Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit
Chapter 197: Capture the Flag(Part 4)

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: Capture the Flag(Part 4)

"Captain! I’m so sorry, everyone besides me got eliminated, I barely survived myself!" Called out Dox, as he returned to his team’s starting point.

"Yes, I can see that. What happened out there?" Inquired Rione with a frown.

"Well, we ran into the Vice-Commander and First-Class Knight Tilda, and in the middle of fighting them, countless explosions rained down all over the place, I’m the only one who survived, though I’m not all that sure how, I think I got lucky," Explained Dox, before taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Hm, explosions can only mean one thing...Vice-Captain Celia, huh? Yeah, I should’ve figured she’d be a serious threat in this contest. With the teleportation function of the barrier, she has no reason to hold anything back since there’s no risk of accidentally killing someone," Responded Rione, a grimacing smile on his face.

"Yeah, we didn’t stand a chance, it was-...," Began Dox.

"Watch out!" Exclaimed Rione, as a rapid purple projectile came shooting towards Dox from behind, but it was too late.

Dox failed to react in time, the barrier teleporting him out before the projectile could hit him, before it struck the ground and erupted powerfully, chunks of dirt flying out as a cloud of dust rose up.

Rione then turned his gaze up as dozens of explosive projectiles came raining down, before he swung his hammer up and unleashed several dancing streaks of lightning, intercepting the projectiles in mid-air, a deafening chain of explosions erupting above as a powerful shockwave burst out, the surrounding trees rustling loudly as clouds of dust rose up.

"I was really hoping to overwhelm you from a distance with a volley of explosions like I did to your team, but it looks like it won’t be that easy. Guess I have to do this the hard way," Remarked Celia, one of the crystals on Rione’s bracelet shattering as she stepped out, before tilting her head across as an ice arrow came shooting towards her from the trees, whizzing past the left side of her face as she avoided it.

"Can’t say it feels great to know that just one person took down damn near my entire team by herself, but I suppose there’s no point in dwelling on it!" Exclaimed Rione, firing out a bolt of lightning as Celia unleashed a rapid explosive projectile, a deafening explosion bursting out between them as the attacks collided.

Rione swiftly raced across before zipping in towards Celia, thrusting his hammer in her direction and unleashed intense, crackling streaks of lightning towards her.

She swiftly sprang back and weaved across to avoid the lightning, before firing out a small but rapid explosion to her right as an ice arrow came shooting in, her attack intercepting the arrow before it could reach her and shattering it to pieces as it erupted upon impact.

Celia quickly got low as Rione closed in on her and unleashed a fierce thrust of his hammer towards her head, narrowly evading it before she drove her fist towards his stomach, charging explosive energy into it.

Rione sprang back and swung his hammer across, a deafening crash echoing out as it collided against Celia’s fist, a devastating shockwave of lightning and explosive energy bursting out upon impact, both of them getting sent hurtling back through the air.

Rione crashed onto a tree as Celia came to a skidding halt across the ground, before quickly scrambling back onto her feet and racing away as a barrage of ice arrows came zipping down towards her.

"That’s getting annoying, I’ll take you out of the running...[Exploding Spear Scattershot]!"

Celia unleashed a devastating barrage of explosive projectiles towards the trees in th direction the arrows were coming from, blasting the trees apart as her projectiles shot through the air rapidly and peppered the trees, bits of splintered wood and leaves flying out as they exploded intensely.

"Big mistake...you shouldn’t have taken your eyes off me!"

She quickly turned her attention back to Rione as a loud, ominous crackle rang out, her eyes widening as the sight of a blindingly bright electric glow around the head of Rione’s hammer entered the gaze.

"Oh, shit!"

"[Grand Lightning Cannon]!" Exclaimed Rione, unleashing the powerful, charged up Spell right as another crystal on his bracelet shattered, teleporting him out.

"Damn it, I messed us...," Muttered Celia with a wry smile as the devastating blast of lightning barreled towards her with immense force, too wide to dodge, and too fast and powerful to cancel out with an explosion.

She got teleported out as the blast closed in on her, finding herself outside the barrier along with everyone else who had been eliminated.

"Okay, good...my team may have lost, but at least I managed to take you down with me," Remarked Rione, before adding as he glanced at Jules, "And at least my team wasn’t the first to be eliminated. Looks like the Second Squad is down one member now, while the Third Squad is fully intact."

"Seriously? I’m the first in my team to get taken out? Well, that sucks...but at least I managed to take down an entire team by myself before I was eliminated," Celia sighed wistfully, as she flopped onto the grass.

"Damn it, I couldn’t even eliminate a single person, I really thought I’d do better than this," Chimed in Akila, a look of disappointment on his face.

"I-It wasn’t your fault, I couldn’t help you at all, and you couldn’t have expected the Third Squad to all stick together while hiding in a barrier," Kia comforted him as she gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder.

"Actually, I’m pretty sure it was multiple barriers, they really went all out," Sighed Akila in response.

"Seriously? They concealed themselves with possibly several barriers and haven’t spread out in the slightest?" Responded Rione incredulously.

"I have to admit, that’s a clever tactic," Muttered Jules, as she stared up at the sky and let out a quiet huff.

Meanwhile, inside the playing field...

"How have we not encountered anyone yet? Aren’t any of the other teams on the move?" Frowned Laiza, as she surveyed the area.

"Keep your guard up, we could run into an enemy at any given moment. And since one of our teammates has been eliminated, it’s safe to say that at least one of the other teams is out and about," Replied Ferd, glancing at his bracelet.

The two of them had been roaming around for a while, but they hadn’t encountered anyone so far. Naturally, they had no way of knowing that two of the other teams had been eliminated already, so as far as they knew, all four teams were still in play.

"Think we should head back and try a different direction?" Suggested Laiza.

"No, let’s stick with it for now. We can’t afford to-...," Began Ferd, before quickly swinging his chain-whip across as a rapid blast of light came shooting towards him, narrowly blocking it.

"What the...?! Where did that come from?!" Exclaimed Laiza in alarm, drawing out her sword, before swinging it across and unleashing a slashing wave of flames as blasts of wind and sound came shooting out, her flames intercepting the attacks and canceling them out.

"I see, an invisibility barrier. And those attacks, it must be the Third Squad," Surmised Ferd, before grimacing as he felt the flow of his Mana come to a halt, confirming his suspicions.

Tacitus deactivated the barriers surrounding him and his team, the Knights spreading out.

"Crap...," Muttered Laiza warily.

"Get out of here. I’ll buy as much time as I can, head back to the Captain and let him know about this location. Go, now!" Exclaimed Ferd, before whipping his weapon across with a sharp flick of his wrist.

"O-Okay, understood!" She nodded, turning around and racing away, before unleashing a pressurized burst of flames from the soles of her feet as she got out of the range of Tacitus’s Nullification Zone, putting on a sharp burst of speed.

Meanwhile, increasingly further behind her...

"Damn it!" Snapped Ferd, swinging his chain-whip across towards Zina, who deflected it away with the blade of her spear, before Ravella swiftly swung her whip forward, striking the chain-whip and wrapping around it.

She then pulled it out of Ferd’s grasp with a powerful tug while simultaneously retracting her whip, pulling him off-balance and leaving him unarmed as Cleaza shot towards him, driving her sword towards his chest.

He quickly leapt out of the way, narrowly evading the thrust, before his eyes widened in alarm as Nile hurled one of his axes forward with a rapid spin, teleporting Ferd out before he could react, the axe striking the ground and getting lodged in the dirt.

"Ravella, Cleaza, you two go after the other one! Have her lead you straight to the Second Squad’s flag, and leave some sort of trail we can follow if necessary!" Instructed Aster, as Laiza began to disappear in the distance.

"Understood, Captain," Nodded Cleaza affirmatively.

"Yeah, you can count on us," Smiled Ravella, before the two of them chased after their fleeing opponent...