and countless others. How could a mere Diamond rank bypass this level of security? He must have some kind of backing.
“I’m not interested in anything. I desire nothing in this life,” Aaron continues. “You took away my entire world. Now I will take something just as precious from you—a whole future generation.” The madness in his eyes says it all. He’s completely lost his sanity.
“Chrysti’s death was decreed by the King of Juka and me. The students were not involved. Let them go.” The emperor’s eyes do not waver for a second. He is completely focused on the man on the screen.
The torturer begins laughing like a madman, flashing a defiant grin. Sadim continues speaking. “It will only take about fifteen minutes to break your little game. When that happens, this will be over. I can guarantee your escape if you leave all the participants alive.” The emperor has a reputation for keeping his word.
“I don’t care about living or dying. I no longer have the one reason I had to keep living. You can come and kill me with your own hands if you want.” Aaron shrugs as he speaks. “At least I’ll take something equally precious with me—including your son and many little talents.” His smile grows even more disgusting.
This bastard is completely out of control. This is the worst possible situation. Someone who has lost all purpose and reason to live will do anything to hurt those he blames for his despair. In his eyes, life holds no meaning anymore.
Aaron ends the call without another word. The communication simply drops. No matter how many times the emperor tries to reconnect, it’s impossible.
“Damn it, that son of a bitch.” Sadim begins cursing with all his being. “Someone must be backing him. A simple fly like him shouldn’t be capable of something of this magnitude. He’s a recently ascended Diamond rank focused on craftsmanship. A major group must be supporting him.”
The emperor seems to have reached the same conclusion as I have. It’s impossible for that wretch to bypass imperial security and trap all the participants in the same place on his own.
“Is there any way to speed up the process? We need to hurry,” I ask the emperor.
“No. There’s no safe way to do it. If we force it, we could cause irreparable damage to the participants’ cubes. It would be the same as killing them.” His words leave me without ideas. The only option is to gradually break through the defenses Aaron has set up.
“We can only trust our talents. If they manage to buy enough time, we might be able to break in and put an end to this shit.” The emperor taps his chair rhythmically with his fingers as he thinks.
Trust our talents? A face comes to my mind. Will you be able to perform another miracle?