Chapter 59: Control the Battlefield
"We’re going to make everyone else fight it," Arthur said.
Sun blinked. "That sentence didn’t finish."
"The monsters." Arthur pointed at the nearest cluster moving through the rubble. "They’re not random. They’re not targeting whoever is closest."
Silence from the team.
Athena’s eyes went somewhere first. "They’re following the largest concentration of mana," she said.
Arthur nodded.
Sun processed this in the way he processed things that cost him money: immediately and completely. "So the bigger the battle, the more monsters it pulls."
"And every team is fighting as hard as they can," Arthur said, "because they think that’s how you win the throne. Which means they’re all producing as much mana output as possible."
"Which means," Mithra said, completing the logic, "the biggest battle becomes the most dangerous place on the field."
"And the throne," Arthur said, "becomes the most peaceful place on the field."
Nobody argued.
Nobody could.
Arthur crouched beside Melo without announcing that he was doing so. He said something quietly. She looked at him for a moment, then nodded once.
Nothing happened.
Arthur stood up.
"Okay," he said. "Let’s start."
...
Vedas sprinted toward the nearest pair of Stone Beasts and slammed the butt of his spear against a broken pillar.
BANG!
Both monsters turned toward the sound.
Vedas waited just long enough for them to commit before sprinting north. The beasts charged after him, their heavy footsteps shaking the ruined street. Just before they reached him, Vedas vaulted over a collapsed wall.
The Stone Beasts crashed straight through it instead. By the time they climbed over the rubble, the loudest battle on the field had already drawn their attention. They abandoned Vedas completely and thundered toward the fighting in another area.
Kong picked up a loose stone before hurling it and making it strike the Wind Wolf on the nose. The wolf spun toward the sound.
Another stone flew.
Then another.
Before long, the entire pack had changed direction. All of them twitched as they rushed to the area near the throne. Louder central battles produced more mana and more mana pulled more monsters.
High above the battlefield, Athy circled quietly. She let out a sharp cry and three Wind Wolves immediately turned toward it. Before they reached the sound, Athy had already crossed to the opposite side of the battlefield.
Another cry echoed through the western streets.
The wolves changed direction again. One by one, she pulled wandering monsters toward the largest battles without ever striking a single one herself.
Melo walked slowly along the outer edge of the field, moving in no particular direction that anyone would have found notable. Nobody paid attention to where she was going.
There was no reason to.
...
Leon had been watching Arthur’s team. And When Arthur drifted close enough to the central engagement to be within range, Leon looked at him directly and laughed.
"You finally came."
"I needed you for something," Arthur said.
Leon laughed harder. "Good answer," he said, and attacked.
The first exchange lasted four seconds.
Leon predicted Arthur’s footwork from the positioning of his shoulders and hit him before Arthur had finished committing to the direction. Leon’s spear clipped Arthur’s shoulder and he stepped back and rubbed the spot.
"Shoulders..."
Leon blinked. "Talking to yourself?"
"Helps me think."
"Then it’s fine."
The second exchange was different.
Arthur took two quick steps and then suddenly stopped. Leon’s spear swept through empty air before Arthur lunged forward.
Leon barely twisted away with a smile. "Interesting."
The next moment, Leon copied him. He slowed for a split second before exploding forward.
Clang!
Arthur barely raised his spear in time and was sent skidding backwards. "You learn that so quickly."
"Because it was fun."
"Hahaha!"
The third exchange: Leon feinted left but Arthur didn’t move. His eyes stayed on Leon’s shoulders.
The instant they turned—
Arthur thrust.
Leon stopped halfway through his attack as the spear almost struck him.
"You’re watching my shoulders," Leon said.
"You watch mine," Arthur said.
Leon smiled. "Fair."
Arthur glances to the side to see Melo coming closer. One of Melo’s tails trembled and then another. Even sweat rolled down her forehead.
That was all he could see but pulled his head back as a spear pierced through the spot he was at.
"Don’t get distracted now."
"My apology."
"Accepted."
They clashed again.
Sun swung his staff into some monsters and sent them hurling into a pair of second years. Then Kong leapt from his shoulder before swinging its arm and launching a first year into another pair of second years.
Mephistopheles folded its wings and dived toward Arthur but Vedas stepped in first. Vedas’ spear collided with the dragon head.
BOOM!
The dragon growled.
Vedas slid backward several meters but the impact changed Mephistopheles’ course just enough. Instead of Arthur, the dragon crashed into another battlefield.
Arthur glanced toward Melo.
One of her tails trembled.
Sweat rolled down her forehead.
She still gave him the smallest nod.
Arthur smiled. "You’re doing great."
Melo looked away immediately.
Her tails moved even faster.
And then Arthur continued clashing with Leon. He hit Leon with enough force to move him backward, but the direction was not away from the fight.
It was toward Amanda, whose team held the northeast position, and toward Silver, who had pulled back but was still present in the central area.
Leon caught himself and looked at where he had landed. Then at Arthur.
Arthur grinned with a wave. "Keep up!" he called.
Leon started laughing. "You’re enjoying this."
"Aren’t you?"
"Yes," Leon said as his golden eyes lit up.
Leon charged first towards Amanda. But she swiftly met him head-on. Before either could finish their exchange, Silver crashed into both of them from the side.
Their attacks collided.
The explosion echoed across the battlefield.
Mephistopheles roared overhead.
The closest Stone Beast turned first and then another. Three packs of Wind Wolves broke into a run. More monsters joined them and then within seconds, the battlefield shifted.
Hundreds of monsters flowed toward the center.
"They’re all going," Athena said, from her position at the pillars.
Arthur looked up.
The scoreboard continued counting.
06:00.
05:59.
05:58.
The battlefield was still completely consumed by monsters.
Arthur smiled. "...Almost."
Sun followed his gaze.
"What are we waiting for?"
Arthur pointed toward the center. "Another minute."
Athena blinked. "So we’re waiting until every team is fully occupied."
Arthur nodded. "Someone is still watching the throne. "
The timer continued.
05:51.
05:46.
The last nearby team disappeared into the chaos.
Arthur smiled. "Now."
Sun asks with a concerned look. "You’re really sure?"
Arthur nods. "I think so."
"...Think?"
"I haven’t tried this before."
"..." Sun covered his face. "...Why do you always tell us that AFTER making the plan?"
Arthur blinked. "I forget."
Sun was speechless while he simply clapped his back.
"Don’t worry too much, just believe. And if it fails, we will just adapt like we always do!" Arthur was already moving toward the throne.
...
Athy landed on the throne and sat. She folded her wings with the precise efficiency of something that had been told to remain in a location and intended to do exactly that.
Sun moved to the left approach without instruction. Vedas took the right. Mithra covered the open ground ahead. Athena positioned between two fallen pillars where the terrain funneled movement.
Arthur stood at the front.
The scoreboard registered it.
ARTHUR’S TEAM: 00:00:01. 00:00:02.
Every other team’s attention was on the river of monsters.
A student turned toward the throne and looked directly at it.
She was moving between two broken pillars, and the throne was in her direct line of sight, and she looked at it for the length of time it took to confirm that something was in her field of vision. Then she looked away and kept moving.
Another student, retreating past the throne’s position under pressure from a stone beast, glanced at the armrest while running. His expression didn’t change. He kept running. He would not have been able to say why he kept running rather than stopping.
A third-year paused between exchanges and frowned in the throne’s general direction, with the expression of someone whose attention had been redirected and was trying to locate the reason.
"Didn’t someone—" she started.
A shimmer at the edge of her vision, small and brief, the kind of thing that peripheral awareness registered and conscious attention chased. She turned toward it.
When she looked back at the throne, the moment that had bothered her was gone.
She returned to the fight.
Athena, watching from the pillar position, said nothing.
...
The scoreboard read 00:52 when Leon paused.
He looked at the scoreboard. At the throne section. At the time, climbing beside a team name that had been near the bottom of the rankings.
00:46.
He shakes his head and continues fighting for a bit more. He even went on to clash with Arthur but frowned when Arthur kept on evading his attack and even rushing away.
"Why are you evading? We can evolve from each other!"
But Arthur only smiled and simply moved behind another person. Leon’s eyes narrowed and continued rushing after him.
But then paused. "..."
Something was wrong.
The scoreboard? No.
The battlefield? No.
His eyes slowly widened. "...Why hasn’t Arthur tried yet?"
Leon glanced at the scoreboard and saw that Arthur time was still 00:00. Then he looked at Arthur who was evading attacks from scythe from a strange bug. Before then he hurled himself to the side, evading a strike from behind from a second year.
’Would Arthur really not even try?... No!’
Arthur had been everywhere but never once moved towards the throne. His eyes narrowed as a thought appeared in his mind. Could it be Arthur had already enacted a plan and they were all being led by it?
He looked toward the throne and his eyes slid past it.
But then froze and blinked. "...What?"
00:15.
00:14.
"It’s a gamble, but let’s see!" Leon eyes narrowed before he hurled his spear straight towards the throne. The spear rushed over the chaos around before closing on the throne and then piercing into it.
Leon’s spear crossed the battlefield.
It struck the throne.
THUNK!
The spear buried itself deep into the seat. For a second, Leon saw nothing. And then the air rippled. The empty throne vanished. Arthur was sitting there with one arm resting casually on the throne.
Melo lay curled in his lap, breathing hard. All nine tails trembled from exhaustion.
Athy perched on the armrest.
Arthur tilted his head around the spear sticking inches from his face. "Found me." He blinked. "...Good throw."
Leon laughed even harder.
Arthur then gently rubbed behind one of Melo’s ears.
"You did amazing." Melo looked away.
"...Mhm." Her tails wagged anyway.
Leon then grinned. "No way." He pointed across the field. "There!" he called, with the voice he had developed for carrying across distance. "Look at the throne and at the scoreboard!"
Every head turned and then all of them froze.
"H-How is he there–"
"No when did–"
"The score!" A second year shouted, leading everyone’s eyes to snap to the scoreboard.
And they all paled.
The time on the scoreboard began to quickly rise.
00:05
00:14
00:31
00:58
01:42
Then—
05:36
Silence.
The entire field froze for one second.
Arthur simply watched them with a calm expression. As though everything arriving had already happened in his head.
He rested his hand on the armrest. "You were all looking at each other," he said as his green eyes moved across everyone. "Nobody was looking here."
Silence.
Amanda slowly lowered her spear. "...We did."
Silver laughed once. "...That’s embarrassing."
Leon laughed. "...I walked right past it." He looked toward Arthur. "You got me."
"Sometimes the safest place..." Arthur winked. "Is the place everyone assumes is dangerous."
Only then—
The final countdown had already reached six seconds.
Eight.
All of them attacked without hesitation.
Leon unleashed a torrent of flames, Amanda unleashed a blade of wind, and Silver summoned spikes of ice. Mephistopheles folded its wings and dove.
Fire.
Spears.
Ice.
Arrows.
More than thirty teams attacked together and the battlefield trembled beneath the combined assault.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Every attack closed the final distance.
Three.
Two.
Arthur never moved.
One.
White light flooded the battlefield.
Every attack vanished inches from Arthur.
Then—
Arthur smiled. "...Good game."
White light swallowed everything.
Then the screaming started.
"No!"
"HOW?!"
"WHEN DID HE—"
The battlefield disappeared.
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