796 Unexpected Violent Ambush (1)
It was another warm day on the Australian Continent, even though it was still spring. A little fairy was roaming the suburbs of Canberra riding a beautiful pure white cat.
“Hey, we’ve arrived at the destination city. How about you give me a nickname like what the others did to us, the guide spirits.” A small floating ball of wind opened the conversation.
Nell thought for a moment, and a simple name crossed her mind. “Hm, since you’re the wind, let’s use Wendy instead.”
“Wendy, huh… Not bad.” Wendy nodded in agreement.
“Well then, our current target is a delinquent student who likes to skip school. We can finish this easily without any effort, right, Vann?” Nell looked at a campus area in the distance. She patted Vanessa on the back but felt something was wrong with the cat.
“Why haven’t we met any street cats? They don’t seem to exist in this city or something? They’re pretty easy to find in Japan, but not here…” Vanessa mumbled softly. Still, she continued to move over the roofs of one building to another.
“Why do you want to find wild animals in this city?” Wendy asked in confusion.
“They can be good informants and spies. With decent rewards, they’re even willing to do anything.” Vanessa looked up to consider a deal with the birds in the sky.
“Hm, majority of them have been exterminated by humans aggressively here, the feral cats.” Wendy muttered in a flat tone.
“Eh?” Vanessa stopped in her tracks. That information surprised her very much.
“Why they receive such a cruel treatment? Are stray cats treated like pests here?” Nell raised her eyebrows. She didn’t understand what was really going on.
“That’s because of the uncontrolled overpopulation of feral cats. The government declared war on them because there were too many of them. Cats are reported to have harmed the environment and ecosystem, causing several small animals to become extinct. Several years ago, a plan to eradicate two million cats was issued. Extermination like that is like an annual operation here.” Wendy told the truth without any consideration.
“Because of overpopulation? So, that wise cat spoke the truth. If that’s the case, wouldn’t the humans on Earth be like that too? They are numerous and usually harm the environment. Their overpopulations need to be treated with extermination too?” Vanessa pursed her lips and looked back at Wendy, to be more precise. A wild thought crossed her mind.
It reminded her of what a particular wise cat in Japan said. Despite how many humans love cats, overpopulation was dangerous for cats. However, what about the humans themselves?
“Maybe you’re right. Please don’t overthink as it’s still under world’s law to decide. Anyway, you don’t need to look for wild animals if you want information because I’m here. Feel free to ask questions or ask for my help.” Wendy landed on Vanessa’s back. “Our target is there, doing something. That person is probably already with his other group members. Watch out for traps and ambushes. My hunch, something doesn’t bode well.”
“There are more than one? Well~” Nell rubbed her hands.
“…” Vanessa sighed and rushed into the campus area to hunt down their targets.
She could only put the last disturbing extermination news to the back of her mind because there were other things she needed to prioritize.
Three people had just gathered in an abandoned warehouse for a secret meeting.
“Yo, what do you think about this threatening letter, my friend? Is this true or just a prank?” The delinquent boss smoked his cigarette and threw a letter on the table.
“I think it’s true, boss. The letter just popped out of thin air. I saw it in person. It suddenly appeared! The one who sent this is the unknown.” The bespectacled man adjusted his glasses. He tapped the table to emphasize his point.
“Haha, whoever it is, I will burn the so-called executioner to ashes if they dare to come to us.” The delinquent boss raised his palm and lit a fiery red fire.
“Hmph, I don’t want to be involved in a fight to the death. My life is too precious for it, but I want to win.” The disciplinary committee girl clasped her hands.
“Heh, and that’s what you said despite participating in this death match game. Hypocrite much? Our Fire God won’t be happy with your weak perception and judgment.” The delinquent boss grinned mockingly.
“Anyway, we have two days to see if this threat letter is real or just a bluff. I’ve asked the rest of our team members, and they also got a similar letter. However, none of us can contact our deity yet. He seems to be busy.” The disciplinary committee girl heaved a subtle sigh and tapped her smartphone.
“We still can’t reach him? Then who are our targets to destroy? I want to hunt the other fraction soon. The game has started. It’s already the first of May. Hmm… Do we need to track them down ourselves and hunt them down independently?” The delinquent boss put his hands behind his head and his feet on the table. He then glanced at the bespectacled man. “What do you think, my genius friend?”
“…” The bespectacled man didn’t respond. He looked in a direction with his eyes wide open as if he was looking at a demon.
“What’s wrong? Why do you look scared like-” The delinquent boss glanced back and was surprised too. A masked, black-robed person was already there, waiting in the shadows! That pair of blue eyes were piercingly cold, capable of making everyone tremble deep within their souls.
“You don’t need to hunt anyone, because you will be eliminated here. Lie down on the ground.” Vanessa muttered in a cold and aloof tone on purpose to play her role.
Nell hid in Vanessa’s hood and immediately used her gravity magic to force the three brats to lie on the ground, unable to move.
“Guh!” The delinquent boss gritted his teeth as he realized he couldn’t fight against that absurd gravitational force. He lay on his stomach without being able to move an inch, just like the others.
“So, you’re new, huh… As melon-seed-smelling kids, you better study hard so you wont’t disappoint your parents or guardians. You shouldn’t be participating in this death match if you value your life. The loser will die, and that’s is the general rule of thumb.” Vanessa gave a little lecture to distract as the Goddess of Blessings was taking their targets’ chess pieces unnoticed from behind.
“Kh, wha-, ths, oyu. Grrgh!” The delinquent boss tried to resist the pressure but to no avail. He couldn’t even speak properly.
A few moments later, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He felt cold and frightened as his strength plummeted for no reason.
After getting the chess pieces, Nell returned to hide in Vanessa’s hood, still in an invisible disguise.
“You have been eliminated. All participants will receive the judgement based on their actions when the time comes, including your proud deity.” Vanessa turned around into the shadow of the corner of the room.
‘It’s quite easy. Let’s hunt down a few more chess pieces before we aim for the deity.’ Nell muttered via telepathy. She brought Vanessa and Wendy away with her short-range teleportation magic.
Nell and Vanessa hunted for a few more chess pieces on the Australian mainland until noon. They had already eliminated over twenty participants from seven different fractions. Therefore, they would hunt down the deities now.
When Vanessa walked down a secluded alley near the port, the air temperature suddenly heated up drastically. Oxygen seemed to disappear, and the atmosphere became suffocating.
‘Jump up as high as you can!’ Nell shouted loudly via telepathy while giving Vanessa some blessings.
*Swoosh!*
A fire spear shot horizontally, filling the small alley into a river of fire. All objects eaten by the red rooster turned to ashes, but the fire got bigger and burned the surrounding buildings as a fire domain.
“So, it’s you, the lowly executioner, cooperating with the nature spirit. You’re moving faster than expected time in your stupid warning letters.” A magma plume rose out of the burning ground and formed a human-like form.
“…” Vanessa landed on a tall power pole, looking down with a grim expression. A powerful deity came to her with an unexpected ambush.
“You ruined the game. You are the one who needs to be eliminated. Don’t disturb this whole grand event with your own ridiculous idealism! I will hunt you down, and every participants. That way, I will come out victorious! Burn to ashes! Fiery Explosion!” The Fire Deity roared like a beast and spread his arms wide.
Vanessa widened her eyes. She tried to get as far away as possible but didn’t have time for it before the incredible explosion occurred.
The ground suddenly swelled, and a tremendous explosion, almost equivalent to a mini hydrogen bomb’s destructive power, blew up the harbor area.
The flames smoldered like a tower of hell and the giant mushroom smoke extended over a kilometer radius. The combustible material in the harbor’s underground storage room made the explosion violent.
“…” Vanessa was blinded for a few seconds by the intense light of the explosion. However, her eyesight gradually recovered because of the Goddess of Blessings.
“Blessing, blessing, blessing, blessing…” Nell cast a layered barrier and stacked blessing magic to protect herself and Vanessa from the overflowing flames that engulfed them.
“What did you say, ugly fire moth!? Weak spirit!? Then, I shall extinguish your puny fire with my mighty tornado!” Wendy was offended. She created a tornado from the sea and brought it closer.
The tornado pulled the enormous mass of water from the sea to the burning harbor. Instead of the extinguishing effect, the sea of fire became even more extensive. The water vaporized, and the tornado somehow became a tornado of fire.
“Hahaha, that’s useless. This isn’t an ordinary fire that you can extinguish with water, fool! So, you are a wind spirit. You won’t be able to win against me even if you with the so-called executioner.” The Fire Moth Deity spread his wings wide and flew at his opponent like a missile.