Hero of Darkness

The three people gazed at each other with a baffled expression as they pointed their fingers at the opposite party. Even Kahn found this coincidence hard to believe. 

"What are the odds.." spoke Kahn softly. 

"Hey.. Why is this guy in our team?" spoke the dual swordsman clad in black armor made from a monster's body parts. His swords had claw like edges on them, made to rip off his enemies. 

"To think that we'd be paired with this showoff.." spoke the druid in green and white robes. In his hand was a purple orbs that his class used for spells and skills. 

Their appearance looked different than before as they were no longer wearing the clothes of their force or clan but proper gear for a battle. 

"Arshh.. Why are you two here? Shouldn't we be in different teams?" asked Kahn to the grandmaster duo he met in the first battle royale match. 

"Tch!.. Looks like they put all the winners of that batch in the same team. And if we are here.. Means others who won that day are also put together in teams if my assumption is correct." said the druid. 

The three of them let out a sigh and accepted their unexpected fate instead of quarreling like little children. 

"My name is Elijah." said the Druid. 

"I am Niklaus." spoke the dual swordsman. 

"I am Kahn." he introduced. 

"So Kahn.. Let me get straight to the point.. We're both brothers and know how to fight together very well. I reckon you can hold your end as well, right?" asked Elijah. 

Kahn shrugged his arms and replied with a bored expression as he responded.. 

"As long as no one burdens me, I'm all good." 

"Hey, you three! Do you think we're not here?!" shouted a peak master rank centaur templar with a shield and a lance in his hand. 

Behind him, was a thrall mage donned in white and blue robes, an Ice Elemental expert mage who leaked a chilling air from his body. He too was a peak master individual. 

"Shut up, deadweight!" retorted Niklaus and released his aura of a grandmaster on the two teammates. 

Suddenly, Kahn decided to meddle in and spoke. 

"I have experience in commanding people in a group battle. So in case we are forced to team up.. I shall be calling the shots." proposed Kahn. 

"Yahh! As if I'm listening to a twat.." said Niklaus in a mocking tone. 

"Control yourself younger brother... We're not here to fight among ourselves. 

As for your proposition.. I am well versed in commanding an entire squadron myself. So I should be doing it myself." spoke Elijah. 

"Alright, suit yourself." said Kahn and decided to wait for their turn to come up.

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After an hour-long wait, their team finally entered the 50 meter wide rectangular battle ring. 

Their whole team's odds were only 75:25. 25 being their odds.. Mean the opposition was stronger on paper at least. 

This was a small space for this type of battle involving 10 people at once. But the whole purpose behind this limited space was to put them in a corner and force them to fight as soon as possible. 

But as soon as they saw the opponent team's members enter the battle ring.. All three of them suddenly had wrinkled faces because of the sheer irritation. 

"Ah.. We're screwed!" spoke Kahn. 

Because based on the aura released by the opposition team members.. They had 4 grandmasters while the combatant who walked in the middle was an intermediate rank grandmaster.

The issue wasn't that they were weaker. Kahn himself was more than enough to take out the whole team with just a bitchslap. 

But what worried him was that he couldn't do it without revealing himself as at least a peak grandmaster individual. Which was too early in the game for him and would definitely cost him a lot of money he could be making. 

"So who wants to be the leader now? Decide quickly before they ring the bell." spoke Kahn. 

With 3 out of 5 votes, Elijah was selected as the chosen leader while Kahn was embarrassed after voting for himself. 

"The centaur should act as a defense, I'll keep healing and buffing him. The mage should be mid-range support. 

This way, we can protect our numbers and last longer in the battle. As for you two.." said Elijah as he quickly adapted and came up with a battle formation on the spot. 

"Go and break their legs." said the druid. 

Kahn and Elijah gave each other an understanding gaze as if they had fought beside each other before. 

Both of them were battle-worn veterans in a way so they too had no issues accepting and then cooperating. 

Winning the match was more important than their egos so all of them got into a formation as instructed by Elijah and everyone got ready for a battle. 

Kahn and Niklaus took both sides, the Centaur took the middle while the thrall ice mage and Elijah stood at the back. 

The opposition team had one archer, two mages, a battleaxe user and a healer. And they already looked at Kahn's team with a contemptuous gaze, displaying their intentions to decimate their opponents. 

"Begin the battle!" declared the referee. 

Kahn and Niklaus charged at the enemy team from the left and right side respectively as they faced a grandmaster opponent of their own. 

Kahn's target was one of the archers while Niklaus aimed for the mage. The Centaur teammate raised his shield and braced for the incoming long-range attacks while the ice mage started incantations for the long-range and high damage skills. 

Elijah on the other end quickly cast shield and team buff skills for the three of them while leaving the two swordsmen to fight on their own without any supporting skill. 

He too knew that none of them needed in the first place. 

Shoot! Shoot! 

Kahn dodged a volley of fire arrows that were launched at him by the archer target while Niklaus dodged the fire spells that blew up after he evaded them. 

Elijah, the Druid class brother and their current team leader couldn't only heal but also use crowd controlling skills like root bind, team shield, attack buff and enforcement skills for the whole team. 

An intense battle ensued in just a minute but unlike their previous expectations.. 

The centaur and the ice mage fell like pebbles while facing the onslaught and in just five minutes, only the brothers and Kahn was left on their side. 

If one more of them was defeated.. They'll lose the match and it will be the end for them. 

The three of them quickly took a defensive stance and protected each other as they attacked with long-range skills, creating an impasse between them and the enemy team. 

"I know you guys are hiding it as well. But how about we take our chances. It's not like we have any other choice." spoke Kahn as he deflected a mage spell. 

"Fine. But let's hide our ranks and fight without revealing too many of our skills." spoke Elijah. 

Niklaus on the other end nodded in affirmation. 

[[Author : Reference Art for Elijah and Niklaus in chapter comments. Check it out.]] 

And the next second.. All of them revealed their mountainous aura all at once that made their opponents shudder in fear.

Because the remaining opponents from their team were actually tigers in disguise. All three of them were.. 

Peak Grandmasters!!