Meanwhile, in a cave tens of kilometers away...
"Hey, guys—sorry I'm late, haha." A voice came from outside the cave, and then a tall figure appeared at the entrance with five cultivators standing behind him.
"Sato! I will complain about this to His Majesty in the final report!" Phil shouted when he saw the newcomer.
"Oh, calm down, boy! I just wanted to kill some beasts first. I want to qualify for the second round. I'm not a loser who gives up early like you, hehe."
"You…!" Phil almost pounced on the guy called Sato, but Prince Henry stopped him halfway. "Fight later. We must start moving immediately to complete the plan. Now we have twelve teams: eleven duchies and my royal squad. We will split into three groups of four squads each.
