∼ Day 237 ∼

Scanning the situation below, I felt my frown ever deepen.

I was attempting to unfold the mystery of how this situation might've come about as, in this trial of prey and predator, the unlikeliness of groups forming and actually staying cohesive to this point was quite improbable. These five lords and ladies were obviously weaker than the single girl who practically radiated the power of a lightning god incarnated, but what was really odd about it was how this fight remained one of two different factions against one another and not resulting in the chaos of an every man for himself.

Every lord and lady in here were fighting for the one goal of collecting three heirlooms - as powerful as they can obtain.

But with a single individual only being able to be in the possession of a single heirloom at any given time, it made it hard for any actual groups amongst these lords and ladies to form and stay together as it wasn't exactly possible to divide the spoils of a single kill.

That was unless you could actually trust one another to not stab each other in the back and allot acquired heirlooms in turns so that all would get their required amounts. And this was especially hard due to the circumstances and rules of the stage that just made it all that more improbable to work.

But lo and behold, these five had reached this far, undoubtedly reaping powerful heirlooms from opponents that would've otherwise been way above what anyone one of them could handle on their own.

Gauging the situation and the slight standstill the battle had fallen in, I made two distinct conclusions. First, they had already exchanged a few blows, and now with the resulting brief lull of battle and the serious expressions shared amongst all present, it was clear that both parties realized that they were about matched equal - making the situation a lot more complicated than the group had wanted.

Secondly, this unexpected standstill had caught the group in a rather undesirable position as anything happening now could tip the scale in any direction. Without a clean and quick kill, as they had hoped for, they had now all been caught out in the open with eyes bearing down at them from all sides.

I was readily aware of the fact that unseen others were without a doubt present here too, not counting the few individuals I could already detect hiding amongst the shadows. In such close proximity, it appeared that I still had the drop on them in terms of stealth, though I wouldn't be as foolish as to think that there weren't others stronger who could see me.

It all rested on the balance of a knife's edge, and truthfully - it had ever since the stage started.

The deterrence of those stronger had been the only reason why the entire island hadn't been reduced to a smoldering rock, leaving the weak to fight amongst themselves before the true monsters made their moves.

So now, with this lull between the group and the girl, a thin balance had been created, waiting to be shattered.

It all depended on what or who would tip the scales, but no one present wanted to create an uncontrollable cascade of events that might very well result in their own deaths.

I had a firm resolve to let nothing keep me from returning home any later than possible, but even I had to pause before making a move here.

At least, I could use Codex here without the worry of consequences as all present were already well aware of the presence of others watching the events unfold.

All six of them probably felt the pressure of the many eyes directed at them. I was but one of them.

-Codex!-

Codex - Bomoga Chimalzcoatl

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Bomoga Chimalzcoatl" STR 173 Skills ??? -Race- Terrorpin VIT 321 Traits ??? -Sex- Male AGI 68 Titles ??? -Rank- C- DEX 32 Resistances

-Level- 75/75 INT ??? Health 4751/4862 CHR ??? Physical Resistance 92 Stamina 1570/1660 WILL ??? Magical Resistance 54 Mana 0/0 MAG ??? Mental Resistance ??? Codex - Akhitraz Na'va

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Akhitraz Na'va" STR 201 Skills ??? -Race- Nagalisk VIT ??? Traits ??? -Sex- Male AGI 222 Titles ??? -Rank- C- DEX 254 Resistances

-Level- 75/75 INT ??? Health 2212/2309 CHR ??? Physical Resistance 31 Stamina 1570/1660 WILL ??? Magical Resistance 28 Mana 0/0 MAG ??? Mental Resistance ??? Codex - Zath'ash Eralor

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Zath'ash Eralor" STR ??? Skills ??? -Race- Arachne VIT ??? Traits ??? -Sex- Female AGI 156 Titles ??? -Rank- C DEX ??? Resistances

-Level- 75/75 INT ??? Health 1589/1589 CHR ??? Physical Resistance ??? Stamina 430/442 WILL ??? Magical Resistance 39 Mana 1084/1205 MAG 402 Mental Resistance ???

Out of the six, I was surprised to find out that my Codex worked successfully on three of them, especially because all of them at least had some type of protection against divination skills. It appeared Codex was coming along nicely with its level up, and even Sanctioned Lords and Ladies of this caliber were unable to fully shield themselves from my prying eyes.

Reading their statuses, I at least confirmed that none of the five from the group posed any real threat to me. While they might have some unknown and powerful situational power that could give me the sweats, I didn't fear that they'd actually be able to kill me.

With their strength scattered across five different bodies, I was confident I'd easily be able to escape if the situation called for it, and I'd even be able to take one or two with me before I bailed. Though facing them head-on collectively, I'd definitely not be able to handle them all without my blood puppet army. Without them to channel the full extent of my magical process and unless I was in a one vs. one fight, I'd be nothing more than a really sturdy punching bag in my current state.

But as for that girl... I wasn't sure of my capabilities in handling her. With the power at least equal of those five crammed into that little body, she'd prove a much more dangerous opponent, considering she appeared to be specializing in speed and magic.

Taking in a deep breath as the battle seemed to be about to ensue, the brief lull slowly abating, as the arachnid woman was the first to move.

Extending her hand towards the girl, the spider woman released what appeared to be a turbulent spume of poison or disease, killing all within an instant of it moving past, leaving only wizened and dead grass in its wake.

In response, the small kid who I believed to be human or something close, drew back her leg which was fitted in shiny greaves, and launched herself into a beautifully executed roundhouse kick. But despite the comical nature of a kid performing such a move, the result was anything but that.

Crackling from the heavens, a bolt of blue lightning rushed down and connected with her foot, being suddenly redirected by her kick to launch directly at the approaching mist of death.

Singing the very air itself as the unnaturally powerful bolt of lightning coursed towards the group of monsters, arching its way through the plume of poison, the retaliating attack was stopped dead in its tracks as it hit the turtle man.

He had stepped in the way, using his large shell that had started to glow with the light of a skill to block the attack. But instead of the lightning dispersing into the turtle beastkin and frying his insides as expected, the bolt of light appeared to not be able to diffuse as it was forced to split into multiple streaks of smaller lightning that flung out in all directions.

The only real response to be heard from him was but a grunt.

The rest of the group hadn't remained idle either as the orc and naga had practically already closed the distance between the girl and them with blinding speed, weapons poised to kill.

Face unchanging and unwavering, the child switched leg with a jump that gave her leverage to lash out with another kick, this one sweeping horizontally and making an arc of light to shoot out as the heavens supplied her with the power of another bolt.

The naga wasn't fast enough to dodge and had to ward off the attack with his spear, but the orc deftly slid under the arc of lightning and used her dual axes to hook the ground, allowing her to regain her balance and lash out at the girl.

But even as she was about to respond with another attack, the orc who had slipped under her guard was unceremoniously slammed to the ground with such force that it caused the ground to crack.

The massive black form that had practically used her as a landing strip was an abyssal black wyvern - Sombra.

Scrambling from underneath her massive body, the orc warrior had actually carved his way from out, fending off Sombra's maw as it snapped for his body that now sported quite a few rakes from her sharp claws.

But even as he managed to ward off the considerable power behind Sombra's attacks, he didn't realize Ketsu before it was too late. Engulfing the monster, only a gurgled and slightly muffled scream sounded out as Ketsu invaded his body through mouth, ears, nose, and eyes in a horrifying sight.

The orc had seemingly no countermeasures against the amorphous blood monster, so he could only fall to the ground and claw at himself in a silent scream of despair.

I paid him no mind as Sombra tore him apart, my attention focused on the Naga who I was staring down, my weapons of blood parried against his polearm.

Obviously, the worry was written on his face as even though I had yet to hit him, a spike of blood protruded from his shoulder, right above his heart from my Rend.

I was already conjuring up another spell, Stagnation, but before I managed to do so, the polearm in the Naga's hand vibrated with an odd hum, and the weapon itself turned quickly blue with shimmering power.

[You have taken 82 damage!]

Suddenly exploding with force, I was rocketed back, but I managed to stand my ground rather than tumble across the grass.

The Naga had already retreated some distance once the blue flash of power faded from my vision a moment later, but I could see the clear damage done to him even though my spell hadn't struck the heart.

Standing there, I took stock of the situation as the battle had seemingly fallen into another brief lull, the circumstance now having changed much more than just me joining in on the fight.

Unmoving, the girl and I stood not far from each other, neither of us moving to fight. But all around, a bunch of new figures had arrived, having acted on my initiative as I expected to happen for me, breaking the balance.

An almost instantaneous glance gave me enough information to know none of these new individuals were much more powerful than the group of five - or... four now.

Still, the fact that there were an entire six new additions to the party, making my possible enemies ten in total, was not that good.

Having my familiars flank me, scooting a bit closer to the thunder girl, an unsaid message was passed between us, the gesture of my actions obvious.

But now that I had been the first to assist the girl, setting us apart from the rest, there probably wasn't anyone else on our side. While the newcomers might not necessarily be working together with the original group, it was me and the girl versus the rest.

I could only sigh. Everything that had happened had been within expectations, so far better than what I had worried actually. But still, this was quite the predicament. Regardless of danger though, if I had waited any more days, passing up on this opportunity, I couldn't imagine when I would be getting home. I had already spent five entire days just searching for others, and this fight had been the first I've seen since waking up from the spirit realm.

If I had waited for another opportunity, I didn't know if I'd be waiting even longer, extending the time I was stuck in the Trials and leaving me to even more dangerous monsters who were lying in wait.

Honestly, this was probably the best I could ask for, and I didn't even care if the last heirloom I gained was a shitty one, I just needed to get home. Which might be embroiled in war this very second for all I knew.

I would've just killed one of the lords quick and easy, then snatched the heirloom, saying sayonara to this shithole, but because you couldn't convert heirlooms while in combat, that wasn't an option.

Leveling my gaze to the enemies eyeing not only my gauntleted arm but the girl's shimmering greaves, I made myself ready for battle.

Utterly chaotic as it might be.