"I see... in that case." Darius rushed at Kazuki with great speed and drove his sword into his chest, sending Kazuki flying into the wall of a ruined building.
"Nice Darius!" Seth applauded him.
"I can't believe it was that easy to trick him, we might actually pass this phase." Ronan chimed in, excited.
Darius brushed off the bit of blood he got from Kazuki as he punched him, and approached the building to take the flag.
"That's right, he really is a fool to assume we'd help the likes of him. In what world is a D-rank Soul-Hunter useful? He failed to think about that and now it cost him his life. Although I previously intended to use him as bait, but given how useful he was." His accomplices chuckled softly, it all seemed fun to them.
"I see, you really were going to kill me weren't you?" A voice came from within the dust, and they all froze.
As the dust settled, they all saw Kazuki, back against the shattered walls of the building, and his hair casted a shadow on his eyes.
"W—What..." Ronan muttered, they were sure he was dead. No D-rank Soul-Hunter could have survived that stab to the chest.
"Darius, did you take it easy on him?" Seth stepped forward, they were surprised to see that he was still alive.
"We need him dead if we are ever going to retrieve the flag." Ronan chimed in once more.
"R—Right, sorry..." Darius apologized, but he couldn't believe it.
'I definitely used all my strength in that last blow. He's supposed to be dead, but why is he still talking like nothing ever happened' He thought.
He arrived at the conclusion that he subconsciously held back, and he stepped forward. "I might have held back, but I'm surprised that you actually survived that. As a gesture of acknowledgement, I'll make it simple for you."
He stopped moving a few meters in front of him, then a smug smile curled up his lips as he stared at Kazuki with his eyes spread wide like a maniac. "Hand over the flag peacefully, and we won't kill you as brutally as we planned."
For a moment, Kazuki remained on the ground, silent. Then he broke the silence with a barely audible voice. "Why?"
"Huh?" Darius glanced over at his friends, then they all burst into a heavy laughter.
It sounded absurd.
"Why? You actually thought that anyone would want to team up with a fucking D-rank Soul-Hunter? I can guess why you are out here on your own, Kaira left you. She didn't want to bare the weight of you holding her back. In this world where kill or be killed is the only way to survive, only those strong hearted enough to do what's necessary will live!"
"Then that story about your brother?"
"Huh? It was true, he did get eaten by a Soul-Beast, and I did meet these two. However, it didn't happen the way I told you it did. You see, I killed my brother in order to survive. I pushed him and let the wretched beasts eat him. In this world where no rules apply, he was weak to do what's necessary, and I survived." He stepped forward again, his sluggish smile turning upside down.
"I killed my own brother to survive, what makes you think I can't kill a nobody like you to fulfill my ambitions?" Darius scoffed.
"I see." Kazuki chuckled, then got up slowly to his feet.
"I forgot." He muttered under his breath as he took a step forward. The memories came back to him, the event that led to his death in his previous life. He trusted someone he shouldn't have.
If there was something his previous life taught him, the weak was always a disposable toy, something that existed to serve others until they were of no use anymore.
He finally understood what Zarek told him before he entered the dungeon.
In a dungeon, even the hunters become the hunted. At first he thought he was talking about the dungeon beasts, but he finally understood what he meant.
"You're right... In a world where no rules apply, only the strong who's willing to do what's necessary will survive. That means you understand it don't you Darius?"
As he stepped forward, trails of shadow escaped his body like steam, and as he raised his head up, his eyes glowed a faint purple hue.
"If you call yourself a Soul-Hunter, then you must have been prepared to be hunted as well?"
"HAHAHA!" Seth and Ronan burst into laughter. They couldn't believe the mouth on him.
"Get a load of this guy, I'll take care of him and get the flag." Seth stepped forward, and Darius tried to pull him back.
"Wait!" He felt his legs trembling, like an overwhelming force pressed against him. They didn't understand, they couldn't. After all it wasn't them Kazuki directed his gaze at.
"Don't worry Darius, I'll have it done in no time." He smiled smugly, staring down at Kazuki. "Hey dropout, that's a scary look for a D-rank Soul-Hunter like you. Don't worry, I'll set it straight !" He dashed forward with his sword in hand, and aimed to stab his chest in one clean hit.
Then.
[Stun effect has been activated.]
"ARGHHHHH!" Almost immediately, he felt a surge of electricity rush through every cell in his body. Then he fell to his knees, convulsing, his cornea rolled up and revealed the whiteness of his eyeballs.
Then he fell to his back, unconscious.
"What!?"
On his shoulder, a strange dagger with intricate designs impaled him, and immediately they knew it belonged to Kazuki.
"A dagger!? Where did he bring that out from!?" Ronan charged forward and went straight for his neck. At the last second, Kazuki crouched to his knees and evaded the blade, then the second dagger materialized in his hand from his inventory — and he drove it right through Ronan's midsection.
[Stun Effect has been activated.]
"ARGHHH!" He screamed so loud that he was heard meters away, and he fell to the ground, after suffering the same fate Seth went through.
Darius understood immediately, they underestimated him and now they paid the price for it. The gap in their strength and power was obvious, and without a moment's notice, he ran away.
He looked back as he ran and saw Kazuki getting to his feet, glancing over at him. The moment he turned forward, a palm hit his face and drove him hard into the ground with a loud thud.
Darius coughed violently and spat out a bit of blood. "H—How?" Kazuki was fast, too fast for even his eyes to follow, there was no possible way that those were the movements of a D-rank Soul-Hunter.
"W-who the hell are you..."
Kazuki tightened his grip on his forehead. "I'm the Soul-Hunter who rejected his own fate. I can't kill you because of the exams, and death would be a blessing for everything you've ever done. Instead, I'll make sure you won't be able to ever hurt anyone ever again."
Then, with his dagger, he sliced off Darius's right arm.
"ARGHHH!!" He shrieked loudly in pain. "MY ARM! MY ARM!! MY ARM!!!"
[You have obtained three flags.]
[The boss of the dungeon has been defeated.]