Wain flew his cloud away from Maria and watched the battles on the ind intently.


    ''Hmm, if the Vampire and an Ashen defeat the remaining four kings, then the rest will have to collect the required number of minutes fighting each other. I wonder if they''ll make it.'' Wain pondered as he watched the vampire fight the white wolf.


    The beast was strong, and each of its attacks left massive destruction. A creature with the power of light was not the best opponent for a vampire, but fighting against a fire serpent was even harder.


    This Vampire was different from most of his race. He had ck, short hair and blue eyes. He wore a long ck and red cloak simr to a nobleman''s and had several bloody seals on his arms.


    Vampires were some of the strongest beings in both physical and magical power. Only Ashens and some Angels could defeat them in open confrontation because of their me and power of light.


    Whoooooooooosh.


    The Vampire waved his hand, and four pirs of blood erupted from the ground beside him. They headed toward the sky and then copsed on the wolf. The pirs split into many drops, and it was like bloody hail. Even a single drop could easily kill a First Chronicle creature if it hit a vital point.


    The white wolf could not escape as it was arge-scale attack. The beast opened its mouth wide, and its eyes shone brightly. A massive barrier appeared over the wolf, which effortlessly absorbed each of the hundreds of blood drops.


    Then the barrier flipped, and dozens ofrge white projectiles flew toward the Vampire. This barrier was not only for defense but also for counterattack and energy conversion.


    The Vampire was surprised, but he didn''t back down. He put his hands together, and a wall of blood appeared in front of him, which absorbed the white projectiles.


    ''Huh, it looks like their fight has reached a stalemate. They can''t hurt each other, their defense and attack are about the same level, but... which one is the tougher?'' Wain pondered and looked south.


    There Ashen fought against thest of the Four Kings, the Fire Serpent.


    Like most of his race, Ashen had ashy, thick hair and amber eyes. He wore loose, silver martial clothes, simr to the Oriental style. A long spear with a stone tip that burned brightly with white me was in his hand.


    Whoooooooosh.


    The serpent hissed, and some of its scales burst into scarlet me. The beast turned into a ming sh and tried to devour an Ashen.


    Ashen did not retreat. He watched his enemy''s movements intently, and when the moment was right, he stepped forward and stood in a low stance. Then white me shed at his feet, and when the serpent''s head was above him, he made a sharp lunge with his spear from bottom to top.


    The spear definitely hit the snake and shattered some scales, but the snake didn''t have one row of scales as it should have, but two. The momentum of the spear was not enough to shatter such strong armor, and Ashen''s attack failed.


    As if it knew this would happen, the serpent immediately attacked with its tail and threw Ashen aside. Such a blow couldn''t hurt Ashen much since he had time to defend himself with his spear, but the serpent''s n differed.


    They were fighting on the edge of the ind, and now there was only an endless ocean beneath Ashen like an abyss. Wain thought that was the end, but suddenly two spheres of me appeared under Ashen''s feet, and they exploded violently.


    With a pulse, he returned back to the ind and continued the battle.


    ''They are quite strong. My battle with the wyvern was more fierce and faster. They act calmer and more coherent. I wonder if it has to do with the wyvern being stronger or the fact that Ashen and the Vampire outnumber them.''


    Crackle.


    Suddenly something glowed in the northwest where it was already empty. A massive, phantom lotus bud appeared in the air. It spun slowly, and then hundreds of petals flew out of the bud and copsed to the ground creating dozens of explosions every second.


    Wain looked closer and saw a tall, muscr girl with long ck hair in the center of the forest. Below her neck was a moon-shaped sign, indicating that she was an Axalt.


    She decided not to attack any of the four kings. It was too risky for her. Instead, she used wide-area skills and killed many small monsters. It was an effective tactic for gaining the required number of minutes.


    "If Vampire and Ashen defeat their enemies, these three are likely to be among the challengers. Hmm, they each have their own fighting style and special attacks, though that''s not surprising. If only nine out of hundreds of people can pass on, then each of them must have unique abilities."


    Wain looked back and looked at Maria. She was his number one target at the moment now even the ind''s top prize was not as important as killing Maria.


    The girl could clearly feel Wain''s bloodthirsty aura, but she was not afraid. Maria was confident that she could stand up to Wain since she was the first challenger, which meant she was the strongest.


    It was an ironic situation since it was lucky that the humans had already taken two of the nine spots out of the twelve races on the ind.


    However, instead of uniting and forming some kind of alliance as members of one race, they were thinking about how to kill each other. In some ways, though, that was what made humans what they were.


    Vampire and Ashen decided to kill the remaining Four Kings and thus be challengers. Axalt girl decided to rely on mass attacks and collect a million minutes, killing many small monsters. However, another way to gain time was to kill other fighters on the ind.


    Some of the best assassins in the universe were Undead. They had everything they needed for that, they were best in dark and inconspicuous ces, and they knew how to deliver precise and deadly strikes.


    Whoooooosh.


    In the forest, ck shes shed among trees. It was one of the Undead, preying on members of other races. Wain was too far away to see Undead''s movements, but the speed and efficiency were impressive.


    Every time the Undead moved from one point to another, several decapitated men were left behind him.


    Using this method, even a million could be amassed in the shortest possible time.


    Wain tried to find Gisle or someone he knew, but he was unsessful. The test on the ind was not suitable for those who had to answer for others.


    Only strong loners could gather a million minutes faster than anyone else. They acted quickly, and no factors held them back.


    Gisle was the organization''s leader, and his main task was to keep his people safe. Perhaps only Zero had a chance of being one of the contenders.


    ''Hmm, when I killed the wyvern, I fulfilled one of the three conditions for starting the second evolution, but how do I fulfill the rest? To know what death is a hundred times and break the barrier between life and death... Damn, that sounds like nonsense.''