Asher dan Teo Swig terlihat duduk di atap bangunan setengah hancur sambil menatap peringkat yang melayang di atas kubah pelindung. Saat ini, dua tim sudah gugur, menyisakan dua puluh tiga tim. Namun, di antara tim-tim itu, beberapa sudah kehilangan rekan satu timnya, membuat situasi semakin suram bagi mereka.
Dua jam sudah berlalu, dan situasi tidak terlihat bagus untuk cukup banyak orang.
'Dengan jalan ronde ini, kita mungkin tidak perlu menunggu penuh dua puluh empat jam,' pikir Asher sambil menunggu.
Sama seperti di Babak Kualifikasi, para siswa menyimpulkan bahwa berburu Poin Vitalitas adalah strategi optimal. Dengan begitu, mereka bisa mengeliminasi lawan sambil merebut poin skor tim tersebut, lebih meningkatkan peluang lolos ke ronde berikutnya.
Satu batu, tiga burung.
'Kalau gelombang musuh berikutnya tidak menarik, aku akan mulai berburu siswa sendiri dan mengeliminasi semua yang kutemui sampai hanya tersisa enam belas orang,' pikir Asher sambil tersenyum.
Dia sudah bisa menebak ronde berikutnya akan turnamen eliminasi satu lawan satu sampai hanya tersisa satu siswa pemenang. Pribadinya, Asher suka ide itu. Dia ingin langsung lompat ke ronde tersebut.
Tentu, dia pernah memikirkan hal serupa di ronde sebelumnya, tapi dulu dia tidak terlalu peduli. Namun, dengan semua orang terkunci di zona ini, menemukan siswa tersisa seharusnya cukup mudah.
Teo Swig melirik Asher, bertanya-tanya apa yang membuat pemuda itu tersenyum.
Menoleh ke tatapan Teo Swig, Asher menjelaskan tanpa menyembunyikan pikirannya. "Aku berencana berburu siswa sendiri dan mengeliminasi semua orang sampai hanya tersisa enam belas orang," ucapnya tenang.
Teo Swig mengangkat alis sejenak, bingung kenapa Asher berniat melakukan hal seperti itu.
Menangkap kebingungan di wajah Teo Swig, Asher tersenyum sebelum berbicara. "Katakan saja aku terlalu tidak sabar untuk ronde berikutnya sampai duduk diam berjam-jam di sini. Jadi setelah gelombang berikutnya, atau mungkin bahkan selama gelombang berikutnya, aku akan mengeliminasi siswa mana pun yang kudapati di jalan."
Teo Swig tidak lama memikirkannya. Sama seperti Asher, dia sudah menebak apa yang paling mungkin terjadi di ronde berikutnya.
"Bagaimana dengan siswa dari Akademi kita? Apakah kita mengeliminasi mereka juga kalau bertemu?" tanya Teo Swig sambil menerima rencana Asher tanpa keberatan berarti.
Asher tersenyum tipis sebelum menjawab, "Aku akan mengeliminasi mereka juga kalau ketemu," ucapnya jujur. "Lagipula, pada akhirnya, tidak ada bedanya. Kalau aku tidak mengeliminasi mereka sekarang, aku akan melakukannya di ronde berikutnya saja. Jadi kenapa repot memaafkan siapa pun?" Nadanya tetap tenang, alasannya faktual dan masuk akal.
Teo Swig tidak bisa menyangkal kata Asher. Apa gunanya memaafkan seseorang sekarang kalau nanti di ronde berikutnya justru akan mengeliminasinya?
"Lalu bagaimana dengan siswa peringkat teratas? Aku tidak yakin mereka akan mudah dieliminasi," tanya Teo Swig, pikirannya melayang ke Arianna, Isaac, dan Acker Holloway.
Asher menggelengkan kepala sambil berbicara. "Kalau aku bertemu mereka, aku tidak akan mencoba mengeliminasi mereka. Melakukannya hanya akan memboroskan kesenangan ronde berikutnya," jawabnya, nadanya mengandung sedikit kegembiraan.
Dia ingin bertarung dengan jenius-jenius itu. Mengeliminasi mereka di sini akan sia-sia total. Asher ingin menyaksikan kemampuan sebenarnya mereka, sepenuhnya, dan semua yang mereka miliki.
"Sepertinya kita akan jadi musuh di ronde berikutnya," balas Teo Swig, senyum kecil muncul di bibirnya untuk pertama kalinya sejak lama.
Asher menoleh ke Teo Swig sebelum menjawab, "Jangan khawatir. Aku akan berbaik hati padamu... itu kalau kamu tidak dieliminasi orang lain sebelum bertemu denganku." Nadanya bercanda.
Teo Swig diam sejenak sebelum menjawab datar, "Aku menantikan pertarungan kita."
Teo Swig tidak cukup delusional untuk percaya dia bisa mengejar Asher, apalagi mengalahkannya. Dia sudah melihat rekaman pertarungan. Dia menyaksikan pertarungan Asher melawan Penyelam Bayangan Peringkat 7 dan Klon Bayangannya.
Tapi itu tidak berarti dia berniat mundur saat waktunya tiba. Kalau dia bertemu Asher, dia berencana bertarung dengan segala yang dia miliki terlepas dari perbedaan kekuatan yang menakutkan. Itu tipe pria dia.
Meski Asher dan Teo berbicara soal mengeliminasi siswa lain, jelas mereka tidak akan menyerang siswa lain secara langsung, karena melanggar aturan. Asher berniat mengulang metode yang dia gunakan pada rekan tim Isaac.
Tapi tanpa diketahui Asher, dia bukan satu-satunya yang memikirkan rencana serupa. Arianna Haellight berniat melakukan hal yang persis sama. Alasannya? Dia dipasangkan dengan siswa peringkat kelima puluh secara keseluruhan. Dia tidak bisa melindungi pria itu dari setiap musuh Peringkat 6 yang mereka hadapi.
Jadi, sama seperti Asher, dia hanya ingin lompat langsung ke ronde berikutnya.
Meski Asher merencanakan strateginya tergantung bagaimana gelombang kedua berlangsung, Arianna tidak akan menunggu lama. Dia berniat mulai mengeliminasi siswa segera setelah menyaksikan ketidakmampuan rekan timnya.
Bukan karena dia merendahkan rekan timnya. Dia hanya... strategis. Lagipula, kalau pria itu tidak sengaja gugur, dia akan kehilangan separuh total skor tim. Dia tidak bisa membiarkan itu terjadi. Dari perspektifnya, ini satu-satunya solusi layak.
Bayangkan saja keterkejutan Asher kalau dia tahu orang lain sampai pada kesimpulan persis sama dengannya.
"Gelombang seharusnya segera berakhir," ucap Asher sambil tetap duduk dengan bosan.
Hampir tidak ada Penyelam Bayangan yang menyerang mereka lagi, itulah cara dia menyimpulkan itu.
'Meskipun aku duga gelombang berikutnya akan menampilkan musuh lebih kuat,' pikir Asher.
Dia menemukan sedikit lubang hukum di aturan... baik, bukan persis lubang hukum, tapi sesuatu yang menarik.
Salah satu komentator, Thomasinho, menyebutkan gelombang berikutnya akan dimulai segera setelah musuh terakhir gelombang saat ini dibunuh. Tapi bagaimana kalau musuh terakhir tidak dibunuh? Bagaimana kalau dia hanya ditangkap dan dihidupkan?
Bukankah itu akan mencegah gelombang berikutnya dimulai? Kalau begitu, satu-satunya cara mendapatkan poin adalah melalui serangan tidak langsung melibatkan siswa lain, sesuatu yang cukup sulit untuk banyak peserta.
Asher tidak yakin apakah ada yang lain memikirkan ini, tapi dia benar-benar tergoda untuk menangkap Penyelam Bayangan Peringkat 5 acak dan menahannya sampai dua puluh empat jam penuh berlalu.
Asher yakin penyelenggara Kompetisi Antar-Kekaisaran sudah memperhitungkan kemungkinan seperti ini. Lagipula, sangat sedikit yang lolos dari perhitungan mereka.
Asher mengangkat kepalanya ke langit sekali lagi, tapi tak terduga, dua tim lagi sudah hilang dari peringkat, menyisakan hanya dua puluh satu tim tersisa.
Asher and Teo Swig could be seen sitting atop the roof of a half-destroyed building as they looked at the rankings floating above the protective dome. At this moment, two teams had already been eliminated, leaving only twenty-three teams remaining. However, among those twenty-three teams, some had already lost their teammates, making the situation increasingly dire for them.
Two hours had already gone by, and the situation didn’t look good for quite a number of people.
’With the way this round is going, we might not even have to wait for the full twenty-four hours,’ Asher mused to himself as he waited.
Just like during the Qualifier Round, the students had come to the conclusion that hunting Vitality Points was the optimal strategy. By doing so, they could eliminate opponents while simultaneously claiming that team’s score points, further increasing their chances of qualifying for the next round.
One stone, three birds.
’If the next wave of enemies isn’t interesting, I’ll just start hunting students myself and eliminate everyone I come across until only sixteen people are left,’ Asher thought to himself as a smile appeared on his lips.
He could already guess that the next round would be a one-on-one elimination tournament until only the last student remained victorious. Personally, Asher liked that idea. He wanted to skip directly to that round.
Of course, he had entertained a similar thought during the previous round, but he simply couldn’t be bothered back then. However, with everyone now locked within this zone, locating the remaining students should be easy enough.
Teo Swig glanced at Asher, wondering what could possibly be making the young man smile.
Noticing Teo Swig’s gaze, Asher simply explained without concealing his thoughts. "I plan to hunt students myself and eliminate everyone until only sixteen people are left," he stated calmly.
Teo Swig arched an eyebrow at Asher for a moment, seemingly confused as to why he intended to do something like that.
Noticing the confusion on Teo Swig’s face, Asher smiled before speaking. "Let’s just say I’m far too eager for the next round to sit through hours of this. So after the next wave, or perhaps even during the next wave, I’ll simply eliminate whatever students I happen to find along the way."
Teo Swig didn’t spend long thinking about it. Just like Asher, he had already guessed what the next round would most likely entail.
"What about students from our own Academy? Are we eliminating them as well if we happen to encounter them?" Teo Swig asked as he accepted Asher’s plan without any real objection.
Asher smiled faintly before replying, "I’ll eliminate them too if I find any," he stated truthfully. "After all, at the end of the day, it doesn’t make any difference. If I don’t eliminate them now, I’ll simply eliminate them in the next round anyway. So why bother with the trouble of sparing anyone?" His tone remained calm, his reasoning both factual and grounded.
Teo Swig couldn’t deny Asher’s words. What was the point of sparing someone now if you were simply going to eliminate them in the next round anyway?
"What about the top-ranked students? I’m not so sure they’ll be easy to eliminate," Teo Swig asked, his thoughts shifting toward Arianna, Isaac, and Acker Holloway.
Asher shook his head as he spoke. "If I encounter any of them, I won’t try to eliminate them. Doing that would simply spoil the fun of the next round," he replied, his tone carrying a trace of amusement.
He wanted to fight those geniuses. Eliminating them here would be a complete waste. Asher wanted to witness what they were truly capable of, the full extent of their abilities, and everything they had to offer.
"It seems we’ll become enemies in the next round then," Teo Swig replied, a small smile appearing on his lips for what felt like the first time in forever.
Asher turned to look at Teo Swig before replying, "Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you... that is, if you aren’t eliminated by someone else before you run into me." His tone was playful.
Teo Swig remained silent for a moment before replying flatly, "I look forward to our battle."
Teo Swig wasn’t delusional enough to believe he could keep up with Asher, let alone defeat him. He had seen the battle recording. He had witnessed Asher’s fight against the Rank 7 Shadow Assassin and its Shadow Clone.
But that didn’t mean he intended to take a step back when the time came. If he encountered Asher, he planned to fight with everything he had regardless of the overwhelming difference in strength. That was simply the kind of man he was.
Although Asher and Teo had spoken about eliminating other students, they obviously wouldn’t attack another student directly, as doing so was against the rules. Asher intended to repeat the same method he had used on Isaac’s teammate.
But unknown to Asher, he wasn’t the only one who had arrived at such a plan. Arianna Haellight intended to do exactly the same thing. The reason? Well, she had been paired with the student ranked fiftieth overall. She couldn’t continue protecting the guy from every Rank 6 enemy they encountered.
So, just like Asher, she simply wanted to skip straight to the next round.
Although Asher planned to carry out his strategy depending on how the second wave unfolded, Arianna wasn’t going to wait that long. She intended to begin eliminating students immediately after witnessing the incompetence of her teammate.
It wasn’t that she looked down on her teammate. She was simply being... strategic. After all, if the guy was accidentally eliminated, she would lose half of the team’s total score. She couldn’t allow that to happen. From her perspective, this was the only viable solution.
One could only imagine Asher’s surprise if he were to discover that someone else had arrived at exactly the same conclusion as he had.
"The wave should be ending soon," Asher spoke as he remained seated in boredom.
Hardly any Shadow Assassins were attacking them anymore, which was how he had arrived at that conclusion.
’Although I’m guessing the next wave will feature even stronger enemies,’ Asher mused to himself.
He had discovered a slight loophole within the rules... well, not exactly a loophole, but something interesting.
One of the commentators, Thomasinho, had mentioned that the next wave would begin immediately after the final enemy of the current wave was killed. But what if the last enemy wasn’t killed? What if it was simply captured and kept alive?
Wouldn’t that prevent the next wave from beginning? In that case, the only remaining method of earning points would be through indirect attacks involving other students, something that would prove rather difficult for quite a number of participants.
Asher wasn’t sure whether anyone else had thought of this, but he was genuinely tempted to capture a random Rank 5 Shadow Assassin and keep it hostage until the full twenty-four hours had passed.
Asher was certain that the organizers of the Inter-Empire Competition had already accounted for such possibilities. After all, very little ever escaped their calculations.
Asher raised his head toward the sky once more, but to his surprise, two more teams had already disappeared from the rankings yet again, reducing the number of remaining teams to just twenty-one.
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