"Move out!" The fourth platoon captain commanded.

They were thanking Isabelle just now because of her performance. Unfortunately, it was only at the level of thanks, because they still needed to continue the fight, especially since they had a mission.

This was Kai's strategy. As long as one of their team got heavily injured or fell in the battle, they could return to the surface before reinforcing their own team again. Of course, Kai wasn't that heartless to have them fight continuously when none of them has died. He set an upper limit that if their platoon had killed fifty magical beasts, they could change place with the next platoon.

The third platoon had one casualty, so they couldn't lead the pack anymore. In other words, it was Isabelle's turn to lead the platoon in front.

When their captain commanded, Isabelle and the others walked forward to the next tunnel. "Can I come to the front?"

An idea flashed in Gran's head. As the Eagle platoon's advisor, he certainly knew about Isabelle's and the others' strengths and tactics. He looked at the fourth commander captain and explained. "My student is the number one sniper in the Magic Academy. Seeing how small this tunnel is, I believe we can have her in front while two or three of us protect her."

The captain lifted his eyebrows, pondering over the matter. "I have heard her name. Isabelle Fisher, the current genius sniper from Sacred Magic Academy. You must be planning to have her shoot the magical beasts down before they arrive…"

"Yes. Most of these magical beasts were E to D rank. Her weapon alone could one-shot them in the head, and her skill is enough to ensure a one-hit kill." Gran nodded.

"I know." He furrowed his eyebrows and gazed at his teammates, who were dominated by females. One of them nodded, and the others followed. He, as their leader, decided it was the best and agreed. "But since we have some turns here and there… We will assume the original formation. Is that alright?"

"Yes. We are aiming for the fifty magical beasts target." Gran smiled. Who would actually want their teammates to die or be heavily injured? Only a twisted person would love to see that.

"Alright. According to the map, we will have another two turns before fighting a large platoon. After that, our vanguard unit is done because this is when the tunnel split once again."

The platoons nodded, hoping not to get injured. Isabelle came to the front with her sniper in tow. The loud noise from her sniper would surely echo inside this cave, so she brought a suppressor with her.

Isabelle came to the front with her sniper in tow. Gran and the captain clenched their swords, making sure she was safe.

Eva brightened her red-colored ball and moved it to the front, so they could spot the magical beasts in advance.

One minute later, a screeching sound slowly echoed through the tunnel as a red-colored ant charged at them.

Gran took a defense position to take on this ant, but a small gunshot sound filled their ears.

*Tap!*

Eva's light ball already covered a few meters ahead, so the moment the ant became visible, Isabelle pulled her trigger. It blasted the ant's head, leaving no hope for survival.

They stared at the ant that was falling to the ground, ignored it, and moved forward. If they were too slow, the next platoon would catch up with them.

Just like how it was effective to have Isabelle in the front, they proceeded faster than any platoons before them and stopped the moment they found a tunnel that would lead to a bigger area.

"The area in front of us will be the last battlefield for the first wave team. The second wave will take over." The captain informed them. "According to the information, there are around forty magical beasts in front of us. We have advanced a bit too fast, so we have time to discuss strategies."

"How about leading them inside this tunnel?" Isabelle asked with a thoughtful look as if she was thinking something ridiculous.

Gran furrowed his eyebrows. "Mind elaborating on your plan?"

The captain also had no problem taking as many plans as possible, so he could consider which one was the best.

"Since the tunnel can only hold three magical beasts at a time, we can draw them into this tunnel and slowly chip away their number. The wall of dying insects will also slow them down," Isabelle said.

Gran thought for a moment and felt it was a good plan. However…

"I still can't agree with that plan. We have delayed as much as possible to fight them in the winter to lower their ability. We can create a ruckus by fighting them and jumping around them." The captain shook his head. "That is a good plan, but not the best."

Gran also agreed to the decision, so he added. "Yeah. When we meet the team behind us and fight like that, they will have a hard time to react because of this darkness. We might stumble onto them and get swarmed by the magical beasts."

"I know, but…" Isabelle closed her eyes, pondering what good reason she actually had. Unfortunately, even after thinking for a minute, she couldn't come up with a reason that let her convince them, forcing her to abandon the idea.

"Still, it's hard to fight all forty of them in this place. Should we wait for the next platoon to help us? That way, we will have twenty-one people, while those creatures only have forty. I believe it's not hard." The captain suggested.

"But…" Isabelle wanted to say it would bring displeasure from the soldiers because only their platoon waited for another platoon.

Gran figured her out and assured her. "You don't need to worry about that. The soldiers actually don't think that way. Besides, do you know why we are placed in the Fourth position with two other platoons behind us?"

"No." Isabelle shook her head.

"It's simple. We can increase the students' safety this way because we can rely on the fifth platoon and have the sixth as our back-up. If we are in third, we couldn't really do it because it will disrupt the entire plan and slow down our pace. That's why this position is perfect for adding students." Gran explained while the captain gave the nod as proof he was right.

"I see…" Isabelle looked down, thinking something in her mind. "I will follow the order."

"We have a three-minute interval with the fifth platoon, so we can discuss a smaller plan." The captain finally joined their conversation. "The students will help us from the side, especially Isabelle Fisher. The soldiers will fight them in the front line, and you will attack any insects that might kill us."

"Understood."

They continued talking with low voices because they were afraid that the magical beasts would hear them. Although they couldn't use the radio because radio waves are easy to get picked up, they wouldn't easily hear them like this.

The next platoon came not long after and bewildered when they found them sitting in this place. The captain quickly explained their situation, and they agreed with the plan.

"Listen, make sure you don't make too loud noises. We will be swarmed by them if those monsters next door notice us." The captain warned them one last time.

They nodded and moved toward the next open area. The front had ten people that had the strongest close combat prowess, except the students.

Isabelle and the others crossed the tunnel and found many magical beasts, moving around like it had never seen them.

"Attack." The group quickly entered a fight with the magical beasts around them. As soon as the signal was up, Eva raised her light ball to shine the entire cave, providing nice lighting for the soldiers.

Isabelle aimed her sniper and shot the first round.

*Tap!*

The battle just started, so there was no point in searching for anyone in trouble. Instead, she killed another one before informing the shield user, Nicholas. "You are my eyes. Inform me if someone might die. I will kill as many as possible in the meantime."

"Understood."

Isabelle gazed through the whole room and found there were around thirty-five ants with five earthworms. The earthworm had a slightly larger and sturdy body that could strangle someone to death if not eating them alive. On the other hand, the ants actually brought more trouble because its mandible might break their bone in a single bite.

Luckily, the ant had a head, so she aimed at them for a one-shot kill. However, it was hard to hit the earthworm's brain to kill it. In the end, she could only shoot them twice before letting the soldier split it into half.

Isabelle's role was very effective in this battle as she managed to kill fifteen magical beasts. They were coming from the magical beasts she killed herself and the one that fought the soldiers.

Still, the soldiers managed to kill one magical beast at the very least and swiftly moved to either help others or hold another magical beast back.

"Huft…" Isabelle let out a long sigh after confirming they were safe. She glanced at the three tunnels that led to somewhere else.

"Our job is done. The path has been divided into three, so we will stop here according to the mission. After destroying the corpses, we will let the sixth platoon to hold the pass until the next group comes." The captain said.

They nodded their heads while feeling relieved when there was no death.

Isabelle closed her eyes for a moment and thought, 'With this, the first step has finished…"