(The Primus Branch has extended their lead by another 10 points!)

“Damn, they’re moving fast.”

Renatus’s group was walking through a mountain range.

“Miko’s group will continue to gain points as long as we’re divided. Unless we corner them with numbers then we’ll be hunted one by one.”

KC scanned his surroundings while walking at the back of the group.

(They’re leaving their back exposed on purpose…With my speed, I should be able to escape if I choose to attack them…)

He shook his head.

“I think Krul will send Maki and Yaya to gather allies.”

“I’m certain he did.”

Renatus was at the head of the group.

“He convinced himself that he’s a pacifist because of that he’ll always pick the quickest path to victory if he has to fight. A true pacifist would’ve forfeited a long time ago…He’ll definitely target Miko.”

He stopped and the group did the same.

“At the moment, Krul isn’t a threat.”

He looked up. On a cliff, Ashur was staring down at them with a beastly gaze.

“The threat is the mad dog who embraced that he’s a trigger-happy warmonger.”

“Yo, Renatus. I’ve finally found you.”

Ashur released his claws and fangs.

“Let’s fight!”

He leaped off the cliff and dove at the group.

“Tsk!”

Renatus clicked his tongue and an alchemic sigil appeared on his hand.

“Renatus, don’t!”

KC flew past him with his bow in his hand. A string made of lightning appeared on it. He plucked it. He fired a barrage of lightning bolts at Ashur.

“Hm?”

Ashur swung his claws in front of him. An explosion erupted and he was flung into the side of the cliff. KC bent his back and pointed his bow towards the sky. The bowstring changed to light. He plucked it and fired hundreds of beams into the sky. The beams rained down and destroyed the cliffs that surrounded them. In a few seconds, the area was flattened. He turned to Renatus.

“What were you going to do just now?”

“I was going to fight Renatus.”

“Without checking if Kane and Hal were hiding nearby?”

Cait’s eyes widened.

“Listen, you guys are strong but you lack experience. If you had taken on Ashur you would’ve created an opening for his allies. No matter how strong you are, you guys would’ve fallen into his trap.”

Her previous encounter with Kane played in Cait’s mind.

(He’s right.)

“Sura, scan the area for Hal & Kane!”

“…There.”

Sura pointed at a dust cloud nearby. Cait’s eyes shone scarlet. She took a step forward and the mountain range trembled. She threw a punch. The dust clouds and debris were blown away. The ground burst and a trench opened up in front of her.

“Tsk. You had to ruin it, KC.”

Ashur emerged from a dust cloud. Two persons landed beside him. One was Kane, who attacked Renatus’s group earlier. The other was a man who dressed similar to him, just bulkier. This was Hal. The entire Quintus Branch was here to face the Tertitus Branch!

“If you hadn’t ruined it, we would’ve gotten them in one swoop.”

He showed off his fangs.

“But more people the merrier, I guess.”

“…..KC could you give us directions?”

“Huh?”

KC turned to Cait.

“I know that we’re from different branches and that this is a competition, but we’re family. We’ve also formed an alliance. I believe we can trust you.”

She shook her head.

“We have no choice but to trust you if we want to improve.”

(She’s asking me to lead them? To most people this might seem shameful, but it takes a lot of courage to ask for such a thing.)

He looked at Renatus and Sura. Neither showed any signs of objecting. KC sighed.

“Alright. Cait, you and Sura act as the vanguards and take on Hal and Kane. Renatus, you take on Ashur!”

The bowstring turned into stone. Yet, it was elastic when KC pulled it.

“I’ll back you guys up!”

He fired three giant stone arrows. Kane and Hal leaped in opposite directions. Ashur stood his ground with a grin. He threw a punch and a shockwave shattered the arrows.

“Go!”

Cait and Sura rushed towards Kane and Hal. Sigils appeared on Renatus’s hands. Ashur rushed towards him.

“Let’s go!”

Rin snapped his fingers and the ground came alive. It formed a fist and rushed towards Ashur. He clenched his fist.

“?!”

He swung his hand and swatted an arrow aiming for his neck. The giant fist landed on top of him.

*Bam!*

It exploded. Ashur flew at Renatus and grabbed his collar before he could react. Dozens of beams of light hit Ashur, forcing him to release Renatus. A sigil appeared on his body. An explosion devoured him and opened up a crater in the ground.

“Hahaha!”

He flew out of the smoke. Renatus flew back and landed on a sigil in the air.

“Like I would enter a fistfight with you.”

He spread his arms and sigils formed a dome with Ashur in it. Swords flew out of the sigils and at Ashur. The swords lodged into his body without a single one missing its target.

(He really took every one of them without defending…)

Renatus frowned.

“Suicidal maniac.”

Elsewhere, Kane and Cait were having their rematch. Kane threw daggers at Cait and faded into nothingness. Cait stomped the ground and earth walls erected around her. They bore through the walls. Kane appeared above the walls and threw a bladed black-chain. Cait’s scarlet eyes lit up. She blasted off the ground. The chain wrapped around her right arm. Kane pulled the chain and it ripped into her flesh.

“You want my arm?”

Cait grabbed the chain ignoring the damage inflicted to her fingers.

“Come and take it yourself!”

She pulled the chain but Kane immediately released it.

“I’m fine where I am.”

A scarlet aura covered Cait’s body.

“Then, I’ll come at you!”

Midair, she pulled her knees to her stomach and then thrust them down. With a shockwave, she flew upwards. The walls shattered as a result.

“?!”

Kane felt a heavy blow to his midsection and his surroundings blurred. By the time he realized what happened, he found himself floating hundreds of feet in the air. His body was pulled from behind.

“I’ve got you.”

A whisper reached his ear. It was followed by a deafening explosion and bone-crushing pain. Cait slammed her fist in his exposed side. She held on to his shoulder and landed another kidney shot. The punch was reminiscent of thunder. Kane’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. Their bodies flew toward the earth. Cait rapidly hit Kane with heavy blows all over his body. She clenched her fist and slammed it in his stomach. His body was forced toward the earth. It bounced off the ground and opened up a crater. Cait stomped him and widened the crater.

“………”

KC was left with his jaw touching the floor.

“…I knew that Cait was strong but not that strong. It’s like she became behemoth himself.”

He turned to check on Sura.

*Bam!*

Sura fist clashed against a Warhammer that Hal was wielding. He took a step in and slammed his fist in his stomach. Hal groaned and stepped back. Sura chased after him with another punch. Hal jumped over it and slammed his leg on the side of his head. Sura stumbled to the side. Hal flew at him and hit his chin with the Warhammer. Sura’s feet lifted off the ground. Hal swung his hammer at his side. An invisible force hit the side of his head. He lost his balance and his vision became blurry. He spotted KC at the corner of his eye.

(He’s a nuance.)

Sura pounced at him the moment his feet touched the ground. Hal’s body flickered. He popped up in front of KC swinging his Warhammer. Crackling reached his ear. A bolt of lightning fell on top of him. KC turned and saw Renatus pointing in his direction.

“Thank—”

Hal didn’t stop. He slammed his Warhammer in KC’s side.

“Ugh?!”

KC used the bow to block his attack but was still blown to the side. Hal moved to chase him. Sura and Cait pounced at him from behind. He spun around and threw his hammer at Sura. Sura twisted his body to avoid. Hal accelerated and grabbed Cait by the face. He slammed the back of her head into the ground. He ducked under a kick from Sura. He dove and grabbed his Warhammer that was on the ground. Sura chased after him. Hal slammed his Warhammer onto the ground. Spikes of earth rushed at Sura. He broke through. When he did, the Warhammer was inches away from his face.

“?!”

He moved his head and it flew past him. Hal popped up and slammed his fist in Sura’s face. Sura’s body hit the ground hard. Cait silently pounced at him from behind.

*Clang!*

She felt a cold sensation from her neck. She looked down and saw a black chain around it. It tightened cutting off her oxygen supply. She looked behind her and saw a bloody Kane. He showed a fanged smile through his broken mask.

“Learn how to tell when your opponents are playing dead!”

He pulled the chain and swung Cait into the mountainside. He slammed her into the ground and spun her in the air. Renatus was about to move to help her.

“Renatus, front!”

KC’s shout caused him to look at Ashur. His body began to move again.

“I thought that I had died.”

He took a step and the swords lodged in him shattered.

“Looks like it’ll take more than that.”

(I’m pretty sure that I coated those with poison that causes paralysis…His constitution is really something else.)

“Maybe it’s because you didn’t try hard enough, Renatus.”

The grin on Ashur’s face widened.

“I’ll help you get serious.”

A chill ran down Renatus’s spine. Ashur disappeared from where he stood. Renatus turned to follow him. He was heading towards Kane.

“Kane!”

“Wait, Ashur!”

Kane threw Cait into the air.

“Renatus, this world is cruel! It doesn’t care if you have the resolve or not!”

Ashur blasted off the ground. Renatus chased after him as fast as he could but Ashur reached Cait first.

“In this world, it’s eat or be eaten! You’ll have to fight if you want to live!”

Ashur clenched his fist.

“And if you don’t fight, you won’t be able to protect what you want to protect!”

He slammed his fist in Cait’s stomach.

“?!”

His fist hit Cait but he didn’t get the impact he was expecting. He looked and saw that Cait had caught his hand. Her fingers were disfigured as she held onto his fist. She showed a pained smile.

“I won’t go down so easy.”

She fired a beam from her mouth. The scarlet beam devoured Ashur and forced him away. This gave Renatus enough time to catch up. He caught her and landed on the ground.

“Cait, Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine—Blegh?!”

Cait vomited blood that splashed on Renatus’s face.

“…Huh?”

She lifted her disfigured fingers to her face. Her hands had turned purple and signs showed that it was spreading.

“Poison?”

“Mušmaḫḫū’s poison. I injected it in her when she blocked my punch.”

Ashur was seen slowly approaching them.

“It won’t kill her but it will render her unconscious. She will be tormented in pain as her nerves slowly die one by one.”

Blood started leaking out of Cait’s orifices as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

“…….”

Renatus’s slowly placed her on the ground. He dug into her clothes and took out her emblem.

“KC.”

KC caught the emblem when it was thrown at him.

(Team Secundus has obtained an enemy emblem! As such, they gain 10 points!)

An announcement rang clear.

“With this, no one is allowed to harm her any further.”

Renatus stood up and faced the frowning Ashur.

“Sura, cut loose.”

“Rahhhh!”

With a roar, Sura transformed into a humanoid dragon beast. He glared at Hal in front of him. Renatus clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. His eyes shone a scarlet light.

“You want me to get serious? Then, I’ll get serious, Ashur!”