Chapter 39: Steal!
Days quickly passed, and the last thing Cillian knew was that it was almost the end of the week.
’Boring...’
Not much happened because Willow, their commander, is a wussy.
She didn’t order an attack on their opponent or send someone to take a scout ahead. Instead, they remained in a defensive stance, waiting for their opponent to welcome them at their makeshift fortress.
As for Cillian, if not for the fact that he was studying the Death Flag System and his Fireball most of the time, he might’ve been bored to death and just created chaos for himself.
During these boring times, Cillian also roamed around the versioned battlefield without being seen by the enemies and his allies.
After all, he had to find the designated Receiving Area, which he eventually did a few days ago.
Still, it doesn’t change the fact that Willow is a boring commander.
’How could you be so boring, Willow? I’ve put some expectation on you, but it seemed I overestimated you too much. In times like this where life is controlled, it’s okay to take some risks.’
Cillian mused inwardly with a shake of his head.
’Well, you were unprepared before this tournament, so I guess that’s natural, but still...’
"Hahh..."
Cillian didn’t know how many times he had taken a sigh throughout the week, but he was damn sure it was a lot.
If he didn’t have a goal in mind, Cillian could’ve garnered some merits and points from the ’spots’ that the versioned battlefield had.
Alas, having a lookout at certain changes on both sides was more important than just mere points and merits.
’In the end, do I have to do everything? Should I create the chance myself?’
Cillian was waiting for something.
The instance where one side breaks the ice and makes a move for themselves. That was his cue to get himself involved.
However, it had been a few days since he had been waiting for his chance, and he was already being patient enough.
Today was the last day, and if there’s still no development between the two sides, Cillian knew he had to do it himself.
But doing it poses some risk, which is why he decided to wait for a moment.
"Come on now... How you guys could be so boring—"
On the verge of literally crashing out, Cillian heard a loud explosion from a distance that shook the entirety of the field.
It looks like others weren’t also patient enough to let the whole week end in a boring finish.
This, however, only made Cillian smile.
This is what he was waiting for.
’Took you guys long enough.’
Cillian mused inwardly before preparing something from his hand and muttering under his breath.
"Nearby Flag Presence."
[Nearby Flag Presence Activated]
Cillian’s face cringed.
"What an ass name for a skill."
[...]
...
Aster was shaken at the mere fact that the explosion came from the other side of their base, which even the dumb ones knew was the base of their opponents.
Boom—!
These explosions continued to happen as they rumbled through everyone’s ears, so some even covered theirs.
Aster’s eyes remained glued to the far view where battle was happening before violently shifting it at one particular spot.
A person was supposed to be sitting down at that one part of the tree’s branches, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead, only his huge adventurer’s bag remained.
’Where is that guy now?’
Aster was confused since he didn’t hear Cillian moving from his place. He only noticed it now because he was gone when he tried his best to keep a close eye on him.
"Hey, Willow. What are we going to do now?"
Willow, whose eyes were stuck with the series of explosions that slowly died down, bit her lips and expressed solemnly.
"We should stand guard. We should not risk going there."
Seeing that Willow had made a decision, Aster clenched the handle of his sword from his side before looking back at the black smoke manifesting in the sky.
...
Whoosh—!
"Timing’s perfect..."
Cillian muttered under his breath as he rushed to the explosion site, which was a bit too far away.
Even though he began to have trouble breathing, he persistently made his way through the location of the smoke.
After passing through numerous trees, Cillian was able to spot the makeshift stronghold of Class 1-G that was unlike what their group had built.
Not only was it inferior in design and wasn’t close to their stronghold at all, but it was where the smoke was coming from. A group of people is barging their way inside, almost too familiar to Cillian.
’As expected, they will be the first ones to cause trouble. Is it Fred’s doing?’
Clang—!
Hearing a series of weapons clashing as they stopped the intruders from coming inside, Cillian knew it was finally time to take action.
Cillian jumped down from the trees as his face started to change using Faceless, turning into a complete nobody. With silent steps, he brought down his bow and a few things that would relate him to Cillian.
Then, Cillian sneakily moved inside the fortress, on the opposite side where Fred’s group is rushing in.
Because everyone else is intending to stop the trespassers, Cillian easily infiltrated their base without much sweat.
"Hup!"
Cillian inspected the camps surrounding their stronghold, trying to catch where the supposed leader of their class was resting, which he assumed was holding their flag.
He became even more confident in this infiltration due to his active ability.
[Nearby Flag Presence Activated]
[Name: Nearby Flag Presence
Description: Gives alerts when another individual possesses a flag.
Active Ability: Upon activation, the Death Flag System releases an invisible pulse that searches the surrounding area for active flags. The user does not learn who possesses the flag, and only the flags exist within range.]
With this ability acting as a radar, Cillian will be able to notice if flags are nearby.
After all, if somebody sees him or the other way around, the System will definitely warn him if his flag changes.
[White Flag]
His current flag was still white.
[Nearby Flag Presence Detected]
[Detective Flags]
[White Flag x 7]
The flags that appeared through the walls that Cillian could see were all over the place, mainly at the part where Fred had barged his way inside.
’This is like a cheat, it’s so fucking awesome. I can see through walls that it almost makes me feel like a real spy with scanning skills.’
Cillian mused inwardly with filled excitement before stopping at one of the camps when a few students of Class 1-G moved separately, probably sending reinforcements from the attack.
"..."
Cillian carefully watched one of the students going by before changing his face to one that was almost identical to the student passing by.
’Only have one face change left.’
Changing his face from someone in their class to infiltrate was easy, but the hardest part was knowing which ones were there.
After all, if Cillian hadn’t encountered Aiden, he would’ve definitely tried to pinpoint the class they matched it and tried to copy their face beforehand.
He wouldn’t have changed his face twice in a row and wait for a chance to rise since he could’ve infiltrated the enemies on the first day.
’Oh well, if I did my initial plan, Aster will definitely follow me. That guy is keeping a close watch on every movement I make. If I didn’t use Mouthful Eye, he would’ve heard me leaving from our campsite and somehow might have decided to follow me. Thankfully, it worked just fine.’
Now that Cillian faced change, he became confident in sneaking inside and only had to worry about encountering the face he copied.
Clang—!
Cillian went further in. The sound of clashes was easily heard this time around.
Ignoring most of them as his goal was to steal the flag, Cillian continued to stay on the lookout before finally, after a minute of searching, he was able to spot the Bearer of Class 1-G.
Cillian smirked.
’I got you.’
Clang—!
"They dare come in here with those little people?! Don’t give any mercy! Hurt them all!"
Cillian observed the man holding the flag right in his pocket, which looked like it had been tightly wrapped up, as his classmates were trying to protect him from the infiltrators, but he didn’t find anything worthwhile to mention from this leader.
’An extra.’
That was just it.
Cillian mused inwardly as he patiently waited for a chance to strike.
Seeing that the situation was not chaotic enough as to what he was envisioning in his mind, all he did was observe the situation and wait for the opportunity to show itself.
"Tsk, Fall back!"
Fred shouted in spite as he wiped the blood from his cheek.
"B-but, wouldn’t he get mad if we don’t seize the flag?"
Baron complained back with a frown.
"That guy said that the first round is very important, which will determine the position of each class. We have to get that and become the real Bearer!"
Fred answered back.
"Then do you want to get seriously injured?! We can try later agaiin!"
Eavesdropping on their conversation from afar, Cillian couldn’t help but squint his eyes as he mused.
’That guy?’
Just the way they were talking, it looked like this attack was no coincidence.
Fred and his newly formed group could’ve just waited like anyone else at the camp, but they decided to attack due to someone’s orders.
’Looks like Fred became under someone’s protection now. That guy they are mentioning also seems responsible for this attack, and by the looks of it, aware of how this tournament would unfold. As far as I remember, the people I called in the club are not under Fred’s supervision.’
Cillian thought inwardly before smiling.
’Unfortunately, just because you are informed about it doesn’t mean you have the guts to perform it. Hah, this class still outnumbered you. Confronting them directly, my ass.’
Observing that Fred intended to back down if he was able to escape from the numerous opponents surrounding them, Cillian didn’t hesitate and slowly approached the Bearer of Class 1-G.
"You’re escaping?! As if! We’re not letting you out of here!"
Cillian joined in like the rest of the people approaching to try and assist Class 1-G’s leader.
Seeing how much Fred’s group struggles made this individual very heated.
’Closer... The closer, the better the chance I’ll steal it.’
15 Meters... 10 Meters... 5 Meters... 2 Meters...
The moment that Cillian knew he could get as near as two meters, at the minimum range of his ability, Cillian used one of his Faceless Abilities.
[Sleight of Hand Activated!]
His hand seemed to have stretched with a quick maneuver, and Cillian stole the flag under everyone’s noses.
’Hehe. Got it.’
No one even saw how it got stolen, nor were anyone able to decipher that another infiltrator was already right under their noses.
Cillian hid the flag beneath him carefully before leaving the stronghold without raising any suspicions from anyone or anywhere.
"Huh?! The flag! Leader!"
A few minutes had passed before the students of Class 1-G had noticed their flag being stolen.
They were so focused on chasing Fred’s group that they forgot one thing to watch out for.
But it was already too late to realize it.
Far too late.
...
Ding—!
Just as they were returning to the camp they had built for themselves, Fred and his squad jumped in surprise once they heard the sound of the bell ringing inside the versioned battlefield.
The failed confrontation they had earlier just happened a few minutes ago. With grit of their teeth, they managed to escape.
They have less than a day to come up with something else since the time limit of one week hasn’t been met yet.
But the ring from the battlefield rang?
This only signifies one thing.
Fred and the rest who heard this information couldn’t believe it.
Baron’s face contorted, and he shouted in disbelief.
"Huh?! How is that possible!? The flag was stolen?!"
The match between Class 1-A and Class 1-G ended.
