21 Chapter 21 - The War Game

[A/N: Although I still feel like I was drinking for 3 days straight before getting run over by a grandma on a motorcycle that had square tires, I decided that writing was a bit of a distraction of the sickness, although it took me waaaay longer than normal to write this chapter, I managed somehow. I didn't proof-read though, I will do that when I'm better]

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"KILL HIM ALREADY! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!" Apollo yelled with veins on his forehead, completely shattering his 'noble' appearance that he held in most people's eyes.

Everyone looked at him in pity, even if he won the War Game, the cost was too high.

But everyone could tell that this kid wasn't planning to die so the War Game was far from over.

"Hahahaha"

A loud laughter suddenly sounded through the air as Hestia was holding her belly as she saw Apollo's Familia panicking through the screen.

"Y....you bitch! You still laugh despite what is happening?! This isn't a War Game, this is a slaughter party!" Apollo cursed at Hestia who merely gave him a disdainful glance.

"Y....-

Apollo wanted to curse at Hestia again but a mature voice interrupted him as Demeter looked at Apollo with her warm smile and her eyes closed before pointing at her lips,

"What is wrong with that? You wanted to kill him and he kills them instead, if it is someone's fault, it is yours. You sent your kids against someone who is like little Ais here, a hunter but instead of Monsters, his prey is human"

"Demeter! Are you really going to force my hand as well!" Apollo hissed and threatened which only earned him a bright smile.

"Apollo, as long as something doesn't follow your will, you try everything in your power to make it turn that way.... Stop causing a ruckus and look at your Familia Members" Demeter said with a smile as she looked back to the screen.

"Tch"

Apollo clicked his tongue and went back to watching as well, even if they won, he lost so many children!

***

"Leader! He is awake!" A young woman yelled towards a Level 2 who sat on a chair in the middle of the trainings field.

"Bring him here" A man with short black hair and a slender built said coldly.

"Yes!" The young woman widely smiled and skipped back to the tent before exiting the tent with a screaming youth that was holding his head while screaming.

The remaining Level 1's and another Level 2 came to the trainings field and looked at the youth as well, the man grabbed the youth and gave him a hard slap.

"Awake?" The man said coldly, the youth nodded as his body kept shaking.

The man asked with a softer voice, "What happened exactly?". The youth shuddered as he recalled what happened.

"Our Squad Leader heard someone scream and we found two bodies that were beheaded, their eyes were wide open as if they couldn't believe what happened to them"

The youth shook as he grabbed his hair and started looking downwards while trying to explain what happened with his shaking voice,

"H...he appeared out of nowhere! No magic, no skill, no mana, he just..... appeared, the Squad Leader didn't even hear or sense him before he was cut in half as well, after that, Kylie tried to get her bow ready but he was already too close and he cut her in half too, her blood, her innards, everything...." The kid trembled even harder as he started crying,

"WE WILL ALL DIE IF THIS GOES ON!! THAT CLEARLY ISN'T JUST A LEVEL 1!!!! EVEN CLIO COULDN'T SNEAK UP ON SQUAD LEADER!" The youth yelled which made everyone's expression change, Clio couldn't fight before a fight was initiated against him by the other party, so he was basically sitting ducks in the castle.

Outside, only two Level 2's were present and one of them was a non-combat type.....

"I.....i want to quit'' Someone spoke up which caused a chain reaction.

"Yes! I have an old father! I can't die here!"

"My wife is pregnant, I can't make her a widow this early!"

"I have a family to take care of!"

As everyone started to voice their intentions to quit, Apollo was the only one who could accept their forfeit.

Apollo noticed everyone look at him in scorn, to think his Familia Members had only this amount of loyalty....

"Forfeit Denied"

The level 2 man spoke out with raised eyebrows, even he thought that it was a fruitless battle.

"W....what?"

"He actually denied? Because of his pride?"

"Haa...hahaha..."

The people started beginning to lose their minds due to the already heavy mental exhaustion, fear, uncertainty and betrayal of Apollo.

Ais looked at the screen with a small smile and said, "It's beginning"

Just as her words left her minds, a huge amount of Mana rushed towards the center as 12 Ice Swords flew through the air and instantly lodged themselves into the heads of 12 unexpecting people, including the two Level 2's.

"H...he is here! WEAPONS! GRAB YOUR WEAPONS!" Someone screamed as they didn't know the man's condition.

The adventurers picked up their weapons with trembling hands as they saw a black-clothed figure rushing towards them.

Before they even had time to think about their next move without their leader, the swords had already sliced through another 24 people.

A young woman finally got the courage to swing her sword at the incoming figure which seemed to spur a chain reaction as they all charged towards Laurens who put his hand on the handle of his sword.

"Uwwaaaa!!!-"

"AARGGH!-"

"NOOO!!!"

"PLEASE DO-"

Cries in pain, suffering or begging could be heard as Laurens' sword cut through the mentally broken adventurers while the Ice Swords had a free reign in the battlefield.

It only took a minute to completely clean up the last few people.

Laurens looked at the broken corpses without a change of expression while glancing at the Divinity he sensed with a small smile on his face.

Not many Gods/Goddesses noticed it, only a few like Demeter and Freya noticed it.

"That should take care of the so-called army" Laurens said to himself as he walked towards the castle doors.

"Clearly, none of these people have any experience in warfare strategies..." Laurens shrugged his shoulders as he removed the tight-fitting black shirt.

Laurens put his hands on the Castle doors and pushed them open without wasting time, he had better things to do than bully a poor God that thought he was King.

When Laurens opened the door, 5 people were waiting for him in front of a throne where Clio sat with a cold expression.

"It seems that you killed everyone outside" Clio said with veins appearing on his forehead.

"Pff" Laurens stopped controlling his emotions as he burst out in laughter "You actually sit on that throne like you're a King hahahaha, that's hilarious!"

Clio's anger rose to a new level as he grabbed his Short Sword of Intimacy, "Since you want to die so badly, lets not waste time! Attack!"

Clio didn't intend to go for a 1 on 1, it wasn't that he was scared, but he knew that to kill everyone outside on his own, Laurens wasn't a normal Level 1 like he originally thought, at least those trash outside were good for something before they died.

Five people, including Clio, dashed towards Laurens while raising their weapons, what was funny was that the elf with one arm was upfront with visible anger on his face.

"Aahh.... fool" Laurens sighed and before the poor elf could react, Laurens was already at his armless side and swung down.

Lissos hastily tried to block as the other 4 people swung their swords at Laurens which caused Laurens to only wound him with a deep cut to his side.

Laurens jumped back and looked at the red-haired woman and sighed, "I originally thought to let you off, but since you and your friend over there decided to stand by Apollo, you will die all the same"

Cassandra looked at Laurens with a complicated gaze as she healed Lissos while Daphne didn't say anything and steeled her resolve as she, Clio and the other two Level 2's dashed towards Laurens once more.

"[Elios' passion]!"

"[Stratos]!"

''[Eli....."

***

"Are you sure he will be fine? The kid looks like he is being pushed back" Loki said with a grin on her face, Ais had a worried look on her face, Loki had never seen it before so she couldn't help but lean back and see Ais' expression changing all the time

On the screen, Laurens was being constantly pushed back by the Level 2's and single Level 3 as they kept using their Magic to try and catch him.

"Just watch, he already won" Demeter suddenly spoke up with a wide smile on her face.

Everyone wanted to ask what she meant but suddenly, excited cries and gasps were heard around the huge hall as the spectators looked at the Magic Mirror.

***

"H...how?" Lissos asked as he looked at his chest that currently had 3 Ice Swords pointing out of it.

Lissos and another Level 2 tried talk as their hearts and throat were pierced by thin Ice Swords.

"Lissos! Carnelus! You bastard!" Clio roared and attacked Laurens once more, followed by Daphne who attempted to stab his side and the other Level 2 trying to fire his bow at him.

Laurens hastily dodged Clio's strike and moved his sword behind his back to block the arrow that seemed to have a homing effect on it.

Clio swung his short sword at Laurens once more who parried the strike and kicked Clio in his stomach to create some distance, as he wanted to charge at Laurens again, a blue light came rushing at him with great speed which forced him to dodge to the side.

As Clio could finally charge at Laurens again, 3 other blue lights flashed passed him, but they weren't aimed at him.

"CASSANDRA! DODGE!" Clio turned towards their healers and roared before dashing towards her himself.

"CASSANDRA!" Daphne roared as she used her Magic and ran as fast as she could before raising her short sword and calling out "[Raumure]!"

Daphne stood in front of Cassandra as she blocked the first two Ice Swords, however, she knew that the third one was impossible to block with her shaking hands.

She gritted her teeth and turned her shoulder in the path of the Ice Sword and a trail of blood soon followed and a *Thud* was heared.

"D...daphne!" Cassandra looked at Daphne who held her now empty shoulder with cold sweat rolling down her face.

"Help me close it!" Daphne said as Clio gritted his teeth and looked at Laurens' position, however, Laurens wasn't there!

"WATCH OUT! He is hiding somew-" Before Clio could even finish his sentence, four 2 meters (6.56ft) tall warriors made of Ice swung their Great Swords at him.

Clio quickly dodged and swung at one of the Ice Warriors, successfully cutting off its arm. However, unexpectedly to Clio, the Ice Warrior swung its Great Sword at Clio at the same time.

Clio was forced to block the attack and it sent him flying a dozen meters before crashing into a wall.

"Cassandra, hurry up and close it! If Clio dies, we'll be scre...wed" Daphne felt an iron taste in her mouth as blood suddenly ran down her mouth.

"DAPHNE!!" Cassandra yelled as she hastily tried to cast her Magic, Laurens pulled out his sword from Daphne's back before letting her dead body drop down to the ground and swung his sword at Cassandra who hastily tried to block it with her staff.

*CRACK*

The staff broke into two as Cassandra couldn't even attempt to dodge before the sword ended her life.

Laurens' expression didn't change as he killed the two women, they were his enemies.

He looked at Clio who, although was clearly stronger, didn't have an easy time with the Ice Warriors by themselves and launched himself towards them.

***

"HOW?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" Apollo raged as he saw the core of his entire Familia being slaughtered by a mere Level 1.

"YOU TRICKED ME! YOU TRICKED ME YOU BITCH!" Apollo hysterically screamed at Hestia who ignored him and smiled wider and wider as she saw Laurens cutting off one of Clio's arms.

"I SURRENDER! MY FAMILIA SURRENDERS! HERMES! I SURRENDER SO STOP HIM!" Apollo yelled in panic as he saw Clio avoiding a fatal blow to his neck.

"Very well" Hermes smiled and stood up.

***

Laurens' cold eyes stood over Clio, who had lost an arm, several deep cuts and a leg dangling to the side which was clearly broken.

Laurens raised his sword one last time while Clio didn't even have the strength to raise his weapon, he thought that this was a waste of time for them yet it seemed as if it was the other way around....

As Laurens slashed towards Clio, Hermes' voice sounded through the castle.....

[The Apollo has surrendered! The Hestia Familia has won the War Game!]

As the people that were watching the War Game were celebrating, laughing and cheering, Apollo sat down with a defeated expression.

Just as he thought that it couldn't get any worse, he looked at the screen once more, just to see Laurens merely glancing at the screen before swinging his sword downwards towards Clio once more.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"