'They died.'
'They died!'
'They all died!!'
'Wait, how didn't that thing die!!!'
I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly, trying to stop the urge to puke.
After opening them, I was met by the darkness of the mansion — The darkness that meant that only the boss remained inside.
Team 3 broke its shell, cut its leg, killed its tentacles, damaged the flower and cut its head, and yet — it was still alive.
Not only alive, but stronger than before!
If they noticed that it didn't die before rushing to the mage, would their fate be different?
It wasn't hard to guess a way to kill it.
The next team only has to attack the orb in the flower, find the monster mana and aura cores or both.
Because after what we saw, the aura core definitely wasn't in the head, and I wasn't close enough to see it.
*Clap!Clap!*
Suddenly, we heard 2 claps that took our attention.
I shifted my gaze to its source and saw a human man with long blue hair and blue eyes.
"What are you waiting for?!" The man shouted, his voice harsh, "Do the voting now! The monster should be injured from that last explosion and I won't wait for it to heal if my team is chosen."
Once we heard him, everyone got out of his daze and started writing a number.
I took out a piece of wood and a small knife from my ring then started carving the number 9 again.
But in the middle of carving it — my hand started shaking.
I couldn't help but play the scene of each one's death inside my head.
I remembered who got cut in half, who got crushed, who got eaten and who got pierced.
If because of me we were chosen — would I get the same fate?
I didn't have real friends, didn't have a family and just recently got a name. But did that mean I was ready to die?
No, I wanted to live! I was only 15!
But… didn't they all want to live?
Complex feelings started conflicting inside my mind, but eventually, my hand stopped shaking.
Slowly, taking a deep breath, I carved the number 9 and threw the wooden piece with the other votes.
'It is what it is.'
Even if I didn't want to die, I wouldn't risk someone else's life only for my survival.
Sitting on the ground, I watched as everyone finished voting and the counting started.
After only a minute, they were done.
Michael opened his mouth and announced: "The chosen team is…
•••••
'I regret all my life choices.'
I watched in tension as the darkness in front of me started vanishing slowly.
In the end, we were chosen.
For a moment, I wondered if the people who were voting had more than 2 brain cells in their heads.
There were 2 teams with 10 members on them, giving them a high chance to win, but instead of choosing them, they chose the team with 9 members.
And not only once, but twice!
TWICE!
"ROAAAAR!"
'Shit, it's here!'
Finally, the darkness disappeared completely, revealing the new form of the monster.
I couldn't even call it a spider anymore.
That thing was anything but a spider!
But then I noticed it — How its jaw was wide open without teeth.
The jaw was broken, and the teeth were still growing.
"Its healing ability isn't equal to all its body parts." Master Kai said as his grip on Yamato tightened. "Don't focus on the legs. We saw how fast they can regenerate."
I wanted to nod to him, but before I could move my head—
*Tak*
The monster took only one step forward.
It was waiting for us to attack first, wanting to observe our abilities before coming close.
It wasn't completely stupid, and I hated that.
But unfortunately for it, we had the fastest mage I'd seen in my life.
*Snap!*
Suddenly, Cecil snapped his finger. In the same moment, 3 ice spikes and 2 bone spears rose from the ground under the monster.
But the monster leaped instantly, landing on the wall and climbing it.
"Don't allow it to come above us!" Zorath shouted, reminding us about how the monster attacked team 3 from above.
Everyone started attacking the monster, and for me, Zorath, master Kai and Paul —who couldn't fight from that far— we only used the magic scrolls to attack it.
I grabbed a scroll, opened it, aimed it at the monster and cut it in half using my hands.
Instantly, a spear made of metal appeared and flew towards the spider, but it barely scratched its leg.
The monster's new form was fast, too fast!
'That's hard! How can they all aim perfectly but me?'
"Nora, use this on your arrow." Aurelia suddenly called Nora and gave her a vial that contained a dark green liquid.
They both covered their arrows' tips with the liquid before shooting them at the monster that was dangerously close.
The next moment, the arrows hit the spider in the legs without causing much damage.
Then suddenly, the spider closed its eyes for a moment before opening them again. But its legs loosened on the ceiling.
I understood what happened instantly.
It was a sleeping potion!
The spider tried to raise its leg to catch the ceiling again, but out of nowhere, a wall of ice appeared and stopped it from touching the ceiling before disappearing, leaving it to fall to the ground.
*BAM!*
The spider fell on the ground and started standing up, but we didn't give it the time to catch its breath.
*BOOM!BOOM!*
All types of attacks rained upon it. The monster blocked most of them using its tentacles and legs that got healed instantly, but some attacks still landed on its body.
Then using my soul affinity, I finally saw them, the cores!
"The mana core is inside the orb in the flower and the aura core in the middle of it." I shouted as I ripped off another scroll.
Suddenly, the orb on the flower started shining brightly.
"ZORATH!" Braham called Zorath and immediately Zorath understood.
His body started turning into metal. The axe he was holding hardened and lightning started crackling around his armor.
All around his body, thick red lines started appearing, giving him a barbarian look.
That was the ability of his traits, boosting his power temporarily but fill him with both anger and fight excitement.
"RAAAAGH!" Zorath Roared loudly, charging towards the monster while we were following from the back.
Suddenly, a beam of ice shot towards us, followed by a storm of countless icicles.
My eyes widened in shock. We didn't expect the icicles!
But I didn't panick, instead, I enhanced myself with darkness and started dodging them.
Cecil, Braham, Aurelia and Nora supported us by destroying the icicles with a rain of arrows and magic while Paul used barriers to protect them from the attacks.
Drago also dodged them just like me while crushing some of them to lower the pressure on the back.
Master Kai burned all the icicles directly using his ethereal flames. Under their heat, the icicles melted before reaching him.
Zorath gritted his teeth and roared as he kept charging towards the monster, cutting through the beam using his axe.
Once Zorath was too close, the monster stopped its attack and started retreating while using some tentacles to cover the flower.
"BUHAHAHA! Come and fight like a man!"
We chased the spider relentlessly, dodging its ice attacks and trying to catch it, but it was too fast!
Wait, we chased it? Not the opposite?
*Swish!Swish!*
All of a sudden, 2 arrows passed behind me and pierced the spider legs causing it to stop for a moment.
And that was all we needed.
Immediately, Master Kai stabbed the ground using Yamato, at the same time, a pillar of ethereal blue flames came out of the ground under the monster, burning it with all the tentacles alive.
"ROAAAAR!"
The monster screamed in pain, the flames burning it faster than it could heal.
It tried to run to the nearest wall. But using his bare hands, Zorath grabbed it, stopping it from running away.
"BUHAHA! KILL IT NOW!"
Even without his shouting, I jumped with Drago and master Kai above the Monster's back and started killing the remaining tentacles to give them the time to kill it.
With my body covered with darkness and my blade covered with soul, the tentacles died instantly with simple cuts.
Multiple screens started appearing in front of me, but I ignored them completely.
[You got x1 rotten flesh]
[You got x3 acid bottles]
[You got…]
'Are… are we winning.' I wondered as I dodged an icicles that only scratched my leg.
From the top, Drago, Master Kai and me were giving the monster hell.
From the bottom, Zorath was pinning the monster while the others helped in keeping its legs under control.
It looked… too easy.
But I knew that it wasn't.
If team 3 didn't show us all its attacks. If team 3 didn't break its shell. If team 3 didn't cut its head to reveal this form. If team 3 didn't die fighting and exhausting that monster…
It wouldn't be that easy.
I gritted my teeth. A surge of anger and hate filled me, strengthening my aura and determination to kill it.
A dark black claw came out of my back and started cutting through the monster soul directly, ignoring its exoskeleton and healing abilities.
*Crack!*
Suddenly, one of Drago's attacks hit the orb making a big crack appear on it.
"RAAAAAR!"
The monster screamed, its eyes wide open from shock and fear.
It tried to cut Zorath using its legs but multiple bone blades stopped it.
It tried to attack us with ice attacks but we burned, dodged and blocked them.
It tried to grow more tentacles but they were just free loot for me!
*CRACK!!*
Another crack sound but it was louder this time.
The people outside the mansion held their breaths as Drago threw another spinning dagger at the orb.
The whole flower was burning with ethereal blue flames.
Many parts of the monster's body stopped working due to the soul damage.
Its situation was miserable. The same monster that gave us all that horror looked miserable!
"HAHAHAHA!" I laughed loudly, looking at the 'Boss' screaming as if asking for mercy.
*CRACK!!!*
Finally, the orb cracked completely. In the next moment, Drago entered it and took its mane core out.
*BOOM!*
A big explosion happened in the middle of the flower, causing a big hole in it, and instantly, master Kai took its aura core out of it.
*THUD!*
The monster fell on the ground with a loud thud.
Everyone's gaze landed on me immediately.
I focused on the monster's body and saw its soul leaving it slowly.
It was…
"Dead." I whispered, but they heard it clearly.
"..."
At the mansion door, Long Wei tried to touch the barrier, but his hand passed easily.
My lips curled into a wide smile, but it didn't stay for long.
That was… the first challenge.
And out of 100 challengers, only 58 remained.
*DING!*
[Congratulations! You finished the first challenge! Get ready for your rewards!]
[You only have 1 day before the start of the second challenge]
•••
Author's note: I made a discord server for the characters arts and talking. You can find the link in the author's thoughts and the synopsis.