Chapter 45: Elias’ Tactic
Before stumbling upon this Predicament, Elias had explained beforehand to Hilda’s group the tactic they used for every hunt.
He explained that, after locating a Predicament, his squad would split up into two groups before the attack.
"LOOK OVER HERE YOU BAT-EYED FREAK!" A group of 8 people shouted in unison, immediately drawing the attention of the feasting Scoundrel — its ears twitching at their insult towards it.
This was Group One.
The fiend stopped what it was doing and calmly pushed itself up to its legs, then leapt towards them like a frog without warning. It flew into the air, casting a wide shadow over Group One, who had begun to make a mad dash towards a random direction.
In this tactic, Group One was tasked with drawing the Predicament’s attention and luring them towards a designated area. It was a task that frequently caused casualties in Elias’ squad, for if you weren’t fast enough, you would be crushed under the slender frame of the Scoundrel.
"WE’RE ALMOST THERE, GET READY!" A man from Group One shouted.
Luckily, as long as they all managed to lure the Predicament to the designated area...
That would allow Group Two to take action.
Elias, watching as Group One passed them, and sensing the heavy vibrations of the lured Predicament, straightened his back.
And the moment the lured Scoundrel entered his field of vision, he brandished his metal rod at it and fearlessly roared:
"KILL IT!"
The armoured Predicament they had brought jutted with life at Elias’ order and hurriedly rushed forward, charging at the lured Predicament, who was too late to react to the sudden sneak attack.
Lunging at the enemy Predicament, the armoured Predicament used the metal spikes welded into its knuckles to pierce into the body of the enemy Predicament — allowing the armoured Predicament to push it towards a building and smash through it!
After the armoured Predicament swooped in to save Group One, everyone quickly regrouped before swiftly moving towards where the fight was taking place.
Elias, who had put together this tactic, knew one or two things. He knew in a one-on-one battle, their Predicament could not win if it was an equal fight. That was because, unlike a regular Scoundrel, theirs was missing its eyes.
And while it was true that Scoundrel had severely poor eyesight, it was still an advantage over theirs, which could only rely on its sense of hearing and smell.
Thus, in a fight where you’re at a disadvantage, Elias knew there was one way to level the playing field a little.
And that was by playing dirty.
After reaching the edge of where the fight was unfolding, they stopped to spectate the brutality.
The armoured Predicament was at an advantageous position, weighing on the chest of the enemy Predicament, who was unable to free itself from its precarious position.
The group then watched as the armoured Predicament brought down its hands and began to brutalise the enemy Predicament’s face. Blood, flesh, and broken teeth flew from the brutalisation, spilling onto the ground and creating an abstract canvas of gore.
It was obvious that the armoured Predicament had the upper hand, but that didn’t mean the enemy Predicament was going to go down lightly.
In retaliation, it began to fiercely scratch at the armoured Predicament’s sides before completely penetrating it with its sharp fingers.
And once it did, it rummaged its fingers inside the body of the armoured Predicament’s, its fingers slithering inside like ferocious snakes. It wreaked havoc inside the armoured Predicament.
Its fingers scratched at the outer lining of organs, hooked around and cracked ribs, and caused a disturbing squelching sound whenever it did anything, as blood bubbled its way out of the armoured Predicament’s body.
Fortunately, the armoured Predicament cared not about this, as it now fought without pain.
Lunging down and burying the enemy Predicament’s fingers deeper inside its body, the armoured Predicament opened its fearsome maw and bit down on the enemy Predicament’s neck.
Unfortunately, the strength of its bite was not enough to saw through its neck.
But that was where the last step of the plan came into effect.
"CHARGE!"
With Elias’ roar, everyone rushed forward, their sharpened weapons in hand.
Before the enemy Predicament could fully comprehend what was happening, its skull had already become littered with stab wounds.
"WE DID IT!"
"HELL YEAH!"
Watching as they celebrated and extracted the Predicament’s eyes, Hilda couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction — pleased with what she witnessed.
The tactic Elias had constructed was by no means perfect, which Hilda was sure the Street Rat knew himself. But she was also sure the man knew that the tactic was effective enough in what it needed to do.
And that was what mattered, for the success of something wasn’t usually defined by its process, but rather its result and the value of it.
If Elias had been able to hunt all the Predicaments his squad had faced up until now with this tactic, and still retained more than 80% of his original squad...
Then that was all that mattered.
’Mister Thorne doesn’t seem to be much of a dunce, after all.’ She thought, re-evaluating the Street Rat in her mind. ’He seemed to be more of a practical worker, rather than a calculating thinker. What a nice change of pace~...’
Nadia, who had been sticking close to Hilda, noticed a significant change in Hilda’s mood.
She sensed the woman to be... happier compared to when she was in the warehouse.
’Is it because she just watched a Predicament die?’ Nadia thought, quirking an eyebrow, ’Or could it be because she watched Elias’ plan unfold smoothly?’
"... Hmm..."
Given what she knew about Hilda, it was most likely both.
...
Elias’ squad continued their hunt for the next few hours, putting down every isolated Scoundrel they could find.
While there had been a few close calls with a few of their members, they had come to know that—
BANG!
—They had a rather talented marksman with them.
Seraphine shot her gun towards the lured Predicament and managed to accurately shoot directly into its ear, destroying its eardrums and stunning it — allowing the people, who were about to be struck down, to escape.
For the past few hours, she had been doing the best she could to support the hunts, hoping to get a better impression in Hilda’s and Nadia’s eyes. And it was safe to say that she succeeded.
Watching as the Predicament she had deafened was pummeled into the ground by the armoured Predicament, Seraphine gaped in shock.
’How did I get lucky again!?’ She shouted in her head, ’Am I just good with a gun or something?!’
Her eyes then gleamed.
’Wait, maybe this is my cheat! My cheat is that I’m good with a gun—ehhh... no, that’s stupid...’
There’s no way her cheat was being good with a gun, especially in a world like this.
Seraphine sighed deeply, still clinging onto hope she would realise her cheat.
"Hahaha! You really do have some potential, Miss Halloway!"
Before Seraphine could react to her name being called, she felt an arm hook around her neck.
Hilda leaned in close, grinning jubilantly.
"Although firearms are usually reserved for the POP, I think you would do well in the military! Hehe," Hilda chuckled before sighing in regret, "It’s a shame I’m not good with firearms, otherwise I would definitely teach you a thing or two."
Upon hearing that, Seraphine sighed in relief, before internally pumping her fist into the air out of joy. Although she was certain all the shots she fired were only accurate out of pure luck, who cares!?
She had just secured her future!
Seraphine then froze.
’Wait... I DON’T WANNA GO INTO THE MILITARY!’
She wanted to live a peaceful life after this exam! Until she found a way back home, of course.
Seraphine cried inside, still extremely homesick.
As Hilda continued to pull her around, Nadia couldn’t help but shoot Seraphine an interested look, then at Callum.
The two of them were definitely going to be useful to have around... maybe she should put in more of an effort into befriending them.
As Nadia was thinking this, Elias, who had just placed the newly-extracted eyes into his satchel, noticed a group up ahead coming towards them.
He scowled.
’It’s them again...’