The fifth test was whispered about long before it was announced. Even among the recruits who had survived a hail of throwing knives, the demonic speed of Idran, and the earlier brutal simulations, this one brought a different weight—one that pressed against the soul.
Sonze and Clark stood in silence at the edge of a cold, gray hallway that stretched endlessly before them. Above them, ancient runes etched into stone began to glow red, indicating activation. The door to the Hall of Elimination slowly creaked open.
Inside, the room was vast. Circular. High ceiling. No weapons.
Just them and four hundred others. Xero stood by a side his eyes watching precisely. Noting that there was no one in the hall except the recruits.
If the management planned on repeating the same feat as in the third test then that would ne stupid because they has already tested that. It wouldn't take long for these men and women here to crush them. His eyes scanned around and he saw Sonze and Clark by a side chit chatting.
This wasn't a test of teams. It was survival. If he wanted to pass he had to stop thinking about Sonze. He had to fend for himself.
A voice echoed across the stone chamber. It was Idran's, though he was not visible.
"Welcome to the fifth test. You are all gathered here for one reason: to prove that you can do what most fear to do—kill your kind to survive. There are no alliances. No mercy. The test ends in thirty minutes. None may leave unless they have taken a life. If you die, you die. If you live without killing, the doors will not open for you. You will be killed eventually by our most brutal assassins."
The voice faded.
Silence fell.
Then chaos erupted.
A boy from the southern end screamed as a blade—concealed in another recruit's sleeve—slashed his throat. Blood sprayed across the floor. Panic followed.
Clark's eyes widened. "They're serious."
Sonze, large and slow-moving but calm, didn't reply. He stepped forward, fists clenched.
Within seconds, a fight broke out all around them. It wasn't graceful like the sparring fields. It was brutal. Desperate. The clashing of fists, magic bursts, and bone-snapping noise of survival.
"Stay behind me!" Sonze barked, grabbing Clark by the shirt and dragging him behind a low barricade of stone.
"You're not gonna fight?" Clark hissed.
"Not until I have to. Too many are dying already."
A recruit lunged at them from the left, hands crackling with lightning.
Sonze reacted like a trained predator. His fist slammed into the recruit's chest so hard it bent his ribs inward. The boy dropped barely had a space for breathing.
Clark exhaled. "That's one."
Sonze nodded. "Don't count. Focus."
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the hall, a girl with crimson hair launched fireballs into a crowd. Screams filled the air. The heat was intense, enough to force others into corners. She moved like a beast, cutting down three in minutes. She was known as Xui Hai. A fire breed.
In another quadrant, a pair of twins fought side by side—until one of them stabbed the other. Betrayal. Xero's eyes widened in shock. His face tore in disbelief. All around him he could see betrayal fetch in. A twin killing another just to survive! Damn! That was absolutely cold but in some way the heart of an assassin.
Clark crouched low, scanning the field. "We won't survive thirty minutes like this. They'll hunt us."
"They'll hunt the weak," Sonze growled. "So don't be weak."
Clark clenched his fists. "I'm not."
Another recruit darted toward them, throwing two sharp disks. Sonze deflected one with his palm but caught the second in his thigh. He groaned, yanked it out, and tackled the attacker, crushing him under his bulk.
Blood dripped from his leg. Clark stared.
"You're bleeding..!!"
"I've bled before."
"But you need to..."
"Shut up, Clark."
Clark bit his lip, nodded. The timer rune on the far wall flashed: 23:18. Time crawled. Too slow. They had to survive and not just survive but kill.
Ten minutes later, nearly a third of the room was still. Bodies littered the floor. Not all were dead—but most were silent.
Clark and Sonze had moved to higher ground—an elevated platform made of broken stone that gave them a wide view. Clark had found a shard of metal and wrapped it with cloth—makeshift weapon.
Below, chaos slowed. Fewer moved. Fewer breathed.
But Sonze's leg had gotten worse. The blood loss made him stumble.
Clark stepped in to block a quick attacker. It was messy, clumsy—but effective. He cracked the boy's skull with a rock.
He stood there, panting. He had killed but not like he wanted. He wanted to be more brutal.
Sonze looked at him, eyes not full of pride but quiet approval.
"You did what you had to."
Clark's hands trembled lightly. "Yeah... I did enjoy it."
"You were supposed to."
At 15:50 remaining, three of the hundred remaining recruits formed a shaky alliance. They scanned the room like hyenas.
Sonze and Clark noticed them.
"We're next," Clark said.
"Not if we hit first," Sonze growled, rising despite his limp. They ambushed the three.
Sonze charged at the largest with a roar that echoed like a bear. He tackled the recruit so hard , his head cracked against the wall. The others turned to help, but Clark struck one in the neck with his metal shard, then kicked her into a pillar her neck was already slit open and her blood pumped largely.
The third raised a spear of water magic—but Clark used the fallen recruit as a shield. Then he moved extremely fast and plunged his sword deep into the abdomen of the third recruit. He slumped at the spot.
Sonze finished the last with a headbutt that left both men bloody. And then it was quiet again.
They slumped against the wall, breathing hard.
Time left: 13:12.
Sonze coughed. "How many left?"
Clark looked around. "Seventy. Maybe eighty."
Sonze groaned. "We're among them. We might make it."
At 12:30, the runes began to glow white. Sonze and Clark had already killed about twenty men together. Their energy was melting and if they continued that way they might end up dying.
Behind them, four recruits came at them but as soon as they got close enough, a spark electrocuted through their bodies and they fell down dead.