One after another, in the blink of an eye, a black blur swept past the three cadets with a speed that could only be considered inhumane.
The small circular badges on their chests instantly broke and shattered into several shards, unable to withstand the swift slashes from Quinn's dagger.
In no time, they were all eliminated.
"Has he grown stronger?"
Yes, he had indeed grown much stronger. Much stronger than he should've been at this point in the story.
So, my actions have affected the timeline once again, huh?
Will I get the Edit Points for that too? Uh, I guess not.
One thing I've noticed is that I only get Edit Points for a few immediate ripples that my actions cause in the plot.
For the sake of simplicity, let's say this: If I create a domino effect, then I would only be able to reap Edit Points for flipping the first few domino pieces.
That means that by the time the last domino falls, I would get hardly anything if absolutely nothing at all.
–"Haaaa!"
Ahh, I didn't have time to think about such things. Edit Points or not, my priority right now is to win this damn Battle Royale.
Suddenly, a battle scream erupted behind me, causing me to swiftly spin around. I saw a spearman rushing at me with the tip of his weapon pointed in my direction.
Seeing him, I raised my hand and pointed an open palm at him. "Don't alert your opponent before attacking by screaming out loud, fool."
Shaking my head, I muttered a chant under my breath, and suddenly a fireball appeared in front of my open palm before launching at the incoming spearman.
Swoosh—!!
Like a cannonball, the blazing sphere of red flames shot at my opponent, but the spearman nimbly ducked down and rolled forward.
My fireball harmlessly passed over his head and continued on its trajectory.
For a second, I worried that the stray artillery spell might hit someone from the audience.
However, before that could happen, the fireball hit an invisible barrier at the end of the concrete field and dissipated into thousands of sparkling embers.
Right, I almost forgot about it.
The entire concrete field was enveloped in a magic nullifying barrier. Any spell that came in contact with it would be nullified on the spot.
Of course, breaking the barrier would require several high-level spells to hit a singular point, but that wasn't going to happen amidst the mayhem since no one was aiming at a specific spot on the barrier.
–"Die, you fucker!" The cadet yelled a curse, getting up on his feet from the roll and using the momentum to pounce at me while simultaneously throwing his spear at my chest.
A smirk played on my lips.
Immediately, I moved the fingers of my free hand at a blurring speed and made a few quick hand signs.
As soon as I was done, I thrust my hand forward, palm facing the cadet. This time, a static charge surrounded my arm, and suddenly a bolt of lightning shot forward.
The cadet widened his eyes, but once again, he managed to react in time. He raised his spear to his chest and blocked my thunderbolt spell.
However, even though he avoided the direct hit of my spell, it barely missed him by a hair's breadth. The force of the thunderbolt strike sent him flying back through the air like a rag doll.
Not long after, the spearman violently crashed on the ground and rolled to kill the momentum of his fall.
Gritting his teeth, he groaned in pain and got up to his knees. But that was all he could do before he saw a crimson glint flashing in an arc in the air in front of him.
The blade of my crimson spear slashed the badge on his chest, barely sparing him any deep wound or gash.
-"...Huh?"
The poor guy could only widen his eyes and let out a confused moan. What he did couldn't even be called putting up a fight.
He, one of the top two hundred cadets in the academy, lost in just a few seconds.
However, he shouldn't blame himself. He wasn't the only one to fall, after all.
All around me, several cadets were already on their knees, their faces showing expressions of disbelief and terror.
Quinn had already taken care of them.
At least this cadet in front of me was able to see my face and had a chance to struggle before finally succumbing to the blade of my spear.
Those who dared to stand against Quinn, however, didn't even see him attacking them. From their own shadows, he emerged and destroyed their badges.
Yet, the round wasn't over. There were still a few… no, more than a few second-year cadets left standing.
Just like a few moments before when the first-years decided to mark them as targets, these second-years had decided to make Quinn and me their priority.
They knew that keeping us on the battlefield any longer than this would spell trouble for them.
Pitiful fools. They had no idea that it was already over for them. Even if every single person on the battlefield had attacked us in unison, they wouldn't have been able to defeat Quinn and me.
With a mocking grin on my face, I turned to Quinn, who had now come to stand on my right.
"Deal with them," I said.
As if waiting for that cue, the remaining cadets rushed at us. Some of them stayed behind and readied their bows or artillery spells to fire at us from a distance.
–"Rush at them! There are only two of them and seven of us!"
–"Fire your arrows and spells at will!"
–"Come on, guys! Surround them! The albino is fast, and the edgy one can use shadow magic, so be careful!"
As they rushed at us, they barked orders to each other and communicated on how to tackle us.
Their plan was really simple but very effective.
They were going to shoot spells and arrows at us. While we were busy defending against the barrage of attacks, they would rush at us and exploit our openings.
Since neither Quinn nor I had water, ice, earth, or metal affinity to use a barrier spell, their plan was almost sure to succeed.
But before the mana-infused arrows or powerful artillery spells rained down on us, however, Quinn let out a sigh and opened his mouth.
"Awaken, souls of the damned. Awaken and serve your master."
Almost instantly, the shadow beneath Quinn's feet began to grow in a perfect circle.
In a split second, it spread and covered the entire circular concrete ground.
It looked as if we were standing on top of a circle made of eternal darkness that no light could pierce.
Within that darkness, several dark silhouettes of human and mana beast figures emerged, as if a legion of biblical demons ascending from hell.
The sheer sight of it sent shivers down the spines of those present in the arena and those spectating the match.
The atmosphere became suffocating, and an unsettling feeling settled over the crowd.
Everyone was harrowed by the dark spectacle.
They all must know about Quinn and his Necromancy spell, but this was their first time seeing the Perfect Necromancer use it.
It was as if they were witnessing a forbidding omen, their instincts urging them to run away.
Just a quick glance was enough to tell that the spell Quinn had unleashed was nothing short of ominous and sinister.
And they were right.
