The Bamboo Breathing user tightened his grip on the teal katana.
His breathing had become rough.
Sweat dripped from his face.
Even from where I was lying, I could tell he was reaching his limit.
Still...
He refused to back down.
He took one last deep breath.
"Bamboo Breathing... Twelfth Form... Bamboo!!"
With incredible speed, he launched himself at the demon.
The demon snarled.
"Blood Demon Art... Blood Shot!"
Hundreds of blood bullets shot through the air.
The Bamboo Breathing user twisted and jumped between them, but he couldn't dodge forever.
Several blood bullets grazed his shoulder and leg.
He landed on one knee, breathing heavily.
"Damn..." he muttered.
The demon laughed.
"Is that all?"
He slowly walked toward the exhausted elf.
I watched from the ground.
The pain in my ribs had almost disappeared.
Marie had done an amazing job treating me.
"...I can move again."
I slowly stood up.
Marie grabbed my arm.
"Tom, don't! You're still injured!"
I smiled.
"I've been injured since the day I joined the Wing Corps."
Tobisa laughed nervously.
"He's got a point."
The Bamboo Breathing user looked back at me.
Then...
Without saying a word...
He threw my katana.
"Catch!"
The black blade spun through the air.
I caught it perfectly.
The moment my fingers wrapped around the handle...
The blade changed.
The deep teal color slowly disappeared.
Once again...
It became an endless, deep black.
The Bamboo Breathing user smiled.
"I guess it still belongs to you."
I nodded.
"Thanks."
The demon growled.
"So you're still alive."
I slowly raised my katana.
Green ribbons of Nature Breathing flowed around the blade.
I took a deep breath.
The familiar warmth spread through my body.
"Nature Breathing..."
The demon charged straight toward me.
Perfect.
I lowered my stance.
"Third Form..."
The ground beneath my feet cracked.
"Volcanic Eruption!"
BOOM!
I shot upward from below him.
My katana carved a brilliant green arc through the air.
SLASH!
The demon's body split cleanly in half.
Before either half could regenerate—
I twisted my body in midair.
One final slash.
SHINK!
His head flew through the air.
It bounced across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
Everyone held their breath.
"...Did we win?" Tobisa whispered.
The demon's body twitched once.
Then twice.
Suddenly...
Cracks of glowing light spread across his body.
His head.
His arms.
His legs.
Everything began turning to ash.
The wind carried the ashes away.
Within a single minute...
There wasn't even a trace of him left.
It was as if he had never existed.
Silence filled the mountain.
Then—
"We... we survived..."
One of the remaining candidates fell to his knees.
Another started laughing in relief.
Marie let out a long breath she had been holding.
Tobisa punched the air.
"We actually beat a Fake Ranker!"
I walked over to the Bamboo Breathing user.
He was sitting against a tree, exhausted.
I smiled and held out my hand.
"Nice one."
He looked up before shaking my hand.
"...Thanks."
"No."
I smiled.
"Thank you."
"If you hadn't bought me those few seconds..."
"I wouldn't have landed the final blow."
He chuckled.
"Looks like we make a pretty good team."
I looked around at the battlefield.
Broken trees.
Huge craters.
Bullet holes everywhere.
And the survivors...
There were far fewer than when we'd entered the mountain.
The selection was gonna end torrmorow.