The figures burst into action imdiately.
One of them dove imdiately for Earth team’s flag while the other slamd a palm against the floor, creating so kind of barrier around them.
The first guy was bald and had tattoos all over his forehead while the second was wearing sunglasses with a Hawaiian button-down shirt.
When nothing seed to happen, they relaxed.
The bald one exhaled sharply through his nose, rolling his shoulders once as if shaking off irritation.
"Score!" he yelled in excitent, "Didn’t think we would take down that big team!"
"Damn it," Sunglasses clicked his tongue. "A thief managed to get away with the sheep’s flag."
The first one shrugged, standing up straight while tucking the earth team’s flag neatly into his pocket.
"Whatever. It’s just one point anyway. The sheep wasn’t carrying much."
Sheep?
It was a slang, almost even a slur, that he’d heard before. Curse Elent Bloodlines had always walked the thin line between Demonic Paths and Normal Paths—just enough that it made people uneasy.
And the term used by them, mostly for the victims who were under their influence, was ’sheep’.
Aren clenched his fist. How can a normal human being compare another person to livestock?
"But man...you’re a genius for cursing that princess, man," the bald one said with a grin. "Who knew she’d end up being our opponent?"
Aren’s focus sharpened instantly.
Wait...are they referring to Yuna?
"I told you," Sunglasses replied, almost sounding bored. "That’s how we got a free win."
"She kept calling us ’monsters,’" Baldie snorted. "Over and over again. Sa as the others."
"Yeah," Sunglasses chuckled. "All I had to do was anchor it to that word."
"Every ti they say it, it refreshes," he continued casually. "You wouldn’t believe how many people love using that insult."
"They call us monsters like it’s clever," the tattooed one said, shaking his head. "Might as well give us permission."
"Right? Sa with that Plant Guy, it’s like the points are coming to us by themselves."
So that’s how they got her, by using a keyword. Monster...was it?
Aren filed the information in the back of his head and put it away. He knew exactly what to do with it when the ti ca.
Up above, the tir had updated along with the tremble that he was used to from before.
20:00
But this ti, it ca with an announcent:
Eliminated Departnts: Water, Plant, Earth, Steel
Then, the screen rearranged, showing the rankings of each team’s points.
[Rankings]
Curse: 5 Ice: 5Lightning: 3Wind: 3Fire: 2
Aren recounted the total available points. He was holding Plant’s and Water’s points, along with his own, which totaled 3.
Curse just took Earth’s flag worth 3, along with their own flag, which was 2, totaling 5.
That ant...
Luna’s team took out the Steel Departnt.
Wind and Fire, on the other hand, hadn’t made any movents yet. They were probably conserving strength, or teaming—both answers worked.
Down below, Aren heard the Curse team speak again.
"Lightning’s in third place?" the tattooed one muttered, squinting up at the rankings. "How the hell did that happen?"
Sunglasses tilted his head slightly.
"That’s probably the rat that took our Plant flag," he said calmly. "He’s been scurrying around picking up all the one-point scraps."
"If he’s got three, that ans he’s holding at least two stolen flags," the bald one continued, doing the math out loud. "Plant and Water."
Sunglasses went quiet for a mont before letting out a soft breath through his nose.
"Three points," he said thoughtfully. "And he’s solo."
Aren felt it even from where he was hiding.
"Which ans," Sunglasses continued, tone sharpening just slightly, "he’s carrying everything himself."
The tattooed one grinned slowly.
"So if we take him..."
"That’s a swing," Sunglasses finished. "We’ll be able to beat Ice."
Aren sighed, but they were right to so extent. In a ga where five was the first place, the 3 points worth of flags on his body ant everything.
The tattooed one cracked his neck.
"So? We hunt him?"
Sunglasses didn’t answer imdiately. His gaze drifted back up toward the rankings, jaw tightening slightly as the numbers hovered in the air.
"Not yet," he muttered.
The bald one frowned. "What?"
"If Ice takes Wind, they jump to eight."
"We need to secure more points," Sunglasses continued, voice losing its lazy edge, "It’s easier to find two mbers of Fire rather than one of Lightning."
The tattooed one clicked his tongue.
"So we take Lightning."
"And Fire," Sunglasses added flatly.
The bald one blinked. "Both?"
"Lightning’s holding three. Fire’s sitting on two. That’s five. That puts us at ten."
"Alright, let’s move before Ice can," the bald one nodded.
And with that, the two Curse users slipped back into the trees. Their earlier banter completely gone.
Aren stayed crouched long after they disappeared just to make sure. When they were out of his earshot, he finally sighed.
Even so, his plans remained unchanged. Now it was just a battle of attrition.
The next ten minutes crawled by in suffocating silence. The scoreboard hovered above with absolutely no changes.
The outer periter continued its steady collapse, swallowing terrain as the effective zone beca smaller and smaller.
Aren moved only when he had to, avoiding obvious routes and anywhere Curse might predict a "rat" to scurry.
Instead, he climbed. Higher ground ant better vision and flow of information.
By the ti the tir dipped to 10:12, he had reached a small hill overlooking both the central plains area as well as the wooded forest area.
And just as expected.
To the central plains area, the Curse and Fire Departnts were entangled in a bloody fight, with dark ether clashing against roaring flas.
While to the eastern wooded areas. The Ice team had finally confronted the Wind team, turning the whole forest into a destructive 3v3 as shards of ice and bursts of wind flew all over the place.
"Seems like the third phase is finally in motion."
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