Rei's team have already started running through the fields after the changes for the match. From having 40 other participants withdrawing themselves, their problem was fixed with the members and teams. Now formed with a 6-man team, Rei acted as a heavy bitter and sensory as he was stationed from behind with Eunji who acted more as a support with her healing and enhancement techniques. Rinka in the middle, Erika and Hinata on the side while Haruki acted as the frontline with his flames. Rei had never seen him used it before but now he understood why. White flames that burns everything until nothing is left behind.
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4 hours ago, 9:00 A.M, Kamigami Academy Block C, Participant waiting area, room 09
Eunji was surprised upon hearing someone withdrawing themselves away before it even started. "I know that we can get our reserves reset by nurse Eri but I don't think I can go on any further compared to the ones that who's left in the match." They explained as the headmaster nodded his head upon hearing them before he went on to continuing talking. "I see. If that's the case, are there any other participants that are withdrawing from the match before we could proceed with the next match?" Almost every other students followed suit, sighing and exclaiming before only 60 students were left.
"What a shame but I understand for your decision as I would have seen y'all try your best despite the odds." Headmaster Sho exclaimed with such empathy. "Anyways, since 60 students are left… there's will be 10 teams consisting of 6 members. The rules are still the same, either finish the securing the objective or eliminating the target within the time given time and task to you." Every students sighed before the headmaster continued. "1 hour break and for y'all to form a team. I wish you all good luck!"
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Reiji sensed an energy coming to them upon having his passive technique picked up on it. "Projectile technique coming our way from ahead!" He warned as Erika and Hinata both combined their techniques while Eunji boosted their power with her enhancement technique. Rinka followed up by gathering every ounce of energy she can use to help adding fire power to the technique.
"Combination Release: Glacier Bullets!" The two girls chanted their technique as multiple glaciers formed into the shape of a bullet manifested itself. "Blood Release: Red Scale Enhancement." Rinka executed her technique as blood manifested itself before forming arou the bullets.
"Triple Fusion Art: Blood Piercing Glacier Bullets!" The three chanted all together as the technique was executed before a massive amount of bullets started to counter what was coming to them.
A purplish orb with what seemed to be a circular pattern appeared as the bullets only diminished it's speed and destructive power which caused them to halt and awaited for the dust to clear out to see who were they dealing with.
"Woah! That's amazing!" A male voice emitted while Eunji gave them a heads up as she went into her stance to protect them while Rinka followed up. "Be careful!" Eunji warned as she switched from being a support to becoming a frontline.
In front of them stood a male in his early 20s with white hair.the distance appeared a male with hair, he looked like a young male at their early peaks, preferably 20s or somewhere in 25. "A triple fused technique is hard to manage especially with the amount of mana and synchronisation you have to perform perfectly." He said as his eyes glowed a golden hue. "Although, y'all managed to do it with no difficulty." Rei followed up by throwing out his own technique to gauge his strength. "Blood Release: Shuriken." He muttered quietly before throwing a shuriken to the male although it stopped mid air which made him surprised. "That's nice. But I'll say that you got a solid 10 for the sudden attack." He playfully said before crushing the shuriken with some sort of invisible force.
"Jeez… gravity?" Rei muttered as he had once experienced a prowess like this although it was just a warning back then but now he had to deal with one who's gonna use it for combat. Right off the bat, they all felt a heavy force as they were being pushed down to the ground. "What the hell?" Erika grunted as she felt weaker as time kept on passing longer, her weight forcing her to push herself down to the ground. Rei started to think on how to counter such a technique except someone had beaten him first.
"Soul Art Domain: Nullification Wave." Eunji stood up with no worries or any hint of struggles as the rest were able to follow suit upon having such a soothing aura help them recover. "Blood Release: Blood Explosion!" Rinka, reaching out her palm to the individual, immediately executed her technique as she didn't waste any time to miss the opportunity for a counter attack.
The white hair male dodged as a sudden explosion burst out of the blood spilled inches away from his foot. "How sneaky ~" he said playfully before blocking an attack on the right as he threw Haruki back. Hinata was about to execute her technique upon being able to sneak behind him except she was pushed away from an invisible force. The male was about to counter her except Rei had already intercepted them as he caught her in his arms while delivering a harsh kick to them.
"Soul Art Release: Overhaul!" The white hair male immediately turned around at Eunji's direction as he executed his technique to block or counter her. "Atomic Art: Gravitational Sphere!" A blue orb manifested itself in a whirlpool filled with powerful mana waves before it started to absorb the bright blue flames that Eunji had used. Rei had already dashed in when the male was distracted as he delivered a mean punch into their guts. Expecting the person to grunt or to at least be pushed only made Rei surprised since the male only stood still before countering back as 3 sudden punches caught him off guard. The white hair male was shocked upon seeing Rei tanked 3 hits as if it was nothing despite being unable to react to it, the male was surprised when he was grabbed on the collar before Rei tried to head but him.
A loud cracked noise emitted from the hit as the white haired male groaned in pain while Rei only felt dizzy yet was able to hold for a moment before delivering a solid punch to the face. "Goddamn!" The male said in surprise as he managed to pry off Rei by using some sort of telekinesis, sending Rei flying before Eunji managed to catch him by the collar. "Holy shit! That was unpredictable…" he said as wiped off the blood dripping from his nose before grinning.
"Oh right… I forgot to introduce myself formally since I already knew last year's student personally for their internship." He said as he tidied himself before properly introducing himself as if it was normal. "Tengen Nagasaki. Former Kamigami Academy student. I graduated from last year's batch." He smiled before paying attention to Rinka who was approaching him with her blood-like daggers, each attack being dodged without any effort before Rei joined her as he manifested his own variation except it was his own scythes. Rinka and Rei made an opening for Haruki as he didn't hesitate to shoot his flame-like arrow immediately. "Fire style: Dragon's breath!" Haruki chanted as an enormous flame similar to a dragon's fire breathing suddenly erupted onto Tengen as Rei and Rinka fled from the scene.
Tengen was about to defend himself by using his own technique by a glow of emerald hue and crimson hue of mana flowed around him as he was surprised by what the duo was trying to do. "Blood Sealing Art: Bloody Needles!" Rinka chanted while Rei followed suit by copying her and mimicking the procedures to execute the technique. Tengen was pierced through his legs and arms by blood-like spikes as he could feel the restricting force of mana in the technique pouring into his blood. "Shit!" Tengen cursed under his breath as he tried to use his mana to enhance his body to tank the hit. "Wind Release: Wind Bullet!" Hinata executed her technique as each bullet she made went into the flames as if only increased the fire power after submerging into it.
A large explosion upon impact as Rei had shielded Rinka instinctively with his body when she was already trying to form a shield with her technique. The rest were protected by the barrier Eunji had made to shield them from the explosion. "Rei!" Rinka called out as Rei had instinctively activated the technique as he manifested a dome barrier made out of hardened blood. "Fuck…" Rei cursed to himself as he could still feel the burnt flesh on his nape, he cussed himself out for defending themselves instinctively instead of performing a technique but what has happened is done.
Eunji dispelled her shield as soon as the explosion had cleared off while Rei had slowly undone his barrier due to the injuries he had sustained while he was healing himself for a bit. Rinka immediately tried to help heal Rei despite her inexperience with healing techniques as she tried to use her blood to try yet couldn't since it was a complicated process to do so. "I'm fine… it's just a burn, I've dealt with things worse." Rei said as he finished healing before he felt a mana spike before turning around to look at the scene after the explosion. "No way…" he muttered while Rinka also looked over his shoulders to see what he meant.
Eunji didn't drop her guard down ever since the explosion as she was ready to throw another technique before she trembled upon feeling the sensation of a powerful mana wave. "Shit! Everyone, keep your guard up!!" She warned as she drew out her blade while coating it with her mana, her left hand generating a lightning like spirit energy as its loud chirping noises heightened. Erika and Hinata gathered mana to try getting their reserves back as both of them were prepared to execute some techniques, a wind and water mana presence manifesting from her palms. Haruki increased the fire power as he generated flames on his palms as he awaited for further instructions.
Rei on the other hand was busy trying to shape out the mana that he had gathered to try countering immediately before it could happen except he felt his entire body slammed to the ground. His bones broke upon hitting the floor which cracked upon impact. "Fuck!" He grunted as he felt himself being pushed into the ground harshly, it felt he was about to get squished. Eunji managed to save him just in time after dashing in as she nullified the technique with her own while returning an attack. "Soul Art: Dissonance!" She chanted as she manifested a slashing mana wave to Tengen.
Tengen panicked as he barely avoided the slash, his eyes were analyzing the mana that was infused in the technique but he had to pay attention to something else as he felt three particular mana signatures that felt like fire, water and wind. "Wind style: 'Sever'!" Hinata used a slashing wind technique while Haruki followed up. "Fire Style: Fire Phoenix Claw!" The wind that was approaching Tengen immediately bursted into flames as the two techniques were combined, the firepower seemingly becoming powerful. He was able to withstand after coating himself what seemed to be an invisible barrier although something went through his defence upon feeling the sharp pain and something piercing through his shoulders on the right side.
"What?!" Tengen panicked as he felt the tool being pulled away while he felt the immense pain from having his flesh ripped by the sharp tool. He turned around and saw Rinka holding a unique weapon in her hands. A long curved dagger similar to a snake's fang with unique markings on it as it glowed a hint of emerald green hue similar to Rinka's glowing eyes. The unique feature was identical fangs that were embedded to the lower part of the blade near the hilt. A metallic yellow hue along the edges of the blade while the latter remained a shade of metallic blue with glowing yellow cracks. The hilt consisted of what seemed to be a black scales of a reptile while the end had a fang shaped like a lion's fang.
"I see now…" Tengen muttered as he poured all his mana reserves to go serious rather than testing them and playing around. "Chimera type dagger… I can guess that you got the parts of a snake's anti-technique nullification venom judging by the fang of the blade." He said before speed blitzing through the battlefield as he tried to land a hit onto Rinka's guts except a sharp protruding glowing blue spike emitted from her. "Blood Release: Bloody Needle…" Eunji muttered as she dashed in to try landing a hit but failed as Tengen dodged effortlessly.
Rei wanted to help but he couldn't find an opening due to Eunji's extreme on going assault along with Rinka's support. He couldn't help but be amazed at their synchronised attack against Tengen as both parties effortlessly parried, attacked and dodged each move. It felt like watching a movie due to how insane it was until Tengen caught them all off guard. "Imaginary Fusion Technique" he muttered as all of them felt an intense whirlpool of mana surrounding the battlefield. "Overflowing Inertia." He smirked as every single one of them floated while Tengen looked like he was flying as he immediately flew himself to Haruki. "You know that I can see you right!?" He shouted as Haruki panicked by shooting off three flames resembling spears from his bow which Tengen dodged effortlessly as it only hit Erika, Hinata and Eunji though the latter instantly recovered from the mistaken approach that Haruki had made.
Rei tried to gain balance by using Hinata's wind control by stabilising his gravity although it wasn't much since he was floating. He saw the whole ordeal as he immediately boosted his speed through his legs as he dashed in to save Haruki. However, it was a mistake as he saw a glowing red orb forming on Tengen's palm. "Atomic Release: Reflective Spiralling Sphere!" He pushed the orb onto Rei's guts as he coughed out blood hard, Rei was thrown back as Tengen immediately paid attention to Haruki.
"Let's get wild!!!" Tengen muttered as he threw five consecutive punches which Haruki got caught off guard as he struggled to get their bearings. A tunneling and dizzy vision from Haruki as he tried to defend himself but could feel the heavy punches and kicks on his side. Rinka intercepted them as she pulled Haruki away from Tengen as she immediately went in to fight against Tengen. Despite the difficult odds against her due to gravity being unstable, Rinka was fairly able to fight against him toe-to-toe as she was managing to land some hits although not hard as his. "Impressive!" Tengen commented as he managed to land a mean right hook to her face which threw her away from him.
Tengen started to feel excited about the match before he started to feel a disturbing aura coming from behind him. He immediately dodged to the side as he saw Rei dashed in with what seemed to be a spiraling orb similar to his although the fire power was lower. "Interesting…" Tengen thought to himself as every other person who had tried to mimic him ultimately failed due to the difference in sheer mana reserves and outputs, although that was only in the division of tools and mere desperate attempts of replicating his technique with their own variation. Rei, however, was using his technique with no changes except for the output as the effect itself was visible. "So, he is able to copy others to an extent… Although based on my observation, I think he could only copy stronger ones and was unable to amplify it due to the difference between our ranks and prowess level." He finished concluding his ideas on Rei as he immediately combined the spiraling orbs he had manifested.
Rei could feel the intense power that the sphere's had emitted due to Tengen fusing the two together. "Shit!" He cursed as he could feel the firepower that's about to be unleashed. Rei immediately gathered all of his thoughts on how to dodge it or block it off. He thought of using time manipulation but immediately shut it down due to the amount of mana he had to use. Crystal and Hemokinesis Crystal Release would only seem to be useless since the energy that the now purple orb emitted scream of pure blast and explosion. Rei thought for a while before thinking of a bold idea as he immediately went in to execute his plan.
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Headmaster Sho looked utterly disappointed as he watched through the entire event, the projector showing Haru completely ignoring his team as he went on to complete the task all by himself. "This match was to showcase teamwork but I don't think this could work…" he muttered under his breath before looking over to the Sasaki Clan members that are proudly cheering on for him, their pride and ego overtaking them as they showcase their prowess to assert dominance to the other spectators that were just watching the entire match. Sho was disappointed until he heard one of the spectators mention something highlighting.
"Dude, how are they pushing him to that extent?" Sho looked over before witnessing such a sight. Rei's team that were currently fighting against Tengen to an extent that he started getting serious. He wanted to tell Tengen to not harm them but his instincts told not to as he let it play out. The teamwork they performed naturally without calling out to each other was excellent until it went all down when Tengen used his special techniques.
He was about to intervene since Tengen was about to use a powerful technique until he saw Rei's action for it.
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A sphere made up of blue flames manifested on Rei's right hand while a sphere of crystallised blood manifested on the left. Each orbs emitted a powerful mana wave as it took a form of such devastating power. Tengen smiled as he saw the insane look in Rei's eyes, the same eyes of those who take risks and are not bothered by what is happening.
"That's amazing!" Tengen said before he shot out his technique to him as the purple orb radiated an energy that was lethal on impact. "Imaginary Fusion Technique: Nullifying Sphere Void."
Rei immediately combined the spheres he had, mimicking what Tengen had done on his own. It was unstable in the beginning as it had troubles with combining with one another but slowly fused together in the process as Rei shot out his variation of the orb that was the same colour as Tengen's but the effects were his own variation. "Triple Imaginary Fusion Release: Hemokinesis Crystal Flame Release…" he chanted as the orb crystallised while blue flames emitted from it along the red fluid connecting a form of roots all over the sphere. "Devour."
Upon impact, the sphere exploded immensely as the battleground shook and was destroyed. Eunji managed to get Erika and Hinata out of harm's way while Rinka was able to take Haruki and Rei at the last second. The two seniors impressed on Rei's creativity for using such techniques of the prowess he had copied in a way that original users cannot do or haven't discovered. "I never knew that those flames can be used like that…" Eunji thought to herself while she focused on healing the other two as she tried to sense whether Tengen was caught in it. The powerful shockwave showed how strong Rei's technique was judging by the other factors that she had observed.
The sphere that completely overwhelmed Tengen's Nullifying Sphere Void technique on a slightest level by an inch as the flames burst on impact while the blood formed a wrapping tendrils all over Tengen's technique that was about to explode. Then the crystal completely hardened like a defense mechanism upon swallowing the Nullifying Sphere Void before it completely compressed everything until a devastating explosion happened.
The team regrouped since they were no longer at the battlefield that compromised their movement however Rei was experiencing the burn out despite the anomaly within him trying to fill up his emptied out reserves. "No way he survived that right?" Rei asked in an obvious manner since no one was that dumb enough to take a powerful technique head-on. "Holy shit…" Haruki stated upon seeing the destruction of the battlefield as the smoke and dust were clearing out.
Tengen's body laid flat deep onto the destruction on the field with visible scars and injuries while having a limb torn off. Erika was about to say something until Eunji looked panicked as her mana glowed around her body. "That's not him!" Rinka was surprised while the rest were confused although Rei followed sooner since he had done the same thing before.
The body that was on the field immediately combusted in ashes.
Only realising that they have given out everything just to defeat a singular clone.