Rise of the Crusader

160 Final Tournament V

“Jeremy from the murderer division Vs Alphonso from the bandit division.”

“The both of you should kindly step out.” The referee said.

A smile hung on Jeremy’s face when he heard his name. He stood abruptly from his seat and jumped onto the stage.

“Finally!” He blurted.

As for Alphonso, he had a stern expression on his face as he walked casually to the stage.

A glow appeared on the faces of the people in the surrounding. This battle was surely going to entertaining as it was between students who were on the most valuable list.

“Fighters ready? Start!”

As Alphonso heard the referee, he moved a few steps backward, and as he moved, his body broke them slowly till all that was remaining was a grain of sand.

Everyone, including Jeremy, had their eyes fixed on the sand that just emerged on the stage. And while there was a smile on some of their faces, a mocking expression was evident on Jeremy’s face.

.....

No one in the area found Jeremy’s action surprising, as he was always like this.

Suddenly, a change occurred in the sand that was on the stage.

The change took form gradually, allowing the people in the domain to watch as the former grain of sand suddenly turn into a twelve feet tall monster.

Its entire body was made of sand, and as the figure surfaced before everyone, one of the students in the surrounding opened his mouth and said.

“Sandman!”

Followed by his words was the nod of acknowledgment coming from his colleagues and instructors.

Meanwhile, before the twelve feet tall sand monster, there wasn’t the slightest bit of worry not concern on Jeremy’s face.

His face was still full of mockery, and he even appeared to be more confident than ever.

Raphael smirked, “Darlok!” He muttered with a smile on his face.

And a second after he called out that name, a muscular man with arctic skin, and a face full of scars.

The man didn’t have just a striking resemblance to the undead that Camille summoned earlier, he was also brimming with the same killing intent as the undead.

“Attack!” Jeremy stated.

As though Darlok had been waiting to hear those words from Jeremy, and the moment he heard them, he rushed towards Alphonso immediately.

Alphonse didn’t wait around and as he saw Darlok running towards him, he made his hand even bigger, and once the size intended was met, he struck a mighty blowout.

Darlok however more quicker than Alphonso realized, and as he smoothly dodged the punch, by sliding over it.

He then jumped, and with a black staff similar to the one that was used by Camille’s hand a moment ago, he launched at Alphonso.

However, as the staff was to come in contact with his target, Alphonso suddenly vanished.

“Hehe” A light chuckle escaped Jeremy’s mouth as he watched Darlok flee from that attack.

Jeremy soon scanned through the surroundings and after a brief moment, his lips curved into a demonic smile.

The truth was Alphonso didn’t vanish from the surrounding, instead, he transformed into a very small property.

Of course, still in his sand from.

“Come back.” As Jeremy spoke, Dark appeared behind him quickly.

Jeremy gently bent down.

With his eyes then shut closed, he placed his right hand on the ground. He kept his eyes closed, and it was only after five seconds that it sprang open.

“Absolute decay!”

If Jeremy using Camille’s power didn’t cause much shock, then when he used Raphael’s power did.

It caused a lot of reactions both from students and instructors, both parties couldn’t help but move their gaze to Raphael, wondering how he was going to react.

Raphael, however, kept a straight face. He didn’t seem to be displeased, and neither did he seem to be pleased about it.

A hiss then came from Gus as it saw Jeremy using absolute decay on the stage.

As there was no response from Raphael after Gus spoke, it let out a loud hiss. This time around, it caused Raphael to shake his head and then move his gaze to Bane.

“The power he is displaying can make him the most valuable student on the list, so why isn’t he the one topping the list,” Raphael asked.

Bane nodded his head, “Yes, that’s true.”

“Jeremy’s ability to copy other powers, and abilities, and even display them better than the original owner is terrific.”

“It’s normal to think he should be the first on the list, but that’s only because you haven’t met that person yet.” Bane said.

Raphael raised an eyebrow, “You mean Vernon?” He mumbled.

And as a nod came from Bane, Raphael moved his gaze from Bane and turned towards the stage.

The name ‘Vernon’ was one that he heard of several times. And even though he hadn’t seen the person yet, Raphael was really looking forward to meeting him.

A student who didn’t belong to any of the divisions in the academy, but was taught by the seven of them.

“Ahhhh!”

Suddenly, a burst of cry rang out from the stage.

It didn’t take long, and after the cry, Alphonso appeared on the stage.

He wasn’t in his sand from any longer and breathing heavily, almost as though he were experiencing an asthma attack.

Alphonso glared at viciously, and the blood which was seeping out of his body made him more horrified.

“Hehe!” Jeremy chuckled.

“I find it humiliating that someone of your kind is on the most valuable list. Because to me, you’re simply average.” Jeremy blurted.

There was a frown on Alphonso’s face as he heard Jeremy.

He wasn’t able to give a response, and when Jeremy saw the look that emerged on his face, his own lips curved inwardly.

“You know what, I will make this even more interesting,” Jeremy said.

Stretching his hand forward, Jeremy’s hand suddenly turned into sand. As the sand materialized from his body, it merged with him within seconds.

And a huge hand made of sand was formed.

It didn’t come as much shock to Alphonso, seeing Jeremy creating a hand made of sand, but as Jeremy raced toward him, and became a fifteen feet tall sand monster, he staggered backward.

There was immediately fear on Alphonso’s face, as he realized that Jeremy intended to use his own powers to defeat him.

“You know, you never know your true potential until you have defeated yourself,”

Jeremy uttered and sent forth a powerful punch at Alphonso.

Alphonso’s body was already extremely battered from the decay abilities that he experienced earlier, and as the punch came forward, the least he could do was raise both of his hands.

Pfffftttt!!!!

Before Jeremy’s attack, Alphonso was like an ant to be squashed. And as the blow landed on his body he flew meters away with his body leaving trails of blood behind.

It took only a step, and Jeremy appeared in front of Alphonso.

He stared at Alphonso from above in his sand form, “Pathetic!” He spat and then turned it into his original form.

Jeremy stomped his feet heavily on Alphonso’s chest, and as he spat out blood, before then becoming unconscious.

“Directors, this is a little lame, don’t you think... These students here are all below average if we are being serious.”

“They need to step up their games, or else what the heck is this? It’s just a bunch of shitty individuals who were somehow lucky to be born with powers.” Jeremy blurted.

There was complete silence in the surroundings area Jeremy spoke. Everyone, including the seven directors and instructors, was staring at him.

And after a few seconds, the silence broke by a powerful fire burst from one of the students.

The students had leaped onto the stage, and with his mouth opened, he spat fire at Jeremy immediately.

The fire was a few inches from touching Jeremy when they suddenly encountered an obstacle. And while the fire enveloped Jeremy, they weren’t able to harm him.

Not even in the slightest.

“Fool!” Jeremy blurted.

As the fire vanished after a few seconds, he opened his mouth and sent out flames of his own.

The fire outburst was ten times bigger than the one sent by the student, and as he saw the flames fast approaching, he wasted no time and ran like his life depended on it.

“Someone... Help.”

He screamed as he ran, and even though he had his division behind him, none of them were stupid enough to jump into purgatory all because they wanted to save him.

.....

It took only a few seconds and the fire caught up with him.

“Arrrghhhhhhh!!!”

The scream was one thing, but seeing how another being was set ablaze, a flicker of excitement appeared on the faces of a couple of the students.

“Hahaha!!!” Jeremy burst into laughter a second after.

“Why don’t you all come at once, let’s end this once and for all.”

Jeremy exclaimed.

While most of the people in the domain wished to ascend onto the stage and beat the living shit out of Jeremy, they held the urge back in.

“Return to your seat, Jeremy.”

The student behind the director spoke and before Jeremy could respond to him, he disappeared and appeared in his seat.

The student paused for a few seconds before saying, “It pleases me to announce that we have the top ten students for this year’s tournament.”

“Raphael, Aliyah, Dwayne, Elisa, Teresa, Aurora, Jeremy, Clement, Nevaeh, and Hilario.”

...

AN- Happy New month! Big announcement

There won’t be chapters accessible for readers until next week... I will post regularly but you will only be able to read it starting from next week.

Thanks for understanding