The two disciples regrouped together, eyeing Luna and Eric carefully.
They debated, settling on making Luna their primary target to secure the second and third spots.
They kicked off the ground, assaulting Luna.
Their combined strength was overwhelming, forcing her to defend herself relentlessly.
Eric sneered, viewing the whole farce as mere bullying.
He despised such behavior after experiencing it himself, and it pissed him off to see others repeating it.
"You dare bully on my watch, you scumbag?" He muttered quietly, conjuring a sense of justice before sneaking on them.
He pointed his sword at one of them, activating the Void Fang.
It struck his target's back, causing him to howl in agony.
"Arghhh, you motherfucker! Are you insane?!"
The target screamed, suffocating from the sheer pain tormenting him.
The other disciple grumbled since Eric's interference was ruining their hard work.
"My fucking backbone, why did you aim at my bloody backbone?!"
Suddenly, Eric's target roared, decapitated by the attack he took from behind.
His teammate looked at him, considering the situation at hand.
He knew they stood no chance, especially after the fall of his camarade.
He originally wished to secure the second place by betraying the fool.
But did he have to settle for second place? Nope.
His awareness and lack of strength told him he stood no chance against either Eric or Luna.
The situation left him with two options:
One, to abandon and leave his friend to enjoy his suffering alone.
Two, to betray his friend and end his suffering by himself.
Time was unforgiving, forcing him to take the second option.
He believed keeping the kill to himself was better than handing it over to others.
"You fool, help me back up!" Suddenly, the familiar voice rang in his ears.
His eyes drifted to the guy beside him, nodding before approaching him with deliberate slowness.
"Grave situations demand great sacrifices!"
The words fell into the guy's ear, followed by a stomp on his backbone.
"Arghh stop, you fucking traitor!"
He screamed in agony, his strength refusing to rescue him.
The attacker continued his assault until his victim passed out from the pain, feeling glad he did it.
"Hoho ho, ruthless indeed!" Justin smiled, enjoying the play at hand.
He continued, "But now you've thrown under the bus, enjoy it!"
The disciple frowned, then began sweating.
He realized Eirc and Luna were targeting him now.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He screamed in frustration, looking at Luna.
She was a good target, but he doubted Eric would leave him alone with that sense of justice.
He nodded as if it no longer mattered to him, charging at Luna.
'Oh boy, you shouldn't have left your back exposed.'
Justin thought, witnessing Eric catching up to the guy.
He swung his heavy sword, aiming for the guy's shoulder before hacking downward.
"Curse you, my arm! I needed that arm!!!"
The unfortunate guy screamed, his arms falling alongside his sword.
Eric responded, "Shut up," his attacks raining on the guy.
"Only two of you remain, who's gonna get the prize?!"
Justin clapped, ignoring the bloodied guy completely.
With no arm, his future was pretty much in tatters unless he afforded a regeneration pill.
Unfortunately, being the third place didn't earn him enough rewards to afford it.
But if the incident bred him a grudge against Eric and Luna, Justin didn't hesitate to help him just to benefit in the end.
"Are you going out, or do I help you a little?"
Eric stepped forward, asking Luna his favorite signature question.
Luna could have accepted the second place with peace of mind. However, the first-place rewards and her plan disagreed with her.
She knew a man's weakness remained no matter how strong he became, so she went for his weakness.
The first step was distracting him to put his guard down.
"What do I get for surrendering?" She stepped forward, asking him.
"Five refined pills for not wasting my time,"
Eric responded, smiling at her as she threw her sword away.
Luna said, "Sounds like a good deal," before raising her fist, aiming at her head.
She breathed heavily, acting like she was fighting against herself.
"How about ten pills? Hahaha!"
Amused by her hesitation, Eric suggested before laughing out loud.
Luna sneered internally as he approached.
She said, "fifteen pill," making her mind to take the next chance he slips.
"Stupid woman, why don't you take all of my prize?!" Eric shouted like a fool, raising his head proudly.
'That's it,' Luna thought, charging forward right away.
"You rat!" Eric responded, shocked by her action.
He swung his sword, only for her to bend her back, arriving before him.
Suddenly, she punched his precious area, causing him to hold tightly.
Eric's heavy sword fell to the ground, leaving him defenseless.
"You fucking bitch!" He roared as Luna ignored him, circling behind before striking his backbone.
He screamed, "Aaaaaaaaaaah fuck!", cursing again as she continued abusing him mereclessly.
His resistance was high, and his will to win helped last for him for a few minutes, but then he collapsed, silently unconscious.
Justin was completely silent.
He expected Eric's actions to bite him in the ass, but not in this way.
"Flawless victory!" He suddenly exclaimed, announcing Luna's victory.
However, he guessed the situation might get worse between these three.
Since the tournament was over, Justin began removing the spikes.
Slowly, the disciples began awakening.
Eventually, all rewards were handed out, including the bronze tokens.
"Token carriers may visit me to enter the primordial tower to cultivate fifty times faster!"
Justin suddenly announced the use of the bronze tokens he came up with a while ago.
Naturally, he gave the tower a fancy name just to make its value known.
The top three nodded excitedly as Justin waved his hands, allowing them to leave.
He shouted, "INNER DISCPLE QUALIFICATIONS SHALL START TOMORROW," announcing his intent.
Once done, he took a tour around the sect, searching for Elder Alex.
Unforntaly, Justin couldn't find him. Prompting him to pay the core zone another visit.
He knew the recent events were an unpleasant experience for some, but he didn't care.