[You have obtained three flags.]
[The boss of the dungeon has been defeated.]
"What?" Kazuki got to his feet. "The boss of the dungeon has already been defeated?"
He sighed, then slipped his hands into his pocket, neglecting the injured Soul-Hunter behind him. "She really is a monster, oh well. At least I got these three flags to compensate for it."
He left Darius shrieking, screaming in pain, and raced straight to the entrance of the dungeon. Luckily, he left just at the dungeon closed.
As he got back to the open field they entered the first phase from, the participants were already there, including the ones that Kazuki struck down within the dungeon.
Moments before the dungeon closed, Soul-Hunters from various squads were sent to scan the dungeon and rescue any Soul-Hunter who couldn't make it out in time, and luckily for Darius and his friends, they found them.
Support Soul-Hunters tended to his injuries immediately, while he still tried to recover from the shock of having his arm cut off.
"That brings an end to the first phase of the first phase. I will now reveal the top ten placements in the first phase and those who qualified for the second phase." The 5th's vice captain cleared his throat, and was handed a list.
Then he called out the top ten participants in the first phase.
[Kaira Daemar: 40 points, no flags were obtained but she was part of the two Soul-Hunters that took down the dungeon boss.]
[Takashi Tscuchibana: 40 points, no flags were obtained but he was the second Soul-Hunter that took down the dungeon boss. He is ranked second because it was Kaira that landed the finishing blow.]
[Theron Veylir: 35 points, he obtained a total of six flags before the first phase ended.]
[Kirito Horigami: 30 points, he obtained a total of five flags before the first phase ended.]
[Silver Veylir: 30 points, he obtained a total of five flags before the first phase ended.]
[Mira Ravenheart: 23 points, she obtained a total of four flags.]
[Elene Castelle: 23 points, she qualified with a total of four flags]
[Kazuki Matasuragi: With a total of 20 points, he obtained three flags.]
The 5th's captain didn't even get a chance to mention the last two Soul-Hunters, and murmurs grew quickly at the mention of Kazuki's name.
They couldn't believe it, he made the top ten?
After the final two were called, as well as the remaining qualified Soul-Hunters, there was undoubtedly a significant change. The teams of three that were a total of 150 reduced to just five.
"Damn..." Kazuki muttered under his breath, it wasn't a joke. More than half of the participants were cut down, and it was only natural. Only Soul-Hunters who rose above others and surpassed all expectations were qualified to be even considered for a position in the fourteen Soul-Squads.
This was the real selection.
"Shit... Only five teams made it this far?" Kirito whispered. It was hard to believe how the numbers trimmed down so greatly, what was more unbelievable was he was part of those who qualified, despite being a C-rank Soul-Hunter.
And he had Takashi to thank for it.
"If you heard your name, that means you have successfully passed the first phase of the Soul-Hunter Exams. The second phase will commence immediately at noon, and it will be slightly different from the first phase. You will be assigned to a room to freshen up in the meantime, that will be all for now."
The 5th's vice captain took his leave, he was only tasked with overseeing the exams. And now that it was completed for now, there was no need for him to stay.
"You qualified for the second stage? That's awesome." A voice spoke from behind Kazuki, and as he turned around, he saw Kirito with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah... Just barely, and you made it too. That's a relief." He sighed softly, and both of them exchanged a firm shake.
"Well, even without obtaining those flags, Takashi defeating the dungeon boss along with Kaira would have saved me... Probably."
"AAAARGH!" A shirek caught their attention, and they both glanced over their shoulders.
Dairus regained consciousness, but the constant sting from the stun effect of StormFang gnawed at him. Even with the aid of the support Soul-Hunters, the pain kept coming back.
His accomplices were taken into an ambulance, their injuries weren't as severe as his so Support Soul-Hunters weren't required.
"We need to take him back to the association for proper treatment, this is beyond what we've ever encountered." The Support Soul-Hunters strapped him in a stretcher to restrict his movements, and pushed him towards an ambulance parked right around the corner.
For a while, Darius resisted, but that all changed when he caught a glimpse of Kazuki in the crowd, and his eyes shot open like he saw a ghost.
"Y—You..." He stammered with wavering eyes, and his resistance multiplied. He tried his best to break free of the straps, he even ignored the pain he felt with each struggle.
Only one thing crossed his mind the moment he saw Kazuki.
Run.
"Stay still! We're trying to help you!" The support Soul-Hunters all joined hands and pinned him down, but he still kept resisting.
"You don't understand... He's a monster! He's a monster!" They pushed the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, got in and shut the doors. Then the engines roared to life, and the ambulance sped down the grasses back to the association.
The participants murmured as the ambulance vanished out of sights seconds later. The shock on Dairus face, the fear, it wasn't something anyone could fake.
"What was he talking about?" One of the candidates murmured.
"He's a monster?"
They were all confused, all but two people. Elene and Kaira. They studied his gaze before he was taken away, and there was no mistake about it.
It was Kazuki he was talking about, and stared at with terror, and it was him he referred to as a monster.
A smirk curled up the side of Elene's lips, it made Kazuki even more interesting in her eyes, but for Kaira, she wanted to know what was going on.
She wanted to know what happened between the two of them in the dungeon.