Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 43: Flashy Arrival

Ark sat down behind a tree, trying to breathe as noiselessly as possible while at the same time trying to take in as much air as he could.

The manticore, a few feet away from him, rose to its feet and shook the dirt off its body.

Ark was no match for the beast, he was bleeding from multiple cuts on his body, had internal bleeding and was completely exhausted.

He wasn’t even meant to fight strong Immoral beasts, a profane beast was far above his class.

And yet he had to win no matter the cost, Ark could already see the sky brightening up. Very soon it would be morning.

That was when he remembered something he had forgotten all this time.

’The panic button!’

He tried to pull it out of his Jeans but when he did, the ball fell to the ground and rolled a little before splitting into two identical halves.

There was nothing within the ball, it was a fake.

Ark contained the urge to laugh. ’To hate me so much as to want me dead...’

He held on tightly to his axe, now Ark had no other option, although Silver had warned against it, he would have to use his curse.

It was the only way he could survive.

Boom!

The tree Ark sat behind was rend in two, just a little above his head.

Ark immediately jumped to the left, just as the manticore’s hulking build slammed right into the stump.

If the fight was prolonged, he would die. He had to finish it in one decisive strike. But it was easier said than done.

The beast twisted its head, glaring at Ark with its blood red eyes. And then it moved, its figure a blur as it appeared right in front of him.

Ark sidestepped the next blow, his body moving in overdrive.

Right now, he was pushing his tired body to move, he was forcing his brain to think, he was doing everything possible to make sure he stayed alive while pushing the beast back.

With a step to the left the ground was obliterated, he ducked just as a claw tore past his head. He jumped backward as the tail cut the area between them.

He wanted to strike the beast, but the space between him and the manticore was just too small, and the manticore was increasingly getting frustrated by its smaller prey.

Ark was like a rat caught between the claws of a massive cat, all he could do was dodge and run but very soon, even that failed him.

The manticore pounced, both claws outstretched while Ark flipped over its head, almost home free when the stinger slammed into his skull, knocking him into the dirt.

He got up on wobbly legs, trying to evade the next attack but he had gotten far too slow. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The manticore bit right into his shoulder, causing Ark to let out a scream as warm blood dripped down his hand.

But the beat did not stop there, the stinger collided with his gut causing saliva to spew out of his mouth and then with one massive blow from below Ark was sent high up into the air.

The manticore took chase, cutting through the sky like a mythical beast as it inched closer to Ark, its massive maw wide open to swallow him whole.

Ark was practically out of it, even if he could slay the beast somehow, he would fail the exam because he could no longer walk.

But just as his ascension reached its end, and the beast inched closer.

Ark’s golden eyes glinted with malice.

"Not today!"

With his body bathed in blood, and his torn apart jacket billowing by his side, Ark brought the long pole of his axe to his shoulders and twisted his body to the left.

Grabbing the shaft with both hands, he pushed the axe forward.

It suddenly felt like the weight of the world was laying on his shoulders, it was like lifting a heavy burden with just grit alone.

The area around him glinted with an intense golden glow as he moved the axe in one catastrophic slash.

Ark felt the muscles in his arms ripple and tear, he felt his bones splinter as he unleashed the devastating power of his curse upon the beast.

"DRAGONNNN.... STRIKE!"

The world was torn apart as a massive golden slash emerged from the axe and flew forward with chilling intensity.

The manticore unfurled its large wings, trying to stop its ascent but it was already too late.

The golden slash moved like lightning, closing the space between them and splitting the manticore in two perfect halves.

But it did not stop there, it went straight at the forest, severing every single tree that stood in its path and leaving a massive crater in its wake.

Ark’s body felt the rebound of the blow, the force of the attack threw him high up into the air, his body racing right into the sky.

***

The blonde lady was intently watching the screen in front of her with a slight frown on her face.

The feed... it had been shut off.

The strange part was that it was not the entire camera system that was faulty, just the one that showed the scrawny kid.

It had gone off just as the ground exploded.

’Moles?’

That would have been her conclusion but moles would rather set traps than attack directly, and this was a full on assault, albeit in the form of a trap.

She leaned back on her chair and observed the rest of the participants.

As expected, Stormwind’s daughter had arrived first and by now most participants were already here, either by rescue or by completing the course.

It was just a few minutes before sunrise...

"It looks like he’s going to fail..."

"Who are you talking about, vice commander?"

"It’s the scrawny kid."

Much time had passed since the feed was cut off and sunrise was approaching but he still hadn’t arrived.

"Maybe he’s dead... how disappointing," she said, reclining in her seat.

"It looks like the slum rat won’t make it."

The blonde lady lazily glanced at the source of the voice. Under the shade of a tree, the examinees were gathered and standing in their center was a boy with dark blue hair, speaking far too loudly than normal.

The boy standing next to him grabbed onto his shoulder, erupting in a fit of laughter.

"He can’t even handle basic beasts like this, how useless."

"I hope he doesn’t die at least..." A girl said, staring at the forest below.

"Who cares if he dies? It will do the world some good if he disappears, it’s not like any squad will be picking trash like him."

The blonde lady sighed and turned away from them, the last boy wasn’t exactly wrong. If the boy truly was from the slums, then none of the squad representatives would even bat an eye.

Even if he was exceptional...

No one wanted to have anything to do with anyone from the slums, it was just the way things were.

She turned to face her assistant.

"Do you have a list of th—"

Her words were cut short as she immediately turned to the left, sitting up in her seat she saw something in the air.

It was hard to tell what it was at this distance, but it was the silhouette of a giant mammal but with large bat-like wings.

"Is that— a manticore?!"

Most people would fail to recognize it but she had years of experience under her belt, she could tell from just the way it moved.

Manticores were profane class beasts, far above anything these beginner curse bearers could handle. Why was there one here all of a sudden?

But that was not all, the manticore was charging at something, a vague humanoid figure.

"Hey, look..." One of the boys tapped the blue haired examinee. "Up in the sky."

The boy directed his gaze to where his friend was pointing, noticing the two figures immediately.

"Huh?"

One of the girls stepped forward to get a better look.

"What kind of beast is that?"

All the students watched with varying degrees of apprehension, that was because throughout their time in the mountains, they had not encountered something so... sinister.

"There is someone up there as well!" A boy said.

"It’s true, I see him." Another one commented.

"C-could it be him??" One of them asked in a shaky voice.

They did not need to know who he was talking about, after all, the slum rat was one of the few people who had not yet arrived.

"Impossible, that is obviously one of the staff, do you think he could handle sowmth—"

An intense bright light bathed the sky in a beautiful golden glow, cutting off the boy.

For a moment they thought it was the sun only to realize it wasn’t, the blonde woman could feel the intensity of the spiritual energy even from where she sat.

There was a loud boom, causing the mountain to tremble, the figure of the manticore was obliterated, split in two halves, while that of the human was gone.

The sound was so intense that some of the officials rose to their feet, visibly concerned.

Stormwind’s daughter was the only one who seemed completely unbothered, instead, she walked forward, toward the center of the camp and peered at the direction of the light.

And then she directed her gaze up.

For a brief moment, a panicked look encapsulated her expression, she raised both hands up, straight at the sky, causing others to direct their attention there as well.

That was when they saw it, a dark figure descending from the sky.

Whoosh!

Just before the body could shatter against the floor, it hung in the air, as though held by an invisible force before being gently placed on the ground.

It was the kid, the scrawny kid.

Although he was a mess of blood, cuts and fractures, he had arrived just in the nick of time...

Everyone was left speechless, their gaze moving from the boy to the sky.

Someone hissed in anger while the woman fought back a smile.

"My, my, this one delicious find."