Chapter 207: Snake Nest

Dark Mist Mountain Range.

Ralph had crossed the desert region of the Blue Haze World. It took a bit of time but he had finally done it. His clothes were still in a sorry state but his demeanor remained unchanged.

After he crossed the desert region, he had arrived in a mountain range which was covered in a black mist of some sort. He couldn't see past a few meters ahead of him but thankfully he had the map with him, so chances of getting lost were low to none.

Ralph had his guard up and was more alert than he ever was before. He couldn't see past a few meters and such a reaction was only natural from him. He didn't rush but flew at a moderate pace. He had to cross the entire mountain range and according to his calculations, it would take at least one day and night to do so.

From the outer edges of the forest present close to the desert region, Ralph made his way to the inner core area.

...

In a desert.

Lith, Dennis, and the cow were sitting close to a pond in a small oasis.

"Your Highness, how long do you think it would take for us to cross this desert region?" Dennis asked while drinking water from his bottle.

"If we fly like before, we would be able to reach the Dark Mist Mountain Range before it's night today" Lith replied calmly.

"This fast?" Dennis asked with shock visible on his face.

"Yup. We have the map, we don't need to worry about getting lost and know the exact route that we need to follow." Lith once again replied calmly.

"Makes sense. So when are we leaving?"

"In 10 minutes."

"Alright."

...

Central Plaza, Abalax World Academy.

"Hi, I am Kleo, the second host for this event. I won't say much, just look at this." A slim and tall, serious faced student with two black horns on his head said from the big screen available in the plaza of the main building of the academy.

"I hope Vanir-senpai comes back to host. No hate to Kleo-senpai but he is too serious and grumpy." A student with a short stature watching the live stream of the Survival Tournament, said.

"That's true. Senior Kleo is indeed very serious." A student double the height of the short student beside him added.

"Shut up, you two. Senior Kleo is the perfect person to host this show. Senior Vanir is just too... Well... Jolly? Ehe." A fangirl of Kleo praised from the side.

"Yes, she is right. Senior Vanir is just acting jolly. Everyone should be like Senior Kleo, all natural, hehe." Another fangirl of Kleo commented.

"Shut up, bitch. You're just jealous of Vanir-senpai because you can never achieve a perfect loli form like her!" The short stature student retaliated.

"What the hell did you say, you midget?" The female student, fangirling over Kleo, lost her cool and said holding the collar of the short stature student.

"I said you can't ever be a perfect loli like Vanir-senpai, you bitch!" The short student once again rudely commented.

BOOM!

An explosion was heard from the big screen in the central plaza, grabbing the attention of the students as well as the two students bickering currently.

On the screen, a Sand Golem had just landed on the ground and due to its momentum, a loud explosion was created. Looking at who the student getting attacked by the Sand Golem was, everyone turned silent. They were silent not because something serious happened but because they saw a handsome pink-haired first-year.

It was Ralph!

Ralph's serious demeanor as well as his perfectly chiseled face and lean body that was visible through his tattered clothes, turned everyone silent. He seemed too cool and hot to everyone present.

The boys being no exception.

"Hey bitch, let's call it a truce for a while. Let us both appreciate Lord Ralph first." The short student said with a serious face to the girl holding him via the collar.

"If not for Lord Ralph, you'd be dead by now. I am letting you go but I'll remember you, midget." The girl let go of the short student.

The short student corrected his collar and got back to watching Ralph on the screen and gave his full attention to it. Just like him, everyone else was doing the same. The charms of Ralph were too much for anyone to ignore and everyone on the Sky Island were watching him with seriousness and intently.

Though everyone was watching his fight with a Sand Golem, Ralph on the other hand had just arrived in a no mist zone in the Dark Mist Mountain Range. His time and theirs were very different.

Ralph looked around and found that he was surrounded by trees with gray leaves and a few hundred meters away, there was a single tree that had black leaves on it. He didn't move from his place and had his guard up. This place seemed suspicious to him and he was cautious with his every move.

He slowly walked towards the tree with black leaves because that seemed to be the only noticeable thing in this surrounding that he could inspect. Suddenly...

HISS!

A black snake jumped from the ground and attacked Ralph with its sharp fangs. The snake tried to bite Ralph but as it neared him and tried to do so, it only bit onto empty space.

Swish!

With a swishing sound, Ralph's blade cut the snake into pieces and killed it.

Ralph had an affinity for Space and had a vacuum barrier around him just like the time during the mucus rain. The snake's bite was thus nullified and Ralph got the time to take his sword out and kill it.

Looking at the pieces of snake on the ground, Ralph noticed an anomaly.

The entire ground was pitch black!

This wasn't normal! The ground wasn't supposed to be of such a color and something definitely was wrong. Ralph immediately extended his wings out and flew high above in the air. From the air, as Ralph looked down, his eyes widened with shock. The ground... It wasn't a ground.

It was a nest of snakes!

There were thousands of snakes moving around and this made Ralph feel uneasy. The snake he just attacked definitely was a Tier 1 beast and judging from how some snakes roaming down were of different sizes, Ralph guessed that some would definitely be Tier 3 or above.

Wasn't this overkill?

The academy shouldn't have such a level of difficulty in this tournament. How can a Rank 2 student fight against groups of Tier 4 or 5 beasts on his own? This was simply too much.

Ralph knew fighting against these beasts was pointless so he decided to run away. He flew towards the mist and just as he touched the mist, he felt a blockage. He was unable to pass through the mist and get out of this no mist zone. Ralph flew to another direction but it was the same case.

Just what was the academy trying to do? Did they want their students to get killed this badly?

...

Auditorium, Abalax World Academy.

BAM!

Emilia exerted a good amount of force on the armrest of her chair and got up, causing it to break.

She let out her Emperor Rank aura and looked at the people in the auditorium. In a serious tone, she said, "this is the final call. Whoever rigged the tournament, come clean and I'll ensure you get a lighter punishment."

Nobody dared to speak, move or even breathe as they felt Emilia's aura. It sure was suffocating but they haven't done anything and couldn't respond to what she had asked them. They could only feel her wrath for now and hope that she would calm down.

A few minutes passed and nobody said a single word. The entire auditorium was silent. Emilia retracted her aura and looking at the staff present, she said in the same serious tone as before, "whoever you are, just pray that you don't get caught."

Emilia left the auditorium after saying so and getting out of the auditorium, she made her way to the rooftop of the main building of the academy.

She took a token out of her pocket and imbued her spiritual power in it. A few kilometers from her, a portal opened up.

Crackle!

Streaks of golden lightning crackled around Emilia as she willed the Lightning elements around her.

BOOM!

She shot off towards the portal, causing a sonic boom loud enough for everyone present in the central plaza and the academy to hear.

Everyone looked at the source of the noise but only found a golden streak of lightning shooting towards a certain direction and vanishing at the next instant.

"What was that?" A student in the plaza asked his friend at the side.

"How would I know?" The friend shrugged and answered.

"Tsk. Do you even know anything?" The student clicked his tongue and said.

"Shut up or I'll beat your ass."

"When?"

"HUH!?"