Chapter 576 - Clash of the disciples

The minion event, or rather the unofficial event, ramps up gradually. Even though some of the little guys are already outside, there aren't that many of them considering that the event area is huge.

Gradually monsters start appearing too, and weather changes influence the battlefield. Now the sunny day has been replaced by a blizzard that freezes the lake's surface, allowing several fights to occur at once.

Some disciples fight inside the buildings while a smaller group has decided to band together to fight against the monsters and other participants. Yet slowly but surely more and more disciples join groups to avoid being ganged up on or to hunt stronger monsters.

Vega isn't one of them, but her senses are among the best, so she does a good job avoiding larger groups and doesn't mind playing dirty or ambushing the unaware ones.

I might be biased, but I would say she is clearly one of the strongest.

From the same spot, I continue to observe the event, even though Lissandra has already left. Watching the little guys give it their all, push their abilities to the limit, and use their cute skills to slightly damage the buildings is exciting. I have said it before, but scenes like this make me understand why so many people are fans of sports.

I find myself glued to the screens every time one of the favorites clash, whenever someone takes on multiple opponents, or when a minion turns out to be a smart or tricky little shit.

These situations spark shouts in the common area. There is betting, and even some fights break out when people disagree with anyone trashing their favourite.

When only half of the disciples remain, the weather changes once more. The blizzard stops as if it never existed and is replaced by a sandstorm. The remaining snow melts, the ice cracks and the city and area start filling with yellow sand that piles against the buildings. The sun that shines in the sky seems to grow larger, and droplets of sweat run down the little guys' foreheads. The previously wild fights become calmer and more about sneaking around as most of them head inside the buildings.

It's amusing to see parts of the crowd fall silent and hold their breath as their favorite sneaks through the dark past a larger group of disciples or when a similar group passes by the spot where a lone disciple is hiding.

Myrra joins me during one of the uneventful minutes. She watches the screen, and when it's still only minions sneaking around and searching for opponents, she, as expected, turns to bully me. A typical extroverted lynthari.

Maybe the true Hell difficulty is the extroverts we meet along the way.

"Feral one."

"Yes, that's me."

"Your performance during the last event was straight gas, it just hit different. Mad heat and high-key goated. On god, no cap, fr fr."

"Myrra."

"Yes?"

"What the fuck."

"Hehe."

"Twins?"

"Yes! And that red-haired boy they call Brainiac."

"As I said before, you are easily influenced by this kind of thing and should avoid those three."

"Wasn't it you who started it on the 5th floor? By calling yourself a cooked goat or something like that?"

"And there isn't a day I don't regret it. I heard from Sandra that you guys are planning to leave."

"Aww, you miss me already, feral one?"

"It's sudden. I kind of got used to your annoying face." I answer.

Teasingly, she leans closer instead of answering. Her fangs show every time she experiences a spike of emotion and her tail sways. As always, it makes me want to grab and pull it.

One day for sure.

"It's fine. I've already reconciled myself with whatever will happen. Of course, I’d prefer if we succeed and Lady Lissandra and I make it out, but even if we fail, I’ll understand. I've already gotten more time than I should have, and it's all thanks to you, you know."

"I see."

"Feral one, why are you looking away? Are you shy? Show me those beautiful eyes of yours, let me try to read your emotions. If you want, I can try to force you. Let's fight, no mana or other bullshit, just our bodies like in the tunnels when we hunted the First One."

"Myrra."

"Yes?"

"Wait a moment."

Checking the screen, I quickly teleport to my place and scurry through the pile of shirts until I find a black shirt with a print on it.

I teleport back and hand it to Myrra, "For you."

She glances at it and then at me, her ears constantly twitching. Then she ties up her white hair, keeping her golden eyes on me, and puts on the shirt over the one she is currently wearing.

Looking down at the drawing, she asks, "What is this animal?"

"Possum. It's from Earth."

"It's screaming."

"Yes, it is."

"And the red text below??"

"It says 'Aaaaaaah.'"

"Are you hinting at something, feral one?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"You little shit, let's…"

She stops when I lift my finger and point at the screen. On the screen, Vega finally sneaks close to a group of three minions: two vyssari, who are adorably tiny, and a velnar that towers over them. The trio is unaware of her and is arguing to the point where it seems a fight will start.

Vega readies her dagger and uses more kinetic energy than she can handle. Instead of moving fluidly, her body crashes into one of the vyssari, and they both roll on the floor. My minion is the first to regain her bearing, and her dagger, coated in mana, moves downward, stabbing a few times until blue particles shine.

She boosts herself again and crashes against the wall with a loud thump, but it allows her to avoid a lightning strike from the remaining vyssari.

Rising to her feet, the little half-demon smiles with her red eyes glowing dangerously in the darkness of the room as sand covers most of the windows. A little light filters through the dust and sand particles falling toward the floor. There is blood on the side of her head, but she doesn't seem to notice it at all. Around one of her red eyes' pupils, a golden circle glows, and she charges.

Even though the remaining two put up more of a fight, she still defeats them both. She first takes down the remaining vyssari with a well-timed mana projectile and then defeats the velnar in a one on one physical fight, even though the velnar clearly has higher physical stats.

While Myrra keeps shouting curses at my minion’s opponents and praising the “devious little shit,” Lily appears by our side. She tries to hide it, but the vibrations from her regenerating muscles tell me enough.

Is this maniac trying to mimic my Wraith Dance using only raw physical power?

Surprisingly, Myrra, despite her spicy language, doesn't even try to provoke Lily when she suddenly appears. I guess that's what getting your ass beat constantly by "whenigrowupiwanttobeabuldozer" does to you.

"Vega is doing super well!" Lily smiles at me. "And you did well too, Nat."

"Thank you. Which one is yours?"

"Pallius is the feylith in a black suit with that adorably serious expression. He’s in a group with two thylarin."

"Found him."

As Lily said, the little guy has an arrogant, serious expression and, even after so many weather changes, his clothes remain nearly perfect. Only one of his small wings is slightly damaged but healing, and currently, both his hair and eyes are pale red as the trio walks on the stairs.

"Do you know if Victoria has a disciple?" Lily asks out of nowhere.

That interrupts my train of thought, and after a pause, I answer, "I never asked her."

"What would you guess?"

"Knowing her, she surely has one." I pause as I notice a few presences from group 4 moving closer. "Did you notify others of where we are?"

Lily doesn't even try to hide it and nods swiftly, "We can watch together."

With a sigh, I throw one of my Ley Lines into the distance and prepare to teleport away for some time alone.

Before I can leave, I feel a touch on my hand and look down to find Lily holding it.

"Please, stay with us," she asks softly, then lets go right away, leaving the decision fully up to me.

I watch her for a moment longer. She meets my gaze without hesitation, without a blush, and smiles.

Instead of leaving, I create a manabloc chair and sit in it. Immediately bothered by Myrra, I create one for her; then it feels a bit wrong to leave Lily standing, so I make one for her as well.

Once I sit down, I glance to my right at Lily, who stares at the screen observing her disciple, and my thoughts wander.

I can see why even her grumpy cat eventually warmed up to her.

***

Dennis and Aaron do not join a minion murdering event watch party, and Izzy stays with them as well. The reason is obvious and unspoken.

There are friendly bets, smaller fights over whose disciple will win, and even some silly banter. Myrra surprisingly fits very well into group 4 and the others seem to treat her almost like one of the original members. Later, even Channeler and a few of his friends join. These are useful men and women from all difficulty levels who listen to him and whom I lovingly call Channeler's harem.

It's still amusing to watch Hard difficulty guys who could kill Channeler with a swing of their arm be so friendly with him while clearly acknowledging him as a leader. And Channeler himself doesn't even make it seem like that; he is friendly with everyone and has a seemingly infinite amount of social energy.

Must be a trait or upper arcane passive.

It's also amusing to watch the expressions of the harem as group 4 starts betting upper epic items they have collected through the floors. For Hard difficulty, even a low epic item is highly valued. Upper epic items are something very few of them possess. As for Normal and Easy difficulty, even rare items are highly valued.

Situations like this often remind me how skewed our perspectives are, especially when Maya, with a sigh, gives a low epic protective pendant to a Normal difficulty woman after losing a bet against her. The woman spends a few minutes constantly asking if she can really take it and only stops when Channeler assures her it is fine.

It's unexpectedly endearing to watch the 50-year-old woman wrap the pendant in cloth, her hands trembling as she hides it from view.

That scene reminds me of a similar situation from my childhood. After our first apartment burned, our father lost his job and we had to move; my mom came home and called Victoria and me to happily give us our first laptop to share. It was something she bought second-hand with all the money she was able to save.

Back then I didn't think much of it. That's just how children are. Sure, I was happy and, along with Victoria, we thanked her, but I hadn't realized the struggle. I might have overlooked the sadness on her face a few days later when she asked how we liked the laptop. Maybe she was hoping for our excitement, wanting to relive the joy her gift had brought.

Such a small detail I had overlooked, and surely just one of many.

For that reason, for the rest of the event half of my focus is on the event while the rest observes the people Channeler brought here. I read their mana signatures, I examine their bodies and the items on them. Even a slight movement of mana within their bodies, the energy they emit, and the kinetic vibrations surrounding them are enough for me.

It's easy for me to do, something I can manage even while observing the event. It costs me almost nothing.

Slowly, I tailor something useful for each of them. A training method, some information, advice on development, things like that. I inscribe it onto a few mana stones, which I then hand to Channeler and explain through our communication link to give it to them later.

That happens just as the unofficial event slowly ends. The weather is now calm and it is dark. In the sky, a blue moon shines in the starless sky, and the remaining disciples stand at the bottom of what used to be a lake, the water having entirely evaporated during one of the weather changes. The bottom of that lake is covered in pale white mana crystals that emit a gentle light.

Five minions remain.

A demon, a half-demon, a thylarin with six arms, a lumoran girl, and a girl of the same race as Beatrice, the archon's daughter of the 6th floor, remain. The girl has pink hair and skin, white freckles, and eyes that are a mix of blue and green.

The half-demon is obviously my minion.

The thylarin and lumoran attack the demon boy together while Vega fights against the pink-skinned girl.

Even now tired and with sluggish movements, Vega shows no hesitation. She moves with exactly the same aggressiveness and hunger she showed at the start.

For someone so young, the pink-skinned girl shows impressive control over her mana, which she uses in ranged attacks in the form of striking projectiles. But in the end, she cannot defend herself against Vega, who keeps using her kinetic energy to get close and break through the defenses she puts up. The fight is soon decided, and in that moment of victory, Vega shows a bad habit she still keeps.

Overcome by the feeling of victory, she glances at where the pink girl was and, for a moment, stops checking her surroundings.

Her reward is the young demon crashing into her and sending her flying, having already dealt with the thylarin and lumoran minions. He doesn't even pursue the attack and stands there with a calm, calculating expression. He is around 7 to 9 years old and, unlike Vega, his horns are longer and slightly curl toward the back of his head. Even though his hair is as white as that of many demons, his eyes are of a different color. They are both purple with a white circle around the pupils.

The common area erupts in commotion as people start shouting. Some curse the guy while others cheer at the screen for Vega as she gets to her feet and wipes the blood from the side of her face.

The demon charges her again and Vega is sent flying through the air and crashes into the crystal nearby.

She stands up again, but before she can recover, her attack is blocked, her guard is opened by a well-timed punch, and she is thrown back once more, left lying there and breathing heavily.

Taking a few slow, deliberate steps, the young demon walks toward her, confident in his own victory, but for a moment he hesitates as Vega climbs to her feet again.

She looks intensely focused now, staring him down as blood covers her lips and streams from her forehead into one of her eyes.

Instead of waiting, she charges at him. It's not a wobbly movement of her wounded, tired body. No, she flies through the air like a rocket boosted by kinetic energy.

The demon barely has time to lift his arms in defense as both of them are sent rolling. Vega tries to stab him, but he disarms her and breaks her arm.

Vega screams and smashes her head down, breaking his nose with her forehead and causing his first wound since the start of the event.

The entire common area roars in excitement, but the noise cuts off as Vega is blown away by the guy's impressive strength. She crashes onto a nearby glowing mana crystal, its surface covered with splashed blood.

An explosion erupts, but not at Vega. It comes from the demon on the ground, triggered by the orb of compressed kinetic energy she left on him before being thrown away.

Rubble is sent flying as the blast tears through the ground, scattering blood in every direction. When the dust clears, the young demon remains, his body ravaged by deep, gruesome wounds. He staggers slightly, but his glare is as calm as before.

Yet he is not considered dead.

The blood dripping from his body stops and is pulled back instead, and his wounds start regenerating slowly the more blood he absorbs. He even takes a step and touches Vega's blood on the ground, which seeps into his body and heals him further.

Now in better shape, he turns to her. Rather than approaching, he calmly picks up a stone from the ground, weighing it in his hand as he prepares to throw it.

The first stone flies toward her head, but as it approaches, it slows down and only gently touches her forehead. The same happens with the next three stones, no matter how much energy he puts into the throws, each of the stones is directed at her head with cold calculation, but Vega stops them with her kinetic energy absorption.

Vega shouts something at him, making him pause. He answers and shakes his head.

Unable to move but having already gathered enough kinetic energy, Vega boosts herself toward him.

This time, he expects it and steps aside before she even launches. Her body flies past him, and he simply watches, expecting her to crash somewhere in the direction she boosted herself.

But Vega absorbs her movement and stops midair as if she hit a brick wall, just an arm's reach from the demon. The mana dagger in her hand extends, and she slashes at him.

Even then, he shows no surprise. His hand moves, redirecting her force to deflect the attack. With a motion that feels both unnervingly slow and startlingly fast, he steps in and lands multiple strikes. The final blow shatters Vega into blue particles.

Someone in the crowd curses loudly, while another bursts into excited laughter, both drowned out by the continued chaos in the common area.

***

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