A fair-skinned boy stood wearing a white collared long-sleeve shirt, a black necktie, black pants, and boots. What stood out wasn't his handsome face but the short light blue hair tied back with a blue bandana—a clear sign he was a member of the Khun family, one of the Ten Great Families that once climbed the Tower alongside King Zahard.
His blue eyes settled on the lifeless crown lying at his feet. Instead of bending down, he casually lifted his knee and stepped on the edge of the crown. With a small stomp, it flipped into the air and landed in his hand.
"I'll be taking this..." he said coolly, flexing the crown in his hand and holding his head high with smug confidence.
"Damn it!" Anaak gritted her teeth. She wanted to rush in and reclaim the crown—it wasn't registered yet, so there was still a chance. However, someone beat her to it.
A tall, slim man with tanned skin stepped forward. He wore a Shaolin monk-like outfit and wielded a red spear. Originally, his opponent had been Hatz. But the moment he saw the unclaimed crown fall into Khun's hands, he shifted his target and struck decisively.
*Compared to the swordsman, he looks easier to deal with.* That was his assumption.
"DIE!" he roared, lunging forward.
But Khun calmly raised his Manbarondenna, using it as a shield to block the spear's tip.
"H-he blocked it!?" the spearman gasped, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Khun's blank expression didn't change. "It seems I'm being underestimated," he said coldly, his gaze still indifferent.
The spearman's earlier confidence began to crumble. He pushed with all his strength, but Khun's stance didn't budge. His stiff posture revealed everything—the gap in strength was too great.
Without urgency, Khun pulled a chef's knife from his suitcase and slashed the spearman. He couldn't dodge in time. Distracted and unprepared, the man suffered a deep wound.
"Arghhh!" he screamed, staggering back in pain. Before he could recover, Khun delivered a sharp side kick, launching his unconscious body toward Anaak and Androssi.
With a calm expression, Khun placed the crown inside his suitcase and walked toward the throne. "You wanted the crown, right? If any of you can take me down... it's yours. Come on," he challenged, raising his chin.
"..."
"Y-you bastard!"
"He's too arrogant—let's kill him!"
Everyone seemed to silently agree. They prepared to gang up on him—until Khun casually pulled the crown back out, stopping them in their tracks.
"On second thought... it'd be boring if I won so easily," he said with a smirk and tossed the crown into the center of the field.
"So let's do this instead. Fight among yourselves—make this game more entertaining." He sat on the throne, raising a hand like a king commanding his subjects.
"W-what!?"
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" someone shouted.
Khun just smiled mischievously. "I'm giving you the crown. Whoever wins can challenge me for the throne. Simple, right? Now fight."
The arena fell silent. No one knew how to respond.
"Screw that—let's just forget the crown and kill this guy first!" someone suggested.
"Really? Or are you just saying that so you can grab the crown while we're distracted?"
"Forget about him; I'll deal with you first!"
As tensions flared and everyone began fighting, Androssi had already slipped off her shoes. Now barefoot, she silently crept toward the crown. She was planning to snatch it from right under their noses.
But before she could take a step closer—
SWOOSH!
Green April morphed into a vine and lashed toward her. Androssi twisted gracefully, dodging it with ease. Without her heels, her full speed was finally unleashed.
"Where do you think you're going? Our fight isn't over!" Anaak yelled.
Androssi shot her a sidelong glance and sighed. "How troublesome. If that's what you want, FAKE... then I'll eliminate you now."
The two resumed their fierce battle.
The match had turned into a free-for-all. With the exception of two people from Rachel's team and Khun, every team started fighting. At this point, nobody cared about the crown, forgetting the true purpose of the game.
Baam didn't escape the chaos. Someone wielding a Glock-like weapon aimed at his naïve face.
"Let's reduce the number of competitors—eliminate the weakest! " the man declared, shooting a bullet orb toward Baam's head. Confident it would hit the carefree kid, but—
Pow!
Baam heard the sound and instinctively turned around. Seeing the incoming attack, he tilted his head, narrowly avoiding it.
"A-avoided it!? "
The attacker was stunned. He hadn't expected the naïve kid to have such reflexes. In truth, his attack wasn't weak nor particularly strong—but it was avoidable. His past opponents had simply been too slow.
"Hmph! Weak turtle! How dare you sneak attack my prey! "
Rak, the giant gator, jumped forward to shield Baam. He swung his spear, sending the gunman flying.
"Ugh..."
"Hmph! Weak! "
Shibisu had reunited with Hatz. So far, they hadn't acted, choosing instead to observe the situation—a fitting move for a future top scout. Though his strength wasn't exceptional, his intellect was.
"Should we aim for the crown? " Hatz asked.
"No... not yet." Shibisu shook his head, eyes narrowing on Khun before shifting to the crown, then Anaak. "Anaak is occupied. Even if we could steal the crown, I'm not sure we could defend it without her."
"That's true," Hatz agreed. If Shibisu took the crown, others could easily snatch it from him. Unlike Anaak, he had no long-range or AoE attacks. In fact, Shibisu claiming the crown would be no different from surrendering it.
Even if Hatz took it, his range would be limited to the throne. He couldn't leave, and defending it without Anaak's help would be difficult. But she was still caught up fighting that nimble girl and struggling to win.
"Besides, something's not right..." Shibisu added. "That guy from the Khun family—his actions seem suspicious. He put the crown in a bag and threw it away. No matter how you look at it, it's weird."
"Isn't that a strategy to reduce opponents before claiming the crown? He threw it to let them fight over it. Then, when the winner takes the throne, he'll just step in." Hatz gave his analysis.
"..."
{There's only 1 minute left until the game ends. If no one takes the throne and the crown, the game will be void.}
"A minute...? " Everyone stopped fighting upon hearing the announcement.
"W-wait, the crown! "Someone shouted.
"Let's get the crown first! "
"The crown...? Wait a minute... That's it! " Shibisu shouted, realizing something. He pounded his palm and smirked knowingly. He finally found the missing piece.
"Did you figure something out? " Hatz asked.
"Yeah..." Shibisu nodded, eyes narrowing at Khun and Rak. "Hatz, can you take those two in a fight? "
Hatz shifted his gaze and observed them for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I can. What's the plan? "
"We can ignore the black-haired kid on their team. He doesn't seem like a fighter. For now, focus on Rak and Khun. We need to steal the bag."
"Okay." Hatz didn't ask questions. He might not have relied on Shibisu's strength, but he never doubted his intellect. All he had to do was trust him—and act.
"Sword flies higher than any..."
"Hmmm? " Rak noticed something strange. When he turned to the side, a flying sword was already coming at him. He raised his spear and blocked Hatz's attack; the force pushed him back slightly.
Ding! ~ Screeeech!
"How dare you attack me, sneaky turtle! " Rak roared. But Hatz didn't entertain him.
"Sword flies lower than any..." he muttered, unsheathing another blade and launching an attack at Khun, who sat nonchalantly on the throne. But Khun wasn't idle. Sensing the intent, he drew a dagger and parried Hatz's strike.
Cha! Klang! Klang!
Meanwhile, Shibisu stood near the throne. He was waiting—waiting for Hatz to snatch the suitcase and claim the crown. Watching the clash, he thought:
*I was right. The real crown is hidden in that bag.* He had noticed the troubled expression on Khun's face when Hatz attacked. *He probably planned to weaken his enemies, then claim the throne at the last minute. That would extend the game by five more minutes—and during that time, everyone would attack him.*
*I had doubts... If Anaak defeated that nimble girl, could Khun beat her in under 30 seconds? Unlikely. But even if it were a full minute, Anaak could win. So why was he so confident? His confidence must come from that bag—a trump card.*
Shibisu glanced at the visible crown.
*That crown is fake. Then one of the bag's abilities must be to clone objects. The number of copies it can make is probably immense. If he takes the throne, he could create hundreds of fake crowns to confuse us, all while hiding the real one.*
*If that's the case... Our best shot is to steal the bag before he can take the throne—and then I'll sit on the throne myself, with Anaak and Hatz protecting me.*