Chapter 70: The Hunt (Finale)

Sven suddenly jumped to his right. An arrow passed through the abdomen of the young man behind him. If Sven had not jumped, his heart would have been in the arrow's trajectory.

"Fuck!" He brandished his own bow as he took out an arrow from his quiver and mocked it to his bow.

Cynthia and the other girl also took battle positions as two circles formed before them.

*Whoosh*

Before the girl could complete the spell, her body slumped to the ground- dead.

"Got the location!" Sven shouted as he aimed for the treetop close to the dome.

*Whistle*

"Aaah!" The arrow grazed Isabella's cheek. But she did not care at all; the pain she was feeling down there eclipsed everything else.

She barely removed the hand holding her lower abdomen from it and nocked another arrow to her bow.

Her arms were trembling in pain, but she aimed and released nonetheless.

*Whoosh*

Her arrow completely missed him, despite him not moving.

"Shit!" She cursed. "I have no other choice." She jumped down to the ground and dropped her bow and quiver.

She pulled the black daggers from the back of her waist and charged towards the couple with full speed. With the Imperial supervisor out of the equation, she was undoubtedly the fastest student in the Fleeting Lands. She gritted her teeth through the unbearable pain her fast movements brought.

*Whistle. Whistle*

He released two arrows at the fast approaching enemy. Isabella dodged the first one.

*Ding*

And deflected the second. The distance already closed down to fifty meters.

Cynthia readied herself as the assailant was approaching her range.

At thirty meters, *Whistle* another arrow aimed for her. She tried to dodge, but it grazed her arm.

She did not flinch though, this pain was nothing compared to the pain she had been feeling constantly for the past few hours.

At ten meters distance, Cynthia who had her spell ready aimed to release at Isabella along with her lover's nocked arrow. Once they go on with the strike, it was over. But the enemies voice entered their ears.

"Was it fun? Being cucked?"

Both of them froze for a few moments. But these few moments were enough for Isabella. She drove her dagger through his throat and guided his two hands holding the bow and arrow and aimed it at the pink haired girl.

*Whistle*

Before Cynthia could recover from the 'double' shock, her own lover's arrow pierced through her abdomen.

Isabella let him go. Both of them slumped to the ground at the same time, with shock yet to leave from their eyes.

Moments later, Isabella dropped to the ground. She pressed her abdomen hard.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Tears streamed from her eyes because of the excruciating pain that was coursing through her. While blood trickled through her thighs and drenched her skirt.

Nine more days passed. One day remained until the event closes down.

During the whole time, Isabella 'sniped' the newcomers while the earth caster hid their bodies and harvested the nameplates.

Isabella was fine now. She looked at the sky; it was evening. "I guess it's time to leave. Young master said that eradication of the Institute is my mission but safety is my priority."

She jumped down again before approaching the light blue uniformed student.

The student respectfully bowed and handed her today's harvest- seventeen nameplates.

"You did good. It's over now." Isabella kept the nameplates in her bag.

The young lady sighed. But that sigh was the last time she ever exhaled. Isabella beheaded her before she knew it and her head rolled to the ground.

"Sorry." Was the last term she ever heard.

"Young master said that nobody must know what happened here." She muttered as she left for the green legend on her map- the teleportation circle to home.

******

Midnight, the bloody moon again shone on the dark sky.

"What… what the fuck happened here?"

A young man who just reached the dome gasped. "Why is there so few of us?" He looked at everyone present. Not more than three dozens of students were at the scene.

"We don't know. We were just as surprised as you are. Moreover, there are no signs of the seven." A student answered.

"Not even one of the seven?" The young man's eyes widened further.

"Forget about the seven." Another student chimed in. "We have yet to meet Lecturer Raven. He should've been here by now.

"Fuck! What could've happened?!"

He was the last one. No other students joined after him.

Time passed. The other moon already started devouring the red moon. Five minutes left until the circle activated.

The thirty six students were standing on the circle. They were looking through the entrance of the dome, silently praying for the miraculous arrival of the others. But their prayers were not answered.

Three minutes remained.

"It's over. It was a disaster for the Institute."

"Cheer up! At least we surv-"

*Neigh!*

*Clip. Clop*

The hypnotic call and the hoof steps of a galloping horse almost broke their minds. All of them turned towards the origin of the sound in alert.

A jet black horse came out of nowhere. It's body was not tinted by any other colours. Even its eyes were white-less. The grand aura it was emitting was enough to make them breathless.

"A… a level… NINE!"

"What!" The others looked at him.

"Trust me. I was lucky enough to meet Duke Eisen once. The aura he had was not any weaker than that of this beast. No, the horse seems to be stronger."

Everyone felt chills running down their spine. Why them? Why now?

The horse spit out a small black orb. It slowly entered through the entrance of the dome. It stopped right at the centre of the circle and hovered a meter above the ground.

Everyone felt a terrible foreboding. The meek little orb gave them an extreme sense of dread.

"Run!" One shouted. But alas, it was too late.

The black orb flashed; an exceedingly powerful suction force generated.

"Nooooo!" In a second, everyone was sucked into the orb. The power was so precisely controlled that the dome did not face even a single scratch.

The black orb then slowly returned back to the horse. The beast took it in its mouth and gulped.

In moments, the night became completely dark as the blood moon was fully shadowed.

The Horse tuned towards the Southwest and lifted its two forelimbs to the air.

*Neeeeeigh!*

A tear crystalline tear escaped its pitch black eyes.

It disappeared back into the darkness.