Chapter 199 Beginning Of A Nightmare [6]

-(Past || After Cadmus 'coincidentally' touched Ken's flags; Location: Floor 13)-

"Cadmus... you..."

Leon felt indescribable emotions welling inside him. He'd been trying to end the competition early by eliminating other classes as well as getting the Bonus-stage reward. It was because, although they were told that the competition will not end before the time limit, the overseers will have no choice but to do so if only a single class is remaining and the bonus reward has been taken.

Leon had all 5 map pieces on himself and told other Katana-Class members to not take a map piece but rather call him if they found one.

However, Cadmus, having touched those map pieces, now had the ownership of 10 pieces. Leon and Cadmus had no choice but to fight to get the bonus stage reward.

Cadmus understood Leon's concerns thus he spoke. "You can eliminate me and take these map pieces from me."

"I can!?" A happy cry left Leon's mouth. 'Good! Now we can leave Floor 13 early!'

Although Leon's dream was different from reality, as time passed, he felt more nervous. This led him to trying to end the competition early and take everyone back with him.

"Thank you!"

Schwing-

The katana left its scabbard and, with a swift motion, headed to Cadmus' heart.

An attack to the heart would be counted as a lethal attack, leading to a security shield being activated. But that didn't happen, rather...

Clang-

"Why are you blocki-!?"

Bam-!

The back of the spear's shaft dug into Leon's abdomen and threw him off the ground.

His body rolled for a few meters before coming to a halt.

Cough- Cough-

"Wh..what are you doing...?"

"You must have your reasons for trying to get the Bonus-reward" Leon grimly nodded "But Leon, so do I. As the heir of the Martel family, being eliminated in this class-level competition is the same as smearing dirt on my family's face. And I can't allow that."

Swosh-

Cadmus swung his spear and banged it on the ground.

"If you want the map pieces. You'll have to defeat me."

"Why...? You didn't want them before."

"I want to give the map pieces to you, too. But it's a different matter altogether if I have to be eliminated for it." Cadmus could only helplessly smile. He also 'did not' want this.

But his eyes held firm determination. He wasn't going to back down.

Leon clenched his fists and made his decision.

"Eliminate me and take my map pieces."

For Leon, his friends weren't comparable to any prize he might get. He did not hesitate to make give up the Skill-Evolution stone.

Cadmus' brow knit. He had made the complete plan of giving Ken the map pieces and duking out with him in front of Leon to be able to fight with him with proper justification.

He could tell that Leon was hiding a lot behind his kind facade.

"I just changed my mind. I won't take the Bonus-stage reward, but I also won't give it to you. If you want it, you'll have to defeat me."

Manipulating the whole exam, making a deal with another class cadet, scouting, information exchange, and whatnot. The result? I don't want to fight?

Cadmus wasn't going to accept that.

"Why?! If you can't accept elimination, then just take the victory!"

"I don't want a victory given to me. My pride won't allow it!"

Swosh-

Without waiting for Leon's response, Cadmus attacked.

***

-(Present || Nathan watching everything from above)-

'See, poop accelerated everything.'

(...)

(...how?)

'My suspiciously stupid act, even though I was called for strategy helping, made Cadmus apprehensive.'

(You aren't wrong... and I hate you for that)

Flying lower to the ground, I opened the mini-hologram that showed the location of 9 remaining cadets.

'To test me, he needed to make sure only I from the overseers come to a specific location. For that he made the 2-class alliance face Susan, which resulted in chaos, while at the same time attacking Leon.'

(You told Susan to do her best because you predicted this...?)

'Yup. In the novel, nobody got the bonus reward because the Abomination arrived too quickly. I already led Cadmus to move in a way that would end the competition early. The next task was to make sure Susan eliminates every cadet to end the class competition.'

Cadmus must be thinking that he had Leon and me under his palms. Not knowing who was the puppeteer and who the puppet.

(But that doesn't explain how you'll get the map pieces)

'I won't. My aim was to make sure Leon or Susan complete the treasure map. As long as I get to know its location, I can collect it amidst the chaos the Abomination will create.'

The fight below was coming to an end.

Leon had an upper throughout the fight thanks to his stigma [Full-Frame]. It was surprising, to say the least. Using his stigma makes Leon go through the pain and it increases the more time passes in that state. Yet he fought with his stigma for over 10 minutes already.

'His progress in [Singularity] is no joke.' I was curious about what Leon faced there to become this strong.

Other than the massive skeleton giant, [Raikou Lvl.1] negates the physical damage Leon takes by 90%. He should have had to face a hellish trial, too. It wouldn't matter if he progressed with another skill, as the Tower will take it as Leon's fault for choosing the wrong skill.

(Leon is about to win)

'I doubt that'

On the mini-hologram, Susan's GPS was coming to their location. And going by Susan's thought process, she'll think I want her to collect the map pieces, too.

'She must have followed the four cadets before, thinking they might have map pieces.'

Given her exceptional direction sense, I could bet she was worried about losing those cadets. So, she reasoned that she'll defeat them before they get too far and thus wouldn't be lost while coming back to collect the map pieces lying there.

(She wouldn't become lost again, would she?)

'I hope not. Cadmus and Leon are causing tremendous amounts of energy fluctuations in the atmosphere. Susan should be able to pinpoint them with it. Especially because of her physique.'

Suddenly, an announcement rang.

-ALL CADETS FROM CLASS SHOOTER HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED-

-CLASS SHOOTER HAS BEEN ELIMINATED BY DEFAULT-

'It's here!'

My eyes shined.

Turning to the crow, I spoke, "I take those eliminated cadets out."

Caw- Caw-

The crow nodded.

(Why are you leaving this location? Don't you want to see who'll win?)

'Really, Eth? Are you serious?'

tsk

I pointed at the mini-hologram.

(What do you mean.....)

(Who eliminated those cadets from Class Shooter?)

Cadmus, Leon, and Lilith were in the area of the fight while Susan was rushing there. That only left a single cadet.

'Lark, or should I say X.'