Chapter 235: Prepared Well
"By the Gods..."
Talitha covered her mouth with both hands and gasped.
She was also wondering why Abigail came to visit out of a sudden, feeling that it was strange.
And she was right.
"Have you talked with her—these last few months?" Kai asked. "Did she say anything about her new group? Or have you seen her get hurt?"
"I-I have talked with her constantly," Talitha nodded repeatedly. She was mostly alone inside the room, so she paid Abigail a visit—whenever she had the time. "I visited her mostly before she went to go mining or hunting or late in the night, and she never said anything. Just that it had gotten easier with a group.
"She did get hurt, but isn’t it normal for Angels to get hurt? I didn’t think much about it."
Having to fight Awakened Monsters and Star Beasts, it was normal for Angels to get hurt.
Naturally, Talitha wasn’t suspicious about the bruises and cuts.
But perhaps he should.
"Did you think she was bullied in her new group?’
"I’m not sure."
Kai looked down; his thoughts were scattering in every direction. Chester’s trap loomed in his mind. Would he corner me in the storage building with his group and kill me there? Possible. Or would he cripple me so I couldn’t participate? Or maybe weaken me?
Since this was certainly preparations for the Dragon Ring tournament, his mind went there.
And out of the three options, the last one sounded more plausible.
Chester was too angry at Kai, so he would want the satisfaction of beating Kai in front of many eyes to assert his dominance as the strongest student. So, the trap should be to beat Kai enough so that he couldn’t fight at full capacity on tournament day.
But regardless, Kai needed to find a way to turn this around.
I need to talk with the others.
Kai blinked and focused on Talitha again.
"I wanted to spend a bit of time with you—and say that I’m sorry for leaving without a word, but I need to go..."
"Don’t mind me, Master Kai. I’m okay."
"Once the tournament is over, I’ll make sure to make up for this."
Kai turned towards the door—deciding not to take a shower and relax, as he needed to inform the others about this. If they handled this situation right, they could turn Chester’s trap inside out and seize the advantage.
Perhaps they could be the ones to cripple Chester, taking him out of the tournament that way.
It was made clear by the senior that becoming a Red Prince is incredibly beneficial.
And every single participant would do anything to achieve it.
So, Kai didn’t need to shy away from playing dirty as long as he could seize victory.
Just as Kai was about to walk past Talitha, she caught his wrist.
"Please don’t let Abigail get hurt... I’ll do anything in return. Just please protect her."
"The trap was set for me, so I doubt she’s going to get hurt."
"Even so, can you promise me to protect her?"
"... Okay. I promise I’ll protect her."
Kai knew that Talitha was doing this, being the best personal servant—because she wanted to make up for what Abigail did in the Blood Rite. And now, after Abigail helped him heal back then, the bad blood was practically gone.
Let the past be the past.
So, he has no problem in making this promise.
"Don’t go out too much over the next few days." Kai pulled his hand and held her shoulder that his hand could easily wrap around—for how small it was. "Things are about to get really dangerous. Remember Alex? What he did was merely mild bullying. If Chester gets his hands on you, it’ll be far worse."
"Y-Yes." Talitha nodded obediently. "I won’t leave the room."
"Lock the door and don’t let anyone in but me."
"Okay."
Kai pulled away and exited the room.
He quickly made his way out of the dormitory and headed straight to the Dead Range.
Moments later.
Kai stared ahead at the vast horizon absent-mindedly.
He was now riding a Pegasus, and in front of him was Dorian.
Just a few seconds ago, he had already told Dorian about what was going on, and the two of them were now shrouded in silence. Kai was silent from contemplating what to do, while Dorian was overwhelmed by the news.
"If she went ahead with the plan, do you think she’s being blackmailed?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Since Abigail is on your side, then when Chester ordered her to lure you in—she could have simply refused. Even if he threatened to hurt her or kick her out of the group, she would have walked away. The fact that she stayed means she can’t leave."
"Could be because she wanted to let us flip this trap around."
"Yes, but why would we prepare for the good things? We only prepare for the bad things."
"Wait..." Kai turned to look at the side of Dorian’s face and frowned. "Are you saying—?"
"Yes, Chester might be threatening her with Talitha." Dorian nodded grimly. "Should we turn around?"
"No need. I told Talitha to lock the door and not open it for anyone but me. If Chester wanted to get to her, then he would need to make a big commotion. I doubt he would go to that length, so it should be fine."
"Alright, then."
Both of them landed on the Dead Range about fifteen minutes later—and immediately rushed into the inner area without hesitation. For the last few months, they had been hunting mostly Star Beasts, so the inner area was where they spent most of their time.
Everyone practically already remembered the landscape like it was the back of their hands.
Other than Kai and Bree, the others were still not used to taking out Star Beasts.
Still hesitant, as each hit from a Star Beast was devastating.
However, with the trick learned from the Second Sky that involved carving out the null gem first to weaken the Star Beast, the three quickly learned to handle them with ease. Initially, the three needed to work together to take down one.
And gradually, that began to change.
Dorian and Bryan still needed to work together to bring one down.
Matilda, on the other hand, could take a Star Beast on her own, but it would take time.
Not because she was weak, but because she lacked the imprints to reach the null gem.
Moreover, her choice of weapon was only a shield, as her sword was given to Kai, making it even harder for her to battle one. Ever since last month, she had been trying out different kinds of weapons and decided to use a spear to hunt.
It has a long reach, so it’s good against Star Beasts, and it worked perfectly with her shield.
By now, everyone was already comfortable being in the inner area.
Not much variety in the Star Beasts within the Dead Range greatly helped with their security.
Unlike the outer area—the inner area was not only riddled with more uneven rocks and hills, but there were also countless graves scattered around. Death felt like a common companion in this area.
Kai and Dorian didn’t bother.
The two pressed forward with purpose, and after another half hour of running—they arrived in front of a vast mountain. It loomed over them like a Titan. A place that the Ambrosia Pact decided to make their temporary base in the Dead Range.
Back then, this mountain was crowded with Star Beasts.
Now, their numbers had thinned from being hunted down every single day.
And the remaining ones fled at the mere presence of Kai.
It was one of the reasons that Kai could only take out one or two a day.
Kai and Dorian followed the base of the mountain until they found a cave. Not that hidden— but then again, they weren’t trying to be hidden. Barbara and her Auric Cabal never bothered them, so there was no need.
Surprisingly, the others were already there.
Probably rushed here as they were going for a longer hunt than usual.
"Where were you guys?" Bryan threw up his hands exasperatedly. "We have been waiting for an hour already."
"Ask him," Dorian pointed at Kai with his thumb before going to sit beside Bree. "It’s not my fault."
Kai stood before them and stayed silent for a few seconds.
He collected his thoughts, and then finally told the group about Chester’s trap.
Matilda, Bree, and Bryan were expecting him to inform them—that they were going head-first to a nest of Star Beasts that they had accidentally found a week ago. It was crowded with more than two dozen Star Beasts.
It was going to be a dangerous endeavour, but Kai was not in his right mind recently.
And to make sure the Ambrosia Pact was placed first in the group ranking, he might want to take all of those Star Beasts down. But instead, he told them about what happened just now with Abigail.
"We should ignore it. Simply don’t come." Bryan said with a shrug.
"That’ll put Abigail in danger, idiot," Dorian slapped the back of his head. "Think."
"We could get to the storage building first and set up before they arrived," Matilda said as her brows furrowed—trying to work through the angles. "But a direct confrontation is still a big gamble for us. The Ichor Legion outnumbers us five to one. Even now, we can’t take that many people."
Kai agreed.
He can beat many students at the same time, but there will be Chester there.
No chance that Chester would let him take out the Ichor Legion freely.
And not to mention, there’s also going to be Abigail.
One wrong move, and one of the Ichor Legion members could simply take her hostage.
"Don’t forget about the group ranking." Dorian crossed his arms. "Bree said it’ll end tomorrow. First place provides every member a Grade-1 enchanted equipment—with an affinity that has an origin. Us? We’d settle for a flat Grade-1 piece with nothing behind it. Not only would we be outnumbered, but we’re also going to be underequipped."
Kai frowned at the news.
He didn’t know the group ranking would end tomorrow.
I thought it was in three days. Our group points are already so close.
Clearly, someone was going against him again.
Fearing the Ichor Legion would lose first place, the group ranking was ended prematurely.
It must be Ragnar.
Since there was no more time to catch up, there was no point in going hunting again. They would most certainly end up in second place. And that would mean yielding massive rewards—with one being what Dorian said. No wonder the trap was set for tomorrow. Chester prepared well.
"Shouldn’t our plan be obvious?" Bree spoke up. "We should simply aim for Chester."