System's POV

Blood spilled from the Wanderer's lips as he tried to prop himself up from the ground.

A pained hiss escaped his lips when he realized that his right arm was broken, rendering it useless in a fight.

The searing ache made him momentarily blank out, unable to think of what to do next.

Suddenly, he saw something from the corner of his eye.

Looking in that direction, he stared in disbelief as his comrade, who was also watching the battle a while ago, was about to deal him the killing blow.

"Sorry not sorry," the young man, whose eyes were similar to that of a hawk, swung his blade toward his "crippled friend" without mercy.

"Traitor!" the Wanderer cried out in shock, disbelief, and frustration.

Although he'd admit that he would have done the same if their circumstances were switched, he was still feeling bitter. After all, the one on the receiving end of the killing blow was him, not someone else.

"Curse you!" the Wanderer shouted with all his might.

That was the last thing that the Wanderer had managed to shout before his body was cut in half by the overwhelming strike of the person whom he thought was a kindred spirit.

After taking his kill, the young man with dark brown hair and green eyes didn't hesitate to run away.

His name was Gordon Reagan, and he was one of the Rising Stars of the current generation.

Some said that his battle prowess was only slightly lower than Clark Ashford's, making him a very dangerous opponent in battle.

Brutus, who had just finished eliminating his target, glanced at the fleeing Wanderer and gave a loud snort.

Clearly, he wasn't too happy that his second prey had been stolen from him, but since he wasn't fast enough to pursue him, he decided to focus on other targets instead.

"Retreat!" Vincent shouted, and his team members didn't hesitate to back away.

This time, he planned to hunt down Gordon first so that he could gain his points before coming back to fight against Mikhail's group.

Mikhail watched them leave but didn't give the orders to pursue them.

"Let's go," Mikhail ordered.

Cristopher and Colbert nodded in understanding.

They already had a plan as to how they'd gain the points they needed in the tournament, so they would just take their time until their enemies were forced to come looking for them.

Thirteen, who were watching all of this, didn't make any comment.

The other Wanderers weren't like Erica, who had the guts to burn the entire forest to end the match as soon as possible.

He was certain that the Wanderers would only show their true mettle in the final hours of the special event, which would decide who would get to fight in the next round.

Several hours passed, and the battle was now reaching its conclusion.

The battles on the Islands Number 1, 2, and 3 were now reaching the climax.

On Island Number 3, Alcapone, who was with Shasha, made a grave mistake out of carelessness from feeling too overconfident from the victories that they had secured at the earlier half.

He had no idea that Char was an expert in setting traps. Before he could even defend against the sharpened log that was about to hit his body, a sword whip pierced his back like a scorpion's tail, killing him in the process.

The only saving grace was that he still had another life remaining, and by the rules of the event, he'd spawn somewhere on the map.

Unfortunately, his spawn point was a random location, likely away from his teammates.

After Alcapone was killed, Char's team didn't stay behind and simply waited for two minutes for them to know where Alcapone had spawned after dying.

They all then charged in that direction with the intention of killing him, further decreasing the number of Wanderers under Shasha's command.

Thirteen's sister naturally wouldn't allow Alcapone to get killed so easily. She led the other members of the Mafia to charge in the direction where he appeared, so they would be able to save him before Char and her team could kill him a second time.

Island Number 1 was very different from the rest.

Clark's team and Roland's team were playing a game of tag, with Roland and Joshua trying to pursue Clark's team.
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However, both of them suffered from the countless traps that Clark and his team had planted in order to delay, injure, and lower their combat effectiveness.

Roland even fell into a pitfall trap and only managed to survive because he managed to destroy the sharp branches that were sticking out of the ground before he fell.

Joshua, on the other hand, was feeling irritated because two people from Clark's team specialized in range attacks.

They consistently targeted him from his blind spot all the time.

This made Joshua pay close attention to his surroundings, making him unable to decide if he should attack or stay in place to defend.

By now, he already understood what Clark and his people were planning, and it filled him with great anxiety.

He was even tempted to backstab Roland to get some points, but he knew that if he did that, their friendship would immediately be over, so he held back his hand.

"All of you can't run away forever!" Joshua shouted in frustration as he unleashed powerful Wind Blades, slicing everything in their path.

"See you later, slowpokes!" Clark laughed as he and his team ran away.

He was now genuinely enjoying this game of tag, added to seeing Roland's and Joshua's frustrated expressions.

The more desperate they were, the happier he was.

'This strategy that Zion taught me is really effective,' Clark thought as he distanced himself away from Roland and Joshua, who were pursuing him and the rest of his group like mad.

Time was ticking, and there was only an hour left before the event finally concluded, and the two had to catch up to them real fast if they wanted an opportunity to gain some points.

Of course, Clark and his team had no intention of letting the two members of the Hero Party advance to the next round.

Roland gnashed his teeth in anger as he looked at the fleeing Wanderers, whose figures soon faded deep in the forest.

Clark was filled with nasty tricks, and he truly made it extremely hard for Roland to chase after him, let alone deliver a blow that could seriously injure him.

It seemed that Roland had completely forgotten that the one who should have won in the tournament was Clark, not him.

He was certain that he lost consciousness back then, but when he regained consciousness, he was already the winner of the match.

Although he was surprised, this wasn't the first time that something like that happened. He simply thought that his hidden ability was once again awakened the moment he was incapacitated to continue the battle.

Thirteen couldn't help but chuckle as he saw Roland's and Joshua's disheveled appearances, which proved to show that both of them were not having an easy time in the special event, which Joshua originally thought was already in the bag.

'What are you going to do now, Heroes?' Thirteen mused as he lay on Sherry's lap, who was already wearing her pajamas.

The two of them were still watching the live broadcast, which would end in less than an hour.

The minutes were ticking, and with it, the anxiety of those who wished to move on to the next round of the tournament increased.

"It's still not done?" Erica, who had just finished taking a shower, arrived, and was wiping her hair dry with a towel.

"It will end soon," Thirteen replied, as he accepted the hair dryer that Erica had given him.

Soon, the sound of the hair dryer spread inside the room, as Thirteen helped Erica dry her hair completely.

"You should have worn something instead of going out only wearing a bath towel. What if someone suddenly enters the room?

"No one will do that," Erica replied. "Your siblings always knock instead of just barging inside your room. Also, since they're not here, no one will be able to see me. Relax, this is for your eyes only, so be good and dry my hair."

Thirteen shook his head helplessly, but still helped Erica dry her hair.

This had already been a routine for them, so he really didn't mind doing it.

Suddenly, a giggle escaped Erica's lips when she saw Roland's and Joshua's disheveled appearances.

Their clothes were filled with dirt, and there were even leaves on their heads, which clearly meant that they were truly having a hard time in the tournament.

"They should have just set the forest on fire." Erica clicked her tongue.

"They're not like you, you know?" Thirteen replied. "Also, don't make a habit of burning Forests. Doing it in GANDAM is fine. But doing it in Solterra or Pangea will have dire consequences."

"Hmph! Do you think I'm stupid?" Erica scoffed. "Of course, I won't do it in the real world."

"Really?"

"… Really."

"Why did you pause?"

"Shut up and just dry my hair."

Sherry watched the two bicker and shook her head helplessly.

Perhaps due to Erica moving needlessly, her bath towel became undone, and fell on her feet, revealing her naked body to Zion.

The teenage boy blinked once then twice before reaching out towards Erica's slim waist, which would have made the guys who saw it, howl like wolves.

"Can you move aside?" Thirteen asked as he gently shoved Erica to the side. "You're blocking the T.V."

Erica sighed before taking out a nightgown from her storage ring, and wore it before picking up the towel beside her feet.

When she was done, she sat beside Thirteen, and looked at the T.V as if the teenage boy seeing her naked wasn't a big deal.

If others saw this scene, they would have cursed Zion because he didn't took advantage of such an amazing view, and preferred to watch the T.V instead where the Wanderers were busy killing each other, in order to get a shot at glory.