Earlier, in the outer zone.
Five students lay on the ground, wounded.
Vibrating energy arrows were lodged in their flesh, burns licked their uniforms, and deep cuts let their blood flow freely.
"AHHH!! You're nothing but cowards!" shouted the man who seemed to be the leader, his face twisted with pain and rage. "You attacked us from behind!"
Before them stood Jett, Leo, and Marcus.
Impassive.
Not a trace of fatigue on their faces.
"Who said a hunter can't be hunted while hunting?" replied Jett, his tone cold and logical. "You let your guard down yourselves."
A new groan of pain interrupted him.
"Give up and use your return scrolls. Otherwise… you'll simply die here," he concluded.
Leo crossed his arms. A faint orange glow still emanated from his forearms.
"You'll be eliminated from the competition, but at least you'll live."
Tsk.
They gritted their teeth, frustration raw. But the choice was simple. Cruel. Obvious.
Even losing the competition—and the chance to access better resources—was better than losing their lives. Their performance so far would at least guarantee them something.
One by one, they activated their scrolls. Their bodies dissipated into silent white light.
"Three teams eliminated," Marcus counted, emotionless.
"So what now?" asked Leo, stretching his shoulders. "Do we keep hunting in the outer zone?"
"No," Jett replied without hesitation. "We head to the inner zone. The real challenge starts there."
"I thought we were going to look for Remedy first," Marcus added, one eyebrow slightly raised.
Jett stopped abruptly.
"He'll come anyway. Everyone aiming for the top of the leaderboard will end up there. It's inevitable."
"And if he doesn't come?" Marcus pressed.
The question hung in the air, mixed with the smell of blood and ash.
Jett remained silent for a moment, his piercing gaze fixed on the dark, thick forest.
"If he doesn't… I'll be deeply disappointed by his tenacity."
He resumed walking, moving into the denser shadows of the forest. Then, in a whisper so low only the trees could hear:
"… That would be a real shame."
Without another word, the three silhouettes melted into the verdant gloom, leaving behind silence—and the traces of methodical carnage.
---
"No. We're not going to the inner zone," Remedy said.
[DING! SERENE HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY]
"Finally… but not just yet."
Serene looked at him.
"Do you have something to do in the outer zone?"
"Yes."
He paused.
"We're going to clear the entire outer zone."
The words sounded almost exaggerated.
Remedy continued, unshaken:
"By now, those who didn't want to compete have already proven themselves and left.
As for those who remain, most of the weaker ones have already been eliminated.
And those still in the running… if they want to increase their chances of winning, what will they do?"
"…Head to the inner zone?" Serene replied.
"Exactly. They'll rush there to level up quickly and accumulate as many points as possible.
Worse, some will prepare the ground—ambushes, traps—for those who arrive after them."
Serene furrowed her brows slightly.
"In that case, wouldn't it be better to go there as fast as possible?"
"For most teams, yes."
He turned slightly toward her.
"But for us, it's different.
With you here, we can clear the entire outer zone without difficulty.
And since there's almost no one left… we can farm freely, without interruption."
Serene stepped forward a few paces.
"Alright. I'll start here."
She unleashed her energy, extending from herself like a natural extension.
A black point appeared above her head.
Her energy spread like a shadow, forming an invisible field with a radius of about twenty meters around her.
Within this field, Remedy felt something change.
A new excitement surged within him, his combat will greatly increased and his reflexes sharpened almost to perfection.
Above her head, a perfectly smooth black sphere materialized.
Remedy opened his palm, then slowly closed it.
I still can't get used to this feeling.
Then came sounds. Cracks. Heavy footsteps.
A massive horde of monsters surged from all directions, encircling them.
Their gaze was fixed on Serene with primitive intensity, as if she alone embodied everything they had ever wanted to possess… or destroy.
Above each creature, dark arrows floated in the air, all pointing toward the black point above Serene.
Then, with a snap of her fingers, Serene created a cracked black sphere at the center of the arrows, on the verge of destruction.
Instantly, the light in each monster's eyes dimmed. They wavered like empty shells, devoid of any will to fight or act.
Then, in a flat, emotionless voice, she declared:
"Your turn."
Remedy stepped toward the monsters, now stripped of almost all willpower.
The hammer appeared in his hand with a silent click, like a crack in reality.
One step. Two steps.
"Let's go."
Then he charged, the hammer spinning in his hand like a deadly propeller.
With a powerful throw, he sent the weapon toward the compact group of monsters. The hammer didn't strike them directly—it scooped them up. It caught them like bowling pins, tossing the front ones onto those behind, piling them into a writhing mound of flesh and fur.
Meanwhile, Remedy was already there, leaping through the air in an arc, hand wide open.
Thud.
The hammer vanished from the heap of monsters and instantly reappeared in his palm, like a magnet snapping back.
He raised it high above his head, charging a crushing vertical strike.
I pity you, poor creatures, drained of all will…
BOOOOOOM!
The impact was cataclysmic. The ground shook. The heap of monsters was literally flattened into the damp earth.
[DING! MONSTERS ELIMINATED: LV 3 x3 | LV 4 x3]
Remedy rose, weapon in hand, looking almost professional. He glanced at Serene, still motionless at the center of her black field.
"Time to clean up the outer zone," he said, as if announcing the start of a mundane chore.
---
Chapter 9 — End
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