After the ambush from Team Coeus, Kai has never lowered his guard again.
Even while he was doing nothing or relaxing, he was still attuned to his surroundings. He'd be as stupid as a donkey to lower his guard—and get taken out exactly like his team was. That's not going to happen.
Any sound the forest made is analysed sharply inside his mind.
It was exhausting, but he didn't have a choice.
Not in this bloody rite when death was at every corner.
He heard the sound of bushes parting and branches breaking. Footsteps.
Almost instinctively, he gestured for Abigail to be silent and went to hide somewhere as his hand naturally reached for his black scimitar. Nigh-phantom imprint was activated, and like a ghost, his presence disappeared.
"Fuck, where are the wild boars?" A student hacked the bushes with his machete. "I could've sworn that there are a lot of them in this area. Did those bastards clear this place? If that's the case, we're in trouble."
His crystal-blue eyes scanned the surroundings in search of hunting prey, but there was none.
It was desolate.
As he made a turn from a big banyan tree that he used as a landmark, his entire body tensed up instinctively when he felt a cold sensation pressing against his throat. "Make a move, and your head will roll." A voice whispered from his side.
He made sure to stay absolutely still.
Using only his head, he turned slightly to look at the person.
It was then that he noticed the red armband.
Kai pressed the blade harder, slicing the skin a little as blood trickled down to his chest.
"Easy…" He raised his hands and dropped the machete.
Initially, he thought it was Team Coeus setting up a trap for him.
But it wasn't, so he decided to let go of the machete.
Kai looked down at the purple armband wrapping around the guy's bicep, and instantly came to the realization that the guy was from Team Hyperion. It was his first ever contact with Team Hyperion, which was a good thing.
"Say, why don't we settle down and talk?" the guy asked. "I've heard what happened to your team, so we have a common enemy."
It was reasonable.
Kai overheard what he was muttering earlier, so Team Hyperion must've been having a hard time against Team Coeus. I might need their help to take down Lion—and Matilda. Let's not do anything rash.
Slowly, he retracted the scimitar away from the guy's neck.
And the guy also slowly turned, only to frown when he was finally facing Kai.
In a burst of speed, the guy reached down to grab his machete, but Kai was faster. He threw a quick kick—meeting the guy's descending face dead-on. The guy cursed as he staggered to the side, and when his vision cleared, cold steel pressed against his neck again.
"Do you really want to die here?" Kai asked with a bone-chilling tone. "I imagined you had already accepted the possibility of death in this rite, but death by a mere Lesser Angel… That's a bit more shameful, no?"
Clearly, the guy recognized Kai and immediately thought he was of no use.
Just because he's a Lesser Angel, the guy deemed his life worthless.
"Alright!' the guy finally surrendered, blood leaking from his nose until it touched his upper lip. "Let's talk."
"Oh, no," Kai shook his head. "We're not talking after what you tried to do. You are going to have to give something in exchange for your life."
"What do you want?"
"First, tell me about the battle situation."
Even though the guy was reluctant to be at the mercy of a Lesser Angel, he had no choice but to comply as a blade was an inch away from cutting his throat open. He'll get into trouble for answering Kai, but his life is more important.
He said the battle against Team Coeus is getting worse by the day.
Right now, Team Coeus and Team Hyperion were at a stalemate near the river. Team Hyperion was lucky when they arrived in Ixos and managed to find a mana ore mine near them, so they took the fortification approach.
It was the reason why Team Coeus, despite their superior overall strength, couldn't advance and take them down easily.
But Lion is incredibly tricky and savage.
All three High Angels that could protect themselves better were sent to circle Team Hyperion, and take out the animals nearby so that they would run out of food. Yesterday, a horde of odd animals attacked Team Hyperion from the flank.
It was Wolf's doing, making the animals hostile towards them.
And last night, one student from Team Hyperion who was searching for food was captured.
Lion stripped her naked and tied her to a wooden pole without a mask.
Using some sort of imprint that acted like a loudspeaker, he blared the gasps and painful screams of the student as she was whipped, towards Team Hyperion's direction. Nobody from Team Hyperion could sleep because of that.
And many were furious, wanting nothing more than to attack Team Coeus right then.
To make them pay for their barbarity.
But Layra stopped them, as that's exactly what Lion wanted.
Unlike Team Coeus, Team Hyperion only has two High Angels.
A direct confrontation would be their demise.
Some who were terrified of what Chimera would do to them decided to surrender.
Right now, Team Coeus should have twenty people or even more.
Kai listened attentively to what the guy had to say and took the information with a grain of salt. He could've lied about these things, but Kai doubted that. The way the guy talked about Lion was with anger from the heart.
Not to mention, it lined up perfectly with the rumor he had heard about Lion.
An animal.
"Be honest with me," Kai put his scimitar away, staring at the guy profoundly. "How long do you think your team can last? I heard that the Supernal of Apollo, Layra, is quite strong. But she's not going to win."
It was hard to admit, but the guy knew that it was only a matter of time before his team crumbled.
Nobody was equipped to handle Chimera's psychological warfare.
All of them were normal people not even a month ago, so this was a scary thing to behold.
"Our food supply is running out. We're rationing, but we won't last more than a week."
"Good to know."
Kai turned around to leave.
He got the information he needed.
One week. I need to reach Grade 1 Awakened at least prior to making our move against Team Coeus.
"Team Coeus' camp is about a mile northwest from here," the guy shouted—stopping Kai in his tracks. "The Awakened Monster is a quarter of a mile east, burrowing under a big lake on a hill. And Lion has defeated the West Keeper and got the Fire Aegis!"
"West Keeper?" Kai glanced over his shoulder with a raised brow.
"There are two keepers prepared by the academy. One at west and the other in the east. If you defeat one, you'd gain more than a grade-zero enchanted gear," the guy explained. "You'd gain a grade-one enchanted gear. Lion has one, so keep that in mind."
"Why are you telling me this?" Kai eventually asked.
Even though Team Coeus was the biggest threat, he didn't need to tell that much information.
After all, at the end of the day, only one team can pass this trial.
"Lion…" the guy mentioned the name with a tongue of fire. "He can't survive this rite. He needs to die. If I die… I would find it more reassuring if I knew someone else was also going to try to make him pay. Even if that someone else is a Lesser Angel."
Kai didn't answer.
He simply faced forward again and walked away.
On the way back, Kai's mind was still processing what he learned.
Considering how bad the situation was for Team Hyperion, I doubt Team Coeus would aim the Awakened Monster. Instead, they are going to destroy Team Hyperion. Soon enough— they would make one last attack. So that means they are preparing right now.
If Team Coeus is making preparations right now, then they would be sending a big batch of mana ores to the main camp or have a large reserve of mana ores in their main camp. So, instead of waiting near the Awakened Monster, Kai and the others should be waiting near the main camp.
Either stealing the mana ore reserve or intercepting the large batch would be their next step.
A success in this would surely set them off for good and delay Team Coeus' final attack.
No matter what, Team Hyperion has to survive a bit longer.
And then there's the East Keeper. I need to talk with Dorian and Abigail about this.
Naturally, the feast and good rest were delayed for the time being.
All three of them moved closer to where Team Coeus' camp was. They found a good hiding spot where the bushes made a perfect circle, and it was also near enough to the river. They decided to make that place their new hideout.
Kai went out after replenishing his mana to scout for Team Coeus' main camp.
Since they are extremely close to Team Coeus, only Kai could really check.
Finding the main camp was easy enough.
Silence was nothing but an afterthought for Team Coeus. They wandered the area openly—hunting for food, answering nature's call, or fucking against trees. Kai weaved through them all without a single glance his way.
His Nigh-phantom imprint made it possible to sneak through them.
And the only one he needs to be wary of is Matildal, since she might be alert about him.
Kai peeked from behind a tree and scanned the main camp. It consists of several tents with a big one at the center, presumably where Chimera was. Security is not tight, but their number made it hard for anyone to get close.
From a distance, his eyes widened when he spotted Matilda.
Unlike the last time they met, she was now wearing a tight combat suit and had her hair tied into a high ponytail. Her face remained stoic as always, but there was an edge to it. For some reason, she looked exhausted and uptight.
It was surprising to see that someone like her could get exhausted.
But that might be because she felt out of place.
She's an outsider in this team, and the way everyone treated her reflected that.
"Good. Suffer more. That's what you get," Kai spat to the side and sneaked away again.
He managed to reach the other side of the main camp.
Kai wasn't searching for the main camp simply to scout, but also to mark where the possible mana ores would be transported through, if it's really the case, or where they were stored if Team Coeus already made the last transport.
No concentrated mana from any of the tents, so they hadn't made the transport yet.
Or maybe they hid it somewhere, but he'd try to find it later.
For now, he needed to mark the radius of the main camp for Dorian to scout later.
He has better senses, so he could find the secured stash if there was any.
Kai cut his palm and smeared his blood around a good distance from the main camp.
Dorian would be able to locate his scent accurately with that.
Once he finished, he quickly retreated in silence.
It had also been a while since he was running out of mana to keep the Nigh-phantom active.
Just as he left, a figure emerged from the bushes.
A black dog.
It sniffed the air and located Kai's blood, and it snarled at the finding.