After an hour, Lin Ling cracked the encryption. Soon, Lian finished programming, reversing the rune signals to reveal every student's location on a map.
The grey outline of the city's terrain stretched across the display before him, blue dots flickering with movement. His squad's positions marked the edges , while four red dots blinked—the flags. One had already been captured.
A faint smile tugged at Lian's lips.
Nox stared at the map, eyes narrowing.
"Damn. There are already twelve people at the centre." He paused, then frowned. "No—wait, Looks like they're waiting to ambush anyone bringing a flag and steal it."
Lin Ling nodded. "Ambush squads. Makes sense. Instead of fighting through the towers and defending a flag, they just wait. Let someone else do the hard work, then jump them and take the flag when they're exhausted."
Sunny groaned. "Figures. I thought we were the only ones coordinating with other squads to stack the odds."
Lian's fingers tapped the earpiece. After finding out kair's position he sent the exact positions of the nearest three-member squad. Every second mattered in a situation like this.
Lian quickly analysed the situation and laid it out for his squad.
Their objective was simple in theory. Link up with Kair's team and seize the southeast flag. Lian's squad had spawned near the edge of the northeast sector, while Kair was positioned in the south. The distance meant time. And time meant risk. Until they regrouped, they had to avoid any squad stronger than them.
Easier said than done.
But with a map in hand and near-complete awareness of everyone's positions, they managed to slip through the city without drawing attention.
That alone was abnormal.
There were investigative runes everywhere, tools designed to track enemy movement. Sequence One versions were crude which are similar to thermal or night vision, limited in range and accuracy. Sequence Two runes were better, covering wider areas, sharper detection—but even those fell laughably short of what Lian had built.
His minimap, assembled entirely from Sequence One runes, covered the entire region.
This was the advantage of intelligence warfare .
Lian constantly adjusted their route, diverting every time another squad appeared on the map. The detours stacked up, stretching the journey far longer than expected.
Nox finally broke the silence.
"Why don't we just fight them?" he said. "We can beat most of these guys. We already took down Kair. It's not a big deal."
Lian didn't answer immediately.
Lian's eyes scanned the ruined streets. "We avoid fighting as much as possible wasting ether now will fuck us over later. Peak condition isn't for show—it's for the moments that actually matter."
Nox blinked. Then nodded. "Yea I was also saying the same thing"
Lian stopped walking.
He turned, slow. "You literally just said the opposite."
Nox frowned "Nah. You must be hearing things."
Lian stared at him for a long second "Whatever Lets go" he muttered.
They moved for some time before Lian noticed Four dots appearing on the horizon, a kilometre back, closing in at impossible speed.
Lian's jaw tightened. "We've been spotted."
Whatever was coming, they were ready to handle it.
Four Class A students appeared, moving like predators. three Sequence 1 peak stage, one Sequence 1 middle stage. Exactly what Lian had been trying to avoid. They corned the team against a massive crater.
Even though both sides had similar power level, in terms on skill anyone class A is leagues above the rest.
All four lunged simultaneously towards Lian's squad.
But Lian's plan already accounted for this. His team hadn't activated their runes—they waited, watching.
The moment the Class A students got into effect range, their runes failed. Pain flared through their bodies as Lian's squad struck with precision. Targeting the strongest, they shattered her bracelet before she could react.
It happened in an instant: Her bracelet shattered before she could even scream, her status disabled. She was eliminated on the spot before she even got the chance to land a single attack.
A Class A girl reacted instantly, charging straight at Lian and tackling him into the crater with her. The drop was only a dozen feet—no damage to either bracelet—but dust exploded around them on impact.
Nox and Sunny immediately engaged the remaining two.
Lin Ling glanced toward the crater. "You need help?"
"Finish them first," Lian replied calmly. "I can hold."
The girl stood up, brushing dust off her dress. Long black hair fluttered in the wind, eyes sharp, expression cold.
As they fell, Lian twisted his body at the last second, landing on top of her. She hit the ground first, dirt smearing her clothes.
She sneered. "Didn't anyone ever teach you how to treat a lady?"
"You're the one who shoved me down like a wild boar," Lian replied flatly. "Also, you're kinda heavy. Zero elegance. Zero dignity."
The Ragebait was deliberate.
But unlike Kair, she didn't lose control.
She attacked with pure intent, precise and relentless.
That made things worse.
"You're still as immature as ever, Lian."
As she faced Lian, a cold realization cut through her—he possessed a rune that could nullify the activation of other runes. A smirk tugged at her lips. She didn't need runes. She had something far sharper: skill honed to perfection.
"Cute toy you got there" she muttered, twirling her plain sword. "Let's see how you deal with real skill."
She seized her plain sword and surged forward. Lian unleashed rune after rune—wind blades, shock traps, sneak attacks—but every attack faltered, useless against her flawless defence.
She deflected each wind blade with pure swordsmanship, parrying, closing the distance relentlessly. When she finally reached striking range, Lian tried to catch her off guard with a taser rune, sparks dancing over her skin. It stung, but she barely blinked. Every movement was steel and fire, honed from years of being told she wasn't enough..
He summoned a black katana, edges glowing crimson melting everything it touched, and their swords met with a scream of colliding metal that echoed across the battlefield.
Within minutes, she began to dominate without using any runes. Just with sheer skill alone. Every strike, every maneuver carried the weight of a lifetime of rejection.
Years earlier, she had been nothing.
A small girl huddled in the corner of the Vardan estate's grand training hall, trembling while her father's shadow stretched over her.
"Hazy, you lack even the most basic aptitude for ether," he sneered, his voice like a whip. "Give up on the military. You're a disgrace to the Vardan name."
Her little sister had already advanced to middle stage, a genius of the generation, wielding runes with effortless grace. Accepted early into the military academy, her name whispered with admiration. And Hazy? She had failed the admission exams not once, but twice, each failure a hammer striking her pride into splinters.
Her family—leaders in the nation's military, wielders of power and influence—treated her like refuse. Instructors ignored her existence, servants mocked her behind curtained doors, and even her mother's eyes avoided meeting hers. Every insult, every slight, every cruel "you'll never be enough" became fuel in a fire she refused to let die.
Night after night, she practiced until her muscles screamed and her hands bled. She took hits she wasn't ready for, endured scorn that would break most children. When the academy finally accepted her on her third attempt, she entered in class C, swore to prove that dedication could rival talent, that bloodline and ether were nothing against relentless effort.
Every motion she now made—the lightning-fast parries, the flawless strikes, the quiet unshakable confidence—was born from years of neglect, abuse, and the burning desire to make her enemies swallow their doubt. She had become a weapon, honed not by magic, but by pain, discipline, and the unyielding will to claim her place in a world that had spat her out.
she clawed her way into the academy that had mocked her. By the end of first semester she had reached Class A.
Lian already knew all this bullshit as he is her cousin.
He'd seen her beaten, heard the family whispers, witnessed the humiliation. And now, standing across from him, Hazy proved, even without ether, without blessings.
Never once had her resolve waver.
She heard it again—the sharp, shattering of a bracelet. One of her teammates was gone. Eliminated by Lian's team.
She closed the distance in under a minute. Before Lian could react, she disarmed him, sending his sword skittering across the rubble. In one fluid motion, her blade pressed against his neck.
Taking him as hostage she negoisated with Lians team.
"Why don't we join hands? We can crush the others easily," she said calmly.
"Sure, why not," Lian replied.
She climbed up the and pulled Lian up the crater.
She held no grudge for the loss of her teammates. Instead, she admired their skill, their teamwork, Lian's crafty tricks and the way he orchestrated the first elimination, exploited the element of surprise, and maintained control of the flow to wipe out another target. She recognised the pattern, and inwardly admired the precision. Had she not taken Lian hostage at the critical moment, she would have been next.
Her mind had already moved two steps ahead— She had planned to take him hostage as soon as the first teammate fell. Lian noted it inwardly. The girl wasn't just skilled. She understood when to cut losses.
Lian pulled out his screen, scanning the map of flags and positions. One flag had already been carried to the centre. Two remained un captured. Another flag was taken, but its holders's location suggested they were hiding, waiting for others to eliminate each other, or biding time to finish at the last moment. Judging from the rapid decrease in visible blue dots, the majority of players were either eliminated or got bored and moved to finish line.
She glanced at the map. Her mouth tightened. She prided herself on her listening rune, which picked up vibrations and nearby movement up to couple Kilometres , but this… this was another level entirely. Almost like cheating.
Lian tapped his earpiece. "Kair. Status on the southeast flag."
Static. Then Kair's voice, low.
"Still uncaptured. But Aren just showed up. He's moving to take it."
"Track him. Stay hidden," Lian replied. "We'll be there in a few minutes."
"I'm not suicidal," Kair said. "That guy's the strongest in the entire academy. Crap wait a second. He noticed me."
The channel cut.
Lian and his team broke into a sprint.
While moving, Lian asked the remaining Class A guy and Hazy about their inventory—What do you have? And any intel on this Aren guy? We might have to face him."
The guy from Class A hesitated, then started, eyes wide. "He is Sequence 2 peak stage. Easily the strongest in the entire academy. He got insane talent, skill and even looks whatever you can name, he's got it.
while everyone is struggling even with squads of Four he is fighting solo and still wiping entire squads with without sweat. No joke he's just built different."
Nox snorted, elbowing the guy. "Damn, I didn't know you were one of his fangirls too."
The guy sputtered. "I'm not—shut up!"
Lian turned to Hazy, eyes sharp. "Tell me something useful. Fighting style. Runes. Any weaknesses he had."
After finding out they came to conclusion they don't have much chances of victory even with all of them fighting together.
Sunny groaned at Lian. "Told you, man. Your luck's cursed. Every single enemy we meet? Class A."
They reached the clearing and stopped.
From a distance, the scene was already decided.
Kair was the only one still standing, if it could even be called that. His body sagged forward, knees trembling, one arm hanging uselessly at his side.
The rest were already down. Broken. Quiet.
Hazy exhaled, her voice cutting through the stillness.
"Aren. You could've just taken the flag and left. Why eliminating everyone you run into?"
Aren's lips curved into a faint smirk. "Where's the fun in that? I get to fight to my heart's content. Besides… if I just knock out one more person, I would score a hundred. The flag? Doesn't matter anymore. This… this is way more fun."
Lian didn't look at Aren. His eyes were on the flag's signal, pulsing faintly on his screen, barely two hundred meters away. Southeast tower. Still free. Still untouched.
He exhaled once.
"Hazy," Lian said quietly. "Nox. Sunny. Lin Ling."
Everyone stiffened.
"I'm going for the flag."
Sunny's head snapped toward him. "You're joking."
Aren finally turned his gaze to Lian.
Interest flickered there. Genuine. Like a predator spotting something that might actually run.
"Oh?" Aren said. "You're leaving?"