Chapter 361: Inter-Academy Tournament (XIII)
The moment his fingers closed around the necklace, the entire chamber shook violently.
The ground cracked open in three different spots, and three massive guardian golems rose from the broken stone floor.
"So... it was indeed a trap," Gray nodded lightly.
The first golem was a towering figure made of dark, jagged obsidian stone.
Its body was covered in sharp spikes, and its eyes glowed with red energy. It moved with heavy, crushing steps, clearly designed for raw physical power.
The second golem was slimmer and more agile, its body formed from smooth, reflective crystal.
It had long, blade-like arms that hummed with wind mana, making it extremely fast and deadly with slashing attacks.
The third golem was the most dangerous-looking of all.
Its body was made of glowing runes and molten lava-like energy. It radiated intense heat and had the ability to shoot powerful fire and earth attacks from its fists.
All three golems were at the Early King Realm.
They had been specifically created to destroy any student who dared to approach the necklace.
Their purpose was simple: to eliminate intruders without mercy.
The obsidian golem roared and charged forward first, swinging a massive spiked fist toward Gray’s head.
The crystal golem dashed to the side with incredible speed, its blade arms slicing through the air as it aimed for Gray’s blind spot.
The lava golem raised both fists and fired a barrage of molten rock and fireballs from a distance, trying to overwhelm him with area attacks.
Gray didn’t move much.
He simply raised his right hand and activated [Nine Heavens Thunder Claw] once more.
CRACKLE!
A massive golden-blue lightning claw exploded outward from his palm. It tore through the obsidian golem’s spiked fist like paper, shattering its entire arm in one strike.
The golem staggered, but Gray followed up with a casual punch to its chest.
The impact sent a shockwave through its body, and the golem exploded into pieces, completely destroyed.
The crystal golem tried to slash at Gray from the side, but he turned slightly and caught both of its blade arms with one hand.
He squeezed, and the crystal shattered under his grip. Before the golem could retreat, Gray delivered a light kick to its torso.
The crystal golem flew backward and smashed into the wall, breaking apart into countless shards.
The lava golem fired its molten barrage, but Gray simply walked forward through the flames and rocks.
The attacks parted around him as if they were afraid to touch him. He reached the lava golem in a blink and placed his palm on its chest.
A surge of mana flowed through his hand, and the golem’s entire body cracked and crumbled into molten rubble in seconds.
The three guardian golems were destroyed in less than ten seconds, causing the chamber to fall silent once again.
Shinee...
Instantly, the ordinary-looking necklace in Gray’s hand transformed.
The dark silver metal became more exquisite, with intricate patterns carved into it like flowing blood veins.
The small blue gem in the center began to pulsate softly, glowing with a beautiful, deep azure light, as if it had finally found its new owner.
Gray didn’t waste any time and directly opened the necklace’s details, hoping that it had the same effect as it did in the novel.
[Name: Goddess of Blood’s Necklace
Grade: Peak King Realm [0%]
Type: Growth / Armor
Main Function: Grants you absolute control over the blood spilled by you or an enemy. Reduces bleeding and enhances physical recovery.
Additional Traits:
• Bleed: After stabbing an opponent, it has a 5% chance of incurring bleed, causing the opponent’s wound to open wider.
Special Traits:
• Goddess’s Favor: ???]
Gray’s lips curled into a happy smile as he read the details.
It really was the same as in the novel.
The necklace was exactly as he remembered, a powerful growth-type artifact with terrifying potential.
The ability to control spilled blood was incredibly useful in battle, and the bleed effect could turn even small wounds into fatal ones.
He slipped the necklace around his neck without hesitation.
’Perfect,’ he thought, his smile widening slightly.
’With this, my fighting style becomes even more lethal.’
He turned away from the empty pedestal and looked at the destroyed chamber one last time.
The three guardian golems were nothing but rubble now, and the ancient runes on the walls had dimmed completely.
There was nothing else of interest here.
’I have nothing else to do here...’ he thought.
’It’s time to reunite with the girls and proceed to eliminate the other academies. They’re probably only five or so remaining by now.’
Gray didn’t waste any more time.
He turned around and walked out of the chamber, heading toward the surface through the hole he had created earlier.
Mariinne, who had been watching him with sparkling eyes, quickly realized he was leaving without her.
She scrambled to her feet and ran after him.
"Wait! My prince! Don’t leave me behind!" she screamed, her voice echoing through the ruins.
"We can go together! I’ll help you eliminate everyone! Please wait for me~!"
She dissolved into shadows to move faster, trying to catch up to him.
But when she reformed at the entrance of the ruin, Gray was already gone. The jungle around her was silent, with no trace of him left behind.
Mariinne stopped in her tracks, her expression shifting from excitement to a deep frown.
"...He left me again," she muttered, crossing her arms. "That’s so mean... but also kind of exciting."
Her frown slowly turned into a mischievous smile as she tilted her head.
"A person who could easily escape my shadows... that’s very interesting. No one has ever done that before. He truly is my prince."
Then, something clicked in her mind. She remembered the Gloria Academy students calling him by name during the fight.
"Gray..." she whispered to herself.
"Gray Vireux."
Her eyes widened in realization, and her smile grew even bigger.
"That genius who made his comeback after falling to the brink of destruction! So that’s who my prince is... Gray Vireux. No wonder he was so strong and mysterious."
She giggled softly, her brown hair swaying as she spun around once in delight.
"I’ll find you again, my prince. And next time, I won’t let you leave me behind so easily~"
Mariinne dissolved into shadows once more, disappearing into the jungle with a happy, determined expression on her face.
Meanwhile, Gray, who had swapped into a marked position, walked towards the direction of his meeting point with the girls.
The meeting point was none other than the base of another academy, and the errand he told them to do was to conquer that academy before he returned.
Now... it was time to see if they were able to.
When he arrived at the meeting point, he stopped for a moment and frowned slightly.
The area was supposed to be the conquered base of another academy, but what he saw was far more than just his own group.
Not only were the girls from his team there, but girls from several other groups had gathered as well.
The whole Phoenix Class was present there.
They were chatting excitedly, laughing, and sharing stories as if they were on a casual outing rather than in the middle of a deadly survival challenge.
The moment they noticed him, their faces lit up.
"Leader!" one of the girls called out, waving excitedly.
"You’re back!"
Another girl with long dark hair ran over with a bright smile.
"Gray! We did it! We conquered the base just like you asked. It was easier than we thought once we worked together."
A third girl, standing near a captured flagpole, grinned widely.
"We even took some extra flags from the other teams that tried to attack us. You should have seen it; we worked perfectly as a team!"
Seraph stood up from where she had been sitting and walked over to him with a soft, warm smile.
"Welcome back," she said quietly.
"We managed to secure the area. The other groups joined us after we helped them eliminate a few rival teams. Everyone here is from our academy."
The girls gathered around him, their eyes shining with excitement and admiration. One of them, a shorter girl with bright eyes, spoke up happily.
"Leader, we followed your orders exactly. We didn’t waste any time and conquered this base in less than two hours. The guys from the other groups tried to help at first, but... well..."
Another girl finished her sentence with a small laugh.
"They got eliminated pretty quickly. They weren’t as careful as we were."
Gray frowned slightly as he looked at the large group of girls. He had expected only his small team, but now there were dozens of them here.
"Where are the other people?" he asked calmly.
"The guys from our academy?"
The girls exchanged glances before one of them answered.
"All the guys except you were completely eliminated," she said honestly.
"It happened pretty fast. They tried to fight head-on against stronger teams and got wiped out. Only the Phoenix Class and a few other girls managed to survive until now."
Gray’s face twitched at those words.
"...It has been barely half a day, and you’re telling me everyone else from our academy has been eliminated?"
The girls nodded at his words.
Gray’s face twitched again as he processed the information.
’No wonder Aurora wanted me to participate...’ he thought inwardly.
’Only the girls in the academy are strong and smart enough to survive.’
He let out a small sigh and looked at the group of girls gathered around him. They were all looking at him with bright, expectant eyes, clearly happy to see him return.
’Well... at least, they are extremely obedient, so it shouldn’t be a problem to win.’
"Fine," Gray said calmly, furrowing his eyebrows.
"We’ll work with what we have. Let’s continue eliminating the other academies."
The girls cheered excitedly, their voices overlapping as they surrounded him.
"Leader, we’re ready!"
"We’ll follow you anywhere!"
"You’re the best, Gray!"
Comments