Time passed quickly and in a blink of an eye, the last week of the competition arrived.
The audience returned and the atmosphere inside the dome turned lively.
In the past few weeks, many participants who got severely injured during the competition arrived in the dome and were taken away by the healers.
The audience’s shocked murmurs echoed in the dome as they took in the sight of the top participant’s points.
Anlee massaged his temples and gazed at the floating screen. He gingerly looked back at the Royal envoy who arrived yesterday just to pick the top two hundred participants.
The Royal envoy was a middle-aged elf. He wore a white shirt with golden patterns engraved on his shoulders and sleeves.
Anlee clicked his tongue. He wanted to interrogate the top participant secretly to know his identity but it seemed impossible now due to the envoy’s presence.
He grumbled but focused on the large screen.
A loud clap resounded beside him and Aira started floating mid-air. Her cold eyes traveled in the dome and from the corner of her eyes, she looked at the Royal envoy.
He gave her a nod and Aira’s eyes turned emotionless when she fixed her eyes on the crowd.
“The two months are almost ending and in another week the event will end. However, to make it a little harder for the kids we planned to show them the true horror of a monster horde.”
The moment Aira finished her words, the audience erupted into an uproar. The professors from different academies stood up from their chairs in shock.
The sudden revelation made their face pale. A monster horde wasn’t something the young kids could handle! They wanted to voice their opinions but Aira’s eyes turned sharp. An invisible pressure descended on the crowd and they shut their mouths with ugly expressions.
However, unlike the crowd, Dynn and the nobles didn’t stay quiet. Dynn erupted into an angry roar.
“What the heck did you say just now?”
Aira tilted her head to look back with a raised brow.
“Control your voice Dynn. You are older I know but remember I am stronger.”
“You..”
Dynn clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. A vein bulge on his forehead. He didn’t care about what they did but his only grandson would be among the participants fighting the monster horde. If something happened to Regius he knew his wife won’t be able to take it.
‘I should have never agreed when Regius insisted on entering the event! Damn it!’
Just like him, the noble families were enraged but then the Royal envoy stood up and started floating.
He gazed at Dynn and the nobles.
“It’s the King’s order.”
In an instant, the atmosphere turned eerily quiet and the Royal envoy nodded with a satisfied expression. Afterward, he gestured for Aira to continue.
“So where was I? Right the participants will fight a monster horde for the last week. Don’t worry though no participants will die. As you all know the moment they got severely injured they would be teleported out to receive treatment from the best healers.”
“Also, the monster horde won’t be too strong. The highest monster in the monster horde would be (C+)-Rank because I know the participants are too weak to fight the stronger ones.” freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Anlee arrived beside her. He was as confused as the audience but he took it rather easily because if they released a monster horde in the competition the kids had to gather in a single place to fight. That means the thousands of projections would merge and show the whole picture instead of showing some tiny figures.
His eyes trailed to the crowd. Almost everyone was seething with anger but they had to gulp down their anger in front of the King’s Order.
He scoffed and turned around to look at Aira. The place where the participants were fighting with the monsters was an enclosed illusionary space created by an old artifact that’s why if Aira wanted to release a monster horde she needed a lot of resources.
Anlee was confused. Why was the king wasting so many resources in this event? He knew about the secret realm but in his point of view, it was a pity to waste so much on some young kids.
His curious gaze lingered on the Royal envoy. At the same time, Aira’s body moved and disappeared. A few more individuals standing inside the dome quietly walked away.
The Royal envoy returned to his seat followed by Anlee. Dynn murderous gaze landed on their backs but they ignored him completely.
Dynn was stronger than almost everyone present in the dome except Aira. Moreover, after knowing it was the King’s order he could do nothing but grit his teeth with anger.
Soon, the air around the projections turned troubled. Dense mana gathered inside the dome and seeped inside the Array symbols drawn on the round stage.
The audience watched with bated breaths and due to the intense pressure the air turned heavy.
The many small projections trembled and scattered into tiny green particles. The huge ranking screen floating below the ceiling shrunk and became smaller in size. However, the many names glowing on the screen glowed even brighter.
After a few seconds, the scattered particles gathered again forming a single projection above the stage. The projection was big enough to envelope the whole stage where thousands of individuals could stand easily.
The projection showed a vast expense of forestation and a few mountains, hundreds of moving figures of the participants and the monsters.
Dynn eyes narrowed and he fixed his gaze on the Projection to locate Regius. Just like him the crowd and the nobles also fixed their gaze on the Projection. In the end, the kids were too young to experience something like this.
At that moment, Aira returned. Her face was a little pale because she used too much energy. She clenched her fists to gather herself and looked at the crowd with a cold expression.
“Within a few minutes, the monster horde will attack the forest shown in the Projection from the east side. The monsters won’t stop because within a week they will travel around the whole area until the end of the forest. So, even if the participants tried to hide they won’t be able to stay safe for a long time.”
“This monster horde is nothing in front of the real thing because it would be too small. However, after experiencing it I believe the participants would gain a lot. In the future, if they faced danger they would fight it with their all instead of just hiding inside their comfort zone.”
As if waiting for the cue, the moment she stopped talking the huge projection trembled. The crowd watched with rough breathing how hundreds of monsters appeared in the projection and started running in a straight line together. The monsters seemed to be coming out of thin air because their number was increasing with each passing second.
With the monsters arrived pure destruction. They bit and stomped down the large trees. A few moving unlucky participants roaming around the area were caught off guard. They freaked out and tried to run but because so many monsters appeared together not many were able to retreat safely.
In the next second, loud shrieks and painful cries sounded on the stage. The audience looked down at the stage and saw many injured participants shouting in pain.
Aira clenched her jaw, she didn’t want to do this but it was the King’s order. Also, no one would die. She will make sure of it.
The moment the injured participants arrived many healers poured into the dome and hurriedly took them away to treat their injuries.
Aira’s voice sounded blank. She fixed her gaze at the healers.
“Use high-grade healing potions to save all of them. Don’t care about the resources. Also, their permanent injuries would be cured by many precious herbs. The King knew it was a risky move that’s why he opened the Royal treasury and gave his permission to use all the treasures to heal the participants no matter their background.”