Chapter 328: Puppy? (1/2)

In the wake of the new day, almost everyone was exhausted.

Most of them assumed that it would take almost another week before Old Gu declared the end of this competition. Hence, no one expected him to make an appearance after only one night.

Just like at the start of this competition, the participants couldn't see Old Gu anywhere but heard his voice nonetheless.

”Well well well...”

It felt as if he was talking right next to everyone, but that seemed impossible at best.

Hearing the familiar voice filled with amusement, most participants breathed a sigh of relief to have survived and a few felt irritated that their fun was ruined. Everyone thought that Old Gu was speaking to announce the end of the competition.

After all, no one knew exactly how many people had survived the first night.

...

Among the battle-crazed ones, Berk Leonhard was the most annoyed. He wanted to finish off the two people from that information-gathering organization his father had talked about, but a day didn't seem to be enough to find them.

”Cowards! They should have been here in the middle!” raged Berk before he angrily stomped his feet on the ground.

As he did so, a sound of something cracking was heard from under him.

Right now, his whole body was covered entirely in blood while a couple of unconscious bodies lay there unmoving; all dead.

Behind him, a woman seemingly unconcerned of the bloody mess, spoke nonchalantly, ”I told you, not everyone's like you. Some people actually use their brain a little.”

Although Maura trusted Berk's strength, it was still a stupid move to march right towards the middle of the bloody battle and taking on everyone at once. Even when Berk had defeated them all and still stood upright without any concerning injuries, he had exhausted himself quite a lot.

Berk only clicked his tongue in annoyance before the familiar voice rang out all across the Neutral Lands.

”... Damn it! Damn it! It's already ending?! Just how weak were these people?”

”Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. What do you know? It could be something else,” Maura reasoned. Being with Berk for so long, she had to learn to calmly analyze every situation. One of them had to use their brains instead of brawns. And she wasn't wrong.

”I was expecting this to only be the last test, but alas, my calculations were wrong. There's so much an old man like me can do without messing up these days.”

Old Gu couldn't hide the amusement in his tone.

”Seems like 'he' could only hold the 'puppy' back for so long~” He continued to ramble. No one really understood what he was trying to say.

”Anyway, things won't be changing much. Same rules and same game. Your end goal is also the same; survive until the very end. Dead will receive  no consolation nor any pity from me. On the other hand, the survivors will all be enlightened.” Old Gu spoke with a little seriousness.

This dramatic shift in his way of speaking changed quickly and he was back to his previous self, ”Heh, as for what changed? Well, all of you will have yet another 'participant' to play with.”

Those who heard him mostly heaved a breath of relief. If it was just another participant, things wouldn't change much. Though they did all wonder what was so special about this late arrival.

Ozul, on the other hand, didn't assume that things were so simple like others thought. Old Gu calling it a puppy coupled with his instincts telling continuously drumming his head, he thought better than to assume the new participant would be a normal human.

'Just what is going on,' he didn't like this suspense. Maybe the threat was still bearable, but now he wouldn't be able to rest until he knew exactly what was going on.

”That being said, I didn't want to do this so early in the competition, but all of you have to move to the city in the middle now. All of you have at most half a day to do so.” Old Gu spoke with a little pause, ”Also, for those wondering who the new participant is, I will only give a little hint; it is a fiery one! Hahaha!”

The echoes of his laughter hadn't died down yet when the ground shook just a little and the barrier rapidly started shrinking.

This death tournament was far from being over.

.. .

The shrinking barrier forced Ozul to change his plans, which mostly included staying away from all the battles as long as possible.

Now they were all forced to move towards the Neutral City. One of the most talented individuals in this world all gathered at one place and fighting to kill others would wreck unimaginable havoc all around the city.

'Yet, this new 'participant' seems to be more troublesome than all of them combined,' Ozul again had a feeling that he had missed something.

Only when Raven was standing before him did he wake up from his fleeting thoughts.

”Ah. Let's move.”

The barrier was shrinking at a high speed. They couldn't delay reaching the city. There wasn't anything to pack, everyone just stood up and continued moving.