At once, another large explosion reverberated through the cave. The size of the blast wasn't as big as the previous one, but it was still enough to annihilate those nearby. Out of the 10 that had jumped in, 7 were immediately eliminated. The only three that survived were Zoldith, Hashus, and Kang. They managed to dodge it before the others, but right now, the thought of losing crewmates wasn't even a bad thing. Why would it be? After all, the entire purpose of the exam, of getting this golden-tiered core, was for one person only.
As Zoldith and his crew backed up, the Kailion was impaled with a rain of stalactites. Most of them were small, but since it was such a big target they landed anyways. Many failed to penetrate through its tough skin, but a few large stalactites dug into its wings, causing them to be stuck to the floor. At that moment Zoldith saw Lyrian and Arthur ahead of their groups, dashing toward the Kailion for the kill.
His eyes widened as he gasped slightly, digging his feet into the ground as he propelled himself forward toward the beast. Of course, they all had to dodge the falling stalactites as well, which came in extremely quickly from the air bubbles boosting them forward. Hugo found himself to be too slow to fully avoid them. After getting relatively scratched up he escaped to the side, below some rocks to shield himself. Han followed behind him, also not seeing him able to dodge many stalactites.
Cedric was impaled in the arm by one, so he was dragged to the side by Han reluctantly.
Other than them, everyone else stormed towards the Kailion. 'I don't need to kill it, but the one who kills it will most likely get that core.' Lyrian thought to himself as he ran, his face serious and focused.
As they got closer once again, the beast opened its maw and formed another dark energy ball. As it shot toward the larger group of kids, Lyrian and Arthur's group, all quickly jumped into the air to avoid its explosion. While in the air, Lyrian flew through the dust caused by the explosion and appeared only about 10 feet away from the Kailion, however, before he could last a sudden wind pushed him, Leon, and Alten to the side.
Turning his head to look in that direction, Lyrian saw that it was Hashus from Zoldith's group who used a wind spell using his staff to propel them away. The boy looked to be standing back, allowing Zolidth and Kang to go forward as he instead stopped the others from approaching the beast's body.
"Leon!" Lyrian shouted before beginning to run toward the Kailion again. Hearing this, Leon unsheathed his blade before blitzing toward Hashus. Although he was a powerful mage for his age, close combat was still something that Hashus couldn't deal with. With one swipe of the sword, his staff was cut into two. As this happened Hashus took a few steps back, taking out a small dagger as he faced Leon's blaring white eyes.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Hashus suddenly exclaimed, his expression flustered, "Why are you not going after the core!? This exam is everyone for themselves!"
Leon dashed forward once again, swinging his sword down from the air toward the boy. Hashus tried to block his blade with the dagger, but soon enough, the dagger was sliced in two as Hashus himself was nearly cut into two, thankfully saved by being eliminated...
Leon sheathed his blade, turning to look at Lyrian. 'I'll pass this exam... all I need to do is eliminate other examinees for their cores.' He thought to himself, turning to look at where Hashus was eliminated, almost as if to answer him.
Seeing that there was no chance that he could return to the Kailion race with the others, he instead dodged a few stalactites that nearly fell on him before retrieving Hashus' pouch of cores.
'I also want to understand Lyrian.'
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm Meanwhile, Alten, seeing that he couldn't dodge the stalactites either, retreated to where Hugo and Han were. With Lyrian slightly slowed down, Arthur, Silas, Zoldtih, and Kang were now mere feet away from the Kailion, which was still attempting to escape and fight back with its mouth.
Out of nowhere, Kang launched his rod toward the other two, hitting Silas in the face as a loud twang sounded. He was thrown back, as Kang quickly appeared before him. Silas took out his wand, casting multiple fireballs toward the boy, but Kang coated his rod with earth, blocking all of Silas' attacks as he pushed the rod toward his face. Just before it landed, Silas rolled out of the way, causing the rod to stick to the ground.
As their battle commenced, Arthur and Zoldith were the final ones to reach the Kailion. They both jumped atop its back at the same time. Knowing they couldn't easily penetrate through its back, they ran towards its head. "Peasant! You won't win!" Zoldith said, his sword in his hand.
Arthur didn't just stand back, "Who are you calling a peasant!?" His wand is also in his hand.
Scaling the Kailion's wriggling neck, Zoldith attempted to thrust his sword into it, only to be thwarted twice by Arthur's skilled manipulation of wind spells. Frustration seeped into Zoldith's features, exclaiming, "Damn it!"
The Kailion roared ferociously, its previous impalements allowing it some leverage to move. Time was running out, and the contenders were keenly aware of the urgency. Desperation urged Zoldith to make one final desperate attempt to pierce the creature's tough hide, but Arthur intervened, declaring, "You won't get that core!"
The intensity of the moment reached its pinnacle as Zoldith glared up at Arthur, his fury palpable. In a flash of rage, Zoldith surged towards Arthur, his blade appearing before Arthur's neck with deadly intent. Arthur, undeterred, retaliated with a powerful kick to Zoldith's stomach, momentarily forcing him back as he coughed up blood.
Their battle continued, and the stakes were now crystal clear—the first one to rise would seize the core. In this tense showdown, Lyrian appeared on the Kailion's neck, catching both Arthur and Zoldith by surprise. Their eyes met with disbelief as Lyrian unsheathed his sword, casting an imposing shadow against the vibrant backdrop of the cave.
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