Miko found himself in a snowy area.

“I think I heard the crowd getting railed up at one point.”

He was walking through the snow with Ishma and Regis by his side.

“Looks like the fights are heating.”

“I want to fight already!”

Ishma was getting aggravated.

“Our time will come so quiet down.”

Regis was calmer.

“Ishma, I want you to explain your techniques to me again.”

“What, are you still having trouble incorporating it your Quinta-Dragon Martial Arts?”

Miko nodded.

“Since I obtained a stronger body during my battle with Natasa, I’m able to use the Quinta-Dragon Martial Arts. In theory, anyway. My body has become stronger but I encountered a problem with the Martial Arts itself. It’s harder to put it into practice than I originally thought. Since it relies on my ability to draw power from the different bloodlines inside of me, it’s hard to practice much less master.”

He showed two fingers.

“At the moment, I can only use the Azure and Purple Dragon Arts. The Green, Black, and Crimson are causing me headaches, especially the Green which draws power from you. If I can master that, the other two won’t be that hard.”

“Well, it’s not my fault that my techniques and power are two profound for you.”

“Profound? Your power is just too wild. It’s hard to turn it into a proper martial art.”

“Idiot, how is that a problem?”

“Huh?”

“It being wild should be seen as a plus. If you have a hard time managing it, just imagine how difficult it will be for your opponents.”

Miko’s eyes widened for a bit. He paused and started pondering Ishma’s word before smiling.

“I see. That could work.”

Elsewhere, Renatus’s group was walking through a jungle.

“This is the worst.”

Renatus walked with slumped shoulders.

“Now that I’ve fought I’ll be expected to continue to give my best. I can’t even say that I wasn’t feeling well as an excuse anymore.”

He glared at Cait.

“Glare all you want, but there’s no going back now. You have to see this through. To be honest, I’m surprised that you actually thought you could weasel yourself out of this?”

“Since it came to this I just need to defeat one of the other representatives. I can lose the fight after that and no one will complain.”

“….You know that the audience can hear you right?”

“Eh?”

“…….”

“What’s wrong, Sura?”

Cait stopped when she saw that Sura wasn’t walking.

“What? Gotta take a dump or something?”

Cait glared at Renatus and turned back to Sura.

“KC.”

“?!”

Cait pulled her daggers and shuffled next to Sura.

“Where is he?”

“Above.”

Renatus snapped his fingers and the trees around them burst one after the other. Something fell from the sky. Cait pounced at it. She threw the daggers and they were avoided. However, her prey had entered her range. Her eyes burnt scarlet as she clenched her fists.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

KC threw down his bow.

“I’m not here to fight!”

Cait’s fist stopped a few inches away from his face. She stepped back while Sura and Renatus surrounded him.

“Then, why did you come here?”

(They actually stopped. They really do lack battle experience.)

KC coughed.

“I’m here to propose an alliance.”

He turned Renatus.

“You want to hurry and end this competition right? Then we need to defeat Miko.”

“He has Kristen’s scent on him.”

Sura mumbled.

“So you guys fought Miko’s group? Since Nen isn’t here it’s fair to say that he got eliminated.”

KC nodded to Cait’s words.

“We fought and I had to retreat after Miko defeated Nen. After seeing Miko fight firsthand I realized that other than Krul the only shot we have is to team up.”

“And you sought out us? Why?”

“Because you guys are probably the only ones who would readily agree to forming an alliance. Ashur wants to fight everyone and Krul…Well, I don’t feel safe putting my safety in his hands.”

“Well, other than me, all the representatives are sick in the head.”

(You’re no different.)

Cait cursed Renatus in her mind.

“If we defeat Miko the competition will become meaningless. You guys want it to end right away, right? I’ll help you.”

“What about Rin? I doubt he’ll agree to that.”

“He won’t. I’m acting on my own but I’m also acting with him in mind.”

Cait locked eyes with KC. She stared at him for a while before turning to Renatus.

“What do you think?”

“I’m okay with it.”

KC smiled.

“Besides, even if he was trying to trick us I can destroy him before he does any real harm.”

The smile fell from his face.

(It’s a bit frustrating that I can’t refute that.)

“Anyway…”

Renatus stretched his hand out to KC and he grabbed it.

“Let’s get along.”

Meanwhile, there was a dimension that consisted entirely of a gigantic tree. Tessa was walking on one of its enormous limbs as if she was on a road.

(Alec and Kirika really went all out with these areas.)

She jumped down and landed on a branch underneath her. She looked down.

(I wonder if there’s a ground? I can’t see it from here….If I jump all the way down what would happen?)

She smiled and leaped off the branch.

(I’m too curious!)

She laughed and enjoyed the friction against her skin as fell. There was no reason why she did it. It was just a whim. But she randomly turning her to side became a critical action.

“…….”

The world halted. She couldn’t feel the friction against her skin. The noise of the breeze no longer reached her ears. Her surroundings were no longer a blur. Less than a few meters away, she could clearly see something heading towards her. It was a purple trident illuminated in gold. Someone was holding it. She recognized her as Maki Dragna of the Quartus Branch.

The world moved again. She was under attack.

“?!”

She twisted her body in the air and the trident flew past her. The temperature around her dropped and footholds of ice formed under her feet. She kicked off them and landed on a nearby branch.

“That was too close! I shouldn’t have let my guard down!”

She scanned her surroundings. A loud sound came from behind her. Before she could turn around the sensation of falling took over.

“What the?!”

She looked up and saw that the branch that was on was falling after being broken. A light flashed near her and she turned her head. The trident was once again flying in for an assault. Tessa didn’t think and dove off the branch and headed towards the tree trunk. The explosion behind her told her that the branch was destroyed. Frosty aura engulfed her body. She spun around and snapped her fingers.

“Blizzard Storm!”

Snow and wind dominated the area and covered a section of the tree. Maki flew through the blizzard and head towards the trunk. Once she exited the blizzard, she noticed that she had lost Tessa.

(She used the blizzard as cover to hide?)

She released the trident and flipped in the air. She landed on the trident and it kept her afloat. The blizzard dispersed and Maki scanned her surroundings.

(This tree is huge. There’s a lot of places she can hide, but she’ll definitely aim for a blindspot. Meaning, underneath, behind, above, or my sides.)

“I’m in front!”

Maki felt a blow to the center of her face. A fist materialized out of the falling snow before forming into Tessa.

(I forgot! She’s a Death Maiden! Which means!)

“I’m a natural-born assassin, bitch!”

Her fist opened up and a blast of death energy hit Maki in the face. Her body flew into a branch and caused a crack in it.

(I can’t use Death Magic too much in this competition since I risk draining my opponent’s life force.)

“Hm?”

She noticed Maki holding her trident in her hand.

(…I could separate her from her weapon? She also didn’t take as much damage as I thought?)

“I never expected that you would come attacking from the front. Looks like I’m still lacking as a warrior.”

She spun her trident in her hand and its golden aura brightened. Her body flickered and she appeared at Tessa’s side. Tessa blast dark mana at her. The mana dispersed before reaching Maki. She thrust her trident at Tessa’s chest. A wall of ice formed between them. Tessa retreated while observing Maki breaking through the ice wall with ease.

(Did her trident just devour my attack? Does that trident have some holy attribute?)

Wings of darkness formed on her back.

(The trident grants her flight too, so I need aerial mobility.)

Maki flew towards Tessa who retreated without hesitation.

“This is interesting. The normally hotheaded Tessa is being careful.”

Kouta spoke with a smirk.

(I don’t know much about Maki or Yaya’s abilities. The only thing I know is that they use Celestial Magic. That trident must aid Maki in using it…The problem is I’ve never faced Celestial Magic so I don’t know how to approach this fight.)

She spread her arms and dozens of giant ice fist appeared behind her. The ice fists flew at Maki. She thrust her trident and the area lit up.

“?!”

Tessa guarded herself as explosions erupted around her. She slammed on a branch. Pressure crashed against her body and forced her through the branch. She flew up to escape the pressure. Her eyes widened when saw that a huge chunk of the gigantic tree was torn away.

“….I seriously need to ask Uncle Nova to teach me Celestial Magic after this.”

Maki appeared from the light surrounded by a sparkly golden aura.

“I never took you for the type to run from a battle. You’ve yet to truly come at me risking everything. You can’t defeat Krul like that.”

Tessa looked at her and sighed.

“The one time I’ve decided to do things differently and this happens.”

Crimson and black aura started leaking out of her body. Her hair turned into a pitch-black mane and her eyes turned silver with a crimson hue in the center. Her skin darkened but had an unhealthy pale color as if she was a corpse. Her teeth turned into fangs and her nails changed into black claws.

“Let’s return basics, shall we?”