Duchess and Val never came back, but I'm not worried. They went in the direction of Flash Gordon, so they were safe.

I tense up and slash out. Someone got on my hill, and it better not be the weirdo. My sword hits something unbelievably hard, and the sounds of broken glass ring out in my ears.

Small pieces of crystal litter the floor as the air is smothered with dust. The purple-haired crystal guy appears out of nowhere and quickly jumps off the stage, out of reach of my blade. I quickly grab some arrows off the ground and toss them at him.

Floating crystals of all different colors and cuts float around purple and block the shots. A blue gem floats out and starts to charge with energy. A streak of lightning meets my sword before traveling into my arm, ultimately doing nothing. A jetstream of fire shoots out from a ruby. I wave that away too.

More red and blue gems float out from him and start firing their elemental blasts. I noticed that he isn't taking damage from my thorns, but his crystals are taking some damage back. Neat. Purple must have realized this since he clicked his tongue and switched out the crystals for yellow ones.

A flurry of invisible slashes tries to cut my skin and lift me off the ground, but all it does is ruffle my clothing. I won't move off this hill. He outstretches his hand, and multiple brown crystals fly at me, turning into jagged boulders without losing momentum.

I can see how his magic is hard for people to deal with. Multiple sources of constant magic would rip any average group to shreds. I punch a boulder out of the sky before cracking down on another one with my blade. The others hit my body, dealing no damage.

Aren't you higher ranked than Kosta? Show me why. I don't say anything out loud, but I say it with my eyes. Purple hair keeps changing his gems to all different colors, red, blue, green, white, yellow, and brown, but nothing changes. He switches gems before they can break.

I wonder where the rest of the team is or if he's alone. Frustrated, purple hair leaves. I see him. He just climbed the nearest intact building and is standing on the roof. I squint my eyes and see him channeling a large amount of energy into a crystal-clear gem, aiming straight at the platform.

I read in my [Lexicon] that gem casters usually pre-store mana into their spell focuses (their gems) and use them to unleash elemental carnage. The storage depends on the quality and cut. Mana crystals can be used for grander spells, but they need personal input.

I activate [Bolster Resistance] for radiant damage since that's the only type he hasn't dealt I believe he can deal with. Plus, the crystal is transparent and doesn't have a color.

A brilliant behemoth of light shines down on my body, dealing more damage than I thought.

-2400

(-450)

Even with my eyes closed, I can still see the light and the bones in my hand. The air in my lungs heats up, but the light fades before anything else happens to me. My vision is blurry and spotty, but I use mana to heal my wounds.

I wonder how much my radiant resistance grew. I'll have to wait for [Bolster Resistance] to end.

"FUCK, my CRYSTAL!"

The clear crystal has broken in half, and purple is not happy.

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!"

I shrug and sit down. Purple hair does less than that archer, so I might as well wait for the clock to run out. We should almost be halfway.

"I DID SO MUCH WORK, HUNTING DOWN TEAMS AND PREPARING MY MAGIC, GIVE UP."

His yelling from the top of the building doesn't move me to surrender my hill. He's pleading at this point.

"FUCK, FINE. HAVE IT YOUR WAY. Sorry teacher, I'm revealing it now."

"What was that last part?"

Purple drops a crystal the same color as his hair off the roof of the building, and it sinks into the ground like it isn't there. The platform starts to shake, and the buildings crumble a little more before a hulking thirty-foot-tall golem rips its way out of the ground.

Its body is asphalt and concrete, with purple veins visible throughout its whole form. It has teeth made of rebar and a pair of rebar claws jutting out of its closed fists. It roars, and a soundwave resonates from its gullet. It's crystal clear, almost musical.

It immediately charges at me, and I stand my ground. I do more damage to bigger targets.

[Crystal Golem Lv150]

It's surprisingly agile for its size. The air ripples as I dodge two attacks without moving my lower body. It raises its leg and tries to stamp me out. I step to the side, allowing its foot to slam next to me. My arrows fly everywhere, and dust picks up in the wind. I stab the golem's knee with my blade before rolling between its legs to dodge its punches.

Its attacks might be strong enough to blow me off the hill, so I should dodge the easy ones. I take a few more slashes at its back before getting caught in a sudden backhand. It doesn't break my resistance, but it sends me skidding to the other edge of the platform.

The golem's mouth opens wide as I climb to my feet. Purple crystals grow from the creature's shoulders before an ear-splitting high-pitch sound rings across the city.

-3600

(-594)

[Resistance: Force 252 > 300 (400)]

The sound is so loud it feels like my organs are boiling. My eardrums instantly exploded, and the pain and vertigo almost made me fall on my face. My mouth fills with the taste of my own blood again.

-142

(-75)

As the ear-ripping scream persists like an opera singer, the damage turns to damage over time instead. I heal my wounds and throw my sword at the golem. My eyes hurt, and my ears are bleeding.

My sword manages to stab right into the roof of the creature's mouth, silencing it. My ears are still ringing even after bringing my health bar near the top, so I specifically heal my hearing.

I think the purple hair is saying something from atop his building, but he's too far away for me to hear him. I run at the golem and use my boots to maneuver myself on top of it. I beat down on its head over and over, alternating my fists. My beating gets interrupted when one of its rebar-clawed arms manages to pierce me.

-600

(-150)

-100

(-75)

-100

(-75)

Three prongs hit me. It missed both my hearts but got me through the side of the neck, the liver, and my leg. I'm stuck like an unfortunate barbeque kebab. The golem crumbles to purple and concrete dust. It died from cumulative damage, and the reflection finished it off.

I slowly pull the rebar from my neck. A waterfall of blood mixes with the remains of the golem. I close the wound before I bleed out. I started working on the next one when purple hair ran onto the stage, screaming at me.

"WHY WOULDN'T YOU DIE? WHY DID YOU KILL IT."

He puts his hands around my neck and tries to strangle me. If his eyes had teeth, they would be biting at me. His disgusting jewel-encrusted teeth are bared at me. I hit him over the head with a piece of rebar, denting his skull. He drops to the ground.

"Gurgle..."

He hasn't been eliminated yet. I hit him a few more times until he turns to light. Now that that's over, I remove the rest of the rebar and let my wounds heal. No one else tries to contest my point. When the hour is over, a separate portal opens next to me. It doesn't seem to be the exit. It sucks me through without my consent.

I appear on a much larger platform than before, with a small ring in the circle. The entire thing seems to be floating in the air... Wait, it's actually just on a mountaintop that reaches the clouds. I see the rest of my team except for Jerry, his beasts, and Arlug. I see two other groups that are also missing members. John, the generic swordsman, and Erhart stand in front of their respective teams. I think it's Erhart, as I recognize his armor, but he is wearing a helm and wielding a tower shield in one hand and a greatsword in the other.

John's team has a mage, a healer, and an archer, while Erhart has three other men as heavily armored as he is. I guess this is the final stage that the dean of the Auroran Institute was talking about. As I was thinking that, his voice rang out from above.

"Alright, students. Whoever stays in the center for one minute wins it for their school! Ready? GO!"

John immediately runs for the center as his team falls back to lay range attacks on the rest of us. Erhart and his squad advance as one unit.

Khan is missing many bodies and looks heavily injured, not that it changes his expression. I lay healing into him as I commanded my team.

"Cause chaos."

I'll never get sick of Khan's feeding frenzy. He blitzes the battlefield looking for prey to feed on, but curiously he seems to vibrate from rage as a storm starts brewing. I ask Duchess why as I pick up Flash Gordon and gun for the middle. I notice that Rob isn't here, sad.

[That one infuriated that his prey disappears before he can enjoy the flesh of his labor. Even when he savors it slowly, the meat still leaves. Or so thisss one surmises.]

John's team cowers under a protective force field conjured by their mage. Anabel and Val use ranged attacks to pester the magic shield. Khan really wants inside the force field.

The other two captains and I arrive at the center. John's sword meets Erhart's shield in a rich clash of steel. I drop-kick John since he seems lighter. I pushed him out of the duel and put myself in the center. Erhart's sword bears down on me, crushing me more than cutting me. Not that I take damage.

"Interesting defense, little man. You should look to join the First Bastion after graduating from your shitty institute. We can use more men like you."

I ignore him as I watch John slowly get pulled into the air and flung off the side of the platform. Falling to a fate unknown. Yeah, Duchess can do that. Erhart's men were too heavy for that treatment, so I guess it's a 4v2. Flash Gordon is perfect for this fight. He is a 'siege weapon,' after all. What better to use to take down these walking bastions?

I slam Flash Gordon at Erhart, who I don't believe triggers my extra damage to colossus', and he blocks it with his shield. Flash Gordon leaves a dent in his finely crafted steel as I bring him back down on these tin cans. They try to flank me and force me off the stage manually. I [Enroot] to the center stage and stare at my tall assailants.

I tangle one of them in vines, drawing the attention of another one to slash his friend free. The third guy gets Flash Gordon thrown at his helmet. The helmet dents inward, causing blood to flood out of the helm. Erhart slams his shield into the floor in front of his ally to protect him. With his free hand, he ripped Flash Gordon from his ally's head and tossed him away. Flash Gordon floats inches from his gauntlet before [Fragmenating]. He splits into multiple pieces and penetrates his armor.

His armored form tenses with pain before his body relaxes. He takes his shield from the ground.

"It's moving in my flesh and ravaging my organs. I can no longer win this event, and my men will be fodder in front of you. What a wicked arsenal you have with you, tamer. I'll see you in the next round, but that doesn't mean I'm done, nor are my men."

Four sets of swords and shields aim at me.