Chapter 268

Finally, all the civilians had been successfully evacuated, and in the process, the Aspirants who had been escorting them to safety had already returned to the front lines.

Though they hadn’t initially been prepared to fight the creatures, seeing their comrades risking and losing their lives to defeat the beasts sparked something profound within them.

Whether they possessed the strength to actually make a significant difference on the field or not, it didn’t matter.

All that mattered was that they would at least help in their own way.

Chloe was unrelenting as she unleashed barrage after barrage of arrows.

Some ricocheted harmlessly off the creatures’ dense hides, while others managed to dig into softer spots, destabilizing them long enough for the stronger combatants to take them down.

She was becoming thoroughly exhausted at the rate she was going, but she didn’t care.

Now, however, she was running dangerously low on ammunition.

Only a few arrows remained.

With the blistering speed she had been maintaining, she simply hadn’t found the time to use her ability to retrieve the projectiles scattered across the chaotic field.

Van, on the other hand, didn’t have the luxury to celebrate his clutch victory after defeating the beast that had ambushed him in close combat.

Yes, he won.

But he had never doubted the outcome; he always knew he would prevail.

Observing the creatures all this time hadn’t been for nothing.

Even as he was shooting, he was constantly scanning their behavior.

’Ah, damn. Ray will surely be pissed.’ Van frowned deeply as he blasted a nearby beast, sending it sliding backward before another combatant swooped in to finish it off.

The source of his worry was the sheer volume of beast cores being lost in the fray.

Knowing the Tribrid, Ray would be furious because once the entire engagement concluded, the Iron Corps would handle the cleanup and potentially confiscate all the valuable cores.

Since everyone was currently trapped in a literal life-and-death situation, there was simply no time to kill a monster and immediately loot it.

They had to keep moving forward unless they wanted to perish along with their greed.

Yet, knowing Ray, he would almost rather risk it than let those resources go to waste.

’Where even is he?’ Van wondered as he scanned the wide area.

Due to the massive scale of the battlefield, he couldn’t catch sight of his best friend.

Though he did witness people falling in battle, he couldn’t help them.

There was absolutely nothing he could do about it; he was already contributing everything he could muster at the moment.

He could even see Berg rushing around, punching and kicking the creatures with all his might, sending their shattered bodies flying across the terrain.

’I hope he doesn’t hurt anyone with that recklessness.’

So far, no other Aspirant had been injured by the Legacy descendant’s wild fighting style, but Van couldn’t help but worry regardless.

Choosing to refocus on his own sector, his attention was suddenly drawn to Kai.

’Huh?’

Firing out another concentrated energy beam, he decided to pause briefly and observe his friend properly.

The handsome youth was currently engaging four beasts entirely on his own.

Despite the few minor scratches marking his arms and face, he still managed to look perfectly radiant.

But that wasn’t what caught Van’s concern.

Even though Kai was locked in a serious match, he didn’t actually appear to be struggling.

To an outside spectator, it might look like he was in trouble as he was constantly being pushed around the area.

But to Van’s keen, analytical sight, that wasn’t the reality at all.

He knew Kai, understood his latent strength, and was familiar with his true ability.

There was absolutely no way a handful of Advanced-rank beasts could easily push him around like this.

Instead, it closely resembled a scenario where Kai was actively engineering their every movement—carefully guiding them toward a specific location while the creatures gave chase.

And based on the trajectory he was maintaining, he was heading directly in...

... Berg’s direction.

The Legacy hadn’t noticed because he was deep in his fiery battle, but Kai was steadily approaching, and his face...

He looked... cold.

Like an assassin.

Not like Van had actually seen what an assassin looked like in real life, but he had watched an old film before, so he could guess.

Kai was calmly batting the beasts away by leading them toward Berg, who was in the middle of dealing with two beasts on his own.

With the four Kai was currently facing, it would mean that they would soon be surrounded by six beasts.

’Surrounded...’

Lifting his head to the sky, Van could see the drones hovering around the place.

He looked back down at the beasts’ hulking frames.

If six beasts surrounded two people, there was no way the drones would be able to easily catch sight of what was going on inside the fray.

’... The perfect cover....’

Van’s eyes stretched wide as realization dawned on him instantly.

He recalled when they had been trapped underground and Kai, along with Ray, swore to make Berg pay for all he had done.

Van had been wondering why Ray hadn’t made a move yet, despite how furious he was that day. Same with Kai.

He hadn’t done anything until now.

Now he understood; they had both been waiting for the perfect opportunity, and Kai just found it.

Looking closer, Van could see a purple crystal dagger flashing in Kai’s hands.

If everything played out perfectly, it would be proven that it was the beasts that took care of Berg and not a fellow human.

’No, no, no. What are you doing, fool?! He’s... you know who his family is.’

Quickly tapping his bud, Van hurriedly connected with Kai’s frequency.

The lad was still weaving in between attacks when he heard a beep in his ear, followed by an angry, low shout.

"The fuck do you think you are doing, Kai?!"

"Huh? Van? What do you mean? I’m in the middle of a battle."

Leaning his head to the side, Kai allowed for a spider’s scythe to fly past before driving his foot into its face, sending it sliding backward.

"Don’t bullshit me, Kai! I know what you are planning on doing, and I will say—are you mad?! He’s part of the Big Four Legacies and you want to take him out?! Do you know the implications of that?"

"..."

Kai scowled as he cast a brief glance at Berg, who was only a few meters away.

Then he lifted his head toward the direction where he suspected Van would be stationed.

Then, the corner of his lips rose up in a sharp smile.

"What needs to be done, has to be done."