The ice sorcerer pointed his blade toward Damon, and without a moment wasted, he sent the shard of ice hurtling through the air, coming straight at him.
Damon didn't flinch. He simply stared as the shard of ice came at him, until at the last moment, it moved to the side, missing him by an inch.
He saw the glimpse of Elise's ability and knew the girl would move it... Well, at least he hoped so.
"Hah, not bad!" the man said, amused by the way his shard missed. "You must be awakened, too. What's your name? I'm Nicholas."
'He thinks I'm the one that awakened... that's good. Maybe we can use that to our advantage.'
"Damon," he replied coldly, before raising his blade.
"Nice to meet you, Damon. Let's see what you can do!"
Nicholas dashed forward.
His blade met Damon's in a fury of attacks. Each block sent tremors down Damon's arms, but he held on, pushing through his exhausted body and meeting each of Nicholas's strikes.
Suddenly, after Damon blocked one of the man's attacks, Nicholas extended his free arm and manifested a shard of ice, which he plunged into Damon's shoulder.
"Tsk!"
Damon gritted his teeth through the pain.
Nicholas smiled.
"Why not use your—"
He didn't get to finish the sentence as a throwing dagger plunged into the back of his right leg.
He turned to see Elise standing several meters away, a throwing dagger in one hand while the other remained oddly empty, as if occupied by something invisible.
'Was I mistaken? Was it the girl?' Nicholas began to question in his head.
But he had no chance to dwell on that as Damon threw a front kick into the man's stomach and sent him stumbling backwards.
"Kicks in a sword fight?" Nicholas scoffed, as if amused by such a savage way of fighting.
Damon, however, paid it no mind. His focus narrowed to the man's movements, blocking out his words as useless noise.
"Not much of a talker, huh. Very well."
The air took another shift, the temperature dropping so much that the blood dripping from Damon's wound turned instantly to ice.
'He's strong.'
Damon frowned, but at that moment, an announcement cut through the arena, causing all three of them to pay attention.
[Announcement! Phase Three is complete. There are only 10 pairs remaining. Location of all Participants will now be revealed.]
'Only ten? The mana beasts must've done a hell of a job.'
Resolve ignited in Damon's heart. Only nine pairs stood between them and survival, eight if they could get through the man before them. But there was also a second part of the announcement.
According to it, their location would be revealed, though he couldn't quite tell how—
Before he could even finish his trail of thought, firework-like explosions erupted above them. Three burst directly overhead while he caught a glimpse of another dozen scattered across the distance.
'I see... it makes sense now. They don't want the winner to be someone who just hid the whole time. The purpose of this whole thing is to win by killing the rest.'
Damon tightened his grip on his weapon, his gaze narrowing on the man before him. The others knew exactly where they were. They needed to finish this fast.
He took a quick single look at Elise, who seemed to have the same thoughts. The girl threw a dagger at Nicholas before dashing forward to meet him head-on.
Damon didn't waste time. It was two against one. They had to finish this before the others could get to them.
Nicholas's previously gleaming expression disappeared, replaced by sheer focus as he materialised numerous ice shards around himself.
He sent them hurtling through the air one by one, all directed at Damon, who barely managed to avoid them despite Elise redirecting them as much as she could.
The girl's dagger met the man's sword in a clash of steel.
Nicholas confidently blocked her strike, then sent a wave of ice toward her with a flick of his hand. At the same time, Damon joined the frenzy, thrusting his blade at the man's abdomen.
'I got you—'
The blade struck, but instead of hitting flesh, a veil of ice materialised across the man's abdomen, protecting his body. The ice shattered upon impact, but Nicholas moved back before Damon could follow through.
"Haha, not bad," Nicholas said. This time, it felt more like a nervous chuckle than his previous confident laughter. "I'm sorry, but I have to finish this fast," he added, as he raised his hand.
A massive shard of ice materialised before his palm, but before he could send it—
Blood spurted from the man's mouth, followed by a violent cough.
'W-What is going on?' he muttered between the coughs.
"You've wasted all your mana. Your core is exhausted. Using spells on an empty core leads to backlash," Elise answered coldly, a smile prickling on her pale face.
'Did she know this would happen all along?' Damon wondered, studying the girl's satisfied expression.
She took a step forward, but before she could reach Nicholas, a sudden roar cut through the air, not that of a living being, but the rippling roar of fire soaring through the sky.
She dashed backwards just in time to avoid the wave of fire that struck where she had stood a moment earlier. A pair stepped out of the forest, and menacing grins settled on their faces. But they were not alone either. From the complete opposite direction, another pair stepped forward, then another.
Within moments, it appeared as though all remaining participants had arrived on that small plateau, ready for the climax of the battle.
Damon's eyes moved across the battlefield.
'14... 15... 16... 17...'
Including him and Elise, there were now 19 people scattered across the battlefield. Every person left in the game had come here to end it once and for all.
Elise moved toward Damon, her back pressed against his.
The space felt far too small for a battle of this size, and yet, here they were. Before they could get a chance to think of their next step, the whole battlefield erupted into chaos.