The opening ceremony had ended but people were still hyped up about the first event and were hypothesizing what would Orca choose based on their capabilities.

Max and the group had returned back to their place and were grounded by the headmaster until the beginning of the first event.

He was afraid that they would get in some kind of trouble right before the start of the event.

And so the rest of time had passed peacefully…

…

The evening before the competition…

Lear, Axel and Max were sitting in Max's room. Lear's room had been taken over by Wilson while Axel didn't want to stay in the camp by the street.

"I have seen you have been quite busy on your phone these days. Whom do you keep texting to?" Lear asked as he put his head into Max's phone.

"Get lost!" Max pushed him aside.

"Woah! Sorry….I didn't know it was your girlfriend…." Lear said with a perverted grin on his face.

Max almost wanted to punch his face. Elly had just asked him what had happened and he was telling her about it..

"Do I need your permission to talk to anyone?" Max asked as he looked at him.

"No…" Lear replied. ''Go ahead and talk all you want...even if you talk dirty it doesn't have anything to do with me…"

"Let me check your phone...how you talk with Lora…" Max said and took out a phone.

Lear looked at him and then ran his hand over his pocket and only to realise that the phone in Max's hand resembled his own which should have been in his pocket but was currently missing.

"Give it back!!!" Lear immediately leaped towards Max but was sent flying away with a kick.

"What are you so afraid of? It's not like I am going to find you sending her d*ck pics, am I?" Max said as he looked at him.

Lear's face contorted as if he had just tasted sh*t.

"Yeah, why would I send it to her….I will send it to you.. just you wait!!" Lear glared at him.

"No, thanks I am straight and for the pic...you don't need to send it to anyone it's available in public domain…" Max said and showed a picture to Lear.

It was from back when they had first arrived in the Capital and Axel's pants had caught fire and he had gone commando.

"You two b*tches!! It was all because of you two!!" Lear roared in anger.

Axel was just calmly busy on his phone with the latest episode of Mahou Shojo Mio-chan when he was disturbed by Lear and a vein immediately popped on his forehead.

"Keep your voice low or do you want Lora to know that this is you." Axel immediately threatened him forcing Lear to become an obedient dog.

"Bring me a canned coffee, Lear.…" Max said.

"What did you say?" Lear looked at him with deadly eyes.

"Let me send the pic to her…" Axel chimed in.

"Fine! I am bringing it!!'' Lear gritted his teeth as he glared at them. He was regretting for pissing the two off when they were sitting so quietly.

….

Lear got out of the room and walked towards the vending machine set up below on the first floor.

"Hmmn?" He suddenly stopped as he heard some noise. He slowly got closer and could hear someone talking.

When Lear came out, he saw Kevin near the vending machine.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he walked towards him.

"Umn..I am here for my evening snacks.." Kevin replied.

"Whom were you talking to?" Lear asked as he looked around but couldn't see anyone. His eyes lasted on the dark corridor for a brief moment before shifting back onto Kevin.

"I was talking to myself about what to eat....I can't decide..." Kevin said with a troubled look.

Lear smiled and just got on with it and helped Kevin with his snacks before they walked back.

But before leaving, he once again glanced towards the dark corridor.

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked when he saw that Lear had stopped.

"Nothing…" Lear shook his head.

…

"Here...take it!' Lear said as he threw the can straight towards Max's face.

Max raised his hand but Lear wasn't going to let it go.

Unfortunately, the moment the can came near Max, Lear immediately lost control over it.

"Tsk…" Lear clicked his tongue.

"Save it for tomorrow…" Max muttered as he looked at him with a smile on his face.

"It's finally here…" Axel said as he showed his phone to them.

The event has finally been announced with all the rules.

"I bet the rest of the Academies will be going crazy now…" Axel said with a laugh.

"Except for us... let's have a good sleep tonight…" Max replied.

"It's only 7 right now…" Lear looked at him.

"The next seven days won't be peaceful...you better sleep all you can right now…" Max said with a smile.

…..

The next morning arrived…

"All set?" Max asked as he looked at the group.

"Yup..let's do this.." Mark replied with a confident look.

The Headmaster arrived at this moment to pick the students up.

"We will be cheering for you…." Rias said with a smile.

"Don't mess up before we arrive…" Wilson said as he looked at them.

The group bid them farewell and along with the first teams of the rest of the Academies, they boarded a bus to take them to the location of the competition.

The competition was being broadcast all over but people still filled into the Academy to watch.

The reason?

Well, the Arena was being used to display the competitions on a large screen along with multiple other screens which would follow each and every team.

It was way better than watching at home from a single point of view. Not to mention, it was an entirely different feeling to come and watch in the crowd while cheering for your favorite Academy.

….

On the other side….

The buses took the students towards of the abandoned districts in the outskirts of the capital. This place was under contract for redevelopment but the work still had not started.

"Why are they bringing us here?" Valko asked in confusion.

"We will soon find out…" Axel replied.

…

A few minutes later...

All the Headmasters had arrived out of the district with their students and seemed to be giving them advice.

"We are finally here...do your best...you know what is at stake…" The headmaster said as he looked at Lear, Axel and Mark who knew the true stake.

"But I thought it was going to be a Beast Horde City?" Valko asked in confusion as he looked at the worn-down district.

"Well, go ahead then…" the headmaster replied with a smile.

At the same time, the other students began to move as well.

Axel could feel that there was something in this place.

He carefully took a step and entered the district and the moment he did, everything around him changed.

Suddenly he found himself standing in ruins of a city which was covered in vegetation all around which was the result of the Orena effect.

These happened when beasts overtook an area which would then be slowly converted into Orena.

Looking at the city which was almost half done in vegetation, it seemed that the place was attacked not more than two months ago.

"How in hell did they do it?" Axel muttered curiously.

He tried to turn around and go back but even after walking a few steps he didn't return back. It was very strange….

"Where are the rest of them?" Axel looked around but didn't see anyone.

He realised that Orca must have made a few changes to obstruct them.

"Annoying...why can't they just let it go?"

Axel sighed but the next moment, his eyes turned grim and he immediately dashed toward the rusty overturned car to take cover and took out a vial from his pouch and smeared its content all over his body.

The vial was one of the most common items used by people in orena to remove their smell.

"Grr!"

A growl along with a noise of a creature's step approached the place.

Axel immediately took out his handgun. He regretted handing over his giant case to Valco for carrying.

"Please don't find me...go away…" Axel began to sweat. He wasn't ready for a confrontation this early.

He hadn't even seen the creature...which beast it was...he had no idea....but it definitely seemed freaking strong from the ferocious aura it carried….