7 PM - Third-Person Point of View
In the darkness of the night, there was no sunlight, only the light of the moon from the sky. Accompanying it was a 100-meter-tall giant tree and its owner, the Elf Queen, Leina.
"How dramatic," said Leina, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "Do you think you can defeat me?"
"Yes."
"On what basis?"
"Simple... I am a graduate of the Ostrivien Academy—and I was in Class A, you know?" Alicia replied, her sword positioned in front of her chest.
The Ostrivien Grand Academy was no ordinary academy—it was the best academy in the human territories. World figures, emperors, high-ranking nobles, and others—they all came from here. They were all graduates of the Ostrivien Grand Academy. The academy had four classes: S, A, B, and C. Class A consisted of genius children, while Class S consisted of prodigies. However, Class S was not always open; this will be explained in a future chapter.
...
Alicia took a breath and then exhaled, with the will to sacrifice herself and the intent to defeat Leina.
Alicia closed her eyes and gripped the sword at her chest tightly. From her chest, a soft golden light began to shine, illuminating the dark night. Her long hair began to move gently as if touched by a wind, and the tips of her hair shimmered silver. Alicia's eyes opened, glowing with a warm amber light.
Only 30 minutes, Alicia monologued. In that time, I have to be able to kill her.
"Interesting," said Leina, preparing her army of trees. "I want to feel the full power of a Class A child."
Leina began to lift her magic staff and pointed it at Alicia, then gave the command to her troops. "Kill her!"
The army, consisting of tree giants, tree roots, and animals made from tree trunks, advanced on Alicia.
Alicia swung her sword horizontally. An energy projection shot out, heading towards the enemies trying to approach her. The monsters were destroyed, dead, with nothing left. The energy projection detonated in a nuclear-level explosion.
Boom!
Leina retreated and created a barrier for herself. Alicia advanced and prepared her sword to strike. Leina dismissed her magic staff and replaced it with a magic weapon, a sword of pure mana.
Alicia and Leina exchanged attacks, but Alicia had the advantage as she was a Swordsman from the start. Leina was pushed back, and blood seeped from several parts of her body due to Alicia's slashes.
Damn it, Leina monologued. I can't move, but her power is only temporary. So I mustn't clash with her; I have to stall for time.
Leina fled the battlefield by levitating. Alicia didn't let her. On her back grew wings of freedom—phoenix wings.
A battle ensued in the air. Leina created a green, circular energy, the same energy as before—but smaller. The green energy floated around Leina, and she then threw it at Alicia. Alicia deftly swung her sword and destroyed Leina's magic. An explosion occurred from the clash, but from the explosion, the silhouette of a girl emerged. It was none other than Alicia. Alicia immediately reached Leina and slashed vertically.
But Leina instantly summoned her strongest barrier spell. The barrier shattered, and Leina fell to the ground.
Thud
"Pathetic," said Alicia, towering over Leina.
Leina, sitting on the ground, just gritted her teeth. "You're going to die too," Leina said with a sharp gaze.
"At least I'm taking my enemy to hell with me," Alicia replied, unafraid of death.
Alicia and Leina suddenly looked up at the same time, because the sky had suddenly become ominous. They turned to the left—where, from a distance of 10 kilometers, there was a gathering of lightning. Not just a gathering of lightning, but a vortex of dark clouds as well.
CRACKLE!!
A cluster of lightning descended from the sky to the ground, targeting something—something unknown.
*Rio,* Alicia monologued. *Is that you?*
"Hahaha," Leina laughed loudly. "It seems your friend is going to die too."
Slash
"Aaaakkk!!"
"You bastard!!"
Hearing her friend mentioned, Alicia became emotional and immediately slashed Leina's right arm. Leina screamed in pain as her right arm was severed.
"Any last words? O Queen of the Elves, Leina."
Leina, now with only one arm, began to laugh softly. "Humans are fragile creatures."
Alicia listened, not denying it, because it was true. Although humans had a much higher potential for power than other races, their lifespans were shorter.
"Why are you fighting to save a baby—who has no guarantee of avenging the pain of his people?"
"I..."
Alicia began to rethink this.
"This is not a futile struggle."
Leina frowned upon hearing this. "Why?"
"Because he is the son of Arthur von Stellaris. I am sure he will become a great person in the future," Alicia declared with conviction.
"Hahaha, what a terrible answer."
Alicia and Leina stared at each other, Alicia standing while Leina sat on the ground.
"Sometimes I forget that you are all still just children," Leina said in a weak tone.
Slash!
---
Alicia's Point of View
"Where am I?"
"Hell or heaven?"
"No, it's neither. This is the void."
I'm dead. And now I'm in a total void, where everything is dark, with no one to accompany me.
I just stared blankly, but in the distance, there was a light.
"A light? No, that's a fire."
The light of the fire remained steady, as if inviting me to approach.
"You want me to come closer?"
The fire moved, to the right and to the left. It danced—giving Alicia the answer 'yes'.
"Alright."
I approached, slowly, getting closer.
And.
The fire was a campfire—where two people were sitting by the edge. It was none other than Alex and Rio. My best friends.
I approached and sat down beside them. "Was the Elf King, Elkarl, that strong?"
"No... If only Althair, you, or Clara were there to help us—he would have definitely died," Rio replied. "But since you weren't there, Alex and I could only leave him on the brink of death."
Even though Rio and Alex are only Tier 3 while Elkarl is Tier 1, it doesn't mean they couldn't put up a fight. A characteristic of Tier 2 {Master} is the ability to create a domain—the same goes for Tier 1 {King Sword}, which is an Absolute Domain. It's only the domain; in terms of sword style, Rio and Alex are not that far apart. In fact, Rio and Alex almost managed to kill Elkarl.
"What about the others?" Alex asked me.
"They went to 'The Veil'."
"Good."
"Not good for Clara, actually. This incident will be forever etched in her memory," I replied.
"Yes, you're right, but there's nothing we can do. We can only pray from here and watch over them," Alex answered.
"Hey, if you think about it, being a kid before the age of 17 was better, huh," said Rio, changing the subject.
"Of course," I replied.
"The days when we could play as much as we wanted, the days when we could still make mistakes and erase them just by apologizing," Rio said. "My parents once told me, 'Enjoy your youth to the fullest, make unforgettable memories, and build strong relationships'."
"I only replied 'yes' half-heartedly. I was still stubborn, thinking being an adult was better."
"Because we're free to do anything, free to buy anything with our own money, and free to go anywhere."
"It turns out the adult world is much harder than when we were young."
Alex and I just listened. We both agreed with his thoughts. I have many regrets in this life, I made many mistakes, and I want to fix them. But the world won't give us a second chance.
"Now we are free too. We have obtained freedom," I said to Rio and Alex.
"Freedom does not mean death, but death is certainly freedom."
---
The fight of Rio and Alex against Elkarl
Rio's Point of View
I stood on the ravaged battlefield, staring ahead at Elkarl, who had already killed Alex. Rage burned in my chest. The dark, cloudy sky seemed to respond to my emotions. The wind blew fiercely, and it made me realize that perhaps it was time to use the death technique.
I raised my sword high to the sky, closing my eyes. From within my chest, I felt the essence of my soul become lightning power. My hair stood on end and turned a gleaming, silvery white. My eyes glowed a bright, plasma blue. The veins in my arms and neck shone with a blue electrical current that flowed like a river of lightning.
Black clouds gathered rapidly above my head, spinning to form a giant vortex four kilometers wide. Massive lightning bolts began to strike randomly, illuminating the sky with a blinding blue-white light. The sound of thunder roared ceaselessly, making the ground tremble violently. From my sword, a stream of electricity the size of a tree shot out and connected to the clouds, creating a pillar of lightning that linked the earth and the sky.
My entire body felt like it was burning from the inside. Every cell in my body vibrated with an electrical force that exceeded normal human limits. My heart beat erratically, sometimes too fast, sometimes almost stopping. I felt a power that could shatter mountains, but I also knew that my body wouldn't last long with this much energy.
I pointed my sword at Elkarl, shouting with a voice that thundered like a storm. From the tip of the sword, a lightning laser beam the size of a building shot out at the speed of light. Simultaneously, hundreds of giant lightning bolts struck from the sky, all aimed at the same point. The combination of the attack from above and from my sword created an electromagnetic explosion.
Within a 7-kilometer radius, sand turned to glass from the extreme heat. Trees burned and turned to charcoal in an instant. Lakes and rivers vaporized instantly due to the flowing electrical current. A crater 100 meters deep formed at the point of impact, with walls that shimmered like crystal from the molten sand.
After 30 seconds that felt like an eternity, the lightning storm subsided. The clouds disappeared, leaving a clear sky filled with a shimmering, artificial aurora. I fell to the ground, my hair returning to normal, but some of it had fallen out. My skin was covered in scars resembling lightning branches, which would become permanent tattoos. My sword had melted, leaving only the hilt.
I fell weakly, my body as limp as a baby just learning to move its limbs. I tried with all my might to lift my head—to look ahead. Elkarl was not okay. His body was severely wounded. The wounds I caused might become permanent, or not, if he finds a way to heal.
*Don't underestimate me. Even though I'm 17, I'm a student of the Ostrivien Academy, and I was in Class A, you know?*
And my vision became blurry, dark, and silent.