Chapter 223: The Battle Royale Of Frieden Academy [Part 2] Lotte, still carrying Latifa, was teleported to a random spot in Mistral Weave Forest. After scanning her surroundings, the young lady instantly understood where she was in the forest. But, just to be sure, she flew above the trees to check if she was right. ’I’m quite far from the agreed drop off point,’ Lotte thought. ’But I guess there’s no helping it.’ Lotte glanced at her original body, who was in her pajamas, and shook her head helplessly. Since she couldn’t do Alex’s mission while carrying Latifa, she decided to head to the drop-off point first to hide her original body. As long as Lotte brought her original body to that place, no students would be able to harm her. And thus, Lotte flew as fast as she could towards her destination while keeping an eye out for possible sneak attacks from other students, who were now scattered within the forest. When Alex had shared his plan, the first thing that he asked of Latifa and Lotte was to memorize the entirety of Mistral Weave Forest. If the young man had asked this of anyone else, they might have punched him silly because this was a monumental task. The Mistral Weave Forest extended for hundreds of miles. Memorize it? That was impossible! But there was one person in the academy that could do it, and it was none other than Latifa. There were two reasons for this. The first reason was that Latifa’s Astral Bodies, Lotte and Lumi, could take solid form if they wished. However, in their Astral Forms, they could practically travel anywhere. No walls could block their way. The second reason was that Latifa had eidetic, or photographic, memory. As Lotte sped among the trees, the Crimson-Furred Throwing Monkeys gave her the all-clear, assuring her that there were no students in the vicinity. Since Lotte had also spent some time with Dim Dim in the forest, the monkeys were already quite familiar with her, and treated her as a friend of their friend. The monkeys watched the young lady fly past them before they spread out to look for the other members of Endless Horizon, whom they also planned to help during the Inter-Class Battle Royale. "There is no rule that states that the monsters in the forest cannot help the students." This was what Alex had told his club members during their last meeting about the event. As such, he made sure to tell them that all the Crimson-Furred Throwing Monkeys were their allies, so they shouldn’t attack these monsters no matter what. A few miles away from Lotte’s location, Charles summoned his ants and ordered them to scout his surroundings. Every class, every club, even every group of friends among the First Years had created their own strategy on how to work together. Naturally, the members of Class C had promised not to attack each other. Anyone who did would be branded a traitor and would be punished by everyone in the class. They would be ostracized for the rest of the school year, maybe even longer. The other classes had come to the same agreement. However, no one was naive enough to think that this promise was inviolable, especially towards the last lap of the event when the pressure to become one of the top ten survivors would be stronger than ever. Even then, they would have to weigh their risks carefully. If they really decided to betray their classmates, they had to be absolutely certain they would be one of the survivors. That way, they could change classes and leave their former classmates to seethe in helpless anger. There were few things more pathetic than people who sold out their principles for no gain. It didn’t take long before the sound of fighting spread within Mistral Weave Forest. The students from the rival classes of Class A and Class B immediately fought each other as soon as they met. Class B was filled with students who wanted to prove that they were not second best despite being in the second best class. Since the most direct way to accomplish that was to surpass the students of Class A, the rivalry between the top two classes was anything but playful. Lavinia did not care about that. She had just always liked the idea of hunting others. This was part of the training that all the children of the Clawford Tribe had to go through during their initiation ceremony. She didn’t hold back against anyone who had the misfortune of not being her club members or among the people that Alex had listed. There was one other person who shared her sentiments. And that was Renard. He already had trust issues, so when thrown into a survival test like this, he didn’t hesitate to eliminate any opponents that stood in his way. Among the members of Alex’s Club, perhaps the one who had the easiest time was Nessia. The young lady was walking confidently in the forest like it was her own backyard. ’This feels like cheating,’ Nessia thought. ’But it doesn’t feel that bad.’ Having absolute control and dominion over the Mistral Weave Forest was something that she had never expected to happen. Dim Dim had scattered the magic crystals according to Alex’s instructions, creating a grand magic formation that encompassed a good chunk of the Mistral Weave Forest. Nessia could sense or view anyone within that formation, allowing her to avoid contact with the other students as well as the monsters who dwelled within the forest. Simply put, if Nessia didn’t want to be found, no one in the forest would be able to find her. The students were free to use anything at their disposal. Whether it be to run, or hide, the choice was up to them. However, there was one exception that the Student Council had implemented before the start of the Battle Royale. Digging or burrowing under the ground was forbidden. Offenders would receive a penalty that, depending on the situation, might be as severe as disqualification. ——— An hour after the event started... "I know what Alex said, but I’m still tempted to raze this entire forest," Chuck muttered as he followed a small flame that he had conjured up after the Battle Royale began. The flame would flicker from time to time, telling the teenage boy that he was close to his destination. A moment later, he heard the sound of fighting, which prompted him to run in the direction where the sounds were coming from. It didn’t take long before he arrived at a small clearing and saw two students ganging up on a young lady wielding a sword. Fortunately or unfortunately for Chuck, the swordswoman was Princess Xenia, one of the seniors’ favorites. Many observers believed that she had a very good chance of making it into the final ten. However, none of that mattered to Chuck. All he noticed was that his fiancee was under attack. Without any hesitation, he unleashed several fire bullets at the two students, catching them by surprise. Princess Xenia didn’t miss this window of opportunity and went straight for the kill. Her sword sliced through the bodies of the two students, turning them into particles of light and eliminating them from the competition. As things were still going to plan, the eliminated students were teleported out of the forest, where the medical staff were on standby. "Fancy meeting you here, Xenia," Chuck greeted his fiancee with what he hoped to be a winning smile. Princess Xenia gave him a brief nod before walking away. While she recognized that he had helped her, she had no intention of staying with him because she believed that he would just be leeching off her. Obviously, that was something that she didn’t want to happen. But since when did the universe care about what she wanted or not when it came to this man? Chuck, like a lost puppy, followed her as if it was the most natural thing to do. "Stop following me!" Princess Xenia snapped. "Do you want to be eliminated?" "Of course not," Chuck answered. "That’s why I’m following you! As my fiancee, isn’t it your duty to protect me?" "Oh?" Xenia’s lips curved upwards into what could charitably be called a smile as she slowly raised her hand. "You’re right," she cooed. "I am?" Chuck blinked. "Yes, I do need to protect my darling future husband." The young man’s immediate instinct was to nod in agreement, but something felt very, very wrong. He couldn’t tell why for sure, but it was probably because Xenia’s sword was now above her head. "My beloved," she all but purred, "I will save you from this dangerous competition before others get the chance to hurt you." "O-Oi! Stop!" Chuck hurriedly backed away to the tree closest to him and tried to hide behind it. Xenia thought this was all just bad luck, but before the Battle Royale Chuck had stood beside her to secretly put a tracking spell on her. He had learnt how to do so from Nessia at Alex’s insistence. Princess Xenia was one of the people that the members of Endless Horizon were not allowed to eliminate because Alex still cared about his roommate’s future happiness. He had also ordered Chuck to protect her to the best of his ability. The tracking spell had allowed Chuck to locate Xenia as quickly as possible after they had been teleported into the forest. However, it had still taken him an hour to find her and the last thing he wanted to happen now was to die by her hands. Wouldn’t that be a pitiful ending after working so hard? Ever since that fishing competition that might or might not have been an attempt on Chuck’s life, the princess no longer approached him on her own accord. She simply minded her own business. That didn’t mean that she was alright with him trailing behind her. No, the sight of him grated on her nerves. No matter what she had promised him before, she now felt sorely tempted to stab him. She couldn’t eliminate this pest once and for all, but at least she could get him out of her hair for the duration of the Battle Royale. Half an hour later, Xenia finally snapped. She spun around, ready to bury her sword in this nuisance she was meant to marry. But her fiance was like a cockroach. Even when she attacked him with the full intention of getting him eliminated, he would simply run away and escape. Time and time again he slipped out of her range. "Xenia, calm down," Chuck said as he peeked out from behind a tree. "You’re just tiring yourself out. What will you do if someone attacks you while you’re tired? Won’t you feel sad if you get eliminated because you are trying to kill your fiance?" ’This shameless bastard might just become one of the survivors of this competition,’ Princess Xenia realized as she panted for breath. ’Why is he so good at running away?!’ No one would ever accuse Chuck of being among the most powerful mages in the academy, but he was definitely one of the most resourceful. Whenever the Princess charged in his direction, he would escape by using his fire magic to propel him farther like a rocket booster. This made it impossible for the princess to even come close to him. Of course, that only made her angrier. ’Half an hour more and they will finally appear,’ Chuck thought as he glanced at his pocket watch. Alex had told him that the Phantom Soldiers that would appear after two hours weren’t really Phantom Soldiers but Demon Worshipers. That was the start of the tragedy that would befall the First Year students of Frieden Academy. ’I just hope that you have made enough preparations, Alex,’ Chuck thought as he continued to dodge the attacks of his fuming fiancee, who had no idea what was going to happen in half an hour. ’Otherwise, I might just burn this forest to the ground as a last resort.’ Chuck trusted his roommate, but he also had people he wanted to protect. If their lives were in danger, he would not hesitate to become the bad guy hated by the entire academy. For their sakes, he didn’t mind becoming a villain. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest... Renard found himself being surrounded by four students from Class A. The leader was the third Main Hero of ELO. He was none other than the Third Prince of the Kingdom of Avalon, Edward Von Morwyn. A character who was more inclined to choose the Evil Route instead of the Righteous One due to his personality.