Chapter 197 Beginning Of A Nightmare [4]

-(Past || A few minutes after Class Wand Elimination announcement)-

Cadmus was reading messages on his device. Inside dungeons and ruins only magic technology works, with a few setbacks of course, however inside Dungeon of Trials, it was a lot worse. A normal working device may stop working at any moment.

"How did you know Leon's location?"

Ken questioned Cadmus with furrowed brows. Ken's followers, except Lark, were already eliminated. As such, only Ken and Cadmus were present together.

The answer came from behind.

"I told him"

Swosh-

"Who's there?!"

Ken spun on his heel swiftly and scanned his surroundings. But, he didn't find anyone there.

"Why are you here?" Unlike Ken, Cadmus was a lot calmer.

Caw- Caw-

A crow settled on Cadmus' shoulder.

"What are those two cadets?! Both of them defeated ranked cadets like it was nothing! Leon even fought a small group and won without a scratch!"

The crow cawed, but the voice was surprisingly humane.

Ken looked at the exchange in shock. 'Why is a Student Council prospect working for him? And how does Student Council not know about this? There is no way they'll allow a spy in their midst.'

Gulp-

'Back when he defeated Kaneki, he made me sign an Oath by using the dirt he had on me, but Satoru doesn't seem unhappy by working under him.'

Ken couldn't help but overthink.

'Can he do all this because he is the heir to Martell House, or does he have some other secret?'

"That is what I'm trying to figure out. Leon was special and everybody knew this when he defeated the Royal Demon, but Nathan...." Cadmus picked the crow and placed it on the ground. "Isn't Nathan weird? He was bought here to help with strategizing, and yet he refused, saying it is beyond him."

"I ordered the Rank 21 to attack Nathan when he comes to transport them out without hoping for anything. But the results surpassed my expectations. Nathan, a bottom-ranked cadet, won without breaking any sweat."

Cadmus' tone betrayed his excitement.

"I may have found someone just as special as Leon."

***

-(Present || Nathan watching over Leon and Cadmus fighting)-

(Wait, what?! I understand why you think that Satoru is working for Cadmus, but it makes no sense Cadmus knew you would go to pick the Cadets Leon defeated!)

(It was only a 1/5 chance possibility)

"Uh-huh"

I couldn't help but shake my head at Eth's immaturity.

'Do you know which character I hated the most in 'Hero has returned'? '

(Cadmus)

'Correct. That bastard is too similar to me. I won't lie, I'm thinking of killing him along with the Shadow today. I dislike him to this extent. Anyway, there is no way Cadmus will leave things to luck.'

Below on the ground, the battle was progressing. Cadmus was forcing Leon to go all out and find his actual abilities.

It was surprising Leon could hold his against Cadmus without [Raikou]. It seems he used [Singularity] to train and grow in strength.

tsk

I would've done the same if my Trial wasn't so fucked up. But I couldn't deny that the exp and rewards I got were well worth the exchange.

'Cadmus pulled other overseers to another place while attacking Leon at the same time.'

(So, you are telling me that he did all that to see your and Leon's capabilities?)

I nodded.

***

-(Past || An hour before Leon was attacked by 3 ranked Cadets from the other classes)-

Ding-

[Unknown Number]

Karnavlle's device rang. Reading the CallerID he left the group of cadets and walked deeper into the forest.

"Why are you calling me? We can talk with messages!" He hurriedly spoke in a hushed voice while warily glancing around every few seconds. If someone knew what he was doing, he would lose all the reputation he had built in Ward.

-I want you to attack two places at the same time.

"How many forces do you need me to deploy?"

-All of them

"What?!" Karnavelle quickly covered his mouth and whispered in a panickingly. "I don't have the authority to move everyone! We are two classes in the alliance!"

-That is your problem. I completed my side of the deal by giving your class 20 T-points, now you need to keep your side of the deal and eliminate 1 cadet for me.

The 20 T-points Cadmus spoke of were 4 followers of Ken. Karnavelle couldn't help but feel regretful. He had accepted the deal, thinking that he would weaken Katana-Class and then leave Cadmus hanging.

But Cadmus threatened him, that he would expose the deal between them to Ward if Karnavelle didn't do his part! It meant expulsion!

For Cadmus, it might not be a big concern, but Karnavelle couldn't allow himself to be expelled! He had a lot at stake!

"Tell me the request" Karnavelle spoke through clenched teethes.

-I will send you the names of three cadets and a location. Send them to that location and tell them to eliminate the Katana Class members they will find there.

-As for the rest of your forces, I'll send you another location. Take everyone along with you there.

"The 2nd location... what is there? Why do we need to send everyone there?"

An amicable voice answered back.

-That's a surprise! However, you'll meet the captain of Katana-Class there. So, do your best if you want to win!

Beep-

The short beep signified the ending of the call.

Karnavelle was staring at the forest, lost in his thoughts when a voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Why are you here? We need to negotiate with those Wands on our next actions."

"...I'll come"

Karnavelle returned with the cadet to the group.

"You are here, team leader!"

"Don't tell me that you were embarrassed, Velle!"

"Velle! Velle! Velle!" (x8)

Class Shooter cadets laughed as they teased their team leader. Karnavelle was an amicable person however, he was a bit shy, hence scenes like these weren't uncommon in Shooter Class.

"Hmph! They are wasting our time!" Jozi, rank 7 and one rank lower than Karnavelle, spoke to his teammates. He was the team leader of Class Wand.

Karnavelle escaped his classmate's teasings and sat at the negotiation table. After much heated discussion, he was able to convince everyone to follow his plans.

'Phew... now if we can eliminate Katana-Class leader, we'll have a better chance to win.' A grim smile appeared on his face. 'Cadmus, I don't know what you are planning, but with this, you'll only have 5 cadets left! Katana-Class is doomed to lose!'

Three cadets were sent to the location Cadmus sent, while everyone else went to the other location.

Karnavelle's stigma [Terra Sense] allowed him to feel movement on the ground in a few hundred meters radius. Thus, nobody questioned why he was sending people to a specific location.

Up to this point, only 4 cadets have been eliminated and all of them belonged to Katana-Class. The morale of Class Wand and Class Shooter was at an all-time high. They hoped that all the remaining Katanas were there as it would allow them to eliminate them all in one go.

The group of 17 cadets ran through the forest. Their movements were akin to that of a pack of wolves, a true predator that hunted its prey.

Within 30 minutes, they reached their destination. At that location, they found only a single cadet.

A silver-haired girl sitting on a large boulder.

On the Cadmus' side, he smiled as he saw the GPS showing the 2-class alliance reaching Susan.

"It was a lot harder to predict where Susan will stop. Her movements were too unpredictable. Thankfully, she finally stopped."

This was what Cadmus had been waiting for since the beginning. The moment Susan stopped moving, he put his plans in motion and made the 2-class alliance move.

"Why did you lie to him about Susan being our class leader?"

"To give him hope. That they can still win." Cadmus spoke with an amicable expression while sending a few messages to Morand.

Morand was one of the three cadets going toward Leon. His job was to measure Leon's capabilities and attack Nathan when he reaches there.

'Now, Nathan and Leon, show me what you've got.'