The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage

The alarm bells in Otto's mind continued to rise in volume.

His eyes glanced around at the surrounding forest dispassionately. But his gaze hid a deep wariness and vigilance.

Specific areas of the forest were pinpointed with an almost laser-like precision.

Otto's eyelids covered his heavy gaze as his brows furrowed almost indiscernibly.

He also cast [Sense Life] over and over again.

As before, there was no response.

The corner of Otto's lips curved ever so slightly upwards.

His feet bounced across the ground.

They created minuscule air pockets that drilled deeply below the surface, tiny casts of [Tunnel] with little mana added at all.

The sense of danger began to ratchet up in intensity.

He was now 10 kilometers away, approaching the coin rapidly.

9 kilometers.

8 kilometers.

Otto paused for a split second, unnoticeably, before he quickly kept moving at a slightly slower pace.

7 kilometers.

6 kilometers.

Jackal stirred slightly from Otto's shoulders.

Otto didn't know if he was woken by the same intuitive sense of danger that was continually warning him to stay away.

5 kilometers.

At this point, the alarm bells in Otto's mind were beginning to drown out his other senses.

He felt as if a viper the size of an elephant had locked its deadly gaze directly onto him.

Then proceeded to mark him as its prey.

The forest ring was deathly quiet.

Only the sound of Jackal's faint breathing could be heard through the silence.

4 kilometers.

Otto's brow slightly furrowed for a split second. He revealed a small frown before his expression relaxed.

His pace slowed to a walk.

3 kilometers.

Otto's ears picked up a hint of a rustling noise.

His eyes glinted.

His expression was mysterious and inscrutable.

2 kilometers.

1 kilometer.

The alarm bells in his brain were deafening.

Every single muscle in Otto's body screamed at him to ESCAPE NOW.

That continuing forward was nothing less than certain death.

Something was seriously wrong with this coin.

But Otto paid none of it heed.

The trees and plants in the forest were loosely packed into this area of the ring.

They cast ghostly shadows in the afternoon light.

The shadows seemed to reach towards Otto's position.

At this point, Jackal had finally awoken.

He walked alongside Otto as they approached the position of the million point coin.

However, something seemed to startle him.

He looked around in caution before muttering under his breath, preparing to climb a tree and hide.

The forest remained quiet.

There was not a single noise of disturbance.

Jackal's footsteps made barely any sound as they hit the ground.

Otto's back was turned towards him.

Jackal's expression was illuminated in the golden light of the afternoon sun.

Suddenly, his expression twisted behind Otto's back, revealing intense calm.

Underneath the surface, there was a layer of ferocity.

A sharp grin alighted on Jackal's face.

A grin completely different from the meek expression he used to face Otto every day.

He made a seemingly innocuous gesture.

One finger lifted up.

Jackal started to activate his previously prepared magic tool.

It was an extremely expensive tool that functioned like Otto's [Blink], but with a much longer range.

He hastened his preparations. This tool was his lifeline. Jackal had to use it right away.

But right before activation, Jackal was startled by a voice.

It came from behind him.

Otto's tone was mild, even conversational.

"Hey, Jackal."

His head turned towards the boy, head tilted as his expression revealed his 'confusion.'

Otto's voice slightly deepened.

"What are y-"

But before he bothered to finish his own statement, his eyes glinted.

Otto Moved.

Spells erupted from his body in immediate succession.

It was the fastest cast time Otto had ever recorded.

Since although the [Tower] screen mentioned that his casts were 'Instant,' this didn't mean he could literally cast them 'instantly.'

The nature of instantaneous meant that it was only possible to approach, not to hit.

And that there was no theoretical or practical limitation on his ability to cast these spells at the fastest possible speed.

And Otto cast his spells pretty damn near instantaneously at this moment.

Because this was a defining 'instant,' Otto needed to work as fast as humanly possible.

Moreover, he wasn't able to dual cast right now.

As he was still holding on to a specific spell in preparation.

Before Jackal even registered that something happened, Otto conjured two [Earth Spikes] ten meters in front of him.

Two large cones of earth ending at a gleaming tapered point emerged quietly from the ground.

Otto also secretly added a [Swamp Ground] around them.

The spikes were quickly shrouded in green poison erupting from the swamp below.

Meanwhile, he continued to speak seamlessly to Jackal, who still had his back turned towards him.

As if the man who was casting spells silently in succession was not him.

It was another extraordinary function of Otto's innate [Multitask] trait.

"You play-"

In an instant, Otto released a rarely used spell that was generally thought to be a dark element spell that was used to save allies or summons, as the 'limited version' required the target's mental consent.

Otto's spell, of course, did not.

[Connecting Shadow: Unlimited]

Dark Element

Level 11

Connect the shadow of the caster with the shadow of another, allowing the caster to instantly transmit the body of the connected to the caster. Maximum distance 110km.

Mana Cost: 550

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

Silently, Otto's shadow twisted and writhed beneath him.

Then it stretched the few dozen meters needed to reach Jackal's position.

Jackal's figure vanished.

The entire process was so rapid that Jackal's finger was still pointed in the air.

Otto directed his shadow to place Jackal directly on top of the spiked swamp.

Jackal still hadn't had a single moment to react.

The spikes impaled his body right through his legs, leaving his feet stuck in the swamp.

He didn't have any leverage to move his body.

Otto then went ahead and added insult to injury.

Tendrils of shadow bound all of Jackal's limbs.

Jackal was stunned for a split second as Otto finished his sentence with a small smile.

"aying at?"

Jackal heard it as a seamless sentence,

"Hey, Jackal. What are you playing at?"

Jackal's expression seemed horrified and panicked. He looked imploringly at Otto.

But he didn't have time to say a word before Otto maneuvered the tendrils of shadow binding his limbs.

Jackal's finger began to fall against his will.

Suddenly, Jackal's expression changed.

Gone was the imploring look, the fear and accusation that ringed his face.

A vicious curve was added to his lips, forming an ugly sneer as his eyes glinted with a sinister light.

But below the surface, a hint of fear and panic could be distinguished from his features.

He didn't have a moment to speak as his finger fell.

It retracted back into his curled fist.

For a moment, the forest was still. A heavy blanket of silence enrobed the surrounding area.

Jackal's horror filled expression was clear as he used his fastest speed to rip apart his bindings.

Even if he knew it was now too late to use his magic tool to escape.

He groaned inwardly. He didn't think he would end up being unwillingly caught in a trap of his own design.

His tool would no longer work now that the trap had officially been sprung.

Luckily, Jackal doubted he would actually die from this.

But he wouldn't have a good time, either.

Perhaps, his only comfort now was that Otto absolutely wouldn't be able to escape.

He'd led him into the trap with his own two feet, after all.

Darkness passed through his gaze.

He had planned this particular scheme for quite a while.

It was time to reap the harvest.

The moment of silence passed, and the air unfroze.

Suddenly, something erupted.

It was initially silent.

The trees, plants, soil, water, and even the air in a radius of five full kilometers surrounding the million point coin simply vaporized.

A ghastly, pulsating blue radiance formed a giant pillar that extended all the way to the sky.

The trees were gone, so it radiated outward, unhindered.

A second passed, while a few Throskarts on the other end of the forest ring felt slightly confused.

Why was there suddenly an additional blue sun in the sky?

Then, out of the great silence, came a mighty thunder.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

A deafening boom bored into the ears of every Throskart within 100 kilometers.

Those closer felt blood pouring out of their eardrums, as they suddenly couldn't hear anything, while those further away covered their ears and screamed in agony.

The explosion contracted.

Then it swelled.

An aftershock ripped through the air in every direction, radiating outward in the shape of a bloated cylinder.

Those closest to the blast were smashed onto the nearest obstacle. Their life and death were unknown.

Trees fell. Plants were uprooted. The dust in the air cut into solid objects like a knife through snow.

Everything in the entire forest ring was pushed back for a brief second.

The forest ring of Yzmar spanned a circumference of thousands upon thousands of kilometers.

Millions of Throskarts were contestants in this game show, doing their very best to keep their own lives, day by day.

But at that moment, every single contestant shuddered in fear.

They looked up, terrified as the blistering force swept past their bodies.

The second sun still hung near the ground, from far away observed as a bizarre pulsating blue.

The light bored its way into their souls.

The earth shook underneath their feet.

Millions of Throskarts gazed in the direction of the boom.

The explosion literally rocked the entire planet.

As if an enormous monster had awoken from its slumber.

At the site of the explosion, nothing was present other than the slowly dimming light.

It shone on the ground to reveal an oblong crater of enormous proportions.

The shockwave continued to spread.

BOOOOOOM

BOOOOOOOOOOM

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Aftershocks continued to rock the forest.

Barely anything remained in its wake.

A layer of soil almost a full kilometer thick was directly ripped off the surface and catapulted into the air.

The disturbance didn't die down for an entire five minutes.

The air itself was thick with dust.

It also thrummed with residual power.

Silence once more descended onto the forest.

Until finally, after another thirty full minutes, a veritable horde of Throskarts emerged from eight or more kilometers away.

They came from underground, the tops of the trees, hidden in various ditches, tree trunks, and even some small caves.

Some looked to be in sorry states, bodies broken, ears bleeding, limbs removed.

And this was after they made their preparations....

The audience of these contestants were all going crazy, busily sending their messages to game screens.

[What was that giant explosion!!!]

[Since when did we develop such a powerful weapon?]

[I'll suck your **** if you tell me a military secret.]

[^ you tryna bait someone into getting arrested…]

[They said they just needed to level part of the forest ground, so why are all these people here?]

[This smells so suspicious!]

[It's some sort of cover-up…]

[something smells rotten from upstairs]

[Who were those two people we saw before the explosion?]

[Update: I have an image from just before the boom, it's grainy, but if you look carefully, there's a coin there]

[OMG]

[IT WAS A TRAP]

However, even if the audience members sent gifts, the Throskarts at the scene could only ignore them.

They'd been sent here for a purpose.

A few murmured to each other,

"He couldn't be alive after that, right?"

"What was that weapon, anyway? How terrifying."

Even the ranked contestants with green tokens had goosebumps all over their bodies.

Suddenly, a figure walked out from the aftermath....