Conquering The Novel

Kevin's abrupt elimination caused a stir among the entire Soreh Academy Team. The assault on Team Iron Fortress Academy's castle had proceeded smoothly as planned, with most of the members taken care of in the attack, leaving only a handful of them to handle. They had not anticipated any unexpected elements that could catch Kevin off guard, eliminating him.

"...It appears that he was eliminated by the last remaining member of the Iron Fortress team," Penelope reported through the voice chat, watching the displayed total kills of their team on the holographic screen.

"Imbecile! He couldn't even take out the last remaining member?" Ziona muttered as she hurried towards Kevin's last known location.

Upon arriving, she found nothing but the remnants of shattered walls and a dead end.

'...What was he even doing in a place like this? Was he pursuing the last remaining member, only to be eliminated after being led here?' Ziona wondered as she remained vigilant, brandishing her katana to defend herself against any surprise attacks.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of labored breathing emanating from behind a boulder in front of her.

!?

Swash—

With a swift stroke of her sword, she shattered the boulder into pieces, revealing an injured elven woman groaning in pain.

"Arghh, P-please don't hurt me," she pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes as she began to crawl backward with a terrified expression.

"...."

"Haaa, only a fool like Kevin could have fallen for such a trap," Ziona remarked, shaking her head in disbelief as she advanced towards the elven woman, her katana dragging on the ground as she wore a wicked grin on her face.

"W-Wait, please don't come any closer!" the elven woman pleaded.

"Yeah, yeah, your cheap theatrics won't work on me. Try as hard as you may, your time ends here. Just be happy that you were at least able to eliminate one of our team's idiotic members," Ziona commented, before moving her hand to strike her down.

The elven woman gritted her teeth and slowly readied her dagger to retaliate. She knew that her plan, which had succeeded in eliminating Kevin, would not work on everyone, but with her HP already below 5, any direct attack would result in a game over for her.

So, she had devised another plan - to draw as many members from the opposing team near her and take them all down together with her.

Just as the elven woman was about to lunge forward to attack Ziona, realizing that her plan had failed, she suddenly heard the voice of another self-proclaimed hero who seemed eager to rescue a damsel in distress.

"Ziona, stop!" Lucas exclaimed, seeing that Ziona was about to eliminate the unarmed woman.

"...."

Ziona turned towards him, irritated by the interruption. "What is it?" she asked curtly, fully aware of Lucas's character and where this was headed.

Lucas and Evan approached her slowly, and Lucas spoke with a smile, "It isn't appropriate to attack someone who is unarmed, is it?"

"You...have got to be kidding me, right?"

Upon hearing Lucas, Ziona's face twisted in anger. Her instincts screamed to teach this wannabe hero a lesson for his obliviousness to how the world works. He was so blinded by his heroism that he couldn't even see the obvious trap.

Ziona took a deep breath before speaking. "...Can't you see the blatant trap here, Lucas? She is the last remaining member, which means she must have eliminated Kevin."

'Even those beastman known as muscleheads would also be able to recognize this,' she pondered inwardly.

Seeing Lucas's hesitation, the elven woman inwardly grinned as she spoke quickly, "I didn't eliminate anyone. I can barely move due to my injuries," tears streaming down her face.

"...."

"This melodramatic Bitch!" Ziona muttered, taken aback by her award-worthy acting.

"Why don't you surrender? We won't eliminate you, but we will have to imprison you in our castle until this match is over, ok?" Lucas said as he approached the injured elf and offered his hand with a smile.

"O-Okay—" the elven woman replied and was about to take his hand, but Ziona snapped.

"I've had enough of this bullshit!" she exclaimed and swung her sword at the woman, decapitating her immediately.

!?

Splash—

Her blood splashed on Lucas's face and before her hand could reach his, it began to disperse into particles indicating her elimination.

"H-Huh?" Lucas's eyes widened in shock as he saw her head rolling on the ground.

But suddenly, the elf's decapitated head glowed and emitted a blinding light for a moment before causing a deafening explosion.

Kaboom!—

"Ah, fuck...!" Evan exclaimed as he shielded himself and Lucas from the blast.

Beep—

!?

[H-Hey, Lucas, Ziona, Evan, you guys okay? What was that explosion sound?] Erina's concerned voice came through the voice chat.

Erina had already left to return to their castle with the rest of the team, carrying the Iron Fortress Academy's crown to prevent any other academies from attacking their Castle while they were away.

Cough—Cough

"...So, this was her plan all along. She wanted to eliminate as many of our team members with her to at least be able to get those few killing points," Ziona muttered as she emerged from the smoke, with burning wounds on her body.

Although Ziona's agility had allowed her to avoid the instant elimination, her health bar had dropped more than 50 percent from the explosion.

[W-We're okay.] Lucas replied to Erina, coughing from the smoke.

Thanks to Evan using his shield to guard them, Lucas and Evan were still alive, but their health bars had also taken a significant hit.

[...I see, but what happened to all of your health bars?] Erina asked as she checked their health bars on the screen.

[...Her head exploded after her elimination.] Evan replied.

[Huh?]

"...."

Meanwhile, Ziona ignored their chatter and walked past Lucas and Evan with a twisted expression. She was in no mood for any talk now.

[Alright... Return to our castle.] Erina ordered.

Lucas and Evan nodded and followed Ziona who was leading the way. They were all silent as they made their way back to their castle, still processing what had just happened.

The explosion was unexpected and had caught them off guard, but they were lucky to have survived it. As they approached their castle, they could see their team members waiting for them at the entrance.

Erina was the first one to approach them. "Are... you all really okay?" she asked, her eyes scanning their battered clothes and minor wounds.

"We're fine, just a bit shaken," Lucas replied with an awkward smile.

Erina nodded in relief. "Good, we have to make sure we're all in top condition for the next attack," she said, leading them inside the castle.

---

Ziona remained silent, lost in thought as they walked through the corridors, she couldn't help but think that the suicidal Elven woman was more dangerous than a toddler with a loaded gun.

"I mean, come on," Ziona muttered to herself, "she's a walking, talking bomb ready to blow us all to smithereens!"

She thought back to Lucas' suggestion of bringing the woman back to their castle. "Oh, sure, let's just invite a ticking time bomb into our home," she muttered sarcastically to herself. "What could possibly go wrong?"

She imagined the scene playing out like a cartoon - the woman would saunter in, smile sweetly, and then BOOM! The entire castle would explode, leaving nothing but rubble and a bewildered group of survivors. Ziona shook her head at the thought.

"Talk about catching us off guard," she said aloud, trying to make light of the situation. "I mean, I'm all for a good surprise party, but this is just ridiculous."

Evan and Lucas chuckled nervously when they overheard Ziona's muttering, unsure of how else to respond. They knew Ziona was right - bringing the Elven woman back to their castle would have been a disaster.

As Lucas watched Ziona and Evan being tended to by Mia, his heart was heavy with guilt. He knew he had made a grave mistake by suggesting they bring the suicidal elf back to their castle, and now he was paying the price for his lack of foresight.

"I should have listened to Ziona," he thought to himself, his jaw clenched in frustration. "I had no idea that the elf was going to be such a danger to us. I could have put the whole team in harm's way."

As he watched Mia apply bandages to Ziona and Evan's minor wounds, Lucas couldn't help but feel a sense of shame wash over him. He had always thought of himself as the smartest one in the room, the one with all the answers. But now he realized that his intelligence had been nothing but a hindrance.

[Team Iron Fortress Has Been Eliminated!]

[Team Cherry Blossom Has Been Eliminated!]

Suddenly, the robotic voice echoed in the Soreh Academy's castle, announcing the elimination of two teams.

"Is the fight between other academies still going on?" Penelope asked, feeling uneasy about the situation.

Erina shared the same feeling. With only thirty minutes left in the match, it was strange that only two teams had been eliminated so far.

"Everyone, disperse to your designated locations and be on high alert. I have a bad feeling about this," Erina ordered, her voice urgent.

The team members nodded in agreement and quickly moved to their respective positions in the castle, keeping a lookout for any potential threats. They knew that they had to protect their own crown as well as the Iron Fortress crown they had secured to earn points until the end of the match.