"Whip?"

Leonardo kept his gaze forward while gently pulling Ero back. Hidden among the reed-like fuzz, he asked in a low voice.

"You said he climbed earlier?"

"I—I thought so too... but it seems he’s still acting as the gatekeeper. Hyung, what should we do?"

Ero looked as if the world had collapsed. A moment ago he had boasted that "that guy" would be reduced to whimpering in front of hyung, but his words and actions were now completely at odds.

The participant Ero had labeled "the sadist" wore a black cloak and a silver mask. The long whip he held dangled beneath the stamen tower like a fishing rod. It was so long that when he twisted his wrist even a little, the whip’s recoil churned the entire lake.

A sharp scraping ripped the air. Each time it happened water splashed across the wide surface of the lake, and agonized screams echoed from the opposite shore. Heavy thuds of things plunging into the water followed in quick succession.

Ero’s complexion went ashen like a herbivore facing an unbeatable predator. Leonardo stared at his frightened eyes for a moment and asked.

"Are you scared?"

"He stands there and obliterates anyone who tries to approach! Especially that whip — if it catches you, you’re dead in an instant!"

As if to back up his claim, a low, chilling gust of wind hummed. Startled, Leonardo slapped the back of Ero’s head and pushed him down hard.

"Whoa, hyung!"

As Ero lost his balance and toppled, the fuzz around them parted like a blade cutting reeds.

Flat against the ground, Leonardo stared up at the neatly sheared surface of the reed field above him.

"......."

For an instant the force had been sharp enough to dilate the pupils in the golden eye. Had he kept his head up, the whip might have wrapped his neck and dragged him off, or neatly severed him.

"Hyung, did he spot us?"

Ero curled his hands around his bristled hair and crouched, groping the question out. The torn fuzz from the Giant Plarinus floated once above them and then drifted down a second or two later. The debris covered them enough to hide their discovery, but the fact that they were still within the whip’s effective range despite the distance was a stark threat.

Leonardo released his hand from Ero’s head and watched the situation instead of answering.

The whip continued to sweep an arbitrary radius; it appeared at least thirty meters long, perhaps longer. Its thickness was considerable, and it writhed like a living snake.

Even when other participants popped up to draw attention, it was only for moments; the whip swept overhead several times like a lighthouse beam scanning. Its movement seemed both to guard against sudden appearances from anywhere and to search for someone particular. But having come this far, they could not simply stay hidden forever.

Leonardo rolled his eyes, grabbed the collar at the back of Ero’s neck, and half-set him upright.

"They didn’t spot us. Hey, do you climb well?"

"What? Climb? Did I climb on you, hyung?"

"No, can you climb walls or trees well?"

"Oh, yes, I can! You saw me climb that tree earlier, didn’t you?"

It had been a fairly tall, thick tree with few good handholds; Ero had climbed it easily even with the bag of crystals on his back. The immediate objective was on a different level, but Leonardo judged it doable and nodded.

"Listen to the plan. Don’t overthink it. Our plan is a frontal assault."

"...Huh?"

Before Ero could ask in a daze, Leonardo jerked his chin toward the top of the stamen.

"I’ll take you up by flying. I won’t necessarily get you to the very top, but I’ll throw you near it — you climb the tower and find the entrance that leads to the ovary."

"Alone? What about you, hyung?"

"Someone has to hold that guy down. You think he’ll just stand idle? You want to fight him instead?"

Ero gave a short "ah" and then shook his head frantically as if it were impossible.

"I’ll leave it to you, hyung! Trust me with the ovary!"

"Let me say this just in case — if you open the portal and run, I’ll follow you to the end and kill you."

"Ah, hyung! It’s the lull, so they can’t open it right now anyway! You can’t pass alone. And the profit from betraying you is less than the profit from going in together!"

As his makeshift ally waved his hands and protested, Leonardo expressionlessly nodded once.

He’s certainly clever.

He seemed to know that a conditional statement — that going together benefits him too — would inspire more trust than blind assurances.

Leonardo put his palm on the ground and slowly rose.

"Get ready. On three I’ll launch."

"Uh... but already? There should be about twenty minutes left of the lull. It’s no good to stand out early...."

"He’s strong. Factor in the time to take him down."

Whether the sadist aimed to let only certain people pass or to eliminate many was unclear. What was certain was that he was a powerhouse who could run this match his way. But claiming the role of gatekeeper outside the rules was a provocation that had to be settled the moment he blocked their path.

"If no team has gone up because of him but the lull ends while we’re stalled and someone else sneaks through, that’s worse. If I’m the only one among the remaining contestants who can beat him, it’s better to move quickly and wait near the ovary. We’ll also check where the portal opens."

"Oh, right. So, should I get on your back now?"

"Are you crazy? Keep your crystals. I’ll throw you with the bag."

"What?"

Leonardo grabbed the top of the bag Ero wore in front with one hand. As he heaved and gave force, Ero’s arms reflexively clung tight.

"Going. One, two, three."

"Aaah!"

On the count, the two launched into the air in the blink of an eye. Ero, who had clutched the bag prone, felt his spine whip in the opposite direction from the tremendous thrust. Dangling from the bag, he was dragged by Leonardo as if grabbed by the scruff.

"Hyung! Wait, wait! My back—"

The air resistance flapped Ero’s lips back and his cry — whether a show of pain or a plea for life — reverberated across the stamen tower area.

They had planned to rely on speed assuming they would be discovered, but attracting attention like this would draw pursuit before they reached the top.

Just as Leonardo predicted, the sadist turned his head at the sound. The whip that had been thrashing beneath the tower shot up into the air in an instant. A cruel tearing sound vibrated the air nearby, and Leonardo, climbing the stamen column vertically, immediately changed course.

Whoosh—

A black slash marked the place he had occupied moments before, and shards from several protrusions on the stamen tower scattered. A tearing sound, like fibrous tissue snapping, followed, and unstable protuberances cracked like struck deadwood. Transparent mucus dripped from the exposed cross-sections.

Heavy fragments of the tower fell, sloshed, and sent up huge sprays. Leonardo charged toward his objective and, without thinking, glanced down at the lake struck by the violent waves.

He had thought the whip unusual even when it skimmed overhead, but the fact that a single swing could destroy terrain was telling. This was not an opponent to be underestimated.

Even if he himself escaped, any participant hit squarely by that would suffer at least fractures or internal rupture. His collaborator could not be allowed to fall into unconscious elimination.

Just then the whip, recoiling from below, shot back up and chased Leonardo. At about seventy percent of the tower’s height, he felt something wrap clearly around his ankle.

There was no time to look down and assess. Gripping the bag and Ero’s clothing with both hands, he spun his body to use the recoil and shouted.

"Ero, climb—!"

Ero was too stunned to respond. He left Leonardo’s hands and was flung toward the dimming sky.

"Hyuuuuung—!"

Thrown literally as the word implied, Ero flailed desperately and flew nearly to the top of the tower, colliding hard with a protrusion hidden beyond the clouds several times. Just before losing consciousness, he luckily caught on to a sufficiently flat, wide surface and landed. He would suffer bruises, but he had at least avoided a major injury.

"Huff, huff—."

Breathless and limbs trembling, Ero gaped, then peered down the tower’s face.

The sun was setting and clouds obscured the view, making sightlines difficult. On top of the vertigo-inducing height, the cold at that altitude and the strong wind sent chills down his spine.

Swallowing, Ero braced himself against the tower’s outer wall and managed to stand. Looking up, he could see the blunt tip of the stamen nearby. Once he judged his position, he jammed hands and feet into the rough grooves and hurried to climb. Doing his assigned duty with all his might was a runner’s pride and fate.

At the same time, Leonardo, watching the direction Ero had been thrown, checked below and, finding no falling silhouette, loosened the corners of his mouth. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

He made it up properly.

Then, with the leg that had been wrapped and dragged by the whip, he kicked the air as if to lift himself. The black whip tightened around his ankle like a branch closing on a twig, but he did not flinch.

He immediately wound the whip’s tip around his hand and used his limb strength to pull the connected line toward him. As if the fisher and the catch had swapped places, the sadist controlling the whip was yanked into the air like a newly hooked giant fish.

Seizing the moment, Leonardo planted his foot [N O V E L I G H T] on the stamen and used the momentum to close the distance. Strangely, the opponent did not seem inclined to evade; instead, he gripped the whip and charged straight at him.

The two strongest fighters in the F Group test met above the stamen tower. Leonardo reached to rip off the opponent’s silver mask. Flames and a chilling voice rippled from his fingertips.

"You bored me until now. You came at the right time."

At that moment, an amplified magic circle spread across the sky and the announcement played.

"<Match time elapsed: 4 hours. Time remaining until the end: 2 hours. Total passers so far: 22.>"