ScarletThe next day

“You’re heading out?” Michael asks, and I nod my head as I begin leaving the group to go up the stairs of the building, planning on heading directly towards the core of the Fracture. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry,” I call back as I jump straight up each flight of stairs, not bothering to take them one or two at a time.

There isn’t much I have to worry about anymore. Not in a Class I Fracture. And not when I’m already at level 99.

It won’t be long before I reach level 101, and fortunately, I won’t have to worry about being disqualified. Because the Class I Solo Primaries are the very first primaries hosted in the tournament, starting on day three of the Interschool Tournaments. Right after the team tournament that Michael and the others signed us up for on the second day.

But today – the first day – none of us have anything. And then the Demonic Assault hit, so the tournament was paused for the time being.

Fortunately, the tournaments are all built with the Demonic Assaults in mind, leaving plenty of spare time an entire two weeks later, after the original last day of the Interschool Tournaments, for delays like this. And that’s with each tournament having extra time added to it to accommodate delays.

I can’t help but smile as I climb the stairs until reaching the point where I hear what I’m pretty sure is the captain. Only to frown when I hear someone else already fighting him.

Damnit. Looks like we’re too late.

In that case, I listen to the surrounding floors for any powerful demons to hunt instead before finding what sounds like a breeder with some knights a couple floors above me. So I continue up the stairs until I reach that floor and immediately enter it, searching the floor for the demons.

And it doesn’t take me long to find the demons in question and to quickly clean them up, the things only being level thirty for the breeder and level fifties for the knights. Meaning they didn’t give me any EXP.

Damn. That was a waste.

I begin to turn around, only to pause as the building suddenly shakes and the emergency lights begin to flicker.

“The heck?” I mutter with a frown while looking around.

Then the emergency lights turn off entirely, indicating that the building has lost its emergency power.

Not a major problem this time since it’s a Class I Fracture, but it might increase casualties. So I should go help whoever is fighting the captain now.

My frown grows deeper though as I hear loud crashing sounds coming from below. Sounds that are not like anything I’ve really heard before in a Fracture. Well, outside of floors collapsing, but would there really be so many floors collapsing at once?

As if answering my question, the noise continues getting closer and closer until it gets practically right beneath me, making me jump backwards in the large room I’m in right now, the red moonlight illuminating what I am assuming is some sort of lobby. Then the floor collapses at the corner of the room next to the entrance, following which a man jumps straight through and lands crouched in the lobby.

Oh… shit.

Before he even stands up straight, I easily recognize this man from the wanted labels on who knows how many websites and posters I’ve seen around the city. He’s one of the Class III Rogues currently loose in the city – a term used for Guardians who’ve turned to crime – and he is incredibly dangerous.

Just the fact that he’s Class III already has me on edge, much less his radiation magic.

The man is wearing some sort of gold and black magi-tech suit with a reactor core in the center of the chest and various armor platings scattered throughout his body, with two blades extended from both hands that are covered in an orange glow as he slowly stands up from his crouch, focusing his eyes on me. And the warning bells going off in my head immediately upgrade to sirens as I feel my inherent danger sense going crazy.

“Target is confirmed,” he says, a light grin spreading across his face. “Now, we can either do this the hard way, sweetheart, or we can do this the easy way. With you offering your head to me on a silver platter.”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes that he’d even say that before I look around the room, trying desperately to find a way out.

Fucking damnit, why didn’t I just listen to the university staff and let them give me bodyguards?

“Because it hurt your pride,” Tar answers, sounding afraid himself.

Damn my fucking pride.

If I survive this, remember to slap me in the face if I reject bodyguards again. I just honestly didn’t expect people to actually hire high Class Rogues to assassinate me just because of my candidacy in the Primaries.

It’s literally just day one of the tournament for crying out loud!

“So what’s your answer, sweet cheeks?” the man asks again, sounding like he’s getting a little bit impatient as he waves his blades around in circles, drawing figures in the air with the radiation flowing off of the blades. Radiation that has chills running down my spine even from here.

I continue to look around for a few seconds, but I don’t find a single way out. So I sigh and immediately activate basically everything I can activate just in the hopes that it’ll startle him into giving me a running start, but it doesn’t work. The man just shakes everything off and sends out a blade of radiation that strikes the ground right next to me where I tried running into a wall to break through it. And to make matters worse, the blade immediately turns into a blaze of radiation, blocking off my escape.

The man clicks his tongue as he begins walking towards me while saying, “You couldn’t have just chosen the easy way? Youthful pride these days. Would’ve saved you from a lot of-”

He cuts off as another crash echoes through the building, bringing both my and his attention to the window to find a man straight up floating through it with blue eyes made seemingly out of some sort of vicious watery slime. A man I very much recognize from television.

What the fuck is he doing here?!

The man practically glues his terrifying eyes to me the moment he sees me, water beginning to rise into the air all around him before he steps over here. And right when the Class III Rogue that was about to kill me begins to open his mouth to speak, the new guest swings his arm straight towards him, transforming it into a giant tentacle that quite literally turns the Class III Rogue into a freaking paste on the wall with ease as he continues walking towards me without a word.

I alternate my gaze between him and the now dead and very clearly unrecognizable Class III Rogue, only to focus on him again when he gets within a few meters of me.

Then I blink as I realize that he really does look a lot like White.

Before I can say anything or ask why he’s here though, Blue stops right in front of me and grabs me by the throat with his once again human arm, lifting me into the air while looking directly into my eyes.

Shit. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I might’ve preferred the other guy.