Egg

"Second, during the competition, you are allowed to use everything other than high-level weaponry with overwhelming destructive power like missiles. Other than that, you are allowed to use anything."

Clovis frowned. 'As expected, I didn't hear it wrong. We could use anything other than high-level weaponry.' 

"Clovis? What should we do? Should we run a bit deeper into the Elasmotherium's territory? It will be safer this way." Kanaria asked in a low voice.

Shaking his head, Clovis explained, "Do you remember what the military guy said back then?"

"Huh?" Both of them were confused, so Clovis reminded them and asked, "Do you understand what 'anything' means?"

Kanaria and Jay exchanged looks before shaking their heads. They thought it was only a weapon.

That was why Clovis sighed. "Anything you can find, whether it's another person's weapon or that person himself." 

"!!!" Kanaria and Jay widened their eyes in disbelief. 

By killing other people, they could use their weapons or even ransack their belongings. In fact, they might even be able to acquire the essence they hadn't absorbed. In other words, they could actually wait for people to get exhausted before ambushing them. Not a single group would stop for a moment to take the essence of the beast they killed when there was another beast nearby. 

That was why it was a perfect plan to just wait and reap all the benefits while retaining their strength. 

Morally, it was wrong. However, no one cared. This subterranean world adopted the law of the jungle. Hence, it didn't really matter if they killed one another for their own benefit. 

Kanaria asked, "So, what are we going to do, Clovis? The spot where Jay saw the incident shouldn't be that far from here."

"We should go deeper to avoid danger. Even if it means fighting in the dark, we have to secure a new place to ensure our safety," Jay suggested without hesitation.

Clovis sighed. On the one hand, they could ambush those people. On the other hand, it didn't seem that they were very fond of the idea since the first thing that came into their mind was running away.

In fact, Clovis didn't have any experience killing humans. He wondered if it would be different from killing a beast, considering they were the same kin.

"For now, let's go deeper. I believe there is an area without a lot of Elasmotherium near the border, so we'll use that place to avoid direct conflict."

Both of them nodded without hesitation.

They hurriedly dismantled everything and packed up their luggage within ten minutes before departing for the Elasmotherium's territory.

The sky had turned dark, so it was hard to navigate through the area. In addition, they wouldn't be able to see anything far away.

While relying on his other senses, Clovis pointed at a small plain among the trees. "We should use this place as our camp for tonight. Remember, it will be cold because we can't light up any fire to avoid any attacks from both beasts and humans." 

"Jay. You should remain here with the luggage. We'll scout the area around." Kanaria grabbed the radar. Although it didn't show any signal, they couldn't be sure until they checked it for themselves. 

Jay nodded his head as he watched them leave. 

This was the first time they ventured out during the night into the woods. It was extremely dark. In fact, their range of sight was only two to three meters in front of them.

"This is going to be more troublesome than I thought," said Clovis while looking around. If he was separated from Kanaria just a little bit, he would definitely lose her. "Kanaria. Don't go too far from me. It will be troublesome if you lose your way." 

"I know." Kanaria nodded with a serious expression. Normally, they would have set up their camp before the dark, so they didn't need to do anything during the night. They only needed to be on the lookout, making sure that they didn't hear any noises coming toward them.

However, this time was different. Kanaria couldn't use her weapon because it was too dark. A single shot would also liven the entire wood, and at that time, the beasts would be coming to them without them being able to see these beasts. 

Kanaria couldn't help but grab the hem of Clovis's shirt. 

Clovis noticed her worry and didn't say anything.

During the patrol, Clovis actually thought about another thing. The earlier incident actually gave him an idea of how to defeat Ivan's group overwhelmingly.

"Kanaria." Clovis suddenly stopped and looked into her eyes. 

"Y-yes?"

"How much can you sacrifice for the sake of victory?" Clovis's expression was solemn and his tone was firm as if he had steeled his resolve.

"Eh?" Kanaria remembered the incident and asked, "Are you going to kill people as well?"

"If it's not necessary, then I won't. But I won't hesitate to wield my sword if they come to attack us."

Kanaria thought that Clovis planned to do the same in order to steal other people's targets. 

However, Clovis added, "But don't worry. I have a plan in mind, but it's not related to killing people."

Kanaria's gaze remained on Clovis for a while before saying, "I am ready to do anything even if it kills people. It's just… I don't like the wanton killing."

 "Alright. It seems that I can tell you about my plan." Clovis moved closer to her ears and whispered his plan. 

"!!!" Kanaria's eyes became wider and wider as she listened to his plan. She had never thought about this, but they could actually crush and even embarrass Ivan and his group this way. 

"What do you think?" Clovis asked. 

Kanaria nodded furiously. "I think it's possible. But we have to avoid getting killed in the process."

"I know. If you can trust me, then let's do it. Those people also piss me off." 

After strolling for about fifteen minutes, Clovis returned to the camp. It was quite hard to find the exact spot, but they finally found Jay.

Without wasting any more time, they erected their tent. Clovis also told Jay the plan, which the latter accepted.

Fortunately, the group didn't encounter any mishaps during the night. Even the killers weren't brave enough to enter this territory. 

…

In the city, a young man walked toward the commander of the city defense, informing him of the result of the first day. 

"Sir. We have checked the area briefly. It seems that the plan has succeeded. There won't be any threat in this area anymore, so there won't be any risk of a beast wave coming from the west."

"How about the south, where we hold the competition for Tier 1?"

"There is nothing wrong with their progress. However, their result is slower than our expectations. Or it might be because the competition in the west is so intense that their progress looks lackluster."

"I see. Those beasts are dangerous, so we can't say a lot of things about their progress." The commander thought for a moment. "Is there something wrong with the competition for Tier 0 explorers?"

"What do you mean, sir?" The young man tilted his head in confusion.

"I'm talking about a weird movement from the beasts, not only the ones in the competition area but also the ones around it."

"That's…" The young man looked down for a moment. "We haven't found anything yet. It looks normal." 

"In that case, I want you to monitor that competition closely. If there is any sign, inform me immediately."

"Yes, sir." The young man didn't know why the commander wanted him to pay close attention to this competition. After all, the dangerous one would be the other competition. Tier 2 beasts were extremely hard to hunt. So, they should focus on it.

What the young man didn't know was the identity of Clovis. 

The commander couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows, thinking, 'There is indeed something strange with the competition. The higher-ups also approved this matter easily. Who is their target? That rumored genius? Or the Hacfield boy?' 

As the commander expected, the two guys who had been observing the competition had begun to move.

They were moving toward Tier 1 territory as if they were looking for something. 

"Remember. You're going to distract those soldiers while I bring the beast in."

"Got it."

What they were aiming for was actually not another beast wave. Instead, they were actually bringing an egg. 

Clovis, Jay, and Kanaria didn't realize at the time that the danger they would face in the competition far surpassed anything in their imagination.