There were way too many people who felt as if they had an opinion on how the Glade was supposed to ran, perhaps it wasn't just an opinion it was the sheer arrogance to believe that they were worthy of it. 11 challengers stepped forward, 6 of them were doing it on behalf of someone else who they felt should lead. Of the six four of them were fighting for the same person.
Cole watched all of them with a baleful stare, honestly he was little bit annoyed and let down that his much people had showed up. He had thought that his earlier display of trouncing both Xerxes99 and Thunderbolt-Jack should have been bought to scare some people and get them to back off, but now here he was about to deal with a crowd of very discontents and misguided people .
Normally this situation should never have arose, but it has become obvious that the secret to passing this floor was unity and working well with others. And he was jaded enough that he would never left his life be under the control off anybody, as the glade's growth was also pretty much dependent on how good a leader it gained.
Cole was from a family where the line of succession and the authority of a leader is extremely important and frankly speaking with all of the bullshit he has to deal with in the real world he had little patience for politics here. So if beating this people to an inch of their life is what would be needed to cement his power and control then that was exactly what he was going to do.
"I'm going to step out if the Glade, the system would stop me or rather it would not let me cause damage to any one of you last a certain point.ns9 we will take the fight outside, where it really matters and your precious lives are put on the line for your ideals and beliefs. Because that is what this fight is all about, it is a fight of wills, I say I have the strongest here and should be the person to lead your sorry asses and many of you would rather disagree with me than conform."
Cole then turned and walked out the Glade, it was still circular and for some reason while they have been able to count the hours, it has and still was daylight so they have not been able to tell which direction was easy or west yet. He stood in a small clearing that had been made by aspirants bringing down trees, he pulled out Black Malakai and let the blade face the earth while it's scabbard rested on his shoulder, then he crouched down a bit fallen into a stance that he was all so familiar with.
[Black Demon Swordsmanship]
The time for talking was pretty much over, they all knew it. A baleful aura that was almost black and visible to those who had a higher perception stat covered his body. His eyes turned a reddish purple that was reddish blue if you looked at from a different angle. The first person rushed forwards, screaming and yelling as a bolt of force blasted out of his hand and smashed into Cole's chest.
Like a scene out a horror movie, Cole only grunted and took a step back, then he rushed forwards his body leaping into the air as he stabbed out. The aspirant utilized his force abilities to create a shield that deflected Cole's sword but he was still holding the scabbard that wacked into the side of the man's head. He stumbled as Cole used [Vertigo] keeping him even more off his feet as Black Malakai found it's way through the guys closed mouth, shattering teeth as it slashed into his throat and out the back of his head
He dropped to the ground gurgling as he chocked on his own blood, a massive hole in the back of his head. It was sure torture that he did not die immediately and the scene was so nerve wracking that everyone that was watching it felt a chill go down their spine. It took another 3 to 5 minutes before the guy finally died, and through it all Cole just stood there watching as the man finally drew his last breath. Then He turned to the remaining 10 who watched as the body of the man disappeared only to reappear back in the Glade a terrified look on his face.
Cole reckoned that he had the look of a man that was haunted by his past, in this case that past had only been the last ten minutes. Cole pointed his sword at the rest of his challengers. A slow smile crawling across his face as he took a step towards them, most of them took a step back with only few being bold enough to hold his gaze, he pointed his sword at them.
"When I told you guys to come at me I did not mean that you should send one individual weakling after the other, it would take too much time and I have to see if the Glade is ready for it's upgrade, the road to get to a settlement is quite long and I don't have time to waste on pointless power struggles. So all of you, come at me, whoever takes my head or lands the killing blow wins…. I should mention this is not just a fight against me…. It's a fight against yourselves."
There was a murmur as whispers of confusion and discontent seemed to go through the crowd. Cole raised an eyebrow and chuckled as he shook his head.
"Should the next person to come up beats me, would the remaining 9 be willing to let said person be in charge, after all you are all standing opposite me with 'Better opinions ' of how the Glade should be ran and who should run it. So basically we are all of differing opinions, even for the four who think that some dude called the Raven Nightmoon should be the leader, and it's even more funny that says Raven Nightmoon is not even amongst the people who are here to fight, which means he or she doesn't even think they're worthy to fill my shoes. So enough posturing, let's dance and get this thing over with." Cole said as she sheathed Black Malakai and restructured the form of the sword into that of a katana, with this much people, a little bit of finessed would be required.
Unsurprisingly the next person or rather group of persons to answer the call were the four who thought the still unknown, at least to Cole, Raven Nightmoon should be the mayor of the Glade. The other six were not that far behind as they too .over in order to take advantage of the chaos as it unfolds. For Cole though this was just good enough for him, and he whispered his words into the forest, with only the trees themselves being the witnesses to what he said…..
[Wrath Drive]
He drew the katana out in a flash, coating the blade with negative energy as he used [Black Cut] releasing a black crescent beam that's lashed two people in half before anyone else could blink. The two behind them came up short, stopping in shock over what had just happened as Cole appears in front of them, his scabbard slamming into the throat of one as he coated [Gravity] over it, crushing the throat of his opponent as his katana sliced to the side opening up a small wound on the side of the second person who quickly back pedaled away with a hiss as the remaining six people caught up to Cole.
[Shadow Dance]
Moved him out of their front and brought him to their sides, utilizing their blind spots and he used [Vertigo] causing stomach churning nausea as he lobbed a [Chaos Blast] into their midst. Two of them were barely able to get out of the way in time when the blast exploded, created a sphere of black and purple eldritch energy that ripped them all to shreds, their screams of pain seeming like music to the ears of Cole.
He gave a second cut to the person who had been previously injured but was still alive, eliciting another hiss from them and spray of acid venom from their mouth as a serpentine tongue slithered out and went back into her mouth. It was a woman and since she had caused Divyat damage, he decided she had earned the right to be addressed as she and they or them. It burned as Cole was blinded in his right eye and the venom was rapidly eating through the side of his skull…. Cole ignored it without even a single shred of pain in his face as he grabbed her and used [Sin Eater].
He rapidly drained her energy, this time not stopping so that all who were still standing could see what would happen if he had not held himself back when confronting Thunderbolt-Jack. She desiccated like an ancient corpse before turning to dust, blown into the wind that highlighted Cole's very terrifying looking figure. He chuckled sheathed his sword again and hung it over both shoulders resting the crook of his elbows on it.
"Who's Next?"
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