Chapter 555 - The Start

John was out of it as he heard his name being called by Juliana. He walked up onto the stage looking like he had no interest as to what was happening, his heart that was once burning in excitement was replaced with anxiety. On the other hand, his opponent the young Kiara was looking at John with a weird expression on her face. When the start of the match was announced, the two of them didn't move. 

John was about to raise his arm and was about to announce that he wanted to forget the match, but before he could speak Kiara spoke first. 

"I know what you want to do, and I just want to say I'm disappointed in you." 

"Huh?" 

John snapped out of his dazed state and looked at Kiara. He didn't want to get angry at someone younger than himself, but he was already feeling stressed, and hearing her speak like she was above him was irritating. 

"What do you know about me, and what I'm feeling right now?! You're disappointed in me, you speak as if I care about what you think." 

"I might not understand much about how other people feel, but I know how you feel right now. At this moment you feel anxious, and I'm sure it has something to do with the missing people. I know that you want to go out there and be a hero, or you want to save someone that you know personally... But even if you go you don't know what to do, and to be honest you'll only get in the way. There are already people better suited for this type of task out there doing their job."

It was such a surreal situation as a little girl who was around twelve years old was speaking with such maturity and insight. It was as if she could truly see right through him. John was silent for a moment when he looked at Kiara and responded. 

"Do you think I don't understand all that?! I already know that compared to the truly strong ones I'm nothing more than an ant. I know that in my current state, I'm nothing more than a burden! After coming here to the Capital that knowledge has been pounded into me over and over again, but even so! I-"

John wasn't able to finish what he was going to say when the ground suddenly shook. Something was happening in the City. 

...

"Why are you here?" One of the cultists asked as he pointed at the man with a huge grin on his face standing right in front of him. 

"HAHAHA! Finally you rat b*stards came out of your hole! I knew that if I send most of the forces to the arena, you would loosen your guard, and I was right! Now it's time for your punishment. You b*stards have been making me look like a fool in front of teacher, I won't be satisfied until I crush each and every one of you!" 

Arthur's words made the cultists feel stunned, they had made a mistake at this point in the game. Still, they were already expecting something like this to be possible so they had multiple contingency plans in place. One of the Mages present contacted the others and wanted to inform them of what was happening. Yet the moment he tried to link with the others, he found that he could not get a hold of any of the nearby teams. 

"Heh, are you trying to contact your rat friends? I don't think they would be able to answer at the moment. I'm sure that right about now they're too busy to worry about any of you." 

When the cultists heard what Arthur said they did not panic, but instead half of them raise their hands into the sky and the other half pointed their hands at their bodies. When Arthur saw this he wanted to quickly make a move, but it was too late. 

The first half had released some sort of mana sphere into the sky and the other half had directly killed themselves. Arthur was so confused as to what they were doing, but then he saw numerous spheres of mana coming from different locations from within the city, all heading to the sky. Arthur got one of the cultists before the cultist was able to kill himself. 

"What did you just do?" 

"Heh, foolish one who serves the false God, you have lost. I would've wanted to see the true God trample upon you and the false one, but I feel satisfied that I would reincarnate in a world that no longer has a false god, and the True God thrives." 

Arthur was going to ask more questions, but before he could do so the cultist had died. 

"What!? Damn it! These b*stards they really want me to look bad in front of teacher!"

Arthur looked at the gigantic ball of pure mana hanging above the city and frowned. It was not falling down but instead, it was becoming smaller and smaller as time goes by. Arthur could sense something weird from that ball of mana. Even though it was shrinking, the power he felt seemed to be increasing. Not only that but the blood of the dead cultists were all floating towards the gigantic ball of pure mana. 

...

In the underground base of the cultists, the three leaders were crying as they looked at the events happening outside being projected before them. 

"The sacrifice of our brethren is not in vain! Our God is about to descend!" 

"Now that the sacrifice of blood and mana has succeeded what do we do with the prisoners?" 

"We should sacrifice them as well. Their mana and blood are pure and powerful, our God would be delighted."

As the three had decided the fates of the geniuses they captured, one of the underlings burst into the room. 

"My lords, the prisoners are escaping!" 

...

Ren was flying above the city looking at the gigantic ball of blood and pure mana. He couldn't help but feel excited as he was going to have a true battle, something he hasn't been able to experience for the past fifteen years. 

Ren showed a vicious smile as the ball of mana and blood was getting smaller, and the aura he was feeling was becoming denser. He could practically hear his heart beating loudly in excitement. 

"I don't know what kind of deity you are, but I hope you won't disappoint me!"