Chapter 377: Before the Chaos

"Hahaha. Looks like you had some fun." Katarina laughed as Auric returned to the seat.

"Well..." Auric shrugged. "I did what I needed to do."

"Fair enough." Katarina snapped her fingers. "By the way, Supervisor Jacob was here earlier. He wanted me to tell you that even if you didn’t participate in the universal competition, it would be fine."

Auric just nodded. He intended to challenge a few people, including Antonio.

Katarina raised one finger. "Ah, right? The one who performs after you will definitely have a bad time. I mean, like... if you have a bad day, just think of the people who have to perform after this guy."

"I don’t mean to undermine anyone’s efforts, though." Auric shrugged.

Katarina just chuckled, but as she said, once the next match began, there wasn’t any excitement. They knew that they couldn’t recreate what Auric had just done.

If they showed even a little ego, people would burn them alive. After all, Auric had just demonstrated a perfect treatment, from the respect he showed them to the way he cured their condition.

That was why the people couldn’t get excited anymore.

Of course, they would be more excited to see two top-tier students fighting, so this kind of atmosphere wasn’t exactly rare in this training program.

However, Auric simply created a gap so big that it was probably the worst they had ever seen in this training program.

Nevertheless, the program had to continue. They did their best to win the match, but the evolution master competition itself ended rather quickly.

It didn’t take more than six hours before they were done, meaning they would get free time for the rest of the day.

That was when he received a message from Timothy, who wanted to discuss something.

Confused, Auric decided to come with Katarina.

Timothy waved his hand. "What’s this? You need a babysitter?"

"I’m not a babysitter. I’m someone who is going to make sure that you don’t take advantage of him." Katarina snorted.

"That’s what I meant." Timothy shrugged.

Auric remained calm and took his seat before asking, "So, what’s this all about?"

Timothy explained, "Everything you wanted has been taken care of. The Round Table has issued a direct order that the UK will be allying itself with you in the survival competition.

"You don’t have to care about Clarice. I’ll take care of her. Also, she mentioned that she won’t reject the challenge if it comes from Ellia and promised not to hold any grudge regardless of the result."

Auric nodded. "I’ll tell that to Ellia."

This was good for Ellia, considering she had intended to challenge her from the beginning.

"Very well, I’ll tell you the details later. Because the location has been changed, we don’t have the details about the map yet, so we have no way of knowing where we will go.

"For now, we will just warn all students that you are our allies. Then, we will each regroup on our own and gather in one spot. Will that be enough?"

Auric thought for a moment before shaking his head. "If we form an alliance and reveal it right away, the other three countries will definitely react. For now, we don’t have to openly show that we’re in an alliance. Instead, just give them a warning so that we don’t fight each other."

"Now that I think about it, you mentioned something about an attack."

Auric nodded with a grim expression. "I still have no way of confirming it, but there’s a high chance an attack will occur. I don’t know what kind of form it will come in, but we need to be prepared."

Timothy crossed his arms. "The rules of the survival competition are that we will be placed in a single place and we have to survive for seven days. That means we have to hunt beasts, secure food, and even beware of enemies. The beasts aren’t the only enemies since you can sabotage your opponents in this competition."

"Yeah."

"However, you have some problems." Timothy pointed at Auric. "The rule is that killing beasts or eliminating competitors will give you points. So that means you can’t use the same tactic as you did in the challenge from your country. Camping without doing anything will allow you to survive, but won’t allow you to win."

Auric agreed. "Don’t worry. I don’t intend to hide all the time."

"Very well. How are we meant to contact each other?" Timothy asked. "We can probably use our phones. Will that be all right with you?"

"Sure. I don’t have a problem. There’s no need to complicate things. However, if a situation occurs..."

Timothy agreed and completed Auric’s sentence. "...I will contact you first and lead the entire team to regroup with you. With our combined strength, we will have a better chance of surviving. Still, is it that bad? If it’s that bad, you should have just informed others about it."

"That’s the problem. There’s no way to prove it. We can use the poison incident, but they will just think I’m being paranoid. However, I can confirm that the guy I treated before..."

"The poisoned one?"

"Yeah. There was no way Dermania could find such a person anywhere else. It was the same poison, so they might have done it to confirm whether I could cure it or not."

"This sounds like a ’you’ problem if I have to be honest." Timothy looked down. Since they wanted to capture Auric, they could just do so without harming the others.

"I wouldn’t say that." Auric shook his head. "They are part of an organization that intended to reset this world, so..."

"So... after they are done with you, they will also come after us."

"Essentially." Auric nodded. "Isn’t it good to deal with them while they’re still focused on Esfrata?"

"That’s true." Timothy calculated the pros and cons. "Very well. I’ll do just that. Still, this organization hasn’t attacked anyone from other countries?"

"Before this competition? No. However, the fact that they arranged the poison at the banquet and even poisoned someone and put him in this competition makes it look like they’re ready."

Timothy’s expression turned grim. Ready for what? The answer was simple. This organization was ready to fight with all five countries.

This changed everything. If they let this organization continue to grow, there was no telling what kind of mess they would create in the future.

"This organization feels like a cult. They’re willing to do anything in the name of something, including destroying this world." Timothy shook his head helplessly.

"No, they’re not a cult. They’re just a bunch of lunatics who want some attention." Auric shook his head.

Katarina wanted to laugh since Auric himself was a cult leader, a real cult leader.

Timothy raised one finger. "I understand the situation. For now, I will discuss it with the instructors here. Anyone who is eliminated will be sent back to the camp, so I guess there will only be a few of us left when they attack..."

"That’s the problem." Auric sighed. "If they want maximum damage, they can just attack us right after the competition begins. That will mean we have so many targets."

"The instructors will monitor us, so they might make a move as soon as they see unidentified individuals, but if too many areas are being attacked at once, the situation will change." Timothy looked down, simulating what would happen in his mind.

"Or the second scenario is to wait until the last day of the event where only the elites are left. Then, they will attack us because it’s easier to target us, but the instructors will also be able to find us easily."

Timothy suddenly noticed where the conversation was going. "Are you assuming that they will attack us to create a diversion so that they can kill all the students who have been eliminated?"

"Possibly. Since we’re moving to the front line, no one can return to the city until the competition is over."

"That’s true. When the instructors realize that, they will return and the enemy will attack us next." Timothy crossed his arms. "I can see the possibilities. For now, I’ll talk to the instructors to prepare plans in case the attack really happens. If nothing happens, that will be good, but it’s better safe than sorry."

"Yeah, you do that. However, let’s keep this matter a secret. There’s no reason to cause a panic."

"Fair point. All right. Let’s do that." Timothy snapped his fingers. "Since this discussion is over, I want to relay a message from the smoking hot grandma. Don’t ever tell her I call her that. Anyway, she wants me to set up a meeting with you. The problem is whether you are willing to meet her."

Auric frowned.

"Figured." Auric’s reaction was more than enough. Timothy added, "By the way, she told me that you can bring anyone you want to ensure your safety, or whatever. It’s fine if those guys are going to stand beside you to protect you, as long as they can keep a secret about the conversation."

"Oh." With the addition of protection, this meant that the ’grandma’ didn’t intend to harm him. She truly just wanted a conversation.

"If that’s the case, I don’t exactly have a problem. The only problem is how she’s going to meet me." Auric shook his head.

"I have a suggestion. After seeing your treatment, I doubt you will have much spare time for us to discuss all this, so let’s do it before you return.

"In fact, why don’t we do it on the last day of the fighting competition, which is three days from now. The location should be quite remote, probably in the beast territory outside this country so that we don’t have to bother with the laws.

"Besides, you may as well discuss the attack with her. She might help us. I mean, don’t you want another peak expert to help with this attack?"

"That sounds good." Auric nodded in agreement. "I’ll tell you the exact location later."

"Sounds good to me."

Auric then stood up. "Oh. I forgot to mention this, but the organization that planned this attack might have infiltrated your ranks, too. Most importantly, there should be people from the organization posing as hotel staff.

"That complicates things, but understandable. I’m only going to talk about this to a few people, not all instructors. The plans will be revealed at a later date for the students and the rest of the instructors."

"That’s good then." Auric nodded to him. "Also, I just checked your body. It doesn’t seem to have changed much, but it’s only been two days, so that’s understandable..."

"Ah!" Timothy waved his hand, watching Auric walk away. "I haven’t felt any pain, so I’m fine. Thanks for checking."

With the arrangement completed, they began their own preparations for the incoming attack, without being able to confirm whether the attack was actually coming.

However, it didn’t look like Auric could pass his days quietly.

After all, once the universal competition began, Alexander suddenly jumped to the center of the stage while shouting, "Hahahaha. Since everyone is free to challenge anyone, I want to challenge Auric Elfe."

"..."