Chapter 134: Uninvited Party

Derek wanted to win the title of Dux because it guarantees a future in the Confederacy. And being in the Confederacy means being the best of the best, where there are so many resources, privileges, and opportunities to get stronger.

But that was the long-term plan. The short-term plan is that the academy will give him generous rewards.

Even the winner of the Trials would get good rewards that help their summons or even the student himself.

Derek needed these rewards because his summon wasn’t like others.

The Abomination Slime is a species Derek did not evolve through normal methods... but that is a story for another day.

Now, Derek was focused on clearing this zone. Lucy had proven that she wasn’t weak, so he was happy everything was going well for him. He saw her tending the Malefic Spider and giving it some treats.

Derek listened to hear what Lucy was saying.

"I will ask Father to prepare a dungeon for us. Just you and me killing monsters, and then you will show me what interests you. Is that good?"

Derek asked, "So it seems you are building a relationship with your beast. Is this why you took days off?"

"None of your business," Lucy replied and held her scythe again.

She wanted to shut down Derek, but she only made him more curious.

But Derek didn’t ask more questions because he respected her sovereignty.

Meanwhile... Lucy.

Lucy didn’t think that anyone would notice, but here she was.

Derek wasn’t even nosy, and he found out just by observing. So, if she bumps into a real nosy person, there may be problems.

"I must be fast," Lucy thought. "A smart summoner will know why I’m treating Lillith better, and will use my stagnation against me. But if Lillith revives, they’ll just think we have a good relationship."

Lucy stopped walking as she entered the sixth phase of the monster zone. Derek bumped into her because she stopped walking all of a sudden, and Lucy had no option but to swing her scythe at him to retaliate.

Derek barely escaped the arc of that scythe.

"My lady, it was just an honest mistake..."

Derek thought this will engage Lucy, who has been acting detached, but she ignored him like she had a bigger problem at hand.

Lucy asked her spider to use Vent again to scan the rest of this zone.

The last time the spider used Vent was in the third phase, so using the skill again in the sixth phase will cover the whole zone.

WHOOOOSHH!

The air current from the Malefic Spider was everywhere.

SHRRILLL!

The spider winced and stopped its detection, then it walked to Lucy’s front and communicated with its eyes that it just detected what she asked for.

"Thank you," Lucy said. Meanwhile, Derek watched her as she looked at the darkness of the Underground Tunnel phase as if she was facing something invisible and asking it to show itself.

To his surprise, something did come out from the darkness. Not one, two, or three, but eight figures.

They were students and their beasts!

Derek noticed he had been holding his sword, so he dismissed it.

"What are they doing here?" he asked as the students started walking to them. They must be a party because they were four in number and had one drone.

"They are here for the same reason we’re here, so let’s not take them as enemies," Lucy replied and walked to meet the students.

The party was one girl and three boys, and they were Montclair Students. They were also not popular, so Lucy and Derek hadn’t heard of them.

This party explained that they were here just to clear this zone. The next phase for them was the final phase, but they turned around to find out the cause of the noise. They never thought that it would be Queen Lucretia and Prince Derek of Rubverton’s High, in the same monster zone as them.

"I must tell you I’m impressed," Lucy replied. "You four really handled a Yellow-ranked monster zone...!"

"Four of us? My lady, you and Prince Derek are just two. That’s more impressive!"

"Yes, it is. But I guess four is better than two, and so is six better than four," Lucy said heroically. "With the six of us, we can clear this zone smoothly without losing a life."

Lucy looked at their faces when nobody said anything for a long time, and then asked, "What’s wrong? You don’t entertain the idea?"

"No, my lady, we do," one replied. "It’s just that we’re already at the final phase, so it’s not needed."

"Are you sure? Don’t you know monster zones ranked Yellow and above have tricky final phases?? I know you cherish your kills, XP, and points, but you must ensure you don’t lose a life..."

Lucy was right about Yellow-ranked zones. The final phase can have a very strong boss or the most troublesome condition. If a team came unprepared, they will not survive.

So, after coming this far, these four Montclair students didn’t want to leave empty-handed, or one-man down.

Lucy Blackstone and Prince Derek were two of the strongest summoners. They would guarantee their survival.

"Alright. We’ll join forces. Surviving is worth sharing a bit of the clear bonus," one of the boys said, and the others nodded in agreement.

Lucy was happy because she didn’t want a conflict where they would argue about who should clear the final phase. Unfortunately, she forgot who her teammate was. Derek was not going to team up with average students.

He must have every point he can get if he wanted to win the Trials. And the final phase gives the most points. So, why should he limit himself to accommodate four more students at this crucial point of the monster zone?

"No. I didn’t come all the way here to share the final phase. Lucy and I are finishing this zone alone," he said and started walking.

"What do you mean? We found this zone first..."

"And you can leave it first," Derek replied.

Those four students gasped as Derek continued, "You should have cleared the final phase before we arrived. Now, it’s an open challenge for anyone, considering you do not own this place.

If you want to stop me. Please try."

BOUNCE! BOUNCE!!

The Abomination Slime on Derek’s shoulder bounced up and down like it was excited as its master left the other summoners in shock.

They wouldn’t dare challenge Derek because he could kill them and their beasts if he wanted to.

Denied their rightful claim, they had to direct their indignation to someone—Lucy.

"This is ridiculous. Is this how the great Blackstones operate?"

"You act all heroic and noble, promising to protect us, just to let your partner rob us blind? You’re just as fake as the rest of the high-bloods!"

"I–I..."

Lucy couldn’t find the words to defend herself and apologize for Derek’s arrogance.

They were wrong to blame her, but she understood where they were coming from. They reached the final phase first, only for Derek to appear and claim it because he was stronger.

"Forget it," one of the boys said. "We’re going after him."

They followed Derek because they didn’t want to lose the progress they made. Even if they couldn’t defeat him, they could follow behind and try to get as many kills and rewards as possible.

Meanwhile, Lucy must stay back because she and Derek had not cleared their sixth phase yet.

"Lillith, let’s be quick!" she said urgently.

The Malefic Spider moved at once. It led the charge with her mistress behind and climbed onto the walls around, and its eight legs moved quickly as it looked around the sixth phase.

As expected, Concrete Hounds. They came from the side, followed by three Makeshift Hyenas because they were hiding in ruins, waiting for something to pass by or trigger them.

"Go, get them!" yelled Lucy, and Lilith jumped down on them.

One of the Concrete Hounds opened its huge mouth and charged, but Lillith moved to the side and avoided the bite. She climbed onto its back and sank her legs into the gaps in its body.

The beast tried to shake her off, but Lillith held on.

"Poison Bite."

Lillith bit into the back of its neck.

The Concrete Hound roared and slammed itself against the ground, but the spider jumped away before it could crush her.

Lucy was not dormant. She was helping Lilith by taking care of some. Her scythe claimed any monster she faced, but they were very relentless.

If she kills one, another will fight for it, maybe even two times stronger.

One Hyena was an example, and also Lucy’s scapegoat.

Lucy blocked its metal claws with the handle of her scythe to tame it, but the monster pushed her back a few steps. So, she became angry too and twisted away from it. In the middle of that, her scythe spun anticlockwise and then cut through the Hyena’s side.

Ahead, Lillith was still fighting more Concrete Hounds. By using poison and Paralytic Gaze, Lillith controlled the tempo of the fight.

"Finish them, Lillith!" Lucy instructed.

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A/N: Sorry for the slow updates. I’m caught up with exams. Thanks for reading