Chapter 86: Holding Nothing Back.
Rayan broke into laughter as he walked to the side of the wall and picked up Demetris’ sword. Still laughing his ass off, he stepped to the window and threw it as far as he could.
’Motherfckers, every single one of them!’
Then, they chased after Levi, leaving Demetris to grit his teeth in a puddle of shame.
’No, no, no, it’s all ruined! It’s all ruined now!’
Meanwhile, as Mantis stared at his brother in this shameful condition, his fists tightened up until his fingernails dug deep into his palms.
He was utterly livid.
Getting defeated and eliminated was one thing, but being humiliated in this manner had grave repercussions for his brother’s prospects....Worse, their family’s name!
He knew...no, he was certain...that no high-tiered nightcrawler above Tier 3 would consider signing him anymore.
This was more than enough to shatter his future legacy to become a Raider instead of a Seed Farmer like him.
Surprisingly, the rest of the agency members weren’t that much bothered. They were more intrigued by Levi’s spiritual prowess.
While they had cheered for Demetris and considered him their little brother before, that was only when his prospects were at their peak to become a Raider.
But as they stared at his beaten, tied-up, twitching body, those prospects collapsed brick by brick.
They knew that Demetris was done for, as no high-tiered nightcrawler would bother signing him up now... They had no interest in sucking up to a future nobody.
When Mantis noticed the luster dying in the eyes of the spectating captains and some members of the agency’s main squad, his expression slowly turned ugly.
His aspirations...his ambition to lift his family’s name and turn it into a renowned lineage...he watched them evaporate one by one at the unsightly appearance of his brother.
Their family had their hopes placed on his brother’s legacy, knowing that it only took one great Daywalker for a terrifying lineage family to be born.
But now...
"I’m gonna bounce, I have a farming task to fulfill."
"Ah, me too, I still need fifty successful hunts to earn my weekly reward."
"See you later, Mantis, and don’t take it to heart... It’s part of the game."
Mantis watched as his ’friends’ and colleagues dipped one by one until only Masai and the other surviving party mates from the Harrowing Forest were left behind.
"At least he didn’t eliminate him..." Masai coughed.
Mantis glared at him coldly, silencing him immediately... While he said nothing, they could tell he had no intentions of letting Levi get away with it.
Meanwhile, the rest of the battles were concluded around the hideout as each member of Levi’s squad had come out victorious, except Melissa.
Arthur and Rayan had beaten the two contestants to a pulp after catching them, while Jojo managed to break Selene’s arm and disarm her, which was enough to announce her early retirement.
As for Melissa? Kiera proved to be harder to defeat as she managed to evade all of Melissa’s arrows and engage in melee combat, using her knives. Unlike Melissa, Kiera was proficient in melee combat as well.
After eliminating her, she checked with her party members, and when she figured out that they were eliminated, she escaped through the sewers.
Right now, Levi, Arthur, Jojo, and Rayan were seen standing in a circle with a cloud of gloom hanging above their heads... They didn’t expect to lose Melissa so soon.
"So, that’s it? I can’t believe her time in the assembly is over after this." Arthur sighed in disappointment.
"It’s not over yet. While her chances to get signed have slimmed out, they aren’t zero," Jojo shared.
Levi and Rayan nodded in support, understanding that elimination this early in the trials implied that she still had a chance to get signed, depending on her previous performances.
However, she would lose her rank on the leaderboard, which meant she wouldn’t be eligible for rewards anymore.
This was the reason Levi left Demetris in that state. He made sure to humiliate him while at the same time keeping him in the assembly.
In this manner, he would be winning Demetris’ rewards while simultaneously lowering his chances of getting signed harder, which was a far harsher punishment than just eliminating him straight out.
"Maybe I can do something to help her," Levi murmured as he reached out with his spiritual perception to the track race.
He had already let go of Nurah’s doll and kept his doll trailing behind it, keeping a close eye on it in case Nurah decided to be funny.
Since the race was still ongoing with more than 50% incomplete, he wasn’t too bothered by his slow pace.
After scanning the fallen dolls on the track, representing the eliminated candidates, he found Melissa’s doll collapsed in front. He recognized it due to its spiritual aura, leaving a hollow shape of a number on its chest.
Then, he controlled his doll to head in its direction while still maintaining a decent distance from Nurah’s doll.
Since Nurah’s doll was one of the fastest on the track, it took no time to cross past Melissa’s collapsed doll.
Levi controlled his doll to bend down near Melissa’s and then attempted to lift it up, under the speechless looks of the viewers.
–Is he seriously trying to carry her doll to the finish line?!–
–Wait, what...Is this even allowed? –
–Looool! This dude is like a bag of mixed candy...each move he makes has a different flavor!–
The viewers and nightcrawlers kept watching Levi’s doll try its best to carry Melissa’s doll, but its wooden arms were too straight, making it extremely difficult to hold onto anything.
Just when the viewers started to believe that his efforts were for naught, Levi changed his approach.
He slid his doll underneath Melissa’s and then lifted it up on top of its back.
–The doll will still slide off when he tries to make it stand up...-
The comments were silenced instantly at the sight of Levi’s doll sprinting on all fours, akin to a dog!
As for Melissa’s doll? Its long limbs weighed down on the sides equally, making it seem like two dolls were merged, which gave them the necessary balance to carry on with the stunt!
Yet, the most shocking part was the sight of his doll still sprinting much faster than the other dolls!
In no time, it sped past them, surpassing even Jojo’s doll, reaching the finish line...but not crossing it. Levi controlled his doll to put down Melissa’s at the tip of the finish line and then guided it to sprint back to the track.
Now that his spiritual prowess was exposed, he felt there was no point in holding back anymore. After his doll arrived at the bulk of the race, Levi pinpointed his brother’s doll and Rayan’s, who seemed to be struggling to escape from the crowd.
What did he do? He cleared a path for them, using his doll to push and throw other dolls out of the way until they escaped from the chaos.
The moment they got out, their speed increased noticeably, allowing them to create their own pace. If it weren’t for the risk of having them eliminated by helping them too much, he would have already pushed them to the finish line.
He helped Melissa out only because she was already eliminated, which meant she had nothing to lose.
"I did what I could. I’ll see you guys at the finish line."
After helping out his brother and squadmates, Levi held nothing back, controlling his doll to sprint at its top speed.
The doll pierced through the chaos and passed by Demetris’ doll and Kiera’s doll in no time, catching up to Nurah’s doll again.
When it got near it, Levi smiled playfully and gave her doll a smack on the ass, almost causing it to trip out.
’Jerk.’ Nurah’s upper lip twitched.
Then, it continued sprinting forward, catching up to Jojo’s and leaving her to eat its dust before finally crossing the finish line by jumping over Melissa’s doll.
The moment it crossed, an arena-wide announcement resounded in everyone’s ears, followed by the emergence of his stats on the massive holographic screen:
// –Candidate: Levi Larson
Status: Finished
Trial Performance Breakdown:
TOTAL TIME: 10 minutes and 9 seconds.
Final Score: SS+
Overall Placement: Undecided–//