“William! I’m tired already. Can’t we take a break?” The pink haired Julia groaned as she trailed behind her team.

“Get up Julia we don’t have much time left.” Sharn told Julia with a stern and impatient voice, something that isn’t characteristic of her.

“But we’ve been running around for a long time now! It feels like we’ve been running for hours on end!” She continued to complain.

“And every time we ever get near that stinking box, the Clarentum knuckleheads and some other people come and mess with us. To top it all off it gave me a paintbrush last time! What am I supposed to do with a paintbrush!?” Julia was now yelling, thrashing around on the floor like a child.

Mary let out a loud sigh as she too was feeling tired. She’s willing to admit that she underestimated this treasure hunting event at the start. After all, aside from random variables presented by the box itself, the instructions were simple enough.

What she didn’t really account for is the incredibly grueling fights that came afterwards. The whole festival devolved into an endless sea of skirmishes that randomly erupt and fade once the box disappears. She felt like they’ve been doing the same song and dance over and over again without end.

It was now getting to the point where she was starting to recognize the faces of their opponents.

William in an attempt to bring up his team’s morale, faced the three girls behind him and flashed a soft smile.

“Don’t worry about it girls, we can take a small break here.” He said. “That being said, we’re almost at the end of the line now.” He added as he took out his ID.

The ID indicated that there were less than 25 minutes left for the festival, this now the point of no return. Do or die time.

“So please, let’s try just a little bit harder for a little bit longer. We’ve held the box for a few times now, we just need to make sure we get to hold it in the last few seconds.”

“That’s not a very motivational speech you know?” Mary suddenly responded causing William to reel back and scratch his head over his actions. He felt a bit embarrassed causing a small red blush to appear on his face.

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to these kinds of talks.” William apologized as his shoulders hung low.

“It’s fine.” Sharn replied. “Good try though, but at the very least I kind of agree with your sentiments.” Sharn continued as she patted William’s back and smiled, another rare sight.

“Thanks Sharn.” William smiled.

“Ah screw you guys. It feels like you’re ganging up on me!” Julia once again shouted as she stood up and dusted herself.

“Fine then. Julia will pull through and give it her 150%!” She declared as she threw her fist up in the air. “That being said..”

Julia then drew her face very close to William, so close that William could feel her very breath.

“Once this is all over and we win. I want you to treat me to some ice cream!” She demanded as she flashed a wide and bright smile.

“Sure sure-Whoah!” As William was about to give his word, Mary pulled the two of them apart.

“Can we start moving now? We’re gonna run out of time!” She said as an angry put formed on her face.

Mary then immediately shifted the topic away from her sudden and impulsive action while also facing away from the group to hide her flustered face.

“Alright girls, thanks I guess. Now let’s go! The time for action draws near!” William yelled in a loud voice, trying to sound like a leader rallying his troops.

“Yeah it still isn’t working.” Sharn commented causing the rest of them to laugh at William who blushed again and scratched his head.

“Oh yeah.” Julia suddenly blurted out. “I wonder what those four s-rank guys are up to. We haven’t seen them at all this entire time.” She said with a rather curious expression on her face.

All of a sudden, the rest of the group froze. They only just realized that there was another factor that they have forgotten to take into account.

---

“Quickly! push them out of our way!” Letisia commanded her group as they once again found themselves in the middle of a chaotic desert battlefield as different spells of all kinds were flying overhead.

At this point, the desperation of the participants can be seen more clearly as the area looked like a warzone straight from an old war documentary, but with magic instead of guns.

The combatants continued to trudge on despite the mounting feeling of fatigue, moving forward through sheer force of will and pride. Truly it was a sight to behold, watching people force themselves all because of an abstract concept humanity created is something uniquely fascinating.

“Oh breath of calamity, clear my away and cut a path.” Letisia yelled as she raised her hand.

“Thrashing gale!” She screamed and soon an extremely powerful gust of wind swept the land in front of her.

The wind was strong enough to lift a lot of individuals off their feet and instantly fling them far away into the distance.

Once her spell was done Letisia almost fell down but caught herself before she bent on her knees, breathing heavily for a few seconds before regaining her composure.

“I will not lose!” She shouted inwardly as she steered her attention towards the floating black box that lay there as if it was mocking her in its silence.

The cursed black box has evaded her grasp for far too long and for far many times. If it wasn’t because of the interference caused by an external factor like the accursed guardians of truth, the box itself would spit out random and useless items that don’t have an obvious use for the current situation.

Letisia was now beyond furious, if she had her way she would tear the black box to shreds using a very powerful spell.

Yet once again, the path was clear in front of her.

Without any second thoughts, Letisia rushed through the distance, even going as far as using mana fortification to give herself a speed boost, but as she was about to go and take the prize, a powerful attack was sent her way.

“Heart heart beam!” A loud girly voice shouted in the distance and then all of a sudden a bright, pink colored beam that was in the shape of a heart went past her, missing her by a mere few centimeters.

“My lady!” Frieda and the rest of her group suddenly ran to her aid as she was forced to jump away in order to get away from a possible follow up attack.

Letisia then faced the direction where the attack originated and saw the most irritating sight she was seeing all day.

“William Wright!” Letisia screamed in rage as once again this man and his group managed to get in her way.

From the very beginning of the treasure hunt till the last few minutes, it seemed that he would always be a thorn in her path. Letisia felt that she had met her sword enemy.

This could no longer stand, she wanted to end this right here right now, to prove that she is far above what she sees a mediocre low class mage.

“Frieda, Josef, Ronald. Take care of his little friends, leave William Wright to me. I want to crush him myself.” Letisia ordered.

“Yes my Lady.” An order that they were all too eager to obey and soon the combatants were now all set as a tense atmosphere seemed to loom over the area.

As the two "favorites" were about to go head to head for the final clash, those still standing or tied up in spectral chains were compelled to stop and watch.

William however was not comfortable with the intensity of the attention he was now getting. At this very moment he wished he could dig a hole into the dirt and crawl inside so he could escape this choking atmosphere.

But alas he had no choice but to step, he had to stand and fight. With his heart steeled he held up his head to face Letisia’s incoming wrath and answer blow for blow.

“Bring it on you arrogant snobs!” William screamed at the top of his lungs, and with those words alone a fierce battle began.

Josef the magic knight attacked Mary, Frieda faced Sharn, and Ronald battled Julia. An intense display of spells and attacks were seen from these opposing forces.

Despite Josef’s advantage in strength he was never able to get close enough to land any significant blows to the crafty Mary who always blocked his attempts at gaining an advantage, doing her best to maintain her distance.

However the opposite was true for Ronald and Julia as it was Julia who decided to be an aggressor and despite her best efforts her attacks were ineffective as Ronald seemed to be always one step ahead.

Sharn and Frieda seemed to be standing on equal ground because of their rather similar demeanor and methods. Preferring to calmly study the opponent’s moves before making their own made their fight feel like it was a chess match.

But the biggest attraction was the battle between William and Letisia.

“Nimfell’s eradicator!” Letisia used a powerful spell passed down from her family line. It was a simple beam like attack on paper but it used pure mana instead of transforming it into another form of energy.

William easily dodged this attack and immediately retaliated with his own.

“Blessing of the great earth, bind my enemies to the dirt!” He yelled as he lay his hands on the ground.

“Earth mother’s touch!”

Roots and vines then crawled out from William's hands making their way towards Letisia who didn’t look impressed in the slightest. She easily avoided the grasping roots and vines with a simple float spell and flashed a gloating smile towards William, however it seems this was what William wanted to happen.

“Got you now!” He declared with a smile. Letisia at first didn’t understand why he seemed to be elated despite missing the mark until she saw where the roots were headed.

“Ronald look out!” Letisia warned her comrade but it was too late. While he was busy fending off Julia’s attacks he was unable to notice the binding spell.

The vines and roots then bound him to his spot as they crawled upward and entangled his feet and arms.

“Now Julia! Take the box!” William screamed as Julia didn’t even give a nod to acknowledge it. To make sure that Letisia won’t be able to interfere William fired off a simple one chant offensive spell that was basically a weak mana blast to distract her for a few short seconds.

“Aye aye captain!” Julia screamed as she dived right for it, but something else suddenly joined the fray.

From the corner of her eyes she saw a small figure of an animal pop in and before she could react, this small creature took the box from underneath her nose.

“What the?” Julia shouted as she followed where the critter landed only to be shocked at what she saw. It was the black and white rabbit she saw from the night before.

The little bunny held the box using its large pair of ears, resting the black box on top of its tiny head as it immediately ran away the moment it successfully snagged the prize.

“Where do you think you’re going? Bunny give it back!” She screamed as she gave chase, but then rabbit suddenly jumped and dived into the thin air. Julia also did the same but to her surprise, the rabbit disappeared into thin air while she herself hit her head against something invisible.

Julia’s cheeks were now pressed in like she smacked headfirst into two perpendicular walls that created a corner.

As Julia and the others tried to make sense of what just happened a misty haze started to form 3 meters above Julia and the rest, slowly revealing the figure of a man wearing a tophat and coat.

It was comparable to TV special effects in a sense that it looked very on the nose and kind of cheap. Yet it gave an eerie feeling as if the goal was to set up and establish a change in tone. Truth be told the only element the scene was lacking was the strings of a lone violin.

A cold chill ran down William’s spine as he realized that he has seen this cliche development before, be it in games or long running stories.

As the two previously opposed factions collide for one final showdown, a hidden factor reveals its hand and steps out from the shadows, stealing the spotlight.

With the confused silence serving as applause.

The final boss arrives with a smile.