“This is bad.”
Ethan Blake couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.
If the opponent had been an ordinary Tier Two Ferocious Beast, the four of them might have been able to survive for a while by working together.
But this was a Bloodthirsty Violent Bear.
That was completely different.
If that enormous paw, almost as large as an iron shield, came crashing down on them, none of them would survive.
They wouldn’t even have the chance to resist.
And that wasn’t the worst part.
The bald student pointed toward the open ground below.
“There’s another problem.”
“We might not even get the chance to fight the Bloodthirsty Violent Bear.”
“If we enter that residential complex, those High-Tier One Ferocious Beasts will swarm us first.”
He curled his lips.
“When the four of us work together, we can probably handle three or four High-Tier One beasts.”
“But there are more than thirty down there.”
Everyone fell silent.
The difference was simply too great.
Whether it was the Tier Two Bloodthirsty Violent Bear or the dozens of High-Tier One Ferocious Beasts surrounding it, neither was something they dared to provoke directly.
Megan Miller puffed out her cheeks.
“The difference between the Core Region and the Inner Region is ridiculous.”
“The strongest beasts in the Core Region were only Mid-Tier One.”
“But once we reach the Inner Region, the strongest beast has suddenly become Tier Two.”
“Even the ordinary beasts here are High-Tier One.”
She looked down at the residential complex.
“How are we supposed to fight this?”
The long-haired student clenched his teeth.
“Before the examination, I heard that the person responsible for designing this year’s Combat Examination was an old instructor known for making brutal exam papers.”
“I didn’t believe it.”
“But now…”
He looked at the terrifying battlefield below.
“I believe it.”
The examination designers in Westhaven Province rotated every year.
And this particular examiner had a reputation for creating unusually difficult Combat Examination environments.
In the years when he designed the examination, the mortality rate was often more than twice the usual level.
Ethan sighed.
“To be fair, High-Tier One beasts and Tier Two beasts in the Inner Region are a standard configuration for the national Combat Examination.”
“The problem is that this year they replaced the usual Tier Two Beast King with a Bloodthirsty Violent Bear.”
He looked at the enormous creature below.
“We can’t blame anyone else.”
“We’re simply not strong enough.”
The Combat Examination had always been a test that selected the strongest among the strongest.
The Inner Region was essentially the final question on an extremely difficult examination.
Only those capable of solving that final question could truly be called the elite among the elite.
Ethan Blake was already considered one of the most talented students in Redhaven City.
He had attracted attention from countless people.
But when facing this final challenge…
He wasn’t even qualified to attempt it.
That realization was difficult to accept.
The long-haired student suddenly chuckled.
“Think about Kael.”
“He spent most of the day running around the Core Region and killing hundreds of Ferocious Beasts just to accumulate more than three thousand points.”
“But killing the Tier Two Beast King here would immediately give someone four thousand points.”
His lips curled upward.
“If he were smart, he’d realize that all those weaker beasts aren’t worth much.”
“What humanity needs are powerful fighters.”
“What use is killing countless weak beasts?”
His tone carried obvious resentment.
Ethan frowned.
But he didn’t respond.
The statement itself wasn’t completely wrong.
The Combat Examination was designed to find powerful combatants, not simply people who could kill large numbers of weaker Ferocious Beasts.
Blue Star was already filled with countless Ferocious Beasts.
Humanity didn’t need someone who could kill a thousand ordinary beasts.
What humanity truly needed were powerhouses capable of killing the strongest creatures.
After all, the greatest threats were the Tier Nine Beast Emperors.
If every Beast Emperor were eliminated, the remaining Ferocious Beasts would eventually lose their leadership and collapse.
But killing millions of ordinary beasts while leaving the Beast Emperors alive would accomplish very little.
That was precisely why the examination awarded such enormous points for the strongest beasts in the Inner Region.
If a candidate could kill the Tier Two Beast King, their score would immediately surge ahead of everyone else.
And for candidates competing for the provincial championship, killing the Tier Two Beast King was practically mandatory.
Ethan understood all of this.
But he still couldn’t help thinking:
If Kael is useless because he’s killing weaker beasts…
Then what does that make the rest of us?
His own score was far below Kael’s.
Yet Ethan kept the thought to himself.
They would soon be fighting side by side.
There was no point creating unnecessary conflict.
“Enough talking.”
Ethan looked toward the residential complex.
“We’ll try to lure out a few High-Tier One beasts.”
“We’ll kill them one by one.”
The four nodded.
They certainly couldn’t charge directly into the open ground guarded by the Bloodthirsty Violent Bear.
Their only realistic strategy was to lure individual beasts away.
If they could draw out one or two at a time, they might be able to accumulate some points.
Of course, there was also a possibility that none of the beasts would take the bait.
If that happened, they’d have no choice but to return to the Core Region.
“Time to work.”
The bald student sighed.
“Going somewhere guarded by a Tier Two Beast King just to lure out weaker beasts…”
He shook his head.
“That’s basically asking to die.”
Megan laughed.
“Even if we’re asking to die, we still have to try.”
The four began preparing to descend.
But before they could move…
A black figure suddenly flashed across the distant street.
It was moving incredibly fast.
Like a cheetah charging through the ruins, it crossed the distance in only a few seconds.
The figure stopped at the entrance of the residential complex.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“Kael Veyron.”
The others froze.
“Kael?”
“Where?”
“Is that really him?”
Megan and the other two immediately turned around.
Unlike Ethan, they had never personally encountered Kael.
They hurried back toward the edge of the rooftop and looked down.
The building was eight stories high.
But for Tier One Ability Users, that distance was nothing.
Their enhanced eyesight allowed them to clearly see the figure below.
A young man stood at the entrance of the residential complex.
He was tall and lean, with a strong, determined face.
His eyes were sharp, almost like those of an eagle.
No one knew how many battles he had experienced during the examination.
More than half of his black combat suit had been dyed dark red with blood.
His Obsidian Spear was strapped across his back.
But the weapon looked completely different from the one they had seen earlier.
The once-sharp spearhead had become chipped and uneven.
It looked almost like a kitchen knife that had been used to cut through hundreds of bones.
The sight alone revealed how many brutal battles the spear had endured.
And somehow, the damaged weapon made Kael’s presence even more intimidating.
Megan’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Wow…”
“He’s handsome.”
The bald student ignored her comment.
His attention was fixed on Kael’s spear.
“To damage an F-grade alloy spear like that…”
He shook his head.
“Just how many Ferocious Beasts has he killed?”
F-grade alloy was extremely durable.
For an F-grade weapon to become this damaged, the number of battles behind it was almost unimaginable.
The long-haired student snorted.
“Or he’s simply reckless.”
“Walking straight toward a group of Ferocious Beasts like that?”
“He’s practically asking to die.”
As if confirming his words…
Roar!
Awooo!
The Ferocious Beasts in the residential complex suddenly became restless.
More than a dozen High-Tier One beasts turned toward Kael.
Then they charged.
Megan’s expression changed.
“Oh no!”
“He attracted them!”
Ethan frowned.
“What is Kael doing?”
At this distance, they couldn’t help him in time.
Even if they rushed downstairs immediately, Kael would probably already be dead by the time they arrived.
The long-haired student gave a cold laugh.
“First place has made him overconfident.”
“He doesn’t understand how dangerous the Inner Region is.”
His eyes remained fixed on Kael.
“He has a spear, but I doubt it can save him now.”
Kael’s first few movements were still visible.
He raised the Obsidian Spear.
One beast attacked.
He dodged.
Another attacked.
His spear flashed.
But more and more Ferocious Beasts rushed forward.
Soon, Kael was surrounded.
Then…
His figure disappeared beneath the mass of beasts.
Ethan’s expression changed.
“Kael…”
He stared at the battlefield.
“Did he just die?”
It was difficult to believe.
Only a few hours ago, Kael had risen like a comet.
He had climbed from obscurity to the top of the rankings.
Now, had that meteoric rise ended just as suddenly?
More importantly…
What had Kael been thinking?
He knew the Inner Region was filled with High-Tier One beasts and a Tier Two Beast King.
Why would he deliberately walk into the middle of them?
Ethan sighed.
“So he really was lying to me.”
He remembered their previous conversation.
Kael had claimed that his ability was Lightning-type.
But Ethan hadn’t seen a single trace of lightning.
“Forget it.”
He shook his head.
“Whatever his ability was…”
“When you’re dead, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
But at that exact moment…
Ethan’s heart suddenly tightened.
A strange sense of danger spread through him.
Megan and the other two felt it as well.
Then a deep voice rang across the battlefield.
“Divine Thunder!”
The next instant…
BOOM!
Thunder exploded.
A violent purple light erupted from the center of the Ferocious Beast swarm.
A massive wave of purple electricity expanded outward.
The beasts caught in the blast were instantly covered in purple lightning.
Their bodies turned black as they were thrown backward.
Four meters.
Five meters.
Some slammed violently into the ground.
The tightly packed swarm was suddenly torn apart.
An empty circle appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
And standing at its center…
Was Kael.
He was completely unharmed.
His black combat suit fluttered in the turbulent air.
The Obsidian Spear was firmly held in his hand.
Purple lightning crawled across his body.
Bolts of thunder continuously leaped around him.
They twisted through the air like living serpents.
It was as if the lightning itself was celebrating the arrival of its master.
Ethan stared down at the battlefield.
His mouth slowly opened.
His previous disbelief disappeared.
His eyes widened.
“That wasn’t a shockwave…”
He finally understood.
It was an enormous web of highly concentrated purple electricity.
A terrifying electrical field.
And it had erupted from Kael’s body.
Megan’s face was filled with astonishment.
The bald student was speechless.
Even the long-haired student who had mocked Kael earlier couldn’t say a word.
Ethan’s mind went completely blank.
He suddenly remembered Kael’s voice from earlier.
No, it is Lightning-type.
At the time, Ethan had thought Kael was joking.
Now…
He finally understood.
Kael had never lied.
He really was a Lightning-type Ability User.
Ethan stared at the figure standing among the stunned Ferocious Beasts.
The purple lightning around Kael grew brighter.
Ethan swallowed.
“Kael Veyron…”
His voice was barely audible.
“So you really are Lightning-type…”