Tsukuru heard the sound of electronic interference from the far side of the arena, indicating that the first group of the new wave were about to appear.
Across the arena, Tsukuru saw three groups of pixels begin to appear. However, these groups of pixels were clustering together into the shades of Humanoids dressed in hooded cloaks.
In each of their left hands they held a long staff with a crystal orb resting on the top.
There were three successive flashes of light, and the three figures came into existence.
Their entire bodies were covered by a tattered, dark-grey hooded robe, making them remind Tsukuru of those hooded figures from the Placement Test with the Teleportation Ability.
The only part of them that was visible was their lower arms down to their elbows that stuck out of the bottom of their sleeves.
The figures wore amulets consisting of a light-blue crystal sphere held in a gold frame, reaching down from their necks on a gold chain, as well as a golden metal belt around their waists.
The staffs that the hooded figures wielded appeared to be made out of wood, with twisted branches extending up from the top, wrapping around the light-blue crystal orb like gnarled fingers.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes at the hooded figures.
'Haven't seen you before,' he thought.
A moment later, a translucent, rectangular bar appeared above the figure's heads.
[Mage]
'Looks like it's some kind of new enemy,' Tsukuru thought.
The center mage then held out his right hand straight in front of it in the air. A moment later, a magic circle appearing to be made out of red light appeared in front of its open palm.
Tsukuru raised an eyebrow in confusion, until he then saw a red light illuminating his body.
Looking down, he saw the exact same magic circle on the ground underneath him. Large enough that he was standing in it.
'What the hell?' Tsukuru though.
He had no ideawhat the point of this circle was, but he had a bad idea.
As Tsukuru continued to look down at the magic circle, he saw a circle of flames beginning to appear around the perimeter of the circle.
Tsukuru's eyes widened, and he jumped back.
A split-second later, a vortex of roaring flameserupted out of the magic circle.
'Holy shit!' Tsukuru thought.
The vortex of flames remained for a few seconds, before it then died down.
As it did, the magic circle on the ground slowly faded.
'Great, just what I needed,' Tsukuru thought. 'Walking arena hazards.'
The remaining two Mages both outstretched their hands.
Just like before, magic circles appeared in the air in front of their hands.
A moment later, a magic circle appeared on the ground on either side of Tsukuru.
Tsukuru gritted his teeth, and leaped forward.
As he did, two tornadoes of fire erupted out of the magic circles. If he had been a second slower, he would have been trapped between them.
Tsukuru extended his right hand and activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference was heard, and pixels began to form in his hand. The pixels clustered together into the form of another Scordana Gunblade.
However, since when he had originally scanned it, it had been in its Dagger Form, that's how every recreation of it would be formed in.
Tsukuru slid the tab down on the handle, transforming it into its Gun Mode.
'Sure hope there's a head under there!' he thought, as he aimed the barrel of the gun at the center of the hood of the center Mage.
He pulled the trigger.
The sound of a gunshot was heard, and the Scordana Gunblade fired a Paleneedle Bullet in a straight line.
The bullet went right through the darkness of the hood, punching a hole in the other side. A geyser of blood then erupted from the hole.
The Mage's body stiffened, and its grip loosened on its staff.
The staff slipped out of its grasp, and clattered onto the floor.
Then, the Mage fell backwards. It landed on the arena floor with a thud, before exploding into pixels.
A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Mage. First time killing a Mage. 25 Bonus XP received. XP: 1590/8000]
Tsukuru then pointed his gun at the other two Mages, and quickly dispatched them.
As the bullets ripped through the back of their hoods, followed by a spray of blood, the Mages quickly fell to the ground, exploding into pixels soon after.
Two new System messages appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Mage.]
[You have killed a Mage.]
The sound of electronic interference was heard again.
This time, when Tsukuru looked over, he saw sixgroups of pixels beginning to form.
While the three of the left clustered together into the form of the regular Goblins, the ones on the right clustered together into the form of the new Mages.
There were six flashes of light, and the enemies manifested.
Tsukuru gritted his teeth, and charged towards the enemies.
The three Goblins all let out war cries, and charged in turn.
Meanwhile, the Mages merely raised their hands out to initiate their spell.
Tsukuru weaved around the arena floor, sidestepping the magic circles as they appeared.
He then raised his left arm up. The one holding the Scordana Gunblade holding the Flachette Rounds.
He pointed the barrel towards the charging Goblins and fired.
The sound of a shotgun rang out, and the gun's barrel released the high-density Glathrium Flachette darts in a wide spread.
Seeing as how there were 20 Flachettedarts, and only 3Goblins, the Goblins essentially became pincushions, being pierced with multiple darts.
Due to their small size, it was easy for Tsukuru to aim at their chests, leading to two out of the three Goblins being pierced in the heart by the darts.
The two Goblins stiffened, and they fell to the floor before exploding into pixels.
A System message then appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed 2 Goblins.]
The remaining Goblin screamed in pain, as he clutched his injured chest.
Tsukuru then aimed the barrel of the left gunblade at the Goblins head, and fired.
Another gunshot rang out, as well as a spread of Flachette darts.
The Goblin's head was pierced by multiple darts, and his body stiffened.
He fell backwards on the ground, and exploded into pixels.
Another System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Goblin.]
Tsukuru then turned his attention to the three Mages.
He pointed the gun's barrel at the first Mage's "head", and systematically took out all three of them.
Three gunshotsrang out, each one followed by a hole being torn in the back of one of the Mage's hoods, followed by a spray of blood.
The three Mages then fell backwards on the ground, and exploded into pixels.
A System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed 3 Mages.]
Tsukuru let out a sigh.
He looked down at his right gunblade.
Now that it was empty, it was useless as a gun.
As such, he pressed the release button, switching it back into its Dagger Mode.
The sound of electronic interference was heard again, and the next group of enemies began to form.
This time, five groups of pixels began to appear.
The three on the left took on the form of the Dark Elves, while the two on the righttook on the form of the Mages.
Tsukuru grit his teeth, and looked down at his now-depleted right Gunblade.
'Now's a really bad time to be out of bullets,' he thought.
He threw the gunblade to the side, and activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard. Pixels appeared in his hand, and began to form another Scordana Gunblade.
Tsukuru figured that this would be faster than actually reloading his gun, as the Gunblade replicas he created always had a full cylinder of Paleneedle Bullets.
It was similar to the reason why Blackbeard carried six pistols back in the age of piracy. It was actually easier than reloading.
Ironically enough, Tsukuru's Gunblade finished forming at the exact same time that the enemies did.
Six flashes of light occurred across the arena in sequence. Five on the far end of the arena, and one in Tsukuru's hand.
Tsukuru aimed the barrel of his new gun towards the group of enemies, and started firing.
And he didn't stop firing until all five of the enemies were dead.
He didn't let a single Dark Elf fire an arrow, or a single Mage execute a spell.
When he was done, he had exactly one bullet left in the Gunblade's cylinder, and two System messages had appeared in front of him.
[You have killed 2 Mages.]
[You have killed 3 Dark Elves. Video Ruler's Battle Arena-Specific Effect: 180 XP received. XP: 1770/8000]