The Deadlock and the Victor

          The sound of rushed footsteps echoes. Branches snap from being shoved out of the way forcefully. Adrion is running through the forest, trying to look for Roland. He can easily get help from Dark Splatter, but Adrion specifically requested he not interfere. He dashes by a row of large trees. From the corner of his eye, he spots a hand approaching his face on the right side. A flash appears just before a metallic ball is shot out. The thud verberates throughout the vicinity. Adrion slides back, and black fluid falls by Roland's feet.

          "Tsk. Your damn defense is getting annoying," Roland says.

          "You have to be quicker than that," Adrion replies.

          "Your taunting isn't going to work. I know that's how you fight. I'm not letting you get in my head!" Roland yells. He raises both of his arms and aims straight ahead. "Time for a little rapid fire. Double Cannon!"

          A large body of water surrounds Adrion. He secretly lets a lot of it absorb into the dirt. From the remaining water, he creates two bubbles around himself. The large outer one is made out of water, and the inner one is made out of hydrogen peroxide. A high-pitched sound builds up in Roland's hands. Like a fully automatic gun, Roland begins firing multiple bullet-sized metallic balls. The inner water bubble turns black and stops the bullets from hitting it. Adrion focuses on the sound of the impacting bullets to time his next attack, which is why he never expected Roland to sneak in from behind. Adrion hears a footstep from behind and turns around, only for his face to meet Roland's metallic fist. Adrion falls back and crashes against his shield. Once the force dissipates, Adrion takes a few steps back from being disoriented and slides through the black fluid shield. Once he's out in the open, the remaining bullets hit Adrion's back multiple times.

          Roland steps out and aims, "I bet you never expected me to be able to use my magic remotely. The only issue with it is it takes up a lot of magic. Cannon Sho-" A pillar of water rises from the ground and smacks Roland's hand upwards as he shoots the cannonball. Roland speaks, "hehe. It's said that a fight between two equals ultimately falls to who has more magic. So let us find out."

          "The issue is that we're not equal," Adrion says. He adds a strong current to the water bubble to prevent escape. Adrion raises water from the ground in an almost whip-like shape with a spiral current running through them. There are four in total, and Adrion manipulates them to attack his opponent. Roland uses a combination of punches and shooting to destroy the whip-like water. Still, Adrion keeps restoring them to continue his assault. While Roland is distracted, Adrion calls back the black fluid used in the shield from earlier. Roland shoots a water current on his left. He notices the attacks are mainly focused on the center and left, so Roland grows suspicious. He turns to the right and notices the black fluid running along the ground.

          "Interesting," Roland mutters and shoots at the black fluid with one hand. He uses his other hand and shoots at Adrion, who uses the water to smack the cannonball away. "Hahaha. I see how it is now!" Roland yells. He aims both hands at Adrion, "Rapid Fire Cannon Shot!" Like before, a high-pitched whirling sound builds up before the shots are fired. This time, however, instead of multiple bullet-sized balls, there is fewer of them but the size of his usual cannon balls.

          Adrion can't bring back the black fluid fast enough to mix it and create a shield, so he drops it and compresses the water bubble. The powerful current diverts most of the bullets, but two of them go through and hit. One hits Adrion in the leg and the other in his gut. The whirling sound subsides, and Roland places his hands down. With Roland taking a breath, Adrion makes a series of attacks. First, a pressurized flow of water smacks him in the face. Roland tries holding his breath, but the continuous hits to his body, like water trying to drill into his body, cause him to gasp for air. The high-pitched whirling returns as Roland's fingers twitch. The palm of his hands start to glow red hot, and in an instant, a cloud of thick mist expands along with a sound matching an explosion.

          The mist is cleared away from water drizzling down. Adrion and Roland breathe heavily from exhaustion. The ground below Roland caves in and looks like two craters. There is a massive cannonball at the center of each one with Roland in between them. He runs up the crater to get back to level ground and charges toward Adrion, who also runs toward Roland. Both form a fist and throw it at the other's face. As each fist is only centimeters away, both of them drag their feet to stop and jump back from each other. As soon as they move back, rays of light crash down where they were just standing seconds ago. Adrion and Roland cover their eyes from the debris and the bright light coming from the few dozen light rays.

          "I suppose it wouldn't have been that easy," says the attacker. Roland looks to his left, and Adrion looks to his right to spot Alia slowly approaching.

          "Heh. I would have preferred fighting you after a little rest," Roland says as he wipes his mouth from the dirt that formed from water and debris.

          Alia's hands start to glow white, and her slow pace turns into a jog, then a sprint. Adrion and Roland do the same so that they can meet at the center. During his run, Adrion successfully calls back the black fluid to his right arm. Alia is the first to attack, blasting a light ray on Adrion, who quickly creates a shield to block it. Roland raises his right arm and fires four bullet-sized balls. Alia swipes her hand, and a ray of light eradicates the bullets. Adrion creates two jet streams of water and hits both of his enemies. He then grabs Roland's right arm and spins counterclockwise to smack him into Alia. Adrion was a little late with his attack since Alia had already fired five light rays at him. He puts up a shield, but three of the rays beat him to it. The

          Light rays hit his chest, flinging him back.

          Roland and Alia throw punches at each other, but it's one-sided with how much faster Alia is. Although her punches don't do much damage, that is, until she starts using her light magic on Roland. She steps back and creates forty light orbs around her and launches them.

          "Don't underestimate me!!!" Roland yells with his arms out in front of him. The fuse ignites, and the whirling begins. It's the loudest it has ever charged and the brightest the flash has ever illuminated. "AHHHHHH!" he continues shouting while blasting away at the light rays. Alia clicks her tongue and infuses more magic to create more light orbs. Adrion appears before her, makes a water bubble around her face, and adds the black fluid to harden it. He leaves a tiny hole so Alia can still breathe. Despite the hardened black mass covering her sight, she attacks Adrion as if she can still see.

          "Hmm. Only the most skilled are capable of identifying their surroundings through outputting magic. Only some 3rd-years and most alumni are capable of doing it. You are a monster," Adrion explains while defending against her attacks. She delivers a series of blows to his chest and face that disorient him, then creates a large light orb aiming for Adrion's chest.

          "We're far more than just leagues apart," Alia comments. Adrion constricts the black mass and seals the hole to cut off her oxygen for a brief moment. Roland stands right behind Adrion and begins shooting him. He starts with a little magic to be able to sneak up on Adrion but adds more to increase power. The black mass around Alia's head cracks and completely shatters with an outburst of bright white light, and she continues to attack. Adrion is caught between Roland's shots and Alia's light rays. To defend himself, he creates hydrogen peroxide to make a fluid shield. The cannonballs instantly get blocked away do their high force. The light rays initially stop, but from inside the shield, Adrion spots a dim white light growing brighter. He steps to the side, and the light ray breaks through, hitting the other side.

          Roland stops shooting at Adrion and charges Alia with a left hook punch. Alia stumbles back but quickly responds. They both fire at each other continuously until both end up submerged in hundreds of liters of water. Adrion creates needle-like weapons out of the hardened mass and aims at both. He notices Alia's body is starting to glow in white light. Overwhelmed by her magic, Roland swims as far as he can from her. The massive water bubble bursts into the ground, and Alia sends a massive beam of light toward Adrion.

          "Trying to eliminate me already?" Adrion mumbles while preparing a multi-layered shield. Once he sets up the fourth shield, he prepares to use the pent-up energy on all the scattered water. The light beam crashes into the first shield, shattering almost instantly. The second one fairs no better. The third one holds out a few seconds, but it too shatters. Once it hits the final one, Adrion makes a run for it to the left before the beam can hit. Adrion focuses all of his attention on Alia and Roland, so he doesn't notice a body crashing into him. Adrion falls over, and the body ragdolls another meter out. They both get up, and Adrion scans him. It was Lucian who flew back and smacked against Adrion.

          "Oh crap. What did we get ourselves into?" Lucian asks as he stands to Adrion's right.

          "So this is where the party is being held," a voice from Adrion's left calls out.

          Adrion turns immediately and spots Monika approaching. Now all five of the purple coats being evaluated are present. Lucian yells his attack, "Shadow Magic - Hands of the Undead." Multiple hands come out of his shadow and look like they're swimming on the ground. They race over to where Adrion stands and leap out to grab hold of him. Adrion manipulates some water on the ground and protects himself with a dangerous current. The shadow hands rip apart instantly, but something gets through. The invisible force breaks the water bubble around him. It sends Adrion flying back, rolling on the ground, and stopping near Roland.

          Roland punches Alia back, then extends his arm on the ground behind him, "Cannon Shot!" Adrion opens his eyes and sees the flash. He brings out the premixed black fluid and shields his face. Once the shield absorbs the force, the cannonball slips through the shield and falls next to Adrion's head. Once Adrion stands up, Lucian attacks him, and Monika attacks Roland. Once Alia joins, all five attack whoever is in front of them without any plan. Even if one wanted to focus on a single target, the pure chaos makes it impossible to do that. The most they can do is get two or three hits before forcefully swapping targets.

          After ten minutes, Lucian and Monika fight against Roland, and Alia focuses on Adrion. She throws light orbs that erupt once they make contact. Adrion sets up his defense, but Alia gets quicker with her attacks. Adrion did discover that the hardened shield is more effective in blocking her light magic. Still, a light orb gets through before the shield hardens. It erupts on his leg, and the shield shatters with all the other light orbs that explode. Adrion falls forwards after losing balance in his left leg, and Alia appears before him. She slams her left palm on the bottom of his chin, and a light beam shoots out, surrounding Adrion's whole head. With her right hand, Alia reaches for the armband on Adrion's left arm. She wraps her hand around it and starts to pull on it.

          "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!" A horn sounds.

          With Alia about to tear off Adrion's armband, Adrion uses his left hand to get hold of her arm and surrounds them in water. With the others so close, some of them get caught up in the water.

          They all hear a faint voice getting louder, "didn't you hear? TIME IS UP!" They see someone crash down from the sky, and all five purple coats fly outward from the heavy impact. They all look at the ground split up, forming a ragged terrain. Abelone steps out from the dust cloud. "Oh boy. This is quite disappointing. I can't believe all of you survived. I was hoping to see some of you lose your armband." she clicks her tongue.

          Roland yells, "what gives? Why'd time run out?"

          "There's not a team left with only their original armbands. They've all been defeated or defeated others. So time is UP! You guys are pretty much the only ones left fighting. Everyone else threw in the towel from exhaustion."

          "What!" Roland yells.

          Adrion looks around and notices other students sitting on the ground and spectating. He spots his team emerging from the forest, all injured and exhausted, but they still have their armbands.

          "Alright, everyone. Gather around," Abelone announces. After fifteen minutes, all the students from this zone gather around. Abelone's assistants also show up and begin going to every team with a clipboard in hand.

          Once Adrion's team rejoins him, Ivika speaks, "Were the five of you really having a free-for-all?"

          Adrion responds, "yeah."

          "We wish we could have helped, but we got caught up in a few other fights. We luckily won and got more points."

          An assistant approaches them and collects all of their armbands, including the ones around their arms. Once they collect their data, they compile it and hand a clipboard to Abelone.

          Abelone clears her throat, "this is one of the reasons why there are no more needless expulsions. Some of you guys stood no chance against these five and their teams. I was still hoping to see some underdog team defeat them," she sighs. "I will now be announcing the top five teams and their points. In 1st place, defeating sixteen teams is Alia and her team. They scored 128 points."

          Roland looks to the side angrily, upset he didn't get first.

          "This is interesting," Abelone comments. "In 2nd place, with 118 points, are team Adrion and team Roland."

          "Don't give me that bullshit!" yells Roland. "I need to know who won!"

          "I don't think you would like my pick, considering you're the only one left from your team. Need I remind you who defeated the rest of your team?"

          "Tsk. Fine then." Roland swallows his pride.

          "Holy crap! 2nd place!" Spiro and Lina cheer.

          "Thanks for getting all those points, Ivika," Adrion tells her.

          "It wasn't easy, but we managed. You also played your role by distracting the stronger opponents. I still can't believe you were all duking it out for so long, haha," Ivika responds.

          "In 3rd place is team Lucian, defeating ten teams and getting 80 points. 4th place goes to team Silvio with 67 points."

          "YES!" Silvio yells, "It's all thanks to you two, Ringo and Ritsu. You guys rock!"

          Ringo and Ritsu both scratch the back of their heads with embarrassment.

          "With 64 points and eight teams defeated, it's team Monika." Abelone finishes with the results. "You will all take a mandatory lunch break. You better rest properly because starting at 7:00 pm sharp, you will be let loose to get to the Silver Gates. Alia's team will get a headstart at 6:30 pm for their reward."

          "At least we get a lengthy break," Ivika sighs.

          "Tell me about it. I nearly dropped from exhaustion," Lina agrees.

          "Well, let's be sure to rest then. They haven't said anything about not being able to team up, so we can all set out together if you guys want. Though to be honest, I'll be taking very little breaks to reach that gate first," Adrion tells them.

          Spiro speaks up, "I'll have to pass. I'll be heading out with some friends of mine. It's been great teaming up for this trial. I hope you all fare well." He gets up and walks away.

          With Spiro walking away, Adrion spots Ringo and Ritsu walking over. "I hope you guys have room for us two," Ringo says while waving.

          "Of course. How'd you guys do against Asahi?" Adrion asks.

          "We barely scraped by since another team was involved. I had to reveal my trump card." Ringo replies.

          Adrion laughs a little, "Heh. Is that so?"

          "Oh wow. Is that Adrion actually smiling?" Ivika points out.

          As soon as it's called out, Adrion removes his smile.

          "Look at that. I suppose you're finally revealing your true colors," Ringo laughs.

          Adrion stands up, "shut up. Let's go get something to eat."

          Ivika and Lina stand up, and all four follow Adrion.

          Yaketsuku stands on a large tree branch, staring into the open field, watching the final results. "It was worth watching this, hahaha. To think that there'd be this many diamonds. The future is indeed bound to be exciting. It's weird. It's almost like Henry's kid seems to be at the center of it all. That might just be me being biased, hahaha," he talks to himself.

          Vanera appears next to him, "Sir, there is an urgent phone call."

          Yaketsuku turns to face her, "Who is it?"

          "The KIF," Vanera responds.

          "Hmmm. Pretty unusual to have those investigators calling me, but I suppose it's a serious call. Let's go." Yaketsuku wraps both of them in flames, then vanish.

          They arrive at their cabin that has once again been moved. Yaketsuku enters his office, with Vanera following closely. Dragana and Aaron are standing to the side of the room, and Remi is holding a cell phone by Yaketsuku's desk. He hands it to Yaketsuku.

          "Hello, this is Yaketsuku speaking," he says once he holds the phone to his ear.

          "Hello. This is chief investigator Liam of the KIF. We received a tip from a woman about your future. We have investigated her and have confirmed that she is legitimate. I'll let you speak with her," says the man on the phone.

          "H-hello? Is this Yaketsuku?" Asks the woman with a distressed tone.

          "Yes. What's this about?"

          "Are you currently in a forest of some sort? Or at least a densely wooded area?"

          Yakestuku seems confused since this is confidential information, "That is correct."

          "Oh my God. Uhm, there is no easy way to say this, but you're in danger. You see, I have dream magic. An ability that stems from that is being able to see the future in my dreams sometimes. Last night I had a dream that involved you. You were gravely injured in the forest at night. Everything is then consumed in darkness," she says, having trouble keeping it together. "I strongly believe I dreamt of your death… I called the appropriate authorities to notify you. You have to get out of there."

          "I see. If what you say is true, then there is no way I can run. There will be many lives at risk. I will remain cautious for the duration of my stay here. I thank you for the heads up." Yaketsuku removes the phone from his ear and hangs up. "Dragana, Remi, increase all security throughout the entire mountain. I want to be notified about absolutely everything."

          "Yes, sir!" they reply.

          "It seems someone has chosen to intervene at the worst possible time. I'll make sure they pay dearly," Yakestuku's voice turns into anger. Yaketsuku releases some of his power which causes a large earthquake causing the whole cabin and all the trees within a kilometer radius to shake.