...

At the center of the Prison Island, Diel and his team arrived in front of a certain cave where one of the Monster Beast Overlords was residing.

"This should be the place, Young Master," said Falcon Hawkins, a trained young attendant of the Gordon Clan and Diel Hendrickson's current personal aide.

Hearing that, Diel started at the cave for a couple of moments before nodding his head. "Then let's go. Killing this beast will give us enough points to separate us from the others."

"W-wait!" said one of their teammates, seemingly against the idea. And when he saw Diel and Falcon halted their steps, he immediately tried to persuade them from entering the cave. "Are you sure about this, Diel? We all know that both of you are very strong and we are very thankful that you carried us up until now, but inside that cave is a 7-star monster beast!"

Falcon quickly turned his head towards that guy before walking over in an aggressive manner. But Diel prevented him from moving forward. "Relax, Falcon. You should know why we are here."

After that, Diel looked at the other members of the group before saying. "Since when did I give you the permission to voice out your thoughts?"

Hearing that, the guy who talked earlier suddenly felt an intense shiver on his spine as he stared at Diel with full of terror. He started moving backward, trying to create more distance between him and the young man in front of him.

On the other hand, Diel suddenly extended his right which made the other guy tightly shut his eyes.

Fortunately, Diel didn't do any to him aside from patting his shoulders. "Do misunderstand. We didn't choose you to team up with us, not because we are strong enough to be our teammates. We only choose you to fill up the numbers since we are too lazy to form a decent team."

He then slightly slapped the other guy's cheek before adding. "And don't worry, we don't need you to join us anyway."

After that, Diel turned around and gestured to Falcon to follow him, leaving their teammates behind. "Let's go, we don't have much time left on this Island."

When they entered the cave, Falcon immediately surveyed the surroundings to look for any hidden cameras that might be spying on them. And after making sure that there were none, he quickly asked. "Is the timing going to be alright?"

"Don't worry, Falcon. Everything is according to the plan. And since we are already here, one of the administrators would surely come here to aid us," answered Diel in a calm manner.

Then they continued moving forward, getting deeper into the cave. And not long after they entered, Nathan appeared in the sky above the place before looking down below with squinting eyes. "What is this kid planning?"

Given Nathan's status in the military, it was natural for him to become aware of the real background of Diel Hendrickson. Aside from being one of the young masters of the Gordon Clan, he still had another identity hidden from public knowledge, a secret agent of a mysterious underworld organization.

He got the tip from an anonymous informer and that was the reason why he accepted this task personally to keep an eye on this particular candidate.

"Let's see what his organization is plotting in this exam," muttered Nathan before focusing his senses to bypass the thick wall of the cave.

...

In the meantime, Elias and Eugene decided to separate from each other since in the side where the other two remaining teams were about to bump into each other.

Jean Camus was leading his team towards the east side of the island where he suspected a ravenous point was placed by the academy. But at the same time, Dylan seemed to also have the same idea in his mind which was why they were heading in that place.

Given their current speed, the two groups were going to meet each other in front of a major settlement that was blocking their way. And not long after, both groups arrived in that place just like Eugene had expected.

"Looks like we are not the only ones who are suspecting the existence of the ravenous point," said Jean as he stood in front of a young man with a long sword hanging on his back.

Hearing that, the young man in front of him slightly nodded his head before replying. "It's been a while, Jean Camus."

"I see that you are still as polite as ever, Dylan. I wonder if your skills are also the same," said Jean while wearing a huge grin.

"That is a good question. How about we try to test it right now?" answered Dylan in a calm manner but the intense hunger for battle, that was coming from his body begged to disagree.

"Oh~!"

Hearing those words, the group behind Jean Camus suddenly became interested and seemed to have the urge to 'join' the 'conversation'. They took a step forward and stood beside Jean while showing their intent for battle.

On the other hand, Ezio Williams directly took out his daggers to welcome the auras coming from the opposing side. And even if the member-quality of the opposing side was much higher than their team, the young assassin seemed to be unwilling to back down from the challenge.

"Looks like these little cubs are underestimating me a little too much," he even said to return the challenge.

Given the air surrounding the two groups, it was pretty clear that an intense battle was about to break out.

Fortunately, Jean suddenly put his hands in front of his group to stop them from making any sudden moves before saying. "Relax, guys. This is not the right time to see which of us is the strongest."

He paused for a brief moment to look at the major settlement in the distance before continuing. "We still have a very important task in hand. So, how about we agree to have a temporary truce for the time being before continuing this battle at the next part of the test?"

"I'm sure that none of us want to be at the bottom ranking," he added to indicate their current standing at the exam.

Their teams were currently at the top second and third respectively while Shin's group ranked first.

On the other hand, Diel's team was currently ranked fourth but that was to be expected since they didn't kill a lot of monster beasts nor prisoners while advancing towards the center of the Prison Island.

But their ranking was definitely going to be higher if they managed to kill the Overlord Beast residing in the cave.

Naturally, Jean Camus and Dylan White didn't have any idea about that. But given that both of them were quite familiar with Diel, they were quite confident that the guy was cooking something behind the scenes.

"We both know how cunning that guy is, so it is better for us to arrive at the suspected ravenous point to solidify our standings. We may even overtake that particular group above us," he added more to emphasize that Shin's group was quite ahead of them in terms of points.

Dylan squinted his eyes a little when he heard that before asking suspiciously. "But how can we be sure you guys are not going to backstab us?"

Hearing that, Jean could only sigh helplessly and wear a bitter sigh since he knew where Dylan was coming from. He then looked at Simone and Thomas before warning them with a cold glare. "You two better behave when we start, or else you are going to suffer a heavy consequence later."

"Tsk!"

The two could only click their tongues as both of them knew why Jean was asking them that. And after a few moments of hesitation, both of them could only nod their heads reluctantly before agreeing with him.

"You can trust me in this, Dylan. If these two create trouble for us later, then I will take full responsibility for it," said Jean while looking at the sword genius with a determined look on his face.

Seeing that, Dylan hesitated for a few moments before nodding his head to agree with his offer. "You better honor your words later."

And with that, a temporary alliance was formed between the two teams before they proceeded towards the major settlement in the distance.

*********

While all of those were happening, Daniel received yet another visitor inside his own room.

"It has been a while, Daniel," greeted the visitor as he appeared inside Daniel's room like a ghost.

But despite the sudden appearance of the man standing in front of him, Daniel was still wearing a calm expression on his face and welcomed his guest with a calm tone. "It looks like my time has finally arrived."

He then raised his head to look at his guest's face before adding. "Though, it is quite unexpected for them to send their top Executioner to eliminate a small figure like me. Am I right, Bane?"

"Is that so? But why do I feel that you are already expecting my arrival, old friend?" replied Bane while fixing the pirate hat that he was wearing.

He then raised his head a little to look at Daniel straight to the eyes before coming. "This is not going to happen if you remain silent until the day you die. But since you already decided to betray the organization, I guess you are also ready to die."

Hearing those words, Daniel suddenly wore a lonely smile before continuing. "I've always been ready since the time I decided to betray 'them'."

Bane was silent for a moment when he saw the look that Daniel was currently making before sympathizing with him. "This is the reason why we shouldn't get too involved with other people during our mission. It will only lead us to our own destruction."

Then a cold look suddenly formed with his eyes before continuing. "Regardless, please don't blame me for this. I'm only following their orders."

"Don't worry, I clearly understand how you feel," said Daniel while maintaining his lonely smile before closing his eyes.

...…