Ch. 51 Party.

( Ashborn Pov )

" You guys ready?" I looked at everyone who dressed for the party. Seung wore a red suit, Yui and Arie wore beautiful dresses that match their earrings.

" Yes!' Yui shouted in excitement.

" Haha, well, let's go. I'll probably have to meet the other gamblers as well." I said as I rubbed Yui's hair as she pouted.

" Don't worry. I'll be back to dance with you." I smiled as we split up as I walked to the room of the gamblers.

Every gambler except two others managed to survive the all in catastrophe. I smiled as I entered.

" Yo." I waved as I tapped sweatshirts shoulder as he looked at me in surprise.

Everyone started bickering before one of the co-hosts entered the room.

" Gosh, I was so focused on that concern that I'm late! Sorry, gamblers!" He apologized before speaking again.

" ... Or should I call you.... the three gamblers and eight losers?" This urged the gamblers as the gambler with a mask spoke.

I looked at him again, and my sharingan managed to see through his disguise.

" Hey, we're not loser. The fight between anak and khun ran was an entirely separate battle. And paracule had already failed because he'd fall into the water. His interruption is clearly against the rules." He argued.

" So this bet didn't count. We haven't failed yet."

I yawned as I ate the fruits on the table.

Sweat shirt agreed.

" I think the masked guy is right, Mr. Io. His interruption is against the rules. Khun ran, and Anak got permission from you to use the entire stage to fight, but not paracule. "

" So neither of them won. An accident interrupted their fight. So it's a no-decision. The rule of this game was to bet on the winner. There's no winner. So this bet shouldn't count." He explained.

" Hm, that's a reasonable argument. Whay do you have to say, Mr. Ashborn?" The blue helmet host looked in my direction as i was in the middle of eating my grapes.

" I'm sure you have another idea, don't you?" I looked at the co-host who shrugged.

" With the most amount of points you have, you should be declared the winner." He replied.

" Well, how about I bet my points for the next game? But on the condition I get to participate." I smiled as I looked at the co-host who seemed to stare at me for a while.

" Very well then! The next game will be... The growth tournament!!!" He announced.

With that announcement, the meeting was over as I exited the room with an apple in my hand.

" Zero!" I looked back to sweatshirt.

" You're alive..." He looked me up and down as he made sure he wasn't seeing ghosts. I tapped his shoulder, gaining his attention.

" It's nice to see you again, sweatshirt." I smiled and walked away, leaving him standing in the hallway.

( Khun Pov )

" The growth tournament?!"

" Yes. Nine groups fight in the tournament of the growth... and the winning team fights the winning team from the battle between mad dog and Team FUG. "

" The rules of the tournament are simple. First, the leader chooses the spearhead to start the game. Using the points gathered during the game, the leader can buy teammates to grow the team and advance to the finals."

" Then what about team FUG and team mad dog? " arkaraptor asked.

" They start with their teammates from the beginning. It's held tomorrow at the same time as the tournament. They both came to fight each other, and there was no reason for them to refuse." I explained as I turned to wangnan.

" And the spear head of our Tema is you wangnan."

" What?! Me?! " He pointed at himself.

" Each team is given 100,000 points at the start. All regulars have a price... and you're the cheapest. And not to mention Zero's points as well."

" Oh, you guys should also be careful. Zero is joining the battle. I'm sure you all know how strong he is." I looked at everyone's frozen face as they stood in place.

" How... he... he's not allowed..." Wangnan muttered.

" The points Zero is gambling with has requested to participate in return. He basically bought himself." I looked at everyone who looked at each other.

" For now, I'll explain the rest to everyone when they get back. Where's the crocodile?" I asked.

( Ashborn Pov )

" Not so stealthy, are you dinosaur?" I smirked, and I looked at Rak from above the lodgings.

' I don't think I need to get involved with this one... ' I stopped my train of thought as I saw Rak bumping into The Jahad princess, and I could've sworn I could see his nose turning red.

I snickered as I saw Bam bumping into them as well.

' Maybe I should get involved. This is getting more interesting.' I smiled. I watched as Bam ran away and Rak and Ms. Endorsi ran after him.

Bam created a disc of Shinsu to fly away, but I didn't want the fun to stop, so I threw a dagger covered in shinsu to break the disc before relocating myself to a different spot.

And just as Bam regained his footing, Ms. Yeon popped up from the corner and tried to grab Bam, but he managed to dodge her and quickly ran towards the stairway.

" REVOLUTION!!! FREEDOM!!!" Mr. Pickle arrived as he popped in front of Bam.

Even I was surprised about his interference on the scene. Rak used this chance to use his head to hit Bam nto the floor, and everyone managed to catch up.

And as I watched their little reunion, the other FUG members arrived, and Ms. Endorsi had to tear Rak off of Bam to escape.

' I guess that's enough entertainment for the day. I guess I'll head back to the others.' I took one last look at the FUG members and forced the impulse to kill them and walked away.

" ....Zero...." I glanced back and saw someone I didn't expect to see.

" Haha... it's like I'm seeing a ghost." I smiled as I turned back to see my old team.

" It's been a while... Elgin." I looked at every member of FUG.

[ Ding! New Mission: Survive.]

' Survive??' I looked at the panel and at my old team.

Elgin, Aura, Danny, Kate, and Mephis. An elite team of FUG with potential. Each one fitted with a parasite wiggling under their skin.

I could feel it now, my instincts slightly warning me.

' They're being controlled, but they still have their memories.'

" I see puppets... but no puppeteer." I spoke aloud, looking to see if their master would show themselves but nothing.

' That would be too easy.' I thought as I slowly spread my mana around me to manipulate ice to attack or defend.

Amd as I did so, their body's acted violently as they began their attacks.

I ducked and quickly retreated as I realized there was an invisible parasite shaped like a fish. But my back bit something as I quickly turned around to see a large parasitewrapping itself around me.

I used the ice to freeze it and break it, but it began to regenerate at a fast pace as before using Telekinesis to spread its body apart to slow the process.

[ Amaterasu ] I looked at the FUG members and tried to burn them, but the parasites blocked my sight, and I was pushed back by the sheet number of parasites.

I called my greatsword and cut every small parasite flying towards me.

" Ha... hahaha!!! I'm.... I'm fucking Excited!!!" I shouted as I cut the last parasite before pushing my mana into my left hand punched the snake like parasite to the ground.

And before I knew it... they were trying to overwhelm me with the parasites that keep regenerating.

[ Susanoo ]

A pale blue susanoo surrounded me and pushed the parasites back before they began to freeze and break into tiny pieces like dust.

I felt blood leaking out of my eye as every cell on my body ached as I saw my health bar decreasing along with my mana.

" Zerozerozerozerozerozero..."

The parasites kept muttering my name as I continued to fight back.