And Hikari continues running…
It appears that she has begun closing the distance between herself and the group that managed to run quickly and make it out from between the two walls before they closed together.
There were nearly fifteen of them, with Hikari less than twenty meters behind them, while at the front, Ares was competing with two others for the lead.
Meanwhile, a sign bearing the words Fourth Quarter begins to appear.
The stone ground comes to an end, and gradually, muddy ground begins to appear, along with dense, enormous trees on both sides of the path.
Hikari notices that the people at the front have begun stopping at a certain point along the path, one after another.
Every time someone reaches that point, they stop beside the others.
Her brows furrow as she thinks:
“What is happening?”
As Hikari draws closer, she notices one of them shouting angrily, pushing his companion aside with his hand, then stepping back a few paces before sprinting forward and jumping!
Hikari finally reaches them, and it becomes clear that the end of the path where everyone has stopped is a sheer rocky cliff, with nothing beyond it.
But the sight below is horrifying.
Dozens of enormous crocodiles, each more than seven meters long, fill a massive muddy swamp below!
A shiver runs through her for a moment, and she speaks in a faltering voice:
“How… can we cross?!”
One of them answers her, pointing toward the suspended ropes:
“This is probably our only option…”
Ares interrupts him:
“Something isn’t clear…”
“If it were really this simple, half the contestants wouldn’t have been killed by now.”
He says this while staring at the enormous trees covering the arena from above.
Hikari notices this and narrows her eyes slightly.
Someone speaks arrogantly:
“Have things really come to this, that we’re listening to a coward from an inferior clan who’s afraid to even take a risk?!”
“Truly, I’m trembling with fear. But I wonder, what is making you, O great legendary brave lord, wait here even now? Or perhaps watching me terrified pleases you that much?”
His eyes redden, and he lunges at Ares, shouting:
“Are you mocking me?!”
Before he can do anything, his friend steps in front of him and stops him, shouting:
“Have you gone mad, Hyoma?! He’s Ares Shuan!”
“The one who has one of the highest ratings in the academy!”
Hyoma speaks mockingly:
“And how high is his rating supposed to be? Six? Six and a half?”
His friend shouts in his face:
“He’s a 9.4!”
Hyoma’s face pales for a moment, and he takes a few steps back.
Then he regains his composure and waves his hand dismissively.
“Whatever. I’m not waiting any longer.”
Hyoma steps backward several paces, takes a deep breath, and prepares himself.
Hyoma’s friend approaches Ares and bows slightly.
“I’m Kiyoshi Akitaro. I sincerely apologize for what my friend did. I hope you weren’t offended, sir…”
Ares replies indifferently:
“It’s fine.”
Hyoma sprints forward and jumps!
He grabs one of the ropes, swings from it, then catches another and moves farther forward.
After about half a minute, he jumps again, trying to catch one of the ropes, but a gust of wind comes and moves the rope.
As a result, he misses, and his hand slips off the rope!
The others notice as well.
But Hyoma quickly recovers and grips the rope tightly before he can fall.
And during that, by accident…
He looks down…
His face immediately turns pale.
His heartbeat begins racing, and he struggles to breathe.
Kiyoshi notices the problem and thinks:
“This is bad… The worst thing you can do in this test is look down!”
He tries to call out to him:
“Hyoma, don’t look…”
Before he can finish his words, a hand covers his mouth!
When he looks up, he finds Ares raising a finger in front of his lips, signaling for him to remain silent.
Kiyoshi’s pupils contract to their fullest extent.
He understands the meaning behind what Ares is doing.
He grabs Ares’s hand, and before he can try to pull it away…
The rope snaps, interrupting him, and Hyoma falls…
The last thing that remained of him was that horrifying scream before the crocodile devoured his head…
Ares removes his hand from Kiyoshi’s mouth, his expression tightening as he says:
“Only seven seconds…”
…
“Less than I expected.”