The final day wasn't announced with an alarm but with a scream.
Somewhere out there someone desperate for points had already taking the first step against another participant.
The final day was going to be announced with bloodshed...
The ranking board shifted again.
Not with a tremor.
Not with blinding light.
Just a slow recalculation.
Zael — Rank 19 | Points: 6,950
Whispers stirred in the viewing halls.
"…He dropped."
"No new kills."
"So he stopped hunting."
Inside the dungeon, Zael felt the system adjust.
A translucent panel slid into view.
[Zael — Rank 19 | Points: 6,950]
"…Dropped again," he muttered.
Lily glanced back.
"…You're not hunting."
"I'm medically retired," he said, limping over a root. "Temporarily."
They entered a broken basin of stone pillars and glowing moss.
Voices drifted from ahead.
Three awakeners waited in the open.
"…That's him," one said.
"The rank fifteen guy."
"Was."
Their eyes moved from Lily to Zael.
"Hand over your points," the leader said. "No need to bleed."
Zael sighed.
"She's in a bad mood."
Lily stepped forward, silver light rippling along her spear.
"…Leave."
They laughed.
The mage's sigil ignited.
---
Steel rang.
Lily met the first attacker head-on, her spear sliding under his guard and driving him back. The second rushed wide, trying to flank.
Zael leaned against a pillar.
Don't spike. Don't draw eyes.
The flanker raised his spear to strike Lily's blind side.
Zael flicked his blade.
Not a killing cut.
The spear clattered away as tendons parted. The man screamed and collapsed, the system teleporting him out in a burst of light.
No points.
The mage hurled a bolt of condensed mana at Lily.
She vanished.
Space folded.
She reappeared behind him and drove her spear through his back.
The man stiffened.
Light swallowed him.
A panel flashed beside Lily.
[Kill Registered: +480 points]
[Lily — Total Points: 19,440]
The last attacker froze, eyes wide.
Zael stepped forward, coughing lightly.
"…You should surrender."
The man did.
Another flash.
No points gained.
Silence returned to the basin.
Lily exhaled slowly.
"…They came for you."
Zael shrugged.
"I'm famous for being tired."
Her gaze lingered on him.
"You could have killed."
"I didn't," he replied.
The ranking panel pulsed faintly.
[Zael — Rank 19 | Points: 6,950]
[Lily — Rank 2 | Points: 19,440]
Unchanged for him.
She studied the numbers, then him.
"…You're giving everything away."
Zael smiled weakly.
"Charity."
They moved on through the ruins.
No beasts fell.
No points shifted.
And somewhere far above, the board stayed still—
The forest went quiet.
Not the normal kind of quiet—the kind where insects still chirped and wind still whispered through leaves.
This was emptiness.
No distant roars.
No territorial calls.
No tremors from heavy bodies moving through the undergrowth.
Zael noticed it first.
"…It's dead," he said softly.
Lily stopped beside him.
She extended her senses, spatial ripples spreading outward like invisible waves.
Nothing answered.
"…No beasts," she confirmed. "Not within range."
Zael looked up.
Across the dungeon sky, faint light-lines began to rearrange themselves, forming new runic patterns above the canopy.
A system announcement echoed, calm and indifferent:
[Phase Shift: Beast Population Depleted]
[Trial Condition Updated]
[Primary Point Source: Contestant Elimination]
Lily stiffened.
Zael sighed.
"So it finally turned into this."
The ranking panel shimmered open.
[Remaining Contestants: 327 / 1050]
[Top 100 Advance to Nationals]
Below it, the point exchange rule appeared.
[Contestant Elimination Reward: 50% of target's current points]
[Defeat Conditions: Critical Injury / Surrender]
No deaths.
Only teleportation.
Only loss.
Zael scratched his cheek.
"…That's a lot of walking point bags."
Lily's grip tightened on her spear.
"…Now they'll come."
As if on cue—
A violent ripple of mana burst several hundred meters away.
Then another.
Then another.
Explosions of light cut through the trees as awakeners clashed, the sky briefly flashing with color-coded skill effects.
The dungeon had become a battlefield.
Zael glanced at the ranking panel again.
[Lily — Rank 2 | Points: 20,570]
[Zael — Rank 21 | Points: 6,950]
He frowned.
"…I'm a very affordable target."
Lily looked at him sharply.
"…You're not running?"
He tilted his head.
"…Are you?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she turned her body slightly—positioning herself half a step in front of him without realizing it.
Zael noticed.
He didn't comment.
"…We avoid clusters," she said. "Single targets only."
Zael nodded.
"Preferably ones that don't know who you are."
They moved.
Not toward the sounds of battle—
But around them.
---
They found the first one near a collapsed watchtower.
A lone awakener crouched beside broken stone, breathing hard, blood on his sleeve.
Rank marker hovered above him.
[Contestant — Rank 84 | Points: 4,120]
He noticed them too late.
"W-Wait—"
Lily was already moving.
Space folded.
Her spear appeared at his throat.
The system reacted instantly.
Light wrapped around his body.
He vanished.
[Elimination Registered]
[Points Gained: +2,060]
[Lily — Total Points: 22,630]
Zael exhaled slowly.
"…Clean."
She didn't look proud.
Only focused.
The panel updated.
[Zael — Rank 23 | Points: 6,950]
"…Still dropping," he muttered.
They didn't stop.
The second was a pair fighting over a ruined altar.
They didn't even see Lily until space twisted and separated them.
One vanished.
Then the other.
[Elimination Registered: +1,740]
[Elimination Registered: +1,890]
[Lily — Total Points: 26,260]
Zael leaned on his spear like a tired old man.
"…You're going to hit first at this rate."
"…You're letting me," she said quietly.
He didn't deny it.
---
The dungeon began to thin.
Trees shattered.
Stone melted.
Spatial distortions scarred the terrain.
Every direction held conflict.
Every shadow hid a hunter.
The ranking panel refreshed.
[Remaining Contestants: 146]
Zael stopped walking.
"…We're close to cutoff."
Lily turned.
"…You're Rank 29 now."
He blinked.
[Zael — Rank 29 | Points: 6,950]
"…I'm actively getting worse."
"…If you get eliminated—" she began.
"I won't," he replied calmly.
Her eyes narrowed.
"…You're lying."
Zael smiled faintly.
"Only strategically."
A new presence stirred behind them.
Multiple.
Heavy footsteps.
Mana signatures overlapping.
A group.
At the front walked a familiar face.
The legendary-grade awakener.
The same one who had ambushed them before.
He smiled when he saw Lily.
Then noticed Zael.
"…Still hiding behind her?" he asked.
Zael sighed.
"…I really should stop meeting you like this."
The ranking panel flickered above them.
[Enemy Squad Detected — Combined Points: 18,400]
Lily's spear rose.
Zael's limp… disappeared.
Just a little.
Enough that she noticed.
"…Zael?" she said.
He straightened.
Slowly.
"…If I drop out," he said quietly, "you won't make nationals alone."
Her eyes widened.
"…You've been calculating that?"
"Since yesterday."
The legendary awakener laughed.
"Then you should surrender."
Zael lifted his head.
And smiled.
"…No."
The dungeon wind howled.
And this time—
Zael stepped forward first.
Zael didn't know why he wanted to help Lily.
It went against everything he usually did. By helping her he was putting his self in the spotlight but he still stepped forward. Maybe it was because he felt Zane was attracting too much attention or something else but he ended up standing in front of her. She was a mythical awakener, yes, but she had zero combat experience. He had watched her fight and her way of fighting was messy. Against, this guy he wasn't sure she could achieve victory alone, so if he was gonna have to step in sooner or later then he had better do it now.