Eren discarded the remnants of his smoke before turning around.
Becky and her group stopped a few meters away from Eren. She was about to speak to him. However, the mage closed her open mouth when she felt a peculiar mana pulse beside her.
"Haha. We are here, at last. Thanks for sharing your location with us, Eren."
Steve and Renita appeared at the scene out of nowhere using the Sansara Perk. It worked in conjunction with the coordinates Eren shared with them, allowing them to teleport directly to the scene.
Eren appeared right beside Renita before taking her hand in his own. It seemed that Steve and Renita had just finished dealing with their share of opponents as well. The ranger was slightly injured in the conflict.
Eren snapped his fingers and healed Renita right away without waiting for Ana to take action. The healer of the group looked at Eren begrudgingly for subtly undermining her role in the team.
Renita smiled as she enjoyed Eren showing his public display of affection in his own way. The close combat expert caressed the locks of her hair and tucked them behind her ears before addressing the entire group.
"Glad to see all of you made it to this point."
Eren smiled lightly and welcomed his teammates before continuing.
"Let's rest before we enter the Lama Ruins. The further we travel from here the more teams we are likely to encounter who also have the same destination as us.
We don't need to worry about the qualified teams as they would prioritize getting to the Lama Ruins over battling anyone. But the teams that don't have enough flags will try to fight all out against those who do.
Let other qualified teams fight these desperadoes while we wait. Steve will teleport us to the entrance of the Lama Ruins right away when we are ready."
There was no hiding place on the prairie, which seemed to extend in all directions. However, thanks to the Basic Group Stealth Perk Renita had received, the team could take a breather inside a translucent dome. This made them invisible to the naked eye as well as the mana sense.
***
The smell of freshly grilled pork chops started lingering inside the Stealth Dome as the team decided to have its fill. The group sat in a circle around Eren, Steve, and Renita as they were busy prepping food for everybody.
"The delay in the defense mechanism is one thing. But did you guys encounter the masked elves who had infiltrated the event?"
Jake looked at Eren, Steve, and Renita before asking his question. Steve nodded his head as he flipped the piece of meat over the elemental fire before speaking up.
"Yeah. I get that the kingdom of Edinburgh would indulge in a power play and keep the event running even after knowing about the infiltration of these elves. But it has gotten too far.
It looks like they have already killed many rankers from five academies to make those elven masks. And they are even killing more rankers at the event. The kingdom is only liable to hurt itself if it lets this drag on for any longer."
Becky agreed with Steve's statement. The mage was a vegan so she kept her distance from the group before responding.
"The moderators should have intervened by now. Rufus, the chief moderator, at least should have taken action against these infiltrators, even if he didn't completely stop the event. I don't know why it is taking this long."
Becky wasn't the only one. All the other participants from LA were expecting some form of leeway from the chief moderator Rufus because he was from their academy.
Eren was lowkey whistling when he was adding spice to the grilled meat. He had to say that Argo's songs were very catchy. He couldn't help singing some of them under his breath as he busied himself with work.
The butcher chuckled before answering Becky's question.
"That's because he's dead."
Eren stopped hearing the munching sounds of his teammates. He turned around to see that every teammate was looking at him with blank looks on their faces. He coughed before creating a metaphorical patchwork.
"I mean… he must be dead if he is not doing anything. Or he is busy with something much more critical for all we know.
My point is… we can't expect any intervention from the moderators. At least not for us commoners when the royal scions of the kingdoms are being targeted.
Things are much more serious than you think. Even the cultist organization Midnight Moon is involved in the infiltration. The fake participants I killed earlier belonged to that organization."
Eren remembered that he had sanctioned a hit on the Midnight Moon through Serius Fenris. He smiled mirthlessly before continuing.
"Midnight Moon and I… let's say that my guild and those guys have our differences. So they tried to target me."
Ramy Richards stopped chewing on the grilled pork and drank a mouthful of White Raven ale. While slapping his thighs, he enthusiastically interrupted Eren.
"Hahaha. No wondew they died so… how weebly."
Ron was lost in his thoughts until this point. It seemed that there was something he was unable to come to terms with. He looked at Eren before raising his doubts.
"I understand Edinbugh's politically motivated ambition to continue this event. But I don't think it would allow the cultists to intervene. Something doesn't add up. It looks like…"
Eren nodded at Ron before confirming his doubts.
"That's right. This is what I have been meaning to tell you guys.
The event is rigged from the inside. Some of the rankers from Edinburgh's side have switched to the other side. Or did they already belong to the kingdom of Layos in the first place? We don't know."
Eren saw his teammates' grim faces. He took a deep breath before reassuring them.
"Don't worry. Not all hope is lost. The moderators get bound by the same rules as participants if they enter most places accessible to participants. There are only a few extra perks to support them.
Sage legacies have started appearing. We are in the endgame.
So next time… when you see a moderator stopping you for something… don't lower your guard. If they fail to maintain a safe distance from you..."
Renita completed Eren's statement in a grim voice.
"Attack first. Ask questions later."
