CHAPTER 24: CHAPTER 24: SACRIFICE... OR NOT[GTG]

Kink!

Sink!

A spark of light flew out as a slick blade met the metallic head of an arrow, the force between both attacks undeniable as with every collision there was a shockwave.

Hm.

’Something doesn’t feel right with this,’ thought Maria as she parried every arrow shot towards her.

She could feel it.

Her opponent was not using full strength.

And that... made her uneasy.

But not because she wouldn’t be able to win if Lyra was at full strength; no, rather it was the reason behind Lyra NOT using her full strength.

Why did she have to keep prolonging the fight?

She seemed fixated on getting Leo, something which actually amused her a bit, but this made her feel like there was something more she wasn’t looking at.

But in the first place, what would a low-ranker like Leo have done to earn her ire?

Well, she concluded it was probably something to do with Leo’s enormous point stack, something which completely caught her off guard.

The real reason she actually decided to party with those low lives in the first place was because she wanted people she could control, and since the instructor made it clear that they all needed to be above a thousand points each to pass, she knew she needed her teammates on a tight leash. So that was why she was at first enraged that he—an average-looking idiot who wasn’t even a high-ranker—flaunted her threats and dared to even run away from her, so she decided to teach him why he should fear her.

But that...

... that all changed two days ago when she checked the status and realized he had actually gotten more than enough points, more than she even expected from the likes of her teammates.

This then led to one conclusion.

It seemed that her teammate had some secrets, and being who she was—someone who liked to get whatever caught her interest—she decided to pay him a visit on a later date and find out what he was really hiding.

However, something caught her interest; for the past two to three days, Leo had been in a spot. His points were dormant, meaning he wasn’t grinding for more, and his mana and health, as displayed by her graph to watch, was at an all-time high, and that only meant one thing.

He was having a blast.

This, though, irked her.

How could he not be concerned for his teammates? Didn’t he care about the exams?!

So why the hell was he not trying to find them?!

Annoyed, she changed her plans of hunting him down on a later date and decided to hunt him down then and there. However, getting to the place, he did something even more surprising. He ran. He ran! HE ACTUALLY RAN FROM HER, AGAIN!

She was by no means seeing this as him mistaking them for other teams hunting for points, as she made it clear that it was her by calling out to him the moment they made their way into the building, so that only meant he was running from her.

Annoyed, she chased after him, but at that moment when she caught him,

She felt...

... weird.

A flutter in her chest, she felt her cheeks heat up, and her heart pound faster than ever before.

It was strange, very strange.

And she guessed it was because he had somehow gotten too handsome in just a span of four days!

However, she composed herself and asked him in a friendly manner to come with them.

However...

... he refused.

He refused.

HE ACTUALLY REFUSED HER!

This made her angry for no reason; she didn’t know why, but she felt anger like never before. Maybe it was pride, since she had never once been turned down, even by high-rankers, so for a low-ranker low life to be the first person to do it, it made her snap.

But with a single threat, he relented, and she decided to head back to her hideout quickly; she needed to understand what exactly was happening to her and find a way to stop it, but on the way, she encountered someone—someone who she knew quite well was a high-ranker, not just any high-ranker; she was amongst the higher elites. But then a shocker like never before faced her when she realized this high-ranker was actually searching for Leo.

She became even more curious.

Just who was this guy?

But then... she felt something as Lyra kept staring at Leo with murderous eyes.

She felt... annoyed.

As long as this exam was concerned, both Leo and Laren were hers to do as she pleased with. Plus, she always had this trait of being extremely possessive of things she deemed...

... HER’S.

And so the fight began.

But now, at this point, Lyra had knocked two arrows on her bow.

She shot it.

She blocked the first one; however, before she could block the second—

"ARCK!"

She heard a cry, after being pushed from behind.

She quickly turned back to look, then froze.

There was Leo, holding a gun in his hand, pointed straight at Lyra, who had her eyes wide open as blood trailed down her lips. But that was not the issue; it was that Leo had actually been shot straight in the neck and also at his chest.

"Two arrows?" she asked with widened eyes, then followed the direction, only to find someone on a high-rise building trying to get away.

"ARCK!" she heard again, then her eyes drifted back to Leo, who had now collapsed on the ground, clutching his neck as crimson liquid gushed out.

"You’re... happy... now, right?... This... is why... I always want.... to be alone," he said, and his body went limp.

"Wait...! I... I didn’t..." she rushed and grabbed his lifeless body; however, it began to fade away. Strange, however, she had missed it as she was consumed by a fear she had never felt before, "I didn’t mean for this to happen... I am sorry,"

She said...

... and for the first time in her life...

... she cried...

... but he...

... was long gone.