[Dark Cloud Hunting] was a spell Souta didn't use when he was fighting the White Jade Spider because Lumilia and the rest were going to experience the debuff of this spell as well. He didn't want to decrease their fighting power by using this so he chose to not use this spell.

The caster was the only one immune to this spell. Well, Yuko was immune to it as the spell recognize her as a caster because of her connection with Souta.

The black mist spread around and blocked the audience's vision. They didn't have any idea what's happening on the stage.

Souta squinted his eyes as he looked at the giant lion. "I should finish this as soon as possible. Let me use it for a moment, Saya." He said as the black tentacles shoot towards the lion.

The lion moved its body left and right as it avoided the black tentacles. It was fast but after one minute, the black tentacles managed to grab the lion's feet.

The lion was about to smash the tentacles with its paw but it found the dozens of black tentacles were already around him. All the escape paths were blocked so it didn't have a choice but to fight.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The black tentacles wrapped the body of the black tentacles. It couldn't do anything against it.

Souta looked at the giant lion with a cold look while pointing his sword at it. He slightly bent his knees and gathered a large amount of his mana in his sword.

'How about training your sword skills here?' Saya suggested.

"No, I don't need to train here. It will only waste my time." Souta said before he charged towards the giant lion.

Boom!

The lion only saw a red flash before several lines appeared on its body.

Swoosh!

Souta was already behind the giant lion placing back the vajra sword in its sheath. He glanced back and saw the giant lion crumbled down. The black mist and the rest of Souta's spell disappeared.

The audience saw Souta standing at the center of the stage behind him was the chopped body of the giant lion. Everyone turned silent seeing this scene. They didn't think that Souta would decapitate the giant lion in that short amount of time.

'Do you think that they sense it?' Saya asked him.

"Nope, I tried my best to contain my power so only A-rank and above would be able to sense it," Souta replied to her while looking around the arena.

When Souta arrived in front of the giant, he activated [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode] skill to maximize his damage before canceling it once again after destroying the giant lion. Without the help of his equipment, he wouldn't be able to finish this lion so fast.

Souta smiled and strode towards the man.

The man smiled and congratulates him. "Congratulations, from now on you're a B-rank adventurer. That's an amazing performance."

"Yeah, thanks." Souta thanked the man.

The man was stunned at his performance. He didn't think that Souta would fain this exam. He just thought that it would take a while before Souta defeat the giant lion but no one thought that it would become a one-sided fight.

"Right? Your adventurer's ID is in the reception. You can take it as we already changed the information in it." The man said to him.

"Oh? Thanks." Souta said. He bid farewell to the man before he left.

At the corner of the arena hiding among the adventurers, Alea was standing while looking at Souta's back.

After Souta left, she opened her mouth and said, "What do you think?"

"Hmm... Powerful, my lady. I couldn't clearly see it because of the black mist but I speculate that he had the power of veteran B-rank." The butler at her side said in a low voice that only Alea could hear.

"...That Dark Lord sure is something. He said before that he was looking for a way to restore his mana pool so he was this powerful when he had his mana." Alea muttered before she turned around and silently left. "I had a bad feeling about it. Come, I wanted to greet them."

The butler turned his head and glanced at Souta's comrades.

"You're going to let them meet her."

...

Souta and the rest exited the guild. They congratulate him for passing the exam without any problem. All of them were happy for him.

"In truth, it's a hard fight. If that last attack didn't work then I would face a battle which I wasn't sure if I'm going to win." Souta explained to them. He consumed some of his mana in that battle. Well, it's natural as he activated all of his spells at the same time.

"We couldn't see anything because of that black mist," Brando said as he opened his arms.

"That's right, Souta! What was that black mist?!" Bryan asked.

"Black mist? Ah, that's my spell." Souta replied to Bryan.

"So you put everything in that strike?" Yujin suddenly asked.

Souta glanced at Yujin with a surprised expression and asked, "Did you see what's happening inside?"

"Yeah, Alophy helped me." Yujin nodded.

"I see... I used everything in my last strike so if it didn't work it would become a problem for me. Luckily, that monster isn't a real third evolution monster." Souta said. He used [Possession] and [Soul Blood Mode] in that last strike. If that didn't work, then he would have to fight that giant lion using these two skills and he doesn't want that to happen.

It wasn't the time to let the masses know that he had those skills. How could he surprise his opponent if they already know his skills? Using these skills at the right time would bring him a great advantage in a battle.

Plus, it was fun to reveal his skills if his opponent thought that he was going to lose. Looking at their stunned expression as he overturned the battle using these skills was great.

"Oh, right? There's a festival today." Souta said as he looked around.

"Yeah." Lumilia nodded at his words.

Souta smiled and he patted Cl.u.s.ter's head. "You can play. Let's enjoy this festival as we're going to leave tomorrow."

"Yay! Yay! Let's play!" Cl.u.s.ter hopped around while raising her hands in the air with a smile on her face. She couldn't hide her joy when she learned that she could play at the festival.

"Captain, we're going back," Jagret called Souta.

"Sure." Souta nodded and the Lanny group went back to the inn. They still have a lot of things that they needed to finish.

"Let's go!!" Bryan shouted.

The Dark Oculus went around and tried everything that this festival offered. They play and taste the foods that they could only find in this empire. It was fun for everyone.

Time had passed quickly and night came. The Dark Oculus group was standing in front of the inn while watching the fireworks.

The fireworks shoot in the sky and exploded creating a vibrant light in the dark sky. The different colors and sizes of the fireworks reflected in everyone's eye. It scattered into the tiny glittering sparks illuminating the sky with different colors.

The loud sound in the sky and the cheer of the people around were all they could hear.

It was beautiful.

Cl.u.s.ter was jumping around clearly excited about this.

'It's beautiful and sad at the same time.' Alice thought while gazing at the colorful sparks in the sky. For the first time, she was glad that she came to this continent.

"So pretty," Brando whispered while looking at the sky.

"Is that a spell or not?" Bryan muttered as he sat down and lean his back on the walls. He was wondering if the fireworks in the sky were caused by a spell or not.

Souta looked at the sky in dazed. It was his first time seeing fireworks or attending festival in this world. It was a foreign feeling for him.

Lynn turned her head and looked at Souta who was gazing at the sky. She pressed her hand on her chest and smile. 'I'm getting closer. I want to stay like this. I hope I would be able to get closer to you.' She thought while looking at Souta with adoration in her eyes.

Lumilia saw Lynn's expression and sighed. "I'm sorry..." She mumbled to herself.

"Tsk! It's not that bad. I'm glad that I join this group." Yujin clicked his tongue before he closed his eyes. He heightened his sense of hearing as he enjoyed the cheer of the people around him and the sound of the fireworks in the sky.

He thought that this group didn't have a goal at first but he was wrong. Everyone in this group was growing stronger day by day and they were going to catch up to him.

He thought that they were playing adventurers but not. They were all serious about it.

"Good, it's time for me to work hard too."