The next match in the Assassins bracket happened soon after. The two contestants both weren't human - one was a dwarf, while one was a true demon race. Both were female.
"Who do you guys think is going to win this one?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Judging from the surface alone, the demon, Alacria," Feng Mian said in thought. "Demons have unparalleled brute strength. Dwarves, on the other hand, have their expertise in the forging of weapons and constructing arrays and whatnot."
"Brute strength… but this is a battle of assassins. So, if the dwarf just doesn't get hit, the demon can't do anything to him," Yu An Yan said.
"That's easier said than done," Lan Xiao Su analyzed. "However, dwarves do have naturally small and hard-to-hit bodies, which may make them more suitable for the Assassin role than one would expect, despite their expertise laying in the craftsmanship field."
"Let's see how this turns out," I murmured.
*****
- Meanwhile, Somewhere Within the Audience Chamber -
"Have you confirmed it? He's here?" a man wearing a hood asked quietly to his servant, who was sitting beside him. They were on the topmost row of seats, isolated from everyone else who were all focused on the battle going on below them in the arena platform.
The servant, also a man, nodded slowly. "Yes, Shingen-sama. He is the leader of his group, so he will be competing last."
"I see… this is the last chance we have," the man - Shingen - said dangerously. "If he wins this tournament, he will enter Fragment. We will lose our chance to exterminate him."
"In that case, Shingen-sama… shall I… 'help' his opponent out?"
"Yes… remember, do not reveal your identity, and if needed, threats can be made."
"… Even torture?"
After a slight hesitation, Shingen responded.
"… Even torture."
"Shingen-sama… this is unlike you."
"Like I said, this is our last chance. I will allow it just this once… we must succeed, no matter what," Shingen said with a deep sigh. "That boy has always stayed relatively safe, on open streets and whatnot… I had no way of attacking him without causing a huge uproar. However, if we use someone else's hands to kill him… I should have already thought of this during the preliminaries, but I missed my chance."
"Understood. But did Lord Preyta not wish for us to capture him alive?"
Shingen shook his head. "He gave me updated orders, since time was urgent. If I am unable to capture him alive… just kill him. Lord Preyta has Necromancy Magic, remember?"
"I… I see. I will do as told, then," the servant got up from the seat and prepared to walk off.
"Remember," Shingen said as one final word of advice. "Give him the best 'one'. He will need it to defeat that boy."
The servant nodded in reply. "Understood, Shingen-sama."
*****
- A Few Minutes Later, District D's Waiting Room -
(Peng Yao's Perspective)
Come to the hallway.
"Hm? What was that voice?" I wondered aloud.
"What? What voice?" my teammate, a girl named Xin Ya, asked in confusion.
Do not say anything. Come to the hallway.
"Uh… never mind," I murmured, slightly confused myself. The others looked at me in skepticism and a twinge of pity, but I ignored their glances.
Who the hell are you? I thought in my mind, hoping whoever the person trying to talk to me was could understand it.
Come, and you shall know. I am here to offer you a gift - one that will allow you to easily claim victory in this tournament. You want it, do you not? To enter Fragment.
Er… yeah? But how do I know you're not lying? What if you're here to kill me?
Hmph. Do you think I would use such a horrible method to kill you? If I wanted you dead, why would I bother calling you out suspiciously like so?
Eh… that's a good point. Alright, I'll come. This better be worth my time.
*****
- A Few Moments Later -
I walked silently through the hallway, on my way to see the mysterious person who said he had a 'gift' for me. The excuse I had used to leave the room was 'bathroom', the classic.
"… You told me to come meet you here, but where the hell are you? Don't tell me, it was just a pran-"
"Do not move."
A sudden voice interrupted my words. I felt the cold barrel of a gun being pointed against the back of my head.
T-The hell?! How did he get behind me like that, out of nowhere?!
"Stop asking questions. If you move a single inch, I will shoot you dead."
"Y-You can read my thoughts too?" I exclaimed. "Oh, wait, yeah… you did use Psychic Magic to communicate with me just now…"
"…" the man fell silent, as if contemplating how stupid I was.
A few moments later, he resumed, never moving the gun away from my head. "Keep your voice down… if anyone finds out we're here, I'm going to do two things. First, shoot you dead, and second, run."
"… So, you're here to kill me after all, huh? But before that, what's with you and the phrase 'shoot you dead'?" I muttered in bewilderment. Though, I did lower my voice like he asked.
"Ask any more questions and I will shoot you dead."
"…" I held back the urge to retort, and listened calmly to what this man had to say.
"First, I am not here to kill you. This is just… a precaution."
"… Right. Ok? And?"
"I was not lying when I told you I have a gift. Take this. Do not turn around."
I felt the man reaching over my shoulder with his black gloves and dropping a small vial containing a serum of some kind. I caught it with my right hand gently, careful not to break it.
"What is this?" I accidentally let out on instinct. Oh shit, he's going to 'shoot me dead', isn't he-
"Calm down. That was a necessary question. I will answer it."
Clearing his throat, the man continued.
"What you are holding in your hands right now is the only successful result of thousands of failed attempts. Many lives had been sacrificed for this… entire cities ravaged. All for the sake of producing this serum."
"… No, I mean, what does it do? I don't really care about its history."
"This serum will amplify your senses, strength, mana capacity, agility, speed, and even magic power for five minutes, by about five times. Because this is the finished, successful product, there is no backlash. Essentially, this is an elixir that provides pure power with no demerit of any sort. I believe you know the value to that."
"… I see," I said after a brief silence. "This is indeed valuable, but… why are you giving this to me? I don't remember doing anyone any favors recently."
"Hmph," the man snorted. "Do not think I am giving you this for free. There is a job I want you to complete, using this."
"Huh? What job?"
"Killing a certain boy."
"W-Wha- you want me to kill someone?!" I couldn't help but raise my voice a bit at the shock of hearing this.
"Keep it quiet!" the man whispered sharply as I heard the click of his gun pressed to the back of my head.
"O-Okay, okay… chill…" I whimpered like a poor little puppy with no way of fighting back.
"In any case… as I was saying, I need you to kill someone for me."
I gulped. "Who is it?"
"The boy you'll be facing in a match very soon - his name is Xuan Kai."
My eyes widened a bit in recognition. "Xuan Kai… I know that name very clearly. His profile was all messed up."
"Messed up? How so?" the man asked, intrigued by this new piece of information.
"Like… everyone else we checked had their rank and elemental affinities displayed on their profile, but Xuan Kai only had question marks. It was really weird. We asked the IMF agent responsible for our District about this as well, but she also couldn't help."
"… I see. No matter the case, I want him dead. And you, are going to help me do that. It should not be difficult, no? They said it themselves - killing is allowed. That girl who fought earlier… she killed your teammate, did she not? She is part of Xuan Kai's team. This is the perfect way to get revenge."
"…" I fell silent. "... D-Do I get a reward for doing it?"
The man snickered. "So, in the end, you do not care about avenging your teammate at all, and just want something for yourself. How selfish."
"W-Well, no, I was just wondering…" I stuttered, sweat forming on my forehead.
"All humans have a little bit of selfishness in their hearts. That is the truth. But my answer is… yes. You will get a reward, if you execute this mission flawlessly."
"Oh?"
"If you can kill that boy… I will provide you with 500 vials of this serum, stored within a Space Locket."
"F-Five hundred?!"
"Yes… five, zero, zero."
"…" I bit my bottom lip as I made my decision. With the power of this serum… I can overpower other people a full rank above me.
"Alright. I'll do it."
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