Chapter 149: End of the Second Round, Bringing Back Some Gifts

Chapter 149: The Second Round Ends—Take a Gift Home

"The hunt begins!"

As the winged reptile flew away, Livi seized the moment to leave the nest.

Through the vision relayed by his Phantom Servant, he stood at the edge of the lair, locking onto his target.

He leapt.

From behind him, the shadow emerged—his Shadow Attendant—catching his body and spreading wide into a gliding wing.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Livi plunged downward in swift descent, gliding toward his prey.

A cry erupted from the monitoring mage at the Arcane Association: "We've found the armored man!"

"Damn—it's him! He just jumped!"

"Huh? What in the world is that? A glider?"

Amid their stunned exclamations, Livi soared steadily toward his destination.

Rustle! Rustle!

Hardy looked up. A fierce wind swept overhead.

A dark silhouette flashed across the sky.

"What was that?"

Before Hardy could react, a shadow crept upon him unseen.

Boom!

Livi crashed down from above.

Hardy froze for a breath—then snapped into alertness, ready to fight.

Livi gazed at him calmly. "Surrender. You've already lost."

Hardy felt a sudden chill at his throat. He glanced down.

A razor-sharp claw rested against his neck—just a hair’s breadth from death.

"What the hell is this?"

Stunned, he stared blankly. Then, with a wry smile, he sighed. "I surrender."

"These are my spell cards."

He tossed three spell cards to Livi.

Livi looked at him. "Two more."

Hardy stiffened, bewildered—how did this man know exactly how many cards he had?

With no choice, he reluctantly handed over the remaining two.

Livi reached out—not touching them—and the cards flew into his palm. Without another word, he turned and walked away.

Once beyond Hardy’s sight, the Shadow Attendant dissolved into nothingness.

Hardy instinctively touched his neck, letting out a helpless sigh.

"What kind of monster is he?"

"Exit the secret realm."

He no longer wished to struggle.

Now holding five more spell cards, Livi’s total rose to twelve.

His rank climbed from sixteenth to ninth.

Still not safe enough. Livi continued hunting.

He couldn’t afford being overtaken at the last moment and losing his chance at the third round.

With his cheat activated, Livi quickly located his second target.

One fireball shattered the shield. The Shadow Attendant closed in, entangling the opponent until surrender became inevitable.

Three more spell cards claimed.

Now fifteen in hand, his rank surged to seventh.

"The armored man has begun moving again!"

"His ranking is skyrocketing—this isn't competition, it's robbery!"

"He’s fifth… stopped again?"

After robbing four competitors, Livi now held nineteen spell cards.

Rank: fifth.

Fourth place: Savis, with 21.

Third: Lilith, with 23.

Second: Wiley, with 26.

First: Russell, with 32.

Wiley was a dark horse—only erupting into action in the final two days.

His strategy mirrored Livi’s: conceal strength early, then seize others’ cards in the endgame.

It demanded absolute confidence in one’s own power.

Livi halted his climb not because he ceased hunting—but because he’d encountered Wiley.

Livi stared at him, surprised.

He recognized Wiley.

This was the enchanter who once enchanted his invisibility cloak.

Wiley, too, blinked in mild shock upon seeing him.

He recognized the cloak on Livi’s back.

Though he didn’t recall Livi’s name, he remembered him as a past customer.

Wiley grinned. "Well, what luck. Never thought I’d run into you here."

Livi said, "Aren’t you an enchanter?"

Wiley chuckled. "My main class is mage. Enchanting is my secondary profession."

Livi studied the dark crimson armor covering Wiley’s body—so familiar.

Wasn’t that his Ant King’s carapace?

Livi asked slowly, "What is your relationship with Troska?"

He had previously sold the ant king’s chitin to the master blacksmith Troska.

Willy was somewhat surprised. "You know my father?"

Li Wei’s eyelid twitched.

"Does this count as aiding the enemy?"

Seeing magical runes intricately drawn across Willy’s armor, Li Wei suspected this might be the very magi-mechanical armor Troska had mentioned—

armor with the defensive strength of a third-rank ant king.

Li Wei didn’t want to fight Willy.

He could win—but it would be exhausting.

Willy, slow to realize, now guessed the ant king’s chitin might have come from the armored man himself.

At that thought, he abandoned any idea of fighting the armored figure.

The ant king might not even have been killed by the armored man.

But whoever could obtain such materials must be formidable.

At this stage, there was no need to clash head-on with someone so strong.

He still wanted to reach the final circle.

So Willy said, “The match isn’t over. I’m off to find magic cards. We’ll meet again.”

Li Wei nodded slightly in reply. “Farewell.”

They parted ways, each vanishing into different directions.

Leaving the audience, who had been eagerly anticipating a fierce battle, bitterly disappointed.

“Fight! Why don’t you fight?!”

“Disappointing. So utterly disappointing. Did I tune in just for this?”

“Damn it! Why won’t they fight?”

This last outburst came from a mage who had once been robbed by both of them.

Gu Ze remarked, “A wise decision. Both are certain to make the finals—no need to risk everything now.”

Rota added, “They can’t see the rankings. The chance of them fighting should’ve actually been high.”

“They didn’t fight—there must be another reason,” Rota analyzed.

As Li Wei searched for new prey, the rankings shifted rapidly.

Every contestant had begun their final sprint.

Half a day passed. Only fifteen competitors remained.

The finalists were nearly clear.

Li Wei ranked second; first place belonged to Russell.

After meeting Willy, Li Wei deliberately slowed his hunting pace.

He couldn’t afford to raise suspicion among the spectators.

If he kept locating others with uncanny precision, people would catch on immediately.

With one hour left until the end of the second round,

Li Wei looked up at the sky and saw an adult Hand-Foot Wyvern soaring into the distance.

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

“The game is ending—how could I leave empty-handed?”

Taking advantage of the wyvern’s absence, Li Wei slipped into the nest.

Three hatchlings, sensing an intruder, instinctively spread their wings and bared their fangs, preparing to attack.

But upon recognizing Li Wei, they froze in shock, huddling together, too afraid to approach.

Li Wei ignored them. He walked straight to the wyvern egg.

“Telekinesis.”

A soft blue glow enveloped the massive egg as Li Wei carried it away from the nest.

Seeing him steal their sibling, the hatchlings, for once, summoned courage and charged toward Li Wei.

One glare from him—and they instantly faltered, halting mid-charge, trembling in hesitation.

They could only watch helplessly as Li Wei disappeared with the egg,

wailing mournfully, calling for their mother.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A violent gust tore through the air.

Rustle! Rustle!

Leaves overhead thrashed wildly, trees swaying as if about to be ripped from the earth.

“I’ve been found.”

Li Wei glanced upward—the adult Hand-Foot Wyvern had returned to its nest.

It shrieked in madness upon discovering the egg gone.

“Oooohhhhhh!”

The wyvern soared through the skies, searching frantically for the thief who dared steal its egg.

(End of Chapter)