Way of the Knights

Chapter 839: Sudden Shift

—

One month was all it took for the battlefield to shrink about a fourth of it's original size. 

It's still huge enough for the participants to move comfortably while scouting for any possible signs of danger or ambushes. Though at the same time, the constant shrinking of the battlefield already forced a lot of clashes amongst the remaining participants. 

It was frantic and exciting, thrilling even. Somehow, the event forced the participants out of their comfort zones. It tested their strengths and wits. It always kept them in their toes. It forced them to move since staying at one place might as well be seen as a sign of giving-up. 

All sorts of confrontation happened and it truly entertained the audience. 

Sometimes there will be duels until a third party appears out of nowhere to take advantage of the situation. People saw some participants leaving traps, stalking their enemies out, planned out ambushes, direct confrontations and action packed battles. 

It was truly something else. 

Right now, only 27 participants remains. They're almost halfway done. 

Thing will only escalate at this point since the battlefield will become smaller and will force them to confront each other even more. 

Meanwhile, at the audience side. Bets had been placed. 

Raven thought about banning it but well, it's practically harmless at this point so he let them be. It's fine since they can't directly interfere with the competition itself. Plus, it's normal for this to happen in events like this anyways. 

The crowd's favorite were the dark horses, as they call them. These people are other than Kyle, Nina and Tori. 

The tree of them had been the leading figures throughout this whole event. Their names are always included in the top rankings and for a good reason too. 

They haven't done much in the final phase though. Some people were expecting them to go ballistic and on a killing spree but they went against their expectations. 

There had been many chances where they could've cut down the numbers of the remaining participants but they didn't. Instead, they just relaxed and took it easy. None of them confronted the others unless they were attacked first. This was how they did things. 

Some people were confused as to why, some understood what they're trying to do, others practically didn't care and were just here to be entertained. Whichever it is, doesn't matter anyways since they can't interact with the participants directly anyways. 

So, despite people's expectations, they weren't really at the leaderboards for now. 

Soon though, this was bound to change…

—

Another month passed and the battlefield shrunk even more. 

This time, everyone was feeling a bit constricted and suffocated due to how little space was left for them to move around. They were constantly on edge since it seems like at any given moment, a confrontation will occur, if it does then everyone will sense it and will come-up with different schemes to take advantage of it.

From 27, their numbers dropped to 15 during this past month. It's only a matter of time before the final phase ended and every was left tensed and anticipating. 

This was when a sudden change occurred, surprising almost everyone who's watching. 

Kyle, Nina and Tori found themselves fighting four people each. Meaning that the remaining participants entered a temporary alliance to eliminate them out of the competition first. 

The audience were dumbfounded by the sudden shift. They were left puzzled as to how they managed to plan this without them noticing. They didn't even know when the alliance was formed in the first place. 

It was such a deliberate plan too. They managed to catch them at the edge of the map and it's nearly the end of the week. Meaning that if they stalled them long enough, it was quite possible for them to get caught up in the collapse and ensure their elimination. 

That being said though, why does it look like these weren't even surprised by this sudden ambush?

The three of them weren't even working together, hell they haven't even met each other ever since the Final Phase began, so why does it look like they knew? And why did they look mildly disappointed? 

Well, Kyle fortunately answered their inquiries. 

"Oh. Teaming up against dear old me? Gosh, you guys are making me all flustered and stuff." Kyle said while summoning his greatsword out of nowhere. 

"Still, I was expecting you guys to do this earlier than this." He said while taking a small step forward, "Mind telling me what held you up?" 

One of the guys who confronted him stepped forward bravely and countered his question: "Stop pretending to know everything. Drop the act, we all know you're shaking in your boots." 

"Oh, but I do though. Also I'm afraid of you. Just curious actually." Kyle chuckled. "Did you honestly think that I'm clueless about what's going on with my surroundings? You guys can't be serious now, right?" 

Another scoff and Kyle continued: "You think I am unaware that you guys were slowly cornering me since this week started? You think I didn't know that most of the confrontations this past month had been fake? Do you guys actually think that I don't know what you're doing? Come on, try harder will you? It's embarrassing actually." 

The group ambushing him stilled when started talking. One look is all it takes for everyone to realize that Kyle was obviously telling the truth. 

"You guys eliminated those who didn't want to participate in your little scheme while those that did, you let them escape to lick their wounds and prepared for this day."

"Quite an impressive if I may add. Though, it's basic as fuck. I honestly think that you guys can do better but oh well, so much for schemers am I right?" Kyle chuckled derisively as he unapologetically bashed their laughable attempt of cornering him and his girlfriends. 

"Oh, come on." Kyle scoffed, his tone mildly amused. "Don't look at me like that! It's just me! I'm not omniscient, you guys just suck at planning and petty to boot. Can you really blame me?" 

"I honestly can't believe that you guys will go as far as teaming-up against me and my girlfriends just because were crushing you in this competition. You pride as citizens of Divine Realm really got into your brains that you wouldn't mind resorting to petty schemes like this in order to preserve your so-called honor."

"It's so cliché. So predictable that I didn't even need to use three brain cells to predict what you guys were planning. Can you really blame me for being disappointed?" Kyle shrugged as he finished his piece.

"Oh well, you guys succeeded anyway." Kyle grinned at them, "You managed to isolate me at the edge of the battlefield and successfully team-up against me. Your plan worked! Give yourselves a pat in the back, you guys deserve it." 

"However, if you're thinking that you guys trapped me here…well, I got some bad news for you."

Kyle promptly disappeared from where he was, alarming the four people who ambushed him. Next thing they knew, he was standing behind them and they're inside a wide cage of light, feeling a stifling pressure pressing down on their shoulders as they looked at Kyle who has his greatsword resting by his shoulders. 

"You didn't trap me here." Kyle let out a feral grin, "You guys are trapped here with me." 

"…"

"Let's dance, boys!"

At the coliseum, the audience were in an uproar. They reacted in different ways when Kyle unraveled the scheme against the three of them. Some felt righteous indignation, some said that Kyle was too arrogant, some chose to remain silent with the rest frankly don't care about it. 

On the other hand, Raven chuckled softly at his disciple's display of confidence. At least his teachings wasn't wasted on Kyle. He's still a little dumb but he has good memory. 

"Did you know that this is going to happen, Dad?" 

Raven looked at his daughter and said: "Of course, Princess. It's not really that hard to discover that they're up to something. Just like what Kyle said, it's a bit embarrassing how obvious they were." 

"…I didn't notice." She said. 

"It all boils down to experience, Princess." Raven explained calmly. "Your Big Brother Kyle has been in the Divine Realm for a long time just like me and your mom. If anything, Kyle experience more hardship since he I wasn't there to support him yet he still managed to survive."

"Being consistently pushed towards danger is bound to teach you some important lessons in life. Kyle absorbed them and practically built his virtues using them. This is why schemes of this level doesn't faze him anymore. If anything, he learned to use them to his advantage." 

"And I'm guessing the same goes with Aunty Nina and Aunty Tori?" 

"Exactly." Raven nodded to her, "I put them through the wringer before letting them roam Divine Realm. That's the only way I know to make sure they can survive the cruel and unfair environment of this place."

"This is also something that you might need to go through in the future if you decide to stick by your decision, so do think about it clearly, yes?" 

"I will, Dad."