Chapter 243 Scarlet Stream
"Trident...?" Zayne muttered with a slightly puzzled face.
The stream of water was not going to calm down, as out of it, a tall silhouette slowly emerged.
As soon as the tips of the trident emerged from the water, scarlet drops appeared on its tips. In a heartbeat, they turned into bullets, heading towards Zayne at breakneck speed.
Zayne's pupils narrowed, and then with a smooth swing of his sword, he deflected each bullet, managing to remain completely unharmed.
'That was fast... Much more dangerous than that Serpent.' Zayne pondered, staring intently at the silhouette gradually emerging from their stream, 'Sure enough. If I can win now, I will definitely pass the first stage. There will be no additional opponents this time.''
Step. Step. Step.
Stepping on the water, a silhouette emerged from the stream, revealing itself to the world. It was a girl, with dark blue skin, white eyes, and long black hair.
The girl had an athletic body, covered in black armor similar to that worn by samurai. However, something was not right.
'Ah...? Has she fought somewhere before? Zayne internally muttered while looking at the bloody girl.
Also, she was missing her right arm, and some of her armor was destroyed and covered in cracks. It was obvious that something had happened to her, yet she didn't look injured. Her breathing was calm and the fire of life burned in her eyes.
"A human...?" The girl stared at Zayne, with slight disdain, "I thought for a participant in the Chaos Trial, there would be someone more worthy."
"Who are you?" Zayne frowned, "Are you a monster...?"
Zayne wasn't surprised that the girl could talk, but he thought it was odd. He could sense that the girl had a special aura, yet it also seemed weaker than her aura.
"Valira, that's my name." Valira said proudly while waving her trident.
"Are you real...?" Zayne tilted his head in a confusion.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Valira frowned, "Don't you dare ask me such stupid questions!"
"Wait!" Zayne exclaimed, "Weren't you created by Chaos Energy?"
Valira raised an eyebrow, then her eyes widened slightly, and she nodded deeply, "I see... You don't just look young, you're actually quite young and inexperienced, aren't you?"
Zayne didn't answer anything. He just just wanted to make sense of the situation, and Valira could give him answers to his questions.
Valira continued, "I'm real, Chaos Energy can only create Champion and Terror Grade creatures, however, that Serpent you fought before was real too."
"Hm? Were you following me?" Zayne asked.
"Not really. Fighting you was the chance Chaos offered me. In fact, I should be grateful to you, Chaos Trial happens very rarely, and even more rarely is there a chance that it will give a chance." Valira uttered.
"A chance? For what...?" Zayne muttered, not understanding what she was talking about.
"Agh..." Valira sighed, shaking her head, "You still don't understand anything, right? I'm dead. Less than an hour ago."
Zayne's eyes went wide, however, he wasn't the only one who was surprised. All the monsters whose power level was at Terror Grade or below had the same stunned expression as Zayne's.
Sara and Fosca were no exceptions either, Marcus's face became darker and more serious.
"What...? Did she tell the truth?" Fosca muttered in a disbelief.
"It can't be... Is it possible to resurrect someone? It's against all existing rules!" Sara exclaimed, with slight fear in her eyes.
"Commander! You obviously know something! Tell us!" Fosca exclaimed, with a hard stare.
Marcus sighed, "Resurrection is actually impossible, even for Chaos... However, as this girl said, this is a unique and very rare case. Most likely she didn't really die, it must have happened after a few minutes or seconds because of her wounds."
Marcus continued, "Because of the circumstances, Chaos must have offered her recovery and life if she could win. I have no other explanation."
Zayne gripped his sword tightly, preparing for battle.
"I see... So if you win now, you can survive, right?" Zayne asked, with a sharp look.
Valira nodded, "Yeah. Do you want to give in to me?" Valira smirked, "Maybe this time I won't give up an easy win."
Zayne exhaled a cold vapor, "No. That's not going to happen. Especially considering you're already dead. That was the end of your journey, I don't believe the dead should come back to life. That's not how this world is supposed to work."
Valira shrugged, "Whatever, only one of us is leaving here anyway, either you or me. So, let's get started!"
Whooooooooosh.
At the same moment, Valira lunged forward, approaching Zayne at breakneck speed. Her trident was aimed straight at him, with the clear intention of piercing him through.
Zayne didn't hesitate and immediately counterattacked, as scarlet wings opened behind him, making him swifter.
Valira smirked. She had an unusual weapon, but her trident was perfect for such attacks where the main goal was to pierce the opponent. A sword could also be used for that, but it was much worse than a trident, a weapon with a special shape for that.
Crackle.
The trident in Valira's hands twisted slightly, as Zayne's sword caught between the teeth. Valira grinned, about to wrench the sword from Zayne's hands, but, she didn't have to as Zayne let go of the hilt of his sword himself.
'Agh... What...?' Valira's eyes went wide when Zayne with powerful strides approached her, fast enough that she didn't have time to react.
Zayne clenched his fist as tightly as possible as he brought it down into Valira's stomach, causing her to feel intense pain spreading throughout her body.
"Argh!" Valira cried out in agony as the impact, threw her aside, plunging her into the lake.
Zayne grabbed a trident and thrust it into the ground so that Valira could no longer use it.
'Well... Given her appearance, she certainly won't drown. She's missing one arm, and I have to use it. Those are serious limitations for her.'' Zayne pondered, staring intently at the surface of the lake.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
After a while, the water began to shake, as powerful torrents gushed upward as if from geysers. They covered everything around them, greatly reducing Zayne's field of vision.
Zayne narrowed his eyes, trying to see where Valira would attack from. Unlike her, he couldn't feel as comfortable in the water as she did.
Crackle.
Suddenly, Valira's arms came out from underneath the ground, across the stone platform, grabbing tightly onto Zayne's leg and quickly dragging him down.
It all happened too quickly for Zayne to react, so as soon as he felt the grip around his leg, he was immediately submerged in the cold water of the lake.
Zayne swung his sword sharply, trying to pull Valira away from him, but there was no one around him. Valira immediately retreated.
'Shit!" Zayne exclaimed, trying to see where his opponent was.
However, it was impossible to do so as the water in the lake was now crimson and murky. All Zayne could see were the occasional silhouettes in the water, most often shadows from the chunks of ice floating on top.
Whooooooooooosh.
Long black hair swept in front of him, then Zayne saw Valira's cold stare as her fist slammed into his solar plexus.
From the sharp pain, Zayne's mouth opened wide and the sword fell out of his hands. It seemed Valira had been waiting for this as her single hand immediately grabbed Zayne's neck, plunging him to his very bottom.
"What's going on?" Kota asked, staring intently into the lake, "They've been in there for quite some time..."
"Well, it looks like Zayne has a problem. That girl can obviously go around without breathing underwater for a very long time, definitely much longer than Zayne." Toruf said calmly.
"W-What...?! Doesn't that mean he's going to die!" Kota exclaimed with a worried expression.
Edvin shook his head, "I highly doubt that. If Zayne allows himself to be drowned like that, then he isn't worthy of participating in the Chaos Trial. However, neither was being a member of the Shattered Moon Order."
Kota flinched as she looked apprehensively at Edvin. He and Zayne were allies in a way since they were members of the same organization, but Edvin could say something like that with an ice-cold look.
Valira continued to plunge Zayne down while he attacked her with all his might, but her armor protected her well. She felt the pain, but she could endure it for the sake of killing Zayne.
'Shit! Shit! Shit! At this rate, my breath will run out in thirty seconds!" Zayne inwardly exclaimed, looking at Valira's confident and calm face.
Then, Zayne's gaze changed as his eyes became darker and deeper.
'Fine, if you want to compete in strength, then I'll show you how wrong you were.' Zayne said to himself before grabbing Valira's arm with both hands.
Valira wasn't paying attention, but, soon enough her eyes filled with fear.
Crackle.
With a sudden movement, Zayne snapped Valira's arm, immediately freeing herself from her grip.