CHAPTER 71: SLAIN WAS THE STRANGER

"...that’s the trigger."

Dei spun and snapped her fingers at Arc’s reminder.

Her fireball spells were fully conjured, and they immediately met with Ari’s concentrated oxygen.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The explosion was massive, rocking everything around them.

Heat slammed hard against their backs, even though they were damned far.

Whatever was left of the cocoon had erupted in fire.

For a moment, no one spoke, waiting until—

"Ahh..."

Xenos stepped out.

He was completely untouched.

There was not a single burn; even his hair was perfect.

"WHAT’S HIS ELEMENT?!"

Arc screamed while glancing behind, only to see a bright flash of light.

It filled the corridor, blinding him for one very short moment.

When it cleared, Xenos was standing right behind him.

"Kneel, boy."

Arc didn’t even have time to react.

His knees buckled, his gravity doubling—no...

It was only Xenos pressing a single hand on his head, forcing him down.

"I’ll hold him back!"

Arc roared, shoving against him.

"GO!"

He threw Xenos’s sword toward Gaia, passing on the metaphorical torch.

The sword’s owner chuckled, his gray eyes tracking it, clearly amused.

"You look good down there, pup."

Before Arc could conjure anything, he swung his arm and slapped the boy into the wall, the wood splintering around him as he was driven in, no longer conscious.

Yet that didn’t stop his Runes from following through on his Will.

Just as Xenos was about to move, both ends of the corridor lit up.

Dozens of ice arrows rained towards him, front and back, a trap within a trap.

Casual as always, Xenos glanced up, lifted his right hand, and revealed his palm.

A shard of pure light floated there, a glowing fragment like a condensed sun.

It was his [Fortune’s Wheel] Element, and he...

He released it.

Immediately, his body followed that piece of light, moving faster than most could blink.

Because indeed, in a ’blink,’ he passed through every projectile unharmed, like they weren’t even there, and reappeared directly behind Gaia.

Death was upon her, but for the first time, the woman didn’t flinch.

She threw the sword toward Ari with one hand while aiming her staff with the other.

"Sorry!"

Before he could bother to attack, earth walls crashed in from all sides, trying to crush him.

Xenos, without even looking, placed a fragment of light behind him and snapped forward with his hands before his head in an ’X’ shape, shooting out of the trap by easily tearing through the solid rock.

Outside the dust, Gaia stood trembling.

Though terrified, she turned to face him.

"I’ll do better next—"

He grabbed her neck and twisted.

It was surprisingly... gentle, even the way he lowered her body.

His next target was Ari, who had caught the sword mid-spin mere seconds ago, something that made his intent obvious.

Xenos was going after the sword, which also made it ’obvious’ that it was intentional by the cohort, as they were leading him through them one by one, sacrificing those that couldn’t help them move fast first.

Ari could do that and quite greatly, but unfortunately, they had no other choice.

She quickly threw the sword toward Dei and raised her whip.

But she never got to swing.

Xenos materialized beside her, his hand already on her head.

Crack!

He slammed her into the ground, sending her to sleep before she could even register it.

She was preparing herself to be defeated, but the poor girl wasn’t even given that.

That was way, way more than ’defeat.’

It was a humiliation.

Now only two remained.

And Dei knew that it was her turn next.

"IT’S ALL ON YOU NOW!"

Throwing the sword to a now ice-armored Aspen, she breathed out and turned around.

"It’s going to get a little hot~."

Dei smiled, which meant she was far from holding back.

She was known as a genius for her firepower.

And now, she was going to show Xenos why.

Behind her, a blue flame sparked to life.

It grew, expanded, and then roared.

Before his light could move, the explosion swallowed the entire corridor.

Fire, pressure, and shockwave had folded in on themselves, leaving no escape, not even for light.

When the smoke cleared seconds later, Xenos was leaning against a cracked wall, his body trembling slightly.

Though he was alive, it was barely.

Still, his clothes looked to be in relatively immaculate condition.

Behind him, Arc, Gaia, and Ari were still breathing, not even singed.

That made it obvious just how accurate Dei’s aim was.

Her blue fire followed her intentions.

Yet even that wasn’t enough to fell Xenos.

She looked at him as he approached, smiling weakly.

"Would you make it not painful, please?"

Xenos gave a small nod and hit her once, straight to the stomach.

She dropped instantly.

Only Aspen remained.

The last survivor.

No more than a hundred meters from the door.

Xenos slowly turned towards him, a piece of light pushing him forth.

"Break."

And he vanished, reappearing beside Aspen in mere moments.

But Aspen, unlike the rest, was ready.

He twisted, using his momentum to kick Xenos sideways into the wall.

The wall exploded from the impact, with more wood splintering, but Xenos, already recovered, flicked a light fragment and shot forward again, his body slamming Aspen into the ground.

The blow shattered his ice armor and drove the air from his lungs, making him cough up blood.

Still, Aspen kept hold of his greatsword and swung it upward with all of his strength.

The strike clashed with Xenos’s finger, or rather the piece of light it held, making sparks rain.

"You’re stubborn."

Smiling slightly, Xenos raised his hand to finish it, but Aspen... grinned, making him pause.

His armor shattered completely, and something underneath glinted into the limelight.

It was Xenos’s sword hidden under the ice.

"HAAA!"

Aspen grabbed it and threw it using what was beyond him.

The blade pierced straight through Xenos’s stomach.

"...hm."

The impact knocked him back a step.

Xenos calmly stared down at the bleeding wound and then at Aspen, who was now desperately dragging himself towards the gate ahead, one arm pull at a time.

With his hands trembling, Xenos reached down to pull the sword free.

In one quick motion, he took it out and raised it high.

But just as he was about to throw it...

"No."

His left hand grabbed his right wrist, stopping himself.

A heartbeat passed, and then another.

His eyes flickered a bright gray.

He hadn’t fully fallen.

A part of him was still there.

Like Eris earlier, he only bided his time.

Xenos had to hold himself back; this was the only chance they had to survive.

The Rune of Luck kept thumping in his Soul, working overtime...

Click!

Only for it to be interrupted by a loud sound.

"Ah."

Before him, the gates opened to Death.

Those dumb five had won.

Slain was the Stranger.