Way of the Knights

Chapter 146 - Fierce Clash

"...and welcome to the 'it' team."

As soon as Veronica said this, she left her energy signature at Rupert's shoulders.

Rupert was struck dumb. He was having a hard time believing what just happened. He then remembered the face that Raven made before he left. Realization dawned upon him, his face contorted with unwillingness and helplessness. All he could do was to sigh in defeat as he looked up to her.

"Whatever." Rupert smiled wryly, "Even though I want to voice my discontent with this situation, it's not like it's going to change anything. Just like everytime, I'm still a loser."

Honestly, Veronica felt bad. But then again, it was the same process for her anyway. 

She also wasn't expecting to be tagged by Philip, who she thought was innocent. She was being chased by Sasha a while ago when Philip intercepted her and allowed her to escape. After that, she thought Philip managed to shake Sasha off from chasing him so she went towards him to express her thanks. 

Philip said to not mind it and placed a hand on her shoulder before saying 'Welcome to the 'It' team.' 

She was marked and also reacted the same way as Rupert did. To think that she would do the same thing to him was almost hilarious.

"Anyway, how many are we?" Rupert asked after a while of silence.

"About seven..." Veronica said, "That includes you, but I'm also not sure we went separate ways to cover more ground so who knows?"

Rupert was shocked when he heard this number, "Damn! Only one missing and you guys took down half of the team!"

From his calculations, the game's been going on for at least thirty minutes already. Their rate of elimination isn't considered fast but considering that they have to cover a huge ground due to the size of this training field, this speed is already very impressive.

"Tagged!" Both Veronica and Rupert's ears buzzed as soon as they heard that voice.

"That makes it 8 then." Veronica said while laughing.

"Shit! They got Scarlet! She's just as fast as Sasha! Take care everyone!" Someone said, this person must be nearby when Scarlet was tagged.

"They're halfway done! We're gonna lose at this rate! What do we do?"

"Fight! If we disable some of their people, then that makes less pursuers. Don't trust the Safe Zones either! They can destroy the pillar!" The one who said this was Paul, he was trying to convince the people to resort to a confrontation instead of hiding.

His voice was loud so everyone in the training field heard it, the atmosphere just became heavier, the 'not-it' team was seriously considering this suggestion of his as well. They have even numbers, and it's not like this would be the first time that they would have a spar anyway.

"Sure! Why not?"

Suddenly, Raven's voice was heard everywhere. Some people followed the direction of his voice and saw that he was standing horizontally on a pillar once more. 

"That's going to happen sooner or later anyway. So why not make it now? Am I right?"

Raven's declaration lit up the blazing fighting intent of these students. They looked at him and became wary of his every action. 

"If you people aren't coming, then I will. I'm tired of this slow hunt anyway." Raven smiled as he instantly disappeared in his spot. The remaining 'not-it' people had their eyes widen as they saw him disappear. 

The next time he appeared he was on the next pillar, but his silhouette only flickered there before showing up somewhere else.

"Shit! Who knew that this freak could still get even more freaky! What kind of farm animal is he?" Rupert cursed as he and Veronica started running all over the place.

Their uncrowned leader just waged war with everyone else, even though they aren't willing they would still be targeted so they have to move, but their movements aren't as fast as Raven.

Raven's speed, if he decided to release some weighted inscriptions on his body, is mind-boggingly fast. It was very hard for anyone on the same level to catch him at all. Running away from him would be difficult as well, so right now all they could do is to wait for him to show up and hopefully defeat him in a straight confrontation.

Raven's shadow flickered in and out, the rest had long realized that they won't be able to pin down his location so they decided to be on guard. 

Along with a breeze of wind, Raven's figure seemingly materialized. He appeared directly behind Trebor, one of his classmates who haven't been tagged yet. The dude felt something behind and quickly turned around, his pupils dilated when he realized that Raven was already behind him.

He quickly shifted his foot and raised his weapon, but before his weapon completely materialized in his hand, Raven's body already flickered and appeared in front of him. Trebor paled and tried to step back, but Raven's fist was already grasping his wrist.

"Tagged!"

Raven's clear voice echoed across the training field. Their minds buzzed as they realized that someone had already fallen victim to Raven in the small time that had passed.

While Raven was holding Trebor's wrist, Raven's ears buzzed as he hurriedly tilted his head on the side. As soon as he did, an arrow slid past with a piercing sound. He already knew that this was Anne's doing so. Without further ado, he pulled Trebor's arm and threw him to the side, not before leaving an energy signature on his wrist.

Trebor was so confused, at one point he was still reeling at the fact that Raven tagged him effortlessly and suddenly he threw him away, just what's going on?

"Leave! I can't protect you." Raven said while shifting his focus somewhere else.

Trebor was about to say something when he felt someone pulled his collar. He turned around and saw that it was Rupert along with Veronica. Fatty dragged him away and hid between pillars while making sure that they still have a clear view about what's going on.

"Trust me, buddy. Whatever's about to go down there isn't something we could participate in." Rupert reminded her solemnly.

"What do you mean?" Trebor asked, still confused about what's happening.

"Just watch." Rupert didn't say anything more and instead just pointed to the gap where Raven and the rest are clashing.

As soon as Raven threw away Trebor, more arrows screeched towards him. Anne was relentless with her assault, it was hard to imagine how she was able to still pinpoint Raven's direction even though she herself was running as well. 

While Raven was nimbly dancing to dodge the arrows, Mark's shadow flickered towards him without making too much noise. Since Anne's arrows are pressuring Raven to constantly dodge, she was able to pin down his location, making it easier for Mark to catch up with Raven.

Mark caught up and immediately joined Anne in attacking Raven. The two were locked in a fierce melee. Mark's swords were like pythons that blur due to how fast he was wielding it. Meanwhile Raven was akin to an undisturbed lake, calmly letting him attack as much as he pleased, and sometimes parrying his advances all the while where Anne was still shooting whenever she could.

The exchange was so fierce that the three who were hiding while watching had their mouths wide open. They could barely follow what's going on when suddenly a spear struck the ground nearby.

All of them heard a piercing sound in the air. They looked up and saw Paul falling down like a meteor towards where Mark, Anne and Raven were.

As soon as he made contact, the ground shattered into pieces, causing rubble to fly all over the place. The whole training field shook violently, the pillars surrounding the impact were cracked and on the verge of falling.

Rupert, Veronica and Trebor worried for their safety so they retreated for more.

The newly arrived Paul was greeted with a punch to his face, courtesy of Raven, who was unharmed in his descent. Paul tumbled around for a bit before feeling a pair of hands stopping him further. He turned around and saw the solemn-faced Ellen glaring fiercely at the clashing Mark and Raven.

Ellen was also followed by Luna, and when the three met their eyes, they nodded to each other and started charging towards Raven. 

"Come!" 

Raven yelled, his tone brimmed with a blazing fighting intent. Mark answered by sending a couple of swords of energy towards Raven. This was then followed by Ellen as well as Luna. 

With a graceful turn, Raven performed a horizontal flip and landed on the support of his left hand. His legs whipped and sent two compressed air spheres towards his aggressors. He then mobilized his energies towards his left hand, causing his body to lift off the ground while also dodging a volley of arrows from Anne.

His attack caused the three to move out of the way to dodge his retaliation, all of them had their energy vision active right now so they could tell just how much was hidden in his attack.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class could only watch with mouths agape. Just how frightening are these kids?