"Begin!"
the referee shouted. The massive gong echoed across the stadium.
Instantly, the entire dirt arena exploded into chaos.
But Rias didn't move right away. The world around him seemed to freeze for a split second as a familiar blue screen popped up right in front of his face.
[Ding!]
[Emergency Survival Quest Generated!]
[Objective: Survive the first elimination round and secure a spot in the top fifty.]
[Reward: 1,000 System Coins, 10,000 EXP.]
Rias's eyes lit up. A thousand coins meant he could finally buy something decent from the System Shop. And ten thousand experience points would push him closer to his next major breakthrough.
'I accept,' Rias thought, swiping the screen away.
He looked up just in time to see a massive wave of humans crashing toward him.
Four hundred and ninety-nine fighters charged at the exact same time. The ground literally shook beneath their boots. Mercenaries swung giant hammers. Noble heirs drew glowing swords. Mages standing in the back rows immediately began chanting, preparing to rain fire and ice down on his exact position.
They wanted to crush him into a bloody paste before he could even take a single breath.
"Die, Leonhart!" a massive brute screamed, leaping into the air. He brought a heavy iron axe down toward Rias's head.
Rias didn't block. He simply shifted his weight.
[Phantom Step]
Rias vanished.
He didn't just move fast; his footwork left a perfect, blurry afterimage standing in the dirt.
The brute's axe smashed into the afterimage, cleaving empty air and striking the ground. The dirt exploded, sending dust flying everywhere. The brute blinked, completely confused.
"Looking for me?" a calm voice asked from the side.
Before the brute could turn his head, Rias stepped into his blind spot. He pulled his right fist back, channeling a thick layer of compressed energy around his knuckles.
He threw a simple, straight punch.
His fist slammed into the brute's armored ribs. The heavy iron armor dented inward with a loud crunch. The massive man was lifted entirely off his feet. He flew backward like a broken doll, soaring over the heads of the charging crowd and crashing hard outside the white chalk ring.
[Ding! Enemy defeated. +50 EXP.]
The referee standing on the podium pointed down. "One eliminated!"
The charging crowd hesitated for a fraction of a second. They had expected the boy to run, beg, or instantly die. They didn't expect him to launch a two-hundred-pound man thirty feet through the air with a single punch.
But the hesitation didn't last.
"Surround him!" someone yelled.
"He is only one person! Attack together!"
Dozens of fighters rushed in from all sides. Three spears thrust toward his chest. A pair of daggers slashed at his back. A heavy broadsword swung at his legs.
Rias moved like a ghost.
His [Phantom Step] allowed him to glide through the tiny gaps in their attacks. He ducked under the broadsword, sidestepped the spears, and grabbed the wrists of the dual-dagger assassin.
Rias twisted the assassin's wrists, forcing him to drop the daggers, and then kicked him squarely in the chest. The assassin flew backward, crashing into three other fighters and knocking them all out of the ring.
[Enemy defeated. +50 EXP.]
[Enemy defeated. +50 EXP.]
Rias didn't stop. He pushed off the dirt, launching himself directly into the thickest part of the crowd.
He didn't use a weapon yet. He just used his fists and his feet. Every time he landed a punch, a fighter went flying out of bounds. Every time he swept his leg, two or three mercenaries hit the dirt unconscious.
He was farming them.
He moved in a tight circle, knocking people out with brutal efficiency. The notifications rang in his head constantly as his experience pool slowly filled up.
But the sheer numbers were starting to become a problem.
He was incredibly strong, but he was still fighting in a confined space. The white chalk ring was shrinking as more and more fighters pressed inward, trying to crush him with their bodies.
Suddenly, a bright orange light flashed from the back of the crowd.
"Move out of the way!" a mage screamed.
The mercenaries quickly scrambled backward, leaving a clear path.
Five massive fireballs, each the size of a carriage wheel, came hurtling through the air right at Rias. At the same time, the ground beneath his boots froze solid, trapping his feet in thick blocks of ice.
He was stuck. And the fire was less than a second away from hitting his face.
Up in the VIP box, Crown Prince Karlos leaned forward, a cruel smile on his face.
"He is dead. That is a combined elemental attack."
Down in the dirt, Rias didn't panic. He just let out a quiet sigh.
'Punching them is taking too long,' Rias thought.
'I guess it is time to use it.'
He reached his right hand out into the empty air.