Renan stared at him with open disbelief. "You froze the ground."

Leslie shrugged, her short blue hair bouncing. "You make it sound so rude."

The Elementalists fanned out over the remains of the Spider Monkeys, claiming the beast cores, claws and other valuable loot while Renan and his group remained stuck in place, their faces hardening as the meaning of the move sank in.

As everyone knew, beast loot added a good enough chunk to the overall points. And by extension, to the Tributes.

Kallan crouched near one of the carcasses and plucked up the glowing red vest core with a satisfied look. "Tributes are Tributes," he said. "No reason to let them rot just because you were too slow to stop us."

Renan’s jaw clenched. "You’re stealing our loot after we killed the beasts?"

"You killed them," Kallan corrected. "We claimed them." He turned to him and smiled. "It’s not against the rules. In fact, stuff like this is exactly what makes the Inter-Class Competitions fun isn’t it?"

The Archer cursed under his breath. Ena tried again to wrench free, but the frost held fast.

Renan’s gaze flicked toward Frieda then, and that only made her shoulders tense more. "Frieda," he said, his voice quiet but not hiding the disappointment in it. "You’re really doing this?"

The question hit her harder than any accusation from the others.

Frieda looked away for a second, visibly uncomfortable.

"I—" She stopped, then exhaled in frustration. "It’s our strategy."

Renan stared at her.

"I know," she said, her voice softer now, almost apologetic. "I’m sorry."

She stepped forward and touched the frost with one hand.

The ice cracked and melted in a rush of steam, releasing the Specialist team’s feet and loosening the frozen ground beneath them. The others in the formation could move again almost immediately, though they were all still tense and angry.

Kallan snapped his gaze at her. "Frieda?! What the hell are you doing?"

Frieda glared at him. "It’s over, right? You’re not just going to leave them like this?"

Kallan grimaced, but ultimately let it be, a begrudging sigh escaping him. "Let’s get out of here."

Frieda glanced at Renan, guilt flickering over her face. "I’m really sorry, Renan," she pleaded submissively to it. "I can’t really do anything about it. I didn’t mean to hurt you, please."

Renan held her gaze for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he exhaled and turned slightly away.

"Whatever," he said at last. "We’ll talk later."

Once they could all feel and move their legs again, Kallan signaled to his team. "Let’s move."

At first, his team wanted to contest that, but they had better respect and trust for Renan’s judgment, so they ultimately let it go.

Lioris cast one last hostile glance at Kallan before following Renan. The Assassin slipped back into the trees, already looking for a route around the sabotage. Ena’s expression remained sharp, and the Archer muttered something unkind under his breath as they moved out.

Frieda stood behind for one second longer than the others.

Kallan noticed and turned around. "What are you waiting for?" he asked.

She clenched her jaw, then turned and followed.

As the Elementalists resumed their route, Kallan grinned to himself, clearly pleased with how cleanly the sabotage had worked.

"That’s one team slowed down," he said.

Leslie snorted. "And the loot is ours."

Cecil tossed a recovered item lightly in his hand. "Still top-tier strategy."

Frieda did not respond. She kept walking, her face tightened with disappointment.

The next decision came quickly.

"We find the Summoners next," Kallan said. "Lancet’s the one we need to pressure."

Cecil nodded. "Agreed."

Leslie cracked her icy fingers.

Kallan lifted his head, and the leaderboard projection appeared again through the floating camera feed as they moved.

The standings had changed.

[ 1. Enchanter-D : 515 ]

[ 2. Specialist-D : 485 ]

[ 3. Elementalist-D : 475 ]

[ 4. Summoner-D : 470 ]

Kallan stopped for half a second and stared at the board.

"Enchanters are ahead now?" Cecil said, sounding genuinely surprised. "And Summoners fell but they’re hot on our tails."

Kallan’s expression sharpened. He looked toward the jungle ahead, then back at the leaderboard, then forward again.

"Tch."

For a brief moment, the implication of it all settled over the group.

While they had been forcing their way through the route and setting traps for their rivals, Enchanter-D had quietly moved into the lead.

Frieda looked up at the board too, her eyes narrowing slightly with concern.

"We’ll catch them," Kallan said, though his tone was more irritated than confident.

Then he motioned forward again. "Come on. Let’s go find Lancet. Let’s get Summoner-D off our tails."

And with that, Elementalist-D disappeared deeper into the Primate Monster Jungle, carrying their stolen loot and their sabotage plan with them.

××××××

Back in the Summoner-D route, the jungle thickened with every step they took. Above them, the canopy weaved itself even denser and denser. The air was heavier, like something had decayed somewhere. Well, everywhere.

All that filled their nose was the scent of rot. And death.

Lancet pushed aside a curtain of hanging moss, its texture slimy against his gauntlet. The ground beneath their boots had turned treacherous, a sucking mire of black mud that grasped at their heels. Massive roots, thick as castle walls, coiled across the path, forcing them to climb and crawl. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"I can barely see my own hands," Kasto grumbled, his voice muffled by the oppressive silence. He stumbled over a hidden root, catching himself on a sticky moss-covered bark. "Yuck," he looked at his helping hand with disgust.

"The darkness is unnatural," Vera observed quietly. "It’s not just the canopy. The Gloom is thicker here. It’s... watching us."

"You guys always talk like you’re scared," Min Tu said, her voice flat and unbothered. Her Skeleton Soldier had returned to her Summon Space, just like Kasto’s mecha—a strategy to save as much Grace as possible.

"Whatever comes our way we’re obviously gonna kill it," the Necromancer spoke plainly.

Dane chuckled, though it was a nervous sound. "I love the confidence, Min Tu, but maybe don’t tempt the cursed jungle to throw something worse at us? I’m still cleaning Macaque blood off my boots."

"You didn’t even fight," Min Tu pointed out.

"Emotional support is a valid contribution."

Lancet allowed himself a small smile at their bickering, but his eyes never stopped scanning the darkness. The deeper they pushed, the more the jungle felt like a living throat, swallowing them whole. Every shadow seemed to shift. Every distant hoot carried an edge of malice.

With a loud bell sound, the leaderboard appeared to keep them updated on recent changes.

[ 1. Enchanter-D : 525 ]

[ 2. Specialist-D : 495 ]

[ 3. Elementalist-D : 475 ]

[ 4. Summoner-D : 470 ]

The squad stopped walking. All five of them stared up at the glowing rankings, their faces illuminated by the golden light.

"We’re in last place," Kasto said, his voice hollow with disbelief. "How are we in last place? We cleared that Macaque pack without taking any real damage!"

"Efficiency doesn’t always translate to points," Dane muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "The other squads are probably wiping out everything they see. Quantity over quality."

Vera’s hands tightened around her vines. "Enchanter-D is already on top? They must have found a monster nest or something. And Specialist-D is not right behind them." She turned to Lancet, her eyes wide with urgency. "We need to hurry. If we don’t pick up our pace, we’ll never close this gap."

Lancet studied the leaderboard with calm, calculating eyes, noting the point differentials. Less than 60 points separated first from fourth. The scores were practically neck-and-neck.

"There’s no need to hurry," he said finally, his voice steady.

Vera blinked. "What? Lancet, we’re in last place."

"We’re in last place because we’ve only had one fight," Lancet replied. He turned away from the leaderboard and gestured toward the endless, shadow-choked jungle ahead.

"Look over there," he pointed at a mountain of fallen trees that rose before them. "That’s a chance to get more points."

Everyone turned to see what Lancet was talking about. And indeed, above that mountain of trees, silhouettes of beasts appeared. They were gorillas, but calling them that felt like calling a dragon a lizard.

Lancet scratched the back of his neck. "Although those things do look pretty scary."