(The Primus Branch has obtained a king and a normal emblem! As such they’ve gained 110 points to bring them a total of 180 points! They retook the lead! On the other hand, all 3 members of the Secundus Branch have been defeated! Which means the Secundus Branch is eliminated from the competition!)

“Rin got eliminated?”

Krul was walking through a desert when the announcement reached his ears.

“Miko must’ve defeated him. Of the four branches, Primus should have the highest reminding members. Tertitus is down to Renatus, Quintus should still have Ashur and somebody else, and then there’s me and either Maki or Yaya. Competition wise, Miko is in the lead.”

He smiled.

“Gotta hurry up and find him so that we can end this thing with no more causalities.”

Meanwhile, in a grassy world. The sounds of fighting echoed. Tessa flew back. A chain chased after her. She used the daggers in her hand to deflect the chain. She sprinted towards her opponent. Chains, with blades attached, flew at her from all directions. She dove and twisted in the air. The chains passed by her cutting her clothes and barely slicing her flesh. She landed on the ground and pounced at her opponent.

“Yaya!”

Yaya held a pole handle with chains attached to it. She swung her weapon. The chains rushed at Tessa like serpents. Tessa spun and deflected them. Yaya popped up at her side.

“?!”

She thrust her daggers at Yaya’s face. It flew through her and Yaya’s image faded. Tessa’s right side started illuminating.

*Bam!*

She was devoured by an explosion.

“Looks like Miko defeated Rin.”

Yaya looked down at Tessa laying on the ground.

“Well, we’ll just trim down his allies before going after him.”

“If you think that’s enough to defeat me…”

Tessa struggled to lift herself off the ground.

“You’re just making the same mistake your sister did.”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something here.”

Spikes erected from the ground and pierced Tessa’s hands and legs.

“Ahh!”

“Maki and I are different. I’m not a fighter, I’m a killer.”

Tessa forced herself off to stand up. Blades of light appeared around her.

“I always go for the kill.”

Tessa’s body danced as the blades flew into her. She stumbled a bit before falling over. Yaya walked up to her and stooped down.

“?!”

A pair of legs appeared beside her. She leaped to the opposite side.

“Ugh?!”

Something cold penetrated her back and came through her stomach.

“A killer, huh?”

A new voice reached her ears. She turned her head and saw a devilish face wearing a fanged smile.

“K-Kane…”

“Hello, Ms.Killer. I’m the guy trained to kill people like you.”

He stepped in her back and forced her off his blade. She fell to her knees.

“I was careless….”

“Of course, you were. Once you defeated your target, you’ll naturally relax your guard even a little.”

Kane lifted his hand and blocked a strike from Tessa.

“This is how a professional is supposed to respond after achieving victory.”

He smirked.

“You must look out for those who might want to cut your throat and steal your achievements and/or life.”

Tessa clicked her tongue and flew back. She fell to one knee. She was breathing heavily. Black spots were all over her body.

“You used darkness to stop the bleeding but you’ve already taken a lot of damage.”

He spread his arms.

“Then that puts the three of us on a level playground.”

Kane was a bloody mess. His uniform was torn beyond repair, his body was covered in bruises.

“Cait really fucked me up before she got poisoned. I fought that nuisance KC too, who turned out to be my worst match. Adrenaline alone is keeping me going.”

He showed a bloody-fanged smile.

“So you can’t say it’s unfair if I beat you two.”

“For a professional…”

Chains came out of Yaya’s body and rushed at Kane.

“You sure talk a lot!”

He smirked. The blades attached to the chain were deflected by Kane’s own chains. Sparks flew in the air. Yaya popped up behind him. He spun around fired a bullet through her. She faded away. Several Yayas appeared around him rushing from all directions. He pulled a sword and cut through them all with a spin. The ground burst open and a golden light pierced through him. Yaya appeared from above thrusting a lance from above. Kane sidestepped to avoid it. He grabbed Yaya. Tessa popped at his side and kicked his arm. It visibly broke. Chains rushed out of Yaya’s body and pierced into him.

“Take that, Mr.Professional.”

Yaya smirked. Her smirk was wiped off her face after Kane grabbed it. He slammed her head-first into the ground. His body flickered and he appeared in front of Tessa. Darkness rushed from her body and formed blades. Those blades rushed at Kane. He swung his hands and they scattered to pieces.

“Wha—?!”

Kane slammed his leg in her stomach. Cries from her bones reached her ears. She fell to her knees and started vomiting.

“What’s there to be surprised about? I’m an assassin trained to kill assassins. Did you think that meant I’m physically weak or have low durability? It’s actually the opposite.”

Yaya pounced at him from behind. She fired a huge beam of light. A spell circle appeared at Kane’s back and devoured it.

(Don’t tell me…He’s a Spellmaster too?!)

He turned and faced her.

“There are countless types of assassins out there, and I was trained to counter them all. So forget all those stereotypes you have in your head.”

His golden eyes shone a dangerous light.

“I’m a New Era Assassin.”

The same thought came to Tessa and Yaya when looking at Kane.

“Just what kind of monster is the Quintus Branch trying to raise?”

Kane looked at his broken arm and the holes in him.

“You know, since I got my injuries in my battle against the Tertitus Branch, I was certain that I won’t make it to the end of the competition. That’s why I decide to go out in a bang. I was glad when I came across you two fighting each other. The three of us here were trained as killers/assassins. That means that we can do it.”

“Do what?”

He grinned.

“An Assassin’s Ball!”

His voice was elated.

“We’ll fight as assassins would, dance as assassins would, die as assassins would! Now, prepare to give your all, and let’s dance barefooted on the blades of death!”

The ground burst open and blades erected from the earth. The girls created some distance. Kane was surrounded by swords of all kinds and sizes.

(Did he used a spell to create all of them?)

Yaya stumbled a bit but held her ground.

“This guy is a big problem.”

Her body started illuminating with golden light.

“I’ll have to give my all here and now.”

She took a step forward and the ground cracked.

“I’ll stake everything on my next chain of attacks.”

Meanwhile, Tessa was on one knee. She was breathing heavily and her vision was blurry.

(My battle with Maki took too much out of me. I’m at my limit….If I go beyond this, I might be risking my life.)

She took a deep breath and stood up. Darkness danced around her. Her daggers grew into sickles.

“I’ll end this in one move.”

Kane saw their expressions and smiled.

“Looks like you two are ready.”

Wild Purple aura engulfed him. This was Dragon’s Rage.

“Let’s dance!”

Yaya and Tessa simultaneously kicked off the earth. They instantly entered Kane’s range. His aura spiked and formed hands. The hands grabbed the swords in the earth. Yaya turned into a golden beam surrounded by blades. Tessa’s aura concentrated around her blades. Kane swung dozens of swords at each of them. Tessa swung her blades as fast as she could. Yaya’s beam started spinning like a drill. They clashed with the blades. They shattered. The two rushed towards Kane. A huge smile appeared on his face.

“As I said, I’m a New Era Assassin!”

Spell circles surrounded them. Dozens of cannons emerged from the circles and pointed at them. In response to this, the girls-

“I know.”

Their speed had an explosive increase. They cut through Kane in an instant. Blood sprayed from his body and into the air.

“T-They weren’t going their top speed earlier?! I got tricked!”

A smile crawled on his face as Tessa and Yaya came back for a second attack.

“Excellent.”

The cannons fired just as their attacks were about to reach him. A huge explosion rocked the dimension and devoured them. When it faded Kane stood alone with Tessa and Yaya on the ground near him. His skin was burnt and diced up. The girls were covered in burns as well. Their emblems were cracked beside them.

(The Quintus Branch has destroyed two emblems, as such have gained 100 points!)

An announcement could be heard. Kane looked at the two on the ground and smiled. Something fell from his destroyed uniform and hit the ground. It was his emblem. The moment it hit the ground, it shattered to pieces.

“That was a short yet marvelous waltz. I hope to do it again in the future.”

He fell face-first on the ground. An announcement followed.

(An Emblem belonging to the Quintus Team has been broken! Since it was the combined work of two branches that broke it, both Primus and Quartus teams will be awarded 50 points each! This means the Primus Branch has extended their lead to 230 points!)

“They got another 50 points? Not only that, either Maki or Yaya were forced to team up with them? What’s going on? They were supposed to team up to defeat the Primus team, not help them.”

(Special Announcement. Following a second Triple Elimination, the number of contestants has been reduced to six. Other than team Primus with 3 and the eliminated Team Secundus, only the representatives remain for the other 3 branches! If the other 3 representatives are defeated before the remaining time, the Primus Branch automatically wins! So remaining representatives, give it your all!)

“Oh, you hear that?”

In a deserted city, two persons faced off.

“You need to give it your all.”

Ace grinned at Ashur, who was in front of him. Ashur returned the grin.

“Only if you’re worth it.”

Meanwhile, on a tropical island.

“You sure look eager. Miko said that you weren’t the type to take this kind of thing seriously.”

Sora smiled.

“Looks like you have something you need protect.”

“Yeah.”

Renatus looked at the unconscious Cait, who was floating on a sigil nearby.

“I’m not great at healing others so I need to get her some medical attention. For that, I need this competition to end right now.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

Renatus’s eyes narrowed.

“For starters, I’ll crush the bastard in front of me and then everybody else.”

Sora grinned.

“Just try it.”

As for Miko….

“………”

He was sleeping at the bottom of a lake. Regis and Ishma were standing over him, pouring their mana into him. His wounds slowly started to heal one by one.

Time remaining: 2hr 15mins!