A violent magical storm swept through, instantly engulfing the remaining members of the Black Queen squad, turning them into points of starlight before they dissipated.
From the source of the storm, a blonde, sharp-eared girl emerged from the woods with her team, walking slowly and with an elegance that suggested she was merely strolling through her own backyard.
“They really did come.” Kalenina walked to Lomew’s side, her voice icy.
Lomew’s gaze fell on the girl below, and the corners of his mouth curled upward uncontrollably.
“Who could refuse the joy of snatching a few kills?”
The girl wore a snow-white robe, her hem fluttering gently in the wind. Behind her gold-rimmed glasses, her eyes were as calm as a deep pool.
The White Queen, Elena.
“As expected of a mastermind-type character. Patient enough, and ruthless enough.”
Seeing her appear, Lomew wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
Elena was completely different from a combat fanatic like Lilith; she took more pleasure in analyzing the situation and letting others pave the way for her victory.
Elf magic was a cheat-like existence in the wilderness, but even she would have to pay a heavy price to clear those eight Rank 4 magical beasts at the entrance.
So, she had been waiting.
Below, Elena stopped at the spot where Lilith’s team had vanished. She knelt down, carefully scrutinizing the combat traces on the ground.
Every movement exuded meticulousness.
“According to her script, she should be trying to communicate with us now while secretly setting up a large-scale elven ritual in the back.”
Lomew looked at Mio Ibuki beside him with a playful smile:
“Are you interested in going down and giving them a grand gift?”
“A sneak attack?”
Mio Ibuki’s warrior soul was instantly ignited, but she still analyzed cautiously:
“That elven mage… the skill she just released was very powerful. I do not have absolute certainty.”
“I don’t need you to have certainty.”
Lomew patted her shoulder, and a shroud of shadow mist enveloped her.
“Go to the designated position and wait. They will reveal a weakness soon enough.”
Elven magic, especially powerful rituals, required time to chant and arrange the formation.
In an assessment area fraught with danger, no one would give an opponent that kind of time.
Therefore, Elena would definitely use “negotiation” to stall, using a clone to draw everyone’s attention.
Sure enough.
In the next moment, Elena’s figure faded from her spot. When she reappeared, she had eerily bypassed the blockade of the eight magical beasts and appeared within the basin.
[Nature Substitute].
She really had some tricks up her sleeve, even preparing a rare card like that.
“Quite fast.”
Lomew evaluated.
The opponent’s intention was as clear as if it were written on her face: use the substitute to negotiate while the main body safely set up a killing move in the rear.
A perfect plan.
Any normal team would likely be deceived by her and fall into a pointless argument with the substitute.
Unfortunately for her, she had encountered a player who had read the walkthrough.
“Go, take Annie with you.” Lomew handed several specially made rock-climbing cards to Mio Ibuki.
“Understood.”
“As you command.”
Annie’s figure melted into the shadows, vanishing over the edge of the cliff along with Mio Ibuki.
Inside the basin, Elena’s substitute walked forward. When she saw the empty monster nests, the eternal calm on her face finally showed a crack.
The camps here were all cleared?
Was the Leader Squad’s efficiency actually this high?
She suppressed the suspicion in her heart and looked up at Kalenina on the cliff, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze: “Captain Kavenir, I have heard much of your great name.”
Kalenina remained expressionless, responding coldly: “First meeting, Captain Elena.”
The air seemed to freeze the moment their eyes met.
Lomew watched this silent clash with great interest.
“You have truly opened my eyes,” Elena smiled. “Using such a clever layout to make Lilith leave the stage in regret.”
“Just strategy.” Kalenina was stingy with her words.
“Strategy?”
Elena’s smile deepened, and her tone suddenly turned sharp.
“Or perhaps, information? Your familiarity with the map doesn’t look like it’s your first time here. To prepare all the key alchemy cards in such a short time…”
Her gaze swept back and forth between Kalenina and Lomew, carrying an interrogative pressure.
“Could it be… that someone told you something in advance?”
Trying to use verbal pressure right off the bat to dismantle our psychological defenses?
Too green.
Lomew found it somewhat amusing.
Even if he shouted at the top of his lungs right now, “I’m a transmigrator,” would this elf girl understand a single word?
She would never guess the answer.
“This is an exam organized by the academy. How could anyone leak the questions?”
“Does Captain Elena feel that if you did the same thing, you could also break through this area?”
Lomew spoke suddenly. His voice wasn’t loud, but it accurately cut into the gap between their two auras.
Only then did Elena’s gaze officially land on Lomew.
“And you are?”
“Lomew, a member of our team.”
Kalenina’s voice rang out. She stared at Elena, and cold magic was already slowly condensing around her.
This defensive stance from his “brother” was truly reassuring.
“Captain Elena, you should know very well,”
Lomew ignored her question and smashed the cold reality directly into her face.
“With your team’s current state, it is fundamentally impossible to clear those eight Rank 4 magical beasts at the entrance in a short time.”
“Even if you manage to get in by luck, you wouldn’t be able to one-shot even a single stray beast here.”
“Go back. This is already our territory.”
Lomew’s words were like a knife, accurately puncturing Elena’s elegant disguise.
“Heh, men…”
The smile on Elena’s face was a bit stiff, but she maintained it regardless.
“You seem to lack the most basic understanding of the greatness of elven magic.”
How did he know?
Alarm bells rang in Elena’s heart.
Her team indeed lacked a sufficient reserve of offensive alchemy cards due to previous fluctuations in the materials market, forcing them to rely on elven rituals to make up for the power.
But how could someone from the Leader Squad know such core secrets so clearly?
And this woman…
Elena looked at Kalenina, only to meet that majestic and calm gaze.
The aura of this Russell man?
It was no longer something an ordinary noble could possess!
The Leader Squad—what kind of people were they exactly?
“Is that so?”
Lomew’s tone became exceptionally relaxed, almost as if he were inviting a business partner.
“Then come, Captain Elena. If you are willing to do manual labor for us for free, our Leader Squad welcomes you with both hands.”
Elena’s gaze locked tightly onto Lomew.
In this man, there was a kind of composure she had never seen before, as if he saw through everything.
“A mere follower dares to make decisions for the captain?”
Elena’s words turned into poisonous needles, attempting to sow discord in their team.
“Too much talk.”
Kalenina spat out three words.
Without warning, an ice spike as thick as a baby’s arm lunged out of the ground, thrusting upward and instantly piercing through the chest of Elena’s substitute!
The substitute’s figure shook violently, dissipating into a sky full of light spots.
“Being disrespectful to my companion—this is the consequence.”
Dozens of meters away, Elena’s body reconsolidated. The calm on her face had completely vanished, replaced by a hint of disbelief.
“What an ‘intimate’ relationship.”
She forced a cold laugh:
“A team driven by emotion rather than logic will only lead to a disastrous end.”
Still faking it…
Lomew silently counted down for her in his heart.
Sigh, this damn, misplaced confidence.
If it were an average team, they might actually be intimidated by her performance.
Unfortunately…
Mio Ibuki and Annie should have reached their positions by now.
Right at that moment.
“BOOM—!”
A muffled explosion echoed from the position behind Elena’s squad.
Elena’s pupils suddenly contracted! She whipped her head around, looking toward the direction of the explosion.
“Oh my.”
Lomew felt that the confidence that originally belonged to Elena was now steadily transferring to his own face.
“It couldn’t be that your elven formation wasn’t set up properly and blew itself up, could it?”
“As a member of the Leader Squad, speaking only for myself, I wish you all… the worst.”