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nThe structure of the Monolith Capture event was simple. Just like the Survival games, the main event would also last a week, with 25 matches occurring every day. There would be 12 in the morning and 13 at night.

nIt was truly convenient that the matches were recorded, so people could watch them even if they weren’t present while it was happening live. This way, people could prioritize what they wanted to watch without missing any dark horses or interesting drama.

nFor this reason. It was possible to hold many matches simultaneously. Within the private room, Damien, Katherine, and Eva were still discussing their plans.

n“This guy over here is a brute through and through, so we should take care of the planning. Just make him follow whatever we come up with.” Katherine said while eyeing Damien.

n“Oi!” He countered, but he couldn’t say anything. She was telling the truth. His battle sense and power were both extremely high, but his talent in strategizing was either not present or hadn’t bloomed.

nHe had never needed to do too much strategizing. The dungeon was always filled with the most primal of battles and once he left it, he had felt a severe lack of life or death situations.

nSo, he let Katherine do the planning. If anything, this was what teamwork meant in the first place. He couldn’t do everything himself, so he needed people to rely on to cover his weaknesses.

nDamien suddenly had a thought. “Hey Eva, can you expand a bit about what your nature affinity can do?”

nEva looked hesitant but still decided to speak. “It’s mainly as it sounds. Within a certain area, any nature is within my control. Trees, plants, and even the earth are included within my ability.”

nDamien fell into thought. ‘This will be a major benefit to us when the terrain is in our favor, but there were islands and cities within the terrains we saw on the screen. We need to figure out a strategy that prevents her from being a liability.’

nVoicing his thoughts, Damien looked to Katherine for the decision. She thought for a moment before responding. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

nThe week passed by in a flash as the many different teams worked to synergize and coordinate their attack patterns. It wasn’t enough time to become truly cohesive, but it was enough to learn how to work together.

nThere would always be teams that couldn’t work together, but that was their bad luck. In the first place, the teams were randomized. Otherwise, Damien and Katherine, who were second and first place in the first event, would have never been put on a team together.

nThe event also had one other mechanic that was based on luck. By the end of the event, only 100 teams were allowed to move forward, but with the way it was structured, 175 teams would win by the end of the week.

nDue to this, another mechanism was added. 150 of those remaining teams would fight once again for their spot to continue, while 25 teams will be seeded directly to the third round.

nSince they didn’t know how many times they’d be fighting and also what terrain they’d be in, every team had to come up with various strategies to win. Just one or two wouldn’t cut it.

nDamien, Katherine, and Eva walked out of their private room. The first day of Monolith Capture had officially begun. Damien’s luck was always good, but it seemed like it didn’t want to help him anymore after putting him on the same team as Katherine. Their team was one of the first to compete.

nThis would naturally put them at a disadvantage as others would be able to read their team composition and movements to plan against them. But they weren’t worried. They had planned for this very scenario long ago.

nThey walked up to an attendant, who handed them cards with the number ‘2’ on them. This was their team number and the identifier that would be used for them throughout the event.

nArriving on the stage, they came face to face with their enemies. It was a team made up of two humans and a demihuman. As the two teams stared each other down, an automated voice resounded.

n13 matches were going on simultaneously, so the support team for the event most likely prepared these recordings beforehand.

n“Team 2 versus Team 43. Match Start.”

nWhen Damien opened his eyes, they were in a lush forest similar to the one he saw when he first arrived on the surface. “Good,” he said, “this works perfectly with our plan.”

nKatherine continued his sentence. “Eva, you guard the monolith, Damien you know what to do, meanwhile, I’ll prepare my part.”

nThe three nodded at each other before they split up. Damien headed straight for the other team while Katherine split to the left. The monolith was right behind them when they spawned, so Eva stayed in place.

nOn the other side, similar events were taking place. “Donald, you know what to do. No matter what we can’t let them approach.” Said one of the humans to the other.

nDonald nodded. “Same to you, Clark. Two of those guys are supreme geniuses, so we need to stay on guard at all times.” The two of them then turned to the demihuman.

n“Your physical strength surpasses both of us, Rex. Make sure you don’t let anyone stop you. I’ll distract their defense while you go straight for the monolith.”

nThe three nodded at each other. It hadn’t taken more than 5 minutes for them to sort everything out, so they thought they were safe. But they were very wrong.

nBoom!

nAn explosion was heard throughout the forest as a black stream maneuvered its way forward. The group had decided that it’d be best to hide his spatial abilities for now, so he was purely basing his speed on lightning.

nUnlike the opposing group, theirs had finished planning instantly and split up. There was no need for more talk after all the discussions they had during the week of preparation.

nDamien zoomed through the forest without pause, seemingly wanting to brute strength his way through the round. Seeing this, Clark’s face twisted. “Change of plans! Rex, hold him back! I’ll head towards their monolith.”

nRex, a lion demihuman, immediately rushed forward while Clark split off from him. As he ran, the earth pushed him forward, enhancing his speed.

nThen, he collided with Damien, causing many trees to fall. The two started fighting without care.

nEarth spikes and large levitating chunks of rock crashed towards Damien while bolts of lightning snaked towards Rex. They received each other’s attacks and flew back.

nRegaining balance, the two vigilantly stared each other down before they started clashing again.

n***

nOutside the arena, many participants were watching the match. Damien had made quite the showing in the first round in his fight against Ethan, so many were wary of him.

nEthan was also among those watching, as his match was scheduled for the evening portion of the day. ‘He’s holding back most of his power.’ Ethan thought. ‘His physical strength is on par with mine, so there’s no way that lion would be able to fight on par with him. He’s more flexible than I thought.’

nIn another area, the elf twins that came from Zenith Academy along with Damien were also watching the match.

n“What do you think, Ara? He’s been hiding his spatial affinity this whole time. Otherwise, he’d be able to easily win against these weaker competitors.” The male twin said.

n“Hmm,” Ara responded, “I don’t think he has the brain to come up with any strategies, Eren. It must be either that Katherine girl or the elf that’s with them. However, we should still be wary. They might be fooling the crowd to increase their unpredictability in the coming rounds.”

nEren nodded as he continued watching. Out of all the supreme geniuses he’d met before the first round, Damien was still the one who gave him the most dangerous feeling. ‘If we have to go against him and that Katherine girl combined, it’ll probably be our hardest fight.’

n***

nWithin the forest, Damien and Rex continued clashing, leading each other away from their respective monoliths. Meanwhile, Clark approached Eva’s position.

n‘If the other two went ahead, she must be the weakest link. After all, she’s not a supreme genius like them.’

nClark snuck towards the monolith as he charged lightning into his hands. Unlike Damien’s, this lightning retained its original purple color.

nWhen he got within range, he immediately infused his mana into his bracelet, causing the monolith to split and the code within to be revealed. He watched Eva panic within the concealment of the forest as he moved to peek at the code when his foot suddenly got stuck.

n‘This damn forest environment. These roots are everywhere. If I’m not careful it’ll limit my mobility and cost us the win.’

nHe ignored the problem and continued moving, only to find himself stuck once again. “Dammit!” He cursed as he tried to free himself, but the moment he took his eyes off her, Eva’s entire demeanor changed.

nShe raised her hand before dropping it once again. Countless tendrils of wood and vines charged towards Clark from all angles before entangling him within.

nStartled, he wantonly released electricity to burn the vines. But he was too late. An entire tree trunk was already heading his way, crashing into his head and knocking him unconscious. Eva smiled. “Step 1 complete.”

nOn the other side, Donald was still guarding the monolith. He felt an ominous feeling around him, but there was nobody there. He increased his vigilance in watching the surroundings.

nUnbeknownst to him, the back half of the monolith had already fallen long ago, and a certain princess was already on her way back to her base with the code. Only a few minutes later did the illusion dispel, leaving a horrified Donald as the buzzer rang. The first round had been a clean win by team 2.

nThe second round was even faster. Since Eva’s nature affinity had already been revealed, there was no need to be sneaky. They left Damien, the strongest of them, to guard the monolith and knock out anyone that approached, while Eva entangled the defenders and Katherine stole the code.

nEven while knowing that illusions could be in play, the other team was unable to do anything. They simply lacked the strength to retaliate. The only reason they had survived so long in the first round was that Damien’s team had a larger plan that they became pawns in.

nAnd like that, their first battle in the second event ended in an overwhelming victory.

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