The crystal is at hand and with it the victory of the last mission. But will they make it?

  New hope has infused life into our bodies. Even though we're sleep-deprived and grumpy, this was like a rebirth. We stumbled over giant roots. The surface became muddy. We must have been approaching the swamps. The musty, foul smell was becoming more and more intense.

  "Ugh. Disgusting." Shika stammered.

  However, no one commented on it. I fully agreed with her and Kenji the one focused on our target. We arrived at a vast wetland. It was getting dark around us. Time was running out.

  "Where to now?" With a stuffy nose, I reached Kenji.

  He hung his head and shook it.

  "I don't know."

  "Guys look! There he is!"

  Something glimmered faintly at the end of the swamp. The greenish color in the darkness was easy to make out, and you could probably tell it wasn't an animal. We took a step forward, but the newly raised barrier ruined everything. Someone must be here.

  "So they say the winner gets the last crystal." The mysterious voice spoke. Three silhouettes approached us.

  What the hell?! The black-haired idiot. He and his team are one mission away from completing the mission. His raven hair was neatly cut into a ponytail. His physique was well-developed. Broad shoulders and muscular arms. Something in me shuddered at the sight of his physique, but it immediately disappeared when I saw his haughty face.

  "And look at you! Now you're the one I've been wanting to submit to for a long time!" He said, enhancing his dude face even more.

  Standing next to him was a brown haired boy a few inches shorter and a small blonde with a rather large bust. God why doesn't he cover it up! One thing they had in common though...their expressions. That smug, haughty expression.

  "That goes for me too." I growled at him. I trusted my team. We're strong enough to beat them.

  The familiar smell of battle was in the air again. But now it's more. It's everything. The loser loses and fails the mission. The first rays of the sun were beating down on the sky. There's not much time left. The sunrise was late enough today. The sun wanted to give us time. But now it's gone, and we must use it as we should.

  "Then catch me." He said with a sly voice and disappeared.

  Suddenly he appeared on the surface of the swamp. Who is this boy?!

  "We'll take care of those two." Kenji said.

  I just nodded and ran after him.

  ………………………..

  "Shiko take the girl. I'll get on with it."

  "Sure."

  Shika ran towards the blonde. Kenji was the only one left standing. The boy across from him pulled his eyebrows into a single line and spread his legs slightly.

  "I know who you are, scion of the famous Samaro family. Trust that your manipulation won't work on me."

  Kenji clenched his hand into a fist. He was angry. And a lot of it. A flame of rage seemed to flash in his eyes.

  "I don't need these spells to defeat you."

  Kenji recoiled in one motion and disappeared in his speed spell. He ran past the brown-haired man, delivering one punch after another as he should. The brown-haired man had no idea what was happening. For a moment, anyway. Suddenly he grabbed Kenji at his full speed, by the collar of his shirt.

  "Gotcha." He hissed and smiled.

  His brown eyes turned orange.

  Who the hell are you?

  Kenji thought to himself. The boy put his hand on his chest and spoke again:

  "This is going to hurt you. Lava bomb."

  A giant orange light came out of the hand he had placed on Kenji's chest. Kenji, thanks to the hit, flew about three meters away. However, with a heavy wheeze and a clearing of his throat, he got up after a moment.

  "Agh. Ugh. So lava huh?" chuck , "Then I'll have to cool you down."

  "Water cannon!"

  Kenji's shot hit, but the brown-haired man got up anyway. Kenji stared in disbelief for a moment. He hoped it would kill him off.

  "I found your weakness. You can't quite defend yourself against powerful water magic yet. Now you've lost." The blond stated.

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  Kenji waved to the water from the swamps. The water rose out of the trough and approached Kenji.

  "That's your end." He whispered to himself.

  "Nooo! Lava heat!"

  "Neptune's Trident!"

  The water from the swamp formed a giant trident and went against the powerful flood of lava. But the trident came through with a hiss and hit the brown-haired woman. He slumped to the ground and never got up. Kenji also collapsed from exhaustion.

  "You're good, brown-haired boy." He spoke exhaustedly to him and continued to rest.

  ………………….

  "Stop!" Shika shouted at the blonde.

  The girl finally turned around.

  "You know you can't escape."

  "I know. That was part of the plan now you're stuck." The girl smiled evilly and waved her hand.

  Shika stood in the middle of the mud that was starting to sink in. Shit! That I didn't realize.

  "Branch handles."

  Unfortunately, nothing happened. Instead, the blonde burst into hysterical laughter.

  "You're really stupid. I ran over here so nothing could help you. You don't have a tree here. You don't have anything."

  I panicked. I started squirming trying to get out. Something brushed against my leg from below.

  "What the hell is that?!" I yelled.

  "Meet my friends. I'm introducing you to my earthworms." She giggled.

  Something started wrapping around my legs. It went gradually upwards. Soon the heads of the giant earthworms started to climb up. They crawled up my shirt and began to slime my skin. They even got under my bra!! Then they came out of my cleavage and wrapped themselves around my neck and arms.

  "That's it!" The blonde exclaimed excitedly, watching with a strange smile on her face.

  "Mmm. Enough!"

  They started climbing all over me. Worst of all, as they rubbed against my clean, soft skin. Their skin was cold and sticky. It was disgusting. I was up to my chest in mud and the giant earthworms started choking.

  "Constellation of Scorpio!"

  The constellation of the scorpion shone in the sky. The stars came down to me and began to illuminate those disgusting creatures. The earthworms quickly loosened their grip and retreated back into the ground. The blonde no longer had her smug smile. She cried out in incomprehension and continued to watch her babies disappear. I took advantage of that.

  "Roots!" Two roots emerged from the soil, grabbing me and pulling me out of the mud.

  "You always have to be two steps ahead of your opponent." I said happily, because her uncomprehending expression was truly unforgettable.

  "While I was in the mud, I had time to talk to the roots of the trees. The trees are far beyond my abilities, but the roots. They're almost everywhere here. It wasn't easy to get them up here, but I made it." I explained.

  "You bitch! You'll pay for that!" She yelled at me.

  I tried to imitate her smile. I think it worked pretty well.

  "You did. Star Arrow!"

  The stars from the constellation regrouped into an arrow and hit the blonde right in the stomach. She fainted with a scream.

  "Ugh. Now I'm going to have nightmares of earthworms for the rest of my life. Ugh." I was stitched up.

  ……………..

  "Ah. Ghhh." I hissed through my teeth.

  This idiot is strong. I can't even touch him. His power lies in displacement. He can teleport quickly.

  "Still not enough?" He swings at me.

  I wipe the dirt off my face and shake my head.

  "I never have enough." I growl through my teeth.

  "Water cannon!"

  Blackadder repositions himself again.

  "That doesn't apply." He says by my ear and holds out one.

  I'm going down. I spit up blood and get back up. It's getting harder, but I can't give up. I see Kenji handing the other man. He's not giving up either.

  "Your friends are wimps, I see." And he jerks his head to signal me to turn around again.

  I see Kenji lying on the ground. Barely breathing. I look behind the black man. There's Shika fighting something I don't even know what it is. And then the idiot starts laughing softly.

  My eyes watered with anger. He and his gang have allowed themselves too much. Nobody hurts my friends like that! I growled loudly.

  "Oh the lord is angry." He said ironically.

  "Wait... Circle of Hell."

  A circle of fire formed around us. The flames were red. The heat felt as if I might be in the fire itself.

  "Cage of fire!"

  The flames rose, blotting out the sun that had already appeared in the sky.

  "You can't escape me now." I said as darkly as I could.

  I could see the fear in the black-haired man's eyes. My rage took hold of me and I didn't really know whose I was. I have to help my friends. I'll get rid of him quickly... But the boy suppressed his fear and put his expression back on.

  "All right. You want to keep me prisoner here. Then enjoy it. Electric shock!"

  All of a sudden, a huge jolt of electricity shot through me. It came from the ground. It was him. He was touching the ground, and I realized that these were his attack spells. He controls electricity.

  "Aaaaaaa!"

  I fell to my knees in pain. He finally lifted his hand off the ground, and the electricity left my body as well.

  "I have to say, I admire that courage. Holding on like that for nothing. That's good. You're going to lose anyway. Go back to where you came from. You'll never be a magician. You and your friends are trash."

  Another wave of rage swept through me. Maybe it's just the rage that's still keeping me going.

  "No one insults my friends like that!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

  "Now know my true power. Fire Dr-"

  "Iruka no! Don't summon them!" Kenji interrupted me.

  He was right. I mustn't draw attention to myself with my special powers. And a dragon wouldn't help. Although... I don't exactly need to summon a dragon. Just a part of it.

  I ran towards the black-haired boy. I won't summon the dragon, but I'll borrow a piece of it. I hope it works...

  "Ryū no gādian: dragon's claw."

  My right hand burst into a kind of red flame. It wasn't fire. It was something new. My instincts had brought me a new gift of control over my abilities. My right hand hit its mark. The flames spilled over the idiot like a claw, throwing him all the way out of the circle. The circle disappeared and the boy ended up fainting next to his friend.

  The barrier disappeared and we made our way as quickly as we could across the swamp to the stone. There he was. It didn't glow so much, thanks to the morning light. We don't have much time left.

  "Come on, let's go! Two minutes to go!" Kenji urged us on.

  I gave it my all on this run. I wish the water wasn't here, it was making it pretty hard to run. We're tired enough as it is. We were grinding out the last of it, as they say. Shika suddenly tripped and slapped herself into the water.

  "Shika!" I called out.

  "I'm fine, go."

  I went back to her and grabbed her hand.

  "I can't. We have to have him as a team. We couldn't have accomplished the mission without you."

  Shika turned all red. I swung her up to a standing position and caught up with Kenji. I held her hand tightly so she wouldn't fall again. She just trudged for a while, but then my words finally gave her courage and she was running beside me.

  "Kenji catch him!" I shouted.

  "But..."

  "Come on!"

  Kenji jumped for the stone. At that moment, I jumped too and grabbed his leg. I gripped his leg and the redhead's hand tightly. When Kenji touched it, a light engulfed us. We ended up on the hard ground. It wasn't the same rotten, wet ground in the swamp. I opened my eyes. Our familiar old man was bending over me.

  "Congratulations. You've passed the last test."