A heavy pressure swiped the Battle Ground and everyone could feel it. The closest person to Basil had their knees buckled and were close to collapse. They looked at Basil with trembling eyes and an expression filled with terror.
At that moment where everyone was silent, four people casted a Spell in unison.
"[Fire Storm]!"
Boom!
Fire materialized out of thin air followed by a strong wind that swept it. Fire and wind were mixed creating a storm out of fire for the world to see. The four people who had casted it sent it straight toward Basil.
"W-watch out!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Crap! Are they trying to kill us too?!"
People who were in the way made an emergency evasion as they could see their fate if they were to stay idle. The firestorm the four people produced was bigger than Basil had shown in front of Chester and his class. Therefore, many people were horrified.
However, Basil was unfazed as expected. He merely glanced at the firestorm and the casters disinterestedly. Taking out Kusanagi from his Spatial Bracelet, he swung it at the firestorm.
Swish!
The wind Kusanagi produced tore through the firestorm, dispersing it entirely. The only indication that showed there had been a firestorm earlier was the scorched ground.
Everyone was bewildered. They were already bewildered enough to see the big firestorm that was produced by four academy students.
Imagine their shock when that firestorm was dispersed by one student with a casual swing of his sword. They couldn't take it easily.
"[Fire Bullet]!"
Still, the four people knew how to do a battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless of fire bullets with an abnormal size were shot at Basil. Basil could evade that graciously, however the bullets seemed to follow his movement. Basil had a faint smirk on his face.
'They are not empty talk.'
He was slightly impressed at the four students. Not only they helped each other to amplify their Spell's power, but they also had a decent control over their Mana. Furthermore, their coordination was impressive, even though they were still in their academy years.
Still, it was the best they could do.
Screech!
Basil infused Kusanagi with Mana and wind Blades quickly surrounded him. An uncomfortable sound that pierced the ear was produced. Everyone had an uneasy feeling and it was also the same for the four pillar.
"Don't just freeze like a statue! Move!"
"O-oh.. yes!"
The other students that had been staring at the unfolding events dumbly started to move. Each of them chanted their Spells one by one.
"[Water Jet]!"
"[Fire Bullet]!"
"[Flamethrower]!"
"[Water Whip]!"
All kinds of attack poured down on Basil. However, due to the opposing element, most of them neutralized each other. The only result it bore was the lost of vision on Basil who was covered with a dense vapor of water.
"Idiots! Don't you know how to do it in turn?!"
One of the four pillars exploded. He was close to get out of the formation and strangled everyone to death. The other students looked at him in fear as he had the stature of someone to be feared. He was big and intimidating.
"Calhoun! Calm yourself down! You are disrupting the formation."
"Tch! I get it, Elton."
Calhoun calmed himself down at the call of his group's representative, Elton. He couldn't protest as Elton was the wisest and the strongest out of them too. He had achieved his current power because of Elton. Therefore, he would never go against him.
"Let's cast a wind to swipe all of the fog covering him. I can't hear any of the sound we heard earlier. He must be intentionally hiding himself from us."
"Understood!"
They started to chant the incantation of the Spell, then Mana gathered around them. It was getting denser each time until wind surrounded the four people.
"Don't just stay idle, and help us too!"
"Ah.. yes..."
"[Gale]!"
"[Wind Swipe]!"
This time, the attack was coordinated enough as the students used the same element in their Spells. A variety of wind attack was sent at the fog. The fog was easily swiped, revealing what it had hidden previously.
"Nothing...?"
"Where is he?"
"Crap! Where did he go?!"
The four pillars instantly became tense. They cautiously looked at their surrounding but they couldn't see Basil anywhere.
"I have a bad premonition about this. Let's take a precaution."
"What? Are you really scared with a brat, Elton?"
"He is not a brat as he is merely a year younger than us. Calling him a brat will make us one too. Furthermore, has my instinct endangered us before?"
No one refuted Elton's words. They nodded their heads and took his word into account. Quickly muttering an incantation of a Spell, they shouted in unison when it was done.
"[Earthen Sphere]!"
Earth rose from the ground to the air surrounding the four people in a form sphere. The sphere was getting denser each time untill they were perfectly covered with it. The sphere was so dense that people could easily say it was a perfect defense.
"What? Seriously? They protect themselves alone, and leave us behind?"
"That's not the point. What are they protecting themselves for is the question."
"What are you—"
"Ahhh!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream was resounded through everyone's fear. The sheer pain the scream conveyed was enough to chill one's heart.
Everyone whipped their heads at the direction of the sound and they could see their classmate lying on the ground with his limbs mangled in an awkward way.
"Ahhh!!! It hurts!!! Stop the pain!"
Gulp.
Their heart trembled upon seeing the terror in front of their eyes.
This isn't how it supposed to be.
Their pupils dilated. Their minds went into a flight state. Everyone started to group themselves to seek protecting. The student with mangled limbs was left behind.
"You people! Everyone, help me!!!"
His shout was ignored. No one wanted to help him. They were afraid if they did it, they would be the next one.
"You!!! How can you—!"
Crack!
"Men shall not whine. That is unsightly."
Silence swept the entire Battle Ground. No one dared to let out a sound after the appearance of the one they had been waiting.
Flash!
The whining student below Basil's foot was expelled out of the field. Basil had merely stepped on his face and nothing more. However, it was considered to be enough to endanger his life. Everyone widened their eyes at the brutality that they had only heard from the rumours.
"I will give you some lessons to further your battling skills."
A chill ran down their spine when Basil looked at them with his deep eyes. All they saw was a man born to kill another men. The Hell Incarnation. Although it was nothing but exaggeration, it wasn't that far from the truth considering Basil's past.
"First, never group yourself in one place while fighting a stronger opponent."
Swish!
"Because, this will happen."
Boom!
Basil merely reappeared near them and punched the ground with his empowered fist. The result was a deep crater and a few flying students. Mages mostly had a frail body. Therefore, distance became their main advantage.
"Ahhh!"
"Kuhuk!"
"My feet! My feet!!!"
Once the distance was closed, they were nothing but chicken to be slaughtered. Six students fell in that brief contact and the others flee to get away from him.
"I surrender!"
"Me too! I surrender!"
The students lying on the ground were shouting words of surrender, so they could get out of the nightmare they were currently facing. Blake looked at them bitterly and was about to open his mouth when Basil beat him to it.
"Second, before participating in a battle, know the rules first."
Basil extended his hand and needles like wind emerged. The needles were positioned above the six students lying the ground, however none of them noticed it as they were too focused on Basil's words.
"What do you mean by knowing the rules first?"
Basil didn't answer the question as he merely brought down his hand.
Stab!
The needles pierced through the abdomen of the six students.
"Kuhuk!"
"Ahh!! There is something in my stomach!"
"It hurts!!!"
All of the students whined in pain. At this point, the audiences were already standing from their seats. All of them looked at the scene with widened eyes. The sheer cruelty Basil showed them was enough to bring chills to their spine.
However, Basil wasn't done.
Twirl!
"Ahh! It's spinning!"
"Help! Please stop this Battle!"
"Mom! It hurts! Help me!"
The wind needle wasn't only for stabbing their abdomens. It twirled itself, widening the hole on their abdomens and stirring their innards.
The pain they felt was conveyed by their scream. Many people unconsciously put their hands on their abdomens as if they felt their pain.
As the pain became unbearable, the six students lost their conscious. A thin light wrapped themselves before they were expelled from the field. Blake quickly waved his hands and medic teams swiftly took the unconscious students.
"The rule should be, 'You will be expelled from the field when you lost conscious or received an injury that could risk your life.' It means until the Cage decides so, even surrendering doesn't let you out of the battle."
Realization dawned upon the students. The next was, of course, fear. They were frantic. They started to distance themselves from each other and poured any kinds of attacks on Basil. It was a chaos as none of them cared about the effectiveness of the attacks.
Basil sighed, "Third, keep calm in any situation." He knew no one would hear him as they were too busy emptying their Mana on him. Taking out Kusanagi once again, he infused it with Mana. It shone briefly before a strong current of wind swept over him.
Screech!
The spine chilling sound was heard once again. The remaining nine students became even more frantic as they tried to distance themselves from Basil and stopped their attacks that had never hit him.
Sadly, it was useless.
[Shredder]!
Basil pointed Kusanagi to the front and a low mutter came out of him. The tip of the blade shone in a green light before a strong current of wind shot forward.
Whoosh!
Screech!
Followed by that was a heart wrenching scream from the students. They couldn't think of a way to protect themselves. The pain caused by the wind blades slashing their skins open was too unbearable to make them think straight.
Cheeks, necks, hands, feet. Every visible body parts weren't spared by the wind blades. All of them were slashed mercilessly. Their clothes quickly turned into tatters. The horrifying thing about this was all of them could see their miserable state and hear their own scream loud and clear.
Basil looked at the students while furrowing his brows slightly. He didn't think he had launched an exaggerated attack. However, it seemed the students were weaker than he had thought.
Blood started to color the ground red and one by one the students fell on the ground. They weren't dead. Basil had no intention to kill them in the very first place. The pain was just too unbearable for them that they lost their consciousness.
Thud!
The last student fell and the arena became silent. This time, everyone, without exception, stood on their feet and looked at the scene in horror. The scene in front of them was simply nightmare inducing.
Nine students lied on the ground in an unconscious state while having their flesh exposed. Blood was still coming out of the open wound, painting the ground in red.
Rumble!
At that moment, a sound resounded behind Basil. The earth sphere finally deformed itself, showing the people it had hidden. By the time the four people looked at scene in front of them, their breath hitched.
Thin light was wrapping the bodies of their classmates before they were expelled from the field one by one. The field was quickly emptied. However, the bloodstains and the ruined ground were left behind.
Gulp.
"Fourth, never look away from your opponent."
"What are you talking about..?"
The four people were puzzled, they couldn't hear or see anything from inside the sphere. Therefore, they were in a state of confusion at the unfolding events. Surely, Basil didn't intend to explain it to them.
Raising Kusanagi to his waist, he bent his knee slightly and calculated the amount of power he should use.
"Formation! [Earthen Wal]!"
Being the meticulous person he was, Elton quickly led his friends to cast a defensive Spell. Just like what they had practiced everytime, the Spell was quickly casted and a 3 meters tall dense wall was quickly erected.
Basil finished his calculation and Kusanagi shone briefly. In the next moment, Kusanagi was swiped forward with a speed that was barely visible to the eyes.
Boom!
A strong wind swept the wall, destroying it to dust in the process. The four people hiding behind were revealed. However, they had an attack prepared already. Sadly, it was a fire based attack. Therefore, the fire was swept by the wind, attacking themselves instead.
"Darn! It's a wind attack!"
"Crap! It's hot!"
"Ugh! I can feel something is slashing my abdomen."
"That bastard! My tendons are cut!"
All of them commented frantically and tried their best to get out the attack range. Sadly, none of them managed to do so. The were quickly swept by the wind and thrown away backward. They rolled on the ground as they couldn't right themselves in the air.
When they stopped rolling, all of them had an open wound on either their chest or abdomen.
"Kuhuk!"
"Crap! I think I broke my hand."
"You break your hand? I can touch my intestines!"
"Stop it... My chest is opened and I can feel the wind blowing on it."
All of them moaned in pain. However, compared to the previous people, they were considered silent. Elton looked at his friends and shook his head bitterly. He looked at Basil and sent him a contemplating look.
"You are strong. I admit your prowess."
"What?! Are we just going to back down like this? Look, I can—!"
Calhoun didn't continue his words as Elton gave him the 'look'. He shut his mouth and opted to stay silent. Elton returned his gaze at Basil and sighed.
"I admit our lost. Welcome to the fourth year, Basil."
Elton raised his hand and clenched it tightly.
Crack!
The back of their necks were hit by a blunt spike that had emerged from the ground, making they lose their consciousness entirely. The raised hand of Elton fell to the ground limply in the next moment as he lost his consciousness too.
Basil smirked faintly and muttered, "Smart move." Not longer after, thin light wrapped their bodies and they were expelled from the field. Basil raised his head and sent his gaze toward Blake. The latter received Basil's gaze and raised his hand.
"Match ended! Winner, Basil Cobham!"
Blake's voice resounded through the whole Battle Ground, however he was met with silence. It wasn't untill the net like barrier disappeared did the audiences started clapping.
No cheers were let out. The crowd only clapped their hands absentmindedly. Their eyes were planted on Basil's clear eyes.. Sadly, they could never peek at the soul hidden behind his eyes.