Mada had to second guess himself as to what he had just seen. He was fighting against the rabid students, those that had reached stage 3 and stage 4. Their strength was relentless, as they weren't as deprived of food compared to the others.
Even then, they had also somehow learned to attack and fight in their own way. Not relying on the skills they had learned from the academy or their clans, a way of fighting which was superior in the dark underground area they were in.
Because of all of these things, Mada was having a difficult time going against the others. So how, even if it was Raze who managed to best Ricktor, did he manage to slice two of those students down in a single attack?
Not only that, but he was sure of it, that Raze had struck before even walking past him; his attack had somehow extended out of himself. When looking up, Mada could see the back of Raze's head, the white hair.
"That's definitely him; where has he even been this whole time?" Mada thought. "Was he just training or something? I mean… how else could he get so strong?"
Since the last time Raze was in the underground assessment, he was a 3-star mage and he was in the 4th stage. Since then, he had managed to become a 4-star mage, and on top of that, he had also increased his stage to the fifth stage. He wasn't just any fifth stage warrior, but was close to reaching the 6th stage already.
He had fought against the Behemoth Clan, absorbing their energy, pushing himself to the fifth stage. But after that, he had absorbed the attackers in the other dimension, as well as the beasts that he could during that time. And then, there was the mess he had with the mages after increasing his magical strength further.
With all the power Raze had, it was hard to think of him as just another 5th stage warrior. At the end of the day, he was the one who had already taken down someone that was in the middle stage, even if they were a low-ranking one.
Right now, Raze still had all that strength, the strength of at least someone at the middle stage, which was why it was so easy for him, with a swing of his sword combined with a bit of magic, to take out the other students.
Dame could feel the big changes in Raze, the strength coming off from his body as he just continued to walk toward the others.
"Before he left, I thought about it myself; I wondered if I was stronger than Raze. Maybe the two of us were now around the same level in terms of strength. But I'm sure of it now, Raze is stronger than me. He is someone who transcends just the normal stages of the Pagna warrior, someone who breaks and ignores all of the set rules.
If anyone meets him thinking that they're just going against another initial stage warrior, they will regret it."
As Raze walked forward, several of the other rabid students had turned and came towards him. He dodged one of their attacks swiftly, moving himself, and swung his sword down. The edge of the sword slightly turned crimson as a strike was made.
The attack had gone right through one and continued hitting the others away. He then charged forward with the second step, and Raze slashed through another one of the students. Just like that, three of them had been killed and were down for the count.
Soon, nearly all of the rabid students had turned their heads and were looking at Raze. They were ignoring the other students because they could tell that a larger threat had come. Their animal-like instincts were kicking in more than before. What should they do? Were they to team up and attack, or did they accept that this person was stronger than them?
"Unfortunately, for you, I'm not giving you a choice," Raze said. He charged forward and knocked the hand away of his attacker and then grabbed onto their head. Right there and then, he started to drain them of their energy. Their bodies became weaker, their bodies becoming lifeless.
"With all of these in the room now, I should be able to reach the 6th stage as well," Raze continued. The rabid students knew now that he was coming after them, and if that was the case, they needed to fight back.
"Wait, what are you doing!" Sherry shouted. "These are your fellow students, and you're just killing them without a second thought; think about their families!"
"What is that bitch talking about!" Liam said as he was finding his footing, his legs a little wobbly. "Just moments ago, with them, she was willing to kill us. What about our families?"
Raze struck down another, slicing with his sword through the other's wooden sword and creating a large diagonal slash. He was using his magic but limiting it to wind magic so the others weren't aware of it. With it, they would just think it was part of his technique.
"These are humans now? Do you think they could go back and live a normal life after what they have done?" Raze asked.
"I saw the Dark Space; you decided to team up with those that even eat their own kind, those that won't even allow their families to have a proper burial or see their children's face for the last time. There is always a limit to how far you can go; there are lines that can't be crossed.
It might not be the students' fault; they were forced into this situation, I don't blame anyone for wanting to just survive. But then again, you can't blame me for the actions that I do against you."
Raze could see it as he was fighting the students. The looks in their eyes. They had already succumbed to the assessment. They were going to relentlessly fight anyone because that was how they had survived and achieved victory in this assessment before.
There would be no reasoning with them. They would stab you in the back at the first chance one would give them. It was too late for these students. He couldn't save them, so the least he could do was put their horror to an end, and use their strength and add it to his own to punish those that were responsible.
The whole room had stopped fighting; it was only Raze and the rabid ones, and they watched the spectacle as he took them down one or two at a time.
The strikes he took were clean, and at most he would only hit them twice to kill them. Seeing the students being killed, the look in their eyes before death, for some reason, to the rest of the Red Headbands, it had brought tears to their eyes, due to the whole situation they were in.
"Why… why do we have to do this, this damn academy, our stupid clans!" Tinson screamed.
And finally, all of the rabid students had been dealt with, and now, there were just the rest and the betrayers.
"Did you forget about him?" Ricktor said with a smile, looking at the two girls. "If there's one thing you should have learned from our fight with him, it's that his side is always the winning side."