--- [Lett’s perspective]

Like an insect, I keep slipping away from his swats.

He may be fast, and he may be huge, but that isn’t enough.

I punch him in the chin, kick him in the back of the neck, and knee him in the balls.

A bombardment of strikes from every angle…

“Gah!” – Hector

It’s hurting him, but he’s enduring; he won’t go down easily.

After yet another failed attempt at catching me, he gives up…

Or rather, he changes plans.

He tried and failed many times already to catch me normally, but he couldn’t.

Knowing when to give up on losing strategies is important; he has good instincts.

He squats down and curls himself into a ball.

Every vital area is protected; defense is his number one priority.

I continue my barrage of attacks, but with each and every hit, they feel lighter and lighter.

Not because I’m getting weaker, but because he’s getting stronger…

Is he…!

He’s charging up Divinity!

This technique is usually used for charged attacks; attacks significantly stronger than normal ones.

But he’s doing the opposite; focusing as hard as he can to increase his durability.

I’ve never seen anyone do that before…

Clever, but now he’s essentially just a sitting duck.

Charging up Divinity for a massive attack would be simple, but…

I’d rather just run away!

My goal here isn’t to beat him, it’s to return to our base with their flag.

I had to fight him because I couldn’t get away from him, but if he’s just sitting down like that, then there’s nothing stopping me.

“See ya!” – Lett

Just as I turn around, I feel an incredible force slamming into me.

Like when touching hot stove, I reflexively teleport away.

Had that gone on for a single moment longer, my spine would have snapped in half…

Or worse…

That was his plan all along…

He charged up Divinity to get as strong as he possibly could, then just as I was about to run away, he launched himself at me like a spring.

Even if I saw him coming, I doubt I’d be able to react in time to teleport away…

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I’m lucky I’m even alive right now!

While still in a state of shock, I let him run back to me.

“Oh shit!” – Lett

Wait…

He’s not attacking.

“What are you panicking for? You know by now that I can’t catch you normally. Why would I waste energy trying to, even though it’s hopeless?” – Hector

He squats down next to me.

“Go ahead, run away. But remember, if you do, I’ll catch you and force you to fight. Of course, we could just cut to the chase and start fighting right now instead. But then-” – Hector

“You’d sit down and do exactly what you just did again…” – Lett

“There we go! You’re getting it now. If you do the most optimal thing, this is an eternal stalemate. If you don’t, you lose.” – Hector

He’s right, if we continue like this, we won’t get anywhere.

That’s what he wants of course.

All he cares about is not letting me get away with the flag, while waiting for his teammates to return with ours.

But there is one major flaw in his plan…

“Alex! Let’s swap opponents!” – Lett

“Okay!” – Alex

--- [Alex’s perspective]

While making sure to absorb every drop of water, I slowly make my way towards Lett and the giant.

Lett passes me, and takes over the fight against Carl.

He knows he can’t keep shooting at me, so he starts targeting Lett instead.

Finally, I can move freely!

I run over to Hector, ready to fight.

He looks a bit…

Disappointed?

He lets out a sigh…

“You know, this isn’t going to end any better for you guys. You have an interesting ability and all, but it won’t help against me. There is nothing for you to absorb.” – Hector

He sits down, crosses his arms, then continues explaining.

“Your chances were better before. That girl could force a stalemate against me, and you would probably have beaten Carl eventually. If after that, both of you teamed up against me, you could probably win. Now it’s just a contest of strength. My specialty doesn’t just make me larger, it also makes me stronger. Do you really think you could beat me despite that?” – Hector

“Yes. If there’s one thing I’m confident in, it’s my strength.” – Alex

He lets out a chuckle; he doesn’t believe me.

“Right… Well, I guess we’ll see.” – Hector

He stands back up and throws a punch at me.

I reach out my hand, casually stopping his attack.

“What the hell?!” – Hector

“Come on, man. I could tell you were half-assing it. Punch me for real.” – Alex

With all his might, he launches his colossal fist at me.

I throw one back of my own, and our fists clash.

He pushes as hard as he can, while I gauge his power.

“Eh. You’re strong, but nothing out of the ordinary. Lett could have beaten you.” – Alex

He jerks his arm back in pain, and I jump up to his face.

One quick strike to the temple, and he’s knocked out cold.

After passing out, he returns to his original size.

“I can hold that guy off while you run back to base.” – Alex

“Alright!” – Lett

--- [Lett’s perspective]

We switch places again, and I start heading back to base.

We haven’t seen each other that much since we started training with Luna; we were all too focused on ourselves.

What the hell has Alex become these last few months…

He’s so strong…

It’s almost unbelievable how much he progressed in that short of a timeframe.

Right before defeating Hector, he said I could have beaten him too.

I’m not sure about that…

Is Alex so strong now he’s starting to get out of touch…?

--- A few moments later

“Lett! You’re back!” – Shin

There’s a guy on the ground over there, and a girl still fighting them.

I guess they weren’t that far away from beating their opponents.

Now that I’m here though, it’s over.

I don’t even need to fight her, I’ll just teleport over to our flag, and we’ll win.

She takes a few steps back, and lowers her guard.

“God damn it. Well, I give up. You guys win.” – Nellie

Or she won’t even try to fight us…

I guess that’s fair, I wouldn’t want to fight three of them at once either.

I walk over to our flag, and take theirs out of my pocket.

Suddenly, Leanne appears in front of me.

“Congratulations! Team Isabella wins!” – Leanne

She takes the enemy flag, and puts it in her pocket.

“Just wait a second, I’ll put this back where it belongs, and find all the other contestants.” – Leanne

Like a flash of light, she instantly disappears.

B-rankers are so fast…

Just moments later, she returns with Alex and Carl.

“Yo!” – Shin

“Hey. All good?” – Alex

“Yup. No major injuries here.” – Shin

“Great. Same here.” – Alex

“Give me another second. I’m just going to pick up the last ones before we return to camp.” – Leanne

Before I realized she was gone, she had already returned with Hector.

She carefully put him down on the ground before going off again.

--- [Isabella??’s perspective]

Suddenly, the host appears before me.

“Time to go back. You won.” – Leanne

“I see.” – Isabella??

She looks down on Jennifers decapitated head…

“Rest in peace…” – Leanne

I put my sword back in its sheath.

“Now it’s your turn, Isabella.” – Isabella??