Chapter 245: North Pantheon Academy

The Northern Region had become almost unrecognizable.

The ruined streets around Blackridge Tower were packed with students from academy after academy. Broken buildings surrounded the battlefield, smoke drifted through the rain, and countless abilities illuminated the darkness.

At the center of it all stood Silas, and behind him stood the checkpoint. The blue barrier surrounding the tower pulsed. He glanced over his shoulder.

"Looks like it’s ready."

Wilson Vance stood several meters away, his breathing heavy as he watched him.

Erovile and Ironvale had managed to reorganize their teams, but neither academy was willing to make another reckless charge.

They were waiting, watching, and looking for an opening. Soon, the Valecrest substitutes arrived.

Neil was the first through the battlefield. Alpha followed. Then Damien, Christian, Peter, Salmoa, Darren, Victor, and Natalia. The moment they reached the tower, Neil pointed toward the entrance.

"Everyone inside!"

They didn’t argue. The group rushed forward. Silas turned toward them.

"About time."

Neil glanced at the hundreds of students surrounding them.

"You caused this?"

Silas looked offended.

"Caused?" He gestured toward the battlefield. "They came looking for me."

Neil stared at him.

"You couldn’t have just ignored them?"

Silas smiled.

"Nope."

"Of course."

One by one, the Valecrest students crossed the checkpoint barrier. Alpha was the last one to enter. He then turned toward Silas.

"You coming?"

Silas looked around. Hundreds of students were watching him, all waiting for him to move.

"Yeah." He grinned.

He stepped backward and walked toward the tower. The surrounding students immediately tensed.

"He’s leaving!"

"Don’t let him!"

"Attack!"

Several students raised their weapons.

Wilson shouted. "Wait!"

But Silas had already stepped through the barrier. Nothing happened. The moment his foot touched the ground inside the checkpoint, the entire tower shook.

BOOOOOOM!

A massive pulse of energy erupted from the structure, and every student outside froze. The blue barrier expanded and swallowed the entrance.

Then the tournament system finally spoke. A mechanical voice echoed across the entire Northern Region.

[STAGE ONE HAS ENDED.]

Silas looked up.

The voice continued.

[VALECREST ACADEMY HAS SUCCESSFULLY REACHED THE DESIGNATED CHECKPOINT.]

[STAGE TWO WILL NOW BEGIN.]

Everyone stared at the tower.

Wilson’s expression hardened.

"Already?"

The system continued.

[STAGE TWO OBJECTIVE.]

[REACH THE CORE OF BLACKRIDGE TOWER.]

[LOCATE THE DESIGNATED ASCENSION GATE.]

[ONLY ACADEMIES THAT SUCCESSFULLY ACTIVATE THE ASCENSION GATE WILL QUALIFY.]

A few students exchanged confused looks.

"That’s it?"

"Sounds simple."

The system continued.

[ADDITIONAL CONDITION.]

The battlefield went silent.

[THE ASCENSION GATE WILL ONLY ACTIVATE AFTER ALL HOSTILE ACADEMIES CURRENTLY INSIDE BLACKRIDGE TOWER HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED.]

Silence.

Wilson’s eyes widened.

"Hostile academies?"

Silas slowly turned his head.

"Inside?"

Then the system delivered the final announcement.

[WELCOME TO STAGE TWO.]

[BLACKRIDGE TOWER IS NOW SEALED.]

CLANG!

A massive metallic sound echoed through the battlefield, and the entrance to the tower disappeared. The blue barrier became completely opaque. The academies outside could no longer enter.

Several students rushed forward.

"Wait!"

"Open the door!"

"Let us in!"

Nothing happened. Silas stared at the sealed entrance and smiled.

"Well..." He turned around. "...guess we’re trapped."

Neil looked at him.

"That’s not funny."

"I wasn’t joking."

***

Inside Blackridge Tower...

The moment the barrier closed, everything changed. The sounds of the battlefield disappeared.

The interior of Blackridge Tower was enormous. The walls were made of dark metallic stone, covered in glowing blue symbols. The floor stretched into a massive circular chamber. At the far end stood several enormous doors.

Silas looked around.

"Whoa."

Christian stared upward.

"How big is this place?"

Peter answered.

"I don’t know."

Darren pointed toward the walls.

"Those aren’t normal symbols."

Natalia stepped closer.

"They’re part of the tower’s original structure."

Neil looked around carefully.

"Stay together."

Nobody answered, because they had all noticed something. There were footsteps, and they were not theirs.

Silas tilted his head.

"Someone’s here."

A metallic sound echoed from somewhere deeper inside, and everyone immediately prepared themselves.

Damien summoned gravity around his body. Victor drew his weapon. Natalia moved beside him. Christian raised his fists, multiple ones forming around him.

Alpha just smiled, a massive sword appearing in his hand.

"Finally."

Neil frowned.

"Don’t get excited."

A voice suddenly echoed through the chamber.

"Don’t come any closer."

Everyone froze.

Silas looked toward the enormous doors as a group of students slowly emerged from behind them. They looked exhausted. Their uniforms were torn, and they had several had injuries.

One student was supporting another. At least twenty students stood there, and they looked terrified.

Neil lowered his weapon slightly.

"Who are you?"

The student at the front stepped forward.

"Our academy..." He swallowed. "...is North Pantheon Academy."

Peter frowned.

"North Pantheon?"

Christian looked at Neil.

"Which city?"

The student answered.

"City S."

Everyone went silent.

City S- a region far from the Northern battlefield.

Neil stared at them.

"How did you get here?"

The North Pantheon student shook his head.

"We don’t know."

"What?"

"We entered the tower before the checkpoint activated." He looked behind. "We thought we’d found the Stage One checkpoint."

Silas frowned.

"And?"

The student’s expression became pale.

"It wasn’t."

He pointed toward the enormous doors behind them.

"We went inside."

Silas looked at the doors.

"What happened?"

The student hesitated and whispered.

"The tower locked us in."

A chill passed through the group.

Neil stepped forward.

"How long?"

"Almost an hour."

"And you’ve been trapped inside this entire time?"

"Yes."

"Why didn’t you leave?"

The student laughed nervously.

"Because we tried."

He pointed toward the hallway.

"We’ve tried every door. We’ve tried breaking the walls. We’ve tried using teleportation. We even tried destroying the checkpoint seal. Nothing worked."

Silas scratched his cheek.

"So..." He looked around. "You guys have basically been stuck in here waiting for someone to show up."

The North Pantheon student nodded.

"Yes."

Silas smiled.

"Good news."

Everyone looked at him.

"You’re not alone anymore."

Neil sighed.

"Silas..."

"What?"

"We don’t know if they’re enemies."

Silas looked at North Pantheon. Then back at Neil.

"True."

He walked toward them. The North Pantheon students immediately raised their weapons. Silas stopped.

"Relax." His hands went into his pockets. "I’m not interested in fighting you."

The North Pantheon captain stared at him.

"You’re the S-Rank."

"Yep."

"The one from Valecrest."

"Also yep."

"The one who destroyed half the checkpoint."

Silas paused.

"That sounds exaggerated... How did you know that?!"

"We were watching..."

Silas smiled awkwardly.

"Okay, maybe a little."

Then another sound echoed through the tower.

Everyone turned as the massive doors behind North Pantheon began opening slowly. Something was moving on the other side.

Neil raised his weapon.

"Everyone, prepare."

Silas’s expression changed while pink threads began forming around his fingers. North Pantheon’s students backed away.

"What is that?"

Nobody answered. The doors opened halfway, and a deep growl emerged from the darkness. Then the tournament system spoke again.

[STAGE TWO SPECIAL CONDITION DETECTED.]

Everyone froze.

[BLACKRIDGE TOWER CONTAINS AN UNREGISTERED ACADEMY.]

[ACADEMY IDENTIFIED.]

[NORTH PANTHEON ACADEMY.]

The North Pantheon students stared upward. The system continued.

[ACADEMY STATUS: TRAPPED.]

[ACADEMY STATUS: HOSTILE.]

Neil’s eyes widened.

"Hostile?"

The North Pantheon captain immediately shouted.

"We aren’t hostile!"

The system ignored him.

[STAGE TWO SPECIAL RULE.]

[ALL ACADEMIES WITHIN BLACKRIDGE TOWER ARE NOW CONSIDERED COMPETING ENTITIES.]

[THE ASCENSION GATE WILL NOT ACTIVATE UNTIL ONE ACADEMY REMAINS.]

Silas slowly looked at Neil. Neil looked at him. Christian looked at Peter. Peter looked at North Pantheon’s captain. Nobody spoke.

Then Silas smiled.

"So..." He looked toward the massive doors. Then at the exhausted North Pantheon students. "...we have to eliminate everyone inside."

The North Pantheon captain tightened his grip on his weapon.

"We don’t want to fight you."

Silas shrugged.

"Neither do I."

A roar suddenly exploded from beyond the doors, causing the entire tower to shake. Dust fell from the ceiling.

Silas’s eyes widened.

"Actually..." His smile returned. "...maybe we don’t have to fight each other yet."

Something enormous stepped out of the darkness. It was a massive guardian covered in black armor-like scales. Blue energy burned inside its eyes.

The system immediately announced:

[BLACKRIDGE TOWER GUARDIAN HAS AWAKENED.]

[GUARDIAN CLASS: S.]

[DEFEAT THE GUARDIAN TO ACCESS THE INNER TOWER.]

Silas stared at it. Then looked at North Pantheon’s captain. The captain stared back. He extended his hand.

"Temporary alliance?"

The captain hesitated, but grabbed it.

"Temporary alliance."

Neil immediately stepped forward.

"Valecrest."

The others looked at him. Neil raised his weapon.

"We take down the guardian first."

Silas cracked his neck.

"And after that?"

Neil looked toward the sealed inner doors.

"We figure out how to survive Stage Two."

Silas grinned.

"Now that’s a tournament."

The guardian roared, and the tower trembled.