Chapter 224 - The Initiators
The time was almost up. Only five minutes until they were going to be disqualified or get in. He needed to beat the monster as fast as he could.
"Supreme Malevolence," Elliot casted and slashed on a vine.
'Supreme Malevolence 2'
Elliot smirked, "So it works with this too."
He continued slashing on the vines while avoiding the trunks. With his current strength, his movements would still lag if he tries attacking the trunks. A spurr of a moment is crucial in this fight of speed. He needed all the speed he could get.
'Supreme Malevolence Maximum'
"Wind Slash." With one strike, Elliot cleared an area of both vines and trunks.
'Supreme Malevolence Maximum'
"Wind Slash."
It felt like he was holding a large fan that would blow away everything in his path. The maximum stack of his Supreme Malevolence was boosting his Wind Slash tremendously.
"Now it's over," Aquarius smirked. He raised his hands beside him and conjured a dome of water around their island. "Underwater Dome."
"Everyone, keep your guard up," Midnight said. "Everyone is aware of our position and they are going to ambush us the moment they think we're done."
The others surrounded the island just as instructed, while keeping their attention on the golem. They can't keep their guards down yet. Not until they see the beast fall on its knees and rot.
"You think some are still going to attack us?" Ed asked Hope. He was paired with Hope to guard the North side of the island. "I mean– holy cow!"
Three Stealth Knights leaped from nowhere. They raised their daggers and tried piercing the barrier put up by Aquarius, only to be blasted away from an electric shock.
"Lightning Field," Minos placed his hand on the water dome. "This should keep them out."
"Goodbye," Elliot whispered to the golem. He was in front of it, his sword a mere inch away from the golem's large stomach. "Wind Slash."
Elliot thrusted his sword and fired his attack. The golem's stomach up to its chest and neck bursted into a million pieces after the surge of wind blasted it away.
"T-Time's up!" Irv announced. "All the guilds on the islands will proceed to Round Two. H-How many do we have, Zia?"
"T-Three hundred twelve!" Zia replied. Their eyes were glued to Elliot who was panting in front of the golem. The gigantic spawn fell on its back, making a loud thump.
"We did it," Elliot chuckled. "We did it!"
"You did all the work though," Ed rolled his eyes. "But I guess congratulations to us?"
"Congratulations to us!" Connor yelled and lifted Elliot from the ground. "We made it through round one!"
"Yey!" Hope cheered. "We'll go on!"
"In the end, we're still quite useless," Ethan said to George. He laid on the ground, panting. "We're just headcount, I guess."
"If you still think that, then your lives must be very miserable," Aquarius was standing above Ethan's head. "Didn't you notice how Elliot needed the time to gather his magic? If you didn't fight the golem, Elliot wouldn't have the time to attack."
"So, I guess we're just decoys," Ethan chuckled. "That's better than being head count."
"You're initiators," Minos said. "You initiate the fight and create an opening for the main attackers to follow. Quite the rare kind of Adventurers you two are."
"I told you we're useful," George grinned at Ethan. "They still need us somehow."
"Of course, they do," Ethan smiled. "They're our family after all."
–
Lance's shoulders fell as he relaxed on his seat. He slumped back and tried to relax, breathing steadily. He was outside of the arena, sitting on chair above a roof as they watched the event inside.
"Were you nervous?" Frederick asked, eyes glued on to the screens.
"You weren't?" Lance quirked his brow up. His comeback made Luck erupt in laughter.
"Fred was shaking the whole time," Luck said. "He was so worried, I thought he was going to pee."
"I wasn't worried," Frederick said. "At least, not because of them. I was worried of how much they're going to show off. Unawakened or not they're still Eternals. The gap between their power and their opponents are very wide."
Lance nodded, "We can only watch how things will unfold from here."
Frederick was silent. He watched the screens that displayed the group throwing Elliot in the air, cheering for their first victory.
"Elliot, you were so cool!" Connor yelled. "How did you even managed to do that?"
"I just did," Elliot laughed lightly. "Can you put me down now?"
"Sure thing," Hope said and placed the older boy on the ground. "But seriously, Mr. Moon. That was incredible. You kept up with that golem without breaking a sweat."
"I'm exhausted, whatever do you mean?" Elliot turned to Aquarius. "But, what held you back? You're much stronger than me and could beat that golem."
Aquarius raised his hand and formed a sphere made of crystal clear water. "My affinity is at a disadvantage against the golem. So are Connor and Minos. The golem stores water in its body and constantly releases through its skin, both in the form of water and gasoline."
Elliot nodded, slowly understanding where Aquarius was coming from. "If I ever try to attack, it will absorb my power. If Minos does, it will amplify the electrical output and shield itself with it, or attack us. And if Connor would, it will explode. No one else in this team is as fast as you, so we opted not to interrupt."
Midnight placed his hand on Elliot's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Elliot. My power is destructive but it's not fast. If I ever attacked, the golem would find a spot for you to be hit. It was so risky for me."
Elliot sighed and laid on the ground. "But I really did it, huh?"
"Yes, you did," Aquarius smiled. "Congratulations."
"And that concludes our Round One!" Irv yelled. He raised his hand and a large blue screen formed behind him. "Here is the list of the guilds who have passed through."
The first guild to be introduced was their guild. They were the ones who finished the Arena's Boss, so they had all the glory for that.
"The day after tomorrow, a different set of competition will take place.. Prepare yourselves and buckle up," Zia said. "See you all in Round Two!"