Chapter 79 79 A battlefield of flames

[OP: ]

The once radiant sky had transformed into a foreboding darkness, as thick clouds enveloped the sun, casting a sinister shadow over the vast battlefield. Eva stood resolute before her formidable forty opponents, her piercing eyes ablaze with an ethereal green light.

A swirling wind encircled her slender forest green blade, its emerald gem radiating the same spectacular glow as her eyes. Her special skills were in full effect as she meticulously analyzed every creature standing before her.

The preparation timer was not skipped this time so, there were a few seconds left before the start of this final confrontation.

And she utilized the remaining seconds to their fullest, calculating every aspect within her dominion, scrutinizing positions, and predicting future movement patterns based on her gathered knowledge.

She had methodically formulated each step she would take as soon as the test commenced.

Her swordsmanship, the [Field sword].

She had a gifted ability to observe a large piece of land all at once, looking at not only the visible and attractive elements present there but looking at everything that existed in that land.

This remarkable talent enabled her to oversee an entire battlefield effortlessly, issuing commands to her subordinates and orchestrating formations to maximize their effectiveness against the enemy. Alternatively, she could personally assume control over an entire battlefield, acting as a one-woman army, her mere presence instilling dread in the entire enemy force...

She still had a long way to go before she was ready for the battles on the higher plains, but, neither of the twins had any doubt that she could take care of these cute slimes.

She was strong now, but more than that, they trusted her strength enough to keep her as their flank guard.

[00:10]

The moment had arrived for her battle to commence—a tempest awaited, a chance for her to showcase her true capabilities and shine brilliantly.

[00:03]

The restraints blocking the slimes lifted soon, but, the storm had covered everything by that time.

Winds whirled from all directions, serving as an ominous harbinger of the impending doom aimed at the slimes' lives, however, by the time they had realized that.. it was already too late.

-Swiiiiiiiiiish!

-Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.

-Swish. Swish!

Eva moved through the entire plain, aiming for the cores present deep within the slime bodies.

Her glowing green sword was the scythe, and she was the grim reaper knocking at the doors of their fake lives.

The winds became her accomplices, ensnaring the round slimes, while the eerie silence of the atmosphere marked her shallow breaths, heralding the end of their fragile lives.

-Swish. Swish. Swish.

She moved, slashed the enemy, cut their bodies to open up a path leading to the cores, thrust her sword, and destroyed the cores, enduring some of their elemental damage in the process. Unyielding, she pressed on, transitioning seamlessly from one target to another, following the flawless path she had crafted during the preparatory phase.

She was getting hurt however, nothing could halt her relentless pursuit until she reached the terminus of her well-devised plan.

Her sword was relentless, she was the unstoppable wind current of the seas, she moved, and covered the entire land at a speed that even the devices broadcasting this to the spectators only captured as a dot of green light moving through the plains like that certain fastest character to exist..

This show, this battle where the opponents didn't even have the chance to use their skills, ended soon, and even though it seemed to have lasted for a moment, for the grim reaper that annihilated the foes, it was a moment stretched to eternity.

As the forty slime blobs dissolved into particles of light and faded away, Eva collapsed to the ground, her breaths labored, her body glistening with sweat, and her complexion drained of color due to the depletion of her mana reserves.

Using the two powerful skills was by no means easy for her just yet. Still, even after fighting all those powerful slimes, even after defeating all those bigger slimes, she was alright.. and smiling.

"[Drop of health]."

"[Winds of Mana]."

Her three companions came rushing toward her.

Nes was worried, El was smiling with an approving gaze of admiration, while Lucy had a helpless smile, his eyes asking the one on the ground the reason she would push herself like that.

She could have just taken it easy, fought them properly as she does, and used more of her sword rather than the energy, but, instead of showing the techniques she was capable of, she just dominated them with pure strength and skills, ultimately exhorting herself.

"I'm alright everyone. They were just some cuties, right?"

And then she was smiling at them, the very typical Eva smile.

[(Level-10) complete.]

[The basic levels have been completed.]

[Requesting confirmation to start the advanced levels.]

She finished her part. And thanks to Nes and El's recovery skills, she was back to her optimal condition as well.

But that certain announcement at the end brought many stunned people back to their senses.

"Wait.. what are the advanced levels?"

This was the voice they were hearing for the first time after coming to this place, the voice of their examiner Levi who was still sitting on that sunbath chair in the same position as he did from the start.

[< Hello. Hello. Examiner Leviathan. What is going on? >]

And then there was this loud voice as if someone speaking through an announcement speaker.

"I do not know as well Sir.."

They had no idea what was going on, however, Levi's eyes were stuck on one person, and that one person had a smile that had traumatized him so many times over the last few hours.

He knew whatever was going on, was her doing. But, he had no evidence to claim it, even when he had seen her do something with Vienna before they had entered here.

He didn't know what was happening, but, when El was back at his side, back to the chair beside him, and was smiling at him again, he was sure something even worse than seeing the tenth level getting cleared so easily was going to happen now...

"Start the advanced levels Vienna~."

And this cheerful shout confirmed those dreadful thoughts.

"Hmm? Yes, start."

"Yes." The initial posting of this chapter occurred via n(0))vel(b)(j)(n).

"Haaaa.. yes."

[Confirmation received.]

[Changing the field for the advanced test.]

As soon as all four of them had confirmed to take on the advanced level test, the grassland that had been before them all this time, transitioned into a dark land with red cracks all over them.

The temperature seemed to have increased as well, but more than anything, as they watched this new volcanic land for a moment, fire erupted from the ground from multiple places, and engulfed the land with dark orange natural flames.

It was the land of fire, nothing like Levi had ever seen, nothing like even the executives had ever seen. It was like they were transported to the 'hell' described in the old stories. Which obviously was far beyond their expectations.

[The randomly chosen field for the advanced test is the blazing plains of the eastern highlands. Please prepare for the battle.]

[Initiating (Level-11)]

[Preparation time: 1:00]

[Opponents: <F> rank monsters, (Level-70) Dark flame hounds*8]

The basic level of this test had ended, and Eva also completed her part perfectly, which meant it was time for Lucy to show off his strengths... and since he could see the dread reflecting in Levi's blank eyes, as well as the dark excitement in his El's red ones, he knew he had to finish this as soon as he could.

"Ummm. It's brother Lucy's turn right?"

"Yes, Nes. And don't worry. I will ask if I need any buffs."

Casting a stern glance at his sister, who was brimming with excitement and flushed with anticipation of a heart attack, Lucy mustered a warm smile for Eva. She had executed her part flawlessly, a fact that filled him with pride as her master. With her by El's side, he had no reason to worry about that poor soul beside her—or so he hoped.

"Good luck Lu.."

She was smiling back warmly as well, with a hint of affection toward the boy almost as tall as her.

He was amazing.. and there was a smile on his face as he shook his head at those words containing that hidden meaning that he knew all too well.

"Let's go."

A white-gold blade materialized in his hand out of nowhere, his calm, cold blue eyes scanned the area before him containing hounds with muscular bodies taller than even him, his breathing was calm still, his heart beating even calmly as he contemplated and finalized the simple method to finish off these 'weak' opponents.

The impending battle posed some challenges, but nothing he couldn't overcome with a fraction of his powers. Besides, he possessed the trump card—his [Dawn's Afterglow]. So...

[00:01]>[00:00]

[Horizontal slash]

-Skichhhhh..

-Click.

-Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

[Horizontal slash]

-Swiiiiiiiiiish!

-Click!

-Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

He was in the sword drowning position when the timer ran out, and as soon as the test started, he unleashed his first skill, cut half of the dogs in half from the middle, stopped on the other side, turned around, and, with the same skill, in a matter of moments, he eliminated the remaining half of his weak opponents.

These eight dogs were certainly rare and difficult creatures even <A> rank adventurers would find difficult to face, however, they weren't worth more than two slashes of his white sword.

They just dropped to the ground, lifeless.. just like how the jaws of all of the spectators had dropped to the table, motionless.