Chapter 240: The Eliminator
The words had barely left Silas’s mouth when the battlefield went quiet- not completely. There were still explosions, weapons were still clashing, and abilities were still tearing through buildings, but for the students closest to him, everything else suddenly seemed distant.
Silas stood alone in the middle of the ruined street. Rainwater ran down his pink hair. His wooden bow was still in his hand, and his eyes were fixed on the academies surrounding Blackridge Tower.
Then one of the students laughed nervously.
"He’s just one person."
Another student raised his weapon.
"He’s one of Valecrest’s S-Rank."
"So?"
The student swallowed.
"He’s only eighteen."
That statement was enough to make several others hesitate. They knew Silas’s name. Everyone did. The City A Qualifiers had made sure of that.
But knowing someone’s name and witnessing their strength were two completely different things. A student from another academy suddenly charged.
"Don’t let him scare you!"
The student swung his weapon, but Silas only tilted his head, and the attack passed harmlessly beside him. His fingers moved, and a pink thread appeared.
Snap.
The student’s weapon flew from his hand. Before he could react, another thread wrapped around his ankle. Silas pulled, and the student slammed into the ground.
BOOM!
The street cracked beneath him. He then looked at the remaining fighters.
"Anyone else?"
Nobody answered.
Then... a massive fireball came flying toward him. He raised one hand, and a thread stretched forward, piercing the fireball. The entire attack suddenly changed direction.
It flew upward and exploded harmlessly in the sky.
Silas sighed. "Seriously?"
His bow disappeared, and he opened his hands wide. Hundreds of pink threads spread throughout the battlefield. They moved so quickly that most people couldn’t even see them.
Only the S-Rank students could properly perceive them, and even they struggled to follow their movements.
One of them stared in disbelief.
"What... are those?"
Another student answered quietly.
"Threads."
"Threads?"
"His ability."
The first student shook his head.
"No." He watched the battlefield. "No... that’s not just thread manipulation."
Silas moved. He didn’t charge. He just stepped forward, yet the battlefield changed around him.
A student attempted to attack, but a thread caught his wrist. Another tried to escape, but a thread wrapped around his waist. Someone launched a projectile; Silas redirected it.
Another activated a defensive ability, but Silas found the weak point instantly. Every movement, every attack, every opening- Silas saw them.
His Fate Thread Vision illuminated the battlefield with countless invisible connections, and for the first time, the students around Blackridge Tower understood something.
Silas wasn’t fighting them. He was controlling the battlefield. A student from City G’s academy suddenly appeared behind him.
"Got you!"
Silas ducked, and the attack missed. He then grabbed the student’s arm.
"Wrong."
He twisted- the student was thrown straight into three of his own teammates. All four crashed into a ruined wall.
Another student rushed in, but he didn’t even look at him. A thread struck his chest, and the student stopped. His body was pulled backward and slammed into the ground.
Students began falling across the battlefield, completely unable to continue fighting. The remaining academies began backing away.
"This is insane."
"He’s not even using a weapon!"
"He’s alone!"
"No..." One student stared at Silas. "He’s an S-Rank."
The words spread.
An S-Rank.
Someone whose abilities had already been sharpened against monsters far beyond what these academy students had encountered.
Silas raised his hand, and the threads around him tightened. Every student in his immediate vicinity felt pressure.
He disappeared- a pink blur crossed the battlefield.
BOOM!
One student flew through a wall.
BOOM!
Another crashed into the street.
BOOM!
Three more were dragged together by threads and thrown into a pile.
Silas reappeared beside Blackridge Tower and looked around. The area that had been filled with fighting moments ago had become eerily quiet.
"Of course," Neil muttered.
Alicia looked toward the dozens of defeated students.
"That was..."
"Silas," Emma finished.
Godfrey swallowed. "He’s terrifying when he actually tries."
Silas glanced toward them.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Silas shrugged. Then a voice came from across the battlefield.
"You think you’re impressive because you beat a few students?"
Silas turned as a group emerged from the ruins. Their uniforms were different. Their academy insignia was clearly visible. The students around Blackridge Tower immediately recognized it.
"Holswire Academy."
"That’s one of the top academies from City H."
A tall student stepped forward.
Behind him were several others. They had survived the chaos, and unlike the students Silas had just defeated, these people weren’t afraid.
The leader looked toward Silas.
"We watched you." He cracked his knuckles. "You’re strong."
Silas smiled.
"Thanks."
"But you’re still one person."
The man’s aura exploded.
"Take him down!"
The entire City H team charged, but Silas’s smile only widened.
"Finally."
Pink threads erupted from the ground. The first attacker was caught. Then the second and the third. Silas pulled, and the entire formation collapsed.
"Formation!"
"Cut the threads!"
"Don’t let them wrap around you!"
But it was too late.
Silas moved through them. His fist struck one student’s stomach. A knee caught another in the ribs. A thread pulled a third directly into the path of an incoming attack from his own teammate.
He wasn’t simply overpowering them. He was dismantling them, piece by piece. Within seconds, the academy’s formation had completely collapsed. Their strongest student roared and released everything he had, causing a massive shockwave to explode outward.
Silas stood inside it, his clothes fluttering, but he didn’t move.
"What...?"
Silas looked at him.
"You should have run."
A pink thread appeared around the student’s neck and stopped just short of his skin. Silas pulled, and the student was dragged forward. He caught him by the collar and slammed him into the ground.
BOOM!
The entire battlefield shook.
Holswire Academy’s leader lay unconscious. Silas looked toward the remaining members- they were terrified. He pointed toward the unconscious leader, then toward the others.
"You’re done."
One student clenched his teeth.
"We can still fight."
Silas’s eyes narrowed.
"No."
His Authority surged. The pink threads covering the battlefield suddenly became visible. Thousands of them. They connected the Holswire students.
Silas closed his fist, and every thread tightened. The remaining students dropped to their knees.
[REGIONAL SELECTION]
[ACADEMY STATUS UPDATE!]
[ACADEMY: HOLSWIRE ACADEMY (CITY H) NORTHERN REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE]
[ALL REGISTERED MEMBERS HAVE BEEN RENDERED INCAPABLE OF CONTINUING.]
[ACADEMY HAS FAILED TO REACH THE CHECKPOINT.]
[ACADEMY ELIMINATED.]
The announcement echoed across the entire Blackridge Borderlands, and every participant heard it. The fighting paused.
Heads turned toward Blackridge Tower.
Silas stood among the rain, and around him lay the defeated City H team. He looked toward the tower. Then slowly toward the countless students watching him from the surrounding battlefield.
His smile returned.
"So..." He stretched his neck. "Who’s next?"