Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Who Catches the Most? (7)
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Evening of the first day of the tournament, event headquarters.
The sun had set, so it was practically night, but the area around the headquarters tent was still bustling.
This was because the first day's score reports from each group were starting to arrive one by one.
There were only a few staff members who directly interacted with the participants, but many more agents were deployed besides them.
Tracking and surveillance agents needed rotations, there were those handling the aftermath of evil species, and they had to transport the evidence for score calculations all the way back to headquarters.
"All done—clear it away!"
"Leave it there!"
"Let me see. Seven trolls…."
Amid the lively work of comparing the heads of all sorts of evil species loaded onto carts with the total scores,
the very last score report to arrive threw the event headquarters into an uproar.
It was serious enough that, as soon as the verification process was swiftly completed, a report went straight up to the chairman and vice-chairman.
"A basilisk was caught?"
"Oh my."
Lushard's eyes widened slightly. Radica, listening alongside him, traced a soft arc with her gaze.
Neither Radica, who had directly assessed their skills, nor Lushard, who had heard the story straight from her, doubted for a second that those two had taken down a basilisk.
In theory, even a golden earth fairy could take one out—as long as the basilisk stuck around and fought until it dropped dead, which made it nothing more than a pipe dream.
Besides, could Galen—who was far stronger than your average golden and a water mage to boot—really fail to catch a single baby snake that had fled into the water?
What caught their interest wasn't the feat itself, but the fact that they'd zeroed in on a basilisk right from day one.
"Coincidence? If they went after it on purpose, those kids have sharp heads on their shoulders."
"Means they figured out exactly what to hunt for the biggest edge. You didn't drop any hints, did you, Radica?"
"I don't do that sort of thing. Takes all the fun out of it. Even if I did tell them, it wouldn't make much difference anyway."
"Fair point. Even poking around swamps doesn't guarantee you'll find a basilisk. They probably don't even know where the swamps are."
"Um…."
The earth fairy who had brought the report spoke up cautiously.
In human society, butting into a conversation between lofty superiors would earn you a reprimand.
But earth fairy society had no rigid hierarchy. Sure, gems commanded respect, which made speaking up a bit awkward, but that was it.
"What's on your mind?"
"W-well, they probably knew the spot and headed straight there."
"Huh?"
"They said they'd scouted it out ahead of time…."
He was one of the agents who had trailed Galen and Lilia all day before rotating back to headquarters.
Lushard let out an incredulous chuckle.
"Riding wyverns around? Even wyverns?"
"Said they beat it until it obeyed."
"You're joking, right?"
"I know it sounds like nonsense, but I saw them controlling it myself. Several of us did."
"Holy hell. It actually worked? Some kind of human tech?"
"More like a technique unique to those kids."
Radica couldn't stifle her laugh as she shot back.
From the moment she'd laid eyes on them, their skills had seemed far too advanced for their age, piquing her curiosity—and the more she learned, the more entertaining they got.
Gauging their reactions, the agent ventured,
"If it's an issue, I can pass word to the front lines."
"Nah, no need. There's no rule against it. Grill 'em, boil 'em, ride 'em—we can't stop them from doing whatever with evil species. Right, Lushard?"
"Spot on. Every now and then, someone pulls out some wild method. This one's on the absurd side, though."
"Then…."
"Let it ride. They brought back the basilisk head, didn't they?"
"Of course."
"Score it by the book. No one's got grounds to complain. If they do, flash the head in their face. Still yapping? Send 'em our way."
"Got it!"
The agent dashed out of the tent with gusto.
After a beat of silence, Radica glanced at the status board on one side and remarked,
"One basilisk alone puts them in first. Toss in the rest, and the gap widens even more."
"I figured their skill edge would be offset by lack of intel… but who knew they'd brute-force their way past it."
Lushard pinched his temple like it was aching.
"At this rate, they might actually take the win. Then what?"
"What do you mean, 'then what'? We hand over the prize."
"No, we will—but even swearing equal treatment, won't there be gripes if it really happens?"
"Smoothing those feathers is the chairman's job."
"…Isn't the real culprit some vice-chairman inviting humans in the first place?"
"Hang in there."
"Hey!"
*
The participants on the front lines had no clue what was brewing in the rear.
Other groups' scores stayed under wraps until the tournament wrapped.
The hunting contest doubled as an inter-alliance showdown and a periodic purge of powerful evil species—so the message was clear: don't slack off just because your score's low; grind till the end.
Not that anyone was bailing midway with prizes this juicy.
Group 8 was no exception.
Even on this final full day before the tournament closed, they were still hard at work hunting.
"Phew."
Nazriya clenched and unclenched her fist, letting out a long breath.
"Ow, it hurts like hell…."
Depica released her defensive stance and kneaded her arms, face scrunched in a pout.
"Good work out there, Depica. I'll take the next one."
"You say that, but we're basically done. Less than two hours till sunset."
"…Anyway."
"What do you mean, 'anyway'!"
At a glance, it looked like two pint-sized girls having an adorable spat.
But anyone who'd seen what they'd just been up to wouldn't think "cute" for a second.
Right next to them lay the massive corpse of an ogre.
While Depica grappled it head-on, Nazriya had circled behind and folded its spine backward.
A brutally strong evil species that even golden warriors approached warily—laid low by sheer, overwhelming brute force, small stature notwithstanding.
The pair represented the White Peak Alliance, the northernmost of the seventeen federations.
Thwack! Thwack!
While Depica caught her breath after tanking the hits, Nazriya hacked at the ogre's neck with her spare axe like she was splitting firewood.
The cut wasn't pretty, but scores weren't based on neatness.
She calmly yanked off the head—nearly as big as her own torso—and stowed it in her sack.
Depica watched just as casually, already lost in thought.
"Not that I'm sore about eating the hits or anything."
"Sure sounds like it."
"No! Anyway, it'd be nice to bag one more before sunset."
"Obviously. Can't count on time tomorrow."
The tournament ran ten days; this was day eight.
But day ten was for heading back.
Miss the full sunset cutoff, and you were out—no exceptions.
With such a vast hunting ground and nothing but compasses and memory to guide the return trip, you had to leave plenty of buffer. Push your luck for one last hunt, and ten days of grind could vanish in a heartbeat.
Today was make-or-break, so scraping up every last point was only natural.
"Memory's fuzzy, but wasn't there a canyon around here?"
"Was there?"
"You know, a small one where the cliff curves inward. Rocks at the entrance carved out like this."
"Oh, that one! Yeah, it's nearby. But doesn't it overlap a bit with the next group's zone?"
"So what? Boundaries aren't drawn in stone. Evil species in gray areas are fair game for whoever gets 'em."
"Wanna check it out? Pretty sure there was something there last time."
Veterans with nearly twenty tournaments under their belts. They'd covered this assigned zone before.
Consensus reached in a snap, the two earth fairies rested briefly before heading out.
Thirty minutes later, they arrived.
A canyon like a rock massif cleaved by a giant axe.
Decent width, but low cliffs on either side and shallow depth—you could reach the dead end in ten minutes flat.
"Traces here, alright. Something was living recent."
"Wanna wait a bit?"
"Like we know when it'll show."
"True enough."
A touch regretful, they retraced their steps.
And as they reached the entrance…
They finally learned what that "something" was.
Not that they wanted to.
"A-ah…."
Depica let out a trembling moan. Nazriya rasped through a parched throat.
"Dr-drake…."
They'd heard it looked like a wyvern with front limbs instead of wings.
But its colossal bulk made the comparison feel off—wyverns looked like kids next to it.
A monster so rare even among earth fairies that few had seen one up close, and so overwhelmingly powerful it was dubbed the king of evil species.
Why the hell was one blocking their path? Had it nested in this cramped canyon?
"Grrrrr…."
The drake rumbled deeply, as if mocking the earth fairies' frozen minds.
A foul stench rode the wind. Dizzying vertigo hit; only then did they pinch their noses shut.
"Ngh!"
Shock had made them forget. Drake breath carried poison by default.
Luckily, airborne dilution kept it from being lethal, but it was no joke—you couldn't drag this out. Not without antidotes prepped.
And unfortunately, drakes were monstrous even sans venom.
Whoosh!
A massive forelimb plunged straight at Depica.
No way she could brace in place; she hurled herself sideways in a blur. Earth fairy agility overwhelming even barehanded humans.
Boom!
The missed strike pulverized the ground.
But right after, the drake twisted—and its tail whipped across horizontally.
Range too vast to dodge; Nazriya summoned her full earth power.
Clang!
Roaring impact and shockwave swept her away. Depica cried out desperately.
"Nazriya!"
The drake took some blowback too, failing to scoop Depica in one go before withdrawing its tail.
"Ughhhh…."
Nazriya twitched on the ground. Her raised guard arm was snapped.
Earth fairies turned rock-hard and heavy with their power.
But the drake's sheer force could shatter and hurl boulders.
A hard counter to the earth fairies' honest, frontal brawling style.
Golden offense and defense meant nothing when the drake outclassed them.
Not outright impossible for a group of golds… but two? Forget it. They'd need more bodies.
Smartest play: spot it, bail, report to HQ, summon Lushard or Radica.
"Aaagh!"
But trapped in the canyon, that wasn't an option for the pair.
The only exit was drake-blocked; the sheer cliffs on three sides were beyond sluggish earth fairy climbing.
Best they could do: dodge till they couldn't, tank the rest.
Thud! Thwack!
No escaping the drake's patient, relentless forelimb and tail lashes.
Without earth power, they'd be mush already. Even with it, bones were cracking all the same.
Smack!
No breather to hold their breath; poison sapped their weight.
Depica, forced to tank in place on earth power alone, flew like a busted toy, tumbling across the dirt.
Nazriya crashed down the same way. Squeezing out a choked sob, Depica rasped,
"Sorry… This was my dumb idea…."
"Don't… apologize for stupid shit…."
Nazriya chided without venom, forcing her drooping eyes open.
The drake's colossal shadow blanketed them.
Having confirmed no more dodging, it reared to crush. Forelimb rising.
So this is how we go out—pathetic. As Nazriya moved to shut her eyes,
a black shadow flickered high above the drake's head.
Hard to make out, but probably a wyvern. Common flyer around these parts.
Even my last sky view ruined by some damn evil species, she grumbled inwardly.
"…?"
But that shadow… it was growing.
Too fast for a simple wyvern descent.
The instant she clocked the truth, Nazriya's jaw went slack.
SPLAT!
A water giant plummeted from the heavens, flattening the drake beneath it.
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