The valley they were walking through looked like something out of a dream. Massive, glowing mushrooms grew as tall as houses, casting a soft blue and purple light over the damp ground. But for One from All, the beauty of the forest was a distraction.
"We have forty points," he said, checking the red card in his hand. "It's not enough. The other groups are moving fast. We need to find bigger targets."
Yuki nodded, her eyes sharp as she scanned the area. She was no longer the girl who tried to hold him down in the arena; she was a warrior ready for a real fight. Sora, however, was still struggling. She tripped over a small root, nearly face-planting into a patch of glowing moss.
"Ouch... sorry," Sora whispered, fixing her glasses. "The ground is just so... uneven."
One from All sighed. He wondered if he should just tell her to stay back. But before he could speak, the air around them turned cold. The blue light from the mushrooms seemed to get sucked away into a single point.
From the shadow of a giant mushroom, a Shadow Stalker emerged. It was a 20-point beast made of thick, liquid darkness. It had no face, only a set of white, glowing claws. It didn't roar; it hissed like steam.
The beast didn't look at One from All. It sensed the weakest link. With a sudden burst of speed, it lunged directly at Sora.
"Sora, move!" One from All shouted. He began to spring forward, his hand reaching out to grab her. But he was too far. The beast was already mid-air, its claws inches from her throat.
Then, something happened that made One from All stop in his tracks.
Sora's clumsy posture vanished. She didn't scream. She didn't move away. Instead, she stood perfectly still. Her head tilted slightly to the side, and her eyes, usually filled with shy confusion, went flat and cold.
She raised her right hand.
A beam of jagged, dark light erupted from her palm. It wasn't the bright, warm light of Saint Magic. It was a cold, violent purple-black energy that tore through the air with a screeching sound. The beam hit the Shadow Stalker dead center. In less than a second, the beast didn't just die—it was vaporized. Its liquid body turned into dry ash before it even touched the ground.
One from All landed on his feet, his eyes wide. The energy he just felt was ancient. It felt heavy, like it came from a deep, dark place.
Sora blinked. She stumbled backward and fell onto her butt. "Oh! What happened? Did... did a big branch fall?"
She looked up at One from All, her glasses crooked, looking completely innocent again.
"Sora," One from All said, his voice low. "Did you see what you just did?"
"I... I tripped," she said, looking confused. "I thought I saw a bug, and then there was a loud noise. Is the beast gone?"
One from All looked at the charred circle on the ground where the beast had been. That wasn't Saint Magic, he thought. She doesn't even know she did it.
Total Points: 60.
He didn't have time to ask more questions. The ground began to shake with heavy, rhythmic thuds. A massive creature stepped into the valley, knocking over two of the giant mushrooms.
It was an Emerald Colossus. A 50-point Purgatory Beast that stood twenty feet tall. Its body was made of hard, green crystal that glowed with an internal fire. Each of its fists was the size of a car.
"Stay back," One from All commanded.
He didn't use his aura. He didn't use the void. He closed his eyes for a second and focused his Anym into a single point in front of him.
"King's Magic: Blade of the Chosen One."
A brilliant, golden light exploded from his hands. As the light faded, a massive golden sword manifested. It was flamboyant, with ancient symbols carved into the blade that pulsed like a heartbeat. The sheer power of the sword made the air hum.
The Colossus roared and swung its crystal fist down. One from All didn't dodge. He swung the golden blade upward in a wide arc.
"King's Verdict!"
The sword didn't even need to touch the crystal. A wave of golden energy shot out from the blade. When the energy hit the Colossus, it didn't just cut the beast. The golden light searched through the crystal body, finding every flaw and crack. The entire 50-point monster suddenly shattered into a million tiny green shards, as if it had been judged and found unworthy of existing.
One from All lowered the sword, and it vanished into golden sparks.
Total Points: 110.
"Incredible," Yuki whispered, her eyes filled with respect.
"We aren't done," One from All said, looking up. "Look."
Perched on top of a giant mushroom was a Steel-Clawed Manticore. It was a 30-point beast with the body of a lion, wings like a bat, and a tail that ended in a jagged metal spike. It hissed, its eyes locked on Yuki.
One from All stepped back. "Yuki, Sora. This one is yours. I want to see what you can do when you aren't hiding."
Yuki stepped forward, a confident smirk on her face. "Finally. I was getting bored watching you have all the fun."
She took a deep breath. Her Anym began to surge, but it didn't stay inside her. It began to pour out as a visible red mist.
"Hero's Magic: Crimson Pulse!"
Her skin took on a faint red glow, and steam began to rise from her shoulders. Her heartbeat became so loud that One from All could hear it from ten feet away. This was the peak of physical enhancement.
The Manticore dived, its steel claws ready to shred her.
Yuki didn't just move; she exploded. She kicked off the ground so hard that she created a small crater. She moved so fast that she broke the sound barrier, creating a Sonic Boom that shook the mushrooms.
She appeared above the Manticore in the blink of an eye.
"Vanguard Barrage!"
Yuki delivered a flurry of punches. They were so fast and powerful that they looked like a hundred golden meteorites falling from the sky. Each strike landed with a heavy boom, shattering the Manticore's wings, then its ribs, and finally its spine. She finished the attack with a double-axe handle strike that sent the beast crashing into the dirt with enough force to create a deep hole.
The Manticore didn't even have a chance to scream. It was pulverized.
Yuki landed softly, the red glow fading from her skin. She was breathing hard, but she looked more alive than ever.
Total Points: 140.
Sora clapped her hands, smiling. "Wow, Yuki! You're so fast! I almost couldn't see you!"
One from All watched them both. Yuki was like a powerhouse, a true Hero-class fighter. But his eyes kept drifting back to Sora. She was acting clumsy again, almost tripping over her own feet as she walked toward Yuki.
He knew the truth now. His team wasn't just him and two helpers. He was leading a group of monsters. One was a physical beast, and the other... the other had something dark and ancient sleeping inside her.
"We hit our first goal," One from All said, looking at the glowing red card. 140 points. "But we still have a long way to go to hit two hundred and fifty. Let's move. We're heading toward the waterfall."
As they walked away, One from All noticed something. The ground where Sora had shot her dark beam was still smoking. The grass there wasn't just burnt; it was dead, as if the very life had been sucked out of the soil.
He didn't say anything, but he gripped his hand into a fist. This test was getting much more dangerous than he expected.
End of Chapter 15