Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Western side.

Section Five's defensive camp.

Two campfires burned in the darkness.

Shadows moved within the camp.

Hidden beyond the bushes, Section One's assault team exchanged glances.

"Their guard is terrible."

"It's Section Five. What did you expect?"

Quiet mockery passed between them.

Sixteen people.

More than twice the number defending Section Five's position.

"We'll wipe them out at once. Let's go."

At the leader's signal, the Section One trainees charged the camp together.

"Attack!"

Whoosh!

They burst through the bushes and swung their wooden swords at the shadows beside the fires.

THUD! BAM!

But what they felt at the end of their weapons was not human flesh.

"...Leaves?"

Bundles of leaves covered by blankets collapsed weakly.

An empty camp.

Only two campfires and several fake figures remained.

"It's a trap! Fall ba...!"

Before the warning could finish...

Snap!

Several tightly stretched vines beneath their feet snapped at once.

RUMBLE!

Logs that had been stacked on the slope above the camp came crashing down through the darkness.

"Aaaagh!"

"D-Dodge!"

Sixteen trainees became tangled together in the narrow space.

Some had their legs swept away by logs.

Others collided with their own allies while trying to escape.

Their formation completely disappeared.

Into that chaos...

"Now!"

Perka gave the signal.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Eight Section Five trainees burst out of the darkness.

They did not attack from the front.

They came from the slope.

From behind rocks.

They struck only the backs and sides of the confused enemies.

BAM! THUD!

"Ugh!"

Renil's wooden sword smashed a trainee's wrist, making him drop his weapon.

Tioren silently struck behind the knees of two others, sending them to the ground.

"Stay calm! They're only eight...!"

The Section One leader tried to restore the formation.

"Scatter!"

At Perka's shout, Section Five immediately disappeared into the darkness again.

Strike and retreat.

Whenever Section One rebuilt its formation, Section Five vanished.

Whenever they chased, an attack came from another direction.

Exactly according to Theron's plan.

Don't fight them head-on. The camp is bait. Your weapon is the terrain.

"Y-You rat bastards...!"

Confusion spread across the Section One trainees' faces.

Their numerical advantage meant nothing.

But it was not completely useless either.

"Everyone, backs together! Stop scattering and form up!"

The leader made a good decision.

Once all sixteen formed a circle and held their ground, Section Five's attacks gradually became less effective.

Continuing this too long would eventually get them caught.

Then...

"...Perka."

Renil retreated behind a rock, breathing heavily, and pointed beyond the darkness.

Behind the bushes.

New presences were approaching.

"Section One... main force. That's more than twenty."

The assault group had only been the advance team.

Cold sweat appeared on Perka's forehead.

They had survived the first attack.

They did not have enough power to survive the next.

"...Signal."

Perka gritted his teeth and pulled out the whistle.

Fweeeeeet! Fweet! Fweet!

They needed Theron's help now.

At the same time.

Southern ridge.

Theron looked toward the dark western forest while the whistle's echo faded.

"...They already targeted us."

Well, it was natural.

To everyone else, Section Five was probably the most delicious prey available.

There might even have been a private bet about who would take their tokens first.

Theron's eyes narrowed.

The situation began taking shape inside his head.

If I run at full speed...

He could reach Section Five's camp within a little over ten minutes.

But...

Then Isaac will follow me there.

Theron did not want to fight him yet.

His original plan had been to reduce Section Three's strength first, then face Isaac after his forces had weakened.

"Haaaah..."

Theron released a quiet breath and calmly analyzed the situation.

Three whistle blasts meant they were in danger.

But it also meant they were still holding on.

There was no need to rush blindly.

The whistle would probably make Section Three move as well.

If that was the case...

Maybe he could use Isaac's group, who were already searching for him.

Isaac. Sorry, but...

I'll borrow your strength this time.

Theron lowered his body and changed direction toward the west.

This time, he did not erase his tracks.

Quite the opposite.

Broken branches.

Clear footprints.

Even a thread from his clothes caught against a rock.

Isaac would definitely notice.

Still...

Too obvious and he'll suspect a trap. Too faint and he'll lose the trail.

He needed to stay exactly between those two extremes.

Theron began running west while leaving just enough traces behind.

What he needed now was simple.

Let's make everyone crash into each other.

"...This way."

In the darkness, Isaac rubbed a broken branch between his fingers.

Thirty Section Three trainees followed him.

After losing the search teams, Isaac had gathered everyone together instead of splitting them up again.

There was no reason to create another opportunity for the mysterious enemy to pick them off.

One of his companions asked,

"This direction... isn't Section Five over there?"

"Yes."

Everyone's eyes widened at Isaac's answer.

"Then the bastard attacking us is from Section Five?"

"No way. Our search teams lost to Section Five?"

The weakest section on the island could not possibly have done this.

Isaac rubbed his chin.

"Who knows? We don't know that yet."

His eyes narrowed.

He carefully examined the tracks.

There were signs that the person had tried to erase some of them, but the job had not been perfect.

Still... this is already impressive enough.

Did Section Five have someone this skilled?

Isaac grew increasingly interested.

He wanted to see the face of the person causing all this trouble.

There was only one disappointment.

"He's a little clumsy."

The incomplete trail allowed Isaac to follow his route.

A smile appeared on Isaac's lips.

"From here, we increase speed. If anyone falls behind, we're leaving them. Stay focused."

"U-Understood."

"Yeah."

Led by Isaac, the Section Three trainees sprinted through the forest.

After some time...

"Isaac! There's noise ahead...!"

A disturbance echoed through the trees.

Wooden swords clashing.

Shouting.

Section Three pushed through the bushes.

And before them stood the backs of Section One's main force, currently overwhelming Section Five's defensive position.

"...Section One?"

The two groups' gazes met in the air.

Section One froze at the sight of thirty people appearing behind them.

Section Three stopped for a moment after seeing what was happening.

In that brief silence...

Only Isaac understood.

If the trail led here...

That bastard had planned this from the beginning.

He had used Section Three's feet to attack Section One.

"...Ha."

A quiet laugh escaped Isaac.

Had he been used?

And so obviously?

Strangely enough, rather than anger, his heart began pounding.

"Isaac, what do we do? Retreat?"

"Retreat?"

Isaac rested his wooden sword on his shoulder and stepped forward.

Section One would have been an enemy eventually anyway.

And now they were standing directly in front of him with their backs exposed.

Why would he walk away?

"There are tokens everywhere in front of us."

Isaac's eyes sharpened.

"Take everything."

"Uoooooh!"

With Section Three's roar, thirty trainees crashed into Section One from behind.

"W-What?!"

"S-Section Three?"

"Why the hell is Section Three here?!"

The battlefield instantly reversed.

Section One had been attacking Section Five.

Now they were caught between enemies from both directions and began collapsing.

Perka watched blankly from behind a rock.

"...What the hell is happening?"

"Why is Section Three attacking Section One?"

Tioren answered Renil's question.

"Theron."

"...Huh?"

"Who else could create a situation like this?"

The three looked at each other.

Then, almost at the same time, they started laughing.

"Everyone, quietly withdraw."

Perka gave the order.

"That's enough sightseeing. While they're tearing each other apart... we'll collect our tokens."

The eight Section Five trainees slipped around the edge of the battle.

They quietly took tokens from fallen Section One trainees and disappeared into the darkness.

Theron stood on a distant rock overlooking the chaos.

Section One and Section Three were tearing into each other.

Shouts.

Curses.

The dull sounds of wooden swords colliding echoed throughout the rocky area.

Some fell.

Some rushed into openings.

Some searched fallen enemies and stole tokens.

This confusion...

It was exactly what Theron had wanted.

With everyone's attention on each other, Section Five could escape while stealing tokens.

They would not be able to take everything.

But they could probably escape with half of Section One's tokens.

Better than expected.

Theron had prepared the situation.

But surviving within it was Section Five's own achievement.

Honestly, he had not expected too much.

Even though their mentality had changed after harsh training, there simply had not been much time.

Yet now that he saw them in action...

They were far more persistent than he expected.

A faint smile appeared on Theron's lips.

Not bad.

He turned away.

While this chaos continued, there was something he needed to check.

The collapsed cliff at the edge of the rocky area.

There was something there he wanted to find.

But before he could take more than a few steps, Theron stopped.

"..."

Among the noise of battle...

One presence was approaching him through the shouting, screaming, and clashing weapons.

Theron slowly turned his head.

Beyond the darkness...

A boy carrying a wooden sword over his shoulder walked between the moonlit trees.

Isaac.

He had left the battle to his subordinates and come alone.

His clothes were covered in dust.

A shallow cut marked one cheek.

But his steps were steady.

His breathing was barely disturbed.

If anything, his eyes were calmer than before.

Isaac looked directly at Theron.

"I knew you'd be here. This is the best place to watch everything."

Theron said nothing.

He simply narrowed his eyes slightly.

Isaac came one step closer.

"If you're going to use someone... you need to pay the price."

The distant battle suddenly felt strangely far away.

In the darkness...

The two boys' eyes met.