Rise of the Crusader

155 Road to the Final Round

Raphael, Devon, Aiden, and Bane had just returned back to their seats after the payment from the bet faction when they saw the cages in midair.

“Meta... Meta beasts.” Aiden stated.

There had been claims that after the acid rainfall that changed the dynamics of the world, it wasn’t only the humans who were affected by it, but also the beasts.

Their genes were altered by mutagenic compounds that mutated down to their DNA, and they soon transformed into the term meta beast.

Beasts with powers.

Though humans were aware of the meta beast, not many of them had gotten to see the beast as they were treated as a priority to take care of by the government.

Unlike metahuman who had to start from scratch to the top, meta beasts didn’t have to. They were extremely powerful right from the moment they were born.

The weakest of all meta beasts was of S-rank, and that was a pup.

Raphael knitted his brows as he stared at the five beasts in front of him.

.....

He was no stranger to meta beasts, as he, in fact, lived with one. However, he kept a straight face, accessing the five beasts in front.

Inside the cage was a huge two-headed serpent, an eagle with three eyes, a frog that had blue lightning roaming around its body, a beast that looked like a horse, and at the same time a dog.

And lastly, an enormous gray wolf.

The wolf had a colossal figure that it made any grown adult standing close to it more akin to a baby. Its claws were around the length of an arm, and they emanated a ghastly and cold glow.

A few seconds after the five beasts appeared on the stage, Nicholas stood from his seat.

“I congratulate you all for your performance in the tower.”

“It is of delight to see the young ones with this much potential. And I must say, the journey doesn’t end here, there’s always room for improvement.” Nicholas spoke in a loud and clear voice.

There was a bit of smile on the faces of the students, and a moment later, Nicholas’s voice rang out.

“I know it was said that does who attain the sixth level are eligible to enter the final round, but it isn’t so. The truth is, only students who attained the tenth and above are qualified for the round.”

“The gold students, to be specific.”

It was even up to a second after Nicholas spoke, and one of the student’s voices rang out.

“What the hell do you mean!!!”

It was a student from the bandit division that spoke, and as Bane saw the muscular youth on his feet, he clenched his hand into a fist.

“Shit, he beat me to it,” Bane mumbled.

Nicholas flashed a rough smile, “The final round is only for those who went past the ninth level.”

“They are called the gold students, those who of you who from sixth to the ninth level are considered core students, and anything below the sixth level is the silver students.”

After Nicholas spoke, the student from the bandit’s division wanted to retort to Nicholas’s statement, when he received a deathly glare from Nicholas.

“But we have decided to operate differently this time around. We will put you through another quick and short test, so...”

Before Nicholas could finish his words, a light cough came from Layla, who was beside him.

He glared at her and said, “What is it!”

“It’s nothing,” Layla replied.

As her response wasn’t confusing, Layla continued.

“It’s just when you said quick and simple, it reminded me of you.” She said.

Thankfully, Layla had spoken in a soft voice, or else it would have been a disaster for Nicholas.

But even as it was only the directors who heard her voice, they still made fun of Nicholas. It was first a chuckle, and a second after, it was a burst of laughter from Grayson.

Meanwhile, Nicholas sneered, he turned towards the students, and spoke.

“Ignore my colleague with a borehole underneath her.”

“Those who attained the sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth level should kindly ascend to the stage.”

Layla’s eyes twitched, she wanted to respond to Nicholas, but no words came to her. She opened her mouth, but it was still nothing.

As for the students, they wasted no time and hurried to the stage.

While the beasts were on the stages, they all maintained a considerable distance from the beast. And even then, they were on alert for any sort of incidence that might occur.

Nicholas waited for a few seconds before he then said, “Are you ready?”

As a nod came from the student, Nicholas also nodded his head.

“Open the cages!”

“What!!!!”

Clearly, the students hadn’t been expecting those words from Nicholas.

Even though the cages were in front of them, thinking Nicholas would ask them to fight against the beast was simply insane.

However, as the cages of the beast were open, the students realized that this was no dream. There were really up against meta beasts.

“Oh my god!!”

“You have got to be kidding me... If you want to kill us, why don’t you just say so, instead of having us facing beasts who are of S-rank.” One of the students yelled.

The other student including Bane, Aiden, and Camille agreed, as the director were cruel to make up a test like this.

This was no test, instead, it was a suicide road.

“Hahaha!!! I wish you good luck.”

Regardless of the looks and concerns that the students were raising out, Nicholas received a glass of wine and lifted it up to them.

Meanwhile, once the cage was open the five beasts stepped out of it slowly, and as they stared at the students in front of them they were excitement on their faces.

“Y-”

Whether it was Bane, Aiden, Camille, or even the rest of the students, fear swept through their bodies as the directors were simply insane, no matter how they looked at it.

The students were still in shock at having to go against an S-rank beast when Nicholas’s voice rang out.

“I should also warn you, the only way to pass the test is if you attack them. And it’s also not compulsory you face them, you can leave now, there’s no punishment.”

“You would just miss out on participating in the final round, that’s all.”

As none of the students moved, Nicholas continued,” But if you go to the final round, and you continue to stand still, you would be dead before you realize.”

“So, get into work, if you wish to be on the grand floor.”

While Nicholas appeared to be advising the students on what to do, his words were more akin to telling them to go harm themselves.

“Roarr!!!”

A loud and powerful roar that caused the students to move several steps backward emerged the enormous wolf.

Bane staggered several steps backward, and after regaining his composure, he heaved a deep breath.

“It will be an honor for me, Bane Senneville, to go up against a meta beast.” Bane said.

“Prepare to experience a cruel demise, fellows.” Bane gave a slight bow to the five beasts and then assumed a battle stance.

He gathered thousands of insects around his body, and as he was about to dash to the beasts, staring at him with mockery evident in their eyes, Aiden held him.

“Let’s do this together,” Aiden said.

A nod came from Bane, and as Aiden came to the front, a smile couldn’t help but appear on her face.

She took a step forward and stomped her staff on the ground heavily.

Bang!

Instantly, over a hundred of undead appeared behind her. They were all holding a bone-made swords in their head, and their body excluded worldly intent.

“Count me in,” Camille said.

Meanwhile, the five beasts didn’t move from where they were, but an expression of mockery was well-written all over their faces.

“Who else wants to join us here? You wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun we are about to have.” Bane blurted.

There was however disdainful look on the faces of the other students after Bane.

They stared at Bane wondering if he was hit in the head, but as they remembered the person in front of them was one of the craziest people in the academy, they understood instantly.

“Ahhh... They are coming.”

One of the students yelled as the five beasts moved toward them slowly.

And very quickly, he turned towards the director, “This is optional, isn’t it?”

.....

It wasn’t even up to a second after the directors replied with a nod that multiple voices sounded.

“I quit!”

“There’s no way I’m facing S-rank beasts when I’m a B-rank meta... This is simply crazy.”

“Yes, it’s insane. I also quit, how do you expect a C-rank meta to fight against these ferocious creatures.”

“There can only be one explanation, and that is they want to kill us. This is no test to enter the final round, it is a test leading to hell.”

One after the other, the student began to back out of the test. They left the stage and headed back to their sections.

And within a few seconds, the previous forty who walked to the stage were the remaining twelve.

The beasts were only a few meters away and the look on their faces demonstrated that a clash was about to occur.

“Are you ready?!” Bane yelled.

Thousands of insects formed a full-body armor around Bane’s body, and at his back was a huge black wing that was also made of insects.

“Let’s go!!!”

With that said, and Bane, as well as the others, rushed toward the beasts.

However, the twelve of them had only moved a few steps when a burst of laughter escaped one of the beast’s mouths.

It was the huge wolf that laughed.

The wolf stared at the twelve, who was in shock from what had just transpired. And after a few seconds, it turned towards the directors.

“I believe they have passed the test.” The wolf said in a cold voice.

“They also have our blessing to go into the next round.”

After speaking, the wolf swiftly turned around, and with a single step, it appeared in the cage. The others also moved as well.

However, among the five beasts, the two-headed serpents didn’t head to the cage. It stood, staring at the students in the surrounding, and after a brief movement, its eyes moved to the thirty-eight students who backed out.

Nicholas already saw the dreadful look that was on the serpent, and immediately he spoke.

“Medusa, don’t ...”

Before Nicholas could complete his words, the serpent moved quickly.

It was so fast that within five seconds, the thirty-eight students that it targeted were all on the ground.

Lifeless.

Heaving a deep breath, Nicholas watched as the beasts vanished from the domain.

“That will be all for the second round, I wish you all the best for the final round. Good day!” Nicholas blurted.