Novel Full Chapter 532: King of the Hill [2]
Chapter 532: King of the Hill [2]
A young man with a heavy two-handed axe strapped to his back and bulky shoulder armor was running toward Moon’s pillar from the opposite direction. The competitor was clearly a physical warrior, his entire build screaming he specialised in melee.
Judging by the confident smirk plastered on his face, the warrior had probably looked at Moon, and decided that his own faster ground speed would let him reach the pillar first.
It was a reasonable bet. Mages were always slower on foot than physical warriors at the same rank.
It was also a horrible bet.
Moon activated Air Step.
The air beneath his feet solidified into a series of stepping platforms, and he kicked off the ground entirely, leaping into the sky in a single explosive motion. He launched himself across the remaining distance to the pillar, his body rushing through the air far faster than the warrior could match on the ground.
The warrior’s eyes widened in disbelief as Moon shot overhead in a streak of motion. Before the warrior’s very eyes, Moon landed on top of the pillar several seconds before.
The warrior skidded to a halt, his momentum carrying him into the pillar’s side. He stared up at Moon with open frustration, his fingers clenching to form a fist.
Moon had claimed the pillar as his. He had lost the race to a mage.
"Damn it." The warrior grunted, his eyes narrowing with open hatred.
Moon didn’t acknowledge him nor did he need to. The competition rules meant the warrior was already moving on to find his own pillar before someone else claimed an even better position. Wasting time arguing was pointless and stupid.
The warrior turned and sprinted off toward the next viable pillar in the grid. Unfortunately, most of the pillars had already been claimed, so he was forced to choose whatever was left.
Moon stayed on top of his.
He took a slow, controlled breath. The pillar’s top surface was about three meters across. Plenty of room to move, but not enough to fully evade incoming attacks if multiple opponents pressed him at once.
But that didn’t matter, standing atop the pillar was purely for better vision. He could leap off whenever he pleased.
Moon checked out the pillar. Immediately, he spotted some points where the pillar’s earth was densest, the parts that would absorb damage most efficiently.
’There are parts that take more damage...this will be useful in attacking other pillars too.’
After noting the weak points, and identifying the strong points, Moon began to scan the competitors on the surrounding pillars. Eye of Truth activating quietly across his vision, pulling data from each neighbour as they got used to into their own positions.
He still had a few minutes to assess everyone within attack range.
After several scans of the qualifiers surrounding him, Moon’s mental map of his immediate area was complete.
Two of his neighbours were normal threats. Three-Star Evolvers with average skill counts of the Rare-rank. Nothing outstanding, and given the fact that teaming wasn’t allowed, they weren’t dangerous to him.
The third was different.
A young woman two pillars away.
Her aura was suppressed, but Moon could instantly tell she had a Four-Star prowess. Her solid arsenal of Epic-rank skills built around earth manipulation made her a difficult opponent.
She was clearly a defensive-type mage. If she didn’t pick any wrong fight, she would likely make it to the third stage of the tournament without any issues.
Moon glanced at her one more time.
’There is no need to attack her, unless she attacks me.’
Moon wasn’t afraid of fighting her, but fighting her was simply not worth it. Especially given the free points around.
Moon spotted a pair of eyes staring him down.
The warrior from earlier. He had found a position somewhere closer to the middle of the grid, and now he was glaring across the open space at Moon with hatred.
Moon glared back at him. Although it was just a single second of eye contact, it still made the warrior’s body freeze for a short moment.
A shiver ran down his spine before he could stop it. His grip on his axe tightened by instinct.
’What... what was that look?’
He had been planning to make Moon pay for the lost pillar. To target him specifically once the round began, to channel his frustration into a vendetta that would make Moon regret stealing his pillar.
Whether for good or bad, that plan died in the space of that single glance. Whatever fire had been driving his hatred guttered out, replaced by an instinctive certainty that picking a fight with that boy would not end the way he had imagined.
He looked away first.
Moon’s attention had already moved on.
His eyes swept across the grid, searching for one specific face. He found her after a few seconds.
Selene positioned herself approximately a kilometer away, near the western edge of the grid. Her wolf was perched alertly beneath her on the pillar bottom. The soul beast’s presence would be of great help.
’Good. She’s close enough that I can reach her quickly if something happens. Far enough that we won’t accidentally trigger the no-team-up rule by being in the same combat zone.’
He kept her position away as a reference point in his mind.
Although he hated to admit it, Moon was starting to grow more worried about the format of this stage. The King of the Hill setup wasn’t just demanding for the competitors. It was actively dangerous given the broader context.
’Two hundred fighters. Each one anchored to a fixed position, everyone is effectively pinned down in a precise grid. This will allow the dark organisation to pick their targets with ease.’
At this point, Moon wasn’t sure whether the Association had done this to make the job easier for the dark organisation to attack its high-priority targets, using them as bait. Or whether the association simply done so to make protecting these targets easier.