chapter 744 battle of brawn and brains [part 1]
their party had been trained to fight against groups of monsters along with thirteen's squad captains after all.
roland, joshua, and the rest of the hero party had already come up with various strategies as to how they could work together if they were ever paired up with each other.
five minutes later, the sound of an explosion could be heard in the distance, prompting roland to increase his speed.
he knew that his friend was currently being pursued, and fighting against them. because of this, he didn't hesitate to run in that direction. after barely a minute, roland finally saw joshua, who was now being pursued by five wanderers. this sight made his face turn solemn.
"joshua!"
"roland!"
after getting each other's attention, the two ran away together, with joshua summoning black mists as he ran away with his friend.
they planned to shake their pursuers off their tail for a brief period of time, so they could launch a counter-attack.
with the situation at hand, this was the only strategy that they could think of.
clark, terence, and the rest of the wanderers, who had decided to team up, didn't pursue them into the dark mist because they knew that joshua had a lot of nasty tricks under his sleeve.
"they can run, but they won't be able to hide," clark said.
"indeed," terrence replied as he used a spell to blow away the black mist, dispersing it completely.
"let's pursue them with two groups," one of the wanderers proposed. "joshua managed to slip past our encirclement several times. he's as slippery as an eel, and he knows how to use the environment to his advantage. it seems that he has experience fighting in a forest setting, so he knew what to do even when he was suddenly surrounded."
clark and terrence nodded in agreement, then they glanced at their communicator at the same time.
the moment the scan starts once more, they would pursue their targets from the front and behind, trapping them at the center.
truth be told, they weren't in a hurry to eliminate roland and joshua.
thirteen had given clark a strategy to use against the two members of the hero party, which he had also discussed with his collaborators.
even if roland and joshua continued to flee right now, clark was certain that before the timer ended, the two of them would come to find them instead.
this event was a battle on who would get the highest points.
clearly, they were all part of the same team, which made roland and joshua finally understand that the two of them had been marked as their targets.
"well, if they come, we'll show them what we're made of," roland said with a devilish smile on his face.
'if they come?' joshua thought as if something fleeting had passed inside his mind. for a brief moment, he blanked out as he tried to remember what he just thought a while ago.
however, no matter how much he tried to recall the thought that came to him, it was of no use.
"for now, let's watch their next move," joshua stated. "i'm sure they'll come to find us sooner or later."
roland nodded in agreement. "maybe they're discussing how to effectively catch us by surprise. however, as long as we can see their location on the map, they won't be able to do anything."
joshua was of the same mind. since their enemies planned to team up against them, it would only be a matter of time before they came for the kill.
of course, he was starting to suspect that a greater ploy was at play. but for the time being, he decided to keep it to himself.
'there's still plenty of time before this event ends,' joshua thought. 'no matter what they are scheming, they will not be able to outwit me.'
he was confident. with roland's strong combat prowess and his supporting abilities, the two of them would certainly be able to handle their foes even if they had the advantage in numbers.
thirteen, who was now watching joshua and roland, smirked as he ate a potato chip.
'the problem with smart people is that they think that they have everything under their control,' thirteen mused. 'let's see if you are able to find out about my plan on time. if you do, then good. if not...'
thirteen chuckled internally.
he was playing a little battle with the goddess of fate, who favored her chosen ones.
while he didn't know who would win at the end, he was certain of one thing.
things were about to get interesting in the final hours of the competition.
he didn't give his siblings, the hero party, and his squad captains any advice in this tournament.
he wanted them to adapt to the situation, which erica accomplished with flying colors.
'in the face of absolute strength, all tricks are meaningless,' thirteen mused. 'now, we'll know if you two really had absolute strength.'
a crisp sound spread inside the room as thirteen munched on a potato chip, hoping to see whether lady fate would intervene for the second time in a row.