In a large cave within a mountain in the hunting area, three young men were arguing heatedly, while behind each of them stood five very strong-looking soldiers.
"Can't we just move now?" one of the three grumbled, a sharp-featured young man with a peculiar scarf wrapped around his neck. He was Michael Tinley—the same one who had been burned by Caesar in the restaurant.
"I said no! We'll wait until the last day. The others haven't even arrived yet."
"Why? We are three geniuses with fifteen expert warriors at the tenth level. Who could possibly stand against our group?"
"Brother Phil, I must agree with Brother Michael this time. Catching and killing those clowns from the Black Sun will not require the rest of the teams. We are more than enough already."
"Do you think they will simply wait for us to pick them off? No one knows what might happen. We don't need to kill every Black Sun squad, but our goal is to eliminate the three duchy squads closest to our borders: Everen, Stanley, and Alton. Locating them in this vast hunting ground won't be easy, and even if we find one squad, besieging six cultivators to prevent escape isn't simple. Our numbers must be large during the search to succeed. We could leave now and maybe kill one or two squads at best… but what about the rest? Without coordination with the others, the whole mission fails."
"Tch… why all this trouble? Let's just destroy everyone we encounter from the Black Sun."
"We must follow instructions! I don't know the full reason behind this mission, but I believe it is a scheme to bypass the Eight Kingdoms pact. The elders are planning something much bigger, and we can't ruin everything just because you feel bored!"
"Hmph!" Michael snorted and went to sit in one corner of the cave with his followers. "Fine, I'll wait, but I have a request…"
"What do you want?" Phil narrowed his eyes; this person was becoming unbearable.
"Caesar Burton… he must die!" Michael's face twisted, radiating a powerful killing intent.
Phil fully understood the reason but avoided mentioning that humiliation so as not to provoke him further. "...The Burton family is located inside Alton Duchy, one of our assigned targets. Your request is reasonable. After the main mission, we'll make a small detour to wipe out Burton's squad as well. Are you satisfied now?"
"I won't be satisfied until I rip his head off with my own hands! But… I'll follow your arrangements for now." Michael's hand involuntarily reached for the burned skin on his neck. *I swear I'll make you regret this!!*
After about an hour another squad arrived, three hours later the fifth squad came, and then the sixth. Slowly, the geniuses and veterans of Dolivar gathered inside this ordinary-looking cave…
---
Hours passed as if they were years. The suffering of the various squads in the hunting grounds to find suitable beasts and cooperate to kill them was exhausting for both soul and body.
Nothing went smoothly for any team because of the constant presence of level 11 and 12 monsters. All squads struggled to flee from one area to another, and their biggest challenge was simply staying together while escaping. Splitting up in a place like this meant certain death.
This relentless pressure also narrowed their focus and reduced their awareness of their surroundings, making them far more vulnerable to stealth attacks from the beasts.
This was even worse for the squads of the Black Sun Realm. Many of their teams were already understaffed, containing people with low levels or poor combat skills, and worst of all, they were not used to true teamwork.
For them, meeting any beast above the ninth level was a matter of life or death.
During those two days, most of the other kingdoms' squads managed to preserve themselves fairly well, usually losing one or two followers at most since the start.
Only the Black Sun Realm had already lost over a third of their numbers!
The only good news was that all the main geniuses were still alive… but even that seemed only a matter of time if the situation continued.
The only ones acting with ease and confidence were the trio of Caesar, Peon, and Theo.
For the first time, the three had the chance to test their new powers in a true battle situation.
Although Caesar had been dueling constantly around the kingdom since separating from Robin, those had always been friendly matches on a stage, under the eyes of spectators, with no danger of death.
But now… Peon's immense speed combined with his Wind Blade, Theo's silent assassinations with darkness-imbued daggers, and Caesar's overwhelming strength backed by his unstoppable flames finally showed their true lethal potential.
Two full days had already passed since the event began, and the three had managed to slay thirty-two beasts in total, most ranging from levels 8 to 11. Once, Peon even lured a level 12 lizard beast directly toward Caesar, and together they killed it.
That was a level 12 beast!
If an entire *real* squad of six encountered such a monster, they would rather run for their lives than attempt a fight. Those beasts were only meant to intimidate squads and kill some members to spice up the show—no one was expected to actually slay them!
The trio maintained their circle radius as set by Caesar and encountered many other squads during the two days. From what they could tell, most of those squads had tokens from about fourteen beasts, give or take.
Victory in the first round was already in their pockets long ago, but the three were more concerned now with testing and refining their abilities further.
An opportunity like this would not come every day.
After the event ended, there would be one-on-one duels to determine the rankings. Caesar was certain to rampage through those matches and claim first place with ease.
Then Peon and Theo would return to Robin's side to protect him, while Caesar would resume his role with the Burton family, bullying the younger geniuses of the Black Sun in peace.
Everything will go according to plan… hopefully.
In just twenty-two hours, the hunting event would come to an end.