[Raul PoV]
During the night after defeating those two humanoid monsters, Valeria and I settled into a building to rest and sleep.
I was eating my last loaf of bread to fill my stomach. Valeria and I must begin searching for food supplies tomorrow by hunting other participants who have already entered the urban area.
Speaking of the green-haired girl, as I predicted, she was capable of finding a way to defeat those two monsters. In the heat of battle, you must remain calm and analyze the enemy's strengths and weaknesses to exploit them for victory.
As the one who created her character, I am proud of Valeria. I hope her intelligence can always be relied upon by those who need it and believe in her when the great disaster eventually arrives. The same goes for the others; I hope they develop well by the time it is their turn to save the world.
At the moment, she is sitting beside me, fast asleep. Her head is resting on my shoulder. I can hear the sound of her breathing clearly.
For some reason, lately Valeria has become more fond of physical contact with me. Previously, she even hated it when I so much as looked in her direction. It's not that I dislike it or anything, but younger women aren't exactly my type.
Well... technically my body is the same age as hers. But inside this body dwells the soul of a 25-year-old man.
Liana, my ex-girlfriend, had long black hair just like Raul's. However, my preferred hair color on a woman is actually maroon. But the ideal woman only exists in a man's fantasy; they won't find her in the real world.
I looked up at the night sky.
Beautiful stars were scattered up there. I wanted to see this together with Liana... the woman I loved so much.
—Jedar!
My daydream was interrupted. Suddenly, I heard a flash of yellow lightning coming from the north.
"That lightning... It seems she's angry," I muttered, my thoughts immediately going to a certain blonde woman. "Who would dare disturb Elena during her sleep like this?"
***
[Elena PoV]
Ughhh... why is this happening to us?
Right now, my teammate Geralt and I are running from a pursuit of monsters within the urban area. We were supposed to be resting tonight after the exhaustion of fighting the endless waves of monsters coming our way.
"Elena, in front of you!" Geralt shouted, warning me about eight monsters appearing ahead.
I gathered mana in my right hand, illuminating the sword I held with a bolt of lightning.
"Lightning Whip!"
I swung my sword; the lightning enveloping it extended and lashed out, striking all eight monsters in front of me.
"Blazing Slash!"
I looked back and saw that Geralt had also just defeated four monsters simultaneously.
—Groaahhh!
I heard a thunderous roar. From a distance, a three-meter-tall humanoid monster shrouded in sand was heading this way.
"Dammit! They're endless!" Geralt cursed, frustrated by our situation.
I began walking toward the monster casually. Other monsters appeared from behind the humanoid giant.
"Enough..." I muttered.
Ten monsters ran toward me from the front.
"I told you, I need my sleep!" I screamed in annoyance. "I'll finish you all off for making me this angry, you filthy creatures!"
Activating one of my Profound Codices—Almerio del Lerampago—my body began to be shrouded in yellow lightning. I will annihilate them all with my signature magic!
—Swoshh!
The wind blew hard as I darted forward, blurring toward the monsters. My only focus was to wipe them out without a trace!
—Kreoookk!
Arriving before the first monster, I decapitated it before it could even react. With my speed, you'll die before you can even blink!
Slash, slash, slash! Monster blood splattered, soaking my uniform. Only a few seconds after activating this magic, all these wretched monsters were dead.
Now, only the big one remains.
—Groooaahh!
It roared loudly, aiming a fist at me.
"Slow..."
I vanished from where I stood and reappeared beside its body. I immediately swung my sword at its sand-covered leg.
The monster screamed in pain, its body sinking as it knelt on one leg after taking my hit. It attacked again with its massive hand, but I deftly leaped into the air to avoid it. Such a sluggish attack could never touch me.
My sword was once again infused with yellow lightning; this time, I would destroy it in a single strike.
"Lightning Strike!"
My body plummeted toward the monster, and my sword carved through its body from the top of its head down to its feet. The monster's body collapsed, blood splattering in every direction.
"That's what you get for disturbing my sleep."
These monsters are so weak... there hasn't been a challenge that forced me to go all out in this second stage exam. Using my favorite sword this time, I can fight with my full potential. Because of that, I want to meet him.
To continue our delayed battle...
I want to fight him, releasing every bit of ability we possess. Looking toward the moon illuminating the night sky of this ghost city, I wonder what he is doing right now...?
I want to pay him back for what he did during the first exam.
"We will fight again, Raul..." I murmured as I walked away, leaving the place filled with monster corpses. "I want to feel the thrill of battle with a strong opponent again."
***
[3rd PoV]
On the night of the third day, all remaining participants had entered the urban area. Many teams failed upon entering; most were unable to survive the monster attacks. Meanwhile, participants who had formed alliances managed to survive, albeit with dwindling logistics.
Tomorrow, it is certain there will be battles among the participants to seize food supplies to reach the finish line.
"Hey, our food supplies will only last through tomorrow," said a man in a group of eight, an alliance of four teams. "Whatever it takes, we must steal supplies from other participants tomorrow."
"Well... what kind of team will we target?" asked a mage in the group. "If we only aim for solo teams, their supplies will definitely be low and won't be enough for all of us."
"You're right, Gisco," said a Healer in the group, confirming his colleague's statement. "However, if we target a large group like ours, the fight will be much harder."
They also couldn't afford to fight for too long because the noise they made would surely draw monsters to their position.
"That's why we're lucky to have reached the urban area on the first day," Gisco said confidently. "We can set an ambush to gain the advantage in the coming fight."
Hearing Gisco's proposal, all members nodded in agreement. While these seven were discussing their plans for tomorrow, one of them was scouting the building they occupied for sentry duty.
"Ugh, I'm already this tired, why did they pick me for this task?" the man complained. "Huh? A chest? I wonder what's inside?"
The man suddenly found a chest in the building he was inspecting. He approached the chest and forced it open.
"Hehe~ Boy... it looks like my unlucky day has turned into my lucky one!" the man said, beaming. "I didn't expect to find a treasure in the middle of nowhere!"
The man took out the contents: a golden figurine of a monster.
—Shung...!
Suddenly, the figurine emitted a magic circle. The man was startled and threw the statue hard. However, instead of breaking upon hitting the floor, its size began to increase rapidly.
"Dammit! What exactly did I just find!" the man exclaimed in confusion.
"Hey, Farlo! What's with all the noise down here!"
Several of his colleagues came down to check on him.
"Ah, it's nothing. I just found a strange statue," Farlo replied.
The statue grew larger and larger. Now, it had reached a height of two meters. Cracks began to appear on its surface.
And suddenly...
—"Kreaaaakkk!"
The statue transformed into a horrific monster. The humans present were shocked to see the harmless statue turn into a ferocious beast.
"A-attack that monster!" one of them shouted.
"Wind Cutter!"
Their mage released wind magic, instantly slicing the monster's body into two parts.
"Huh? I thought it was some strong, terrifying monster! Turns out it's no different from the weak goblins we met before!" said Farlo, the man who found the statue.
However, his joy was short-lived. He watched as the monster's body parts began to regrow. The upper half grew a new lower body, while the severed lower half grew a new upper body.
This resulted in two monsters.
"T-this monster can multiply!" the mage cried.
They tried to attack again, but their efforts failed. The monster multiplied further, reaching 16 in number.
—Kikiki...
The monsters laughed at their futile efforts.
"W-what kind of monster is this!"
The monsters began to swarm them, utilizing their superior numbers. The participants tried to fight back, but unfortunately, their efforts only caused the monsters to multiply even more.
That night, the group of participants occupying the building was eliminated by the mysterious monster that had accidentally appeared.