"Yes, please. It's getting annoying to carry this meatsack." I said, sounding irritated.
"Hey!" Zagan protested weakly.
"I said shut up."
"For a cult member, you sure talk a lot," a guy said, stepping out of the shadows. His aura was heavier than the others.
"Ah, so that's where you were," I said, summoning a javelin of mana before spearing the guy through the head in one clean motion.
"What!!" Everyone else exclaimed as they saw their stronger ally appear and die in five seconds.
"Yeah, that's the highest-level guy here, so you three can die as well," I said, flicking my wrist and using an air-pressured arc to slice off their heads in one sweep.
"Shiro, what the hell?" Zagan yelled, looking at the lifeless bodies with wide, horrified eyes.
"Shut it. Let me show you what happens when you show weakness or fail to kill people like this when you have the chance." I said, releasing Zagan so he could stand on his own.
"Fine," he muttered, voice trembling.
"Let's go this way first." I opened a door where I heard yells-not cries of pleasure or torture, but desperate, pained shouting.
"What the hell is that noise?" Zagan asked, worried, his steps faltering.
"If you try to turn around and run away, I'll make sure you never meet Amari again," I warned sternly, gripping his arm tightly.
"Gulp, I'll try."
"Don't worry. We're actually starting on the easier side," I assured him. Humans as slaves might be worse than someone getting tortured, at least in his eyes.
'I'll save the rape side for last,' I thought grimly, only to be interrupted by the first jail cell, where two guards were doing something I really didn't expect.
"I thought you said we were starting on the easier side," Zagan muttered before doubling over and throwing up.
'How the hell was I supposed to know these guys were spit-roasting a prisoner for some reason?' I thought in disgust as I lit the jail cell on fire, killing all three occupants without hesitation.
Sending a clone ahead, I saw that only this jail cell had such disgusting activities going on.
"Okay, we got the worst over with for this side of the base," I explained, handing Zagan a towel to wipe his mouth.
"Are you sure?" Zagan asked, still shaking, his knuckles white as he clutched the towel.
"Yeah, well, we need to do this in steps at least, not just jump straight to the most messed-up stuff." I explained, shrugging casually, though my eyes were sharp.
For the next 30 minutes, I led Zagan through the base of a cult well-known in the underground but invisible in the light. They were quite adept at keeping themselves hidden.
This cult was notorious for how they operated and what they did. Drugs, slavery, murder, and revenge requests. They had multiple branches scattered across the world, and every corridor here reeked of their crimes. All around us, cells lined the walls-some filled with starved prisoners, some with corpses that hadn't even been cleared out. The smell of rot clung to the air, choking and sour.
Walking through the base with Zagan should open his eyes to the cruelty of this world. And judging by the way he stumbled, gagged, and forced himself to keep moving, maybe-just maybe-it was finally sinking in.
chapter 181: Group 3 finally starts
[Amari POV]
"So, we follow the plan, guys." The leader instructed the small group, his sharp eyes scanning them as they huddled together in the dusty holding area. His voice carried the weight of authority, firm but not loud. Everyone around him shifted nervously, gripping their weapons, glancing at the looming gates that would open into the arena.
"Sigh, as much as I hate this, I can't say no." His friend muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, but still nodding in agreement. He looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here, yet duty chained him to the moment.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, let the game begin!" The commentator's booming voice echoed across the stadium, amplified by magic. Bells rang in the background, sharp and metallic, sending a shiver through the crowd as the gates rumbled open.
"Go." The leader ordered, his tone steady, but when he turned around a second later, his eyes widened. His friends were suddenly beside him again, but this time the battlefield stretched wide, with half of the entire arena already participating in the chaos.
"Ugh, so that's the backlash." I grumbled under my breath, lifting my gaze to the shimmering barrier walls. My arm ached fiercely, and when I looked down, horror tightened my chest. The arm I had used to cast the last spell was gone-nothing but a bloody stump remained.
"It wasn't as powerful as I anticipated... Oh no, it was blocked." I whispered, narrowing my eyes as I realized what had happened. My breath came sharp and ragged. A second barrier-one I hadn't noticed before-glimmered faintly inside the arena, and I was trapped dead center.
"Ah, what the fuck just happened!" The commentator shouted into his microphone, his voice cracking with panic. The crowd's murmurs turned to shouts as confusion spread like wildfire. His tone grated on my ears, and I glanced at the booth in annoyance, the corner of my lip twitching.
'This will be a problem,' I thought grimly. My mind raced as I assessed my situation. With only half my mana left and one arm lost, I was now a prime target. Vulnerable.
"Okay, the barrier did its job, boss. We can kill her for good now." A voice emerged from inside the cloud of dust lingering nearby, low and dripping with confidence.
"Don't tell me..." I muttered, narrowing my eyes at the thick smoke screen. My heart skipped as another shimmer rippled across the battlefield-a smaller barrier, distinct from the arena's.
'Can this barrier interfere with the time reversal barrier?' Panic surged through me like cold water. If it could, then all of the chaos wasn't just for show-it was meant to kill.
"Don't overthink it, Amari." I whispered to myself, shaking my head to clear the thoughts before they spiraled. If the barrier truly interfered, Kayda would have realized it already and stopped the fight. There was no need to panic over assumptions.
"Oh, you're a calm one," a smug voice remarked as the smoke finally began to thin, revealing several figures striding toward me. Their expressions twisted with malice.
"Hmm." I hummed softly, raising my remaining hand and conjuring a fire javelin. It seared through the air with a hiss, aimed directly at the mouthy one. He jerked to the side at the last second, dodging, but the three unfortunate souls behind him weren't as lucky. The flames pierced through them, and their screams cut off in an instant.
"Hey now, don't be that aggressive," the person said, laughing, as if the deaths of his allies meant nothing.
"Snap." I snapped my fingers, and the smug bastard turned to ash before he could finish his chuckle. The spell rippled outward, reducing several more nearby to dust.
"Shit, she's a sage!" someone shouted, panic lacing their tone. The crowd's reaction followed like a wave-gasps, screams, and whispers as fear settled over them.
"Yeah, now you guys know why you don't get close to a sage, don't you?" I said with a grin, my voice carrying across the blood-soaked sand. My heart raced, but outwardly I exuded nothing but cruel confidence. "Well, for the confused ones, it's because I can cast spells anywhere I want within a certain radius. And funny enough..." I raised my hand, mana spiraling around me like a storm. "All of you are in my range."
I laughed, the sound sharp and mocking, before unleashing a cascade of spells. Fire, wind, and raw pressure exploded outward, consuming everything within fifty meters. Screams filled the arena, then silence as the smoke rose in thick columns.
As I turned back toward the lingering cloud, my grin faltered. Shapes still moved within.
'Fuck! It's still not over! My stomach tightened. At least fourteen figures still stood, their determination unbroken.
"We can't leave her be." A man growled, stepping forward. His aura pressed outward, strong and confident. He advanced without hesitation, eyes locked on me. He knew my mana reserves were thin.
"Heh, to think you'd come closer on your own," I giggled, but my laughter had a sharp edge and hinted at the strain I felt. I pushed off the ground, closing the distance like a blur. My fingers wrapped around his throat, wishing for the crushing strength Kitsuna wielded so easily. Still, I twisted hard.
Crack! His neck snapped, and his body went limp.
"What the fuck!" Someone cried out in shock.
"Shit, distance yourselves!" another barked, retreating quickly.
"Welp!?" the last shouted in alarm as I hurled the corpse at him. He stumbled back, pinned under the weight. Without hesitation, I snatched the dead man's sword and drove it through the pinned fighter, ending his scream abruptly.
"Twelve left." I muttered, my eyes flicking to one figure with a belt of kunai. "Hmm, assassin?"
I plucked a few blades and, with precise flicks of my wrist, hurled them at six targets. Two parried with practiced ease, sparks flying, but the other four froze like statues. They didn't dodge. They didn't even flinch. The blades sank into flesh, and they crumpled lifelessly.
'Huh, they didn't dodge? Or couldn't dodge?' I wondered, my brow furrowing. Something wasn't right.
"Amari, are you okay?" One of the surviving kunai-wielders asked, stepping toward me cautiously.
"Yeah, I assume it's because of both of you?" I replied, piecing it together.
"Yeah, my sister made sure they couldn't move," he confirmed with a small nod, his voice calm.
"Huh, thanks, I guess," I muttered, surprised but not ungrateful.
"No problem," he said simply.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, as boring as the start was, the end was at least a bit surprising," the commentator's voice rang out again, desperately trying to hype up the shaken crowd. His tone grated on my nerves again.
"Woah!!" The crowd roared anyway, caught up in the spectacle, as the barrier activated to reverse time. Or... it should have. But the corpses around me remained still. None of the fighters inside the barrier revived. My arm didn't return either.
"That's not good," I muttered, my chest tightening as realization hit. The second barrier continued to shimmer faintly, remaining active and suffocating. Outside its walls, I saw the fallen bodies reviving, but here-nothing.
"Oh, it seems there is a problem," the commentator remarked casually, prompting me to snap my head up and glare daggers at him.
"What?"
"My kid isn't getting revived?" A mother's worried cry pierced the silence, her voice trembling.
"This is going to get hectic," someone whispered nearby.
"Yeah, so let's get out of here," Kitsuna's voice cut through, calm and firm. She appeared behind us, her sudden presence a relief and a warning all at once.
"Sis?" My eyes widened, but I barely had time to react.
"We'll talk later. Kayda should be able to fix this. First, you three need to get out of here." Kitsuna instructed us with a tone that brooked no argument. The scenery shifted suddenly, her teleport wrapping around us like a blanket.
"I'll be back in a few. And Amari, stop your bleeding. We can heal your arm later," she added before vanishing again.
"Umm, Amari, what's going on?" The kunai-wielder's brother asked nervously, his face pale.
"Uh, well, there was a barrier put up to interfere with the revival process we have in place," I explained, though uncertainty gnawed at me. Was it interference, or had it completely overridden the process?
"So... we actually killed people just now?" he asked, his voice trembling as he looked down at his bloodied hands.
"Hmm, yeah." "Oh, now I see why we needed to get out of there," I muttered. The realization sank like a stone. We would be targets now. Everyone would remember who struck the final blows, who stood within the cursed barrier.
'I hope Kayda can fix this,' I thought, my shoulders slumping as the sounds of retching reached my ears. The two dwarves in the corner emptied their stomachs, their bodies shaking.
"Haah, I can't do this." I whispered, dropping my head into my hands. The weight of it all threatened to crush me.
[Kitsuna Clone POV]
'How did something like this happen?' I wondered, standing in the middle of the arena. Corpses littered the ground around me, silent, unmoving. They should have revived. They should have been breathing again. Instead, they were just... bodies. The stadium had already been forcefully evacuated, panicked citizens ushered out, but their shouts and cries still echoed faintly through the walls.
"Kitsuna, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Zagan?" Kayda's annoyed voice rang out as she approached, her steps confident even as her eyes hardened.
"Clone. I took Amari and the kunai-wielders away for now." I explained, giving her a small smile.
"Hmm, yeah, I saw. Did you take them home?" Kayda asked, crouching to inspect the glowing lines of the barrier etched into the arena's foundation.
"Home," I confirmed simply.
'It's funny how her attitude changed the moment I told her I was a clone,' I thought, giggling softly.
"Good, now let me fix this shit," she muttered, pressing her hands against the ground. Mana pulsed out of her in controlled waves.
"What happened?" I asked, tilting my head, curious despite the tension.
"Someone created a second barrier inside the time reversal one," Kayda explained, manipulating her mana with practiced precision.
"Oh, so the barrier is stopping the other one." I mused, my eyes lifting to the sky, searching for the faint shimmer of magic.
"Yeah, but can't you see the second barrier?" Kayda asked, a bit surprised.
"No, I can't even see the first one." I shrugged casually.
"The first one?" she echoed, frowning at me.
"Same, I can't see it." I yawned, stretching slightly.
"Huh, that's a surprise."
"Yeah, but the real one should be able to see it."
"She can? Well, that's not important right now." Kayda quickly dismissed the question, sharpening her focus as she poured more energy into her spellwork.
"Hey, what the fuck are you two doing? Can't you fix this shit already?" A short man yelled, stomping toward us with fury plastered on his face.
"The fuck are you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I stepped forward, placing myself between him and Kayda.
"Ah, you don't know who I am!" The man shouted, veins bulging in his neck.
"No, should I?" I tilted my head, genuinely unimpressed.
"Yes, you should. I'm running this fucking tournament." He jabbed a finger at me, his face flushed with anger.
"The king is running the tournament." I corrected him coolly, making his face darken.
